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In less than a year, we have learned much about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 disease. The NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research, released last July, has helped us get to this point. The Plan prioritizes conducting fundamental research; advancing diagnostics, treatments and prevention strategies; and redressing poor COVID-19 outcomes in health disparity and vulnerable populations. Cutting across all of these priorities is an emphasis on the importance of scientific collaboration, the research workforce, and data science as keys to the response.
From shifting public health needs to the unprecedented pace of biomedical discovery, everything about the coronavirus response is evolving. This goes for the plan as well, so too must it evolve.
We want your help on the next iteration of the Plan. A Request For Information released yesterday seeks public feedback on the current Plan (NOT-OD-21-018). You or your organization can submit ideas here by December 7, 2020.
If you have noted significant research gaps or barriers in the original Plan, let us know. Or perhaps you can share new resources that NIH can leverage to advance one of the plan’s priorities. Maybe a new scientific technique has emerged that could revolutionize COVID-19 research, well send the suggestion our way. We look forward to receiving your thoughts on ways we can continue tackling coronavirus disease going forward.
I have noticed that NHLBI did not solicit any new COVID grants, but awarded the extra COVID funds to only current NHBLI get holders as supplements. Moreover, NIBIB and NIAID also rejected any grants submitted under their new COVID grant RFAs if they contained heart, lung, or blood components. This generated a huge gap in potential funding for integrated lung-heart or lung-immune system, or vascularized-lung in COVID studies.