IC Review Today

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IC Review Today

• Alan L. Willard, Ph.D.
• Chief, Scientific Review Branch
• NINDS
• National Institutes of Health

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Topics for today

• WHAT applications do IC's review?
• HOW are different applications reviewed? Examples
  of IC-specific review issues.
• VARIATION among IC's.
• CHALLENGES.
• A few guesses about the future.

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What do IC's Review?

• Program Projects, Centers
• Multi-center Clinical Trials
• Solicited Applications (RFA, RFP, PAR)
• Career Development Awards
• Institutional Training Grants
• Loan Repayment
• Conference Grants
• R D Contract Proposals

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Generic Review Questions

• WHAT is being proposed?
• WHY is it important?
• CAN IT BE DONE (by this group of investigators
  with this set of resources)?

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Program Projects CentersAdditional Review
Questions

• COHERENCE Does this combination of projects and
  cores constitute a well-integrated program or
  center?
• MANAGEMENT Do the applicants have appropriate
  experience and plans to manage the proposed
  program or center?

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Multi-Center Clinical Trials Additional Review
Issues

• Coordination
• Management
• Recruitment Retention
• Statistics
• Safety Ethics

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Career Development Additional Review Issues

• Candidate
• Mentor(s)
• Development plan
• Institutional commitment
• Protection of time
• Resources

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Review Challenges with Initiatives

• Reviewer understanding (and acceptance?) of the
  goals of an initiative.
• Possible bias against research that does not test
  hypotheses or mechanisms.

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Generic Review Challenges

• Trading off speed against expertise.
• Conflicts of interest.
• Not relying too heavily on too few people.
• "Goldilocks" level of expertise (not too much
  not too little).
• Identifying diverse sets of reviewers.
• Logistics (Timing, travel, especially for site
  visits or applicant interviews).

10
IC Variation

• Which mechanisms are reviewed?
• Standing committees or special emphasis panels?
• Site visits? Face-to-face meetings?
  Teleconferences?
• Level of interaction between review and program
  staff.
• Extent of use of streamlining.

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The Future?

• More collaborative reviews? (Roadmap Blueprint).
• Better technology for virtual meetings?
• Fast track "administrative" reviews instead of
  amended applications?
• More effective use of reviewer reserves?

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Summary

• IC Review seeks to provide customized review for
  mechanisms, programs and initiatives that have
  IC-specific.
• There is substantial variation among IC's in what
  they review and how.
• The most important goals (expertise, fairness)
  are the same, regardless of locus of review.