Dr. Sally Rockey Named NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research

For the past two years, I have enjoyed working in partnership with you, the biomedical community, through some tremendous times. From welcoming a new NIH director and implementing ARRA, to enhancing peer review, financial conflict of interest and stem cell polices, it seemed something new, exciting and challenging was always right around the corner. I am delighted to have been named as NIH’s Deputy Director for Extramural Research at this important time.

As Deputy Director for Extramural Research, I serve as the primary conduit between the extramural community and the NIH. In this first year, I would like to continue an open dialogue with you. I am listening and hear your concerns. Through these discussions, we can address together the issues we all face, the prospect of future flat budgets and increasing administrative burden chief among them. As we move beyond ARRA, it is a time to look toward the future. How will we as a community maintain the momentum that has been created by ARRA? Importantly, it is our responsibility to communicate to you how we might address these difficult issues within the NIH framework. We will do what we can to provide both short- and long-term solutions crafted from our discussion together.

The Deputy Director for Extramural Research also has the fortunate job of heading the Office of Extramural Research (OER). OER often takes the lead for NIH and other federal agencies in implementing policies and initiatives that affect the extramural community. We have just published our first OER Report, and I encourage you to use it to learn more about some of these initiatives and the functions carried out by OER. My goal for OER is to be a lean, nimble and highly efficient organization that provides excellent service to the extramural community. One of the ways we can do that is by becoming totally electronic, and we are well on our way to reaching that goal.

I am committed to continuing the partnership between NIH and extramural community. Together we can work to implement policies that provide flexibility to address today’s ever changing scientific landscape and successfully meet the challenges of tomorrow. Please feel free to contact me at oer@od.nih.gov.