“I thought he was in the hospital,” said Dr. Raya Mandler when she heard the message Dr. Brian Kobilka left on her cell phone: “something came up. It looks quite serious, and I am sorry I cannot come to the meeting.’” Turns out he had just won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry! More...

NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins stole the show at the December 3, 2012, meeting of CSR’s Advisory Council by making the surprise announcement:  Dr. Richard Nakamura was selected to be the new CSR Director. More...

CSR’s Advisory Council recently developed five recommendations for NIH to help applicants with promising research ideas to stay in the game despite historically low funding rates. More...

NIH recently unveiled a series of initiatives to strengthen and improve the diversity of the biomedical research workforce after seeking input from the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director and other community representatives. More...

The ability of NIH review panels to identify innovative research was questioned in a recent Nature commentary: “Research grants: Conform and be funded.”  NIH defends its peer review system by explaining how the authors’ approach and conclusions are flawed. More...

Reviewers should to be mindful of applications from institutions temporally damaged by Hurricane Sandy.  When evaluating the environment at these institutions, you should assume that NIH staff will work with the applicant institution to restore the needed facilities, equipment, personnel, etc. if an award is made. More...