Thanks for the update.

NOT A WORD on making the NIH eRA Commons the best grants management
system among federal agencies.
Bob
------------------------------
Robert Beattie
Editor, eRA Corner, NCURA Magazine
Member, NIH Commons Working Group
Member, FDP eRA Standing Committee
UMich Representative, FFATA Sub-award Pilot Project
UMich e-Business Point of Contact
UMich Grants.gov Liaison
Managing Senior Project Representative for Electronic Research
Administration
Division of Research Development and Administration
University of Michigan
xxxxxx@umich.edu   (734) 936-1283

On Sep 24, 2008, at 11:57 AM, Theresa Defino wrote:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF
HEALTH NIH News NIH Office of the Director (OD) <http://www.nih.gov/
icd/od/> For Immediate Release: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
CONTACT: NIH News Media Branch, NIH OCPL, 301-496-5787, <e-mail:
xxxxxx@mail.nih.gov> NIH NEWS ADVISORY ELIAS A. ZERHOUNI TO END
TENURE AS DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH Bethesda, Md,
September 24, 2008 -- Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., the director of the
National Institutes of Health, today announced his plans to step down
at the end of October 2008 to pursue writing projects and explore
other professional opportunities. Dr. Zerhouni, a physician scientist
and world-renowned leader in radiology research, has served as NIH
director since May 2002. He led the agency through a challenging
period that required innovative solutions to transform basic and
clinical research into tangible benefits for patients and their
families. One of the hallmarks of his tenure is the NIH Roadmap for
Medical Research, launched in 2003, after extensive consultations
with the scientific community. The NIH Roadmap brought together all
of the NIH 27 Institutes and Centers to fund compelling research
initiatives that could have a major impact on science, but that no
single institute could tackle alone. Additional information about the
NIH Roadmap can be found at <www.nihroadmap.nih.gov>. Dr. Zerhouni
also launched new programs to encourage high-risk innovative
research, such as the Director's Pioneer Awards and New Innovator
Awards, and focused especially on the need to support new
investigators and foster their independence. During his tenure,
Zerhouni worked to lower barriers between disciplines of science and
encourage trans-NIH collaborations. For example, he inspired
significant interdisciplinary efforts such as the NIH Strategic Plan
for Obesity Research and the Neuroscience Blueprint. Zerhouni also
led a major reform of the translational and clinical research system
in the United States. He also worked to improve public access to
scientific information. These efforts, along with his continual
advocacy for the public's investment in the NIH, greatly contributed
to Congress passing the NIH Reform Act of 2006, which was a sign of
renewed confidence in the NIH. (For more detailed information, see a
listing of key accomplishments attached to this release.) "I have had
the privilege of leading one of the greatest institutions in the
world for six and a half years," Dr. Zerhouni said. "NIH's strength
comes from the extraordinary commitment and excellence of its people
in serving a noble mission. It also comes from the nation's
scientific community, whose discoveries alleviate the suffering of
patients throughout the world. Over the past six years, we
experienced a revolution in the biomedical sciences and I feel
fortunate to have been part of it. I will miss the NIH and all my
colleagues, not only for their friendship and support through 'thick
and thin,' but also for their essential role in the progress we made
in advancing innovative research, fostering scientific collaboration,
supporting young scientists, and enhancing basic, translational, and
clinical research, despite great challenges." "Elias has been a
powerful voice for the medical research community as head of the NIH.
His tenure has been marked by the spirit of collaboration, good
management and transformation. The Roadmap for Medical Research that
he developed and implemented will benefit the health of this nation
for many years to come," said Secretary of Health and Human Services
Michael O. Leavitt. "His many achievements include promotion of
genetic research, support for advances of biodefense research and
helping raise awareness of women's heart disease.  I want to thank
Elias for his leadership and wish him the best of luck as he begins
this new chapter." NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), and is the nation's premiere biomedical
research agency. The agency has more than 18,000 employees and a
fiscal year 2008 budget of $29.5 billion. It supports more than
325,000 researcher personnel at more than 3,100 institutions
throughout the United States, and around the world. The Office of the
Director, the central office at NIH, is responsible for setting
policy for NIH, which includes 27 Institutes and Centers. This
involves planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and
activities of all NIH components. The Office of the Director also
includes program offices which are responsible for stimulating
specific areas of research throughout NIH. Additional information is
available at <http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/>. The National Institutes of
Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research Agency -- includes 27
Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for
conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical
research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for
both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its
programs, visit <www.nih.gov>. --------------------- KEY
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF ELIAS A. ZERHOUNI, M.D. As NIH Director, Dr.
Zerhouni significantly advanced the NIH mission: (1) to pursue
fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living
systems, and (2) to apply that knowledge to the extension of healthy
life and the reduction of the burdens of illness and disability.
Zerhouni forged new connections between basic and clinical research,
integrating the component parts of NIH's mission to unprecedented
degrees. He also led the agency to be better prepared to meet the
public health and science needs, challenges, and opportunities of the
21st century. THE NIH ROADMAP As NIH director, Dr. Zerhouni launched
a number of far-reaching initiatives to address the explosion of new
knowledge in the biomedical sciences and the growing challenges in
public health. In September 2003, he with the Institute and Center
leadership initiated the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, a vision
that helped chart the course for the future of NIH. The NIH Roadmap
focused on a short list of compelling initiatives for the NIH to
pursue that would make a profound, measurable difference in
biomedical research. The NIH Roadmap efforts stimulated new pathways
to discovery, building research teams for the future, and re-
engineering the clinical research enterprise. The NIH Roadmap is a
continuing programmatic priority at NIH and is managed by a newly-
established Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives
(OPASI). The ongoing goal of the NIH Roadmap is to ensure that NIH is
nimble, dynamic, and responsive to emerging scientific opportunities
and public health needs. TRANS-NIH COLLABORATIONS Drawing from a
"common fund" of money, NIH's 27 Institutes and Centers collaborate
on initiatives that are essential to the advancement of biomedicine,
initiatives that no single Institute or Center are able to undertake
alone. The NIH Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives
is organized around three themes: "New Pathways to Discovery": "Re-
engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise," and "Research Teams of
the Future." Today, initiatives within each of these themes are
making significant contributions to the science and practice of
medicine. In 2006, Congress passed the NIH Reform Act. Only the third
omnibus reauthorization in NIH's history, the Reform Act gives the
NIH Roadmap, and the Common Fund, legislative weight and continued
support. TRANS-NIH INITIATIVES TO ADDRESS MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH NEEDS
Dr. Zerhouni also established NIH-wide research initiatives to
address major public health problems, including obesity research and
neuroscience research. Shortly after Dr. Zerhouni's arrival in 2002,
he established the NIH Obesity Research Task Force to address one the
nation's most costly and debilitating health challenges. The task
force drew representatives from 7 NIH Institutes, Centers, and
Offices and developed a strategic plan that combined new research
opportunities with the coordination of resources across the NIH. The
plan called for interdisciplinary research teams to bridge the study
of environmental and behavioral causes with the study of genetic and
biologic causes. Dr. Zerhouni also spearheaded the NIH Neuroscience
Blueprint to (1) leverage the resources of 17 NIH Institutes and
Centers, (2) tackle common scientific problems and (3) train the
future generation of neuroscientists, all in an effort to address
mental illness, neurological disorders, and a range of behavioral
disorders that together affect millions of individuals at a yearly
cost to the U.S. of more than $500 billion. CLINICAL AND
TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE AWARDS In October 2006, Dr. Zerhouni launched a
national consortium designed to transform clinical and translational
research. Called the Clinical and Translational Science Awards
(CTSAs), the program represented the first systematic change in the
agency's approach to clinical research in 50 years. The consortium
got underway in with 12 sites; more were added each year with the
plan of supporting 60 such institutions by 2012. NIH began to see the
transformative effects of the program as changes occurred and new
partnerships at institutions were forged. The CTSA initiative grew
out of the NIH commitment to re-engineer the clinical research
enterprise, one of the key objectives of the NIH Roadmap for Medical
Research. MOLECULAR LIBRARIES The NIH Roadmap identified one key "new
pathway": the need for molecular libraries. The Molecular Libraries
initiative resulted in development of a nationwide consortium of 10
small molecule screening centers; including NIH; a database, PubChem;
and new tools and technologies to better serve investigative needs.
PubChem provides free access to discoveries about the chemical
structures and biological activities of small molecules. The program
was designed to provide investigators with a comprehensive set of
small molecule modulators of a majority of the genes and functions of
humans and other organisms. The Molecular Libraries initiative is
also aimed at producing innovative chemical tools for use in
biological research and drug development. The Molecular Small
Molecule Repository currently contains over 300,000 small molecules,
and the network of centers has entered the second phase of its
research agenda, focusing on small molecule probes. SUPPORT FOR HIGH
RISK/HIGH IMPACT RESEARCH During his tenure, Dr. Zerhouni also
addressed the agency's continued support of high risk/high impact
research, innovation in research, and funding for early-career
investigators. NIH DIRECTOR'S PIONEER AWARDS Dr. Zerhouni launched
the NIH Director's Pioneer Award Program in 2004 as a high-risk
research initiative. The awards are designed to support individual
scientists of exceptional creativity who propose pioneering-and
possibly transforming approaches-to major challenges in biomedical
and behavioral research. "Pioneering" refers to highly innovative
approaches with the potential of producing an unusually high impact
on a broad area of biomedical or behavioral research. Awards may
include grants for conducting research as opposed to recognizing past
achievement. PATHWAY TO INDEPENDENCE AWARDS In January 2006, Dr.
Zerhouni announced the NIH Pathway to Independence Award program,
which targeted promising postdoctoral scientists for receipt of
mentored and independent research support, both from the same award.
The program is among several initiated by Dr. Zerhouni to support
scientists at the early part of their careers while maintaining the
agency's "pipeline" of future-generation researchers. With the
program's debut, Dr. Zerhouni said, "Encouraging independent inquiry
by promising new investigators is a major goal for NIH. We must
invest in the future of our new scientists today if we expect to meet
the nation's health challenges of tomorrow. New investigators who
successfully cross the bridge from research dependence to research
independence bring fresh ideas and innovative perspectives to the
research enterprise." NIH NEW INNOVATOR AWARDS In March 2007, Dr.
Zerhouni announced the New Innovator Awards Program, designed to
cultivate new investigators, support innovative ideas, and encourage
and reward creativity. Under the program, New Innovator Awardees
propose bold and highly innovative research approaches that have the
potential to produce solutions for broad, important problems in
biomedical and behavioral research. The program complements other NIH
efforts to fund new investigators through R01 grants, the original
and historically oldest grant mechanism used by NIH, and the one that
continues to be the major source of NIH support for new
investigators. In 2007, thirty new investigators were provided New
Innovator Awards under the NIH Roadmap to initiate their own new five-
year research programs. The awards provide brilliant emerging
scientists with the resources, time, and freedom to pursue creative
ideas. TRANSFORMATIVE R01 PROGRAM Dr. Zerhouni launched the
Transformative R01 (TR01) program in September 2008 to provide
support for individual scientists or collaborative investigative
teams who propose transformative approaches to major contemporary
challenges. The primary objective of the T-R01 initiative is to
create a program that is specifically designed to support
exceptionally innovative, high risk, original and/or unconventional
research with the potential to create new or challenge existing
scientific paradigms. The program is a High Risk/High Reward
Demonstration Project with support from the NIH Common Fund. HUMAN
MICROBIOME PROJECT In December 2007, NIH launched the Human
Microbiome Project under Dr. Zerhouni. The human microbiome is the
collective genomes of all the microorganisms in or on the human body
and is largely unexplored. The project has the potential to transform
scientific understanding of human health and to prevent, diagnose,
and treat a wide range of conditions. The project is part of the NIH
Roadmap for Medical Research and was chosen by NIH leadership as a
major research opportunity that no single Institute or Center could
address alone. EPIGENOMICS PROJECT In January 2008, NIH announced a 5-
year, $190 million investment for the study of epigenomics: the
analysis of epigenetic changes across many genes in a cell or an
entire organism. Epigenetics focuses on the processes that regulate
how and when certain genes are turned on and turned off. "Epigenomics
will build upon our new knowledge of the human genome and help us
better understand the role of the environment in regulating genes
that protect our health or make us susceptible to disease," said Dr.
Zerhouni at the announcement of the program's start. STRUCTURAL
BIOLOGY ROADMAP The Structural Biology Roadmap is a strategic effort
to create a comprehensive gallery of three-dimensional shapes of
proteins in the body. The program seeks to develop methods or
producing protein samples for use by scientists in determining the
three-dimensional structure or shape of a protein. During the first
phase of the Structural Biology Roadmap (FY2004-2008), the NIH funded
two Centers for Innovation in Membrane Protein Production that
enabled interdisciplinary groups of scientists to develop innovative
methods for producing large quantities of membrane proteins.  The NIH
program is designed to catalyze what is currently a hit-or-miss
process into an organized, coordinated, systematic, and streamlined
routine, helping researchers clarify the role of protein shape in
health and disease. A number of small exploratory and regular
research grants were also awarded to individual investigators to
broaden the base of innovative ideas under development.
ORGANIZATIONAL REFORMS During his tenure, Dr. Zerhouni embarked on a
wide array of efforts to make NIH more responsive to changes and
challenges in the scientific landscape and more nimble as an
organization. Under Dr. Zerhouni's leadership, NIH initiated a number
of important and unprecedented programs to improve how science is
conducted and to ensure that the agency takes full advantage of the
progress made to date in improving people's health. NIH GOVERNANCE
IMPROVEMENT-STEERING COMMITTEE In July 2003, Dr. Zerhouni announced
the formation of the NIH Steering Committee, with a rotating
membership of ten directors derived from the 27 Institutes and
Centers to provide a more strategic direction to the agency and
streamline its decision-making process. The committee is chaired by
the NIH director. As the agency had grown in size and complexity in
recent years, there had been an increased need for a more efficient
trans-NIH coordination. The Steering Committee transformed NIH's
ability to manage and address the complex issues facing the agency.
SCIENCE MANAGEMENT REVIEW BOARD In September 2008, Dr. Zerhouni
announced formation of the NIH Scientific Management Review Board
(SMRB) as an outgrowth of the NIH Reform Act of 2006. The SMRB brings
together NIH leaders with outside experts to examine NIH's
organizational structure and make recommendations for greater agency
flexibility and responsiveness. EFFORTS TO ENHANCE THE NIH PEER
REVIEW SYSTEM In June 2008, Dr. Zerhouni announced major changes to
improve and enhance the NIH peer review system, marking the end of a
year-long effort to determine ways to further enrich the traditional
NIH peer review system. NIH is now implementing the programmatic
results of Dr. Zerhouni's original charge, "to fund the best science,
by the best scientists, with the least administrative burden." The
formal review process involved consultation with and comment from
internal staff, patient groups, and the broad scientific community,
as well as analysis of thousands of comments, feedback, and opinions
about the current NIH peer review system. PUBLIC ACCESS TO NIH-FUNDED
PUBLISHED RESEARCH In February 2005, Dr. Zerhouni announced an
unprecedented policy designed to expand and accelerate public access
to published articles resulting from NIH-funded research. The policy
was the first of its kind and called on scientists to release
manuscripts from research supported by NIH as soon as possible, and
within 12 months of publication. Publications are made available in a
web-based archive managed by the National Library of Medicine. At a
time when demand for such information is on a steady rise, the online
archive increases the public's access to health-related publications.
ENHANCED TRANSPARENCY NIH's responded to a call by Congress and the
public for enhanced transparency and accessibility regarding disease
funding by creating the Research, Condition, and Disease
Categorization (RCDC) system. RCDC utilizes a computer-based tool
that applies a uniform process of accounting for NIH funding for
diseases and conditions. The process produces a fully transparent
list of grants underlying and supporting the dollar amounts for each
reporting area. NIH will unveil the first RCDC reports as part of the
release of the President's 2010 budget request. SWEEPING REFORM OF
NIH ETHICS In February 2005, Dr. Zerhouni announced a set of ethics
regulations to address outside consulting between some NIH employees
and representatives of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.
Dr. Zerhouni launched the revised rules to help NIH (1) preserve its
historic role as the primary source of unbiased scientific health
information for the country and (2) maintain the highest ethical
standards, both while sustaining the agency's ability to support and
conduct the best medical research in the world. PUBLIC TRUST
INITIATIVE In October 2007, Dr. Zerhouni announced release of a new
Request for Applications (RFA) for the Partners in Research Program,
which supports studies of innovative ways to increase science
literacy, improve public understanding of health research, and engage
the public through community-based organizations. The program is one
of several programs initiated by NIH to maintain and enhance public
trust in medical research. REACHING OUT TO THE PUBLIC Under Dr.
Zerhouni's leadership, NIH reached to the public in an unprecedented
way with the communication of science-based health information and
scientific results. He led efforts to make the incomparable resources
of the NIH and its grantees, resources accessible to the public. Key
to these efforts are the health education programs across the agency.
With more than 2 million visits a day to the NIH websites, including
the NIH's NLM vast collection materials available through
comprehensive clearinghouses and #800, use of new resources of
podcasting, vodcasting, Research Matters, NIH: News in Health,
YouTube, and radio resources to reach audiences who depend upon radio
more than the web, materials for people who have challenges of
literacy, language or access were also developed. He worked closely
with the Council of Public Representatives in encouraging these
efforts. In two important messages to NIH and the public, Dr.
Zerhouni encouraged open discourse about science noting: "Timely and
accurate research results and science-based health communications are
an integral part of the NIH mission." ## This NIH News Release is
available online at: <http://www.nih.gov/news/health/sep2008/
od-24.htm>. To subscribe (or unsubscribe) from this list, go to
<http://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=nihpress&A=1>.
Kind regards,
Theresa Defino
Editor
Report on Research Compliance
301-738-3721
xxxxxx@aol.com

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