The National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases

Summer 2009 NIDDK Director’s Update

Greetings from NIDDK! The first half of the year has been exciting and busy, and I would like to share with you some of the many activities from around the Institute and NIH.

As you are aware, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law in February. ARRA has afforded NIH an exciting opportunity to advance medical research, while providing economic stimulus to communities throughout the country. More about ARRA, including links to NIDDK ARRA funding information, follow.

The NIDDK has welcomed several new senior staff members including Deputy Director Gregory Germino, as well as a new Scientific Director and a new Communications Director. We also had four new members join our National Advisory Council. These individuals bring a wealth of expertise and experience to the Institute and I look forward to working with them to advance NIDDK's mission.

These are just a few of the many exciting events from around NIH and NIDDK. I am sure that the next six months of 2009 will be as exciting and dynamic as the first, as we continue to pursue the most compelling research to combat the many debilitating and costly chronic diseases facing the nation.

Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., M.A.C.P.
Director
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
National Institutes of Health

1. Features

NIH Distributes American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds
We are immensely grateful to Congress and the public for opportunities provided by The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009, and we have begun carefully investing NIDDK’s $445 million share of Recovery Act funds.

NIDDK’s staff has been working closely with the NIH and the DHHS to ensure that scientific merit and quality remain the highest priority while we meet Recovery Act goals to jump-start the U.S. economy, create or save jobs, and put a "down payment" on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century.

As a result, we are already well on our way to using ARRA funds to support (1) recently peer-reviewed, highly meritorious research grant applications (R01 mechanisms and others) capable of making significant advances in two years; (2) targeted supplements to current grants to accelerate the pace of research; (3) supplements to current grants to support summer research experiences for teachers and students; and (3) new activities such as the NIH Challenge Grant program, which will focus new efforts on significant health and science problems where measurable progress can be expected in two years.

Most of the awards have been made or are being processed for about 200 NIDDK grant supplements supporting summer 2009 research experiences for students and teachers. Students and teachers can search by ZIP code to find NIH-funded host labs; see https://science.education.nih.gov/summerscience. We are encouraging grant recipients to include summer 2009 openings at www.grants.nih.gov/recovery/summer_opps_contacts.html; send an email to SummerResearch@mail.nih.gov to request posting instructions.

NIH has received more than 20,000 Challenge Grant applications. More than 1,600 of these grants were assigned to NIDDK for primary funding consideration and more than 1,600 additional Challenge Grant applications were assigned to NIDDK for secondary funding consideration. Proposals will undergo peer review this summer and grants will be awarded by September 30.

NIDDK received about 2,000 Administrative Supplement applications by the April 17 deadline. Proposals will be reviewed and funded based on their responsiveness to Recovery Act goals and their potential to accelerate the science. Awards will be issued by September 30.

Follow our progress and receive updates, including any new opportunities or changes to ongoing programs, through NIDDK ARRA News. To subscribe to this new listserv, send an email to LISTSERV@LIST.NIH.GOV with "subscribe NIDDK_ARRA_NEWS" (without the quotation marks) in the body of your email, not in the subject line. Do not include any other text. You may also find projects awarded by NIDDK using ARRA funds by searching NIH’s RePORT, the Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool, at http://projectreporter.nih.gov/reporter.cfm; be sure to select “NIH Recovery Act Projects: Show only projects support by NIH Recovery Act funds” and choose NIDDK in the “Agency/Institute/Center” field.

Finally, I want to give a virtual round of applause to NIDDK staff. On top of their usual workload and in just a short time--but over very long days and nights--scientific and administrative staff developed plans to use ARRA funds wisely and a system for receiving, reviewing, processing and paying unprecedented numbers of applications in response to ARRA funds!

ARRA summer research experiences: http://grants.nih.gov/recovery/summer_opps.html.
NIDDK Recovery Act Information: www2.niddk.nih.gov/Recovery/
NIH Recovery Act Funding Opportunities: www.grants.nih.gov/recovery
HHS Recovery Act Information: www.hhs.gov/recovery/overview/index.html
HHS Recovery Act Implementation Information: www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/index.html
U.S. Recovery Act Information: www.recovery.gov

Germino Named NIDDK Deputy Director
It is my distinct privilege to announce that Gregory G. Germino, M.D., became NIDDK’s deputy director on Tuesday, May 26. He came to us from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he held dual appointments in the Division of Nephrology and the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics.

In addition to his world-class scientific expertise and his perspective as an NIH grantee, Dr. Germino’s management experience, commitment to mentoring the next generation of researchers and work with professional and patient advocacy organizations makes him especially well-suited to help us advance the research and communicate with Congress and the public we serve.

Dr. Germino identified PKD1, the primary gene involved in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. He also developed novel methods for detecting altered genes and for characterizing the PKD1 protein and its role in cell signaling pathways and cell-cycle regulation.

After graduating summa cum laude in biology from Loyola University of Chicago, Dr. Germino earned his medical degree from the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago. He served his internship and residency in internal medicine and completed a clinical fellowship in nephrology at Yale before spending a research year at Oxford University in England.

Dr. Germino had been an NIDDK grantee since 1994. He has over 70 peer reviewed publications and has authored more than a dozen book chapters. He has been a visiting professor and invited lecturer across the United States and around the world.

I am very pleased that NIDDK has been able to recruit such a highly qualified candidate, and I hope you will welcome Greg to the NIDDK family. You may contact him at: NIDDK, MSC 2560, 31 Center Dr., Bldg. 31 Rm. 9A52, Bethesda MD 20892; GerminoGG@niddk.nih.gov; and 301-496-5877.

NIH News Release: www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2009/niddk-26.htm