Freedom of Information Act Office
IC Directors' Meeting Highlights
July 17, 2012
| To: | IC Directors |
| Subject: | IC Directors' Meeting Highlights — May 24, 2012 |
Announcements: Dr. Collins briefly discussed recent Alzheimer's activities, including the Research Summit and FY12 initiatives. He also highlighted the new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and United for Medical Research on the declining competitiveness of the U.S. in biomedical research, and noted Senator Harkin's recent visit to NIH. He provided updates on upcoming appropriations and legislative items, and finally asked for nominations for a new NIH Director's Award: The Alan S. Rabson Award for Clinical Care.
FNIH: Kathy Hudson
Dr. Hudson provided a brief background of recent changes at FNIH and highlighted opportunities for collaboration with NIH going forward. She noted that recent efforts have resulted in greater interaction of NIH and FNIH senior leadership. Dr. Hudson described a possible new model for collaboration, including a proposed pre-scientific review process by NIH prior to transmittal to FNIH. IC Directors were generally supportive of the pre-scientific review idea.
Resubmission Policy Discussion: Sally Rockey
Dr. Rockey provided a brief background of the resubmission policy history; the October 8, 2008 guide notice announced that NIH would only accept a single amendment to an original new or competing renewal application. Since that time, the percentage of A0 awards has increased at a greater rate than the increase in A1 awards; A0 awards are now more frequent than A1 awards. Additionally, the time to the award from the original submission has decreased significantly over the past several years. Dr. Rockey noted that there is no evidence that any major subgroups have been differentially affected by this policy change. IC Directors were generally supportive of this policy; however they noted a major concern from the community regarding what constitutes a new application.
Conference Policy Update: Francis Collins and Colleen Barros
Dr. Collins provided a brief update on recent discussions of new federal travel and conference policies that are still being finalized. These new policies, once finalized, could have significant implications for scientific conference attendance and support, and NIH is working to minimize the potentially detrimental effect to scientific conference participation as much as possible. Ms. Barros noted that the policy discussions have been complex and NIH is seeking to provide clarity for staff.
Social Media Links