New from the NIH

The 2013 NIH Director’s Pioneer Award Program (DP1) provides up to $500,000 per year for up to five years in support of individual scientists of exceptional creativity who propose pioneering and possibly transforming approaches to addressing major biomedical or behavioral challenges that have the potential to produce an unusually high impact on a broad area of biomedical or behavioral research. To be considered pioneering, the proposed research must reflect substantially different scientific directions from those already … Read More

Let NIH repay your student loans while you conduct your research. If you’re a health professional pursuing a career in biomedical, behavioral, social or clinical research, and you plan to commit at least two years to research, you may be eligible for up to $35,000 per year from the NIH Loan Repayment Programs. The following programs are available: Clinical Research (NOT-OD-12-123) Pediatric Research (NOT-OD-12-125) Health Disparities Research (NOT-OD-12-126) Contraception and Infertility Researchers (NOT-OD-12-124) Clinical Research … Read More

Do you love the current NIH Biosketch format or do you think it could be better–especially if they added a place where you could list patents and other scientific accomplishments? Here’s your chance to tell the NIH what’s on your mind. A special working group is soliciting your constructive input to improve the content of the Biosketch. All responses must be submitted electronically by June 29. Who should send in comments? According to the Request … Read More

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) seeks input from the stroke research community to help develop a focused set of priorities to guide stroke research for the next five to ten years. This time-sensitive Request for Information comes after the Institute has undertaken an extensive review of the research advances and new or unmet needs that have emerged over the last five years. We encourage you to contribute by providing up to three high … Read More

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) will soon be launching its first signature initiative, Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules, which will give researchers access and funding to study compounds from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Eli Lilly that hit a roadblock after initial safety testing in humans. According to the NIH Extramural News: “Much like azidothymidine (AZT), which proved unsuccessful as a cancer drug but revolutionized HIV treatment, we hope that these molecules … Read More

OHSU is participating in a pilot reporting program for the NIH. This won’t impact many of you yet, except that two buttons will now be available for you to choose from in NIH Commons: eSNAP and RPPR (the new reporting system). Please select the eSNAP option, not RPPR. Deborah Golden-Eppelein, director of Research Grant & Contracts, has asked us to share the following message with you explaining the pilot and changes to the system. More … Read More

If you’ve recently logged into NIH Commons looking for updates, you may have noticed a new Just-in-Time link appearing in your account. This link is a reminder that there have been changes to the business processes for JIT information—changes that will shift our thinking and practice around JIT. Basically, this link appears for ALL applications 24 hours after the priority score is released, regardless of score or likelihood of funding. (That is one change.) However, … Read More

The NIH has announced that its 2012 “Sustainable Laboratories: Choosing the Right Equipment” conference will be held on December 13 and 14, 2012 in Bethesda, Maryland. This is an opportunity for researchers and clinicians to learn about the latest advances in laboratory equipment, which utilize cutting-edge energy efficiency technologies for biomedical research laboratories. The conference may be of special interest to those involved in managing research equipment and writing construction grants. Day one: Innovative energy-saving … Read More

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is promoting the use of the PhenX Toolkit, a resource that allows substance abuse researchers to gather, share, and compare human-subjects data. Forty three new Measures have been added to the Toolkit as part of a larger initiative by the NIDA called, ‘Genetics Data Harmonization,’ whose aim is to promote common measures that can be used by researchers across research fields. According to an NIH notice released earlier … Read More

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) has just posted four sample R21 applications and their summary statements. Even if you’re planning to submit to another institute, these samples are a great way to familiarize yourself with how reviewers are evaluating R21s in the new format. Are you still wondering: Is R21 the right mechanism for me? NIAID spells it out in a short article in their Funding Newsletter.