SOCIETY MEMBERS URGED TO VOLUNTEER FOR SERVICE ON NIH STUDY SECTIONS

In an effort to improve the operation of the Study Sections that evaluate grant applications, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has asked scientific societies, including the American Peptide Society, to nominate some of their members for duty on the review panels. The nominations are limited to scientists who have substantial and broad independent research experience, understand the review process, have received major peer-reviewed grants from NIH or other equivalent agencies, and are willing to serve for four years on a chartered study section.

In many cases, getting your NIH grant application scored at a level that will result in funding depends on obtaining reports from knowledgeable individuals who understand the science being proposed. If no members of our society serve on relevant Study Sections, getting funding in these difficult times will remain challenging. While this is certainly not a small commitment, serving on a study section is an invaluable experience to better understand the processes involved and will greatly help the novice reviewer prepare their own better grant applications.

In addition, in order to encourage more senior scientists to serve on Study Sections, NIH has revised their policies to permit more flexible submissions from permanent panel members. In essence, applications from members of chartered Study Sections can be submitted at any time during the year, not just when the normal three deadlines apply. These applications may be evaluated by a special emphasis panel, where reviewers are selected for their specific expertise. Again, this would provide an advantage for a grant in that the reviewers would be knowledgeable in the field. This policy would counteract a common problem where Study Section members are disadvantaged by having to meet deadlines while also preparing reviews of applications.

In order to promote peptide science, the Society feels strongly that senior members who meet the criteria given above should volunteer for service on NIH grant review panels. Individuals interested in this should contact Donna Freher-Lyons immediately at aps_member@americanpeptidesociety.org.