Category: Requests for Information

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Give Input on Structural Biology Resource and Infrastructure Needs

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Earlier this year, I told you about the formation of two committees focused on Protein Structure Initiative (PSI) transition planning. These committees are charged with determining what unique resources and capabilities developed during the PSI should be preserved after the initiative ends and how this preservation should be done.

An important part of this process is getting input from the community, so we have just issued a request for information (RFI), NOT-GM-14-115, seeking comments about structural biology resources that have a high impact on the community, whether those resources have been supported through the PSI or by other means. We also want to hear what you think about the future of structural biology-related technology development, which has been an important feature of the PSI.

While the RFI invites comments on these specific topics, you should not feel limited to them—we welcome any comments that you feel are relevant.

To respond to the RFI, send an e-mail to nigmspsirfi@mail.nih.gov by May 23, 2014. When we compile the responses, we’ll remove any personal identifiers like names and e-mail addresses and only use de-identified comments.

If you have any questions about the RFI or the transition committees, please let me know.

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Give Input on Training Activities Relevant to Data Reproducibility

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Data reproducibility is getting a lot of attention in the scientific community, and NIH is among those seeking to address the issue Link to external web site. At NIGMS, one area we’re focusing on is the needs and opportunities for training in areas relevant to improving data reproducibility in biomedical research. We just issued a request for information to gather input on activities that already exist or are planned as well as on crucial needs that an NIGMS program should address.

I strongly encourage you and your colleagues to submit comments by the February 28 deadline (no longer available). The information will assist us in shaping a program of small grants to support the design and development of exportable training modules tailored for graduate students, postdoctoral students and beginning investigators.

UPDATE: NIGMS and additional NIH components have issued the Training Modules to Enhance Data Reproducibility (R25) funding opportunity announcement. The application deadline is November 20.

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Provide Input on Challenges and Opportunities in Pharmacogenomics

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We are seeking input from the scientific community on challenges, opportunities and gaps in pharmacogenomics. Please help us shape future programs in pharmacogenomics by responding to the recently published request for information (RFI). The RFI asks for your input on several topics, such as:

  • Critical technological advances that can be applied to pharmacogenomics problems;
  • Specific tools, resources, methods and approaches needed to enhance our molecular, genetic and biological mechanistic understanding;
  • Ways to advance clinical implementation for improving health care outcomes, including safety, effectiveness, time and costs;
  • Synergies that might come from a research network;
  • Types of scientific endeavors that would best be funded by R01 grants in the field; and
  • Additional interfaces and interactions that should be developed by NIH with other funders or organizations.

Please take the time to comment on any or all of the above topics between now and the May 17 deadline. You may respond as individuals or groups. Working together, we can help advance this research area of great scientific interest and immediate health relevance.

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Give Input on NIH Biomedical Research Workforce Plans

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The report of the Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the Director, NIH, includes recommendations that could have a broad impact on NIGMS training programs.

NIH has just issued a request for information (RFI) on implementing the working group’s recommendations. As summarized in a blog post by NIH’s Sally Rockey, the RFI seeks your input on these topics:

  • Developing individual development plans (IDPs) for those in graduate and postdoctoral training supported by NIH funds from any source,
  • The length of time NIH should provide support for graduate students,
  • Providing more uniform benefits packages for postdocs,
  • Gathering information about individuals receiving NIH support for their training,
  • Reporting by institutions of aggregate career outcomes of graduate students and postdocs on a public Web site,
  • Considering multiple career outcomes as indicators of success when reviewing training grants, and
  • Launching a dialogue with the extramural biomedical research community to assess how NIH supports the biomedical community, including faculty salaries.

I strongly encourage you and your colleagues to submit comments by the April 22 deadline, because your input is key to developing policies that serve the scientific community and improve the training experience of graduate students and postdocs.

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Give Input on ‘Big Data’ Training Needs

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To maximize utilization of the vast amounts of biomedical data and information that are being amassed, NIH has started to develop a series of activities grouped under its Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative. One of the efforts focuses on ways to train the workforce needed to manage, access, integrate and analyze large, complex datasets.

As a first step toward developing a set of recommendations, a BD2K working group has issued a request for information (RFI) on the short- and long-term training needs of individuals who work with biomedical data. The group is also seeking examples of programs or strategies to cross-train scientists at all career levels as well as comments on evaluating workforce skills and knowledge and developing a diverse research workforce. Your input, which should be submitted by March 15, 2013, will inform discussions during an upcoming BD2K planning workshop on training and education needs.

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Outsourcing Lab Procedures: Results from Request for Information

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I previously described our effort to solicit feedback from investigators on their needs and ideas for outsourcing laboratory procedures. Now I’d like to share a summary of the overall results (no longer available) and some observations based on the 35 responses we received (mostly from academia):

Related News Articles*

An eBay for Science Link to external web site, Nature

Online Marketplace Helps Professors Outsource Their Lab Research Link to external web site, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Have You Heard of Assay Depot? It’s the Amazon.com of Medical Research Link to external web site, The Atlantic

Science for Sale: Academic Meets Industry  Link to external web site, Cell

* This reference list is not meant as an endorsement of specific marketplaces or services.

  • Unexpectedly, almost all of the services mentioned by respondents constitute technologies or methodologies currently available for outsourcing. The most frequently identified ones—next-generation sequencing, bioinformatics/statistics and mass spectroscopy—are offered as services by numerous companies and core facilities.
  • Several marketplace-type platforms have recently been launched that facilitate bringing together researchers and providers of desired laboratory expertise, technology and research services. For a short list, see the news articles included in this post.
  • Evaluating the quality and cost of procedures available for outsourcing is not always straightforward. Similarly, assessing a laboratory’s actual costs for specific procedures, some of which could be outsourced, is difficult. Performing such economic analyses could reveal new needs for outsourcing laboratory procedures.

While we realize that the feedback we received may not be representative of the whole community, the results lead us to conclude that there does not appear to be a need for a special initiative to develop novel outsourcing capabilities.

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Comment on Proposed Changes to the NIH Biosketch

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The NIH Biographical Sketch is a standardized format used to present professional information in grant applications. It includes sections for a personal statement, positions and honors, selected peer-reviewed publications, and a list of current and prior research support.

To explore whether the format could be modified to better present an individual’s scientific abilities and accomplishments, NIH formed a working group that has just issued a request for information seeking input from the scientific community. The deadline for responses is June 29, 2012.

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Outsourcing Lab Procedures: What Are Your Needs and Ideas?

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Do you want to have more or easier access to state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies for your research? Are there specific types of non-clinical laboratory procedures that you wish were available through an outsourcing service?

If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, then please consider responding to our Request for Information (RFI): Priorities for Outsourcing of Laboratory Procedures. The RFI will help us identify research areas, such as assays, measurements and computational and data management tasks, that could be developed into outsourced services perhaps by small businesses and possibly supported through new funding opportunities.

Responses, which are voluntary and anonymous, should be submitted electronically (no longer available) by May 1, 2012.

UPDATE: The response deadline has been extended to May 15 (NOT-GM-12-110).

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Common Fund Opportunities for Support and Giving Input

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You may be interested in the following NIH Common Fund-related opportunities:

Use-Oriented Basic Research: Change Mechanisms of Behavioral Social Interventions (Admin Supp)
(PA-12-119)

Purpose: Fund administrative supplements to study possible mechanisms of action of behavioral or social interventions
Application due date: May 15, 2012
NIH contacts:
Lisa Onken, NIDA, 301-443-0107
Melissa Riddle, NIDCR, 301-451-3888
Varda Shoham, NIMH, 301-443-8694

Request for Information (RFI): Challenges and Opportunities in Single Cell Analysis for Biomedical Research
(NOT-RM-12-018)

Purpose: Provide input to an NIH Common Fund working group charged with identifying challenges and emerging opportunities related to single-cell analysis
Response due date: April 12, 2012
Send responses to single_cell@mail.nih.gov

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Funding Opportunities, Requests for Information Issued

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You may be interested in the following funding opportunity announcements and NIH requests for information:

Funding Opportunity Announcements

NIH Requests for Information

Funding Opportunity Announcements

Modeling Social Behavior (R01)
(RFA-GM-13-006)

Purpose: Develop and test innovative theories and computational, mathematical or engineering approaches to deepen understanding of complex social behavior
Letter of intent due date: March 3, 2012
Application due date: April 3, 2012
NIGMS contact: Stephen Marcus, 301-451-6446

Competing Revisions for Macromolecular Interactions in Cells (R01)
(RFA-GM-13-003)

Purpose: Extend the scope and capabilities of currently funded investigations on macromolecular interactions and their relationship to function in cells
Letter of intent due dates: February 26, 2012; September 18, 2012
Application due dates: March 26, 2012; October 18, 2012
NIGMS contact: James Deatherage, 301-594-0828

Jointly Sponsored Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Institutional Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences (T32)
(PAR-12-084)

Purpose: Prepare predoctoral students for independent research careers in the neurosciences
Letter of intent due dates: April 25, 2012; April 25, 2013; April 25, 2014
Application due dates: May 25, 2012; May 25, 2013; May 25, 2014
NIGMS contact: Alison Cole, 301-594-3827

PHS 2012-02 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, CDC, FDA and ACF for Small Business Innovation Research Grant Applications (Parent SBIR [R43/R44])
(PA-12-088)

Purpose: Submit Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I, Phase II, Fast-Track and Phase IIB competing renewal grant applications
Application due dates: Standard dates apply
NIGMS contact: Scott Somers, 301-594-3827

PHS 2012-02 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH for Small Business Technology Transfer Grant Applications (Parent STTR [R41/R42])
(PA-12-089)

Purpose: Submit Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I, Phase II, Fast-Track and Phase II competing renewal grant applications
Application due dates: Standard dates apply
NIGMS contact: Scott Somers, 301-594-3827

Resource Access for the Bridging Interventional Development Gaps Program (X01)
(PAR-12-092)

Purpose: Acquire access to government-funded contract resources needed for the preclinical development of therapeutic agents
Application due date: April 3, 2012
NIH contact: Tony Jackson, 301-594-4660

NIH Requests for Information

Request for Information (RFI): Input into the Deliberations of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director Working Group on Diversity in the Biomedical Research Workforce
(NOT-OD-12-031)

Purpose: Provide input to a working group charged with examining diversity in the biomedical research workforce and providing recommendations on ways to enhance diversity throughout various research career stages, particularly with regard to underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities and persons from disadvantaged backgrounds
Response due date: February 24, 2012

Request for Information (RFI): Input into the Deliberations of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director Working Group on Data and Informatics
(NOT-OD-12-032)

Purpose: Provide input to a working group charged with investigating the management, integration and analysis of large biomedical datasets
Response due date: March 12, 2012