NIH AREA Grants and More!

SPA’s Jackie Davis and Maria Bumbalough led the last March colloquium on Friday, March 30, 2018 in Bracken Library.

This colloquium focused on teaching the audience all about the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

What's the NIH?

Stan Geidel introduces the speakers.

The NIH is one of the units under the US Department of Health & Human Services. There overall mission “is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.”

The NIH's 2016 annual budget was $32.31 billion, which means they have a lot of funding opportunities.

The NIH is comprised of 27 different Institutes & Centers (IC), all reporting to the Office of the Director (OD). Of the 27 ICs, three do not have funding authority, but the other 24 ICs each have their own:

• Mission
• Priorities
• Budget
• Funding Strategy
• Pay-lines

Just like all sponsors and funding programs, you must find a good match for your project and research agenda, and it must fit into THEIR mission, priorities, program, and budget. 

Submitting to the NIH

Every proposal submitted to NIH must include a project summary/abstract, which is a statement of how the specific aims and objectives of the proposal are relevant to the mission of the agency. This statement should be a succinct and accurate description of the proposed project that is understandable to the scientifically literate reader, and consist of about 30 lines of text.

The general application can be found here.

The NIH Standard Due Dates can be found here. 

The NIH offers the following funding mechanisms:

• Research Grants (R series)
• Career Development Awards (K series)
• Research Training & Fellowships (T & F series)
• Program Project/Center Grants (P series)
• Resource Grants (various series)
• Trans-NIH Programs
• Common Fund Programs

Tips to Consider

Davis and Bumbalough.

• Pay close attention to the Application Review Information in the FOA, which describes both scored and additional review criteria including:
• Rigor & Reproducibility
• Significance, Investigator(s), and Environment
• Protections for Human Subjects, Inclusion of Women Minorities, & Children, Etc.
• Talk to the Program Officer - they can help identify the right type of grant program or funding opportunity for your research.
• Biosketch Personal Statement - Tell your story not the project’s story – why are you particularly suited to conduct the research.

Peer Review

• NIH’s two-tiered Peer Review process is intended to promote evaluation that strives to be fair, equitable, timely, and free of bias.
• First level - Scientific Review Group (SRG) - primarily non-federal scientists who have expertise in relevant scientific disciplines and current research areas.
• Second level - IC National Advisory Councils - both scientific and public representatives chosen for their expertise, interest, or activity in matters related to health and disease.
• NIH Center for Scientific Review has a variety of Peer Review Resources for Applicants including the video NIH Peer Review Revealed.

Working with SPA

• Inform your Proposal Manager - EARLY
• Spend time on the NIH Website
• Inform your Department Chair & Dean’s Office
• Attend NIH Webinars, Seminars
• Develop a timeline and a plan
• It takes MONTHS, not WEEKS to develop an NIH proposal

SPA Can Help You

• Talk through your proposal ideas, significance & impact
• Contact your Program Officer 
• Solidify collaborations
• Have colleagues review your narrative 

For any questions about the NIH feel free to reach out to Jackie Davis at jsdavis@bsu.edu or Maria Bumbalough at mbumbalough@bsu.edu.