December 21, 2021
An anniversary is a time for reflection on our history, the goals we’ve accomplished, the challenges we’ve surmounted, and the lessons we’ve learned along the way. Our video, “Catalyst of Hope and Health,” reflects on CSR’s work over the past 75 years to ensure that grant applications sent to NIH receive fair, independent, expert, and timely scientific reviews that are free from inappropriate influences, so NIH can fund the most promising research. Since its establishment, CSR has also sought to continually improve.
December 14, 2021
The UNITE initiative was established to identify and eliminate structural racism in biomedical research, and was publicly unveiled February 26, 2021, at a special meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD). On Friday, December 10, 2021, UNITE committee members provided an update to the ACD on progress and future directions for the initiative. How can you become involved in this important initiative? UNITE invites external stakeholders from the biomedical research community who work in diverse settings to participate in its online listening sessions. Sessions began on December 1 and continue through February 2022.
December 10, 2021
Earlier this year, we provided an update on NLM’s efforts to modernize ClinicalTrials.gov, the world’s largest publicly accessible database of privately and publicly funded clinical trials. NLM released a request for information, hosted public webinars, and adopted a user-centered design approach intended to help ensure that modernization is responsive to user needs. These activities, together with input from the NLM Board of Regents Public Service Working Group on ClinicalTrials.gov Modernization, supported the development of beta versions of a new ClinicalTrials.gov website and components of the information submission system, also known as the Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS). The beta releases feature a modern look and feel and provide updated technology to support users.
December 3, 2021
NIH released a “Request for Information on Proposed Updates and Long-Term Considerations for the NIH Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) Policy.” This is your opportunity to help us shape the future of the GDS Policy. Stakeholder input is the key to ensuring that NIH strikes the right balance when updating the GDS Policy. Comments will be accepted until February 28, 2022.
December 1, 2021
In their 2014 report, the Advisory Committee to the Director recommended that NIH sustain support for training of dual-degree (M.D./Ph.D.) physician scientists. As part of our ongoing efforts, we wanted to assess the success of those trainees over time.
November 18, 2021
The R01 (or R01-equivalent) grant has traditionally been a critical component to the launch of one’s research career. A number of academic leaders have described and expressed concerns about the age at which scientists are first supported on an R01 award (“age at first R01”). The biomedical research workforce is aging over the past several decades due to demographic trends and the end of mandatory retirement in academia. Here we present data from fiscal years 1995 to 2020 on age at first R01-equivalent grant.
November 16, 2021
The NIH Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity (COSWD) Office is hosting a seminar and virtual forum on faculty cohort recruitment programs and other evidence-based strategies as tools to foster diversity. The first event will be on December 8, while the second will be in February 2022. Both events are open to NIH staff and the public.
November 3, 2021
Diversity is inextricably tied to the success of the NIH mission, thus ensuring diversity within the extramural biomedical research workforce is of utmost importance. We are aware that NIH’s recent decision to rescind a “Notice of Special Interest” (or NOSI) – intended solely to call attention to the presence of a specific funding opportunity announcement and encourage researchers from underrepresented groups to apply – may have caused some to question this commitment. While the spirit of the NOSI was laudable, it may have led to an impression that by linking demographic characteristics to grant proposals, applications supporting scientists from underrepresented groups would be automatically prioritized for funding. Read on for more.
October 29, 2021
We have updated our anti-sexual harassment website to encompass the range of threats to safe and respectful workplaces at institutions receiving NIH funding. The updated site outlines actions NIH can take to address different forms of harassment, how to notify us (which can be anonymous), resources to evaluate workplace climate, and frequently asked questions.
October 20, 2021
Twice since the onset of the public health emergency we have taken a look at the number of research applications submitted together with some demographic information on the affiliated scientists. We are continuing to follow this analysis again here, focusing on NIH R01-equivalent and RPG application patterns during April 9 and August 8 over the past five years.
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