Biophysical Society Newsletter - April 2015

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BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER 7
APRIL 2015
perspectives of many individuals in the extramu-
ral community have a voice in guiding NIH’s
research priorities.
In a blog posted the same day as the notice, Rich-
ard Nakamura, the director of the NIH Center for
Scientific Review (CSR), explained the purpose
of the NIH notice is to increase participation by
PIs. In 2014, 24,000 reviewers participated in
more than 2,500 peer review meetings hosted by
the NIH. He noted how important this service is
in making sure the best research is funded. While
this number seems extremely high, there are
many NIH-funded researchers who do not serve.
CSR examined the service records of the 25,500
NIH-funded scientists who had received at least
$1 million in total costs from NIH over the past
five years. Of this group, only 45% had served
at least one day in a peer review capacity in the
last year. More funding did correlate with higher
rates of participation though: 42% of PIs with
one R01 served at least one time per year, 59% of
those with two R01s served at least one time per
year, and 72% of those with three R01s or served
at least one time per year. Nakamura did note that
not all PIs are asked every year, so the numbers do
not necessarily indicate an unwillingness to serve.
The post can be read in its entirety at
NIGMS Seeks Input on
Diversity Programs
The National Institute of General Medical Sci-
ences (NIGMS), NIH, is reviewing its programs
intended to foster a highly trained and diverse
biomedical research workforce to determine if they
are most effectively reaching their goal. As part
of this effort, the Institute wants to hear from the
community and has released a formal request for
information. While individuals are free to provide
input on any aspect of the Institute’s diversity
programs, NIGMS is especially interested in feed-
back on the following topics:
• The advantages (or disadvantages) to a single
program per institution that begins after
matriculation and provides college experiences
through graduation, to develop students for
biomedical research careers.
• Approaches to leverage institutional experi-
ences that successfully prepare baccalaureates
for subsequent biomedical PhD completion
to increase the number of students influenced
by undergraduate training programs at those
schools.
• Strategies that could be used to build institu-
tional capabilities and effective institutional
networks that promote undergraduate training
programs leading to successful PhD comple-
tion.
The request can be read in its entirety at
The deadline for
responses is April 15.
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Submission deadline: June 15, 2015
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