Institute: Office of the Director (OD)

NIH can take steps to become more transparent and to gain more public input into decisions on which research targets to pursue, the so-called research priority-setting process, according to a recent report. In April 2004, the NIH Director’s Council of Public Representatives (COPR) presented this report, containing 11 recommendations on topics such as outreach to communities and partnerships with outside groups, communication with research and patient communities, and public education on the priority-setting process.

“The NIH has a duty to educate members of the public about its mission and operations and a duty to involve the public in the research priority-setting process,” said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.

The COPR assessed how the NIH includes members of the public in its work, highlighted effective strategies, and recommended that the NIH expand on these best practices. The report analysis revealed many ways in which the NIH effectively advises, educates, and seeks input from the public. The COPR focused on how the public is heard in the process used by the NIH to determine which research projects to fund. The COPR believes that public input into the research priority-setting process is important, because decisions to fund specific research initiatives over others has direct implications for the public’s health.

Next Steps
The Report, Enhancing Public Input and Transparency in the National Institutes of Health Research Priority Setting Process, is available online at http://copr.nih.gov/reports/enhancing.pdf. The COPR's Web site is at
http://copr.nih.gov. Additional information on public participation at the NIH is available at http://getinvolved.nih.gov.