2022: A Year in Review

This past year, 2022, has been an eventful one. Our policies and programs supporting the future biomedical workforce led to a record number of newly funded early-stage investigators and to many fellows and trainees receiving childcare cost reimbursements. Our focus on integrity and transparency and objectivity in NIH-supported research continued, bolstered by White House guidance on research security and researcher responsibilities. We now require stronger recipient notifications, safety plans for NIH-supported conferences, and behavioral codes of conduct as part of ending the culture of harassment in biomedical science.

Last month’s Advisory Committee to the NIH Director touched on many (but not all) of the important priorities for 2023. Efforts are underway to simplify peer review. NIH convened a working groups to re-envision postdoctoral training and to consider alternative approaches to model human health and disease. NIH is developing new strategies for NIH digital technologies and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. We are continuing our rollout of the Data Management and Sharing (DMS) policy which after extensive public comment was announced in October 2020.

Just like in previous years, I virtually sat down with Dr. David Kosub, from our communications group, to reflect on 2022 and what is in store for 2023. Please join us for this brief conversation (transcript) and share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

Please also join me and my colleagues at the upcoming NIH Grants Conference next month. More than 15,000 people from all 50 states and over 100 countries participated last time. At the February event, we will have offerings on varied grant related topics and virtual booths where we will go more in depth on your questions. You may also find the “pre-conference” events helpful, such as those on human subjects, loan repayment, international collaborations, and more. We look forward to seeing you there.

I also remain committed to discussing our extramural grant policy decisions and data in this blog over the next year. When looking back, many of the top 10 posts of 2022 (as measured by page visits; Table 1) centered around the people that make up the biomedical workforce. Blogs on the costs of grants and DMS resources were also well read. Our podcast on how to find help at NIH received the most attention on NIH All About Grants. And, maybe not surprisingly, many people engaged with our tweet on simplifying peer review on social media.

We at the NIH Office of Extramural Research wish you all the best for the New Year!

Table 1. Top 10 NIH Open Mike blogs: January 1 – December 31, 2022