NIH Loan Repayment Programs: A Lifeline for Biomedical and Biobehavioral Researchers: Applications Accepted September 1 – November 15

September 28, 2018

By the time many researchers have completed their education and training, they have amassed on average $160,000 in student loan debt. The NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) are a set of programs established by Congress and designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. The LRPs counteract early-career researchers’ financial pressure by repaying up to $35,000 annually ($70,000 over a two-year contract) of a researcher’s qualifying educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in research areas important to the mission of NIH.

Join Us for the 20th Anniversary of the HHS SBIR/STTR Conference in Dallas, TX!

September 26, 2018

This dynamic, national, three-day event is designed to educate attendees about America’s Largest Seed Fund and how to access federal resources, develop competitive proposals, and secure awards.  At $1 billion dollars of annual HHS funding, this is one of the largest sources of early-stage capital for life science technology commercialization in the United States. Hosted by the Dallas Regional Chamber, A Better Tomorrow: Big Ideas in BioTech will be relevant to a diverse audience, including biomedical entrepreneurs; principal investigators; grants and contracts administrators; and industry partners and investors.

Plans are “Fall”ing into Place for the NIH Regional Seminar in San Francisco – Have You Registered Yet?

September 26, 2018

Don’t miss your chance to participate in the final NIH Regional Seminar of 2018. Limited time remains for you to get registered and hear the latest on NIH grants process and policies directly from ~ 65 NIH & HHS program, grants, review and policy staff. Our experts are eager and ready to meet with participants individually to make sure your questions get answered. What are you waiting for? Over 800 of your peers are attending! Register today and join them October 17-19!

End-of-fiscal-year Reminder to Review Accuracy of Grant Information

September 25, 2018

We make data on all funded NIH grants available to the public on the RePORT website. One of the ways we provide information is by school/department, which you can explore using the Awards by Location feature. Because of inconsistencies in the way information on department and school names are provided in grant applications, grantee officials may want to make changes in how that information is reflected in NIH systems.

NIH Policies to Address Sexual and Gender Harassment in NIH-supported Extramural Research

September 17, 2018

Several months ago, we learned in the press that an NIH-supported investigator was banned from his university campus pending an ongoing investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. The institution, which was the recipient of the awards in which this investigator was designated as principal investigator (PI), had not informed us of this situation. Once aware, we contacted senior institutional officials to discuss the need to ensure the effective stewardship of the award under these circumstances. We requested that the institution provide us with alternative plans for conducting the research given that this individual would no longer serve as PI and would have no other involvement in the NIH-funded research, and we reminded them (as we recently reminded the community and as reiterated below) that they are responsible for notifying NIH of any change in status that might affect the ability of an individual identified as key personnel to conduct NIH-supported research.

RPPRs: Who Can Do What?

September 7, 2018

A new resource, RPPRs: Who Can Do What? provides a quick look at the Annual, Interim, and Final Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs), including information such as due dates and how to access RPPR links. It also charts what happens to the Interim RPPR when a Type 2, Competing Renewal application is submitted.

Funding Longevity by Gender Among NIH-Supported Investigators

September 7, 2018

For nearly 10 years, more women than men received PhDs in the biomedical sciences, yet women are still underrepresented at every subsequent stage of academic advancement. In 2015, for example, women earned 53% of PhDs, but they comprised only 48% of post-doctoral fellows, 44% of assistant professors, and 35% of professors. To better understand what might be contributing to women’s underrepresentation in later stages of academia, Dr. Lisa Hechtman and her colleagues at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) analyzed “funding longevity by gender” among funded NIH investigators. Their analysis, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, yielded a number of interesting findings which I’d like to share with you.

Protecting Human Research Participants (PHRP) Online Tutorial No Longer Available as of September 26, 2018

September 7, 2018

We recently released a policy notice announcing that as of September 26, 2018, the NIH will no longer be offering the Protecting Human Research Participants (PHRP) course. It is important to note that investigators are still required to comply with all aspects of the NIH policy Required Education in the Protection of Human Research Participants, and can do so through a different training program or course.

Time is Limited to Save on the 2018 NIH Regional Seminar on Program Funding & Grants Administration in San Francisco – Act Now!

September 6, 2018

On Friday, Sept. 14, General Registration Rates end for this valuable and unique learning opportunity, designed for those new to working with the NIH grants process. If you are interested in attending the Fall NIH Regional Seminar in San Francisco, CA (Oct. 17-19) and have not registered yet, then now is the time!