Christopher P. Austin has served as director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health since 2012. Prior to this role, he was NCATS' scientific director, focusing on translating basic science discoveries into new treatments and technologies to improve the efficiency of therapeutic/diagnostic development.

Austin joined the National Institute for Health in 2002 as the senior advisor to the director for translational research at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), where he was responsible for conceptualizing and implementing research programs to derive scientific insights and therapeutic benefits from the results of the newly completed Human Genome Project.

He founded several initiatives, including the NIH Chemical Genomics Center, the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases program, and the Toxicology in the 21st Century program. Before joining NIH in 2002, he led genomic-based target discovery, pharmacogenomic, and neuropsychiatric drug-development programs at Merck. From 2016 to 2018, he served as chair of the International Rare Disease Research Consortium (IRDiRC); Dr. Austin is also a member of National Academy of Medicine. He earned an A.B. from Princeton University, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and completed training in internal medicine and neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

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