Open Mike

Helping connect you with the NIH perspective, and helping connect us with yours

Some Thoughts Following the NIH Inclusion Across the Lifespan 2 Workshop

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“The [NIH Inclusion Across the Lifespan] policy, and the review and reporting requirements associated with it, should help ensure that children and older adults are not inappropriately excluded from clinical studies. The policy also has the potential to provide a more robust understanding of the full spectrum of participants recruited into clinical studies.”

Together with my NIH colleagues Drs. Marie Bernard and Janine Clayton, we made this point in a 2018 JAMA opinion piece following the inaugural NIH Inclusion Across the Lifespan workshop. Fast forward, we revisited this issue at the NIH’s Inclusion Across the Lifespan 2 workshop held this past September. You can watch the videocast here. The report covering the event was posted today, and I wanted to share some of my takeaways.
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Should We Keep Meeting This Way?

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How will study sections meet in the future? NIH peer review depends on robust meetings where groups of scientists, through vigorous discussion, identify the applications of highest merit. For the last 75 years, until last March, nearly all chartered review committee meetings were held in-person. Today, in response to the pandemic, 90% of all CSR review meetings are run as video (“Zoom”) meetings. CSR is taking steps now so that when all options are back on the table, we can make informed choices about how best to convene review meetings. Continue reading →

NIH Challenges Academia to Share Strategies to Strengthen Gender Diversity

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On behalf of the NIH Working Group on Women in Biomedical Careers, the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health has launched a new challenge competition to promote the advancement of women in leadership roles in academia. It is called the NIH Prize for Enhancing Faculty Gender Diversity in Biomedical and Behavioral Science. Dr. Janine Clayton, Director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health, described the competition as one that will recognize institutions that have successfully and systemically addressed gender diversity and equity issues among faculty members in biomedical and behavioral sciences (see her full post here.) Continue reading →

Introducing the Stephen I. Katz Early Stage Investigator Research Grant Program

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Stephen I. Katz, M.D., Ph.D., led the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases from 1995 until his passing in 2018. Dr. Katz was a talented physician scientist, NIH leader, and civil servant throughout his career who was profoundly dedicated to mentoring and training the next cadre of scientists. During his memorial service at NIH, you can see this dedication on full display. I, along with countless NIH colleagues, were blessed with Dr. Katz’s mentoring and sage advice. That is why, in his honor, we are pleased to announce the publication of Funding Opportunity Announcements for the Stephen I. Katz Early Stage Investigator Research Project Grant program . Continue reading →

Continued Impact of COVID-19 on Biomedical Research

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It’s been over eight months since the COVID-19 pandemic crisis struck, changing every facet of life as we knew it. The U.S. biomedical research enterprise was not spared, as lockdowns and severe restrictions on activities took hold across the country. At the time, we offered our perspectives on efforts we could take to cushion the shock. Since that time, much has happened. COVID-19 research has blossomed with impressive results including FDA approval of a therapeutic agent (remdesivir, which was found to have value in a large-scale NIH-funded trial), development of several candidate vaccines that have already made to pivotal Phase 3 trials, and the rapid development of a variety of diagnostic testing platforms. However, research unrelated to COVID has seen a different picture. Continue reading →

NIH Releases New Policy for Data Management and Sharing

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Today, nearly twenty years after the publication of the Final NIH Statement on Sharing Research Data in 2003, we have released a Final NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing. This represents the agency’s continued commitment to share and make broadly available the results of publicly funded biomedical research. We hope it will be a critical step in moving towards a culture change, in which data management and sharing is seen as integral to the conduct of research. Responsible data management and sharing is good for science; it maximizes availability of data to the best and brightest minds, underlies reproducibility, honors the participation of human participants by ensuring their data is both protected and fully utilized, and provides an element of transparency to ensure public trust and accountability. Continue reading →

Seeking Your Ideas on the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research

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From shifting public health needs to the unprecedented pace of biomedical discovery, everything about the coronavirus response is evolving. This goes for the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research as well, so too must it evolve.

We want your help on the next iteration of the Plan. A Request For Information released yesterday seeks public feedback on the current Plan (NOT-OD-21-018). You or your organization can submit ideas here by December 7, 2020.
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Share Your Ideas to Foster Research Integrity and the Responsible Conduct of Research

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We all have a vested interest in maintaining the integrity of biomedical research. It is critically important to do so, after all, so the public can trust the resulting scientific findings. These posts from 2020, 2019, and 2018 highlight a few ways NIH works toward this goal of an environment promoting integrity and discouraging misconduct (check out this NIH All About Grants podcast for more on this).

Now it’s your turn to share some ideas. Our colleagues with the HHS Office of Research Integrity (ORI) recently published a Request for Information seeking your input. The feedback they receive will be invaluable for conducting future outreach and developing educational resources for the research community.
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Developing a Culture of Safety in Biomedical Research Training

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The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) is committed to supporting safety in the nation’s biomedical research and training environments. In a Perspective in the current issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBoC), we focus on strategies for improving laboratory safety. Some of these strategies are also applicable to other forms of safety including the prevention of harassment, intimidation, and discrimination. Lab safety is also the focus of an upcoming webinar for the training community, Developing a Culture of Safety in Biomedical Research Training, on Thursday, November 5, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET. Continue reading →

Welcome the New RePORT and RePORTER Tools!

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Ten years ago, NIH launched the RePORT (Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools) website to serve as a one-stop shop for reports, data, and analyses of NIH research activities. Well, drum roll please, a new and modernized RePORT site as well as a faster and easier to use NIH RePORTER have now arrived. The updated RePORT site strives to meet the needs of today’s users based on feedback received over the years. It is easier, simpler, and quicker to access the same information you have come to rely upon. Continue reading →