January 13, 2021
In recognition of the fact that COVID-19 may still be adversely affecting the ability of applicants to generate preliminary data, NIH will continue to accept a one-page update with preliminary data as post-submission materials for applications submitted for the August/October 2021 council (beginning with applications submitted for the January 25, 2021 due date for Summer 2021 review meetings), ONLY if the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) used for submission allowed preliminary data in the application.
January 4, 2021
From struggles to successes, 2020 deserves a look back. Right before the holidays, I sat down with Dr. David Kosub from the NIH Office of Extramural Research’s communication shop to reflect on 2020 and what may be in store for the year ahead. I invite you to watch our conversation and hope you have a happy, healthy, and safe new year!
December 10, 2020
“The [NIH Inclusion Across the Lifespan] policy, and the review and reporting requirements associated with it, should help ensure that children and older adults are not inappropriately excluded from clinical studies. The policy also has the potential to provide a more robust understanding of the full spectrum of participants recruited into clinical studies.”
Together with my NIH colleagues Drs. Marie Bernard and Janine Clayton, we made this point in a 2018 JAMA opinion piece following the inaugural NIH Inclusion Across the Lifespan workshop. Fast forward, we revisited this issue at the NIH’s Inclusion Across the Lifespan 2 workshop held this past September. You can watch the videocast here. The report covering the event was posted today, and I wanted to share some of my takeaways.
December 2, 2020
FAQs now available to clarify our recent guidance on the ability to direct charge personal protective equipment (PPE) costs to clinical trials and clinical research awards (NOT-OD-20-164).
December 1, 2020
NIH grant applications should NOT include contingency plans that would outline steps needed to recover from temporary, emergency situations, or institutional return-to-the-workplace plans, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Contingency plans will not be considered in peer review but, if needed, COVID-19 contingency plans will be requested and carefully considered by NIH staff before funding.
November 19, 2020
How will study sections meet in the future? NIH peer review depends on robust meetings where groups of scientists, through vigorous discussion, identify the applications of highest merit. For the last 75 years, until last March, nearly all chartered review committee meetings were held in-person. Today, in response to the pandemic, 90% of all CSR review meetings are run as video (“Zoom”) meetings. CSR is taking steps now so that when all options are back on the table, we can make informed choices about how best to convene review meetings.
October 29, 2020
Since March, COVID-19 has greatly impacted the way we all work. NIH has been tracking how well our policies meet the needs of our research community in response to the ongoing pandemic. To get a better understanding of how COVID-19 is impacting our extramural researchers, we launched the Impact of COVID-19 on Extramural Researchers Survey in mid-October. If you received an invitation to take this survey, please take 15-20 minutes to complete it. This survey will be open until Friday, November 13th. The results from the survey will inform policy and program decisions, so participation is critical.
October 5, 2020
NIH has been working diligently to support the extramural research community since the pandemic began in March. We are now preparing to reach out with surveys to gather data on how COVID-19 is impacting our extramural researchers and their institutions. If you receive such a survey, we hope that you will take the time to provide us with your perspective. The results of the surveys will be extremely valuable to inform policy and program decisions as NIH seeks to identify ways to continue to support the biomedical research enterprise as we move forward.
August 14, 2020
The ability to submit preliminary data as post-submission materials for applications submitted for the January 2021 council (NOT-OD-20-123) has been extended to apply to the May 2021 council (NOT-OD-20-163). This is a temporary flexibility due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
0 Comments