(CIT): A unique aspect of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research is the NIH Director's Pioneer Award (NDPA) Program, a high-risk research initiative of Research Teams of the Future. First announced in Fiscal Year 2004, nine awards were made in September 2004, and 13 awards each were made in 2005 and 2006. The NDPA is designed to support individual scientists of exceptional creativity who propose pioneering approaches to major challenges in biomedical and behavioral research. The term "pioneering"; is used to describe highly innovative - potentially transformative - approaches that have the potential to produce an unusually high impact, and the term "award" is used to mean a grant for conducting research, rather than a reward for past achievements. For more information, visit