From the NIGMS Director
By Jeremy M. Berg, NIGMS

I am writing to introduce myself as the new director of NIGMS and to give you an update on several issues that may be of interest to you. The first item relates to the Institute's budget.

For FY 2004 budget-related details, see the following Web sites:

NIGMS FY 2004 financial management plan http://www.nigms.nih.gov/About/Budget/FY2004Plan.htm

FY 2004 budget table (with a comparison column for FY 2003) http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/cjs/2004/budg_mech1.html

For FY 2005, the budget proposed by the President has a 2.9 percent increase for NIGMS and a 2.6 percent increase for NIH overall. While these increases are lower than those during the doubling period, one should not lose sight of what a strong statement of importance and support the increases represent in the present budget climate.

For the FY 2005 budget tables and justification narrative, see: http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/cjs/2005/

For additional information on NIGMS success rates, percentile ranks, and grant budgets, see the question-and-answer document at http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Research/Application/SuccessRateFAQs.htm.

The second item that I would like to draw to your attention is the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. This exciting set of initiatives reflects a significant reaffirmation of the importance of fundamental discovery in driving medical advances. Two of the three themes of the NIH Roadmap are of particular interest to NIGMS and the scientists it supports: New Pathways to Discovery and Research Teams of the Future. I strongly recommend that you take some time to explore the Roadmap Web site at http://nihroadmap.nih.gov to learn more about programs that may be of interest to you. Some of the larger programs will involve interactions between you, colleagues at your own institution, and perhaps colleagues at other institutions.

I encourage you to look into these opportunities. In addition, while many of the Roadmap initiatives that have been announced so far involve multi-investigator activities, opportunities for individual investigators are part of the Roadmap as well.

Finally, I welcome your comments and suggestions. We depend on your input for our short-term and long-term planning as well as for information that is useful in communicating to various audiences the importance of the research and training programs that NIGMS supports. In addition, I recommend that you stay in contact with your NIGMS program director. In my short time here, I have been deeply impressed by the ability and level of commitment of the NIGMS staff. They are dedicated to working with you to get the best science done.

Jeremy M. Berg, Ph.D.
Director, NIGMS
bergj@mail.nih.gov