IN
THIS ISSUE . . .
November 19, 2007
Director's Message
Funding Opportunities
NIGMS-Sponsored Events
Research Administration Notes
Resources
Job Announcement
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Director's Message
It is hard to believe that 4 years have passed since
I became Director of NIGMS. Each year has had its own
opportunities and challenges, and the past year is no
exception.
Fiscal Year 2007 ended on September 30. As I noted in
the previous issue of the NIGMS
Feedback Loop, NIH received its appropriation
from Congress through the Joint Budget Resolution in February.
This resolution provided some funds above what were in
the President’s budget request. Some of these funds
went to start new programs, such as the NIH
Director’s New Innovator Awards and the NIH
Director’s Bridge Awards through the NIH Common
Fund. Other funds effectively flowed to the institutes
and centers. NIGMS used the great majority of the additional
funds it received to support more research project grants.
The net result is shown in Figures 1 and 2.
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Figure 1. NIGMS R01 applications reviewed (white
rectangles) and funded (black bars) for Fiscal Year
2007. All competing applications are included. |
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Figure 2. NIGMS funding curves for Fiscal Years
2000-2007, including all competing R01 grant applications. |
Due to the combined effect of an increase in the number
of grants awarded and the decrease in the number of applications
received, the overall success rate for R01s rose to approximately
33%, well above our previous
projection of 29%. In addition, the ratio of awards
to applications for unamended, new R01 grants increased
to approximately 14.5%, compared to approximately 11.5%
for Fiscal Year 2006.
The appropriation process for the current fiscal year
is proceeding. Congress passed the Conference Report on
H.R. 3043 appropriating $30 billion for NIH. This corresponds
to a 3.1% increase for NIH overall (correcting for a transfer
of $300 million for the global AIDS fund), with an increase
of 2.5% for NIGMS. This bill also addresses a number of
important policy issues, including requiring the submission
of manuscripts generated with NIH support to PubMed Central
within 1 year of publication (assuming that this policy
can be implemented consistent with copyright law). In
addition, the bill calls for an increase of 2.5% in the
average cost of new research project grants as well as
the funding of existing grants at committed levels. On
November 12, the President vetoed this bill and sent it
back to Congress for reconsideration, so the process continues.
Appreciation
I want to thank those of you who provided comments regarding
various NIGMS and NIH activities, including the NIGMS
strategic planning process, the Protein Structure Initiative
assessment, and the NIH-wide Enhancing Peer Review project.
Your input is quite valuable to us, and NIGMS staff members
and I read and consider each comment.
The assessment of the Protein Structure Initiative will
be presented to the National Advisory General Medical
Sciences Council in January 2008, and the NIGMS Strategic
Plan for 2008-2012 will be released at approximately the
same time. The status of the NIH Enhancing Peer Review
project will be presented at a meeting of the Advisory
Committee to the Director, NIH in December, and project
development will continue in 2008. There likely will be
other opportunities to provide input as this important
effort moves forward.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone
who has served on NIH peer review committees. The entire
NIH system depends on the willingness of so many scientists
to contribute their time and expertise in this way.
Pre-Application Contact Welcome
If you are considering an application, particularly in
response to a program announcement or request for applications,
I encourage you to contact NIGMS staff members to discuss
your plans. Such communications, preferably well prior
to application submission, can avoid misunderstanding
and increase the likelihood of satisfactory outcomes.
Nobel Prize to Grantees
NIGMS is proud that two longtime grantees, Mario Capecchi
and Oliver Smithies, shared this year’s Nobel Prize
in physiology or medicine with Martin Evans for the development
of “knockout mouse” technology. This brings
the total number of NIGMS-supported Nobel Prize winners
to 64. Interestingly, some press coverage of the prize
indicated that NIH had “rejected” Dr. Capecchi’s
grant application that included his initial work on homologous
recombination. While it is true that the study section
members did express some skepticism about this element
of his proposal, NIGMS funded the competing renewal application
in 1981 for a period of 5 years, with a 19% budget increase
over the previous year. I was pleased that Time
magazine published a letter
I sent clarifying the role of NIGMS in supporting this
Nobel Prize-winning research and underscoring the link
between taxpayer dollars, NIH funding, and medical advances.
Knockout mice are among the many powerful conceptual
and technical tools developed by NIGMS-supported scientists.
With these tools, and the abundant creativity and talent
of the research community, we are well positioned to tackle
the exciting scientific challenges that lie before us.
I wish you a happy and healthy holiday season and, as
always, I welcome your comments.
Best,
Jeremy M. Berg
Director
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
bergj@mail.nih.gov
Funding Opportunities
NIH Director’s Pioneer
(DP1) and New Innovator Awards (DP2)
NIH is calling for applications for 2008 NIH Director’s
Pioneer and New Innovator Awards. Both programs support
exceptionally creative scientists who take highly innovative—and
often unconventional—approaches to major challenges
in biomedical or behavioral research. Pioneer
Awards are open to scientists at any career stage
and provide $2.5 million in direct costs over 5 years.
New
Innovator Awards are reserved for investigators who
have not received an NIH regular research (R01) or similar
grant and provide $1.5 million in direct costs over 5
years. The Pioneer Award application period is December
16, 2007, to January 16, 2008 (see RFA-RM-08-013).
The New Innovator Award application period is March 3
to 31, 2008 (see RFA-RM-08-014).
Chemical Methodologies and Library Development Centers
(P50)
NIGMS re-announces the Centers of Excellence in Chemical
Methodologies and Library Development program. The program
stimulates the establishment and maintenance of multi-investigator
research centers to develop efficient, general, state-of-the-art
methodologies for the design, synthesis, analysis, and
handling of chemical diversity libraries. We intend to
make up to four awards totaling up to $10 million in the
first year. See RFA-GM-08-007,
and address questions to program director John Schwab
at schwabj@nigms.nih.gov
or 301-594-3827.
Development of High Resolution Probes for Cellular Imaging
(R01)
NIGMS invites multi-investigator teams to develop new
technologies for the high-sensitivity detection of molecules
in living cells. NIGMS and the National Human Genome Research
Institute plan to fund between six and eight awards of
up to $500,000 in direct costs per year. See RFA-GM-08-009.
For additional information, contact NIGMS program director
Richard Rodewald at rodewalr@nigms.nih.gov
or 301-594-0828.
Developmental Pharmacology (R01)
NIH seeks applications for R01 projects that bring together
clinical, translational, and basic researchers working
in complementary areas of developmental pharmacology.
Applications should address the role of ontogeny on drug-metabolizing
enzymes, transporters, receptors, signaling pathways,
and the action of anesthetic agents on neuronal activity
across developmental periods, from fetal life to adolescence.
For details, see PAR-07-416.
The NIGMS contact is program director Richard Okita, reachable
at okitar@nigms.nih.gov
or 301-594-3827.
Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP)
(R25)
The PREP program encourages the pursuit of a research
doctorate in biomedically relevant sciences by individuals
from underrepresented groups who hold a recent baccalaureate
degree. We invite applications from domestic private and
public institutions of higher learning with strong Ph.D.
programs, demonstrated experience in training Ph.D. candidates,
and a significant number of faculty members with NIH or
other extramural research support in biomedical and behavioral
science fields. For more information, see PAR-07-432
or contact program director Jermelina Tupas at tupasjer@nigms.nih.gov
or 301-594-3900.
Bridges Programs (R25)
The Bridges
to the Future programs help students from underrepresented
groups transition to and complete degree programs in the
biomedical and behavioral sciences. The Bridges to the
Baccalaureate program, PAR-07-411,
promotes partnerships between community colleges or other
2-year post-secondary educational institutions granting
the associate degree and colleges or universities that
offer the baccalaureate degree. The goal is to increase
the overall institutional transfer rate of these students
to baccalaureate degree programs. The Bridges to the Doctorate
program, PAR-07-410,
promotes partnerships between institutions granting a
terminal master’s degree and institutions that grant
Ph.D. degrees, with the aim of increasing the overall
institutional transfer rate of students to such Ph.D.
degree programs. Domestic educational institutions, both
private and public, and state and local systems of higher
education may apply. Direct questions to program director
Shiva Singh at singhs@nigms.nih.gov
or 301-594-3900.
NIGMS-Sponsored Events
Protein Structure Initiative
Meetings
Scientists participating in the Protein Structure Initiative
will share reports and progress updates at an annual
meeting on December 5 and 6. A “Bottlenecks”
workshop, which offers a forum for discussing technical
barriers to the high-throughput determination of protein
structures, will be held April 14-16. Space is limited
and advance registration is required for both meetings
on the NIH Bethesda campus. For details, visit the meetings’
Web sites or contact NIGMS program director Charles G.
Edmonds at edmondsc@nigms.nih.gov
or 301-594-0828.
Research Administration Notes
Minority Program Changes
Applications for Minority Biomedical Research Support
(MBRS) Support of Competitive Research (SCORE) awards
(SC1, SC2, and SC3) must now be submitted electronically
through Grants.gov using standard “S” mechanism
submission dates. See NOT-OD-08-115
for details. Additionally, NIGMS is discontinuing the
SCORE Institutional Development Award (NOT-GM-08-114).
Current grantees of the MBRS Research Initiative for
Scientific Enhancement and Initiative for Maximizing Student
Diversity programs may apply for administrative supplements
for equipment replacement or updating as well as for program
evaluation activities. For details, see NOT-GM-08-116.
More information about MBRS programs is available at
the MBRS
Web site.
Resources
NIH Roadmap Resources
Find out about recently announced NIH Roadmap for Medical
Research funding opportunities at http://nihroadmap.nih.gov
or by subscribing to the NIH
Roadmap listserv.
Frontiers in Glycomics
An upcoming issue of Proteomics
will include a summary of key conclusions from the September
2006 NIGMS-sponsored workshop, “Frontiers in Glycomics:
Bioinformatics and Biomarkers in Disease.”
Computational Biology Research
Karin
Remington joined NIGMS in July as director of the
Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. She
welcomes your input or questions at remingka@nigms.nih.gov
or 301-451-6446.
We focus on the diverse field of computational biology
in our latest science education booklet. Computing
Life is geared toward high school and early college
students and teachers. You can order
free copies of this or our other publications.
Job Announcement
Program Director, NIGMS Division
of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry
The NIGMS
Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry
(PPBC) seeks a scientist-administrator to manage grants
in the areas of biochemistry and biorelated chemistry,
particularly redox biochemistry, bioenergetics, and metallobiochemistry.
See the USAJOBS Web site for the full
job announcement (NIGMS-08-229223). The application
period ends on Tuesday, December 18. If you are interested
in this position or know of others who might be strong
candidates, please contact Warren Jones, chief of the
PPBC Biochemistry and Biorelated Chemistry Branch, at
jonesw@nigms.nih.gov
or 301-594-3827.
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