Archive for June 2011


Connecting at Lindau

Thursday, Jun 30, 2011 12:49 PM EST by Donna Krasnewich | 0 Comments

Greetings from Lindau, Germany, where I and my NIH colleagues, Irene Eckstrand and Katrin Eichelberg, are attending the 61st Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting . This year’s meeting, focused on physiology and medicine, has brought together 23 Nobel laureates and 566 outstanding pre- and postdoctoral students, including 80 from the United States, to share their passion [...]

Filed under: Career Development, Meetings/Events
Permalink: https://loop.nigms.nih.gov/index.php/2011/06/30/connecting-at-lindau/

NIGMS Cell Repository Now Includes iPS Cell Lines

Monday, Jun 27, 2011 11:35 AM EST by Judith Greenberg | 0 Comments

As we anticipated last year, the NIGMS Human Genetic Cell Repository (HGCR) now offers human induced pluripotent stem cell lines that carry disease gene mutations. The first five lines to be made available were derived from individuals with Huntington’s disease, juvenile onset diabetes, severe combined immunodeficiency disease, muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy. The repository [...]

Filed under: Resources, Stem Cells
Permalink: https://loop.nigms.nih.gov/index.php/2011/06/27/nigms-cell-repository-now-includes-ips-cell-lines/

At the Interface of Evolution and Medicine

Thursday, Jun 23, 2011 9:21 AM EST by Irene Eckstrand | 0 Comments

At last week’s Evolution and Medicine Symposium at the Evolution 2011 meeting in Norman, Oklahoma, experts from around the country came together to discuss how evolutionary biology is influencing our understanding of human health and disease. At the meeting, I talked about NIGMS’s commitment to funding research on the principles and dynamics of evolution and [...]

Filed under: Meetings/Events
Permalink: https://loop.nigms.nih.gov/index.php/2011/06/23/at-the-interface-of-evolution-and-medicine/

Acting Director Named

Monday, Jun 13, 2011 10:23 AM EST by Jeremy Berg | 0 Comments

As I enter my final few weeks at NIGMS, I’m engaged in a lot of transition planning. One major aspect is the designation of an acting director, and I’m happy to tell you that Judith Greenberg has agreed to serve in this capacity after my departure early next month. She was acting director in 2002 [...]

Filed under: Director’s Messages, News
Permalink: https://loop.nigms.nih.gov/index.php/2011/06/13/acting-director-named/

Productivity Metrics and Peer Review Scores, Continued

Friday, Jun 10, 2011 3:39 PM EST by Jeremy Berg | 10 Comments

In a previous post, I described some initial results from an analysis of the relationships between a range of productivity metrics and peer review scores. The analysis revealed that these productivity metrics do correlate to some extent with peer review scores but that substantial variation occurs across the population of grants. Here, I explore these [...]

Filed under: Director’s Messages, Peer Review
Permalink: https://loop.nigms.nih.gov/index.php/2011/06/10/productivity-metrics-and-peer-review-scores-continued/

More on Assessing the Glue Grant Program

Friday, Jun 10, 2011 9:15 AM EST by Jeremy Berg | 0 Comments

NIGMS is committed to thoughtful analysis before it initiates new programs and to careful, transparent assessment of ongoing programs at appropriate stages to help determine future directions. In this spirit, we have been assessing our large-scale programs, starting with the Protein Structure Initiative and more recently, the glue grant program. For the glue grants (which [...]

Filed under: Collaborative Research, Director’s Messages
Permalink: https://loop.nigms.nih.gov/index.php/2011/06/10/more-on-assessing-the-glue-grant-program/

Early Notice: Reissue of RFA for Centers for AIDS-Related Structural Biology

Wednesday, Jun 8, 2011 12:50 PM EST by Michael Sakalian | 0 Comments

For 25 years, NIGMS has supported AIDS-related structural biology research that has provided fundamental insights into the replication of HIV and contributed toward the development of essential therapeutics. As Joe Gindhart discussed in an earlier Feedback Loop post, NIGMS marked the anniversary of this program with a special meeting in March. Many participants expressed excitement [...]

Filed under: Funding Opportunities, Structural Biology
Permalink: https://loop.nigms.nih.gov/index.php/2011/06/08/early-notice-reissue-of-rfa-for-centers-for-aids-related-structural-biology/

Productivity Metrics and Peer Review Scores

Thursday, Jun 2, 2011 1:50 PM EST by Jeremy Berg | 18 Comments

A key question regarding the NIH peer review system relates to how well peer review scores predict subsequent scientific output. Answering this question is a challenge, of course, since meaningful scientific output is difficult to measure and evolves over time–in some cases, a long time. However, by linking application peer review scores to publications citing [...]

Filed under: Director’s Messages, Peer Review
Permalink: https://loop.nigms.nih.gov/index.php/2011/06/02/productivity-metrics-and-peer-review-scores/

Resubmissions: More Time for New Investigators, General Clarification

Thursday, Jun 2, 2011 1:41 PM EST by Paul Sheehy | 1 Comments

There is now a shortened review cycle for applications from new investigators. To give these applicants more time to prepare resubmissions (A1) between review cycles, NIH will accelerate the release of summary statements for the initial applications (A0). It has also pushed back the special submission date for new investigators to give them at least [...]

Filed under: Research Administration
Permalink: https://loop.nigms.nih.gov/index.php/2011/06/02/resubmissions-more-time-for-new-investigators-general-clarification/

Moving Cell Migration Forward: Meeting Highlights Progress

Thursday, Jun 2, 2011 1:10 PM EST by Alexandra Ainsztein | 0 Comments

Last week, NIGMS hosted the Frontiers in Cell Migration and Mechanotransduction meeting . It brought together an impressive group of scientists working at many levels, from molecules to cells, tissues and organs. The overall sense from the meeting is that a wide variety of tools, approaches and even fields have converged on this topic of how [...]

Filed under: Collaborative Research, Meetings/Events
Permalink: https://loop.nigms.nih.gov/index.php/2011/06/02/moving-cell-migration-forward-meeting-highlights-progress/

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