The National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Diseases Council embodies a diverse perspective on science, health, and the human impact
of disease. Its 18 voting members include 12 health or science experts
and six lay members. Members usually serve for four years.
Six nonvoting, ex officio members provide liaison with higher
level agencies or organizations having missions consistent with that
of NIAID, including the secretary, HHS, and representatives from the
Department of Defense, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and
Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Council's scientists contribute technical expertise and an understanding
of the needs of the research communities of academia and industry. To
supplement this knowledge in specialized fields, NIAID also invites ad
hoc members. Lay Council members impart a perspective of people affected by diseases in NIAID's research mission.
Each Council member also belongs to one of the three Council subcommittees
-- AIDS, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, and Allergy, Immunology,
and Transplantation, corresponding to NIAID's extramural divisions.
Council breaks up into separate subcommittee meetings to do much of its
work. Discussions of specific research areas often take place in the subcommittees.
What Council does
As required by law, chartered advisory committees, including the councils,
are part of every NIH institute. NIAID's Council plays four key roles:
performing second-level review, advising us on policy, reviewing programs,
and developing and clearing concepts for PAs, RFAs,
and RFPs.
Policy is usually discussed by the full Council. NIAID often seeks Council's
advice before changing policies for training, health information dissemination,
administration, budget, and other areas.
The subcommittees conduct most other business. During program reviews,
the subcommittees advise us on a program's effectiveness in meeting
Institute
goals and the needs of the scientific fields it supports.
Second-level review
The second
level of peer review is a core charge of Council. As part of the
process, members perform an early, expedited review of applications
that are within the payline and
have no special
issues that NIAID staff or Council need to resolve. Applications
with concerns are reviewed by Council subcommittees in the closed
session.
Expedited second-level review takes place electronically about eight
weeks before a Council meeting. All Council members have access to the
NIAID Electronic Council Book, which contains peer review results including
summary
statements. Three Council members perform expedited peer review;
the full Council ratifies the results at the Council meeting.
For the first two Councils -- January or February and May or June --
expedited review enables NIAID to fund grants a few weeks after the
initial
peer review meeting. Because September
Council reviews applications for funding in the next fiscal year, applicants
approved for funding through expedited review will get their awards after the Institute receives its next year's appropriation.
What happens at Council
meetings
Council meets in September, January, and May. Its activities are driven
partly by the budget and appropriation cycle. For example, discussions
in September reflect the beginning of
the fiscal year.
In the morning, the subcommittees meet individually to review applications
needing special consideration, discuss selective
pay nominations, and recommend MERIT awards. Then, Dr. Fauci convenes the full Council. He presents scientific
and administrative topics for discussion, often including staff or outside
speakers. That session is followed by a short, closed meeting of the
full Council to discuss and formally approve subcommittee recommendations
for
funding grants.
The afternoon is devoted to the subcommittee meetings, focusing on scientific
and programmatic topics relevant to the divisions. The Division of AIDS
has a unique structure in that its subcommittee meets in conjunction with
another congressionally mandated body, the AIDS Research Advisory Committee.
Find the latest agenda on the Web.
Concept clearance
NIAID seeks Council's advice for long-term planning at an early stage.
Council members and ad hoc advisors counsel the Institute on broad research
priorities and directions, providing the perspective of the outside community.
After a decision is made to go forward with an initiative, the Council
subcommittee reviews it again for budget and mechanism, e.g., grant or
contract, and grant type.
Minutes
from Council meetings are also online. |
Subscribe to Alerts
