On May 6, Endocrine Society members Richard Legro, MD, and Carole Mendelson, PhD, represented the Society at a meeting with leadership from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), including the Acting Director of the NICHD, Catherine Spong, MD.
During the meeting, Legro and Mendelson discussed how to maintain support for the next generation of researchers given the challenging fiscal climate. Spong discussed the results of a review by the Institute of their training programs for graduate students and early career investigators. Moving forward the NICHD will have a greater focus on individual awards to trainees, and will make a concerted effort to increase support for the successful K99/R00 program.
The group also discussed challenges facing the biomedical research enterprise generally, including difficulties in maintaining support for investigator-initiated research projects. NICHD described how they are reviewing their grant portfolio and comparing it to other Institutes to determine what variances exist and how they should be managed. Legro and Mendelson shared Society concerns about set-asides for special projects and how these might impact support for the pool of R01-supported investigators.
Spong highlighted the many synergies that exist between the priority areas supported by NICHD and the disease and research interests of Endocrine Society members. She encouraged us to continue to raise the profile of research on women and children’s health and work with the Institute to raise awareness among trainees of the programs at NIH to support their research.
We will continue to work with NICHD to advance endocrine research and explore further opportunities to collaborate. For more information on NICHD priorities and news from the Institute, please see the NICHD website.
Loading ...