NIH grant-funding success rate reaches all-time low in 2011

On Jan. 13, the National Institutes of Health deputy director for extramural research, Sally Rockey, posted a blog piece that presented funding data for the NIH in 2011. The data showed what probably came as no surprise to those in the biomedical research community – overall success rates for research project grants (RPGs) fell to an all-time low of only 18 percent in FY11, 3 percentage points lower than that for FY10.

Rockey explained the cause of the decrease in greater detail in a subsequent blog piece posted a week later. Success rate is the number of funded grants divided by the number of applications. The decrease is due in large part to the drastic increase in applications for FY11. The NIH received a record 49,592 competing RPG applications, an 8 percent increase from FY10. In addition to more applicants, the NIH was able to funder fewer grants than in FY10. The RPG funding pool was decreased by $117 million as a result of the 1 percent cut to the NIH budget, and the average cost of each RO1 award also increased slightly.

Another factor that contributed to the drop in success rate came from the increase in short-term R21 grant applications. The number of competing R21 grants rose 17 percent, accounting for more than one-half of the total increase in RPG applications. Finally, because most RGPs are funded for three to five years, this creates a funding commitment for non competing grants in the years after they are initially awarded. In FY11, the amount of funding already committed to non competing grants increased by $189 million.

In addition to overall RPG grant success rates, Rockey showed data on success rates for new investigators and female investigators. All the data included in the blog come from the NIH Data Book, which was recently updated with the 2011 data.

The ASBMB Public Affairs Advisory Committee meets biannually with members of the NIH leadership and the falling RPG success rate consistently has been a discussion point. In March 2011, the ASBMB PAAC released a position statement that put forth three recommendations to help increase the payline for investigator-initiated RO1 grants. Read the position statement here.

Do you have suggestions for how the NIH can raise the RPG payline? We want to hear them! Email the ASBMB Office of Public Affairs at publicaffairs@asbmb.org

President Obama highlights the importance of basic research in the State of the Union address

In his 2012 State of the Union address, President Obama called economic fairness “the defining issue of our time.” In addition to focusing on tax reform, foreign policy and domestic job creation, the president also drew attention to several topics of interest to the biomedical research community, particularly, the importance of federal support for basic research.

“Innovation also demands basic research. Today, the discoveries taking place in our federally financed labs and universities could lead to new treatments that kill cancer cells but leave healthy ones untouched. New lightweight vests for cops and soldiers that can stop any bullet. Don’t gut these investments in our budget,” he told Congress. “Don’t let other countries win the race for the future. Support the same kind of research and innovation that led to the computer chip and the Internet, to new American jobs and new American industries.”

Obama also emphasized the growing number of science and technology jobs and the importance of a STEM-skilled American work force.

“I also hear from many business leaders who want to hire in the United States but can’t find workers with the right skills. Growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do the job. Think about that – openings at a time when millions of Americans are looking for work.”

Additionally, he showed support for immigration reform that will help scientists trained in America remain here to work.

“[Some immigrants] came more recently, to study business and science and engineering, but as soon as they get their degree, we send them home to invent new products and create new jobs somewhere else,” he said. “We should be working on comprehensive immigration reform right now. [L]et’s at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses and defend this country. Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. I will sign it right away.”

Even in these times of budget cuts and partisan politics, scientists should be encouraged by the president’s commitment to basic research funding.

Federal reports point to R&D as the key to American innovation

We’re only three weeks into the new year, and a barrage of federal reports that focus on the status of American competitiveness and innovation capacity already have been released. Not surprisingly, the connection between research and education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields and a strong national economy was highlighted in each report.

On Jan. 6, the Department of Commerce delivered The Competitive and Innovative Capacity of the U.S. report to Congress. The report outlines the three elements of innovation — basic research, education and infrastructure — and goes on to state that these areas require a strong and sustained federal investment to flourish.

The Commerce report presents ten policy recommendations, the first of which is for continued support for basic research through federal funding. Other recommendations include expanding R&D tax credits, improving STEM education and eliminating the barriers associated with translational research. Read a summary of the report here.

In February 2011, President Obama created the Jobs Council, which was tasked with developing a set of recommendations that would create jobs in the short term and improve American competitiveness in the long term. On Jan. 17, the Jobs Council released a new report titled Road Map to Renewal. It identifies six areas that are critical to address the president’s goal: education, research and development, energy, manufacturing, regulatory reform and tax reform.

The Jobs Council report presents several recommendations for each of the six topics. Of particular interest to the basic research community is the recommendation to raise the national investment in R&D to at least 3 percent of gross domestic product. The U.S. currently invests 2.8 percent of GDP to R&D, while countries such as Japan and Sweden invest 3.4 and 3.7 percent, respectively. Read a summary of the report here.

Finally, on Jan. 18, the National Science Board, the policy-making body at the National Science Foundation, released its yearly report on Science and Engineering Indicators. This report outlines trends in U.S. global competitiveness in the science and technology work force, education and economic activity. While the U.S. remains the leader in supporting science and technology, that lead could soon be overtaken as countries in Asia, particularly China, continue to increase their national investments in R&D.

The report shows that between 1999 and 2009 the U.S. investment in R&D dropped from 38 percent to 31 percent, whereas it grew from 24 percent to 35 percent in the “Asia-10″ (China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand). Read the report digest here, or visit the NSF website to explore specific topics like STEM education, global R&D trends or the science work force.

These reports all indicate that the key to maintaining America’s global competitiveness lies in its commitment to federal support for research and development. Countless studies have shown that STEM occupations are among the highest paying, fastest growing and most influential in driving economic growth and innovation. The ASBMB Office of Public Affairs will continue to bring you studies such as these that help support the argument for a strong investment in research.

NIH outlines future of NCRR grants on the heels of NCATS creation

The National Institutes of Health is moving full steam ahead with plans to establish the new National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. The NCATS formation represents the largest reorganization at the NIH in more than a decade, and NIH leadership is eager to bring this new center online.

Transparency appears to be a key issue in the NCATS reorganization, possibly in response to the controversy raised over the seemingly hasty pace with which NIH moved to establish NCATS. Now that NCATS has its official seal of approval, the NIH leadership seems to be focused on providing as much information as possible about how the reorganization will occur.

One of the many concerns from the extramural research community was how the programs housed in the National Center for Research Resources (which NCTAS has replaced) would be handled. A list of the reassignments for NCCR programs can be found here. Last week, NIH announced the creation of two new divisions within the National Institute of General Medical Sciences that will each administer programs from NCRR, along with its own.

In a blog piece posted Friday, Sally Rockey, deputy director for extramural research at NIH, outlined the new programs that will be housed in NCATS. The Clinical and Translational Science Awards, formerly administered by NCRR, will be transferred to NCATS and represents a significant portion on the new center’s budget. Some CTSA directors are concerned about the future of certain awards that don’t have a clear translational focus. In an interview with ScienceInsider, NCATS acting director Thomas Insel said that NIH wants to preserve the range of CTSA activities but added that the program should expect to “evolve.”

In her blog, Rockey goes on to describe efforts to ensure that the transition of NCRR grants to their new homes goes as smoothly as possible. An NIH Guide notice released Jan. 6 details what principle investigators/project directors who received funding from NCRR should expect in the coming weeks as these awards are transferred to their new IC. The notice stated that “these transfers will not change any of the terms and conditions of the current awards or the level of funding anticipated for future non-competing awards (pending the availability of funds).”

The ASBMB Office of Public Affairs will continue to keep you updated on NIH reorganizational issues.

Reorganizing as a result of NCATS approval has begun at NIH

On Dec. 23, President Obama signed into law the FY12 omnibus appropriations bill that officially established the new National Institutes of Health center, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. NCATS will replace the National Center for Research Resources, and the NIH already has begun to put in motion plans to redistribute several programs originally housed in the NCCR. The first steps in the reorganization process were announced Wednesday with the establishment of two new divisions at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. These new divisions will each administer programs from both NIGMS and NCRR.

The new Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity merges NIGMS research training programs with activities that were previously in the institute’s Division of Minority Opportunities in Research. The division also will house the Institutional Development Award program from NCRR. It will be led by former MORE director Clifton Poodry.

The new Division of Biomedical Technology, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology administers research and research training in areas that join biology with the computer sciences, engineering, mathematics and physics. It includes programs from the former NIGMS Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology along with NCRR biomedical technology programs. Former CBCB director Karin Remington will lead the division.

NIH leadership appear pleased with the new divisions, with NIGMS acting director Judith Greenberg stating, “This reorganization will synergize and strengthen our activities in several critical mission areas.”

The announcement also says that the reorganization will have no effect on the funding levels for the programs from NIGMS or NCRR. Additionally, most grants in the new divisions will continue to be managed by the same staff members.

FY12 appropriations bill passed and NCATS is officially established

While many of us were getting a jump on the holiday weekend, President Obama signed the FY12 omnibus appropriations bill on Friday, Dec. 23. The bill set the FY12 funding levels for government agencies covered by the remaining nine appropriations bills, which included the National Institutes of Health. The bill also establishes a new NIH center, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences with a budget of $575 million for FY12.

Even now that NCATS has its official seal of approval, many in the research community are still wary of how the reorganization process will proceed. Specifically, there is concern over the future of those programs that were housed in the National Center for Research Resources, which was eliminated with the establishment of NCATS.

In a memo sent out to the NIH staff, NIH director, Francis Collins, outlined the NCATS temporary leaders: the acting director will be Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health and the acting deputy director will be Kathy Hudson, NIH deputy director for science, outreach, and policy. NIH began soliciting for the first NCATS director in the fall.

The ASBMB Office of Public Affairs will continue to monitor the NCATS reorganization process and keep you informed with the latest information.

Several changes to NIH animal research policies

On Dec. 1, the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare announced that the National Institutes of Health would be adopting the eighth edition of the “Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals” effective Jan. 1. The Guide establishes the agency’s policies for the humane use of animals at institutions that receive NIH funding.

Many in the research community questioned the implementation of the Guide, including the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. ASBMB co-signed a letter from FASEB that addressed the cost and scientific merit of the proposed changes and urged their delayed implementation. In response to these concerns, the NIH is giving institutions more time to implement the new changes. While institutions are required to conduct one semiannual review and inspection using the new Guide standards within the year, all changes are not required to be enacted by that time. Based on the inspection, institutions will need to generate an implementation plan by Dec. 31, 2012.

To aid in the implementation process, the OLAW has developed several position statements that describe the ways in which NIH expects institutions to implement the guidelines. The position statements address:

• cost of implementing the new guidelines
• animal housing specifications
• use of non-pharmaceutical grade compounds
• food and fluid restrictions
• multiple surgical procedures
• application of the guidelines to agricultural animals used in biomedical research

The public is encouraged to comment about their understanding of the position statements here by Jan. 29.

In addition to the changes in animal care regulations, a recent study by the Institute of Medicine will have profound effects on federally-funded chimpanzee research. On Dec. 15, the IOM released its report titled “Chimpanzees in Biomedical Research: Assessing the Necessity” which found that most current uses of chimpanzees for biomedical research are “unnecessary.”

The IOM report recommended that the NIH limit funding to only studies

• for which there is no other suitable model available
• that cannot be performed ethically in humans
• that, without which, important advancements will be significantly slowed or prevented

Soon after IOM the report was issued, NIH Director Francis Collins, announced he accepted the recommendations and would move to implement them as soon as possible. The NIH already is developing a plan to implement the recommendations, which will include a more rigorous review of NIH-funded chimpanzee research. Also, no new grant applications involving research on chimpanzees will be considered until further notice. While the changes apply to only NIH-funded chimpanzee research, many feel private research likely will adopt similar standards.

Read additional reports on the changes to chimpanzee research at the NIH by The Washington Post and ScienceInsider.

FY12 Appropriations bill introduced in the House

Late Wednesday evening, U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) announced the final nine FY12 appropriations bills had been combined into a large omnibus bill and introduced in the House. In addition to the nine appropriations bills, the legislation package includes a bill providing funding for disaster emergencies and a bill containing offsets for the disaster funding.

Of particular interest to the research community, is the FY12 funding level for the National Institutes of Health. The bill provides the NIH with $30.6 billion in funding, $239 million above the FY11 level, but $758 million below the President’s request. The bill also contains the establishment of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and the dissolution of the National Center for Research Resources. The bill includes the following specifics:

• $576 million for the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
• $10 million for the Cures Acceleration Network (No funds were provided for CAN in FY11)
• $487 million for the Clinical and Translational Sciences Awards program
• $1.46 billion for the Office of the Director (FY11 comparable funding was $1.177 billion)
• $125 million for Buildings and Facilities (FY11 comparable funding was $50 million)

A summary of the bill can be found here and the complete text of the legislation that deals with NIH funding can be found here. The ASBMB Office of Public Affairs will continue to analyze the specifics of the bill to identify any policy riders that may affect the research community.

The 2012 fiscal year began on Oct. 1 and the government has been running under continuing resolutions since that time. The current CR expires on Dec. 16, so one final short-term CR may be necessary to give both the House and the Senate more time for a final vote on the bill.

The ASBMB Office of Public Affairs will continue to monitor the appropriations process and keep you updated on its progress.

Science funding agencies will have to increase funding for small businesses grants

On Tuesday, Dec. 13, the House of Representatives agreed to provisions provided earlier this month by the Senate to end five years of debate and pass a long-term extension of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.  For almost five years, Congress has been trying to pass a reauthorization bill for the SBIR/STTR programs, which have been operating under a series of temporary extensions since 2008. The most recent extension expires on Dec. 16.

Currently the SBIR program requires all federal agencies with a budget over $100 million to reserve 2.5 percent of their total extramural research budgets for grants to small businesses, as defined by Congress. The STTR program uses a similar approach as SBIR (but mandates collaboration between small businesses and research institutions), however the set-aside is 0.3 percent of the agency’s extramural research budget. The new SBIR/STTR reauthorization bill increases the SBIR set-aside from 2.5 to 3.2 percent and the STTR set-aside from 0.3 to 0.45 percent over the next six years.

Many in the traditional research community have generally opposed increasing the SBIR/STTR set-aside amounts since it would shave away pieces of the already decimated extramural research portfolios at science-funding agencies, like the National Institutes of Health.  For example, these increases would ostensibly cut the NIH extramural budget from today’s level by $222 million. In other words, the NIH would be able to fund almost 500 fewer RPGs.

ASBMB has long supported reauthorizing the SBIR/STTR programs, but opposes increasing the set-aside amount. Last week, ASBMB co-signed a letter from the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology urging Congress to remove the SBIR/STTR reauthorization amendment from the final version of the Defense authorization bill.

An FY12 budget for the holidays?

While many of you may be sipping on eggnog or picking out that perfect “white elephant” gift for your office holiday party, the mood has been less than merry in Washington this December. After the embarrassing failure of the supercommittee to produce a debt deal, Congress has been frantically trying to save face by wrapping up the FY12 appropriations process before they break for the holidays.

Just before Thanksgiving, Congress passed a “minibus” bill that combined three appropriations bills for several government agencies, such as agriculture, criminal justice, transportation and housing agencies and several science-funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation. However, there are still nine appropriations bills left for FY12, including the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education bill, which sets funding for the National Institutes of Health. NIH is currently being funded through a continuing resolution that sets the funding level 1.5 percent BELOW that of FY11.

There are two scenarios circulating as to how these final nine bills could be completed.

1) Omnibus

• Would combine all remaining nine appropriations bills
• More difficult to get this passed because it would mean negotiating spending levels for all the remaining agencies
• NIH funding will probably fall somewhere between the levels set in the House and Senate bills (+3.3% to -0.6% of the FY11 level)

2) Omnibus with a year long CR

• Would combine all remaining bills EXCEPT those for the LHHS and the Interior bills
• Spending for LHHS and Interior would be set by a year long CR
• These two bills are the most controversial and have the most dissimilarity between the House and the Senate funding levels
• Would leave NIH funding at the current level (1.5% below FY11) until Sept. 30.

Not surprisingly, those in the research community favor scenario No. 1. With the current CR set to expire Dec. 16, Congress has a little over a week to negotiate the final spending package.

UPDATE: Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), Chairman of the U.S. House Appropriations committee, announced that the House and Senate will hold a joint Conference Committee meeting to negotiate an omnibus package for the nine remaining appropriations bills. The Conference Report is expected to be released early next week.