Executive Branch News
NSF Seeks Nominations of Early-Career Researchers for Waterman Award
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is accepting nominations for the 2016 Alan T. Waterman Award, which is given to an outstanding young researcher each year. Nominees are accepted from any field of science supported by NSF and must be under 35 or within 7 years of completing his or her PhD. Candidates âshould have demonstrated exceptional individual achievement in scientific or engineering research of sufficient quality, originality, innovation, and significant impact on the field so as to situate him or her as a leader among peers.â The recipient of the award receives a grant of $1 million over five years…
Census Releases New ACS Estimates
The Census Bureau has released a new set of annual data from the American Community Survey (ACS). The 2014 1-Year estimates provide information for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico on the dozens of economic, housing, social, and demographic topics covered by the ACS. The new data can be accessed here. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
White House SBS Team Issues Inaugural Report; President Signs Executive Order
On September 15, President Obama signed an Executive Order calling on federal agencies and departments to use âbehavioral science insightsâ to âdesign government policies to better serve the American people.â The order comes as the Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST), a team of about a dozen behavioral scientists within the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), issued its first annual report. SBST was established in 2014 as a mechanism for testing and applying social and behavioral science interventions to make government programs more efficient and more accessible. The team is chaired by the White House Office of Science and…
Senior Leadership Changes Occurring at NIH
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been experiencing a turnover in the leadership over the past month as several long-term directors have decided to retire and/or move on to new endeavors. Â In August, Alan Guttmacher, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), announced his plans to retire at the end of September. The Friends of NICHD paid tribute to Guttmacher on September 15 with a farewell breakfast in recognition of his dedication and leadership in advancing science and improving human health and well-being. COSSA serves on the Friends Executive Committee. As director of one…
NIH Releases Precision Medicine Initiative Framework for Cohort of One Million
On September 17, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) presented its recommended design framework for building a national research participant group, or âcohort,â of one million or more Americans, that would be part of the President’s proposed Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) (see Update, April 21, 2015 and June 15,2015). In a statement accepting the ACD’s recommendations, NIH Director Francis Collins pointed to the need to remain nimble and adaptable as the Initiative progresses. The agency intends to move quickly to build the necessary infrastructure so that participants can begin enrolling in the cohort in…
Perez-Stable Joins NIMHD Participates in First Advisory Council Meeting
Just two weeks into his new position, newly appointed National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) director Eliseo Perez-Stable presided over his first meeting of the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NACMHD) on September 17. Perez-Stable was appointed by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis S. Collins in April (See Update, May 4, 2015). Perez-Stable shared his excitement to be at the NIH and his appreciation for the opportunity to work on a topic that he is passionate about. As a resident, he was interested in Latino health care, particularly patient-doctor communication styles,…
White House Chief Data Scientist Seeks Input
Embracing the use of data to improve government function and its interaction with people, the Obama Administration established the position of Chief Data Scientist (CDS) in February. DJ Patil joined the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in February as Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Data Policy and Chief Data Scientist. Patil is credited with helping to coin the term âdata scientist.â The former Vice President of Product at RelateIQ, Patil has also held positions at LinkedIn, Greylock Partners, Skype, PayPal, and eBay.  Prior to his stint in the private sector, he worked at the Department of…
NIH Issues Guidelines for HIV/AIDS Research Priorities
In August, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a Notice, NIH HIV/AIDS Research Priorities and Guidelines for Determining AIDS Funding (NOT-OD-15-137), outlining its overarching HIV/AIDS research priorities along with the guidelines the agency will use to determine AIDS funding for the next three to five years beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2016 (see related story). NIHâs Office of AIDS Research (OAR) is legislatively mandated to coordinate, plan, evaluate, and budget for the agencyâs AIDS research program (see Update, June 16, 2014). The notice highlights NIHâs overarching HIV/AIDS research priorities: Research to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS, including the development…
OAR Outlines Overarching AIDS Research Priorities; Studies of Behavior and Social Conditions with Multiple Negative Outcomes Deemed Low Priority
At the September 1 meeting of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) Council of Councils, Acting Associate Director for AIDS Research and Acting Director for the Office of AIDS Research (OAR) Robert Eisinger provided the Council with an update on OARâs activities, including the recent release of NIHâs high-priority areas of HIV/AIDS research and accompanying guidelines for determining funding for this research (see related story). Eisinger highlighted NIH director Francis Collinsâ August 12 statement extolling the âextraordinary progress that has been made in HIV/AIDS research over the past 34 years, transforming what…
HHS Releases Proposed Updates to the Common Rule
The Department of Health and Human Services has released its proposal to update the regulations that govern research involving human subjects (the Common Rule). The long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) explains the proposed changes and poses a number of questions for which the department is seeking public comment, to be submitted within 90 days of the NPRMâs publication. The Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) plans to hold several webinars in the coming weeks to explain the changes as well as an in-person town hall meeting in Washington, DC in October. The Common Rule has not been updated since…
NIH Plans for Redirection of National Childrenâs Study Funds
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak provided an update on the âredirectionâ of National Childrenâs Study (NCS) appropriated funding at the September 1 meeting of the NIH Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) Council of Councils. Despite the NIHâs discontinuation of the NCS, in FY 2015, Congress provided $165 million for the study with direction to the agency to continue to support the mission and goals of the study, along with flexibility on how to carry this task out. Tabak announced that the awards associated with this funding will be made in September. As…
William T. Riley Appointed NIH OBSSR Director
On July 30, National Institute of Health (NIH) director Francis Collins announced the appointment of William âBillâ T. Riley, PhD, as the next Director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). Riley has served as Acting Director of the OBSSR since May, 2014. Riley has been with NIH since 2005, serving as Deputy Director of the Division of AIDS and Health & Behavior Research at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). He joined the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute as Program Director of the Clinical Applications and Prevention Branch, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences in 2009….
NIH Office of Extramural Research Releases 2013-2014 Report
Research grants to extramural scientists represent more than 80 percent of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget. The agencyâs Office of Extramural Research (OER) provides the infrastructure to make this happen, whether it is through developing policies and procedures or providing electronic systems, among other things, for extramural staff across NIHâs 27 institutes, centers, and offices and âfor more than 166,000 external users in 24,000 research institutions worldwide.â OER recently released its 2013-2014 report. OER director Sally Rockey notes that the report looks back at 2013 and 2014 and includes examples of the impact OER has had on âensuring…
NIH Releases Alzheimerâs Disease Bypass Budget Proposal for FY 2017
On July 27, National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Francis Collins released the first Professional Judgement Budget, also known as the Bypass Budget, for Alzheimerâs disease (AD) and related dementias, Bypass Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2017âReaching for a Cure: Alzheimerâs Disease and Related Dementias Research at NIH. The bypass budget was mandated by Congress in the National Alzheimerâs Project Act enacted in 2011 (P.L. 111-375). The fiscal year (FY) 2017 bypass budget outlines the âoptimal approach NIH would take in an ideal world unconstrained by fiscal limitations.â It concludes that NIH could âsignificantly accelerate progress against Alzheimerâs disease with…
NIH Seeks Input on Congressionally-Mandated Agency-Wide Strategic Plan
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently issued a time-sensitive Request for Information (RFI) (NOT-OD-15-118) inviting comments and suggestions on the framework for its congressionally-mandated NIH-wide Strategic Plan. NIH is requesting feedback by August 16, 2015. The agency also plans to host webinars in early to mid-August to gather additional input. NIH Deputy Director Larry Tabak presented the agencyâs first iteration of its draft plan at the June 11 meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) (see Update, July 14, 2015). At the July 20 meeting of the ACD, Tabak presented a revised draft framework incorporating the…
NIH Seeks Comments on Proposed Alternative to National Childrenâs Study
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is inviting comments on its proposed plan for the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program and has issued a time-sensitive Request for Information (RFI). Background The ECHO program responds to the NIHâs decision to discontinue the National Childrenâs Study (NCS) in December 2014, per the recommendations of a working group of the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) of NIH (See Update, December 19, 2014). NIH emphasizes that in keeping with the spirit of the NCS, ECHO aims to address the critical goal of understanding the impact of environmental influences on childrenâs…
White House Issues Annual S&T Guidance for FY 2017 Budget
On July 9, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued their annual joint memorandum to federal agencies outlining âMulti-Agency Science and Technology Priorities for the FY 2017 Budget.â Each year, OMB and OSTP outline specific White House science, technology, and innovation priorities for federal investment, which is meant to inform federal agenciesâ development of the fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget submission to OMB and Congress. Similar to last yearâs guidance, the FY 2017 memorandum asks federal agencies to allocate resources to a number of multi-agency research activities, including advanced…
Congressionally-Mandated Strategic Plan, FY 2016 Budget Discussed by NIH Advisory Committee to the Director
The June 11-12 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) meeting included the discussion of a number of important issues for the agency, including its fiscal year (FY) 2016 budget and its efforts to develop a five-year strategic plan by December 2015.
NIH SMRB Working Group Approves Recommendations on Streamlining the NIH Grant Award Process
On July 6, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB) Working Group on the NIH Grant Review, Award, and Management Process (GRAMP) approved its draft report of its findings and recommendations on ways to streamline the NIH grant award process. NIH director Francis Collins charged the Working Group to ârecommend ways to further optimize the process of reviewing, awarding, and managing grants in a way that maximizes the time researchers can devote to research while still maintaining proper oversightâ without compromising the quality of peer review. To accomplish the charge the working group examined the grant…
NIH Seeks Feedback on Using mHealth for the Precision Medicine Cohort
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking feedback from the scientific community regarding using mobile Health (mHealth) technologies for the Precision Medicine Cohort. The agency points out that the collection of health and lifestyle data on âparticipant volunteersâ have generally come from medical records and extensive phone or paper surveys. For the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI), the agency is considering using smart phone and wireless technologies to collect some of this information (See Update, June 15, 2015). The use of these devices, however, generates a number of considerations for which NIH is seeking feedback: Willingness of participants to carry…