As a smaller model than a new institute, a new NIH National Center for Nutrition Research (NCNR) could be created, representing a 28th institute or center at NIH that would be broadly similar to a new NIN, although with less stature, staff, and funding (Supplemental Text 3). The NCNR could aim to accomplish many of the same goals as an NIN, on a lesser scale. Advantages, disadvantages, and the path forward for NCNR are likewise similar, on a reduced scale, to NIN. Long term, the NCNR could further evolve into an institute, as has happened to other centers at NIH. However, if a research area is of sufficient national priority that it may transition into an institute within a decade or less, then starting as a center can be inefficient, compared with directly creating an institute. For example, both the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) and National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) were founded as centers but transitioned into institutes within ≤10 y (Public Laws 111–148, 99–158, 103–43).