Glycobiology and NIH Study Section Reorganization Don Schneider, PhD Director, Division of Molecular

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Glycobiology and NIH Study Section
ReorganizationDon Schneider, PhDDirector,
Division of Molecular and Cellular
MechanismsAnnual Conference Society for
GlycobiologyNovember 11, 2005National
Institutes of HealthDepartment of Health and
Human Services
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Issues to be Considered

• History of study section formation
• Reorganization of CSR study sections
• Review homes for glycobiology
• How you can help yourself
• Additional issues
• - CSR Director Toni Scarpa
• - Electronic grant submission

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History of Study Section Formation Scientific
Peer Review at NIH and DRG/CSR

• 1945-1998 Study sections formed case-by-case
• 1998 Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health
  Administration (ADAMHA) merger neuroscience
  Integrated Review Groups (IRGs) formed with
  community participation
• 1998/9 AIDS IRG formed
• 1999 ADAMHA merger behavioral/social science
  IRGs formed with community participation
• 2000 Panel on Scientific Boundaries for Review
  (PSBR) Report and launching of Phase II
  systematic reorganization of study sections with
  community participation

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PSBR Study Section Reorganization

• Set high standards
• Advance health-related science
• Encourage innovation risk taking
• Show fairness clarity
• Be monitored continuously

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Reorganize with aDisease/Organ Focus

• Mission to improve health is best served by
  review in context of human condition
• Basic studies should be rapidly applied to
  disease problems
• Exchange of ideas among reviewers in the IRGs may
  encourage broader applications
• Review of basic applied science in same IRG
  provides overview of quality
• Distribution of applications using powerful
  methodologies enhances use of new methods for
  disease problems

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Reorganization and Basic SciencesGuiding
Principles

• Clinical advances often rest on results of
  seemingly unrelated basic research
• A sizable proportion of basic science ensures
  rigorous foundation for future progress
• Much of basic research must be reviewed in a
  fundamental context without regard to specific
  disease/organ

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Cultural Norms and ChangesGuiding Principles

• Reviewers should be active researchers able to
  judge scientific merit of broad areas
• Advocacy for a field should not be a function of
  peer review (avoid entitlements)
• Exploratory research or methods development or
  hypothesis-driven research must be judged on its
  potential to impact biomedical and behavioral
  research
• Overemphasis on preliminary data discriminates
  against bold new ideas
• Applicants should participate in referral to
  study section

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CSR Workloads May Councils2000 - 2005
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Timely Adjustments to Changes

• Changes/Problems
• Workload increases can exceed the metric of 80
  applications a cycle per Scientific Review
  Administrator (SRA), e.g., ONCs Cancer Etiology
  at 134 (2005/05)
• Implementation reveals clustering issues, e.g.,
  DNA repair
• Science changes, e.g., growth of epidemiology
  applications in Health of the Population IRG
  (from 2 to 5 study sections since 2001)
• Fixes/Solutions
• Temporary responses involve forming Special
  Emphasis Panels
• Within 2-3 rounds, CSR will involve working
  groups of active researchers and NIH staff in
  forming regular study section(s)
• Health of the Population IRG formed an
  Epidemiology Working Group that met November 2004
  to design 5 epidemiology study sections

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Status of Reorganization

• Systematic reorganization of study sections was
  driven by multiple needs (increased breadth,
  flexibility, openness, etc.)
• Implementation of last study sections occurred on
  schedule February 2005 (98 NEW STUDY SECTIONS!)
• Workloads are still mostly reasonable as over
  design of study sections and increase of
  applications balance
• Regular assessment of study sections by reviewers
  and NIH program and review staff is scheduled
• A process for timely adjustments to changes by
  creation of new study sections is in place

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Review Homes for Glycobiology Applications

• The PSBR scheme for CSR study sections is based
  on disease/organ/basic science, not disciplines
• However, the Study Section Boundaries Teams also
  planned for review of glycobiology applications
  in the basic science IRGs

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Review homes for glycobiology in disease/organ
study sections

• Immunology (Innate Immunity Inflammation/III)
• Oncology (Drug Discovery Molecular
  Pharmacology/DMP)
• Oncology (Tumor Microenvironment/TME)
• Respiratory Sciences (Lung Cellular, Molecular
  and Immunobiology/LCMI)

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Review homes for glycobiology in basic science
study sections

• Cell Biology (Intercellular Interactions/ICI)
• Biological Chemistry Macromolecular Biophysics
  (Enabling Bioanalytical and Biophysical
  Technologies/EBT)
• Cell Biology (Membrane Biology and Protein
  Processing/MBPP)
• Others Modeling and Analysis of Biological
  Systems Biodata Management and Analysis
  Synthetic and Biological Chemistry A B
  Macromolecular Structure and Function B Cell
  Structure and Function Molecular Genetics A

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Basic study sections and application numbers
(01/2006)

• ICI 35 applications
• EBT 71
• MBPP 52
• MABS 64
• BDMA 60
• SBC AB 83 76
• MSFB 81
• CSF 51
• MGA 65

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Intercellular Interactions Study Section

• Chair Dr. Jean Schwarzbauer, Princeton
  University
• Guidelines The Intercellular Interactions study
  section has an emphasis on how cells interact
  with both their environment and with neighboring
  cells, and how this regulates processes
  associated with cell growth, proliferation,
  differentiation and higher order complexity in
  tissues and development, including the synthesis
  of glycoproteins. ICI is also focused on how
  extracellular signals regulate the cytoskeleton
  and impact cell behavior.

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Present Status of Study Sections Reviewing
Glycobiology Applications

• Multiple review homes exist in disease/organ
  study sections
• Review homes in basic science study sections were
  specifically designed for glycobiology, and most
  have started well
• Intercellular Interactions/ICI, with greatest
  concentration of expertise in glycobiology,
  appears to be underutilized

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Scoring of Glycobiology R01 Applications
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How Can You Help Yourself?

• Learn about the new study sections
• Include a Cover Letter with the Following
• Research Area and Hypothesis/Question/Method
• Methods and Approaches
• Areas of Special Expertise Required (do not
  recommend reviewers by name)
• Potential Conflicts
• Possible Interest to 1-2 ICs
• Possible Review by 1-2 study sections

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CSR Director Dr. Toni Scarpa(began July 1, 2005)

• Initial Priorities
• Shorten review cycle, especially for new
  investigators
• Develop and use auxiliary/alternate review
  platforms
• Promote research that is more bold/less
  incremental

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CSR Director Dr. Toni Scarpa(initial efforts)

• Pilot 40 study sections with resubmission times
  cut by half for new investigators, Feb 2006
• Standardize resume and summary of discussion
• Prepare new investigator summary statements first
  and all within 30 days of meetings
• Pilot 3 asynchronous-discussion and 2
  camera-assisted review platforms
• Provide high-quality telephone access to all
  program staff at every review meeting

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Electric Receipt of Grant Applications (Form 424)

• See http//era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/
• Small business December 1, 2005
• R15/AREA February 25, 2006
• R03/R21 Small grants June 1, 2006
• R01 Research project grants October 1, 2006
• AIDS R01s January 2, 2007
• Remaining mechanisms May 2007

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NIH Contacts

• Dr. Raya Mandler, SRA ICI
• Dr. Noni Byrnes, SRA EBT
• Dr. Ramesh Nayak, SRA MBPP
• Dr. Tina McIntyre, SRA III
• Dr. Morris Kelsey, SRA DMP
• Dr. Eun Ah Cho, SRA TME
• Dr. George Barnas, SRA LCMI
• Don Schneider, 301 435-1727, schneidd_at_csr.nih.gov