Collins to Remain at NIH, Amends GSI Proposal
BU IN DC
School of Public Health Dean Sandro Galea attended the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities, of which he is a member, on June 5 and 6.
Mayank Varia of the Hariri Institute for Computation and Computational Science & Engineering met with Congressional staff to discuss cybersecurity policy on June 6.
Emily Barman of the College of Arts & Sciences attended a National Academies workshop on graduate training for the social and behavioral sciences on June 8 and 9.
COLLINS TO REMAIN AT NIH, AMENDS GSI PROPOSAL
On Tuesday, the White House announced that Francis Collins will continue to serve as the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a position he has held since 2009. In January, President Donald Trump asked Dr. Collins to remain through the Administration’s initial transition, and Tuesday’s announcement cements the agency’s leadership for the foreseeable future.
NIH made further news this week when it announced that it was stepping back from its Grant Support Index, a controversial proposal to cap the number of grants a principal investigator may have at one time in order to better support early-career scientists. Instead of an NIH-wide cap, funding will be redistributed to each institute to determine how best to support early- and mid-career researchers. This decentralized effort would provide flexibility to award grants for early or mid-career investigators that best fits the needs of that institute, but applicants applying to various institutes could be categorized differently across NIH. More details are forthcoming, and the agency plans to continue to solicit stakeholder input.
CONGRESS BEGINS BUDGET PROCESS
With the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget request submitted, Congress commenced the formal appropriations process this week with hearings from agency officials on their funding priorities. Two of the hearings were of particular relevance for the higher education and research community:
- On Tuesday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testified before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on education about the Department’s budget needs for FY18. She stated that the agency is on-track to begin implementing year-round Pell grants, as mandated under the final FY 2017 funding agreement, on July 1 for the 2017-2018 academic year.
- On Wednesday, National Science Foundation Director France Cordova appeared before the House Appropriations subcommittee on science. She touted the agency’s ability to support the best cutting-edge basic research while dealing with a constrained budgetary environment.
GRANTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) at the Department of Defense (DOD) has started to release its solicitations for fiscal year (FY) 2017. Funding opportunities recently released include: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Bone Marrow Failure, Breast Cancer, Gulf War Illness, Lung Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Ovarian Cancer, Peer Reviewed Cancer, and Vision, among others. The peer review process for DOD medical research competitions differs from other science agencies, and reports and slides with helpful tips are available at the BU Federal Relations web site.