IN
THIS ISSUE . . .
June 29, 2007
Director's Message
Advisory Council Concept Clearances
Funding Opportunity
NIGMS-Sponsored Events
Resources
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301-594-0828).
Director's Message
The budget process is in full swing. In the last
issue of the NIGMS Feedback Loop, I reported
that Congress had just passed a joint resolution appropriating
funds for NIH for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2007. The
resolution provided $620 million over the NIH appropriation
in the previous fiscal year, resulting in an effective
increase of 1.2% in each institute and center budget.
To make more funds available to support new and competing
research grant applications, NIH set a policy that each
noncompeting research project grant would be funded at
97.1% of its previously committed level. For NIGMS, the
additional funds appropriated by Congress and this policy
lead to a projected success rate of 29% for new and competing
research grants in Fiscal Year 2007. This is approximately
3% higher than the previously projected level.
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Figure 1. R01 funding curves for Fiscal Year 2000
through Fiscal Year 2006 and a projected curve for
Fiscal Year 2007 (red). The projected success rate
for Fiscal Year 2007 is 29%. A substantial number
of grants above the 20th percentile have been and
will be funded. |
Along with their contribution to supporting research
project grants, the additional funds provided by Congress
were used to initiate two new NIH-wide programs: the NIH
Director’s New Innovator Award and the NIH
Director’s Bridge Awards. I described the New
Innovator program in the last
issue of the Feedback Loop. The New Innovator
Award complements the NIH commitment to fund approximately
1,500 R01 grants to new investigators over the course
of Fiscal Year 2007. As part of this effort, NIGMS is
working toward funding more than 190 such awards.
The Bridge Awards provide 1 year of support to investigators
who have unamended or first-amended applications within
10 percentile points of the institute’s or center’s
nominal payline and who also have relatively low levels
of other research support. No action by the investigators
is required to receive this support. NIH will utilize
$91 million for this program; the NIGMS portion is $14
million, which will fund 51 investigators.
With regard to the Fiscal Year 2008 budget, both the
House and Senate Labor-HHS-Education appropriations subcommittees
have held hearings in the past few months. NIH Director
Elias Zerhouni’s submitted testimony is at http://www.nih.gov/about/director/budgetrequest/fy2008directors
senatebudgetrequest.htm, and mine is at http://www.nigms.nih.gov/About/Budget/Statements/March6_2007.htm.
The Senate subcommittee also held a series of hearings
with small groups of institute and center directors to
explore in more detail the opportunities and challenges
in different fields of biomedical science. I had the privilege
of participating in a hearing organized on the theme “Frontiers
of Science.” The other institute directors at this
hearing were Francis Collins of the National Human Genome
Research Institute, Donald Lindberg of the National Library
of Medicine, and Roderic Pettigrew of the National Institute
of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
On June 7, the House subcommittee “marked up”
the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. This resulted
in a proposed increase of $750 million for the overall
NIH appropriation—and a 1.5% increase for NIGMS—over
the Fiscal Year 2007 level. On June 19, the Senate subcommittee
“marked up” its bill, and the full Senate
appropriations committee approved it on June 21. This
bill proposes an increase of $1 billion for NIH overall,
including a 2.2% increase for NIGMS. Both bills provide
funds for the New Innovator Award and the Bridge Award
programs as well as for increases in the average size
of research project grants. These bills must continue
to move through the House and Senate for eventual action
by the President.
NIGMS Strategic Planning Update
As noted in the previous
issue of the Feedback Loop, NIGMS is engaged
in a strategic planning process. We requested input and
received more than 225 responses, and we also held a meeting
with a broad group of scientists from around the country
to explore several key questions. We expect to present
a draft strategic plan to the National Advisory General
Medical Sciences Council at its September 2007 meeting
and to post a draft plan on our Web site for comment before
it is finalized.
One of the topics discussed at the strategic planning
meeting was the role of larger, more targeted programs
supported by NIGMS. Meeting participants were interested
to see how the budgets of these programs compared to that
for research project grants, as shown in Figure 2.
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Figure 2. A histogram showing the annual budgets
of some of the larger programs supported by NIGMS.
The budgets for training, the Division of Minority
Opportunities in Research, small business programs
(SBIR/STTR), and research project grants (most of
which are R01s) are also shown. |
Protein Structure Initiative Assessment
As part of a process initiated some years ago, NIGMS
is assessing its larger programs through a working group
of the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council.
The first of these programs to be considered is the Protein
Structure Initiative (PSI). An outstanding
group of scientists is assisting in this effort, and
its deliberations will be informed by input from scientists,
scientific organizations, and other interested parties
who respond to a Request
for Information. The deadline for responses is July
20.
Working Groups Examining NIH Peer Review
On June 8, Dr. Zerhouni announced the formation
of two working groups charged with an examination
of the NIH peer review process. One of these committees,
co-chaired by Keith Yamamoto of the University of California,
San Francisco, and Lawrence Tabak, Director of the National
Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, is a working
group of the Advisory Committee to the Director, NIH.
This group will primarily solicit and compile input on
peer review from the scientific community and other interested
parties. The second committee, which I am co-chairing
with Dr. Tabak, is a working group of the NIH Director’s
Steering Committee that will focus primarily on gathering
input within NIH. One of the first activities of these
committees will be a Request for Information to be released
in early July. We will provide addition information as
it becomes available.
As always, I welcome your comments or questions.
Jeremy M. Berg
Director
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
bergj@mail.nih.gov
Advisory Council Concept Clearances
Proposed new NIGMS research and training programs are made
public at the open session of National Advisory General
Medical Sciences Council meetings. Council approval of new
initiatives (and major changes to existing initiatives)
is called "concept clearance." Concept clearance
authorizes NIGMS staff to develop plans, publish announcements
in the NIH
Guide for Grants and Contracts, and fund grants.
During the initiative planning stages that follow concept
clearance, NIGMS welcomes comments and suggestions from
the community.
At its May 2007 meeting, the Council discussed the concept
clearances summarized below. For additional details, see
the Council
minutes or contact the identified NIGMS staff members.
High-Resolution Probes for Cellular
Imaging
The Council approved continuation of an ongoing NIGMS
initiative to develop imaging probes with enhanced spectral
characteristics. The program will support collaborations
of small interdisciplinary teams to construct new classes
of probes. For details, contact NIGMS program director
Richard Rodewald at rodewalr@nigms.nih.gov
or 301-594-0828.
Drug Docking and Screening Data
Resource
The Council gave concept clearance for the establishment
of a drug docking and screening data resource containing
high-resolution structural and functional information
for large groups of chemically related molecules bound
to selected target proteins. The resource will collect,
curate, and make publicly available some of the existing,
but unpublished, data from industrial and academic sources.
The resource also will generate new data to optimize and
complete data sets and compare docking and screening tools.
Program director Janna Wehrle (wehrlej@nigms.nih.gov,
301-594-0828) can answer questions.
Funding Opportunity
EUREKA!
Investigators seeking funding for novel, exceptionally
innovative research that, if successful, will have a major
impact on a broad segment of the scientific community
are encouraged to apply for the R01 EUREKA award, which
received concept clearance in January 2007. We expect
the funding opportunity announcement (RFA-GM-08-002)
to appear soon (at which time the preceding link will
become active), with a receipt date in late October. For
general questions about the initiative, contact NIGMS
program directors Laurie Tompkins (tompkinl@nigms.nih.gov,
301-594-0943) or Ravi Basavappa (basavapr@nigms.nih.gov,
301-594-0828).
Program Projects for Basic Research on Human Embryonic
Stem Cells
NIGMS re-announces its initiative for program projects
that support research on the basic biology of human embryonic
stem cells and promote the use of these cells as model
systems for addressing significant questions in the basic
biomedical sciences. We anticipate funding up to three
P01 awards at a maximum of $6.1 million in direct costs
each over 5 years. Investigators must use cell lines listed
in the NIH
Human Embryonic Cell Registry. For more information,
see RFA-GM-08-003
or contact program director Marion Zatz at zatzm@nigms.nih.gov
or 301-594-0943.
Collaborative Studies on Systems Biology of Complex
Phenotypes
NIGMS invites applications for collaborative R01 projects
that use systems biology approaches to investigate the
genetic determination of complex phenotypes. The team
of principal investigators must include a geneticist and
a systems biologist. We have set aside $1.6 million to
fund up to four awards in Fiscal Year 2008. For details,
see RFA-GM-08-001
or contact program directors Richard Anderson (andersor@nigms.nih.gov,
301-594-0943) or Matthew Portnoy (mportnoy@nigms.nih.gov,
301-594-0943).
National Centers for Systems Biology
NIGMS invites new and competing continuation applications
for the National
Centers for Systems Biology, an initiative to promote
the development of research, training, and outreach programs
focused on the systems-level analysis of biological phenomena
of biomedical importance. We expect to make up to three
P50 awards in Fiscal Year 2008. See RFA-GM-08-004
and contact program director Jerry Li (lij@nigms.nih.gov,
301-594-0828) for more information.
Research on Interventions that Promote Research Careers
These R01 grants will support research that tests assumptions
regarding existing or potential interventions to increase
interest, motivation, and preparedness for careers in
biomedical and behavioral research, especially among underrepresented
minority students. A desirable outcome of the proposed
research would be the identification of new principles
that would inform practice. We expect to make between
six and eight awards, each ranging from $100,000 to $250,000
in direct costs. For additional information about the
program, see RFA-GM-08-005
or contact program director Shiva Singh at singhs@nigms.nih.gov
or 301-594-3900.
Diversity and Reentry Supplements
As part of an NIH-wide program, NIGMS offers grant supplements
to assist principal investigators in increasing the diversity
of the biomedical workforce and promoting reentry into
biomedical and behavioral research careers. For details
about the supplement programs, see the NIGMS
Research & Administrative Supplements Web site
or contact Anthony René, NIGMS assistant director
for referral and liaison, at renea@nigms.nih.gov
or 301-594-3833.
NIGMS-Sponsored Events
SACNAS Conference
The annual
meeting of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos
and Native Americans in Science will take place from October
11-14, 2007, in Kansas City, MO, to investigate questions
related to the development of a new generation of scientific
leaders from underrepresented groups.
ABRCMS
The Annual
Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students,
the largest professional conference for biomedical students,
will meet in Austin, TX, from November 7-10, 2007. The
conference is designed to encourage underrepresented minority
students to pursue advanced training in the biomedical
and behavioral sciences and provide faculty mentors and
advisors with resources for facilitating students’
success.
Resources
Pharm.D. Gateway
NIGMS has created the Pharm.D.
Gateway to NIH to provide information about NIH funding
opportunities for Pharm.D. students, postdoctoral researchers,
and faculty interested in biomedical and behavioral research.
Free Science Education Materials
NIGMS announces its latest science education publication,
The New Genetics. This booklet and others
we offer on cell
biology, pharmacology,
structural
biology, and biochemistry
are targeted to high school and college audiences. Our
semi-annual magazine, Findings,
features profiles of NIGMS-funded scientists. We have
also developed a curriculum
supplement on the scientific process for use by middle
school teachers. Feel free to browse
our publications online, order copies for your own
use, and tell colleagues, teachers, and students about
these free materials.
Send Us Your Images and Videos
Do you have interesting or striking images, videos, or
animations created with NIGMS support? We showcase visual
materials produced by our grantees in our publications,
electronic
newsletter, and image
galleries. If you have images or videos to share that
are free of copyright restrictions, please send them,
along with a brief caption and credit details, to info@nigms.nih.gov.
Contact Karin Jegalian at jegaliak@mail.nih.gov
or 301-496-7301 with questions.
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