NIH Brown Bag:

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NIH Brown Bag R15 Awards Enhanced Peer
Review Compiled from previous presentations given
by the NIH and GRC
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NIH Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA)
R15
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NIH Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA)

• Provides support for research projects in the
  biomedical, behavioral, and clinical sciences in
  health professional schools and other academic
  components that have not been major recipients of
  NIH research grant funds
• Eligibility limited to schools that have received
  less than 6 Million in NIH support (see
  /grants/funding/area.htm)
• Direct cost limited to 300,000 over entire
  project period
• Project period limited to up to 3 years
• Awards are renewable
• All NIH ICs utilize this mechanism except FIC and
  NCMHD
• See parent FOA at /grants/guide/pa-files/PA-06-042
  .html
• Involves both faculty and students (pre- and
  post-doctoral)

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Goals of the AREA program

• The three main goals are
• to support meritorious research,
•  to strengthen the research environment of the
  institution, and
• to expose students to research.
• The AREA or R15 grant is a research award and not
  a training award, emphasizing hands-on biomedical
  behavioral and clinical research.
• Students benefit from participating in
  meritorious research and will be encouraged to
  continue studies in the biomedical sciences.

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Eligibility

• NIH considers the following to be health
  professional schools/colleges 
• School/College of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine,
  Podiatry, Nutrition, Dentistry, Osteopathy,
  Pharmacy, Public Health, Optometry, Nursing,
  Chiropractic Medicine, and Allied Health.  All
  other NIH funding is considered Other Academic.

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Impact of AREA grant on PI and university

• Explanation of how this grant will affect the
  PIs research at the institution
• Explanation of how the grant will impact training
  of undergraduate scientists, including dedicated
  time in the summer to do research
• Description of the PIs experience in mentoring
  undergraduate researchers
• Description of how the grant will enable the PI
  to provide leadership to other faculty in
  combining teaching and research

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Institutional Support

• Description of departmental resources available
  to the project equipment, laboratory
  facilities, operating funds, course releases

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What should we include in an AREA Resources
statement?

• Facilities and Other Resources section must
  include
• A description of the special characteristics of
  the school/academic component that make it
  appropriate for an AREA grant, according to the
  programs three objectives. Include a description
  of the likely impact of an AREA grant on the
  PD/PI and the research environment of the
  school/academic component.

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What should we include in an AREA Resources
statement?

• A profile of available students of the applicant
  school/academic component and any information or
  estimate of the number who have obtained the
  baccalaureate degree and gone on to obtain an
  academic or professional doctoral degree in the
  health-related sciences during the last five
  years.

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AREA success rates, FY 2007
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Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in
Health-Related Research

• Principal Investigators holding an active AREA
  (R15) grant may apply for a supplement under this
  program.
• Grantees must check with the awarding I/C before
  an application for a supplement is submitted.

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Timeline New Applications
Council Review Sept.-Oct. Jan.-Feb. May-June
Award Date December April July

• Receipt
• Date
• February 25
• June 25
• October 25

Scientific Review June-July Oct.-Nov. Feb.-March
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New Priorities from theNew Director at NIH
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• Applying unprecedented opportunities in genomics
  and other high throughput technologies to
  understand fundamental biology and to uncover the
  causes of specific diseases.
• Translating basic science discoveries into new
  and better treatments and practice.
  Private-public partnerships will play an
  important role in this area.

• Putting science to work for the benefit of
  healthcare reform. This includes the areas of
  comparative effectiveness research, personalized
  health agendas, health disparities research
  (social and behavioral research, in particular,
  as well as healthcare economics), and
  payment-incentive models.
• Encouraging a greater focus on global health.
• Reinvigorating and empowering the biomedical
  research community.

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Enhanced Peer Review
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Recent Changes

• Enhanced review criteria
• New scoring system
• Criterion scoring
• Structured critiques
• Clustering of New Investigator applications
• Score order of review

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Recent Changes

• Implemented for applications submitted for
• Fiscal Year 2010 funding consideration
• Recovery Act (ARRA) FOAs
• (Funding Opportunity Announcements)

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Major Enhancements
Overall Impact ? Overall Impact/Priority Score

• Core criteria order
• Significance
• Investigator(s)
• Innovation
• Approach
• Environment
• Additional review criteria considerations
  expanded
• Side-by-side comparison (http//grants.nih.gov/gra
  nts/peer_review_process.htm)

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Overall Impact/Priority Score
Reflects the reviewers assessment of the
likelihood for the project to exert a sustained,
powerful influence on the research field(s)
involved

• In consideration of
• Core criteria
• Additional review criteria (RFA or PAR)
• Additional review criteria
• as applicable

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New Scoring System

• 9-point scale
• 1 Exceptional
• 9 Poor
• Reduces number of rating discriminations
• Provides rating descriptors
• To improve reliability
• To encourage use of the entire range
• Scores rounded to fewer digits

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New Scoring System

• Will be used for
• Overall impact/priority scores
• Individual criterion scores
• Will be implemented for applications submitted
  
• FY2010 funding consideration
• Recovery Act funding opportunity
• announcements

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New Scoring System
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Structured Critiques

• Decrease variability
• Increase quality of information in critiques
• More succinct, better organized
• Encourage evaluative statements
• Ensure that reviewers address all review
  criteria
• and considerations

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Structured Critiques

• Bulleted comments
• Scores for five review criteria
• Required comments
• Protections for Human Subjects
• Inclusion Plans
• Vertebrate Animal Welfare
• Biohazards
• Budget

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Templates for Reviewers
Links to definitions of review criteria
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Clustering of New Investigator Applications

• Where feasible, NI applications clustered
• NI and ESI applications identified for
  reviewers
• Expectations for preliminary data or track
• record should not be the same as for
• established investigators

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Changes Happening Soon

• For 2010 receipt dates
• Alignment of applications review criteria
• Shorter Research Plans

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Alignment of Applications and Review Criteria

• Changes to three parts of application
• Biographical sketch
• Research Plan
• Resources

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Biographical Sketch

• Personal Statement why experience and
  qualifications make the applicant particularly
  well-suited for role in the project
• Publications aim for 15
• 5 most recent
• 5 best
• 5 most relevant to the application

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Restructured Research Plan
Introduction Specific Aims Background and
Significance Preliminary Studies/Progress
Report Research Design and Methods Inclusion
Enrollment Report Progress Report Publication
List Human Subjects Sections protections,
women/minorities, enrollment, children Other
Research Plan Sections animals, select agent,
MPI, consortium, support, sharing Appendix
Research Strategy
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Restructured Research Plan
Current Application
New Application
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Application Changes

• Facilities and Other Resources
• 424 - part of the RR Other Project Information
• 398 the Resources Format Page)
• Environment
• New instruction to address how scientific
  environment will contribute to probability of
  success, unique features of environment, etc.
• For ESIs, provide description of institutional
  investment in success of the investigator.

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Alignment
Core Review Criteria
Application
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Shorter Research Plans
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Shorter Research Plans
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Academic Research Enhancement Awards (AREA or
R15s)

• Use enhanced review criteria for research grant
• applications
• Frequently one reviewer from an AREA
  institution
• is included on the review panel reviewing
  R15(s)
• AREA awardees may be eligible
• to submit an application for a
• research supplement to promote
• diversity in health-related research

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Additional Information
Enhancing Peer Review at NIH Webpages http//enhan
cing-peer-review.nih.gov/index.html Overview of
Peer Review Enhancements Video http//enhancing-pe
er-review.nih.gov/video_overview.html Side-by-sid
e comparison of enhanced and former review
criteria http//grants.nih.gov/grants/peer_review_
process.htm Guidelines for Reviewers http//grant
s.nih.gov/grants/peer/reviewer_guidelines.htm NIH
Academic Research Enhancement Awards (R15)
Grants http//grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/area.h
tm
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Additional Information
NOT-OD-09-003 (10/08/08) New NIH Policy on
Resubmission Applications http//grants.nih.gov/g
rants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-003.html NOT-O
D-09-016 (11/07/08) - Clarification on New
NIH Policy on Resubmission Applications
http//grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NO
T-OD-09-016.html OER Grants Page
http//grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/amendedapps.ht
m PA-05-015 Research Supplements to Promote
Diversity in Health-related Research
http//grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-0
5-015.html
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Additional Information
NOT-OD-08-121 (09/26/2008) - Encouraging
Early Transition to Independence Identifying
ESIs http//grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-fi
les/not-od-08-121.html NOT-OD-09-013
(09/31/2008) Revised New and Early Stage
Investigator Policies http//grants1.nih.gov/gran
ts/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-013.html
NOT-OD-09-034 (12/31/2008) ESI Policies
Requesting an Extension of the ESI Period
http//grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/N
OT-OD-09-034.html FAQs http//grants.nih.gov/gr
ants/new_investigators investigator_policies_faqs.
html