Our Mission

The NEST community is passionately committed to transforming the way medical device technologies are tested, approved and monitored. ​

Our Vision

We envision a world in which people are empowered to make informed medical choices that enable patients to live their lives to the fullest extent possible.​

Read more on our Mission and Vision.

Our Role

NESTcc serves a dual role in the medical device ecosystem:

As a Coordinating Center offering services that catalyze real-world evidence (RWE) generation for medical device and health technology research sponsors.

As a Collaborative Community comprised of representatives from across the medical device ecosystem working together to develop thought leadership and coalesce diverse stakeholders to advance innovation and understanding on initiatives of importance.

Learn more about the role of NESTcc and how we are advancing real-world evidence in the evaluation of medical devices.

History

A Planning Board convened by the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy in late 2015 envisioned NEST as a voluntary network of data partners able to efficiently consolidate RWE to inform medical device evaluation and support regulatory decision-making throughout the total product life cycle (TPLC).

In September 2016, FDA awarded a grant for the NEST Coordinating Center (NESTcc) to the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC). MDIC is a 501(c)(3) public-private partnership with the objective of advancing approaches that promote patient access to innovative medical technologies. The selection of a third-party entity was important given the need for NESTcc to establish relationships and agreements between partners in a neutral, objective manner and to solicit a balanced representation from stakeholders.

In 2017, NESTcc established its inaugural Governing Committee, comprised of stakeholders across the medical device ecosystem. In the years since, NESTcc has led a number of initiatives to advance the innovative use of Real-World Evidence.

Daniel Caños, PhD, MPH, Director, Office of Clinical Evidence and Analysis, OPEQ, CDRH, FDA, discusses the aim of NEST.
  • September 2016

    FDA awards MDIC grant for NESTcc

  • July 2017

    NESTcc establishes Governing Committee

  • February 2018

    NESTcc announces full portfolio of Demonstration Projects

    Read more about NESTcc’s Demonstration Projects.

  • April 2018

    NESTcc establishes Research Network

    Read more about the Network Collaborators in the NESTcc Research Network.

  • November 2018

    NESTcc announces eight initial Test-Case research projects

    Read more about the NESTcc Test-Cases.

  • June 2019

    NESTcc announces 12 additional Test-Cases

    Read more about NESTcc’s Test-Cases.

  • December 2019

    NESTcc accepts proposals for development of active surveillance cloud infrastructure

  • February 2020

    NESTcc publishes Data Quality and Methods Frameworks

    Read more about the Frameworks.

  • June 2020

    NESTcc opens for sponsored research opportunities

    Read more about the launch.

  • July 2020

    NESTcc adds first international Network Collaborator

    Read more about the Network Collaborator.

  • October 2020

    NEST announces Collaborative Community UDI initiative

    Read more about the UDI Initiative.

  • July 2021

    NESTcc finalized Phase I of the Active Surveillance System

    Read more about the Active Surveillance initiative.