Broadening the Pool of NIH Reviewers
Noni Byrnes, Ph.D., Director of NIH Center for Scientific Review
Guest post by Noni Byrnes, Director of the NIH Center for Scientific Review, originally released on the Review Matters blog
The scientific peer review process benefits greatly when the study section reviewers bring not only strong scientific qualifications and expertise, but also a broad range of backgrounds and varying scientific perspectives. Bringing new viewpoints into the process replenishes and refreshes the study section, enhancing the quality of its output.
In this context, CSR recently removed the requirement to have at least 50% full profes...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - January 27, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Noni Byrnes Tags: blog Open Mike Enhancing Peer Review Source Type: funding
Case Study in Review Integrity: Asking for Favorable Treatment
A series to raise awareness, encourage dialogue and inspire creative problem solving of the challenges in maintaining integrity in peer review
What happens when a
former colleague contacts you, a reviewer, out of the blue to ask if the application
on which he is a principal investigator could be treated favorably at the
review meeting? Do you brush off the investigator and figure you will not let
the contact influence your review of that application? Or do you instead immediately
notify NIH?
Intrigued? We have a
case for you (based on true stories, details have been changed slightly and names
have been fictionalized...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - January 10, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Mike Lauer Tags: blog Open Mike Peer review Source Type: funding
Celebrating 20 Years of ClinicalTrials.gov and Looking to the Future
Guest post by Rebecca Williams, PharmD, MPH, acting director of ClinicalTrials.gov at the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
As ClinicalTrials.gov celebrates its 20th anniversary on February
29, 2020, we’re asking for your input on how it can best continue to serve your
needs for many more years to come.
ClinicalTrials.gov is the world’s largest public clinical
research registry and results database, giving patients, families, health care
providers, researchers, and others easy access to information on clinical
studies relating to a wide range of diseases and conditions. This online
reso...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - January 7, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Rebecca Williams Tags: blog Open Mike Clinical Trials Clinicaltrials.gov Source Type: funding
Important Reminders for Fellowship and Career Development Applicants
Planning to apply for a fellowship or career development
award? If so, don’t forget your ORCID iD.
We encourage everybody from graduate students to senior scientists to register for an ORCID account and link it to their eRA Commons personal profile (see this eRA video for a quick step-by-step). But for some grant applicants, it’s an absolute must. ORCID iDs are required for PD/PIs on individual fellowship and career development applications submitted for due dates on or after January 25, 2020. Our eRA systems will check the PD/PI eRA Commons IDs on all submitted fellowship and career development applications. If ...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - January 6, 2020 Category: Research Authors: NIH Staff Tags: Policy Top Stories career development award eRA Commons fellowship ORCID Source Type: funding
Data are Available on NIH Funding Plans
The NIH-Wide Strategic Plan
for Fiscal Years (FYs 2016-2020)
laid the groundwork for discussing data on our funding strategies—see page 28
for example data on R01 applications across peer review percentiles in FY 2014.
The 21st Century Cures Act recognized the value of reporting such information.
Building on what we have blogged on before (see here, here, here, and here), let’s talk more about how we make
funding decisions and show some data as well.
Funding
decisions rely heavily on peer review scores, but there is more to the story. NIH
Institutes and Centers (ICs) weigh those scores together with ensuring their
...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - December 23, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Mike Lauer Tags: blog Open Mike NIH Data Book NIH funding plans Source Type: funding
Predicting Translational Progress from Citations of NIH-Supported Fundamental Research
This study suggests that predictions
of translational research activity can be made within a relatively short period
of time after publication. Such predictions could be considered as part of a
holistic approach to decision-making (such as the development of new funding
opportunities), alongside expert opinion and other metrics. (Source: NIH Extramural Nexus)
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - December 17, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Mike Lauer Tags: blog Open Mike citations iCite Open Citation Collection Source Type: funding
NIH Needs Your Feedback on a DRAFT NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing
NIH has released for public comment a Draft NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing along with supplemental draft guidance. Since releasing a Request for Information last year on Proposed Provisions of a Draft NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy, NIH has received helpful feedback that has been incorporated into this version of the draft policy proposal. The draft policy requires all NIH-funded grantees to submit a Data Management and Sharing Plan outlining how researchers plan to manage scientific data, including when and where the scientific data will be preserved and shared. Plans may include considerat...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - December 5, 2019 Category: Research Authors: NIH Staff Tags: Top Stories data management Data sharing Source Type: funding
Expanding NIH ’s Definition of Socio-Economic Disadvantaged to be More Inclusive and Diversify the Workforce
An extensive literature demonstrates that socioeconomic status is one of the
strongest predictors of health, on par with typical
risk markers like smoking, physical inactivity, hypertension, and
diabetes. An intriguing graphic shows life
expectancy according to stops on the London subway system – as described in a news story, “if you travel eastbound between Lancaster Gate and Mile
End – 20 minutes on the Central line – life expectancy decreases by 12
years.” This association of strong links
between socioeconomic status and health is remarkably reproducible – including
on subway maps of the ...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - November 26, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Mike Lauer Tags: blog Open Mike Biomedical Workforce Diversity Source Type: funding
Case Study in Review Integrity: Undisclosed Conflict of Interest
A
series to raise awareness and inspire creative problem solving of the
challenges in maintaining integrity in peer review
Sometimes it takes
detective work to unearth attempts to undermine the integrity of peer review.
Take the case of Dr.
Smith, one of the reviewers on a study section in the Center for Scientific
Review. The scientific review officer
(SRO) would like Dr. Smith to review an application with Dr. Jones as principal
investigator (PI).
In checking for potential
conflicts of interest (COI), the SRO cast a wider net and found something
troubling. Dr. Smith, one of the
reviewer...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - November 12, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Mike Lauer Tags: blog Open Mike conflict of interest conflict of interest in peer review podcast Source Type: funding
New NIH Resource to Analyze Biomedical Research Citations: The Open Citation Collection
Citations from scientific
articles are more than lines on a page. They can, when reading between those
lines, shed some light on the development of scientific thought and on the
progress of biomedical technology. We’ve
previously posted some examples in blogs here, here, and here. But to
better see the light, we all would benefit from more comprehensive data and easier
access to them.
My colleagues within the NIH Office of Portfolio Analysis sought to answer this call. Drs. Ian
Hutchins and George Santangelo embarked on a hefty bibliometric endeavor over
the past several years to curate biomedical citation data....
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - October 16, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Mike Lauer Tags: blog Open Mike citations iCite OCC Open Citation Collection relative citation ratio Source Type: funding
Delving Further into the Funding Gap Between White and Black Researchers
As is now well known, black scientists are less successful than their white counterparts in obtaining support from NIH R01 awards as designated Principal Investigators (PIs) (see here and here). Though recent NIH efforts are showing promise to enhance diversity in the biomedical workforce (see this post), much work is still needed to address the funding gap.
In a paper recently published in Science Advances, we delved into the underlying factors associated with this funding gap. We identified three decision points where disparate outcomes arose between white and black researchers: 1) the decision to bring applications t...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - October 10, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Mike Lauer Tags: blog Open Mike application Diversity Funding data topic selection Source Type: funding
Seeking Comments on Using Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources for NIH-Supported Research
NIH
is currently accepting public comments on the use of standards for capturing, integrating,
and exchanging clinical data for research purposes (NOT-OD-19-150).
This is a great opportunity to hear more from the community on ways to
strengthen approaches that find, share, and access high-quality patient data,
while also making it more interoperable and reusable. Such goals align with
long-standing NIH
data sharing policies and what was also called for in a
related NIH strategic plan on
data science.
The
Request for Information focuses on the Fast
Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) standard (see also NOT-OD-...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - September 30, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Mike Lauer Tags: blog Open Mike Uncategorized fast healthcare interoperability resources FHIR request for information Request For Information (RFI) Source Type: funding
Final Report on Reducing Administrative Burdens Associated with Research Involving Laboratory Animals
This report, called for in the 21st Century Cures Act, is the
culmination of more than two years of diligent work to address inconsistent and
overlapping policies governing oversight of research involving animals, while ensuring research findings remain
credible and research institutions safeguard animal welfare.
Regulations and
policies overseeing federally-sponsored research help ensure NIH remains a
responsible steward of public funds. This extends to properly enforcing the
public’s expectation on how laboratory animals will be used in biomedical
research, teaching, and testing. Many stakeholders have pointe...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - September 25, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Mike Lauer Tags: blog Open Mike Administrative Burden Animal Welfare Source Type: funding
Don ’t Miss Out! NIH Loan Repayment Applications Now Being Accepted
Ericka Boone, Ph.D., Director of NIH Division of Loan Repayment
Applications are currently being accepted for the FY 2020 NIH Loan Repayment Program (LRP) until November 15, 2020. And, there are some important changes to the program we would like to spotlight for you.
For over three decades, the NIH LRPs have helped recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. LRP award funds repay a recipient’s qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research at a domestic, nonprofit, or government entity. Priority resear...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - September 20, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Ericka Boone and Mike Lauer Tags: blog Open Mike biomedical research workforce loan repayment program Source Type: funding
Don ’t Forget to Link Your ORCID iD to Your eRA Commons Profile
We encourage everybody from graduate students to senior
scientists to register for an ORCID
account and link
it to their eRA Commons personal profile. Starting October 1, 2019, ORCID
identifiers will be required for individuals supported by institutional
research training, career development, and other research education awards.
xTrain appointments will not be accepted for agency review if
potential appointees do not have an ORCID iD linked to their eRA personal
profile. ORCID iDs will also be required for PD/PIs on individual fellowship
and career development applications submitted for due dates o...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - September 4, 2019 Category: Research Authors: NIH Staff Tags: Policy Top Stories eRA Commons ORCID Source Type: funding
