NIGMS has two chartered initial review groups, the Biomedical Research and Research Training (BRT) Review Committee and the Minority Programs Review Committee (MPRC). The BRT Review Committee consists of two standing subcommittees (BRT-A and BRT-B) that are responsible for the review of institutional research training programs. The MPRC has two subcommittees, the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) review subcommittee (MPRC-A) and the Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) review subcommittee (MPRC-B), which are responsible for the review of applications for support from the MARC and MBRS programs. Research subprojects in MBRS applications generally are evaluated by appropriately constituted scientific review panels prior to being sent to the MBRS review subcommittee.
The Institute supports institutional predoctoral research training in nine program areas: Bioinformatics and Computational Biology; Biotechnology; Cellular, Biochemical, and Molecular Sciences; Chemistry-Biology Interface; Genetics; Molecular Biophysics; Pharmacological Sciences; Systems and Integrative Biology; and the Medical Scientist Training (M.D.-Ph.D.) Program. Institutional postdoctoral research training grants are funded in four areas: Anesthesiology, Clinical Pharmacology, Medical Genetics, and Trauma and Burn. The BRT-A and BRT-B review subcommittees include members with a broad range of expertise who are able to evaluate the full range of predoctoral research training areas supported by the Institute. The subcommittees are used flexibly, with the members of one subcommittee serving and voting, as needed, on the other subcommittee. As a result, almost all predoctoral research training grant applications received, regardless of area, can be assigned to a subcommittee of the standing review group. When necessary, temporary members are added to provide additional expertise and special emphasis panels (SEPs) may be established to review one or more applications. However, the need to establish special review committees (or SEPs) is significantly decreased from earlier periods, when the review groups were constituted along more programmatic lines. Postdoctoral training grant applications are generally reviewed during one review cycle each year (June/July) by a suitably constituted SEP.
This structure for the training grant review committees has many benefits. It allows for broader, more interdisciplinary reviews, reflecting the nature of NIGMS training programs, and fosters greater consitency in the review of training grant applications in the range of areas supported by the Institute. During a given review cycle, a subcommittee is likely to review applications from several training areas. When appropriate, multiple applications from an institution for training support in different program areas will be assigned to the same subcommittee for review. This affords some economy of effort on the part of staff and reviewers. For example, combined site visits can be made to gather information for two or more training grant applications simultaneously. It also allows issues affecting more than one program, including questions of overlap and applicant pool size, to be addressed in a more informed manner.
For more information about NIGMS review committees, contact:
Dr. Helen Sunshine
Director, Office of Scientific Review
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
National Institutes of Health
45 Center Drive MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200
Tel: 301-594-3663
E-mail: sunshinh@nigms.nih.gov
