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 News Articles
Opportunities and Resources
Advice Corner
New Initiatives
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News Articles
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NIAID Mourns Loss of Deputy Director John La Montagne
We are deeply saddened by the death of John R. La Montagne, Ph.D., deputy director of NIAID and former director of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Dr. La Montagne died suddenly in Mexico City on November 2.
Those of us who knew him are profoundly saddened by this loss. Dr. La Montagne was a leader who appreciated diverse opinions and ideas and who went the extra mile to make people feel valued.
Professionally, Dr. La Montagne was a strong advocate for biomedical research. He had a deep respect for the entire scope of microbiology research that transcended all fields and disciplines. Read more about Dr. La Montagne's contributions in the NIAID statement. |
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CR Means Tight Budgets for Grantees
While the federal government remains on a continuing resolution, NIAID will fund a limited number of grants. We are awarding competing applications to the 14.0 percentile and noncompeting grants at their FY 2004 levels (or this year's level, if less). During this period, most applicants with non-modular grants will not get a budget increase to their previous awards.
This NIH-wide cost management plan is in effect for all institutes and centers, not just NIAID. Visit FY 2005 Paylines and Budget for information and updates. |
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NIH Broadens Review Criteria
Taking your concerns to heart, an NIH committee recommended beefing up initial peer review criteria for investigator-initiated applications to better accommodate interdisciplinary, translational, and clinical projects. NIH announced the news in its October 12, 2004, Guide notice, along with a schedule to replace the old June 27,
1997, review criteria.
The five original review criteria -- significance, approach, innovation, investigators, and environment -- remain intact, with language added to accommodate the needs of the NIH Roadmap.
Updated review criteria will be effective for some types of applications received by January 10, 2005. For details about categories and schedule, see the October 12, 2004, Guide announcement. Beginning with reviews in summer 2005, reviewers will use the updated criteria for evaluating and assigning a single, global score to each scored application. |
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New Catalyst for HIV/AIDS Vaccines
With world populations and leaders eager for a preventive HIV/AIDS vaccine, the G8 leaders endorsed a concept for a new global effort at their June summit meeting.
The resulting Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise will strive to accelerate HIV/AIDS vaccine development by bringing together a worldwide team of researchers located in independent organizations, including NIAID. This virtual consortium will work together by sharing a strategic scientific plan, mobilizing resources, and encouraging collaboration among HIV vaccine researchers worldwide.
As a key component of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, NIAID will establish a second HIV Vaccine Research and Development Center in the U.S., also virtual in nature. The mission and scope of the new Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI) will be comparable to that of the existing Vaccine Research Center on the NIH campus, but will lack a facility.
Using an intensive multi-sourced, coordinated approach, CHAVI will address key scientific roadblocks in HIV/AIDS vaccine discovery and translate research results into new vaccine designs that can include conducting initial clinical trials.
For details, read the CHAVI RFA. The new effort is part of NIAID's broad program of support for HIV/AIDS vaccine research and development activities. |
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eSNAP Opens to All
Good news! NIH has moved electronic streamlined noncompeting award process (eSNAP) ahead, opening it up to all registered eRA Commons users, not just members of the Federal Demonstration Partnership. That means if your institution is enrolled in the Commons, you can submit your progress report online.
Now you have one more reason to take advantage of the Commons, which also lets you view your summary statement, see your personal profile, review details about your grant, and file a no-cost extension. To sign up, have your business official go to the eRA Commons homepage and click on the Grantee Organization Registration link. |
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Roadmap Funds Flow to Unconventional Proposals
NIH launched the first wave of Roadmap projects to fill gaps and meet opportunities at the agency level. Already the NIH Director's Pioneer Award program has awarded nine scientists with $500,000 each to pursue high-risk, high-impact biomedical research.
Because of their speculative nature, these projects would be expected to fare poorly in standard initial peer review. Find more cutting-edge initiatives at NIH Roadmap Funding Opportunities. |
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Adjusting to New Administrative Support
As part of the administration's government outsourcing push, NIH created an organization that centralizes many of its support-type activities. In October, the new Division of Extramural Activities Support (DEAS) began providing support functions for grants management, program, and peer review. DEAS represents the government's Most Efficient Organization, which won a competition to support
the NIH institutes
and centers.
While we're getting adjusted to the loss of full-time staff and to the new people, we're working hard to ensure this change will not affect our service to you. |
Opportunities and Resources
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New PHS 398, PHS 2590, and Other Forms
NIH has revised the PHS 398 and other forms, as outlined in a series of NIH Guide notices last week. Check out the NIH Forms and Applications Web page for the revisions.
You can use the new PHS 398 grant application instructions and forms starting December 1, 2004. Though you may choose to use the previous version through May 9, 2005, by May 10, you must switch to the new forms. NIH will return applications using the older forms after that date. For details, see the November 2, 2004, Guide notice.
You can start using the new PHS 2590 progress report right away, and you must use the new version by May 1, 2005. See the November 2, 2004, Guide notice for a summary of changes.
As detailed in another November 2, 2004, Guide notice, several other forms have small changes, including the PHS 2271 Statement of Appointment, the PHS 3734 Official Statement Relinquishing Interest and Rights in a PHS Research Grant, and the HHS 568 Final Invention Statement and Certification.
These changes will require a major site update to our NIAID Funding Web site -- including our "All About Grants" tutorials and Annotated R01 Research Plan and Summary Statement -- we expect to take several weeks. |
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No Need to Travel for Foreign Resources
If you need advice or information on conducting research in a foreign country, you may want to touch base with NIAID's Office of Global Affairs (OGA). Headed by Dr. Karl Western, OGA oversees all international activities in which the Institute is involved and coordinates special projects like the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program and the Biotechnology Engagement Program.
While supporting the Institute's extramural divisions -- Division of AIDS, Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, and Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation -- in planning and implementing their international basic and clinical research, OGA also serves as a resource for investigators. In addition to providing training in international research, OGA can help with your protocol, answer questions about native populations, and update you on projects in specific geographic areas.
If you have any questions, contact Dr. Western at 301/496-6721 or email kw18q@nih.gov. |
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Public Pubs -- Moving Toward Open Access
As part of its commitment to improve public access to research information, NIH wants to put all scientific information emanating from NIH-funded research online.
Under a new proposed plan, investigators will provide NIH with electronic copies of all final versions of manuscripts after they are accepted for publication -- a final manuscript includes modifications in response to peer review. Six months after publication -- or sooner if the publisher agrees -- the manuscript will be made available freely to the public. If a publisher requests, the author's final version of the publication will be replaced in the archive by the final copy.
The approach has an added plus: investigators will be able to use this submission to meet their publication requirement for progress reports. If you wish to comment on this proposal, do so by November 16 at NIH Public Access Policy Comment or send an email to PublicAccess@nih.gov. Read more in theSeptember 3, 2004, Guide notice. |
Advice Corner
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Don't Forget That R13 Letter
CSR will
return your R13 conference
grant application
if it's not accompanied by a letter from NIAID (or another institute) accepting
it as a primary
assignment.
For the August 15 submission date, 23 applications were returned to the PI NIH-wide because they had no letter. If you are planning to submit an application to NIAID, please contact Dr. Milton Hernández, at 301/496-3775 or by email at mh35c@nih.gov. |
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Check Out NIAID's September Concepts
Council-approved concepts are your first chance to see what areas of science are of special interest to the Institute. Familiarity with concepts gives you a heads up for future initiatives that can help you see whether your research relates to any of these high-priority areas.
Visit our September 2004 Concepts Approved by Council so you don't need to wait for us to publish an initiative at Funding Opportunities List. Applications in high-priority areas featured in concepts and initiatives may qualify for special, above-the-payline funding. Learn more at Using Concepts to Your Advantage. |
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