Issue Overview
Nonprofit biomedical organizations, including HRA members, play an outsized role in speeding the translation of biomedical science into applications that improve health, including identifying and adopting effective practices in funding health research.
To this end, HRA has convened the Drug and Other Therapy Working Group to focus on advancing HRA members’ efforts to accelerate discovery and development of drugs and other therapies. As well, HRA has organized sessions and discussions designed to help funders better understand best practices and approaches needed to turn scientific discoveries into improved health.
Among the topics HRA Members have delved into are:
- Crossing the “valley of death”
- Identifying biomarkers needed to accelerate clinical development
- Developing more efficient clinical trials
- Investing in translational research
Speeding up the rate of progress requires collaboration across sectors and industries in the biomedical system. HRA continues to bring in leaders at the forefront of the different organizations and institutions at the helm of progress, including:
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- Venture Philanthropy Groups

Resources
- Venture Philanthropy: Is it for Me? [September 28, 2022]
- Venture Philanthropy: Is it for Everybody?[June 13, 2022]
- Building stronger drug and other therapy development innovation ecosystems – A Case Study [Webinar March 9, 2021]
- Gene Editing Workshop: (FDA New Frontiers in Science Distinguished Lectureship Program)
- Venture Philanthropy: Untapped Potential or Unintended Consequences? Exploring Venture Capital Approaches in the Philanthropic Space [HRA Members Meeting, Virtual, Spring 2020]
- The case for a nonprofit independent IRB; improving the ethical review of research. [Webinar, October 8, 2019]
- HRA Regional Meeting: NYC Tri State Area [January 31, 2018]
- Implementing New Ways to Model Human Disease for More Effective Drug Discovery [HRA Members Meeting, Fall 2018]
- Drug and Other Therapy Development Toolkit of Toolkits [Work in Progress]
- University-Foundation Relations: From Transactional to Transformative Partnerships [FasterCures, September 2014]
- Data Sharing Goals for Nonprofit Funders of Clinical Trials