Category: Director’s Messages

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Conversations with the Scientific Community

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One of my activities as NIGMS director is meeting with members of the scientific community, including leadership groups from scientific societies. These conversations offer a valuable forum for sharing ideas and perspectives, and I find them informative and interesting.

A few weeks ago, for example, I met with the board of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). Link to external web site The group of more than 30 people who visited me in Bethesda ranged from graduate students to senior scientists. We had a spirited dialogue about training and career development, including issues related to the diversity of the scientific workforce, and methods for fostering communication between NIH and the scientific community. I briefly discussed our preparations for a strategic plan on training and career development, which I announced at our recent advisory council meeting.

I’ll do a Feedback Loop post in early March with more details on the strategic planning process, including a request for input.

NIGMS staff and I welcome the opportunity to meet with groups and individuals who would like to know more about the Institute’s activities and plans. To arrange a meeting, feel free to e-mail me at bergj@nigms.nih.gov or NIGMS communications director Ann Dieffenbach at dieffena@nigms.nih.gov.

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Budget News

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On February 1, the President released his budget request for Fiscal Year 2011. The proposed budget for NIH calls for an increase of 3.2% over the Fiscal Year 2010 enacted levels (not including funds associated with the Recovery Act). The proposed budget for NIGMS represents a 3.6% increase over Fiscal Year 2010.

A major contributor to the larger increase for NIGMS compared with NIH overall is that the budget calls for a 6% increase in stipends associated with Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards. NIGMS supports substantially more training positions than the average across NIH.

The release of the President’s budget request is the first step in the appropriations process, which includes Congressional hearings and culminates with the passage and signing of a bill that appropriates funds for NIH.

We recently posted our Financial Management Plan for Fiscal Year 2010. Among the plan’s key elements are increasing the average size of a competing research project grant by approximately 2%, reducing noncompeting awards by 1% and increasing stipends on National Research Service Awards by 1%.

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Give Input on NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunities

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As I noted in a previous post, NIH recently launched the Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet) and issued four funding opportunity announcements for the current fiscal year.

OppNet is now planning initiatives for future years. Key to this effort is obtaining input from all interested parties about current and emerging opportunities in basic behavioral and social sciences research that offer the greatest potential for improving health and well-being. Toward this end, OppNet has just released a request for information soliciting suggestions for both short-term (1-2 years) and long-term (3-5 years) activities, which can focus on humans or animal models.

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Funding Opportunities in Basic Behavioral and Social Sciences Research

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Less than two months ago, NIH announced a new initiative, the Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet). Richard Hodes, the director of the National Institute on Aging, and I co-chair the steering committee for this exciting, trans-NIH effort.

The first year of OppNet activities will use $10 million in Recovery Act funds and focus on short-term efforts to develop existing programs’ capacity for conducting basic behavioral and social sciences research. Starting in Fiscal Year 2011, OppNet will be supported through NIH’s pool of common funds shared across its institutes and centers.

NIH has just issued the following OppNet opportunities for funding in the current fiscal year:

  • Recovery Act Limited Competition: NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet) Short-term Mentored Career Development Awards in the Basic Behavioral and Social Sciences for Mid-career and Senior Investigators (K18), RFA-OD-10-003; applications are due February 18, 2010.
  • NIH Announces the Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Competitive Revision Applications (R01, R03, R15, R21, R21/R33, and R37) through the NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet), NOT-OD-10-032; applications are due March 2, 2010.
  • NIH Announces the Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Competitive Revision Applications (R01, R03, R15, R21, R21/R33, and R37) for HIV/AIDS-related Research through the NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet), NOT-OD-10-033; applications are due March 25, 2010.
  • NIH Announces the Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Competitive Revision Applications for Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Transfer Technology Research Grants (R43/R44 and R41/R42) through the NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet), NOT-OD-10-034; applications are due March 25, 2010.
  • NIH Announces the Availability of HIV/AIDS Funds for Competitive Revision Applications (R01, R03, R15, R21, R21/R33, R37) for HIV/AIDS-related Research through the NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet), NOT-OD-10-036; applications are due May 7, 2010.

OppNet’s Web site has more details about the initiative and FAQs related to the funding announcements. As plans develop, the site also will include information about potential future initiatives and opportunities to provide input. To automatically receive updates, send an e-mail to listserv@list.nih.gov and in the body of the message include: subscribe nih-oppnet-l your name.

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Fiscal Year 2009 R01 Funding Outcomes

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Fiscal Year 2009, which ended on September 30, was a time of unprecedented opportunities for NIH due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. As I noted previously, NIGMS used Recovery Act resources to support a variety of funding mechanisms.We have now analyzed the overall results for R01 grants using both our regular appropriation and Recovery Act funds. These results are shown in Figures 1-3.

Figure 1. Competing R01 applications reviewed (open rectangles) and funded (solid bars) in Fiscal Year 2009. The thicker bars (blue) correspond to applications supported using regular appropriated funds, while the thinner bars (red) correspond to applications supported using Recovery Act funds (2-year awards).

Figure 1. Competing R01 applications reviewed (open rectangles) and funded (solid bars) in Fiscal Year 2009. The thicker bars (blue) correspond to applications supported using regular appropriated funds, while the thinner bars (red) correspond to applications supported using Recovery Act funds (2-year awards).
Figure 2. NIGMS competing R01 funding curves for Fiscal Years 2005-2009. For Fiscal Year 2009, two curves are shown. The thicker curve (black) corresponds to grants made with regular appropriated funds, while the thinner curve (red) includes grants made with both regular appropriated and Recovery Act (ARRA) funds.

Figure 2. NIGMS competing R01 funding curves for Fiscal Years 2005-2009. For Fiscal Year 2009, two curves are shown. The thicker curve (black) corresponds to grants made with regular appropriated funds, while the thinner curve (red) includes grants made with both regular appropriated and Recovery Act (ARRA) funds. The success rate for R01 applications paid with regular appropriated funds was 27%, and the midpoint of the funding curve was at approximately the 22nd percentile. This percentile is slightly lower than that for Fiscal Year 2008. The success rate for R01 applications paid with regular appropriated and Recovery Act funds in Fiscal Year 2009 was 32%, with a midpoint on the funding curve near the 30th percentile. The curve including Recovery Act-funded awards is fairly broad because NIGMS considered additional factors in making funding decisions for Recovery Act awards.

The total NIGMS expenditures (including both direct and indirect costs) for R01 grants are shown in Figure 3 for Fiscal Year 1995 through Fiscal Year 2009.

Figure 3. Overall NIGMS expenditures on R01 grants (competing and noncompeting, including supplements) in Fiscal Years 1995-2009. The dotted line shows the impact of awards (including supplements) made with Recovery Act funds. Results are in actual dollars with no correction for inflation.

Figure 3. Overall NIGMS expenditures on R01 grants (competing and noncompeting, including supplements) in Fiscal Years 1995-2009. The dotted line shows the impact of awards (including supplements) made with Recovery Act funds. Results are in actual dollars with no correction for inflation.

We are analyzing additional data on NIGMS funding trends and will be posting these results on the NIGMS Funding Trends Web site.

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NIH Public Access Policy

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What should I do?

I recently had several peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts accepted. As an NIH-funded investigator (with an intramural laboratory in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases), I complied with the NIH Public Access Policy and deposited the articles in NIH PubMed Central. I also included the PubMed Central ID numbers (PMCIDs) in my CV list of scientific publications.

I wanted to take this opportunity to remind other NIH-funded investigators of the public access policy, which also requires the inclusion of PMCIDs in all applications and progress reports, including those for training grants and fellowships. If a PubMed Central submission by a journal is in process and you do not have a PMCID yet, you can indicate “PMC Journal – In Process” at the end of the citation. If you have submitted the manuscript and so far only received an NIH Manuscript Submission System reference number (NIHMSID), NIH will accept it as a placeholder for the PMCID.

One area of confusion is that PMCIDs are not the same as PMIDs assigned by PubMed.

NIH’s frequently asked questions helped guide me through the PubMed Central submission process, and you may find the information there useful, as well.

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Noncompeting Grant Awards Under the Continuing Resolution

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On October 30, the President signed Public Law 111-88, which includes appropriations for NIH to operate at Fiscal Year 2009 levels through December 18, 2009.

During this period, NIH will make noncompeting research grant awards at reduced levels, typically up to 90% of the previously committed level. This approach is consistent with our practice in previous years.

The policy affects research grants. Research training grants and fellowship awards will not be affected.

NIH anticipates that noncompeting awards will be adjusted upward once the level of the final appropriation has been established.

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Research Resources for the Scientific Community

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Through initiatives such as “glue” grants, the Protein Structure Initiative, the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study, the Pharmacogenetics Research Network and in other ways, NIGMS-supported researchers develop resources, information and opportunities of value to broad segments of the scientific community. A list of major NIGMS-funded Web sites and portals is available on our Web site.

I invite you to explore these resources, and I welcome your comments about them.

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Stetten Lecturer Illustrates Payoffs of Curiosity-Driven Research

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Bonnie Bassler

The DeWitt Stetten, Jr., Lecture is an annual October event that gives us the opportunity to showcase outstanding scientists and their cutting-edge research to the NIH community.

This year’s speaker, Bonnie Bassler, gave an exceptional talk on quorum sensing in bacteria, and I highly encourage you to watch the videocast. Bonnie’s work is yet another illustration of how curiosity-driven research–in this case, into why bioluminescent bacteria only glow at high cell densities–can reveal fundamental biological processes that would have been very difficult to foresee with more directed research approaches. The potential applications of Bonnie’s discoveries include the prevention of dangerous biofilms and the development of new antibiotics and rational probiotics.

Adding to this year’s Stetten Lecture excitement were the Nobel Prizes to past speakers (Elizabeth Blackburn in 1990 and Ada Yonath and Venki Ramakrishnan (along with Peter Moore) in 2000). We’ve previously featured several Nobel laureates as lecturers after they won the prize, but this is the first time the lecture preceded the prizes. We’ll see if the trend continues!

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Recovery Act Summary for Fiscal Year 2009 and Plans for Fiscal Year 2010

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Fiscal Year 2009 is now complete. In addition to distributing the funds associated with the NIGMS regular appropriation of nearly $2 billion, we were able to commit $463 million in Recovery Act funds (out of the $505 million allocated to NIGMS and approximately $21 million more provided to us by the NIH Office of the Director). We estimate that we have $63 million more to spend in Fiscal Year 2010. See the end of this post for more on our plans.

We made nearly 1,600 Recovery Act awards in Fiscal Year 2009, distributed as shown below:

Percentage by activity of total NIGMS Recovery Act funds

This plot shows the percentage by activity of total NIGMS Recovery Act funds (including the $505 million allocated to NIGMS and the approximately $21 million in additional funds that the NIH Office of the Director provided to support 17 Challenge grants and to co-fund the Grand Opportunity (GO) grants) (left) and the total amount awarded (including year 2 commitments, if any) (right). The number of awards in each activity is shown over each bar. The “Other” category includes a small number of awards in a range of activities, including supplements to K08, K99, R00, P01 and U01 mechanisms. More details about these awards can be found in NIH RePORTER.

Let me briefly describe the decision-making processes that led to this distribution. We set aside funds to support 15 Challenge grants (in addition to the Challenge grants assigned to NIGMS but supported by Recovery Act funds from the NIH Office of the Director), approximately 1 Grand Opportunity grant in each of the 10 NIGMS areas of interest and 20 Faculty start-up (P30) grants. Most of the remaining Recovery Act funds were allocated to the five NIGMS divisions and centers in proportion to their percentage of NIGMS funding.

For activities that had undergone recent peer review, such as Challenge (RC1) grant applications, R01 applications, AREA (R15) grant applications and competitive revisions, priority scores and—in many cases—the current availability of funds within investigators’ laboratories were major factors in determining funding priority.

For administrative supplements to grants that had been previously peer reviewed and funded, program directors took a number of factors into account, with the goal of attempting to maximize the potential impact of the portfolio of Recovery Act awards on the American scientific enterprise. First, the proposed research had to be within the scope of the original funded grant. Additional considerations included the potential impact of the proposed funding on the specific aims of the grant; NIGMS portfolio balance; whether investigators had received other Recovery Act support; the economic stimulus impact of the funding; and the distribution of funds across regions, states and institutions.

Overall, we were able to support approximately 40% of the administrative supplement requests that we received.

Approximately 10% of our Recovery Act funds remain to be invested in Fiscal Year 2010. We plan to use most of these funds to support—for up to one year—administrative supplements, competitive revisions and other applications that have already been submitted. This means that we are still considering funding a modest number of previously submitted administrative supplement requests and other awards with our limited remaining Recovery Act funds.