WELCOME TO THE 59th MEETING OF
THE NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL
FOR BIOMEDICAL IMAGING AND
BIOENGINEERING.
I'M DAVID GEORGE, NIBIB
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, EXECUTIVE
SECRETARY OF THIS COMMITTEE.
THIS COUNCIL MEETING IS OPEN TO
THE PUBLIC, EXCEPT FOR THE
REVIEW OF PENDING GRANT
APPLICATIONS WHICH WILL TAKE
PLACE LATER IN THE AFTERNOON.
THE OPEN SESSION OF THE COUNCIL
MEETING IS BEING LIVE BROADCAST
ON THE NIH VIDEOCAST NETWORK,
AND RECORDED FOR NIH ARCHIVES.
THE COMMITTEE AND PRESENTERS ARE
PARTICIPATING VIA VIDEO
CONFERENCE.
I'D LIKE TO WELCOME OUR COUNCIL
MEMBERS, EX OFFICIOS, SPECIAL
GUESTS, THANK YOU TO ALL
WATCHING ON THE VIDEOCAST.
MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO WISH
TO EXPRESS VIEWS ON ANY ITEMS
DISCUSSED DURING THIS MEETING
MAY DO SO IN WRITING WITHIN THE
NEXT TEN DAYS, BY E-MAILING ME
AT INFO@NIBIB.NIH.GOV.
PLEASE PUT NIBIB COUNCIL IN THE
SUBJECT LINE OF AN E-MAIL.
FOR OUR ATTENDEES AND PRESENTERS
TODAY IN TERMS OF SOME BEST
PRACTICES FOR VIDEO
CONFERENCING, I'LL REMIND YOU TO
PLEASE MUTE YOURSELF WHEN NOT
SPEAKING.
WHEN YOU SPEAK, STATE YOUR NAME
ESPECIALLY IN HOLLYWOOD SQUARES
MODE.
PEOPLE ON THE VIDEOCAST CAN'T
TELL WHO IS SPEAKING SO IT HELPS
IF YOU MENTION YOUR NAME AND I
WITH BRUCE WILL CALL YOU OUT TO
MAKE THAT EASIER.
FOR COLLEAGUES AND GUESTS
PRESENTING, REMINDER TO PRESENT
FROM A FILE LOCATED ON YOUR
COMPUTER'S HARD DRIVE RATHER
THAN THROUGH A NETWORK DRIVE.
LOG OFF VPN WHILE YOU'RE
PRESENTING.
ALSO SHUT OFF ANY UNNEEDED
SOFTWARE TO MAXIMIZE RESOURCES
AND BAD WIDE -- BANDWIDTH.
THE CHAT IS FOR OUR COLLEAGUE
MANAGING THE VIDEO CONFERENCE,
YOU CAN CHAT IF YOU HAVE
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS.
YOU CAN LET HIM KNOW BY THAT.
ALSO, YOU CAN REACH RYAN BY
E-MAIL DURING THE MEETING, RYAN.
DAVA@NIH.GOV.
BEFORE WE MOVE ON, ANY QUICK
QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT?
IN TERMS OF ANNOUNCEMENTS WE
HAVE A QUORUM FOR TODAY'S
MEETING. I'D LIKE TO THANK PAM
GLICKMAN AND SPECIALIST ALICIA
HOPKINS FOR THEIR FANTASTIC WORK
IN ORGANIZING THE MEETING.
THEY DO A FANTASTIC JOB THREE
TIMES A YEAR.
I'D LIKE TO THANK OUR I.T.
COLLEAGUES, ALL THE SPECIAL
ARRANGEMENTS THEY MAKE FOR THE
ZOOM, AND THE VIDEOCAST, THE
EXTRA WORK INVOLVED WITH THAT.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
THESE PROCEEDINGS ARE GOVERNED
BY FACA, AND GOVERNMENT IN THE
SUNSHINE ACT.
CONSEQUENTLY THIS MEETING IS
ANNOUNCED TO THE PUBLIC IN THE
FEDERAL REGISTER AND LATER ON
THERE WILL BE A CLOSED SESSION
FOR DISCUSSION OF INDIVIDUAL
APPLICATIONS.
WE ANTICIPATE ADJOURNING THE
OPEN SESSION AT 2:45 P.M.
FUTURE COUNCIL DATES, THEY ARE
LISTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE
AGENDA, FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS IT
WAS FOUND UNDER THE ELECTRONIC
COUNCIL BOOK IN THE CURRENT
COUNCIL TAB.
PLEASE REVIEW THE DATES AND MAKE
SURE IT DOESN'T CLASH WITH A
CONFERENCE THAT WOULD TAKE AWAY
COUNCIL MEMBERS.
NEXT MEETING IS SEPTEMBER 13,
2022, AGAIN HELD BY VIDEO
CONFERENCE.
I'D LIKE TO MOVE INTO
CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FROM
THE LAST MEETING AND COUNCIL
OPERATING PROCEDURES.
I WOULD ASK THE COUNCIL MEMBERS
TO PLEASE UNMUTE YOURSELVES IN
PREPARATION FOR A VOICE VOTE.
MINUTES ARE MADE AVAILABLE TWO
WEEKS AGO IN THE ELECTRONIC
COUNCIL BOOK.
ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS OR
MODIFICATIONS THAT YOU'D LIKE TO
MAKE TO THE MINUTES?
HI, PAULA, AND WELCOME.
HEARING NONE I'LL ENTERTAIN A
MOTION TO APPROVE.
>> SO MOVED.
>> AND SECOND?
>> SECOND.
ALL IN FAVOR, AYE?
>> AYE.
>> ALL OPPOSED, NAY?
THANK YOU, MOVING TO
CONSIDERATION OF COUNCIL
OPERATING PROCEDURES, AGAIN
THESE ARE MADE AVAILABLE A
COUPLE WEEKS AGO IN ECB.
AS I MENTIONED IN MY
COMMUNICATION WE DIDN'T CHANGE
THEM, JUST ADDED A PARENTHETICAL
PHRASE TO CLARIFY SOMETHING BUT
THE POLICY WASN'T CHANGED.
ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS OR
MODIFICATIONS THAT YOU WOULD
LIKE TO MAKE TO THE OPERATING
PROCEDURES?
HEARING NONE I'LL ENTERTAIN A
MOTION TO APPROVE THEM.
>> SO MOVED.
>> I SECOND.
>> A SECOND, THANK YOU.
ALL IN FAVOR, AYE.
>> AYE.
>> ALL OPPOSED, NAY.
OKAY.
VERY GOOD.
WITH THOSE ADMINISTRATIVE
MATTERS TAKEN CARE OF I'LL TURN
THE PROCEEDINGS OVER TO OUR
DIRECTOR, DR. BRUCE TROMBERG.
>> THANK YOU, DAVID.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO REITERATE
THANK YOU TO PAM AND TO ALICIA
AND TO OUR I.T. COLLEAGUES FOR
GETTING US ALL TOGETHER AND
SETTING THIS UP.
SO, IF WE COULD TAKE YOUR SLIDE
DOWN WE'RE GOING TO DO SOME
SLIDE GYMNASTICS FOR A FEW
MINUTES.
MEMBER WE CAN DO OUR CUSTOMARY
HELLO.
GIVE A WARM WELCOME.
YOU TOO, SUSAN, WHERE WE ALL SAY
HI.
WE'RE EMULATING THE REAL ROOM,
SO IF YOU WERE IN A REAL ROOM
WITH US WE WOULD BE THANKING YOU
FOR COMING AND SAYING HI AND
RECONNECTING WITH MANY
COLLEAGUES WHOM YOU KNOW WELL.
SO THANK YOU SUSAN.
NOW I WILL SHARE MY SCREEN AND
BRIEFLY -- LET'S SEE.
OKAY.
NORMALLY YOU WOULD SEE A
DIRECTOR'S REPORT HERE BUT WE'RE
GOING TO INTERRUPT AT THE
BEGINNING BECAUSE WE HAVE THE
OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE DR. SUSAN
MARGUILES.
I THINK EVERYONE KNOWS SUSAN AND
HER WORK ARE PIONEERING WORK,
SHE'S DIRECTOR OF THE
ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE AT THE
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, AND
PRETTY NEW TO THE GOVERNMENT.
ONLY SINCE JULY OF 2021.
WELCOME, SUSAN.
VERY EXCITING TIME TO JOIN THE
GOVERNMENT.
HER TALK WILL BE TRANSFORMING
THE WORLD THROUGH ENGINEERING
OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTNERSHIP
WITH NIBIB.
WE HAVE EXTENSIVE PARTNERSHIPS,
SO WE'RE EXCITED TO HEAR FROM
HER, HER IDEAS.
SUSAN IS -- EVERYONE KNOWS, AN
SOLUTION VISIONARY AND WE'RE
FORTUNATE FOR OUR COMMUNITY TO
HAVE HER AS DIRECTOR OF THE
ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE AT NSF.
PRIOR TO JOINING NSF SUSAN WAS A
PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF THE
COULTER DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL
ENGINEERING AT GEORGIA TECH AND
EMORY, PRIOR TO THAT FOR NEARLY
25 YEARS SHE WAS A PROFESSOR OF
BIOENGINEERING AND NEUROSURGERY
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA, SO SHE'S DONE WORK
REALLY IN DEPTH IN BOTH
BIOMECHANICS OF PEDIATRIC
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AND LUNG
INJURY, ASSOCIATED WITH
MECHANICAL VENTILATORS AND
BIOLOGY IN MEDICINE OF THESE
PHENOMENA, AND HER WORK HAS BEEN
RECOGNIZED BY MANY, MANY AWARDS
INCLUDING BEING A FELLOW OF THE
NAE, NAM, AMBI, SMEE SMBS,
TRAINING IN MECHANICAL AND
AEROSPACE ENGINEERING AS
UNDERGRADUATE AT PRINCETON, GRAD
OPPORTUNITY AT PENN, AND IN FACT
OVERLAPPED WITH OUR VERY OWN
DAVID GEORGE AS A GRAD
OPPORTUNITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA, SOME YEARS AGO.
I WON'T GO INTO EXACTLY WHEN
THAT WAS.
BUT WE'RE SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE
SUSAN.
SUSAN, BEFORE I TURN IT OVER TO
YOU WHILE WE HAVE YOU HERE JUST
TO SHOW OFF A FEW OF OUR
COLLABORATIONS WITH NSF, WE HAVE
AT LEAST NINE MEMBERS OF OUR
STAFF PROGRAM DIRECTORS AND
SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OFFICERS,
PROBABLY MORE, WHO ARE ENGAGED
IN THESE COLLABORATIONS IN
COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE,
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH, NATIONAL
ROBOTICS, CYBER PHYSICAL
SYSTEMS, WORK IN SMART CONNECTED
HEALTH TOGETHER, BUT THAT'S NOT
ALL.
SHE ALSO HAVE BEEN WORKING
TOGETHER SINCE THE VERY
BEGINNING OF NIBIB ON THE
INTERAGENCY MODELING AND
ANALYSIS GROUP, MORE RECENTLY
THE BRIDGE TO A.I. WHICH IS A
COMMON FUND INITIATIVE THAT
SUPPORTS A.I.-BASED APPROACHES,
AND GETTING A.I., DIVERSE A.I.
DATASETS.
THE BRAIN INITIATIVE WHICH
EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT AND NEEDS
NO FURTHER INTRODUCTION.
AS WELL AS AN EMERGING EFFORT IN
MEDICAL IMAGING, THE PHANTOM
LIBRARY, COLLABORATION WITH
NIST, AND WORKING ON DEVELOPING
MORE PARTNERSHIPS WITH NSF.
SO, I WILL STOP THERE.
AND HAND IT OVER TO SUSAN.
WE'RE SO GRATEFUL FOR YOU TO
COME HERE AND LOOKING FORWARD TO
BUILDING ON THESE WONDERFUL
COLLABORATIONS THAT WE'VE HAD
TOGETHER OVER THE YEARS.
>> THANK YOU, BRUCE.
ATLANTIC YOU -- THANK YOU FOR
MAKING TIME IN THE SCHEDULE FOR
THIS CONVERSATION AND I LOOK
FORWARD TO IT.
LET ME SHARE MY SLIDES.
HOW DOES THAT LOOK?
SOMEBODY NEEDS TO SAY SOMETHING
BECAUSE I TURNED OFF YOUR --
>> LOOKS GOOD.
>> WONDERFUL.
SO WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO TODAY IS
TO GIVE YOU A COMPRESSED
WHIRLWIND TOUR OF THE
ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE WITHIN
THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION,
AND TO SHARE WITH YOU SOME
PROGRAMS, INITIATIVES,
SOLICITATIONS, WHERE I THINK OUR
INTERESTS COULD ALIGN.
MY PERSPECTIVE IS THAT WHILE
I'VE HAD A GREAT DEAL OF
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION FROM
MY RESEARCH IN THE PAST, MY OWN
RESEARCH IN HEAD INJURY AND IN
VENTILATOR-ASSOCIATED LUNG
INJURY WAS NOT ACTUALLY FUNDED
BY NIBIB AT NIH.
IT WAS FUNDED BY NHLBI AND
NINDS.
I'M FULLY AWARE THAT THE
POTENTIAL INTERACTIONS FOR
ENGINEERS AT THE INTERFACE
BETWEEN MEDICINE AND ENGINEERING
COULD BE AT MANY DIFFERENT
PLACES WITHIN NIH.
BRUCE AND I HAVE FELT THAT THE
IMPORTANT CONVERSATION BEGINS
WITH NIBIB.
AS THE DIRECTORATES WITH
ENGINEERING IN OUR NAMES, IT'S
VERY IMPORTANT, AND I WANT TO
HIGHLIGHT THAT BRUCE IS NOW A
MEMBER OF THE ENGINEERING
DIRECTORATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE,
VERY MUCH LIKE YOUR COMMITTEE,
AND I THINK IT'S REALLY AN
IMPORTANT STEP TO ENSURING
GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE
MISSION OF EACH OF OUR AGENCIES,
AND OUR SPECIFIC DIRECTORATES OR
INSTITUTES IN NIH'S CASE, AND TO
REALLY IDENTIFY ENDURING WAYS
THAT WE CAN PARTNER ON ACHIEVING
OUR MISSIONS.
LET ME SEE IF I CAN MANAGE THE
SLIDES.
GREAT.
THE NSF MISSION, SOME PEOPLE
REALLY FEEL NSF DOESN'T FUND
THINGS THAT MIGHT RELATE TO
HEALTH AND DISEASE BUT I WANT TO
POINT OUT THAT IN THE NSF
MISSION STATEMENT YOU HAVE THE
WORD NATIONAL HEALTH.
SO WE DO INDEED ACROSS THE
AGENCY ENGAGE IN RESEARCH
RELATED TO HEALTH AND DISEASE
AND MEDICINE.
I HAVE THIS SLIDE UP FROM FISCAL
21 TO HIGHLIGHT IN THE UPPER
LEFT-HAND CORNER THAT UNLIKE
NIH, WHICH HAS AN INTRAMURAL
PROGRAM, AT NSF THERE'S NO
INTRAMURAL RESEARCH SO 93% OF
THE BUDGET GOES OUT THE DOOR IN
TAX PLAYER DOLLARS FUNDING
RESEARCH EDUCATION AND RELATED
ACTIVITIES.
ACROSS NSF WE EMBRACE SCALE FROM
A SINGLE INVESTIGATOR TO
MID-SIZE AND LARGE CENTERS AND
NETWORKS.
THE BREADTH FROM A SINGLE
DISCIPLINE THROUGH CONVERGENT
RESEARCH, CAREER STAGE, WE TOUCH
ON UNDERGRADS AND AS YOU'LL SEE
PROGRAMS THAT HIGHLIGHT HIGH
SCHOOL STUDENTS, AND EVEN
EARLIER, THROUGH GRADUATE
STUDENTS, POSTDOCS TO EARLY AND
EVEN LATE CAREER IS FUNDED.
THE INNOVATION CYCLE BEGINS WITH
BASIC RESEARCH IN CUTTING EDGE
ENGINEERING AND THROUGH
TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH.
YOU'LL SEE IT SPANS QUITE A
RANGE.
THE NSF ORGANIZATION IS WITH NOW
AS OF LATE MARCH WE HAVE A NEW
DIRECTORATE, LOWER RIGHT-HAND
CORNER, TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION,
AND PART, OR TIP.
YOU CAN SEE OUTLINED IN RED ALL
THE DIRECTORATES IN DARK BLUE
THAT HAVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH
NIH.
AND EVEN ONE OF OUR PARTNERING
OFFICES, ONE OF THE OFFICES,
OFFICE OF DIRECTOR,
INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND
ENGINEERING.
YOU CAN SEE THAT NSF TAKES
DIVERSITY IN ITS LEADERSHIP
SERIOUSLY AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN
A PART OF A LEADERSHIP TEAM WITH
AS MANY WOMEN AND HISTORICALLY
UNDERREPRESENTED MEMBERS OF OUR
COMMUNITY.
AND IT'S A REALLY EMPOWERING
OPPORTUNITY.
I WOULD SAY THAT ALL THE OFFICES
IN THE UPPER RIGHT, MOST OF
WHICH LED BY WOMEN, BLACKS OR
HISPANICS.
WITHIN THE ENGINEERING
DIRECTORATE I WANT TO GIVE A
SENSE OF THE ENGINEERING
DISCIPLINES COVERED BUT ALSO HOW
THEY ARE EMBODIED IN CLUSTERS,
CLUSTERS OF PROGRAMS.
SO, WITHIN THE OFFERS OF THE
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR WE HAVE THE
EMERGING FRONTIERS AND
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY ACTIVITY.
AND THAT'S LED BY YOUR OWN
COUNCIL MEMBER, AND WITHIN THAT
WE HAVE THE EMERGING FRONTIERS
AND RESEARCH INNOVATION, THESE
ARE BASICALLY CROWD SOURCED
TOPICS THAT ARE SOLICITATIONS
THAT LAST FOR TWO YEARS, AND
THEN ARE EXPECTED AFTER BUILDING
A COMMUNITY IN THESE EMERGING
AREAS TO BE FUNDED BY CORE
WITHIN OUR DIRECTORATE.
ERVA IS BRAND NEW, IN ITS FIRST
YEAR, ENGINEERING RESEARCH
VISIONING ALLIANCE, SHINING NOT
LIKE EFRRI IN THE NEAR FUTURE
BUT 10, 15, PERHAPS FURTHER OUT
WHERE ENGINEERING SHOULD BE
HEADED.
CHRISTIAN THE CBET I HIGHLIGHT
CLUSTERS RELATED TO NIH INTEREST
IN HEALTH, MEDICINE, DESCRIES.
IN THE TWO CLUSTERS ENGINEERING,
BIOLOGY AND HEALTH AND
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND
SUSTAINABILITY.
IN CMMI YOU CAN SEE DISCIPLINES
OF ENGINEERING ARE EMBODIED
WITHIN CLUSTERS.
AGAIN, THREE CLUSTERS HERE
ASSOCIATED WITH FUNDING RESEARCH
AND HEALTH, MEDICINE, AND
DISEASE.
ECCS FOCUSES ON DEVICES,
ELECTRONICS, PHOTONICS,
MAGNETICS, COMMUNICATION IN
HEALTH AND DISEASE BENEFITS.
ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND
CENTERS DIVISION IS IMPORTANT,
WHEN WE WERE ESTABLISHED AS A
DIRECTORATE IN 1981, WE WERE
ESTABLISHED TO SERVE THE NATION
IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH, AS WELL
AS ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND
WORKFORCE TRAINING.
SO ENGINEERING EDUCATION IS PART
OF OUR DNA, IF YOU WILL.
OUR ENGINEERING CENTERS WHICH
I'LL BE HIGHLIGHTING TODAY AS
POTENTIAL AREAS OF COLLABORATION
AND OUR ENGINEERING WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT ARE TWO OF THE AREAS
WHERE I THINK WE COULD BE
ENRICHING OUR COLLABORATIONS
EVEN FURTHER.
WHEN I SHOW BY THE NUMBERS THIS
IS WITHOUT THE HISTORIC
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE ENGINEERING
DIRECTORATE PROGRAMS THAT HAVE
NOW MOVED TO TIP.
OUR BUDGET WITH THOSE PROGRAMS
WERE IN EXCESS OF A BILLION
DOLLARS LAST YEAR.
FISCAL 21.
BUT WHEN YOU FOCUS ON THE
PROGRAMS THAT ARE STILL WITHIN
THE DIRECTORATE YOU CAN SEE THAT
IT NEARLY $800 MILLION.
WHAT I WANT TO FOCUS ON IS 20%
COMPETITIVE AWARD RATE WHICH IS
PRETTY MUCH LIKE NIBIB'S AWARD
RATE RIGHT NOW.
AND IS ACTUALLY PRETTY HIGHLY
SELECTIVE IN TERMS OF NSF AND
WE'RE LOOKING TO INCREASE
COMPETITIVE FUNDING RATE FOR OUR
INVESTIGATORS.
WE FUND IN A TYPICAL YEAR AS YOU
CAN SEE OVER 20,000 PEOPLE
SUPPORTED, YOU CAN SEE ON THE
FAR RIGHT THESE PEOPLE RANGE IN
SENIOR RESEARCHERS, DOCTORAL,
GRADUATE, UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS.
IN MY FIRST YEAR WE FOCUSED ON
WHERE ENG CAN LEAD IN THE
AGENCY, CROSS-AGENCY
COLLABORATIONS, AND WITH OTHER
AGENCIES AS WELL AS IN THE
NATION.
OUR STRATEGIC PLANS IMPORTANTLY
BEGINS WITH A NEW MISSION
STATEMENT, AND THAT IS TO
TRANSFORM OUR WORLD FOR A BETTER
TOMORROW BY DRIVING DISCOVERY,
INSPIRING, ENRICHING EDUCATION
AND ACCELERATING ACCESS.
IT WAS DEVELOPED IN OUR LAST
STRATEGIC PLANNING STRATEGIC
PLANNING EPISODE IN 2010 AND OUR
GOALS ARE TO PROPEL U.S.
LEADERSHIP IN TRANSFORMATIONAL
APPROACHES TO PROBLEMS FOR
SOCIETAL IMPACT, TO EXPAND
OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE AND TO
CATALYZE PURPOSEFUL
PARTNERSHIPS.
THAT LAST GOAL IS WHAT BRINGS ME
HERE TODAY.
I LOOK FORWARD TO OPPORTUNITIES
TO CATALYZE AND EXPAND OUR
PARTNERSHIPS WITH NIH AND
SPECIFICALLY NIBIB.
WE THEN REALLY TOOK A LOOK AT
WHERE ARE THE ENGINEERING
DIRECTORATES' STRENGTHS?
AND I THINK THIS IS IMPORTANT
BECAUSE IT REALLY HIGHLIGHTS
WAYS THAT WE CAN WORK TOGETHER,
SOMETIMES IN TANDEM WITH
RESEARCH BEGINNING AT NSF, AND
MOVING TO NIH FOR TRANSLATION TO
A SPECIFIC DISEASE, OR
APPLICATION IN MEDICINE.
AND SOMETIMES IT'S REALLY
CO-FUNDING BECAUSE WE'RE BOTH
INVESTED IN THESE AREAS OF
STRENGTH.
REALLY SPANNING FROM ENGINEERING
DISCOVERY, TRANSFORMATIONAL
RESEARCH THAT CREATES RADICAL
CHANGE OR NEW PARADIGMS, PROBLEM
OR QUESTION-DRIVEN RESEARCH, USE
INSPIRES AND SOLUTION ORIENTED
RESEARCH, INTEGRATIVE SYSTEMS,
ENGINEERING DESIGN AND
INNOVATION PROCESS AND CYCLE.
INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT WHICH WE DO
A LOT IN THE ENGINEERING
DIRECTORATE AND I WILL SHARE
THAT WITH YOU.
VERY EARLY STAGE RESEARCH.
RESEARCH TRANSLATION FROM
FOUNDATIONAL DISCOVERY AND
APPLICATIONS TO USE, AND
PROOF-OF-CONCEPT, PROOF OF
FEASIBILITY, AND PROTOTYPING,
AND ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING WHERE I
THINK THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR
US TO PARTNER A GREAT DEAL, AND
TECHNOLOGY AND WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT.
AS A RESULT OF THIS STRATEGIC
PLANNING WE'VE IDENTIFIED FIVE
LARGE AREAS THAT CONNECT ACROSS
THE DIRECTORATES OF ENGINEERING.
CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY AND
POWER SYSTEMS, CLIMATE CHANGE
ADAPTATION MITIGATION,
BIOECONOMY FRONTIERS, NEXT
GENERATION MICROELECTRONICS,
WIRELESS COMMUNITIES.
EACH OF THESE FIVE AREAS ALSO
HAVE FOUR THEMES INDICATED IN
THE VERTICALS THAT CONNECT TO
IMPORTANT INITIATIVES.
NOT ONLY WITHIN THE ENGINEERING
DIRECTORATE BUT WITHIN THE
AGENCY OF NSF.
BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN
ENGINEERING, WHEN WE IDENTIFY
SOLUTIONS AND APPROACHES, THEY
SHOULD BE WITH EQUITY, JUSTICE,
ATTENTION TO ACCESS.
THEY SHOULD BE SUSTAIN AND
RESILIENT SOLUTIONS, AND CREATE
PATHWAYS TO PARTNERS FOR
TRANSLATION, ANOTHER REASON I'M
HERE TODAY.
JUST TO HIGHLIGHT ABOUT TIP, THE
NEW HORIZONTAL DIRECTORATE FOR
TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION,
PARTNERSHIPS.
IT'S A HORIZONTAL DIRECTORATE
THAT BRINGS RESEARCH TO SOCIETY.
I THINK ABOUT TIP'S PROGRAMS,
IT'S REALLY ADDRESSING THE
VALLEY OF DEATH, THE PUBLIC
FUNDS HERE ON THE LEFT WITH GOAL
WHAT THE DIRECTORATE FUNDS, YOU
CAN SEE THAT EMBODIED FROM THE
PREVIOUS SLIDE FROM FOUNDATIONAL
RESEARCH THROUGH PROTOTYPE
DEVELOPMENT.
TIP'S PROGRAMS OVERLAP WITH
ENGINEERING AT SOME LEFT-HAND
SIDE HERE, BUT REALLY GOING
BEYOND WHERE ENGINEERING
PROGRAMS ARE, EXPANDING THE
OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE WITH
PRIVATE FUNDS AND LAUNCH.
WE HAVE A TRACK RECORD OF
LEADERSHIP AND TRANSFORMATIONAL
IMPACT IN MEDICINE, I'M GO TO
HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE HERE.
IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING YOU
CAN SEE INVESTMENTS AT NSF, EVEN
BEFORE THE ENGINEERING
DIRECTORATE WAS CREATED IN 1981
1981 ACROSS THE TOP,
APPLICATIONS ACROSS THE BOTTOM,
AS A MECHANICAL ENGINEER
MODELING AND MANY OTHER THINGS
ON THE TOP ARE CERTAINLY TRUE
AND DEAR TO MY HEART, ELEMENTS
I'VE USED IN MY OWN RESEARCH AS
IT INTERSECT WAS MEDICINE.
3D PRINTING FOR PPE ON BOTTOM
RIGHT.
NANOTECHNOLOGY AGAIN A LONG
TIMELINE OF INVESTMENT BY NSF,
CREATING PAYOFFS THAT CONTINUE
TO BENEFIT SOCIETY TODAY.
IN TERMS OF BUILDING
BIOTECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION, YOU
CAN SEE EARLY INVESTMENTS OVER
20 YEARS AGO, IN THE ENGINEERING
RESEARCH CENTERS, ERCs, $50
MILLION INVESTMENTS BY NSF,
SPECIFICALLY IN THE ENGINEERING
DIRECTORATE THAT ARE EXPECTED TO
INTEGRATE INNOVATE AND
TRANSLATION, EARLY ON SYNTHETIC
BIOLOGY ENGINEER RESEARCH CENTER
WORKED AND REALLY DEVELOPED
ORGANOIDS AND BIOINFORMATICS,
PROTEIN DESIGN, SCAFFOLDS, THAT
LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR
ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTERS IN
EXISTENCE TODAY.
BECAUSE OF THE GROUNDBREAKING
WORK THEY ARE DID OUR
COLLABORATION BETWEEN NSF AND
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FOR AGILE
BIOFROWNEDRY IS IMPORTANT IN
READYING LAB INNOVATIONS FOR
INDUSTRY.
LAUNCHING STARTUPS, VERY
IMPORTANT IN THE FUTURE,
BIOMANUFACTURING AND GINKO
BIOWORKS WAS LAUNCHED.
WASTE WATER SURVEILLANCE, A DEEP
INVESTMENT FOR THE LAST 20
YEARS, LED US TO IMPACT EVEN IN
TODAY'S PANDEMIC.
I'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OF
THE MORE RECENT INVESTMENTS,
THESE ARE GRANTS THAT WERE
AWARDED FROM THE ENGINEERING
DIRECTORATE IN, SAY, 2018, 2019,
AND HAVE PRODUCED PUBLICATIONS
WITH THESE HIGHLIGHTS THAT YOU
CAN SEE HERE.
SO, I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH AND
HIGHLIGHT QUICKLY THE ONES WITH
THE EXTRA SYMBOL ON THE LEFT AS
A BULLET.
SO THE SCOPE OF THE ENGINEERING
IMPACT IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
INCLUDES NEUROPROSTHESES, NEURAL
PACEMAKERS, LOCALLY
MANUFACTURED mRNA THERAPEUTICS
PRODUCED ON DEMAND, BIOHYBRID
FISH MADE WITH CARDIAC SWIM
CELLS, ELIMINATING BIOPSIES BY
USING OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY FOR
NON-INVASIVE DIAGNOSIS AND
PRE-SCREENING OF CANCER.
IMAGING THE GENOME WITH DNA
RESOLUTION.
REPROGRAMMING STEM CELLS TO
INHIBIT CANCER CELL PLASTICITY.
IF I THINK ABOUT THE RECENT
AWARDS THAT WE'VE MADE IN 2020
AND 2021, I HIGHLIGHT THAT WE'RE
FUNDING NOW THE NEXT AREAS OF
FRONTIERS, IF YOU WILL, WHERE WE
EXPECT PAYOFF IN THE NEXT FEW
YEARS.
ROBUST SCALABLE LOW COST
BIOMANUFACTURING OF THERAPEUTIC
CELL THERAPIES, CELL CULTURE
MANUFACTURING FOR HEALTH CARE.
ON THE RIGHT, NON-INVASIVE
REMOTE NEUROTHERAPEUTIC DEVICES,
SENTINEL CELL SYSTEMS THAT
DETECT AND MITIGATE BIOLOGICAL
THREATS.
WHEN I THINK ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES
BETWEEN NIBIB AND THE
ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE I THINK
OF AN URGENT SETTING, WHAT COULD
WE COLLABORATE ON NOW AND HOW
COULD I HIGHLIGHT THESE FOR YOU?
ON THE LEFT I ORGANIZED WHAT I'M
GOING TO SHARE IN TERMS OF
THEMES.
THEN AT THE END WE'LL TALK ABOUT
THE MECHANISMS.
WE'LL OPEN IT UP FOR YOUR IDEAS.
ALONG THE WAY AS I TALK ABOUT
THEMES, I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT
QUICKLY LIKE A WHIRLWIND COULD
-- CURRENT SOLICITATIONS,
OPPORTUNITIES TO CO-FUND IDEAS
OR START PLANNING FOR CO-FUNDING
OR COLLABORATING ON
SOLICITATIONS THAT COME IN THE
NEAR FUTURE.
SO, IN THE AREA OF EMERGING
BIOTECHNOLOGIES, I WANTED TO
HIGHLIGHT THE AREAS OF
SOLICITATIONS IN THE AREAS OF
HARNESSING BIOLOGY FOR
ENGINEERING IMPACT, WHERE WE
FOCUS ON HARNESSING AND
UNDERSTANDING BIOLOGICAL
PROCESSES TO ENABLE FUTURE
INNOVATIONS IN THERAPEUTICS AND
BIOPHARMACEUTICALS,
BIOCHEMISTRY, AS WELL AS
BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIES.
I HIGHLIGHT TWO HERE CURRENT
SOLICITATIONS, IN FISCAL 22.
I HIGHLIGHT WE HAVE A
SOLICITATION THAT'S A TWO-YEAR
SOLICITATION, FIRST ONE FOR
PLANNING GRANTS, AND THOSE ARE
BEING SELECTED RIGHT NOW FOR
PREDICTIVE INTELLIGENCE FOR
PANDEMIC PREVENTION.
THAT INCLUDES AREAS OF
PREDICTION, MONITORING,
MITIGATION, PREVENTION.
RIGHT NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT THOSE
IN THE THEMES OF THOSE FOR
THEMES AWARDS BEING SELECTED
RIGHT NOW.
WE ANTICIPATE PHASE 2 CENTER
GRANT SOLICITATION GRANTS IF
THE FALL, FROM EFRI FOR
ENGINEERING LIVING SYSTEMS AND
AS YOU CAN SEE IN FOUR BULLETS
IN THE AREAS OF SUSTAINABLE AND
SAFE BUILT ENVIRONMENT,
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING,
BIOMINING AND CRITICAL RECOVERY
FROM WASTES, AND FUNDAMENTAL
INVESTIGATIONS, USING MICROBIAL
CONSORTIA.
WHY?
BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THAT THIS
CONVERGENCE RESEARCH DESIGN AND
BUILD DEMONSTRATE HOW WE CAN USE
LIVING SYSTEMS THAT ARE
ENGINEERED TO DESIGN AND
FABRICATE AND MANUFACTURE
SYSTEMS THAT CAN BE USED BEYOND
THEIR BIOLOGICAL USE.
QUANTUM SCIENCE IN ENGINEERING
IS AN AREA WHERE BOTH
INTERESTED, ABOUT USING
DESIGNING DEVICES, APPLICATION,
TOOLS AND SYSTEMS WITH QUANTUMS
BASED ADVANTAGES OVER CLASSICAL
COUNTERPARTS.
YOU CAN SEE HERE THE QUANTUMS
LEAP CHALLENGE WE AWARDED TWO
INSTITUTES IN FISCAL 21 WITH
HEALTH AND MEDICINE AREAS OF
FOCUS.
ONE OF THEM IS INDICATED HERE ON
THE RIGHT, I HIGHLIGHT THE ONE
THAT'S LED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF
CHICAGO WHERE QUBBE IS ADVANCING
NOVEL QUANTUM SENSING
TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMAGING AND
SINCING FOR BIOLOGICAL AND
MEDICAL USE.
WE HAD AN AGENCY SCIENCE
APPLICATIONS MEETING IN THE
FALL, AND YOU CAN SEE THERE ARE
TWO SOLICITATIONS THAT ARE
COMING DUE VERY SOON, EXPANDING
THE CAPACITY FOR QUANTUM
INFORMATION SCIENCE AND
ENGINEERING AND A DEAR COLLEAGUE
LETTER FOCUSING ATTENTION FOR
RAPID PROPOSALS AND USING EAGER,
THEY DON'T EVEN GO THROUGH MERIT
REVIEW.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AN AREA
HIGHLIGHTED ALREADY IN BRUCE'S
PRESENTATION, AND THESE A.I.
RESEARCH INSTITUTES HAVE JUST
CLOSED ON THE LATEST
SOLICITATION.
AND THE SMART AND HEALTH AND
BIOMARKER RESEARCH IN THE AREA
OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND
ADVANCE THE DATA SCIENCE, THAT
SOLICITATION WILL COME THIS
FALL.
AN INSTITUTE ON THE RIGHT IS
OPENING DOORS FOR CARE FOR
ELDERLY MEMBERS.
MY CONDUCTORS ON THE INTERFACE
BETWEEN ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE
WE WITH WORKSHOPS IN EARLY 2021
AND IDENTIFIED THREE AREAS WHERE
WE NEED TO FOCUS.
WE ANNOUNCED RIGHT NOW WE HAVE
JUST CLOSED A SEMI CONDUCTOR
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY FOR
INFORMATION STORAGE, FUTURE OF
SEMICONDUCTORS, A TEAMING AWARD
JUST RELEASED FOR APPLICATIONS
DUE IN JULY.
INDUSTRY UNIVERSITY COOPERATIVE
RESEARCH CENTERS IS ONE AREA
THAT REALLY LACKS NIH
ENGAGEMENT.
I'D LIKE TO EXPLAIN THEM TO YOU.
THESE ARE IMPORTANT TYPES OF
MECHANISMS FOR GENERATING EARLY
STAGE RESEARCH IN COLLABORATION
WITH INDUSTRY.
IT'S ALL PRE-COMPETITIVE.
INDUSTRY SITS AT THE TABLE AS
INTERESTED PARTNERS, BECAUSE
THEY ACTUALLY PAY IN A
MEMBERSHIP FORMAT.
AND SO IN THIS PRE-COMPETITIVE
SETTING WHERE I.P. IS OWNED BY
THE UNIVERSITIES OF THE
INDUSTRY, EXCUSE ME, OF THE
UNIVERSITY PARTNERS, THESE
RELATIONSHIPS WITH INDUSTRY AND
ACADEMIA DRIVE TECHNOLOGY
INNOVATION, AND DEVELOP DIVERSE
AND SKILLED SCIENCE AND
ENGINEERING WORKFORCE, ALLOWING
SUSTAINMENT BETWEEN ACADEMIA,
INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT.
WE HAVE 84 IUCRCs, PRIMARILY
IN THE ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE,
THEY ALREADY ENGAGE 110
UNIVERSITIES OVER 700 STUDENTS.
WE HAVE 750 INDUSTRY PARTNER
MEMBERS.
EACH PARTNER MEMBER PAYS IN
ABOUT $50,000 TO BE A PARTNER AT
THE TABLE OF A PARTICULAR IUCRC.
FEDERAL AGENCIES CAN ALSO BE
MEMBERS, AND THERE ARE OVER 20
FEDERAL AGENCIES, EVEN ENTER
NATIONAL AGENCIES.
NIH IS NOT A PARTNER IN ANY
SINGLE ONE OF THEM.
WHAT I WANTED TO DO IS HIGHLIGHT
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE ONES THAT
MIGHT BE OF INTEREST RIGHT NOW.
THESE ARE FUNDED FOR FIVE YEARS
TYPICALLY RENEWED FOR ANOTHER
FIVE YEARS, IF THEY HAVE BEEN
SUCCESSFUL FOR A TOTAL OF 10
YEARS OF FUNDING, OCCASIONALLY
EXTENDED FOR ANOTHER FIVE YEARS
TO 15 YEARS OF FUNDING.
CURRENT IUCRCs ENCOMPASS 42
UNIQUE JURISDICTIONS, 16 ARE
EPSCoR STATES, 15 MINORITY
SERVING INSTITUTES.
I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT FIVE THAT I
THINK WOULD BE INTERESTING FOR
PARTNERSHIPS WITH NIBIB OR OTHER
INSTITUTES AT NIH.
AMBIC FOR GENOME-BASED
TECHNOLOGY TO FAST TRACK
ADVANCED BIOMANUFACTURING
PROCESSES.
ON THE LEFT YOU SEE THE
UNIVERSITY PARTNERS IN THIS
IUCRC, ON THE RIGHT ALL THE
AGENCY PARTNERS.
OFTENTIMES WHAT HAPPENS AGENCIES
PROVIDE -- INDUSTRY RATHER
PROVIDES AN INTERESTING
PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT IS THE
ENABLING EXPERIMENTS THAT NEED
TO BE DONE TO ENABLE THAT
FOLLOW-ON INDUSTRY FUNDING,
WHICH MIGHT BE CORPORATE
SPONSORED RESEARCH DIRECTLY TO
AGENCY AND P.I
IUCRC EXAMPLES THAT EXTEND TO
OTHER AREAS OF HEALTH AND
MEDICINE AND DISEASE ARE SHOWN
ON THIS SLIDE WHICH INCLUDE A
BRAIN CENTER, EFFICACY SAFETY
AND LONG-TERM RELIABILITY OF
PATIENT-CENTERED
NEUROTECHNOLOGY.
C2SHIP FOR IN HOME TECHNOLOGY,
ROBOTS AND SENSORS FOR HUMAN
WELL-BEING, CENTER FOR
PHARMACEUTICAL DEVELOPMENT,
NOVEL APPROACHES FOR THE FINAL
THREE STAGES OF DRUG DEVELOPMENT
AND HOW CAN WE CREATE A PIPELINE
THAT ACTUALLY HELPS DE-RISK AND
DEMYSTIFY THOSE LAST THREE
STEPS.
OUR ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTERS
ARE THE $50 MILLION INVESTMENTS
I MENTIONED OVER TEN YEARS, THE
PROGRAM IN EXISTENCE SINCE THE
'80s, SUPPORTING BROAD
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY HIGH IMPACT,
HIGH RISK AND HIGH PAYOFF
ENGINEERING RESEARCH.
THEY ALSO HAVE INDUSTRY MEMBERS.
NOW IN THE FOURTH GENERATION,
THEY HAVE ADDED EMPHASIS ON
INTEGRATING CONVERGENT RESEARCH,
MINDFUL OF INCORPORATING
ENGINEERING WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT THROUGHOUT, A
CULTURE OF DIVERSITY AND
INCLUSION, AND VALUE CREATION,
INNOVATION FOR SOCIETAL IMPACT.
SINCE THEY BEGAN, THERE HAVE
BEEN 75 ENGINEERING RESEARCH
CENTERS, ERCs, THAT HAVE BEEN
FUNDED.
YOU CAN SEE THE NUMBER OF
SPINOFFS, LICENSE, INVENTION
DISCLOSURES AND PATENTS THAT ARE
TYPICAL OF OUR ENGINEERING
RESEARCH CENTER MAJOR INVESTMENT
IN TRANSLATIONAL INNOVATION AND
TRANSLATION.
AND NEARLY 15,000 STUDENTS THAT
HAVE BEEN SUPPORTED.
RIGHT NOW THERE ARE 14 ERCs,
THREE ARE SUNSETTING, WE HOPE TO
FUND FOUR MORE.
OF THOSE 14 ERCs, THEY
INVOLVED 44 UNIQUE INSTITUTIONS,
SOME INSTITUTIONS ARE INVOLVED
IN MORE THAN ONE ERC.
AND 520 INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS
CURRENTLY IN THOSE 14 ERCs.
AGAIN, AS YOU CAN SEE, THE
STATISTICS, OF THE 14 CURRENTLY
FUNDED, THERE ARE FIVE CURRENT
ERCs THAT ARE IN THE HEALTH,
DISEASE, MEDICINE SPACE.
WE HAVE A CURRENT SOLICITATION
FOR ERCs, AND THERE'S AN
OPPORTUNITY TO THINK ABOUT
FUNDING WHERE THE AWARDS WOULD
BE MADE IN 2024, AND WE HOPE TO
AWARD UP TO SIX.
SO MAYBE THERE'S POTENTIAL FOR
NIH CO-FUNDING.
ALREADY, WE'RE IN CONVERSATION
WITH OTHER AGENCIES FOR THOSE
AWARDS THAT WILL BE MADE IN
2020.
SO I BELIEVE THAT THE CO-AGENCY
FUNDING IS A MODEL THAT WE'VE
DEVELOPED AND USED FOR ERCs
AND THAT BENEFIT BOTH NSF AND
OTHER AGENCIES.
JUST TO HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE OF
THOSE ERCs THAT ARE IN
EXISTENCE NOW THAT I MENTIONED,
FOR CELLULAR META MATERIALS,
CARDIAC PATCHES, FUNCTIONAL
VASCULATURE PERFUSED IN CULTURE
AND MAINTAIN STABLE FUNCTION.
THERE ARE FOUR MORE ERCs IN
THAT CURRENT LINEUP.
I SAID THERE WERE FIVE IN THE
CURRENT LINEUP OF 14, THAT
DEFINITELY HAVE APPLICATION IN
HEALTH AND DISEASE.
THESE ARE ALL NOT SUNSETTING,
THEY ARE CURRENT.
OPPORTUNITY TO CO-FUND IN
EXISTING ERCs.
WHEN I THINK ABOUT ADVANCEMENT,
BIOMANUFACTURING, SECOND THEME
AREA, I HAVE ONE SLIDE, A FUTURE
MANUFACTURING SOLICITATION,
ABOUT AREAS OF MANUFACTURING
THAT EITHER DO NOT EXIST TODAY
OR EXIST ONLY AT SUCH A SMALL
SCALE THEY ARE NOT VIABLE.
WE NEED TO DEVELOP AREAS OF
MANUFACTURING, ONE HIGHLIGHTED
IN BOLD IS IN BIOMANUFACTURING.
I'LL SHOW WHO CURRENT AWARDS
FROM 2021, IN THIS SOLICITATION.
IT'S A TWO-YEAR SOLICITATION,
WE'RE NOW IN OUR SECOND YEAR OF
THAT SOLICITATION.
THOSE THAT YOU SEE ON THE RIGHT
ARE DNA AND RNA DROPLETS FOR
MANUFACTURE OF BIOMOLECULES, TO
UCLA AND ONE TO STANFORD ON THE
RIGHT-HAND SIDE, BELOW ON THE
RIGHT-HAND SIDE, FOR GENETICALLY
TARGETED CHEMICAL ASSEMBLY, A
FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE IN LIVING
CELLS IN ANIMALS AND TISSUES.
HIGHLIGHT AGAIN THAT IMPORTANT
CO-RELATIONSHIPS THAT WE HAVE.
IN THE AREA OF ENVIRONMENT AND
HUMAN HEALTH IT'S IMPORTANT TO
HIGHLIGHT THAT THERE HAVE BEEN
WHITE PAPERS AT NSF AND NIH,
WHERE THE IMPORTANCE OF REALLY
ADDRESSING HUMAN HEALTH AND
ENVIRONMENT IN THIS ERA OF
CLIMATE CHANGE, ENSURING
EQUITABLE ACCESS TO EDUCATION
AND HEALTH CARE, ENSURING THAT
OUR SOLUTIONS ARE CRITICAL AND
RESILIENT IN THEIR
INFRASTRUCTURE.
CIVIC INNOVATION CHALLENGE,
UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN NSF
AND DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.
IN OUR CURRENT SOLICITATION, WE
HAVE TWO BULLETS ON THE BOTTOM.
THIS IS ABOUT LIVING IN CLIMATE
CHANGE, PRE-DISASTER ACTION,
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN
ESSENTIAL RESOURCES,
COMMUNITIES, AND SURFACES.
YOU SEE ENABLING DISASTER
RESILIENCE IN AGING COMMUNITIES,
SECURE DATA EXCHANGES.
THE IMPORTANT THING OF THIS ONE
IS IT'S ABOUT REALLY LAUNCHING
FROM RESEARCH TO ACTION, JUST
ONE YEAR AWARDS, AFTER A PILOT
PERIOD, THEN IT'S EXPECTED THE
COMMUNITY WILL CONTINUE FUNDING.
SO THE COMMUNITIES ARE ACTUALLY
CO-FUNDING ALONG WITH THE
AGENCIES.
THE SUSTAINABLE RESEARCH
NETWORKS FOCUS ON REALLY
INTERSECTING NOW IN THE CASE OF
RURAL AND URBAN, AND INTERACTING
ON MULTIPLE LEVELS TO INVEST IN
UNDERSTANDING AND DESIGNING
SOLUTIONS THAT ENHANCE THE
SUSTAINABLE, EQUITY, RESILIENCE.
TWO THAT I HIGHLIGHT HERE HAVE
TO DO WITH THE FOOD SUSTAINABLE
FOOD SYSTEMS RESEARCH NETWORK,
WHICH TRYING TO ELIMINATE FOOD
WASTE AND COLLABORATE ACROSS
REGIONS THAT HAVE VERY DIFFERENT
GROWING SEASONS, WHETHER
CALIFORNIA OR MIDWEST, THE IDEA
OF COLLABORATING ACROSS REGIONS
BOTH FOR URBAN AS WELL AS RURAL
SOLUTIONS, AND YOU SEE FOOD,
ENERGY WATER SYSTEMS AT THE
BOUGHT.
WHAT'S NOT FUNDED IS ONE IN
HEALTH.
THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY THERE.
WHEN I THINK ABOUT ENGINEERING
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENTIAL
LEARNING THERE'S A RICH AREA.
WE ALL KNOW THAT WE'RE NOT
MEETING THE NEED.
PROGRESS AND DIVERSITY IN
ENGINEERING AND IN SCIENCE AND
ENGINEERING IN GENERAL HAS BEEN
LANGUISHING.
WE NEED TO INCREASE THE NUMBER
OF WOMEN, HISPANIC, LATINO,
BLACK, AFRICAN AMERICAN AS WELL
AS AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA
NATIVE.
ENGINEERING IS NO DIFFERENT.
IF WE TAKE A SNAPSHOT OF 2019 IN
GREEN ARE ENGINEERING AWARDS, IN
PURPLE ENGINEERING OCCUPATIONS,
AND U.S. ADULT POPULATION IN AGE
18 AND OVER IN DARK BLUE.
IN EACH AREA WE'RE NOT MEETING
THE NEED OF ENGAGING ALL OF THE
POTENTIAL OF OUR POPULATION.
WE HAVE A FUNDED PROGRAM FOR
ENGINEERING FOR US ALL.
WHICH IS ABOUT DEMOCRATIZING
ENGINEERING, TEACHING
ENGINEERING IN HIGH SCHOOLS,
ABOUT DESIGN BASICS, EXPERIENCE
AFFORDING STUDENTS THE
OPPORTUNITY TO EARN COLLEGE
CREDIT, THIS IS UNDERSTANDING
THAT YOU CAN TEACH ENGINEERING
CONCEPTS EVEN BEFORE THEY HAVE
HAD THE MATH AND SCIENCE COURSE
WORK.
THE GOAL IS TO TRAIN THE
TEACHERS AS WELL AS TRAIN THE
STUDENTS, AND IN ADDITION WE
ALSO ARE FUNDING TEACHER
ENGINEERING WHICH BANKS THOSE
WONDERFUL CURRICULA THAT HAVE
BEEN DEVELOPED, NOT JUST FOR
ENGINEERING FOR US ALL BUT ALSO
THE CURRICULA DEVELOPED IN OUR
CAREER AWARDS, THOSE EARLY STAGE
AWARDS THAT FUND OUTREACH AND
EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES AS WELL
AS RESEARCH AND EARLY STAGE OF
FACULTY CAREERS.
REVOLUTIONIZING ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENTS IS REALLY ABOUT
APPROACHING, CATALYZING CHANGES
TO THE ENGINEERING IN HOW WE
EDUCATE THE NEXT GENERATION OF
ENGINEERS.
I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT WE'VE
ADDED A NEW TRACK THIS YEAR FOR
RADICALLY NEW APPROACHES TO
ENGAGE TWO-YEAR INSTITUTIONS
WHICH INCLUDE NOT JUST COMMUNITY
COLLEGES BUT ALSO COLLEGES,
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING FOR
TECHNICIANS.
BROADENING PARTICIPATION AND
ENGINEERING HAS TWO NEW TRACKS,
INCLUSIVE MENTORING HUBS WHERE
ENWOULD HAVE -- EVERYONE NEEDS
TO COME ON BUILD TO BUILD HUBS,
ENGAGING OF K-12 THROUGH
INDUSTRY AS WELL AS SENIOR
FACULTY, ENGAGING IN BUILDING
SCHOOLS FOR LEADERSHIP
POSITIONS, ALL ALONG THE WAY.
CENTERS FOR EQUITY IN
ENGINEERING NEED TO BE HE LED BY
DEANS, CREATING REAL CHANGE
ACROSS ALL OF ENGINEERING MAJORS
ON CAMPUS.
INTERN PROGRAM WHERE THIS COULD
BE AN INTERESTING ONE FOR US TO
PARTNER IN, THIS IS PROVIDING
OPPORTUNITY FOR RESEARCH
INTERNSHIPS FOR GRADUATE
STUDENTS IN NON-ACADEMIC
SETTINGS, SO THE NON-ACADEMIC
SETTINGS INCLUDE GOVERNMENT
LABS, INDUSTRY, STARTUPS, I
THINK THERE'S THE POTENTIAL TO
PARTNER WITH NIBIB TO CREATE
INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES IN THE
EMERGING PROGRAM.
EARLY CAREER SUPPORT IS ANOTHER
AREA WHERE WE MAY SHARE.
I'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT THE MIDDLE
BULLET, THIS IS RECOGNIZING
THOSE IN NON-R O 1 INSTITUTIONS
MAY ACTUALLY NEED ADDITIONAL
SUPPORT TO READY THEIR RESEARCH
PROGRAMS FOR THEIR FIRST
SUBMISSIONS TO NSF WHETHER IT IS
THROUGH OUR TRADITIONAL PROGRAM
OR AS A CAREER AWARD.
OUR FACULTY EARLY CAREER
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AND CAREER,
WE'RE TARGETING THOSE
INSTITUTIONS NOT TYPICALLY
REPRESENTED.
ONE OF THE LAST SLIDES IN THIS
EDUCATION IS REALLY ABOUT OUR
COLLABORATION TO DESIGN, BUILD,
TEST.
THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY NOT JUST
TO TRANSLATE RESEARCH FROM AN
OPPORTUNITY TO GO FROM LAB TO
FAB, IF YOU WILL, BUT ALSO THE
WORKFORCE TO TRAIN IN THESE
SETTINGS IN INDUSTRY.
I BELIEVE THAT THIS PROVIDES US
WITH A FRAMEWORK TO TALK ABOUT
NEXT STEPS IN CATALYZING OUR
PURPOSEFUL PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN
NSF AND NIH.
WE HAVE AN UMBRELLA MOU WE JUST
SIGNED WITH NIBIB ALLOWING US TO
BEGIN COLLABORATING IN MANY
DIFFERENT WAYS.
BRUCE HIGHLIGHTED THE
COLLABORATIONS ALREADY, WE HAVE
A SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM
AT THE FDA WHICH COULD BE OF
INTEREST TO EXTEND TO NIH.
AS WELL AS ONE WITH THE
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
DATA FOR OUR COLLABORATION
DISCUSSION, IF WE JUST LOOK AT
ANNUAL PUBLICATIONS OVER THE
LAST TEN YEARS ON THE LEFT,
WHERE IN THE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS,
THIS IS PubMed, IN THE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IT MENTIONS BOTH
NSF ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE
GRANT AND NIH FUNDING FROM ANY
INSTITUTE, YOU CAN SEE THAT IN
THE DARK BLUE LINE ON THE LEFT.
IN FACT, IT'S EXPANDING.
IF WE LOOK AT THE GOLD LINE,
THAT LINGERS BELOW, THAT IS THE
NIBIB FUNDING.
SO, THERE'S A REAL OPPORTUNITY
FOR EXPANDING OUR PARTNERSHIP
FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE JOINTLY
FUNDED AND RESEARCH PROJECTS
JOINTLY FUNDED BY NIH,
ENGINEERING, NIBIB, AND WITH THE
NSF ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE.
AT RIGHT YOU CAN SEE WHAT ARE
THE INSTITUTES THAT ARE
REPRESENTED ON THE LEFT IN TERMS
OF FUNDING?
YOU CAN SEE THAT NIGMS IS
FUNDING MOST OF THOSE
COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS, AND YOU
CAN SEE ALL OF THE OTHER
INSTITUTES COMING INTO PLAY
HERE.
I THINK THIS SHOWS US THAT WE
CAN GROW THE PARTNERSHIP,
OBVIOUSLY NOT JUST WITH NIBIB
BUT WITH MANY INSTITUTES AT NIH.
IF WE THINK ABOUT THE
MECHANISMS, I'D LIKE TO PROPOSE
SOME IN THE PART ON THE RIGHT OF
THIS SLIDE.
THIS IS REALLY THE LAST SLIDE.
THE OPPORTUNITY FOR CENTER TO
CENTER COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN,
FOR EXAMPLE, THE BIOENGINEERING
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS AND
ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTERS,
MAYBE CO-FUNDING OF ERCs
BECAUSE THEY MEET BOTH AGENCY
NEEDS.
CO-FUNDING OF CORE AROUND
SOLICITATION PROPOSALS LIKE THE
ONES I'VE SHOWN EARLIER IN THIS
PRESENTATION.
NIH BECOMING A MEMBER IN THOSE
INDUSTRY UNIVERSITY COOPERATIVE
RESEARCH CENTERS.
THINKING ABOUT INTERN AS
SOMETHING THAT COULD HELP
ENERGIZE THE INTERNAL WORKFORCE
IN THE BETA PROGRAM.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR
UNDERGRADUATES, MENTORS,
TEACHERS, AS WELL AS
PARTICIPATING IN THE START
PROGRAM WITH TECHNOLOGY TRAINING
FOR TECHNICIANS, AND BUILDING
RAMPS BETWEEN NSF AND NIH AND
BETWEEN NIH AND NSF, CREATING
NEW CO-FUNDED SOLICITATIONS.
I THINK THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE
RICH FOR EXPANDING OUR
COLLABORATIONS NOW.
WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO STOP
SHARING AND COME BACK TO ALL OF
YOU.
>> THANK YOU, SUSAN.
THAT WAS A REALLY SPECTACULAR
SUMMARY, INSURE SEPARATIONAL FOR
ALL -- INSPIRATION FOR ALL OF
US.
I'M GOING TO SPEAK SLOWLY, AS I
WAIT TO SEE HANDS COMING UP.
THERE'S MARYELLEN.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASK THE FIRST
QUESTION?
>> YES, THANK YOU.
I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU GOING
THROUGH ALL THOSE BECAUSE I'M
NOW MUCH MORE EDUCATED ON NSF
THAN BEFORE.
IT'S ACTUALLY AMAZING HOW MUCH
MORE NSF DOES THAT I DIDN'T KNOW
ABOUT.
I WAS INTRIGUED BY MULTIPLE
THINGS BUT I -- I'LL JUST DO ONE
QUESTION NOW.
YOUR ENGINEERING RESEARCH
CENTERS, I SEE THAT IS SOMETHING
THAT REALLY CAN GROW WITH NIH,
NIBIB.
ARE THOSE BRAND NEW CENTERS OR
ARE THOSE EXTENSIONS OF CURRENT
CENTERS?
ARE THEY MULTI-INSTITUTIONAL?
IS THAT AN AREA WHERE WE COULD
HAVE THIS CROSS-LINK BETWEEN NSF
AND NIBIB?
>> YES.
LET ME MAKE SURE I'M ANSWERING
YOUR QUESTION.
ERCs HAVE BEEN AROUND SINCE
THE MID-'80s.
EACH CENTER PUTS IN A PROPOSAL
AND NOW WITH THE GEN 4 ASKING
FOR A 10-YEAR PLAN.
WHEN YOU HAVE A PLAN FOR FIVE
YEARS WITH THE HOPE YOU'LL GO IN
AND RENEW, YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT
MINDSET THAN HAVING A 10-YEAR
PLAN.
SO BEGINNING WITH THOSE THAT
WERE FUNDED IN 2020 WE ASKED
THEM TO HAVE A 10-YEAR PLAN.
SO, WE'RE GOING TO BE FUNDING
MORE THIS YEAR.
I CAN'T SAY HOW MANY BECAUSE
THEY HAVEN'T BEEN APPROVED YET,
WITHIN NSF, BUT THEY HAVE GONE
THROUGH ALL REVERSE SITE VISITS
AND ON-SITE VISITS.
FIVE I HIGHLIGHTED ARE FIFER
FIVE OF THE CURRENT ROSTER OF
14, OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE IN
THOSE, TO ENGAGE IN THOSE THAT
WILL BE FUNDED THIS YEAR THAT I
CANNOT EVEN TELL YOU ABOUT, IN
THEIR FIRST FIVE YEARS.
AND THE POTENTIAL TO SIT AT THE
TABLE WITH LOOKING AT THOSE
SOLICITATIONS THAT WE WILL BE
GETTING FROM THE LETTERS OF
INTENT THIS FALL, ON THROUGH THE
EVALUATION, AND SIT TOGETHER,
EVALUATING THE APPLICATIONS THAT
WE EXPECT TO BE GETTING THIS
FALL, FIRST LETTERS OF INTENT.
I SEE THAT THERE'S THOSE THAT
ARE IN THEIR LAST FIVE YEARS,
THAT ARE JUST BEGINNING THAT,
RIGHT?
THOSE THAT ARE JUST LAUNCHING,
RIGHT?
SINCE THEY ARE AWARDED EVERY
FIVE YEARS WE HAVE THEM ALONG
QUITE A RANGE.
AND THOSE THAT ARE YET TO BE,
THAT HAVE NOT EVEN APPLIED YET.
>> THANK YOU.
>> IF I COULD JUMP IN FOR JUST A
LITTLE MORE CLARIFICATION, WE
DID START ON AN MOU WITH THE ERC
PROGRAM BEFORE SUSAN CAME,ENED I
GUESS WE WERE A LITTLE
INTERRUPTED BY THE COVID, BY THE
PANDEMIC, AND THAT SIDETRACKED
US A BIT BUT WE CERTAINLY WANT
TO COME BACK BECAUSE ALL OF YOU
PROBABLY PERSONALLY HAD THEM,
I'VE HAD, SO --
>> TYPICALLY NUMBER OF
INSTITUTIONS IS FROM FOUR TO
SIX.
ONE OF THOSE INSTITUTIONS AT
LEAST NEEDS TO BE ON MINORITY
SERVING INSTITUTION,
HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED.
THERE'S THAT EMPHASIS
THROUGHOUT.
AND WE'RE ACTUALLY IN DISCUSSION
ABOUT HOW WE COULD ACTUALLY
CREATE SOMETHING OTHER THAN A
PLANNING GRANT TO HELP HAVE AN
ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTER
INITIATION GRANT BECAUSE A
PLANNING GRANT IMPLIES YOU'RE
READY TO GO AND YOU JUST NEED TO
BRING TOGETHER YOUR PARTNERS AND
GENERATE THAT PRELIMINARY
EVIDENCE THAT YOU'RE GOING TO BE
A GREAT CENTER IN THE FUTURE.
SOME PLACES ESPECIALLY NOT R 1
INSTITUTIONS MIGHT NEED HELP
PUTTING TOGETHER A CENTER, WE'RE
TALKING ABOUT CREATING FUNDING
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGINEERING
RESEARCH CENTER INITIATION
GRANTS, THEY ARE NOT LIVE, BUT
WE HOPE TO CREATE SOMETHING LIKE
THAT IF BUDGET ALLOWS.
>> PAULA?
>> YES, THANKS, SUSAN.
I'M ACTUALLY A BENEFICIARY OF
NSF AND NIH, RECENTLY THROUGH
EBICS AS AN SPC BUT THROUGHOUT
MY CAREER.
I WAS VERY INTERESTED IN THE
BIOMANUFACTURING EFFORTS THAT
ARE COMING FROM THE ENGINEERING
DIRECTORATE.
THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN SOME PART OF
THE BUDGET THAT IS IN THAT AREA
BUT I'M WONDERING IT SEEMS IT
MAY HAVE GROWN WHICH IS GOOD
BECAUSE IT'S A VERY BADLY NEEDED
AREA FOR RESEARCH.
SO I WAS GOING TO ASK IF THAT
AMOUNT DESIGNATED FOR
BIOINFORMATION INNOVATION AND IF
THERE'S COLLABORATION FOR AN ERC
IN THAT AREA THAT INVOLVES NIBIB
IN BIOPHARMA, IN PARTICULAR IN A
NUMBER OF THE MEDICINES COMING
OUT NOW THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO
SCALE.
I'D LIKE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS
ON THAT.
>> FIRST I DON'T RESTRICT TOPICS
FOR ERCs, AND APPARENTLY I
HAVE A CONFLICT WITH ONE OF THE
ONES THAT IS BEING EVALUATED
RIGHT NOW SO I KNOW NOTHING
ABOUT THE ONES THAT HAVE BEEN
EVALUATED IN THIS CYCLE, THAT
ARE ABOUT TO BE AWARDED.
SO MANUFACTURING WOULD NOT BE
ELIMINATED AS A DOUBLE NEGATIVE,
RIGHT?
IN FACT WE'VE EVEN HAD
DISCUSSIONS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT
WE SHOULD HAVE DEAR COLLEAGUE
LETTERS, AS THEY ARE CALLED A
DCL AT NSF, ESPECIALLY
INTERESTED IN.
WE DON'T TYPICALLY DO THAT BUT
IT'S BEEN DONE IN THE PAST.
PAULA, YOU'VE HIGHLIGHTED AN
AREA WHERE WE COULD PLACE AN
EMPHASIS AND, AGAIN, IF THAT
WERE SOMETHING THAT WERE JOINTLY
SPONSORED AND JOINTLY DETERMINED
TO BE AN AREA OF EMPHASIS I
COULD SEE THAT COULD BE ONE
MECHANISM TO ENSURE WE HAVE MORE
THAN THE TYPICAL NUMBER OF
APPLICATIONS IN THAT AREA.
>> THANK YOU.
>> THANKS, PAULA.
RANU HAS A HAND UP NEXT.
>> THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
SUSAN, IT'S WONDERFUL TO HEAR
YOU SPEAKING AS A DIRECTOR.
SO IT'S FANTASTIC.
LOTS TO LEARN.
I'VE BEEN A BENEFICIARY OF BOTH
NSF AND NIH FOR MANY YEARS.
MY QUESTION, WE'RE HEARING A LOT
ABOUT NSF ENGINES OUT OF THE TIP
PROGRAM, I WANTED TO GET AN IDEA
WHERE DO YOU SEE LINK THAT MIGHT
HAPPEN WITH MEDICAL DEVICE
TECHNOLOGIES OR HEALTH-RELATED
ASPECTS IN THE BROADER CONTEXT
OF NSF ENGINES.
>> THANK YOU FOR ASKING THAT.
SO, BROADER AGENCY SOLICITATION
JUST CAME OUT FOR THE REGIONAL
INNOVATION ENGINES, AND THEY
REALLY -- IT'S AN INTERESTING
MODEL.
THEY ARE INTENDED NOT TO BE A
LONG-TERM INVESTMENT, SO IT'S
VERY DIFFERENT FROM AN
INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT, WHERE ONCE
YOU FUND IT YOU'RE EXPECTING
YOU'LL NEED TO MAINTAIN IT.
IT'S FULLY INTENDED THAT AFTER
FIVE YEARS LOCAL STARTS PAYING
MORE AND MORE OF IT, AND THAT I
BELIEVE IT'S AFTER TEN YEARS
THAT IT LAUNCHES, IT'S
INDEPENDENT, GRADUATED FROM THE
HOME, IF YOU WILL, IT'S NOW
INDEPENDENTLY.
THE GOAL IS TO PROVIDE AN
OPPORTUNITY FOR ON THE WAY TO
INDUSTRY, AND TO ALSO PROVIDE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDUSTRY TO
PILOT.
IT'S SO HARD TO BE ABLE TO, AS A
FACULTY MEMBER, TO HAVE ACADEMIA
KNOW THAT SOMETHING IS READY FOR
ADOPTION IN INDUSTRY, AND IT IS
HARD FOR INDUSTRY TO PIVOT AND
TRY SOMETHING NOVEL.
SO, THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY WHERE
ALL COMERS GET TO USE THESE
FACILITIES.
SPECIFICALLY, THE GOAL IS TO
ALSO CREATE WORKFORCE TRAINING,
SO THESE FACILITIES NOT JUST
BENEFIT RESEARCH TRANSLATION BUT
BENEFIT WORKFORCE TRAINING, AND
THAT THOSE THAT CAN COME THERE
ARE NOT JUST FROM THE REGION.
BUT ULTIMATELY, THESE REGIONAL
ENGINES ARE IN REGIONS, REALLY
BRINGING, IF YOU CAN --
IMPROVING AND ENRICHING THE
GEOGRAPHY OF INNOVATION, TO NOT
JUST BE THOSE AREAS OF OUR
COUNTRY THAT ARE HISTORICALLY
WHERE INNOVATION HAPPENS.
SO THAT'S WHY THESE
F ACILITIES -- NOT FACILITIES,
REGIONAL INNOVATION ENGINES WILL
BE OPEN.
THE GOAL, WE'RE THINKING
DIFFERENTLY ABOUT WHERE THE
INNOVATION AND WHERE THE ENGINES
OF DISCOVERY ARE THAT TRANSLATE
TO INDUSTRY.
AND SO THE GOAL WOULD BE, THIS
IS OPEN TO EVERYONE TO
PARTICIPATE, IN THOSE ENGINES
WHEN THEY ARE ESTABLISHED, AND
THAT ALL INDUSTRY IS THEN -- HAS
EYES ON THIS IMPORTANT
GENERATION OF TRANSLATABLE
TECHNOLOGIES.
>> THANK YOU.
>> YEP.
>> THANKS, RANU.
I SEE JENNIFER WITH YOUR HAND
UP.
>> UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, THANK
YOU FOR THAT TALK.
I HAVE A WHOLE SET OF NOTES OF
EXCITING THINGS.
ONE THING THAT PARTICULARLY
STOOD OUT WAS TRANSFORMING
ENGINEERING EDUCATION.
I THINK THAT'S SO IMPORTANT IF
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE THE
WORKFORCE FOR THE FUTURE THAT WE
NEED.
I GET THE IMPRESSION WITH A FAIR
AMOUNT OF OVERLAP THAT NSF
FOCUSES MORE ON EDUCATION,
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT, PERHAPS
OUTREACH, AND NIH FOCUSES MORE
ON RESEARCH TRAINING.
I THINK THOSE TWO ARE SO
INCREDIBLY SYNERGISTIC, I'D LOVE
TO SEE MORE INTERACTION BETWEEN
THE REUs AND REMs YOU
MENTIONED, AND THE R25s OF NIH
TO BE ABLE TO PUT THIS TOGETHER
AND CONVINCE MORE PEOPLE TO BE
FUND AMENTALLY CHANGE THE WAY WE
TEACH ENGINEERING SO THEY SEE
THE SPECTRUM OF HOW ENGINEERING
CAN BE APPLIED.
I WANTED TO POINT OUT I THINK
THAT'S A WONDERFUL AREA WHERE
I'D REALLY LOVE TO SEE MORE
INTERACTION.
GREAT IDEA.
>> THANKS.
>> THANKS, JENNIFER.
AND THERE'S MANU.
>> HELLO, ALWAYS GREAT TO SEE MY
FORMER FEARLESS LEADER, BEING
MORE FEARLESS LEADING OTHER
ORGANIZATIONS.
THANK YOU FOR THAT, SUSAN.
I WAS EXCITED ABOUT NEWER THINGS
I HADN'T HEARD ABOUT PREVIOUSLY.
ONE OF THE ONES POTENTIAL
PARTNERSHIP OF INTERNS, EVEN
WITH GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND
NIH.
>> YES.
>> I'M A PART AT GEORGIA TECH,
FIRST INTERN, SO MANY OF THE
GRADUATE STUDENTS HAVE STARTED
TO JUMP ON THAT PROGRAM NOW.
PARTICULARLY IN THAT DEPARTMENT,
SO THERE'S REALLY EXCITEMENT
THERE.
WE WEREN'T FULLY AWARE OF THAT
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES WERE ALSO A
GREAT SOURCE, A GREAT LANDING
SPACE.
I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT
NOW WE'RE SHARING WITH THE WORLD
AND I'LL MAKE SURE WE TELL OUR
STUDENTS.
I HAD ANOTHER QUESTION ABOUT THE
RESEARCH INITIATION FOR FACULTY
MEMBERS, THAT ARE NOT ATTENDING
R 1 UNIVERSITIES.
NUMBER ONE, EXCITING PROGRAM.
I'M CURIOUS HOW THAT WOULD LOOK
TO THE UNIVERSITY OR DOES THAT
LOOK LIKE A K99, WHERE THE
APPLICANT IS APPLYING SEPARATELY
AND THEY TAKE THAT WITH THEM TO
AN R2 OR SOME OTHER TYPE OF
UNIVERSITY?
WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE FOR THE
CANDIDATE OR INSTITUTION?
>> THANKS FOR THAT QUESTION.
AND MONU, AS AN EXAMPLE, AIR
FORCE PROVIDES THE ENGINEERING
DIRECTORATE WITH A MILLION
DOLLARS A YEAR BECAUSE THEY
REALLY WANT TO RECRUIT TO THE
AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABS.
SO THERE'S A PARTICULAR DRAW
THERE.
AND THEY ARE SO PLEASED BECAUSE
OTHERWISE THE CURRENT Ph.D.
STUDENTS WOULD HAVE NO IDEA WHAT
THEIR CAREER PATH WOULD BE LIKE.
IT GIVES THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO
SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE IN THE
AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABS, AND
GIVES THE AIR FORCE RESEARCH
LABS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THEM
IN THEIR OWN LABS AND OFFER
POSITIONS.
WHEN I THINK ABOUT BETA, I THINK
ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY TO RAISE
AWARENESS OF EXISTENCE OF BETA
AND BETA AS A CAREER PATH, THERE
COULD BE INTRAMURAL NIH LABS
INTERESTED IN RECOGNIZING AND
CREATING MORE VISIBILITY FOR
WHAT THEY DO, ALSO GETTING THAT
FIRST LOOK AT STUDENTS.
RESEARCH INITIATION AWARDS,
IMAGINE I'M A FACULTY MEMBER,
LANDED AT INSTITUTION Y.
I'M THERE.
I ACTUALLY NEED MORE RESOURCES,
NEED RESOURCES FOR THE PEOPLE IN
MY LAB, FOR CRITICAL EQUIPMENT,
TO BUY TIME, SUPPLIES FOR A KEY
STUDY.
YOU NEED TO PROPOSE WHAT YOU'RE
GOING TO DO BUT LIKE SABBATICAL
NOT HELD EXACTLY TO THOSE PLANS,
THE GOAL IS THIS IS CRITICAL
EARLY STAGE FUNDING THAT ALLOWS
YOU TO PREPARE GREAT APPLICATION
WHETHER FOR STANDARD PROPOSAL OR
FOR A SOLICITATION OR EVEN FOR
CAREER AWARD.
SO, I WOULD SAY THAT THE
EXPECTATION IS THESE ARE GOING
TO BE EARLY STAGE, LIKE
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, BUT NOT A
POSTDOC APPLYING.
>> AND I SEE TEJAL.
>> HI, SUSAN.
SO NICE TO SEE YOU.
THANK YOU.
A BEAUTIFUL PRESENTATION.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WAS
CURIOUS ABOUT WAS YOU MENTIONED
THE ERCs AND IN PARTICULAR
THINKING ABOUT INSTITUTIONS THAT
MAY NOT BE READY FOR A CENTER
GRANT BUT PERHAPS PUTTING AN
INITIATION GRANT.
ONE OF THE THINGS WE'VE BEEN
TALKING ABOUT HERE IN COUNCIL
ARE ALSO HBCUs OR COMMUNITY
COLLEGE THAT DON'T HAVE
ENGINEERING OR IN PARTICULAR
BIOENGINEERING, THIS DISCUSSION
LED BY GILDA AND ROD, AND HOW WE
MIGHT SUPPORT THE GROWTH OF
DEPARTMENTS OF BIOENGINEERING OR
ENGINEERING WITHIN OTHER
INSTITUTIONS.
AND SO I WONDERED IF THERE ARE
ANY THOUGHTS AROUND HOW PERHAPS
NSF COULD PARTNER WITH THE NIBIB
TO THINK ABOUT NEW APPROACHES.
WE SORT OF TALKED ABOUT HOW
WHITAKER REALLY BROUGHT TO BEAR
NEW BIOENGINEERING DEPARTMENTS
BUT THERE'S REALLY NO MECHANISM
ANYMORE, AND SO IT'S REALLY UP
TO AGENCIES SUCH AS NIH AND NSF
TO TRY TO BUILD THAT
INFRASTRUCTURE.
ANY COMMENTS OR THOUGHTS PERHAPS
AROUND THAT?
>> SO, ONE SORT OF THINKING
OUTSIDE THE BOX WAY TO TAKE ONE
OF OUR EXISTING MECHANISMS AND
USE IT FOR THIS PURPOSE WHILE
NOT CREATING A DEPARTMENT
SOMETIMES IT BEGINS WITH
COURSES.
SO I'VE HAD A CONVERSATION WITH
A FACULTY MEMBER WHO CONTACTED
ME, AND I SUGGESTED THAT, YOU
KNOW, AN IUCRC COULD HAVE
INDUSTRY AT THE TABLE, AND
ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS, AND BE
FOCUSED ON CURRICULUM
DEVELOPMENT.
PILOTS, AND THEN INDUSTRIES AT
THE TABLE WITH SAYING THIS WOULD
BE MOST IMPACTFUL IN TERMS OF
TRAINING OUR WORKFORCE.
NOW IMAGINE IF THE INSTITUTIONS
AT THE TABLE ARE ACTUALLY
MINORITY SERVING INSTITUTIONS,
OR TWO-YEAR COMMUNITY COLLEGES,
AND YOU STILL HAVE INDUSTRY
PARTNERS AT THE TABLE, AND
YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT HOW -- SO
I DO NOT LIMIT MYSELF TO
THINKING ABOUT CREATING BRIDGES
FROM COMMUNITY COLLEGES TO
FOUR-YEAR INSTITUTIONS.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO CREATE
BRIDGES FROM COMMUNITY COLLEGES
TO WHATEVER YOUR NEXT IS.
AND IT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE GOING
OUT INTO THE WORKFORCE.
I THINK IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT FOR
US TO BE THINKING ABOUT
RETRAINING A WORKFORCE IN SKILL
SETS, AND THINK ABOUT THE IDEA
OF HAVING, USING THAT MECHANISM
OF THE IUCRC, WHERE INDUSTRIES
AT THE TABLE CAN SAY THESE ARE
THE MODULES WE NEED TO RETRAIN
THE WORKFORCE.
AND THE ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS
THAT ARE AT THE TABLE COULD BE
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
INSTITUTIONS, RIGHT?
IT COULD ACTUALLY BE R1
INSTITUTIONS BUT WE USE AN IUCRC
AS MECHANISM FOR EARLY STAGE
RESEARCH, BUT EDUCATIONAL
RESEARCH AND CURRICULA
DEVELOPMENT IS PEDAGOGICAL
RESEARCH, THEY HAVEN'T BEEN USED
THAT WAY HISTORICALLY.
WHEN I THINK ABOUT ESTABLISHMENT
OF NEW DEPARTMENTS, THE WHITAKER
FOUNDATION HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL
IN CREATING THAT BUT IT DID IT
IN A VERY DELIBERATE WAY WITH
CREATING PILOTS AND TEMPLATES,
SO I THINK THERE'S AN IMPORTANT
CONVERSATION THAT WE COULD HAVE
BETWEEN NSF AND NIH,
SPECIFICALLY NIBIB, WHERE WHAT
ARE THE ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL
DEPARTMENTS, AND WHAT ARE THE
CRITICAL ELEMENTS THAT NEED TO
BE THERE.
AS MANU WELL KNOWS, WHEN YOU'RE
A DEPARTMENT THAT SPANS TWO
INSTITUTIONS, LITERALLY
CONCEIVED FROM THE START AS
BEING PART OF A PUBLIC AND
PRIVATE INSTITUTION, ONE OF US
IN THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT
EMORY AND COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
AT GEORGIA TECH, SOME THOUGHT
WENT INTO WHAT DOES THAT
STRUCTURE LOOK LIKE, HOW WILL WE
ANTICIPATE SOME CHALLENGES?
SAME THING NEEDS TO BE DONE FOR
INSTITUTIONS THAT DO NOT YET
HAVE BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING OR
BIOENGINEERING IN THE LINEUP.
I'D BE HAPPY FOR NSF TO
PARTICIPATE IN THIS IMPORTANT
CONVERSATION, WHAT CRITICAL
ELEMENTS NEED TO BE THERE TO BE
SUCCESSFUL.
>> THANK YOU, SUSAN.
LOTS OF WORK TO DO ON THAT ONE.
ZANE, I SEE YOUR HAND UP AS
WELL.
>> THANKS, BRUCE.
SUSAN, THANK YOU FOR THE TALK.
I'M JUST GOING TO PROVIDE SOME
SUPPORT TO THE IMPORTANCE OF ALL
THESE INITIATIVES.
THE FDA, WE'RE INVOLVED WITH A
WHOLE VARIETY OF DIFFERENT ERC,
IUCRCS, INTERN PROGRAM, SCHOLARS
IN RESIDENCE, PRIMARILY INVOLVED
WITH PASS UP RECENTLY, "CELL"
NET, STUDENTS COME IN, YOU
MENTIONED INDUSTRY AT THE TABLE,
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AT THE
TABLE, OPPORTUNITIES THERE FOR
DIRECTIONS.
WE FOUND IT TO BE A VERY
VALUABLE PROGRAM, ALL THESE
PROGRAMS, TO BE VERY VALUABLE AT
THE FDA TO SET OUR DIRECTION AT
TIMES AND HELPING OUT THE DEVICE
DEVELOPMENT INFRASTRUCTURE SPACE
SO I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT
BECAUSE WE'RE ACTIVE MEMBERS IN
THIS AND LOOK FORWARD TO FURTHER
ADVANCING THAT AND SEEING IT
GROW OVER TIME.
>> GREAT TO HEAR THE PERSPECTIVE
FROM AN AGENCY.
THANK YOU.
>> AN ZANE, YOU'RE BEING MODEST.
ZANE LED THE CHARGE FOR US TO
DEVELOP IUCRC IN COLLABORATION
WITH FDA.
WE MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS BEFORE
THE PANDEMIC.
THE PANDEMIC KIND OF KNOCKED US
OFF PATH BUT IT ALSO REVEALED TO
US WHERE THE KEY OPPORTUNITIES
ARE.
I WOULD SAY MUCH OF OUR EFFORT
HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN TRYING TO
UNDERSTAND REGULATORY SCIENCE,
AND LET'S JUST SAY COLLABORATE
WITH THE FDA AND POTENTIALLY
INSPIRE THEM TO CHANGE SOME
PRACTICES, TO BE MORE
ACCOMMODATING FOR THE RANGE OF
NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT COULD BE
INTRODUCED TO ACHIEVE REGULATORY
AUTHORIZATION.
SO, THAT HAS BECOME AN
INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TOPIC FOR
ALL OF US, AND I PROBABLY
UNDERESTIMATED THAT, EVEN THOUGH
WE KNEW IT WAS IMPORTANT AND
WANTED TO DO AN IUCRC IN THIS
AREA, IT'S ESSENTIAL.
>> AND I WOULD ADD THE INSURANCE
INDUSTRY AS WELL.
IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO DEVELOP A NEW
DEVICE, NEW THERAPY, NEW
DIAGNOSTIC, IF IT CAN'T BE
APPROVED AND CAN'T BE ORDERED
AND UTILIZED THEN WE'RE REALLY
NOT ABLE TO COMPLETE THE
MISSION.
>> YES.
AS WE FOUND OUT.
SO RANU, IS IT OKAY IF I SKIP
YOU BECAUSE SAM HASN'T ASKED A
QUESTION?
>> I WILL ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL TO
THE NSF FOR LAUNCHING MY CAREER,
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S GREAT.
YOU TOUCHED ON SEVERAL POINTS
THAT ARE VERY EXCITING, ONE IS
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THAT WE
BELIEVE IS CRITICAL FOR US, AS
WE DEVELOP THE NEXT GENERATION
OF ENGINEERS DOWN THE LINE.
I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO HEAR AND
LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT IS PLANNED
FOR NEW INSTITUTIONS TO
INCORPORATE THAT INTO THE THEIR
PROGRAM.
THE OTHER ASPECT IS THE BIG
COMPETITION RIGHT NOW THAT
ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS HAVE
RELATIVE TO INDUSTRY, RECRUITING
ENGINEERS FOR GRADUATE PROGRAMS.
THIS IS NATIONWIDE, VERY
EXPENSIVE, TO RECRUIT THESE
PEOPLE TO DO WORK, AS WELL AS
OUR POSTDOCS, PLANS THAT NIH AND
NSF COULD DO TO SUPPORT US IN
RETAINING AND TRAINING THESE NEW
GENERATION OF STUDENTS BEFORE
THEY LEAVE FOR INDUSTRY DOWN THE
LINE, SO IT'S A VERY GOOD THING
THAT WE'RE HAVING TO CREATE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR TRAINEES
TO GO TO INDUSTRY, WE ALSO NEED
THE WORKFORCE IN ACADEMIA TO
SUSTAIN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
DOWN THE LINE INTO THE FUTURE.
>> I THINK INCLUDING THOSE
INSTITUTIONS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN
ENGAGED IN RESEARCH EXPERIENCES
FOR UNDERGRADUATES IS SOMETHING
THAT -- THERE ARE TWO SIDES.
THERE ARE STUDENTS AT THOSE
INSTITUTIONS WHO YOU WOULD WANT
TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY KNOW
WHAT'S AVAILABLE NATIONALLY, AS
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THEM.
OKAY?
AND I THINK THAT THE WAY THAT
RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR
UNDERGRADS ARE MADE AVAILABLE
IS -- COULD BE IMPROVED TO
CREATE MORE TRANSPARENCY OF
THOSE OPPORTUNITIES THAT
STUDENTS MAY BE INTERESTED IN
ENGAGING IN AND CREATE A HIGHER
VISIBILITY FOR THEM.
IT WOULD BE GREAT TO INCREASE
THE NUMBER.
THAT'S WHERE CO-FUNDING COULD
HAPPEN.
WE OFTEN USE THEM AS SUPPLEMENTS
ON TOP OF EXISTING AWARDS SO
IT'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO
SUPPLEMENT YOUR GRANT,
ESPECIALLY A LARGE CENTER WITH
MULTIPLE INSTITUTIONS, LIKE AN
ERC, WITH RESEARCH EXPERIENCES
FOR UNDERGRADUATES.
SO RATHER THAN WAIT FOR THE
APPLICATIONS WE PUSH OUT
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUPPLEMENTS.
THEY COULD COME WITH A A
MANDATE OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC OF
STUDENTS AND THEIR INSTITUTIONS
ARE ALSO FOCUSED ON CREATING
BROADER ACCESS TO THE LABS AND
RESEARCH PROGRAMS, WHICH ARE SO
IMPORTANT FOR INSPIRING THEM TO
PURSUE A CAREER IN -- NOT IN
INDUSTRY BUT ACTUALLY IN
RESEARCH, RIGHT?
AND ACADEMIA.
I KNOW AS AN UNDERGRAD MY FIRST
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE WAS NOT IN
HIGH SCHOOL, I SEWED CLOTHES AND
WORKED IN A BAKERY IN HIGH
SCHOOL.
AFTER MY FRESHMAN YEAR I WORKED
IN A LAB IN THE MAYO CLINIC I
SAW AND WAS TURNED ON TO A
CAREER IN RESEARCH.
INCREASING VISIBILITY AND NUMBER
OF THESE EXPERIENCES I THINK IS
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
WITH REGARD TO RETAINING OUR
GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCS
IN ACADEMIA, I'M BEGINNING
CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE IDEA OF
PERHAPS MAYBE THE MODEL MIGHT BE
CREATING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR
HAVING PROFESSORS OF A PRACTICE
WHO ENGAGE IN -- ON CAMPUS BUT
ARE ALSO IN INDUSTRY.
AND SO THE IDEA OF ACTUALLY
CREATING AN IMPACTFUL ROUTE FOR
ENGAGING WITH STUDENTS ON A
CAMPUS WHEN YOU ACTUALLY HAVE
BOTH AN INDUSTRY POSITION AND A
PART-TIME ACADEMIC POSITION,
MIGHT NOT LEND ITSELF TO HAVING
RESEARCH LAB BUT WOULD LEND
ITSELF TO HAVING IMPACT IN THE
CLASSROOM AND INSTRUCTIONAL LABS
FOR STUDENTS.
THAT COULD BE USED AS A MODEL
THAT WE THINK ABOUT HOW WE WOULD
DEVELOP IT FURTHER, BUT I THINK
WE NEED TO OPEN OUR MINDS TO
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO BE A
FACULTY MEMBER AND TO RECOGNIZE
THAT THERE MIGHT BE MULTIPLE
MODELS AND THAT RAISING NOT JUST
VISIBILITY BUT PRESTIGE OF
HAVING THAT TYPE OF MODEL
WHETHER WE BRING INDUSTRY,
ENGINEERS AND BIOMEDICAL
ENGINEERS INTO OUR ACADEMIC
SETTING THAT IS REWARDING FOR
EVERYONE.
>> RANU, I THINK YOU'RE THE LAST
QUESTION.
>> YES, SO SUSAN, EXACTLY WHAT
YOU SAID IN THE LAST PART IS
WHAT I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU
ABOUT.
BECAUSE EARLIER THERE WAS A
MENTION ABOUT SOME SO-CALLED
EARLY CAREER FACULTY OR NOT
POSTDOCS BUT OTHERS GOING
FORWARD, AND ABLE TO GET GRANTS.
I KNOW LIKE NSF CAREER AWARDS
WERE TIED TO BEING A TENURE
TRACK FACULTY MEMBER.
SO AS YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT
THESE NEW MODELS, THIS IS
EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE TALKING
ABOUT, PROFESSORS OF PRACTICING,
I WANTED TO HEAR WHAT
CAPABILITIES ARE GOING TO BE
AVAILABLE OR WHAT THE THOUGHT
PROCESSES ARE TO GROW THIS
ENTIRE NEW SECTOR OF FACULTY,
THAT STRADDLE INDUSTRY AND THE
UNIVERSITY BUT ALSO MAY BE
CLINICAL SPACE AND INDUSTRY, AND
EVEN RESEARCH TRACK FACULTY WHO
DO NOT THEN JUST JUMP OUT OF
THEIR RESEARCH TRACKS AND SAY,
OKAY, NOW I GOT NIH GRANT, NOW I
GOT NSF GRANT SO I'M GOING TO
BECOME A TENURE TRACK FACULTY SO
HOW CAN NSF, NIH, PROMOTE THAT
KIND OF AN EXPANSION OF THE
RESEARCH WORK FORCE AND THINK
TANKS NOT JUST TIED TO TENURE
TRACK ACADEMIC STRUCTURE?
>> CERTAINLY THESE -- THANK YOU
FOR THE QUESTION.
IT'S A WONDERFUL QUESTION.
I WOULD SAY THAT THE ORIGIN OF
THIS IDEA OF HAVING MORE
INDUSTRY MEMBERS ENGAGING ON
CAMPUS AS CITIZENS, NOT JUST
GUEST LECTURERS, CAME FROM THREE
SETS OF PROBLEMS WHERE THIS
COULD BE AN INTERESTING
SOLUTION.
ONE WAS RECOGNIZING THE VALUE OF
REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE THEY OFFER
TO THE CAMPUS, FOR THOSE ENGAGED
IN RESEARCH AS WELL AS FOR THOSE
WHO ARE -- FOR OUR STUDENTS.
THE SECOND IS THE PIPELINE AND
DIVERSITY OF OUR PIPELINE IS NOT
GOOD.
SO ONE WAY TO DIVERSIFY OUR
FACULTY AT MORE SENIOR LEVELS IS
ACTUALLY TO THINK OF OTHER
PATHWAYS TO GET TO THE SENIOR
FACULTY MEMBER, RIGHT?
SO IT COULD BE THAT THESE ARE
SENIOR MEMBERS OF INDUSTRY, NOT
JUST NEWLY MINTED POSTDOCS WHO
HAVE GONE TO INDUSTRY, THAT'S AN
IMPORTANT WAY THAT WE CAN
CIRCUMVENT THE TYPICAL PIPELINE
ROUTE FOR ENRICHING THE
DIVERSITY OF OUR SENIOR FACULTY.
AND THEN FINALLY IT CAME UP IN A
DISCUSSION THAT I HAD WITH A
DEAN WHO SAID IT'S SALARIES THAT
I NEED TO OFFER SOMEONE WHO
IS -- WHO COULD GO TO INDUSTRY
IS JUST -- I CANNOT BE
COMPETITIVE.
I'M LOSING THEM BASED ON THE
ECONOMIC DECISION OF THIS
POSTDOC OR GRADUATE STUDENT.
AND SO HOW DO WE MANAGE TO
PROVIDE A SALARY THAT LITERALLY
IS JUST A PORTION OF THEIR
SALARY AND NOT HAVING TO HAVE AN
ENTIRE -- FUND AN ENTIRE SALARY
AND THIS INDIVIDUAL IS SAYING I
COULD EASILY -- MORE EASILY SELL
A PART-TIME POSITION AT THIS
RATE TO MY PROVOST THAN A
FULL-TIME FACULTY POSITION
SALARY THAT'S AT A RATE THAT
WOULD THROW US OUT OF BALANCE IN
TERMS OF EQUITY ON THE CAMPUS.
I THOUGHT THAT WAS INTERESTING.
SO WHAT WE CAN DO TO FUND THAT,
ENCOURAGE THAT, I'M NOT SURE BUT
I WELCOME THAT CONVERSATION.
>> THANK YOU.
I THINK THAT'S GOING TO BE VERY
IMPORTANT FOR OUR FUTURE.
>> I THINK WE'LL WRAP IT UP
THERE.
I BUILT IN MY HEAD A LITTLE BIT
OF A BUFFER TIME.
I KNEW WE WOULD HAVE LOTS OF
QUESTIONS.
SUSAN, JUST A BRILLIANT AND
VISIONARY PRESENTATION.
I TOOK TONS OF NOTES.
I KNOW EVERYONE LEARNED A LOT
FROM YOUR REMARKS.
AND FROM ANSWERS TO THE
QUESTIONS, LOTS FOR US TO DO.
IT'S KIND OF, AS YOU POINTED
OUT, A NON-TRADITIONAL
APPEARING, NIBIB AND NSF, PAIRED
WITH APPLICATION-ORIENTED INSURE
-- INSTITUTES, WE CAN DO IT.
LET'S ALL THANK SUSAN AGAIN, A
ROUND OF APPLAUSE.
>> THANK YOU.
I LOOK FORWARD TO WHAT WE CAN DO
TOGETHER.
BYE-BYE.
>> ABSOLUTELY.
THANK YOU, SUSAN.
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR
QUESTIONS.
WE'LL TAKE JUST A MOMENT TO
PERHAPS STRETCH, THIS IS YOUR
STRETCHING MOMENT.
AND I'M GOING TO SHARE MY
SLIDES.
WE'LL CONTINUE WITH THE
DIRECTOR'S REPORT.
THIS IS A TOUGH ONE.
IT'S ALWAYS VERY DIFFICULT TO
SAY GOOD-BYE TO OUR FELLOW
COUNCIL MEMBERS.
YOU NEVER GO AWAY.
ACTUALLY WE HAVE COLLABORATORS
AND COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO ARE
MAKING CONTRIBUTIONS THROUGHOUT
THEIR CAREERS OF COURSE AS HAVE
PAULA, MARYELLEN AND BRUCE.
THEY WERE VERY ACTIVE OF COURSE
BEFORE THEY JOINED COUNCIL.
WE'VE BEEN SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE
THE THREE OF YOU AS MEMBERS OF
COUNCIL REPRESENTING THREE
UNIQUE, AT LEAST THREE UNIQUE
DIMENSIONS, GOING INTO HIGHER
ORDER MULTI-DIMENSIONAL SPACE,
PAULA IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING,
AND ENGINEERING DRUG DELIVERY
SYSTEMS USING POLYMERS AND
NANOPARTICLES.
MARYELLEN FOR YOUR AMAZING WORK
IN COMPUTER-AIDED DIAGNOSTICS
AND COMPUTATIONAL IMAGING, GOING
BACK TO RADIOLOGY AND
RADIOLOGICAL SCIENCES.
WELL, YOU WERE ALWAYS THERE.
BUT NO LONGER ON COUNCIL,
ROTATING OFF.
AND BRUCE ALSO IN IMAGING AS
DIRECTOR OF THE MARTINEZ CENTER,
AND EXPERT IN MRI AND
NEUROSCIENCE, NEUROIMAGING.
THANK YOU TO THE THREE OF YOU
FOR YOUR AMAZING CONTRIBUTIONS.
YOU SET THE BAR FOR SPEAKING UP
AT COUNCIL, MAKING CONTRIBUTIONS
THAT ARE VERY GENEROUS AND
THOUGHTFUL AND ALWAYS UNIQUE.
SO WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR
WORK AND SUPPORT.
AND LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING
TO WORK WITH YOU.
I'D LIKE TO RECOGNIZE SOME NEW
STAFF MEMBERS WHO HAVE COME IN
TO NIBIB, AND IT REALLY GIVES ME
A LOT -- IT'S A SPECIAL PLEASURE
TO RECOGNIZE THE THREE AT THE
TOP AND TO OUR TEAM FOR DOING
SUCH A WONDERFUL JOB RECRUITING
THEM, THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK TO
BRING THESE SUPER-TALENTED
PEOPLE INTO THE NIBIB.
TINA HAS WORKED AT NHGRI, WORKED
IN ACADEMICS, AND INDUSTRY, AND
NOW JOINING THE DIVISION OF
INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING.
AND KARI IS A NEUROSCIENTIST AND
NEUROENGINEER, Ph.D. IN
BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING,
EXPERIENCE IN THAT AREA, AND
ALSO IN THE BRAIN INITIATIVE,
UNDERGRAD IS MECHANICAL
ENGINEER.
WE WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE
KAREN OLSON AND TARIQ WHO HAVE
BEEN PROMOTED TO FEDERAL
POSITIONS, CONTRACTORS
PREVIOUSLY.
AND SPECIAL NOTE OF
CONGRATULATIONS TO TODD.
EVERYONE ON THE CALL KNOWS TODD,
NOW THE DIRECTOR OF OUR OFFICES
OF PROGRAM EVALUATION AND
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS, I THINK
I GOT THAT ACRONYM CORRECT.
AND THIS IS A NEWLY CREATED AND
EXPANDED OFFICE THAT TODD HAS
DEFINED.
HE'S ONE OF THE LONGEST SERVING
IF NOT THE LONGEST SERVING
MEMBER OF NIBIB, ORIGINAL
EMPLOYEE, IT'S QUITE FITTING
THAT HE LEADS THAT OFFICE SO
CONGRATULATIONS, TODD.
THANK YOU.
A FEW OTHER CONGRATULATIONS IN
ORDER, IN OUR INTRAMURAL
PROGRAM, I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT
THAT DR. KAITLIN SADTLER, CHIEF,
YOU'VE HEARD UPDATES, SHE'S
NAMED TO THE WORLD ECONOMIC
FORUM, 2022 CLASS OF YOUNG
GLOBAL LEADERS, THERE SHE IS I
THINK IN DUBAI, GIVING A
PRESENTATION.
BACKGROUND, THERE ARE 110 YOUNG
GLOBAL LEADERS LESS THAN 40
YEARS OLD SELECTED YECH EACH
YEAR.
THERE ARE EIGHT FROM ACADEMIA IN
THIS CLASS, A THINK TANK, THE
CATEGORY SHE WAS IN, ONE OF
EIGHT IN THIS UNIQUE CATEGORY,
PRETTY SPECTACULAR.
20 ARE FROM NORTH AMERICA BUT
SPAN DIFFERENT TOPIC AREAS.
JUST EIGHT, ALL AROUND THE WORLD
FROM THE ACADEMIC SETTING.
AND IT'S A THREE-YEAR LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE
ABOUT THIS.
SO HOPEFULLY YOU'LL KEEP US
POSTED ON PROGRESS AND
ACTIVITIES IN THIS AREA.
IN HER LAB WE WANT TO GREAT A
POST DOC FELLOW, COMPLETED FOR A
RESEARCH SCHOLAR PRINCIPAL
INVESTIGATOR APPOINTMENT, THESE
PARTICIPANTS HAVE MENTORED
POSITION, WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE
MENTORED FACULTY DEVELOPMENT AND
DEVELOP DEDICATED DIVERSITY,
EQUITY, INCLUSION AND
ACCESSIBILITY PLAN THEY ARE
CONTRIBUTING TO, A COMPETITIVE
POSITION, AND IT MAKES THEM
COMPETITIVE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE
THE NIH AND WILL SET UP A UNIT
FOR NANOENGINEERING AND
MICROPHYSIOLOGIC SYSTEMS.
THIS IS FUNDED BY THE OFFICE OF
THE DIRECTOR AT THE NIH AT A
LEVEL OF APPROXIMATELY $300,000
PER YEAR FOR THREE YEARS.
AND HER RESEARCH WILL BE IN
INTEGRATING BIOENGINEERING
APPROACHES WITH ASPECTS OF
MECHANISTIC BIOLOGY, AND SHE
WILL FOCUS A LOT ON DEVELOPING
THERAPIES FOR IMMUNE-RELATED
THYROID CONDITIONS.
SO THANK YOUS TO MEMBERS OF
NIBIB WHO LEFT BUT MUCH LIKE
COUNCIL MEMBERS THEY HAVE LEFT
AND HAVE REMAINED CONNECTED.
WE'VE ALL HAD THE GREAT PLEASURE
TO WORK WITH ILANA, JOAN AND
TONY, THREE PROGRAM DIRECTORS
WHO ARE NOW AT NHLBI, NCI AND
NIAMS, RESPECTIVELY.
THEY HAVE MADE ENORMOUS
CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR PROGRAMS
BUT WE STILL WORK TOGETHER WITH
THEM IN PROGRAMS FROM SMALL
BUSINESSES AND SMALL BUSINESS
SBIR GRANTS AND WORK AT THE
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND WOMEN'S
HEALTH, RADx PROGRAMS, WE'VE
CREATED MANY LASTING AVENUES FOR
COLLABORATION, EXCITED TO
CONTINUE TO WORK WITH ALL OF
THEM.
AT THIS POINT I'M GOING TO TURN
IT OVER TO MY COLLEAGUE, DEPUTY
DIRECTY DIRECTOR HEEMSKERK FOR A
BUDGET UPDATE.
>> THANK YOU, BRUCE.
I'M GLAD I'M DOING THIS IN A
YEAR WHEN THE BUDGET NEWS IS
RELATIVELY GOOD.
OUR APPROPRIATION SUMMARY IS
HERE, NIH RECEIVED $45.2 BILLION
THIS YEAR, WHICH REPRESENTS 5%
INCREASE OVER FY 21.
AND SOME OF THAT 5% INCREASE IS
FOR SPECIAL EARMARKED PROGRAMS,
AND MOST OF THE I.C.s
INCLUDING NIBIB GOT A 3.4%
INCREASE.
AND FOR US, THAT REPRESENTS $425
MILLION IN TOTAL, WHICH IS
$13.8 MILLION ABOVE WHAT WE GOT
IN FY 21.
AND WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE A
PAYLINE THIS YEAR OF 19th
PERCENTILE FOR R01s, AND
BECAUSE NEW INVESTIGATORS GET A
A 5% BUMP UP, THAT REPRESENTS
24th PERCENTILE FOR NEW
INVESTIGATORS.
BRUCE, IF YOU ADVANCE TO THE
NEXT SLIDE.
I JUST WANT TO CALL EVERYONE'S
ATTENTION TO OUR EXTRAMURAL
BUDGET WORKING GROUP.
THIS IS A GROUP LED BY DEB KELLY
AND HER TEAM WHO DO ANALYSIS AND
TRACKING AND MODELING THAT WE
NEED TO COME UP WITH OUR
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN EACH
YEAR.
THERE ARE MANY UNCERTAINTIES
INCLUDING HOW MANY GRANTS WILL
BE ASSIGNED TO NIBIB, AND WHAT
THE INDIVIDUAL BUDGETS OF THOSE
GRANTS WILL BE.
THEY TEND TO INCREASE EVERY YEAR
RATHER RELIABLY AND SO
TRANSFORMING WHAT WE GET IN OUR
APPROPRIATION INTO A PAYLINE IS
AN ONGOING INTENSIVE EFFORTS
THAT INVOLVES DATA ANALYSIS AND
MODELING AND DISCUSSION WITH
LEADERSHIP OF THE INSTITUTE.
THE OUTPUTS ARE ON THE NEXT
SLIDE.
YOU'LL REMEMBER THAT LAST YEAR
IN FY 21 WE WERE ABLE TO ACHIEVE
A 16th PERCENTILE PAYLINE,
ONE OF THE LOWEST WE'VE SEEN IN
THE PAST FEW YEARS.
AND IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THIS
LEVEL BECAUSE OF ALL OF THE
SORTS OF VARIABLES I MENTIONED,
WE NEEDED TO TURN A NUMBER OF
DIALS WITH BUDGET CUTS TO FREE
UP ENOUGH MONEY TO FUND AS MANY
INVESTIGATORS AS POSSIBLE.
AND SO IN ADDITION TO OUR
STANDARD EVERY YEAR CUTS TO
R01s AND U01s, WE ADDED WITH
SOME PAIN 10% CUT TO THE P41s
WHICH WE DON'T LIKE TO CUT
BECAUSE THEY HAVE TAPPED VERY
HEAVILY BURDENED BUDGETS.
AND WE SPECIALLY DON'T LIKE TO
CUT OUR NON-COMPETING GRANTS IN
THE OUT YEARS WHEN WE'VE MADE A
COMMITMENT TO FUND AT A
PARTICULAR LEVEL.
BUT LAST YEAR BEING DIFFICULT,
WE ENACTED A 2% CUT AND ACHIEVED
16th PERCENTILE PAYLINE.
YEAR WOULD BE BETTER, IN FACT IT
IS.
WE WERE ABLE TO RESTORE THE P41
AND NON-COMPETING CUTS THIS YEAR
AND ACHIEVED 19th PERCENTILE
WITH ROUTINE CUTS.
THE NEXT SLIDE REMINDS YOU THAT
WE ALSO HAVE A LARGE COVID-19
SPECIFIC BUDGET.
THAT CONTINUES AGAIN THIS YEAR.
YOU SEE THE APPROPRIATED BUDGET
IN BLUE FOR EACH IN FISCAL
YEAR, COVID IN ORANGE.
THIS YEAR $682 MILLION EARMARKED
FOR COVID.
AND THAT'S ABOUT 1.5 TIMES WHAT
OUR APPROPRIATED BASE BUDGET IS.
SO WE HAVE BEEN OPERATING IN THE
LAST THREE FISCAL YEARS AS
ALMOST TWO INSTITUTES IN ONE.
IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE,
BRUCE, I JUST WANT TO REMIND YOU
OF WHERE MOST OF THE MONEY IS
GOING BUT I WOULD LIKE TO KIND
OF UNPACK IN THE NEXT FEW SLIDES
FOR YOU REALLY WHAT MAKES UP OUR
COVID-SPECIFIC BUDGET.
WE INITIALLY RECEIVED $500 IN FY
20 FROM CONGRESSIONAL SUPPLEMENT
TO EXPAND THE NIBIB POINT OF
CARE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH
NETWORK.
THE ASK WAS THAT WE QUICKLY
DEVELOP TESTS FOR COVID-19.
AND WE RECEIVED THIS FUNDING
BECAUSE WE HAD THE POCTRN
NETWORK ON WHICH WE COULD BASE
TEST DEVELOPMENT EFFORT.
THE NETWORK HAS FOUR ACADEMIC
CENTERS AND IS OVERSEEN BY A
COORDINATING CENTER AT MGH, AND
WITH THIS $500 MILLION WE WERE
ABLE TO -- WHICH WE RECEIVED IN
APRIL OF 2020 WE WERE ABLE TO
EXPAND THE NETWORK BY
ESTABLISHING A VALIDATION CORE
AT EMORY, AND CLINICAL STUDIES
CORE AT UMass.
AND THEN OVERSEES A DEPLOYMENT
CORE WITH RESPONSIBILITY FOR
THINGS GENERALLY OUT OF SCOPE
FOR POCTRN AND NIH AS A WHOLE,
THINGS LIKE MANUFACTURING AND
COMMERCIALIZATION.
AND SO WE BUILT A NETWORK WITH
REALLY UNIQUE CAPABILITY IN THE
GOVERNMENT TO NOT ONLY SOLICIT
REVIEW AND FUND APPLICATIONS
VERY QUICKLY, BUT THE ABILITY TO
TEST AND VALIDATE TECHNOLOGIES
IN DEVELOPMENT AND DE-RISK THOSE
TECHNOLOGIES, AND TO GIVE EXPERT
GUIDANCE TO THE COMPANIES
DEVELOPING TASKS NOT ONLY ON
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AND
CLINICAL STUDIES BUT FOR
REGULATORY AUTHORIZATION,
MANUFACTURING,
COMMERCIALIZATION.
AND THE NETWORK HAS GROWN NOW TO
THE POINT WHERE WE HAVE OVER 900
CONTRIBUTORS TO THE PROGRAM FROM
THE GOVERNMENT, ACADEMIA,
INDUSTRY, AND NON-PROFIT
SECTORS.
SO, THIS $500 MILLION OF INITIAL
FUNDING, IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT
SLIDE, BRUCE, HAS GROWN IN TOTAL
TO $1.7 BILLION IN THE LAST
THREE FISCAL YEARS.
WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO IS UNPACK
THAT A LITTLE BIT FOR YOU.
IT'S SORT OF AN INTERESTING
STORY HOW THIS MONEY HAS COME TO
RADx BECAUSE OF ITS UNIQUE
CAPABILITIES.
SO, THE FIRST PART OF THE PIE
HERE WHICH REPRESENTS $950
MILLION IS THREE YEARS OF
FUNDING FOR RADx, FIRST $500
WE GOT AND THEN TO EXPAND, AND
$350 MILLION IN 22 TO FOCUS ON
NEXT GENERATION TEST
DEVELOPMENT.
THE NEXT CATEGORY OF FUNDING WE
RECEIVED, IF YOU ADVANCE ONE,
BRUCE, IS FUNDING THAT WE GOT
BECAUSE OTHER AGENCIES WERE ABLE
TO RELY ON THIS INFRASTRUCTURE
WE HAD ESTABLISHED, AND THE
EXPERTISE WE ATTRACTED, TO HELP
ACHIEVE THEIR MISSION.
SO YOU SEE RADx ATP, ANOTHER
ONE OF THE RADx COMPONENT
PROGRAMS, DESIGNED TO EXPAND
LABORATORY TESTING IN THE
COUNTRY.
THAT ALSO WAS STARTED IN EARLY
2020 WITH CONGRESSIONAL
SUPPLEMENT FUNDING TO THE NIH
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR.
AND HAVING ESTABLISHED RADx
TECH, WHAT OUR POCTRN BASED
PROGRAM IS CALLED, THE DECISION
WAS MADE THAT WE WOULD USE THAT
SAME INNOVATION FUNNEL APPROACH
TO IDENTIFY COMPANIES THAT COULD
EXPAND LABORATORY TESTING AT
HIGH CAPACITY AND FUND THOSE
COMPANIES.
SO, WE BASICALLY EXECUTED THAT
PROGRAM FOR THE OFFICE OF THE
DIRECTOR.
BARDA INITIALLY WAS ALSO GIVEN A
MILLION DOLLARS TO DEVELOP TESTS
FOR THE COUNTRY EARLY IN THE
PANDEMIC.
AND WHEN WE HAD ATTRACTED OUR
MANY, MANY PROMISING COMPANIES
TO THE RADx TECH PROGRAM, AND
IDENTIFIED THOSE THAT HAD STOOD
SOME VERY GOOD CHANCE OF
SUCCESS, BARDA SUPPLIED US WITH
$308 MILLION TO DEVELOP TESTS
THROUGH RADx COMPLEMENTARY TO
WHAT THEY WERE TESTING.
AND MORE RECENTLY, ASPR
IDENTIFIED RADx COMPANIES THAT
COULD HELP WITH THEIR MISSION OF
MAINTAINING PREPAREDNESS IN THE
COUNTRY, SO COMPANIES THAT COULD
MAINTAIN A WARM BASE DURING
TIMES WHEN CASES WERE LOW, AND
THEN QUICKLY SCALE UP WHEN
SURGES MIGHT EMERGE.
SO, RADx HAD THIS UNIQUE
INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WAS ABLE TO
SUPPORT THE MISSIONS OF OTHER
AGENCIES AND INSTITUTES AT NIH.
THEN THERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES, I
WILL SHOW YOU, OF PARTICULAR
NEEDS THAT WE DIDN'T NECESSARILY
PREDICT AT THE OUTSET OF THE
PANDEMIC BUT THINGS, PROBLEMS
EMERGED, PROBLEMS AROSE DURING
THE PANDEMIC AS WE ALL KNOW.
AND RADx WAS A UNIQUE
GOVERNMENT RESOURCE THAT COULD
TAKE ON THESE PROBLEMS VERY
QUICKLY AND ADDRESS THEM WITH A
LOT OF SORT OF NIMBLENESS AND
FLEXIBILITY.
SO THE VARIANT TASKS FORCE IS A
GREAT EXAMPLE.
AS VARIANTS BEGAN TO EMERGE,
FIRST DELTA AND THEN OMICRON,
EVERYBODY WAS WONDERING IN THE
FACE OF THESE NEW MUTATED
VIRUSES ARE THE TESTS STILL
GOING TO BE -- ARE THE TESTS
STILL GOING TO PERFORM?
AND SO THE VARIANT TASK FORCE
WAS FORMED AT EMORY, AND WITH
INPUT FROM THE COORDINATING
CENTER AT CIMIT TO SET UP A
BIOINFORMATICS PROGRAM TO ANNUAL
IDES MUTATIONS AND TEST PRIMERS
AND WET LAB TESTING OF ANTIGEN
TESTING WITH VARIANT SAMPLES TO
ENSURE THE TESTS REMAINED ABLE
TO DETECT VIRUS EVEN IN THE FACE
OF VARIANTS.
THE NEXT IS THE COVID TEST, A
PROGRAM RUN OUT OF THE OFFICE OF
THE DIRECTOR, LAUNCHED BASED ON
DIGITAL PLATFORM THAT RADx
TECH DEVELOPED THROUGH CARE EBO,
THIS WAS A TEST, FREE TEST
DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM, THAT
OPERATIONALIZED SENDING TESTS TO
PEOPLE'S HOMES, AND IN SPECIFIC
COMMUNITIES, AND WAS -- REALLY
HELPED INFORMED THE
ADMINISTRATION'S $1,000, 1 --
ONE BILLION DOLLAR TEST
DISTRIBUTION WE SEE NOW.
NEXT, ITAP, INDEPENDENT TEST
ASSESSMENT PROGRAM, A CLOSE
COLLABORATION WITH THE FDA, SET
UP TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM WE
JUST NEEDED MORE TESTS, WHEN
OMICRON WAS SURGING THERE WAS A
LOT OF FRUSTRATION THAT TESTS
WERE -- HOME TESTS IN PARTICULAR
WERE READILY AVAILABLE IN MANY
OTHER COUNTRIES BUT NOT THE U.S.
AND SO WHAT WE DID WAS SET UP A
COLLABORATION WITH THE FDA TO
ATTRACT HIGH VOLUME PRODUCERS
FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO SELL
TESTS IN THE U.S. BY HELPING
THEM GET EMERGENCY USE
AUTHORIZATION, WORKING WITH THE
FDA, COLLECTING INDEPENDENT
DATA, AND PROVIDING IT TO THE
FDA ON AGREED TEMPLATES SO THEY
COULD MAKE APPROVALS QUICKLY,
AUTHORIZATIONS QUICKLY.
IN FEBRUARY OF THIS YEAR WE AS A
RESULT HAD 1.2 BILLION TESTS
SOLD IN THE COUNTRY.
THE LAST MOST RECENT FUNDING
RECEIVED IS FOR THE ACCESSIBLE
TESTING PROGRAM.
THE HOME TEST DISTRIBUTION
PROGRAM AT COVID.GOV REVEALED
THAT THERE REMAINED AN UNMET
NEED FOR TESTS THAT COULD BE
TAKEN INDEPENDENTLY BY PEOPLE
WITH LOW VISION AND MOTOR
DISABILITY AND COGNITIVE
DISABILITY.
AND SO RADx HAS TAKEN ON THE
CHARGE OF MODIFYING EXISTING
TESTS TO MAKE THEM MORE
ACCESSIBLE, AND WE HAVE PLANS TO
LAUNCH A NEW FUNNEL TO DEVELOP
TESTS WITH USER CENTRIC APPROACH
THAT WILL BE ACCESSIBLE TO
EVERYONE.
SO, I WILL STOP THERE AND TURN
IT BACK TO BRUCE.
THAT IS OUR BUDGET UPDATE.
THANK YOU, BRUCE.
>> THANK YOU, JILL, FOR THE VERY
COMPREHENSIVE UPDATE.
AND IT WILL I THINK GIVE SOME
FOUNDATIONER SOME ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION THAT I COMMUNICATED
IN THE REPORT HERE.
LET ME PICK UP WITH OUR DEBUT
AWARDS, DESIGN BY UNDERGRADUATE
TEAMS.
AND I KNOW I DON'T NEED ANY
INTRODUCTION ABOUT THIS AWARD
PROGRAM.
IT'S PROBABLY I THINK OUR IN
SOME WAYS OUR MOST IMPACTFUL AND
INSPIRATIONAL AWARD PROGRAM.
AND LED BY OUR TRAINING
DIVISION, THERE ARE $130,000 IN
PRIZES WITH SOME NEW AWARDS,
WE'VE DISCUSSED THIS BUT I
WANTED TO DRAW EVERYBODY'S
ATTENTION TO THE SUBMISSION
DEADLINE WHICH IS AT THE END OF
MAY.
IF YOUR TEAMS AND COLLEAGUES
HAVE NOT STARTED THEIR
APPLICATIONS, GET THEM TO START.
PLEASE SEND IN APPLICATIONS BY
SUBMISSION DEADLINE.
WE'RE HOPING TO CONTINUE TO
EXPAND AND INCREASE THE NUMBER
OF AWARDS AND SIZE OF THE
AWARDS.
AND I'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT THAT
THERE'S ALSO THE WINNERS, SOME
WINNERS, WILL RECEIVE
COMMERCIALIZATION TRAINING.
THAT IS GOING TO BE DRIVEN BY
SOME OF OUR COMMERCIALIZATION
PROGRAMS.
SO THOSE ARE TO THE ONES WHO
RECEIVED SOME NIH AWARDS.
THIS IS IN COLLABORATION WITH
VENTURE WELL.
SO IT'S AN AMAZING PROGRAM AND
JUST ENCOURAGE ALL OF YOU TO
SPREAD THE WORD AND MAKE SURE WE
HAVE PLENTY OF APPLICATIONS FOR
THIS.
YOU'VE FOLLOWED OUR NIH
TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATOR
CHALLENGE.
THIS IS A PARTNERSHIP WITH NIBIB
AND GATES FOUNDATION.
INTERESTING PROTOTYPE FOR
COLLABORATIVE TYPES OF EFFORTS
THAT COULD SERVE AS SOMETHING
FOUNDATIONAL FOR EXAMPLE WITH
THE NSF.
THE 2020 CHALLENGE FOR PLATFORM
CONCEPTS AND PROTOTYPES OF
NON-INVASIVE MULTIPLEX
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGIES FOR
SICKLE CELL, MALARIA, A TEAMA,
-- ANEMIA, AN AWARD TO BUCCAL
MUCOSA, CAPILLARY BLOOD CELLS
FOR CLASSIFICATION, MORPHOLOGY
COUNTING, THIS IS WORK LED BY
NICK DURR AT JOHNS HOPKINS AND
GREG MACKAY, AND THIS IS NOW
RECEIVED FOLLOW-UP FUNDING FROM
GATES SO IT'S REALLY MOVING
BEAUTIFULLY.
IT'S A TERRIFIC EXAMPLE OF THE
PARTNERSHIP THAT WE HAVE WITH
THE GATES FOUNDATION AND HOW
THEY CAN ACCELERATE
COMMERCIALIZATION,
MANUFACTURING, MARKETING, AND SO
FORTH OF TECHNOLOGIES.
OUR CURRENT ONE IS MATERNAL
HEALTH LAUNCHED IN 2021.
AND THESE ARE FOR POC MOLECULAR,
CELLULAR, METABOLIC SENSING,
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGIES TO
REDUCE MATERNAL MORBIDITY AND
MORTALITY, FEATURING A
PARTNERSHIP WITH NICHD, AND WE
HAVE BOTH AN INTEREST IN HAVING
PLATFORM TECHNOLOGIES AND DESIGN
AS WELL AS ARTICULATING A
PATHWAY FOR TRANSLATION AND USE
IN GLOBAL HEALTH SETTINGS, AGAIN
OWING TO OUR STRONG
COLLABORATION WITH GATES, AND
THE FOUR MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST
ARE IN INFECTION, HYPERTENSIVE
DISEASE, PLACENTAL IMAGE,
HEMORRHAGE, APPLICATIONS ARE IN
NOW, AWARDS ANNOUNCED IN
MID-JULY.
WE MENTIONED IN OUR PREVIOUS
COUNCIL MEETING A CONCEPT
CLEARANCE FOR POCTRN, AND IN
RECORD SPEED WE HAVE A NOTICE OF
INTENT TO PUBLISH, THIS WHICH
WE'RE EXPECTING AROUND JULY, END
OF JULY THIS YEAR, BUT THIS
NOTICE IS NOW POSTED FOR POCTRN
SETTINGS, POCTRN CENTERS, AND I
THINK EVERYONE IS FAMILIAR WITH
THE FOUNDATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF
POCTRN IN WHAT NIBIB DOES AND
INCREASINGLY ITS CONTRIBUTION TO
IN VITRO DIAGNOSTICS AND POINT
OF CARE TECHNOLOGIES THROUGHOUT
THE WORLD.
SO WE'RE HOPING TO CONTINUE AND
EXPAND AND BUILD ON THIS, AND
KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR THIS
PUBLICATION DATE FOR THE FOA.
WE ALSO TALKED PREVIOUSLY ABOUT
HOW TO RETHINK WHAT WE'RE DOING
AND EXPAND OPPORTUNITIES WITH
DRPs, THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS
PUBLISHED, APPLICATION DUE DATES
FOR WHAT IS A NEWLY RECONFIGURED
BPI, THAT'S A PARTNERSHIP THAT'S
WITH INDUSTRY SO IT'S A KIND OF
CONTRACTION OF OUR PROGRAM
NAMES, SO IT'S BPI,
BIOENGINEERING PARTNERSHIPS WITH
INDUSTRY.
AND THE APPLICATION DUE DATES
HERE ARE MAY 26 AND SEPTEMBER
26, OF 2022, AND THIS SHOULD GO
THROUGH 2024, WE'RE HOPING FOR
REALLY OUTSTANDING RESPONSE TO
THIS.
AND JUST WANT TO NOTE AS
PREVIOUSLY WE HAVE THE NEI AND
NIA AND NCI ON BOARD.
A QUICK UPDATE ON D.E.I.
ACTIVITIES, LED BY ZANE ARAM, WE
HELD OUR MEETING ON THE NINTH OF
MAY, AND FIRST SOME UNITE
UPDATES.
THERE'S BEEN LOTS OF PROGRESS IN
THIS AREA, 15 DIFFERENT TEAMS
FORMED, AND THEY ARE PUSHING TO
BRING, TO ADVANCE IDEAS ALONG.
ONE OF THESE IDEAS IS
INSTITUTIONAL EXCELLENCE IN DEIA
PRIZE, AN RFA PUBLISHED.
YOU CAN ACCESS THAT URL BY GOING
TO OUR WEBSITE, AND PLEASE WE'RE
HOPING THAT OUR COMMUNITY WILL
RESPOND TO THIS RFI, TO GIVE
COMMENTS THAT ARE UNIQUE TO OUR
COMMUNITY AND TUNED SO WE CAN
MAKE SURE, WE HOPE, WE'LL HAVE
PRIZEs THAT ARE ISSUED IN OUR
COMMUNITY.
THIS IS A KIND OF A TEST
EXAMPLE, AND WE'RE HOPING THAT
THERE WILL BE A RECURRING TYPE
OF PROGRAM BUT WE'RE HOPEFUL,
WE'D LIKE TO SEE A STRONG
RESPONSE FROM THE BIOENGINEERING
COMMUNITY.
ALL OF THE INSTITUTES, CENTERS
AND OFFICES ARE PARTICIPATING IN
RECRUITMENTS FOR DEIA SCIENTIFIC
PROGRAM OFFICERS, THESE ARE
ONGOING, AND WE'RE ALSO ENGAGED
IN THAT NOW.
AND JUST DRAWING ATTENTION TO
THE LINK ON UNITE, THERE ARE
UPDATES THAT YOU CAN FOLLOW
QUITE A LOT HAS HAPPENED SINCE
THE LAST COUNCIL MEETING.
IN TERMS OF OUR SPECIAL
DIVERSITY FOCUSED FUNDING
OPPORTUNITIES, OUR TWO R01s,
BOTH FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
TO REDUCE HEALTH DISPARITIES,
AND NEW INVESTIGATORS TO PROMOTE
WORKFORCE DIVERSITY, SO THOSE
APPLICATION DATES HAVE CLOSED.
BUT AT THE SUGGESTION OF OUR
WORKING GROUP TO ADD ADDITIONAL
WORKING -- ADDITIONAL DUE DATES,
WE'RE IN PROCESS OF THAT
DISCUSSION, AND HOPEFULLY WE'LL
BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO MAKE
ANY CHANGES PRIOR TO THIS
COUNCIL MEET BUG -- MEETING BUT
WE'RE HOPEFUL TO INFORM YOU IN
THE COMING MONTHS.
WE HAVE OUR R21 MECHANISM, SMALL
GRANTS FOR NEW INVESTIGATORS TO
PROMOTE DIVERSITY.
AND JUST WANT TO DRAW YOUR
ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT THERE
ARE STILL ACTIVE DUE DATES,
THREE DUE DATES PER YEAR IN
THIS, SO UPCOMING IS JUNE 16,
OCTOBER 16, AND WE'RE VERY
HOPEFUL THAT OUR COMMUNITY WILL
BE RESPONDING STRONGLY TO THIS
R21.
WE'VE HAD RECENT ACTIVITY, FOCUS
ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP THROUGH THE
CIMIT CRASH COURSE, THE
COMMERCIALIZATION ACCELERATOR,
LED BY THE CIMIT POCTRN TEAM,
AND TIFFANI LASH LET THIS
EFFORT.
THERE WERE SEVEN TEAMS IN THIS
CRASH COURSE FOCUSED ON
DIVERSITY, AND AT LEAST ONE OF
ITS CORE MEMBERS CAME FROM AN
UNDERREPRESENTED GROUP.
THERE WERE DIVERSE MENTORS.
WE HAVE PARTICIPANT EVALUATION
WITH FEEDBACK FROM ALL
PARTICIPANTS, IN GENERAL THE
FEEDBACK HAS BEEN VERY POSITIVE
AND THERE'S A CONSENSUS ON
PLANNING TO CONTINUE TO USE THE
TOOLS THAT WERE DEVELOPED, AND
BUILD ON THE PROGRESS THAT'S
BEEN MADE.
OUR NEXT STEPS ARE HOPEFULLY TO
BUILD ON THESE EXPERIENCES AND
FEEDBACK TO DESIGN AN ONGOING
CONTINUING DIVERSITY-FOCUSED
ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING
PROGRAM.
WE'VE ALSO BEEN INVOLVED WITH
THE OFFICE OF RESEARCH ON
WOMEN'S HEALTH, AND EXTENSIVELY
IN MANY ACTIVITIES, ONE I'D LIKE
TO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO JUST
HAPPENED LAST WEEK.
A SYMPOSIUM ON REIMAGINING WOMEN
IN THE BIOENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY
AND DATA SCIENCE ECOSYSTEM.
THE GOAL OF THIS IS TO REALLY
LEAD TO DESIGNING AND BUILDING A
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ECOSYSTEM
THAT MAXIMIZES OPPORTUNITIES FOR
WOMEN FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS
THROUGH ALL CAREER STAGES, AND
DEVELOPS AND SUSTAINS SCIENTIFIC
WORKFORCE, CAN ADAPT TO MANY
SECTORS.
AND FINALLY BUILDS TEAMS ACROSS
THESE SECTORS AND CREATES NEW
CROSS-SECTOR OPPORTUNITIES FOR
MENTORSHIP AND SPONSORSHIP.
AND THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
INCLUDE JOAN GRIEVE AND TIFFANI
LASH.
OUR FEATURED SPEAKERS FOR THIS
INCLUDED DR. CLAYTON, OFFICE OF
RESEARCH IN WOMEN'S HEALTH, AND
DR. TABAK, ACTING DIRECTOR OF
NIH.
BUT ALSO OUR COUNCIL MEMBER AND
COLLEAGUE DR. GILDA BARABINO,
AND DR. CHRISTINE GRANT, NORTH
CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY.
DR. DAVID WILKES, WHO IS A
FORMER DEAN OF SCHOOL OF
MEDICINE AND DEAN EMERITUS AT
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, AND TWO
OTHER INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE
REALLY PRETTY IMPRESSIVE, NOLA
MASTERSON WHO LEADS AN ANGEL AND
VENTURE INVESTMENT FUND FOCUSED
ON WOMEN'S HEALTH, AND IS THE
LEAD FOR FEMTEC 1 AND 2 FUNDS,
AND WENDY CHUN-HOON.
I HAD THE PLEASURE OF MODERATING
INCREDIBLE SPEAKERS AND
INTERACTION AND DISCUSSION,
HOPEFULLY WE'LL BE CONTINUING TO
WORK WITH THE OFFICE OF OF
RESEARCH AND WOMEN'S HEALTH TO
CAPTURE THIS CONTENT AND
DISSEMINATE.
A LOT OF EXCITEMENT WAS
GENERATED OVER THESE TWO DAYS.
FINALLY, THE ONE LAST THING TO
MENTION HERE, WE DISCUSSED THIS
IN OUR WORKING GROUP, WE'VE
TARGETED THIS OPPORTUNITY TO
ESTABLISH BIOMEDICAL MEDICAL
ENGINEERS PROGRAMS AT HBCUs,
AN AMBITIOUS GOAL FOR THE ENTIRE
COMMUNITY.
JUST POINTING OUT REMARKABLE
GROWTH ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY
THAT WE'VE SEEN SINCE THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF NIBIB IN 2000,
AND THE OPPORTUNITY HERE IS TO
GET SIMILAR TYPE OF GROWTH OR TO
HELP STIMULATE GROWTH WITHIN
HBCUs AND OTHER COMMUNITIES,
COLLEGES, THAT HAVE NOT BEEN
ABLE TO ACCESS THIS KIND OF
ACADEMIC TRAINING OR GROW IT,
WITHIN THEIR COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES.
SO, IN TERMS OF WHAT WE'VE DONE
SO FAR, WE'VE REALLY CREATED A
STRATEGY FOR THINKING ABOUT HOW
WE CAN DO FUNDRAISING IN
COLLABORATION WITH FOUNDATION
FOR NIH, WHICH FOCUSES ON
FORMING PUBLIC/PRIVATE
PARTNERSHIPS, HELPING LEAD THEM,
WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED TO
DO FOR THIS.
THEY ARE SUPPORTIVE AND READY TO
PARTNER IN OUR NEXT STEPS, AND
OUR NEXT ACTION IS FOR THE
CO-CHAIRS OF OUR DEIA COMMITTEE
TO CONVENE A ROUNDTABLE SO THAT
WE CAN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND A
LITTLE BIT BETTER THE UNIQUE
NEEDS AND PRIORITIES AND BUILD
MORE EXCITEMENT SO THAT THE FNIH
CAN BECOME A TARGET OF
FUNDRAISING FOR THIS TYPE OF
EFFORT.
NOW I'D LIKE TO TOUCH BRIEFLY ON
PROGRESS IN THE PANDEMIC
RESPONSE.
AND OUR TWO MAJOR AREAS, THREE
MAJOR AREAS OF INVERSE.
ININVESTMENT IN IMAGING AND IN
VITRO DIAGNOSTICS AND DIGITAL
HEALTH PLATFORMS.
OUR BIG STRUCTURE THAT WE'VE
HELPED CREATE IS THE MEDICAL
IMAGING AND DATA RESOURCE
CENTER, MIDRC, A LOT HAS
HAPPENED SINCE THE PREVIOUS
MEETING.
I'LL TOUCH ON A FEW HIGHLIGHTS.
FIRST, THERE'S BEEN A
SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN NUMBER
OF IMAGES INGESTED, OVER 120,000
HAVE BEEN INGESTED IN MIDRC,
30,000 REPRESENTING ABOUT 11,000
PATIENTS HAVE BEEN RELEASED IN
THE OPEN COMMONS.
THAT'S ABOUT 2.5 TERABYTES OF
DATA, A REALLY BIG JUMP SINCE
THE PREVIOUS TIME WE DISCUSSED.
THERE ARE ABOUT 150 DATA USERS
FROM OVER 100 INSTITUTIONS, AND
13 PUBLICATIONS NOW.
THERE ARE 40 CONTRIBUTING SITES,
SPANNING ACROSS 23 STATES.
SO, THE GROWTH JUST IN THE LAST
FEW MONTHS HAS BEEN QUITE
ENORMOUS.
THERE'S BEEN SIGNIFICANT
PROGRESS IN INTRAOPERABILITY,
SOMETHING WE HOPE FOR
CLOUD-BASED DATA STRUCTURES.
THERE'S SUCCESSFUL PILOT GOING
ON WITH THE BIODATA CATALYST
WHICH IS NHLBI DATA STRUCTURE,
ONGOING PILOT AT NCATS WHICH IS
PROBABLY THE BIGGEST COVID DATA
REPOSITORY THAT I'M AWARE OF,
WITH POTENTIAL FOR LINKING UP TO
MIDRC, AND THERE'S A FEDERATED
LEARNING PILOT WITH ARGONNE LAB.
THERE ARE 2500 PATIENTS
ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL IN ORDER TO
VALIDATE THE PERFORMANCE OF
ALGORITHMS AND ACCELERATE FDA
CLEARANCE AND ULTIMATELY TO
DEPLOY THESE ALGORITHMS
CLINICALLY, SO CONGRATULATIONS
TO THE MIDRC TEAM, MARYWELLEN IS
THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR,
WORKING CLOSELY WITH ALL OF
THESE PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES,
THIS HAS BEEN A TRUE SPECTACULAR
NETWORK THAT'S GROWN AND MADE
PROGRESS JUST IN THE LAST FEW
MONTHS.
IN TERMS RADx, HERE IS A SORT
OF BOTTOM LINE WHAT'S HAPPENED.
YOU CAN SEE ON THE LEFT IS A
PLOT OF THE CUMULATIVE
AUTHORIZED TESTS AND TEST
PRODUCTS, AND I HAVE AN ARROW
POINTING TO WHERE WE WERE AT
JANUARY COUNCIL, IN DECEMBER
2021.
THERE WERE 1.5 BILLION TESTS AND
TEST PRODUCTS WHICH WE THOUGHT
WAS SPECTACULAR AT THE TIME.
THIS HAS GROWN EVEN MORE.
IF WE LOOK THROUGH MARCH OF
2022, IT'S INCREASED TO
2.3 BILLION, DRIVEN IN PART BY
THE DRAMATIC EXPANSION OF THE
OMICRON VARIANT AROUND THAT
TIME.
SO, THIS REPRESENTS AS OF MARCH
ABOUT 260 MILLION TESTS AND TEST
PRODUCTS PER DAY THAT WE'RE
CONTRIBUTING TO, 44 EMERGENCY
USE AUTHORIZATIONS, NINE OVER
THE COUNTER, EIGHT OF THESE
ANTIGEN, ONE IS PCR AND RT LAMP
APPROACH.
THIS IS DRIVING A MAJOR PARADIGM
SHIFT, TECHNICALLY IN FEBRUARY,
ASTOUNDING, WHERE IF YOU GO BACK
TO WHEN THIS PROGRAM BEGAN IN
APRIL OF 2020 THE COUNTRY WAS
DOING LESS THAN 8 MILLION TESTS,
ALL LABORATORY TESTS.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT FEBRUARY OF
2022, THERE WERE OVER A BILLION
TESTS BEING DONE IN THE UNITED
STATES, AND ABOUT 1 BILLION OF
THEM WERE OVER THE COUNTER TESTS
THAT WERE PRIMARILY RAPID
ANTIGEN TESTS.
A FRACTION OF TESTS BEING DONE
IN LABORATORIES HAS STEADILY
DIMINISHED OVER TIME.
IF YOU LOOK ON THE RIGHT, YOU
UPPER RIGHT IN THIS PLOT, THE
TESTS REPORTED ARE PRIMARILY THE
LABORATORY TESTS, AND THESE ARE
CONSISTENTLY LESS THAN ABOUT 100
MILLION PER MONTH IN THE
SNAPSHOT FROM NOVEMBER TO MARCH
OF THIS YEAR.
WHILE THERE'S BEEN ENORMOUS
GROWTH IN OVER THE COUNTER
TESTS, ON A MONTH BY MONTH
BASIS, AND THIS HUGE NUMBER IN
FEBRUARY WAS DRIVEN BY OF COURSE
THE CONCERN OVER THE OMICRON
SURGE MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH OUR
EFFORTS AS JILL NOTED TO HELP
SUPPORT THE AUTHORIZATION OF
LARGE VOLUME MANUFACTURERS, MOST
OF WHICH FROM OUT OF THE UNITED
STATES.
AND THIS RAISES AN INTERESTING
QUESTION, BECAUSE IF A VERY
SMALL FRACTION OF TESTS ARE
ACTUALLY REPORTED, DO WE REALLY
HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHERE
THE PANDEMIC IS AND HOW FAST
IT'S MOVING?
SO LED BY ANDREW AND KRISHNA,
WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON DIGITAL
PLATFORMS FOR TWO YEARS BUT
THINGS ARE COMING TOGETHER
INCLUDING HAVING A SNAZZY
ACRONYM, MOBILE APPLICATION
RECORDING SYSTEM, MARS.
AND THE FIGURE ON THE BOTTOM
RIGHT GIVES YOU A PICTORIAL
REPRESENTATION OF WHAT THIS IDEA
IS, SO IT CAN TAKE ANY TEST
MANUFACTURER'S INFORMATION FROM
ANY APP , OR THIRD PARTY, APPLY
STANDARD DATA ELEMENTS, STANDARD
DATA STRUCTURE, AND THEN SEND IT
THROUGH THE AMERICAN PUBLIC
HEALTH LABORATORIES TO DATA
HUBS, WHICH CAN THEN TRANSMIT
THIS INFORMATION BOTH TO FEDERAL
HEALTH DATABASES, AS WELL AS
STATE HEALTH DATABASES.
SO THIS IS A REALLY IMPORTANT
ADVANCE.
THEY HAVE BEEN WORKING VERY
CLOSELY WITH ALL THE
MANUFACTURERS, AND IT'S
EXCITING, I-HEALTH ACCOUNTS FOR
300 MILLION TESTS IN THE UNITED
STATES ALONE A MONTH, AT LEAST
CERTAINLY IN THE MONTH OF THE
HIGHEST SURGE, IS THE FIRST ONE
ON BOARD, SO THEIR APP IS NOW
REPORTING IF YOU CHOOSE TO
SELECT THE REPORTING BUTTON, IT
WILL MOVE THROUGH THIS KIND OF
STRUCTURE, AND JUST IN THE FIRST
FEW DAYS WHICH THIS JUST
LAUNCHED LAST WEEK, WITH THE
I-HEALTH ACCESSIBILITY, ROUGHLY
30,000 TESTS THAT HAVE BEEN
REPORTED THROUGH THE I-HEALTH
APP.
WE WILL GO THROUGH ALL THE
MANUFACTURERS, AND NOT
SURPRISINGLY MANUFACTURERS ARE
EXCITED AND EAGER TO BE
PARTICIPANTS IN SOMETHING THAT
DOES FACILITATE A STANDARDIZED
FORMAT FOR COMMUNICATION OF TEST
RESULTS.
HAVING THAT MANY TESTS THAT ARE
BEING USED, AGAIN, ONE BILLION
TESTS DISTRIBUTED IN FEBRUARY IN
2022, CALLS INTO QUESTION LOTS
OF DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE TEST
PERFORMANCE, HOW DO RAPID
ANTIGEN TESTS WORKING WITH
DIFFERENT VARIANTS.
HOW DO THE DIFFERENT TESTS
COMPARE TO ONE ANOTHER.
AND WE'VE BEEN SUPPORTING MORE
THAN 7,000 SUBJECT LONGITUDINAL
SERIAL ANTIGEN STUDY.
I'D LIKE TO SUMMARIZE A FEW OF
THE IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONS FROM
THIS.
THIS IS CENTERED AS JILL POINTED
OUT IN CLINICAL STUDIES CORE AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS,
AND YOU CAN SEE THESE ARE TWO
PLOTS OF RECEIVER OPERATOR
CURVES ON THE Y-AXIS IS THE
PROBABILITY OF A POSITIVE OVER
THE COUNTER TEST, X-AXIS ARE FOR
CT VALUES OF THE COMPARATOR
TESTS, IN THIS CASE RT-PCR FROM
ROCHE, AND THE PLOT ON THE LEFT
SHOWS FUNDAMENTALLY THAT ANTIGEN
TESTS WORK EQUALLY WELL WITH
OMICRON AND DELTA, IF YOU RECALL
THAT WAS A POINT OF CONCERN IN
DECEMBER OF LAST YEAR, WHEN THE
FDA FIRST POSTED ON THE WEBSITE
THAT IT'S POSSIBLE RAPID ANT GEN
TESTS MAY HAVE REDUCED
SENSITIVITY TO OMICRON.
WE'VE SHOWN THIS IS NOT A
CLINICAL SIGNIFICANT
OBSERVATION, AS YOU LOOK ACROSS
USERS AND PLATFORMS THIS REALLY
SHOWS OMICRON AND DELTA ARE
DETECTED WITH COMPARABLE
SENSITIVITY.
ON THE RIGHT ANTIGEN PLATFORMS
ARE COMPARABLE PERFORMANCE,
COMPARING IN THE PLOT ON THE
RIGHT BINAX, BD AND THE
QLIKVIEW.
DIGGING DEEPER, WHY PEOPLE WERE
OFTEN SO CONFUSED ABOUT THEIR
USE AND THINK THAT MAYBE THEY
DON'T WORK THAT WELL IS THE FACT
THAT THIS ROC CURVE IS AS ALL OF
YOU KNOW HIGHLY NON-LINEAR.
SO, FOR HIGH VIRAL LOADS, FOR
EXAMPLE FOR CT COUNTS THAT ARE
LESS THAN 25 OR 26, THIS IS
ROUGHLY ON THE ORDER OF ABOUT A
MILLION COPIES PER MIL, RAPID
INTENT GENERAL TESTS WORK WELL
WITH WITH THOSE GREATER THAN
80%, THE BAR FOR EMERGENCY USE
AUTHORIZATION.
LARGE CHANGES IN CT YOU CAN TO
THE RATE FAIRLY LARGE CHANGES,
ONLY MODEST IN PTA AT THAT
POINT.
BUT FOR INTERMEDIATE VIRAL
LOADS, 20 20 TO 30, CAN VARY
FROM 30% TO 80%, SMALL CHANGES
IN CT CAN LEAD TO LARGE CHANGES.
FOR LOW VIRAL LOADS, QUITE POOR
ON THE ORDER OF 15% TO 40%, AND
SMALL CHANGES IN CT IN THIS VERY
LOW REGION ARE LEADING TO ONLY
MODEST CHANGES IN PPA SO YOU
DON'T GET THAT MUCH OF AN
IMPROVEMENT UNTIL YOU ARE AT
VERY, VERY HIGH VIRAL LOADS.
SO THIS IS WHY WE AND EXPERTS
RECOMMEND IN THE CASE OF WEAK
POSITIVES, TO DO SERIAL TESTING.
AND THIS IS THIS HAS BEEN AN
IMPORTANT OBSERVATION THAT HAS
INFORMED THE FDA IN THE WAY THAT
THEY DO THEIR AUTHORIZATIONS.
SO, THE POSSIBILITY OF ANTIGEN
TEST TURNING POSITIVE AFTER A
WEEK RT-PCR IS INCREASING OVER
TIME, WITHIN 24 HOURS OF WEAK
POSITIVE, 50% REGION, WITHIN 48
HOURS THEY MOVE TO BETTER THAN
90%.
THAT'S REGARDLESS OF WHETHER
IT'S OMICRON OR DELTA, IN FACT
IN OUR DATA LOOKS LIKE OMICRON
PERFORMED ACTUALLY A LITTLE BIT
BETTER THAN DELTA.
SO THIS IS THE UNDERSCORED
IMPORTANCE OF SERIAL TESTING.
AND IF PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS
WONDERING THE FDA AUTHORIZATION,
HERE IS A SNAPSHOT OF THE
PUBLISHED AUTHORIZATIONS OF
DIFFERENT RAPID ANTIGEN TESTS,
I'VE HIGHLIGHTED TWO EXTREMES
THAT WE HELPED GET AUTHORIZATION
THROUGH OUR PROGRAM, BOSUN HAS A
PA 82.7, ROACH PPP 95.3, ARE
THESE REALLY VERY DIFFERENT IN
PERFORMANCE?
AND THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS.
ON THE RIGHT YOU CAN SEE A PLOT
FROM THE BOWS UNAUTHORIZATION,
SHOWING PPA AS A FUNCTION OF
WEAK POSITIVE SUBJECTS, AND IF
YOU LOOK BETWEEN TEN AND TWENTY
OR TEN AND THIRTY PER CENT, DATA
THAT COMES FROM THE FDA'S
WEBSITE, INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE,
SHOWS THAT THE PPA ACTUALLY
DECLINES WITH INCREASING
FRACTION OF WEAK POSITIVES, AND
OF COURSE THIS IS EXPECTED WHEN
YOU CONSIDER THE ROC CURVES
NON-LINEARITY, IF YOU MIX IN
MORE WEAK POSITIVES IN YOUR
TOTAL POPULATION, YOU'LL HAVE
POORER AND POORER CLINICAL STUDY
PERFORMANCE.
SO, I THINK THE BIG INNOVATION
AND BIG ACHIEVEMENT IS THROUGH
OUR WORK WITH THE FDA, THEY HAVE
ALLOWED CONSIDERATION OF ALL OF
THIS DATA AND THEY MAKE AN
AUTHORIZATION CALL BASED ON 10%
OF WEAK POSITIVES.
AND THAT'S WHERE YOU SEE THE
82.7 PPA BUT IF YOU DID A STUDY
WITH A 30% REPRESENTATION OF
WEAK POSITIVES THEN YOU WOULD
SEE LESS THAN 70% PPA AND YOU
WOULD ACTUALLY NEVER GET TESTS
AUTHORIZED IF YOU HAD HIGH
FRACTION OF WEAK POSITIVES IN
YOUR CLINICAL STUDY DATA.
HERE'S THE 80% AUTHORIZATION
BAR.
IF YOU EXTRAPOLATE TO
APPROACHING 0% WEAK POSITIVE,
YOU SEE STRONG PERFORMANCE, 90
TO 95% CHANGE SO THESE PPAs
ARE MORE A REFLECTION OF THE
POPULATION OF WEAK POSITIVES
THAT WERE IN THOSE CLINICAL
STUDIES THAN THEY ARE OF THE
ANALYTICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
THESE DIFFERENT TESTS.
SO, LET ME TRY TO SUMMARIZE WITH
SOME ONGOING CHALLENGES, WITH
THE DIGITAL HEALTH REPORTING
OVER THE COUNTER TESTS BEING
DISTRIBUTED AT SUCH SCALE, AND
TELEMED INFRASTRUCTURE, WE'RE
REALLY HOPING TO HAVE A KIND OF
DIAGNOSTIC-LED PRECISION
MEDICINE OCCUR AT HOME.
IT'S NOW POSSIBLE TO IMAGINE
TEST TO TREAT NETWORKS, WE KNOW
THESE ARE BEING BUILT FOR POINT
OF CARE TESTING AND TREATMENT,
IN BRICK AND MORTAR PHARMACIES,
BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE
SHOULD EXPECT AND HOPE TO BE
ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH FROM YOUR
HOME.
THE SECOND IS TO IMPROVE
PERFORMANCE AND INFORMATION
CONTENT OF THESE TESTS, AS JILL
MENTIONED, SOME OF OUR FUNDING
IS TO IMPROVE ACCESSIBILITY,
IT'S REALLY DIFFICULT TO DO
THESE TESTS WITH IMPAIRMENT IN
VISION OR FINE MOTOR
COORDINATION OR COGNITIVE
IMPAIRMENTS, INSTRUCTIONS FOR
USE CAN BE COMPLICATED, THERE
ARE MANY STEPS TO FOLLOW.
AND THEY ARE SMALL HARD TO SEE
LINES FOR A LOT OF TESTS,
CERTAINLY ONES WITHOUT READERS.
AND WE CONTINUE TO HOPE TO
ADVANCE NEXT GENERATION
PERFORMANCE, SO THERE ARE A
NUMBER OF TESTS WE HAVE WITHIN
THE NETWORK THAT ARE STILL BEING
SUPPORTED, THAT WORK BETTER THAN
RAPID ANTIGEN TESTS, LATERAL
FLOW ASSAYS, BOTH FOR INDIVIDUAL
ANALYTES AS WELL AS MULTIPLEX
TESTS WITH EVEN VARIANT
CAPABILITIES, SO WE'RE
CONTINUING TO ADVANCE THIS AREA.
REGULATORY, WE'VE SEEN --
[AUDIO DISTORTION]
LIMITED LIFE, WE'RE LOOKING AT
CHALLENGES OF GETTING
MANUFACTURERS TO CONVERT TO FULL
CLEARANCE USING VARIETY OF
DIFFERENT PATHWAYS TO HAVE
LONG-TERM IMPACT AND ULTIMATELY
WE'VE BEEN VERY ENGAGED AS HAVE
PARTNERS ACROSS THE GOVERNMENT
IN PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS AND
HAVE BEEN A KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO
THIS PLANNING, BUT UNCERTAINTY
WITH RESPECT TO CONTINUING
FUNDING ACROSS THE GOVERNMENT,
THAT'S CLEARLY AT RISK, AND
NOBODY HAS DEFINITIVE ANSWER FOR
THAT YET.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO CONCLUDE WITH
A BRIEF UPDATE ON ARPA-H.
WE'VE DISCUSSED THIS AT VARIOUS
TIMES IN COUNCIL.
HERE'S THE TIMELINE.
YOU'VE SEEN OSTP AND NIH
COMMENTARY IN "SCIENCE," YOU'VE
HEARD ABOUT CONGRESS PASSING IN
MARCH, THE OMNIBUS WITH
$1,000,000,000.000000000
AVAILABLE FOR THREE YEARS,
DIRECTOR TO BE APPOINTED BY
THEMENT.
BY THE PRESIDENT.
IN APRIL OF THIS YEAR ARPA-H WAS
TRANSFERRED TO NIH.
AND THAT'S SPECIFICALLY FROM THE
HHS DIRECTOR TO THE NIH, ARPA-H
DIRECTOR WILL REPORT TO HHS
SECRETARY WITH DOTTED LINE
REPORT, TO THE NIH DIRECTOR, AND
IN THE PRESIDENT'S FY23 BUDGET
REQUEST THERE'S AN ADDITIONAL $5
BILLION THAT WOULD ADD TO THE $1
BILLION THAT'S AVAILABLE TO GET
IT LAUNCHED, AND THAT'S
AVAILABLE FOR THREE YEARS.
AND THERE'S BEEN LOTS OF WORK
WITHIN THE NIH BY LEADERSHIP TO
REALLY IDENTIFY KEY ELEMENTS OF
HOW IT WILL WORK, AND I'M
SHOWING THESE EIGHT MAJOR
ELEMENTS BECAUSE, WELL, BECAUSE
THEY ARE FANTASTIC.
AND ALSO OVERLAP WITH HOW WE RUN
OUR PROGRAM AT NIBIB, SO IT'S
GOING TO BE A PROGRAM MANAGER
CENTRIC TYPE OF ORGANIZATION,
LEAN AND NIMBLE, HIGH RISK, HIGH
REWARD, TIME BOUND AND URGENT.
SO STAFF WILL WORK IN THREE TO
FIVE-YEAR TERMS, INCLUDING
LEADERSHIP OF ARPA-H, MISSION
DRIVEN, INDEPENDENT, AUTONOMOUS,
ACTIVE PROGRAM MANAGEMENT WITH
QUANTITATIVE METRICS AND
ULTIMATELY ACCOUNTABILITY WITH
TECHNICAL GATE AND STAGE GATING
FOR THEIR PROJECTS.
HERE'S THE TIMELINE FOR FUTURE
ACTIVITIES.
SO YOU CAN SEE THIS IS VERY
AMBITIOUS BECAUSE HERE IS WHERE
EVERYONE IS NOW, A SEARCH IS
GOING ON FOR AN INAUGURAL
DIRECTOR.
THERE MAY BE AN INTERIM DIRECTOR
WHO IS APPOINTED.
THIS SHOULD HAPPEN, KEEP YOUR
EYES OPEN FOR THIS IN THE NEXT
FEW MONTHS.
THERE WILL BE A SMALL NUMBER OF
PROGRAM MANAGERS WHO ARE ALSO
HIRED, AND OPERATIONAL TEAM WILL
BE BUILT.
OVERALL, WE ANTICIPATE ABOUT 100
FTEs WILL BE HIRED OVER THE
COURSE OF THE NEXT YEAR.
THE FIRST AWARDS AT LEAST ON THE
TIMELINE TARGETED HERE COULD BE
MADE AS SOON AS A YEAR FROM NOW
IN MARCH OF 23.
I WILL STOP WITH THAT, AND SEE
IF WE HAVE TIME FOR QUESTIONS.
>> I SEE MANU WITH A HAND UP.
>> THANKS, BRUCE.
WHAT STUCK TO ME, RADx MARS
PROJECT, MUCH NEEDED, AS WE'RE
LOSING COUNTS ON THE
OVER-THE-COUNTER TESTS, NEW
HURDLE TO OVERCOME, I GUESS
MAYBE YOU MENTIONED THIS, ARE
THERE QUESTIONS ABOUT AUTOMATED
REPORTING, PRIVACY, RESISTANCE
TO A POSITIVE TEST,
DE-IDENTIFYING, IS ANY OF THAT
INCLUDED IN PLANS TO GET THE
MOST ROBUST DATA WITHOUT CLANS
FOR PEOPLE TO DECLINE?
>> YES, GREAT QUESTION.
THIS HAS BEEN A TOPIC OF
CONVERSATION SINCE THE VERY
BEGINNING.
THE DATA IS FULLY -- IT'S
VOLUNTARY IN TERMS OF REPORTING.
IT'S FULLY ANONYMIZED.
AND IT'S JUST BEEN KIND OF A
BATTLE FOR THE HEARTS AND MINDS
OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND
EPIDEMIOLOGY UNIVERSE TO SAY,
YEAH, HOME TESTING IS IMPORTANT.
IF YOU RECALL, THE GROWTH OF
HOME TESTING, EVEN IF YOU GO
BACK TO THE PREVIOUS COUNCIL
MEETING THERE WAS NOTHING QUITE
AS SPECTACULAR AS WHAT WE SAW IN
JANUARY.
THAT JOLTED A LOT OF PEOPLE INTO
REALIZATION AND NOW WE'VE SEEN A
NEWS REPORTS SAYING OH MY GOSH,
ALL THE TESTING IS BEING DONE AT
HOME, AND WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT
THE CASES ARE.
SO, THAT'S HELPED STRENGTHEN OUR
ARGUMENTS.
WE'VE SEEN A CONVERSION
ESPECIALLY IN CDC, I WOULD SAY
LABORATORY AND COMMUNITY WAS
KNISH LIP OUT OF THE GATE REALLY
OPPOSED TO THE IDEA OF HOME AND
OVER THE COUNTER TESTING, THEY
SHOULD BE ORDERED BY PHYSICIANS
IN LABORATORIES WITH DATA
ELEMENTS WE ALL UNDERSTAND.
WE WENT TO THE SAME
ORGANIZATION, AMERICAN PUBLIC
HEALTH LABORATORIES, TO DO THE
ACTUAL MESSAGING A CONTRACT WITH
APHL HANDLING THE MESSAGING
ITSELF, SENT TRANSMITTING THE
DATA, WE'VE EXECUTED A CONTRACT
WITH THEM THAT HELP JUMP START
STUFF.
BUT THIS IS -- IT'S A
SPECTACULAR ACCOMPLISHMENT I
THINK.
AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN BUILD ON
THIS AND GROW BECAUSE THESE
COMMON DATA ELEMENTS AND THIS
DATA STRUCTURE HL7 AND FHIR THIS
IS WHAT WE NEED FOR HOME
TESTING, PERIOD.
IT HASN'T EXISTED BEFORE.
>> SIMON AND THEN KATHY.
>> I WANT TO TAKE US BACK TO
JILL'S PRESENTATION ON THE
BUDGET TOWARDS THE BEGINNING.
IT'S GREAT THE PAYLINE IS UP AT
19% FOR R01s, MORALE BOOSTING,
CLOSE TO 10% IT'S A DEPRESSING
SITUATION SO I THINK THAT'S
REALLY WONDERFUL.
I DID WANT TO SORT OF RAISE A
LITTLE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE 15%
CUT.
I UNDERSTAND THE RATIONALE BUT
GET THE SENSE FROM TALKING TO
FOLKS A COUPLE WAYS PEOPLE
APPROACH THIS.
THE SEASONED INVESTIGATORS, THIS
CUT IS PUBLISHED, RIGHT?
THEY KNOW IT'S COMING.
WHEN THEY WRITE PROPOSALS THEY
BUILD CONTINGENCIES TO ABSORB
THAT CUT, I SUSPECT IT LEADS TO
PEOPLE INFLATING BUDGETS A BIT.
CONCERN I HAVE THOUGH I THINK
THIS IS A DISADVANTAGE PERHAPS
FOR THE LESS SEASONED
INVESTIGATORS, JUNIOR FOLKS WHO
PERHAPS DON'T KNOW THIS AS WELL.
AND I'VE HAD EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE
COMING TO ME AND SAYING, YOU
KNOW, I CAN'T DO THE WORK NOW.
I PLANNED A VERY REALISTIC
BUDGET, EXPENSIVE PIECE OF
EQUIPMENT IN MY BUDGET, WHICH
NOW I DON'T THINK I CAN BUY,
THIS REALLY IS A MAJOR ISSUE.
AND SO, YEAH, I HAVE A CONCERN
PERHAPS NOT A LEVEL PLAYING
FIELD, PERHAPS BY DOING THIS
WE'RE DISADVANTAGING THE
YOUNGEST INVESTIGATORS WHO TRY
AND BUDGET VERY HONESTLY AND
DON'T KNOW THIS CUT IS COMING.
>> SO DIFFERENT INSTITUTES HAVE
DIFFERENT POLICIES WITH STANDARD
ADMINISTRATIVE CUTS, FOR NIBIB
THE 15% CUT TO LARGE R01s AND
U01s EXCLUDES EARLY-STAGE
INVESTIGATORS.
WE LEAVE THOSE BUDGETS ALONE AND
APPLY THEM ONLY TO ESTABLISHED
INVESTIGATORS.
>> VERY GOOD TO HEAR, I DIDN'T
KNOW THAT.
>> YOU KNOW, I WOULD ALSO
ENCOURAGE IF YOU ALL AS LEADERS
IN YOUR UNIVERSITIES AND FIELDS
ENCOUNTSER PEOPLE WHO ARE FACING
DILEMMAS, WE HAVE AN INCREDIBLE
GROUP OF PROGRAM DIRECTORS,
PLEASE REACH OUT TO THEM AND
BRING THESE ISSUES UP.
THEY MAY HAVE IDEAS.
THEY ALWAYS HAVE IDEAS.
THAT'S FOR SURE.
>> THANK YOU, SIMON.
AS WELL, JILL.
KATHY?
>> YES, THANK YOU.
I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS.
THEY ARE NOT RELATED.
AND, AGAIN, IT'S SO IMPRESSIVE
TO ME THE IMPACT THAT NIBIB HAS
HAD PARTICULARLY IN THE PANDEMIC
RESPONSE, VERY EXCITING.
MY TWO QUESTIONS, ONE FOLLOWS ON
MANU'S BUILDING ON WHAT MANU
SAID, I'M CURIOUS IF THERE'S A
WAY TO SOMEHOW ADD INCENTIVE,
BECAUSE MY UNDERSTANDING FROM
WHAT YOU PRESENTED, PEOPLE HAVE
TO DOWNLOAD AN APP, UPLOAD
RESULTS VOLUNTARILY, AND I JUST
THINK THAT THERE'S -- IF THERE'S
A WAY TO INCENT PEOPLE, IF THERE
WERE SOME POSITIVE SOMETHING
PEOPLE GOT NOT JUST FROM SHARING
THEIR TEST RESULTS BUT MAYBE
BEING NOTIFIED AS SUMMARY PLOT
FROM THE AREA, INFORMATION IN
THE AREA, SOMETHING TO HELP
MOTIVATE THEIR PARTICIPATION,
I'M NOT SURE WHAT IT WOULD BE
BUT THAT MIGHT REALLY HELP
PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE THERE.
I DON'T KNOW IF PEOPLE ARE
CONSIDERING INCENTIVIZING OR
NOT.
THAT WAS QUESTION ONE.
AND QUESTION TWO WAS FOLLOWING
ON YOUR EUA CONVERSION, NOT
RELATED, QUESTION TWO, IT'S
REALLY EXCITING YOU'VE WORKED
WITH THE FDA AND IMPACTED HOW
THEY ARE APPROVING THINGS.
THAT IS TERRIFIC.
BUT I'M WONDERING ON THE
CONVERTING EUAs TO PERMANENT
APPROVALS OF THE TESTS, YOU
LISTED SEVERAL, DE NOVO, PMA,
ALL THE DIFFERENT APPROACHES,
WONDERING IF THE PLAN TO GIVE
KIND OF A GUIDANCE OF THIS IS
THE BEST WAY TO CONVERT MOVING
FORWARD?
SO THAT IT BECOMES LESS COMPLEX
FOR COMPANIES?
I THINK THAT WOULD HELP
ACCELERATE THE PROCESS.
THANKS.
>> THANKS, KATHY.
YES.
YES, YES, YES TO ALL OF THESE.
FOR SURE INCENTIVES, WE DID
EXPERIMENT.
WE GAVE INCENTIVES WHEN WE
ROLLED OUT SAY YES COVID TEST
PROGRAM TO INSPIRE PEOPLE TO
REPORT.
WE ARE HOPEFUL THAT WE'VE BEEN
WORKING ALL ANGLES AND AS MUCH
PRESSURE AS WE CAN PUT, I DON'T
KNOW IF YOU'VE GONE TO THE
COVID.GOV WEBSITE.
SO, THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN GO FOR
YOUR FREE TEST DISTRIBUTION,
IT'S BEEN AN ENORMOUSLY POPULAR
AND HIGHLY TRAFFICKED WEBSITE.
I'VE BEEN ASKING FOR A BUTTON
SINCE IT WAS LAUNCHED, SEEMS SO
LOGICAL BUT WELCOME TO
COMPLEXITY OF OWNERSHIP OF
WEBSITES.
AND SOME PERHAPS IRRATIONAL
FEARS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE
GOVERNMENT TAKING YOUR
INFORMATION AND THOSE SORTS OF
THINGS, SO WE'RE STILL WORKING
ON THAT AVENUE.
I BELIEVE THAT THAT WOULD BE
ENORMOUS.
IT WOULD BE SO POWERFUL.
SOME OF THE APPS ARE INTEGRAL TO
THE REPORTING SYSTEM.
SO, PEOPLE ARE ALREADY USING
THEM WITH SOME OF THE
MANUFACTURERS, FOR EXAMPLE, IL
ILLUME, SYNCHRONIZES TO USUAL
SMARTPHONE.
WE'RE WORKING ON ALL ANGLES,
TRYING TO OVERCOME BIASES ABOUT
HOW ALL THIS WORKS, WE'VE COME
VERY FAR.
WHEN I FIRST STARTED TALKING
ABOUT PEOPLE JUST SAID WHY WOULD
ANYBODY WANT THEIR HOME TEST
REPORTED?
I SHOULD NOTE THERE'S SOME
REALLY INTERESTING THINGS THAT
HAPPENED IN THE COUNTRY, SOME OF
YOU MAY HAVE FOLLOWED WHAT
HAPPENED IN UTAH.
CMS INVESTIGATION, WHISTLEBLOWER
WHO SHOWED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF
TESTS AT POINT OF CARE SETTINGS
BY THE COMPANY CONTRACTED FOR
THE STATE PUBLIC HEALTH
AUTHORITIES THERE WERE
COMPLETELY WRONG.
IT WAS AN OPERATIONS AND
LOGISTICS NIGHTMARE.
THERE'S NOT A LOT OF WIDESPREAD
PUBLICITY BUT IT UNDERSCORES
DOING A TEST AT HOME RATHER THAN
GETTING IN A CAR LINE WHERE
PERHAPS YOU'RE UNDERSTAFFED AND
MAYBE NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO
THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE, YOU
HAVE MUCH MORE STAKE IN IT AT
HOME.
SO, THE HOME TESTS PEOPLE HAVE
SPOKEN, PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO
HAVE HOME TESTS, EVEN WITH ALL
OF THEIR COMPLEXITIES AND
DIFFICULTIES.
AND I WOULD TRUST THOSE MUCH
BETTER PERHAPS THAN IN SOME
POINT OF CARE SETTINGS, EXACTLY
THE SAME TEST.
FOR THE SECOND PART ON THE FDA
APPROVAL, SO TELL ME AGAIN THE
SPECIFIC CONCERN?
>> WELL, THERE ARE JUST MANY
DIFFERENT AVENUES, EACH WITH
DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE.
YOU COULD NAVIGATE STREAMLINING
THAT TO SAY IF YOU HAVE EUA
APPROVAL FOR AT-HOME TEST YOU
SHOULD DO, YOU KNOW, THE DE
NOVO.
>> YES.
>> IF COULD YOU MAKE A PATHWAY
THAT EVERYONE COULD PURSUE AS
OPPOSED TO HAVING SO MANY
OPTIONS.
>> ABSOLUTELY.
SO, THAT IS OUR ABSOLUTE GOAL.
YOU'RE COMPLETELY ALIGNED WITH
US.
WE WANT TO STREAMLINE STUFF.
FDA DOESN'T ALWAYS DO OUT OF THE
BOX WHAT WE WANT THEM TO DO.
SO WE LEARNED THAT.
ZANE IS SMILING, KNOWINGLY.
I THINK ONCE WE GET THIS REALLY
FULLY SYNCHRONIZE AND LAUNCHED,
AND HAVE ACTIVE MEETINGS ON THIS
EVEN AS WE SPEAK, WE WILL BE
ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE MOST
EFFICIENT PATHWAYS.
NOTHING WILL BE ABSOLUTELY
STREAMLINED.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT.
ONCE YOU GO TO FULL
AUTHORIZATION, THERE ARE HIGHER
LEVEL OF BARS.
AND THOSE ARE PARTICULARLY
CHALLENGING AS YOU SEE
PREVALENCE DROPPING.
AND CLINICAL STUDIES COULD
REALLY REQUIRE QUITE A LOT OF --
THEY COULD BE VERY COSTLY SO
WE'LL BE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN
TO WORK WITH MANUFACTURERS TO
DISSEMINATE METHODS AND
PRACTICES, TO REDUCE MYSTERY OF
IT.
I'M GUESSING THAT MUCH WILL TAKE
PLACE THROUGH THE 510(K) PROCESS
BUT IN VITRO DIAGNOSTICS I'VE
HAD EXPERIENCE BEFORE AND DIDN'T
REALIZE THAT THEY ARE TREATED
DIFFERENTLY IN THEIR 510(K)
PROCESS THAN SORT OF TRADITIONAL
MEDICAL DEVICES THAT I KNOW YOU
AND I AND MANY OF YOU ON THE
CALL HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN, IN
THE SENSE OF PREDICATE, THE
PREDICATE COMPARATOR.
I WON'T GO INTO DETAILS.
WE CAN TALK OFFLINE.
I'VE LEARNED MORE THAN I WOULD
LIKE TO KNOW.
AND IT'S GOING TO BE A CHALLENGE
FOR SURE.
>> CAN I JUST ADD TO THAT,
BRUCE, YOU KNOW, THE FDA HAS
RESOURCES IN PLACE WHERE YOU CAN
GO AND FIND OUT ABOUT THE
VARIOUS MECHANISMS.
YOU CAN ALSO, I WOULD STRONGLY
SUGGEST, THAT COMPANIES START
ASKING AND COME IN EARLY AND
START ASKING THOSE QUESTIONS
ABOUT WHICH MECHANISM THEY ARE
GOING TO NEED TO USE.
THE EUAs, ALL OF THOSE DEVICES
CAME THROUGH WITH LESS
INFORMATION THAN WHAT WOULD
TRADITIONALLY BE REQUIRED.
THERE'S A SAFETY RISK, LONG TERM
USE, WE'VE GOT TO SHOW THAT
THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THAT WE'VE
ADDRESSED THAT IN THE LONGER
TERM OF THIS.
SO THERE ARE MECHANISMS IN PLACE
BY WHICH YOU CAN ASK QUESTIONS
RIGHT NOW, TODAY, AND START
DEVELOPING YOUR FRAMEWORK, AND
INFORMATION YOU NEED.
YOU'RE DEVELOPING AS YOU HAVE
YOUR DEVICE IN THE MARKET
ALREADY.
>> YEAH, BUT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S
ANOTHER INTERESTING POINT TO
THAT THOUGH, ZANE, THE EUAs
ARE LIKE PRE-MARKET APPROVALS IN
A SENSE, AND SO WE'VE CONDUCTED
EXTENSIVE POST MARKET STUDIES.
I GIVE A SNAPSHOT FROM THE
UMass STUDY OVER 7,000
INDIVIDUALS BINAX, QLIKVIEW, BD,
ENORMOUS VAST AMOUNTS OF DATA
WITH COMPARATOR, SO YOU WOULD
THINK MAYBE THE FDA COULD ACCEPT
THAT AND THEN BRING THEM IN
THROUGH ESSENTIALLY A PMA WITH
THAT DATA.
SO WE'VE ASKED.
AND WE'RE NOT GIVING UP.
AND THEY WILL BE EVALUATING.
IF WE CAN GET THAT GOING AND GET
A DE NOVO WITH THOSE, THAT WOULD
REALLY HELP ADVANCE AND
ACCELERATE THINGS.
>> MARYELLEN?
>> YES, I WANT TO MAKE A NOTE ON
THE MIDRC, I'M ROTATING OFF, I
WANT TO GIVE A PUBLIC THANK YOU
TO NIBIB FOR THEIR LEADERSHIP
AND SUPPORT.
MIDRC COULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED
WITHOUT THAT.
AND AS WE BUILT THE PLANE WHILE
FLYING IT, WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED A
LOT, WE HAVE A LOT MORE STILL TO
ACCOMPLISH.
I'M HAPPY TO REPORT ON THAT ON
THAT FINAL NUMBER OF CURRENT
IMAGING STUDIES, YOU CAN ADD
5,000 TO THAT NUMBER NOW.
WE JUST HAD A BIG PUSH.
AND LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE
ADVICE AND LEADERSHIP FROM NIBIB
ON IT.
THANK YOU.
>> THANK YOU.
IT'S THE PROGRESS JUST IN THE
LAST QUARTER HAS BEEN STUNNING.
IT'S JUST REALLY TAKEN OFF.
THE EFFORT OF EVERYONE IS COMING
THROUGH.
EXCITED TO BE PART OF IT.
SO THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR WORK.
YES, LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE
DISCUSSIONS.
>> THANK YOU, MARYELLEN.
RANU?
>> BRUCE, A LOT OF INFORMATION,
FANTASTIC INFORMATION, AND
DELIVERED VERY COHERENTLY AND
UNDERSTANDABLY TO ALL OF US.
QUESTION FOR YOU, AS I'M LOOKING
AT THE NEW ARPA STUFF COMING ON
HERE, ONE I KNOW THE STAGE GATED
APPROACH WHICH YOU'RE EXPERTS AT
BUT ARE WE LOOKING AT
PARTNERSHIPS HERE LIKE TALKING
WITH NSF AND THINGS HAPPENS,
MARCH 2023, THEY ARE SAYING
FIRST CALLS THAT ARE COMING OUT,
ARE WE LOOKING AT MAYBE EARLY
ENGAGEMENT FOR THIS ARPA-H MODEL
THAT WE ARE, YOU KNOW, CON
JOINTLY SUPPORTING PROGRAMS, FOR
EXAMPLE THE MED TECH PROGRAM
THAT HAS STAGE GATED AND MOVING
FORWARD?
>> THAT'S A REALLY GOOD
QUESTION, RANU.
I STILL -- I KIND OF FEEL
LIKE -- IT'S STILL TO BE
WRITTEN, THAT THE BIG
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARPA-H WILL BE
FOR OUR COMMUNITY, SO WE ARE
COMMUNITIES ENGAGED IN DESIGN
BUILD TEST PROJECT, ARPA WILL
SUPPORT THAT.
I DON'T KNOW IF THERE WILL BE
THAT MUCH INTERMINGLING OR
INTERMIXING OF RESOURCES AND
MANAGEMENT.
I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF
ATTENTION BEING PAID TO --
BECAUSE YOU HEAR A LOT OF VOCAL
CRITICISMS ABOUT ARPA-H, NEVER
AT THE NIH, AND SO I THINK THE
DESIGNERS OF THE ARPA-H PROGRAM
ARE REALLY BEING CAREFUL, NOT TO
HAVE IT APPEAR TO BE YET ANOTHER
NIH PROGRAM AS USUAL.
I THINK IT WILL BE STOOD UP WITH
ITS OWN SORT OF INDEPENDENT
IDENTITY.
THAT JUST HAPPENS TO NEED OUR
COMMUNITY TO RESPOND.
AND TO BE ACTIVE.
I DON'T KNOW IF THERE WILL BE
TOO MANY INTERACTIONS OR
COLLABORATIONS WITH NIBIB PER SE
OTHER THAN STRATEGIC DISCUSSIONS
OR SHARING OF EXPERTISE BUT
FUNDAMENTALLY IT'S OUR
COMMUNITY.
SUSAN'S COMMUNITY, ENGINEERING
DIRECTORATE AT NSF AND OUR
COMMUNITY, NIBIB COMMUNITY, I
HOPE WILL BENEFIT.
SO WHEREVER IT GOES, WHETHER
IT'S NIH OR WHO KNOWS IF
THERE'S -- THIS IS NOT WRITTEN
IN STONE YET.
IT'S STILL A POINT OF DISCUSSION
AND YOU'VE HEARD SOME VERY VOCAL
OPPONENTS IF OF IN CONGRESS TO
ULTIMATE ESTABLISHMENT AT NIH.
I THINK OTHER INSTITUTES THAT
HAVE NETWORKS, FOR EXAMPLE, FOR
CLINICAL STUDIES IN PLACE MOST
NOTABLY NCI AND NCATS AND NIAID
AND NHLBI MAY BE MAY THE MORE
BENEFICIARIES, FAST TRACKED TO
ROLL OUT THERAPEUTIC OR
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGIES FOR
RAPID ASSESSMENT.
STILL TO BE DETERMINED.
BUT I THINK FUNDAMENTALLY IT'S
OUR PEOPLE THAT ARE GOING TO
BENEFIT A LOT.
>> THANK YOU.
>> THAT'S ALL THE HANDS THAT ARE
RAISED.
SHALL WE TRANSITION TO OUR BRAIN
REPORT FROM BRUCE ROSEN?
>> ABSOLUTELY.
>> OKAY.
VERY GOOD.
WE'LL HAVE A BRAIN UPDATE FROM
BRUCE ROSEN, OUR REPRESENTATIVE
TO THE BRAIN.
THANK YOU, BRUCE.
>> THANKS VERY MUCH.
THIS REPORT IS A BOOK END TO MY
EXPERIENCES ON THE COUNCIL.
I ACTUALLY AT MY INTRODUCTION TO
THE COUNCIL BEFORE I WAS A
MEMBER BUT IN PROVIDING A BRAIN
UPDATE, AND OF COURSE THIS IS MY
LAST PRESENTATION SO I'M VERY
HAPPY TO DO THAT AND I'M SURE
YOU'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO SOME
FRESH BLOOD WITH THIS.
LET ME GO AHEAD AND SHARE MY
SLIDES.
AND PUT THAT INTO FULL SCREEN.
OUR TIME IS SHORT.
APOLOGIES UP FRONT.
I'LL TRY TO MOVE THROUGH RATHER
QUICKLY.
LET'S GO.
SORRY.
ONE THING I DID WANT TO JUST
MENTION, BRAIN IS AT THIS POINT
ALL OF YOU I KNOW, IS REALLY A
COLLABORATIVE ADVENTURE FROM A
LARGE NUMBER OF INSTITUTES, AND
YOU CAN SEE THE LIST OF PROGRAM
PEOPLE FROM ACROSS THE
NEUROSCIENCE ORIENTED INSTITUTES
INVOLVED.
OF COURSE, NIBIB IS VERY WELL
REPRESENTED AMONGST THIS GROUP.
AND THESE PROGRAM OFFICERS ARE
ORGANIZED IN A NUMBER OF TEAMS,
EVERYTHING FROM INDIVIDUAL CELLS
AND CIRCUITS TO DATA,
INFORMATICS, AND NOW A NEW TEAM
FOCUSED ON THE NON-HUMAN PRIMATE
MARMOSET MODELS.
BUDGET-WISE THIS HAS BEEN A
SUCCESS STORY FROM BRAIN'S
PERSPECTIVE.
>> BRUCE?
>> YEAH?
>> DAVID GEORGE.
MAY I INTERRUPT?
I'M SEEING A ZOOMED IN VERSION.
I DON'T KNOW IF OTHERS CAN
COMMENT, LIKE ABOUT THE TOP 50%
LEFT OF YOUR SLIDES.
PERHAPS YOU COULD SHARE AND
UNSHARE AND MAYBE IT WILL COME
IN.
>> ARE YOU IN PRESENTATION MODE?
>> THAT'S BETTER.
WE CAN SEE YOUR NOTES BUT WE CAN
SEE THE SLIDES.
>> LET'S LEAVE IT IT THAT WAY.
SORRY ABOUT THAT.
>> NO WORRIES.
>> SURE.
>> JUST TO NOTE WHEN "BRAIN" WAS
FIRST CONCEPTUALIZED, THE HOPE
WAS, AND REALLY JUST A HOPE,
THEY WOULD REACH SOMETHING CLOSE
TO $500 MILLION A YEAR.
AND REMARKABLY THEY HAVE MANAGED
TO HIT THAT TARGET.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE FUTURE YEARS,
THERE'S ESTIMATED TO BE A
SIGNIFICANT BUMP UP.
I'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT LATER
ABOUT HOW THOSE RESOURCES WILL
BE USED, BUT IT'S BEEN
IMPRESSIVE THAT THE GROUP HAS
MANAGED TO GET THE MANDATE FROM
MANY SOURCES TO BE ABLE TO HIT
ITS ORIGINAL TARGET OF HALF A
BILLION A YEAR FUNDING.
THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF
WORKSHOPS THE "BRAIN" GROUP HAS
ORGANIZED OVER THE YEARS.
AND SOME ESPECIALLY RECENTLY,
SUSAN, WE MAY HAVE TALKED ABOUT
IT THE LAST COUNCIL, I WON'T
REVIEW, IS SERIES OF WORKSHOPS
ON THE HUMAN CELL CENSUS, WE'LL
TALK ABOUT THAT, AND BRAIN
CONNECTIVITY, BOTH RELATE TO THE
GOALS THAT WILL COME UP LATER.
OF COURSE THERE WAS A SERIES
FOCUSED ON NON-INVASIVE IMAGING
TECHNOLOGIES LED BY NIBIB
PROGRAM CENTER, STAY TUNED TO
THIS, THERE MAY WELL BE A
PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT THAT WILL
COME OUT FROM THIS WORK IN THE
FUTURE BUT THIS I THINK LAST ONE
WILL BE OF CERTAIN INTEREST TO
NIBIB COMMUNITY.
MORE RECENT WORKSHOPS, ONE ON
QUANTIFICATION OF MEASUREMENTS
OF BEHAVIOR, AND SECOND FOCUSED
ON IMAGING THE BRAIN ACROSS THE
LIFESPAN.
BOTH OF THESE WILL ALSO HAVE
RELEVANCE TO OUR COMMUNITY.
CERTAINLY IN THE BRAIN BEHAVIOR
LINKAGE, ONE OF THE GOALS IS TO
BE ABLE TO CAPTURE NEURAL
ACTIVITY AND BEHAVIORS IN REAL
TIME AND USE THIS TO DEVELOP
CLOSED LOOP MODELS.
THIS CERTAINLY IS DOMAIN WHERE
NOVEL TOOL DEVELOPMENT WILL BE
CRITICAL.
HERE'S JUST AN EXAMPLE OF SOME
OF THE WORK THAT HAS BEEN GOING,
ONGOING HERE, AND YOU CAN SEE
THAT THEY VISUALIZE THIS VERY
MUCH FOCUSED ON TECHNOLOGICAL
NEEDS FOR MINIATURIZATION,
CLOSED LOOP, NOVEL SENSORS, DATA
SYNCHRONIZATION, AS WELL AS
COMPUTATIONAL FRAMEWORK, NIBIB
PROGRAM OFFICER GRACE TANG HAS
BEEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THIS
WITH BOTH DATA INFRASTRUCTURE,
MACHINE LEARNING, A.I.
APPROACHES, ET CETERA.
OUR COMMUNITY HAS A LOT TO OFFER
THIS PROGRAM.
I JUST DID WANT TO SHOUT OUT FOR
BRUCE TROMBERG THE IMPORTANCE OF
OPTICAL TECHNIQUES, IN THESE
MEASUREMENTS, THIS IS A NICE
EXAMPLE RECENTLY PUBLISHED IN
NEURON, OPTICAL TOMB TO MEASURE
BOTH BEHAVIOR AND CIRCUIT
FUNCTION, WITH DIRECT RECORDING
OF NEURONAL BEHAVIOR, AS WELL AS
BEHAVIOR OF THE ANIMAL
MACROSCOPICALLY, ALL USING
OPTICAL SENSING TECHNIQUES.
ACROSS THE LIFESPAN IS ANOTHER
DOMAIN THAT BRAIN IS MOVING
TOWARDS.
I HIGHLIGHTED HERE THINGS AGAIN
OF INTEREST TO THIS COMMUNITY.
AGAIN, THEY ARE INTERESTED AT
TOOLS AND METHODS TO MEASURE
CHANGING CELL ACTIVITY,
CONNECTIVITY, AND ACTIVITY OVER
TIME LONGITUDINALLY, AND OF
COURSE TO TRANSLATE THIS INTO
HUMANS REQUIRES THE USE OF
NON-INVASIVE TECHNIQUES.
FURTHER WANT TO EXTEND TO FETAL
AND NEONATAL IMAGING AGAIN,
DOMAINS THAT NIBIB HAS BEEN
SPONSORING TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT IN OVER THE YEARS.
AND I THOUGHT IT WAS INTERESTING
THAT JOHN NGAI, THE MOST RECENT
MEETING ALSO, GAVE A SHOUT OUT
TO ULTRA LOW FIELD M.R.'S
POTENTIAL TECHNOLOGY, AND THIS
IS ANOTHER DOMAIN THAT'S BEEN
PIONEERED BY NIBIB AND ITS
INVESTIGATORS.
THIS SHOULD BE A WONDERFUL
APPLICATION OF THAT NOVEL
TECHNOLOGY.
BRAIN HAS BEEN WORKING ON A
NUMBER OF INFORMATICS RELATED
INITIATIVES.
ONE, SO CALLED BRAIN WORKS IS TO
TRY TO ORGANIZE ALL OF THIS DATA
AND I PULLED UP THIS PICTURE
THEY SHOWED TO POINT OUT THE
RELEVANCE, YOU NOTICE THE MOST
PROMINENT DOMAINS HERE, MAGNETIC
RESONANCE IMAGING BEING ONE, AND
THAT ALSO INCLUDES OTHER BRAIN
MAPPING METHODS LIKE
ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, TECHNIQUES
FOR BRAIN MAPPING, OPTICAL BASED
TEX TECHNIQUES AND
OPTOGENETICS, AND A SHOUT OUT TO
ENGINEERING PRINCIPLES, SIGNAL
TO NOISE MADE IT TO THE LIST,
SOMETHING OUR COMMUNITY OF
COURSE UNDERSTANDS QUITE WELL.
FINALLY THE FOCUS OF THE BRAIN
INITIATIVE ON TOOL BUILDING HAS
PUSHED THEM TO DEVELOP TOOLS TO
ALLOW EASY ACCESS TO THE WIDE
RANGE OF TOOLS THAT ARE BEING
DEVELOPED FROM "BRAIN," AND THIS
TOOL MAKERS'S RESOURCE IS BEING
STOOD UP TO BRING IN ONE PLACE A
VERY WIDE VARIETY OF
COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS.
ANOTHER REALLY INTERESTING AND
COMPLICATED FACET OF THE BRAIN
INITIATIVE IS THE ETHICAL
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ABILITY TO
UNDERSTAND THE HUMAN BRAIN AND
ITS LINKS TO BEHAVIOR.
FROM THIS HAS COME DEVELOPMENT
OF NEUROET ETHICS WORKING GROUP,
ONE THAT'S ESPECIALLY
INTERESTING, THEY HAD A
COMPETITION TO ENCOURAGE HIGH
SCHOOL STUDENTS TO DESCRIBE IN
BRIEF ESSAYS OR VIDEOS ETHICAL
IMPLICATIONS OF EMERGING BRAIN
TECHNOLOGIES.
AND ALTHOUGH THIS IS AS YOU CAN
SEE THE DATE OF SUBMISSION IS
COMING ON, I THINK IT'S JUST ONE
WAY TO HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE
THAT THE ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
HAVE IN THE BRAIN INITIATIVE'S
WORK.
LIKE ALL NIH INSTITUTES,
IMPROVING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND
INCLUSION, BRAIN HAS A NUMBER OF
INITIATIVES, TARGETING TRAINING
OF NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTIFIC
LEADERS, BRINGING IN NEW
PARTNERSHIPS, FOSTERING A MORE
INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT, I'LL JUST
POINT OUT ONE INTERESTING FACT
WHEN I SAW THE SLIDES LOOKING
THROUGH THE DIVERSITY THAT
ENGINEERING EXPERTISE IS
CONSIDERED PART OF THE DESIRE
FOR INCREASING DIVERSITY WITHIN
THE BRAIN COMMUNITY, AND AT 33%
NOT DOING BADLY BUT GIVEN THE
FOCUS ON TOOL BUILDING FOR BRAIN
I THINK IT'S A DOMAIN WE COULD
PROBABLY IMPROVE UPON.
BUT I DID WANT TO TALK ABOUT ONE
INITIATIVE THAT I THOUGHT WAS
ESPECIALLY INTERESTING THAT
"BRAIN" HAS BEEN PUSHING, THIS
IS THIS PLAN FOR ENHANCING
DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES, NOW A
REQUIREMENT ON NINE OF THE
DIFFERENT BRAIN INITIATIVE
FELLOWS, AND YOU ALSO SEE THAT
SEVERAL OTHER INSTITUTES, BOTH
COMMON FUND AND NIBIB, ARE ALSO
NOW REQUIRING THIS PLAN FOR
ENHANCING DIVERSE PERSPECTIVE
REQUIREMENT IN THEIR GRANTS.
I CAN SAY THAT THIS IS A NEW
INITIATIVE, BUT THE PROGRAM
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WORKING
ACTIVELY TO HELP GUIDE
INVESTIGATORS TOP COME UP WITH
CREATIVE IDEAS, TAKING THE
PLANS, INVESTIGATORS ARE TAKING
SERIOUSLY, WHEN IT COMES TO
DETERMINING PAYLINES.
CURIOUS TO SEE HOW THIS DEVELOPS
OVER TIME BUT A CREATIVE
INITIATIVE AND NICE TO SEE NIBIB
PARTICIPATING IN IT.
FINALLY I WANT TO TALK ABOUT NEW
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES BRAIN IS
FOCUSED ON, MANY YOU'VE SEEN
BEFORE, TWO OF SPECIAL INTEREST
TO OUR COMMUNITY, ONE IS
TECHNOLOGY AND RESOURCE
DISSEMINATION, MANY ADVANCED
TECHNOLOGIES THAT HAVE DEVELOPED
IN BRAIN INVOLVE MECHANICS EVER
OUR OWN COMMUNITY, DESIGNED TO
PROMOTE WAYS TO DISSEMINATE TO A
BROADER COMMUNITY OF USERS,
IMPORTANT OF BRAIN'S DESIRE TO
PUSH THIS OUT TO AS BROAD A
COMMUNITY AS POSSIBLE.
THE OTHER WHICH I'LL TALK ABOUT
MORE WHEN WE TALK ABOUT IS BRAIN
CONNECT.
BRAIN IS FOCUSING ON SUGGESTION
THAT CAME FROM THE BRAIN 2.0
REPORT, THAT THERE WERE A NUMBER
OF SO CALLED TRANSFORMATIVE
PROJECTS THAT THE BRAIN
INITIATIVE COULD INVEST IN, OVER
THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
AND THE PROGRAM PEOPLE INVOLVED
IN BRAIN TOOK THAT VERY
SERIOUSLY AND CAME UP WITH THREE
SO-CALLED TRANSFORMATIVE
PROJECTS THAT THEY ARE FOCUSING
ON.
ONE IS TO EXTEND THE BRAIN CELL
ATLASES TO HUMANS.
SECOND IS TO USE THAT MOLECULAR
INFORMATION TO IMPROVE OUR
PRECISION ACCESS TO THE CELL
TIMES WITHIN THE BRAIN.
AND THE THIRD IS TO MAP OUT
BRAIN CONNECTIVITY.
SO THE FIRST OF THESE SO-CALLED
BRAIN ATLAS I THINK IS PERHAPS
ONE OF THE GREATEST SUCCESS
STORIES OF THE BRAIN INITIATIVE.
THE PLAN IS TO BUILD ON THE
SUCCESS OF THE MOUSE BRAIN ATLAS
AND SHIFT EMPHASIS TO HUMANS.
YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE'S ALREADY
BEEN SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF
RESOURCES PUT TO THE BRAIN CELL
ATLAS, AS WELL AS ITS COMPANION
CELL ACCESS, ACCELERATED LAUNCH.
THE CELL CENSUS IS NOW MOVING UP
SCALE FROM MICE TO NON-HUMAN
PRIMATES AND TO HUMANS.
THIS HAS BEEN REALLY A WONDERFUL
EXAMPLE OF TRUE TEAM SCIENCE.
YOU CAN SEE THAT IN THIS EXAMPLE
THERE ARE MORE THAN 250
INVESTIGATORS INVOLVED, ALMOST
90 DIFFERENT AFFILIATIONS ACROSS
ALMOST 50 INSTITUTIONS.
SCIENTISTS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE
THE U.S. INVOLVED.
REALLY MAKING QUITE A REMARKABLE
PROGRESS.
I THINK THE REAL CHALLENGE FOR
THE GROUP AND THE FUTURE IS TO
SCALE UP FOR A MOUSE, TO HUMANS.
THE KEY, ONE KEY AREA WHERE OUR
COMMUNITY WILL MAKE AN IMPORTANT
CONTRIBUTION IS THAT WE'VE MADE
TREMENDOUS PROGRESS OVER THE
LAST FEW YEARS IN UNDERSTANDING
THE MACROSCOPIC ANATOMY OF THE
BRAIN, THE GOAL TO TRY TO PUT
THE CELLULAR SCALE INFORMATION
INTO THE CONTEXT OF THE
MACROSCOPIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE
BRAIN.
SOMEWHAT INTERESTINGLY, I'D SAY
THIS IS STILL A WORK IN
PROGRESS, IN TERMS OF HOW THEY
ARE CONCEPTUALIZING THE HUMAN
CELL ATLAS BUT IT'S A DOMAIN
THAT I KNOW NIBIB INVESTIGATORS
WILL HAVE A LOT TO CONTRIBUTE
TO.
THIS IS ONE EXAMPLE FROM EARLIER
STUDIES PERFORMED UNDER THIS,
BASICALLY SHOWING THAT WE ALL
KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT
PARKINSON'S DISEASE IS
DEGENERATIVE PROCESS INVOLVING
DOPE DOPAMINERGIC NEURONS,
IDENTIFYING SUBPOPULATIONS THAT
SEEM TO BE DISEASE VULNERABLE
AND OTHERS SEEM TO BE CELL
PROTECTED.
SO THIS GIVES SIGNIFICANT HOPE
THAT BY UNDERSTANDING WE CAN
THEN UNDERSTAND WHICH NEURONS
MAY BE PROTECTED, WHAT MOLECULAR
PROPERTIES ARE, PERHAPS
SELECTIVELY TARGET THEM THROUGH
THE CELL ARMAMENTARIUM WORK TO
ENHANCE THEIR FUNCTION TO
REPLACE FUNCTION OF THOSE
NEURONS THAT ARE LOST.
THIS ADDRESSES THE ISSUE OF
PRECISION ACCESS, ARMAMENTARIUM,
WITH THE DETAILED INFORMATION ON
BRAIN CELL SUBTYPES AND
MOLECULAR UNDERPINNINGS GIVES US
THE OPPORTUNITY TO TARGET THESE
CELLS, VERY SELECTIVELY.
THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF PROGRESS
ON THIS FRONT, BEING ABLE TO
TARGET BOTH NEURONS AND
NON-NEURONAL CELLS WITHIN THE
BRAIN, AND FROM STANDPOINT OF
HUMAN THERAPEUTICS IT'S A
REMARKABLY IMPORTANT AND
POTENTIALLY VERY IMPACTFUL
DIRECTION THAT WILL COME FROM
THE BRAIN INITIATIVE.
AND FINALLY, I'D LIKE TO BRIEFLY
TALK ABOUT THIS BRAIN CONNECT
PROJECT, AGAIN THIS IS ONE THAT
I THINK OUR COMMUNITY WILL HAVE
A LOT TO CONTRIBUTE TO.
IT'S REALLY ENVISIONED AS AT
LEAST A 10-YEAR PROJECT, THE
FIRST PHASE OF WHICH WILL BE TO
TRY TO DEVELOP FUNDAMENTAL TOOLS
TO ALLOW US TO SCALE UP THE
STUDIES THAT ARE BEING
PERFORMED.
AND THEN THE SECOND TEN YEARS
WILL BE TO ROLL THAT OUT IN
PRODUCTION, TO BE ABLE TO MAP
THE ENTIRE BRAIN.
THERE ARE ESSENTIALLY TWO SCALES
THAT ARE ENVISIONED.
ONE IS TO STUDY THE MOUSE AT A
SYNAPSE BY SYNAPSE LEVEL.
TYPICALLY WITH ELECTRON
MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUES TO
LITERALLY MAP EVERY SYNAPSE IN
THE BRAIN AS CONNECTIVITY TO
EVERY OTHER, SHOULD BE POSSIBLE
IN THE NEXT DECADE IN THE MOUSE
BRAIN, A DAUNTING TASK.
IN LARGER BRAINS, PRIMATES OR
NON-HUMAN PRIMATE, AXON LEVEL
MAP OF CONNECTIVITY, VISION FOR
HOW BRAIN CONNECTS WILL WORK IN
THE FIRST FACE TO BUILD CENTERS
AROUND EACH OF THE TWO SCALES,
SO SEPARATE SET OF CENTERS ONE
FOCUSED ON MOUSE, ONE ON LARGER
BRAINS, AND IN ADDITION TO THESE
COMPREHENSIVE CENTERS HAVE
FUNDING FOR SINGLE COMPONENT
PROJECTS THAT ALLOW NEWER
TECHNOLOGIES TO BE EVALUATED,
AND POTENTIALLY RISKIER
APPROACHES TO BE EVALUATED AND
BROUGHT INTO THE COMPREHENSIVE
CENTERS AS THE TECHNOLOGY PROVES
OUT.
WHY MIGHT THIS BE IMPORTANT?
WELL, JOHN RECENTLY SHOWED THAT
TWO EXAMPLES FROM WORK ON
IMPROVING DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION
FOR DEPRESSION, BOTH OF WHICH
REALLY SHOW THE IMPORTANCE OF
UNDERSTANDING THE CONNECTIVITY
STRUCTURE OF THE BRAIN, ONE AS
SHOWN HERE BY SHETH ET AL., THE
SECOND LOOKING AT DEPENDENT
CHANGES BUT IN EACH CASE HAVING
PRECISION UNDERSTANDING OF THE
NETWORKS FOR TARGETING DEEP
BRAIN TREATMENT WHETHER FOR
DEPRESSION, NEUROPSYCHIATRIC
DISORDERS, WHETHER DEEP IN THE
BRAIN OR IN THE CORTICAL
SURFACE, THE FUNDAMENTAL WIRING
DIAGRAM OF THE BRAIN IS STILL
VERY POORLY UNDERSTOOD, AND IT
WILL BE QUITE IMPORTANT
OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO CONTRIBUTE
TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL ALLOW US
TO ULTIMATELY DEVELOP THESE MAPS
AND FROM THOSE MAPS IMPROVE.
WITH THAT I WILL SAY IF YOU'D
LIKE TO LEARN MORE, SORRY FOR
RUSHING THROUGH THIS TALK, BUT I
CONSIDER THESE BRAIN ANNUAL
MEETINGS TO BE AMONGST THE VERY
BEST SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS THAT I
GO TO.
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN LEARNING
MORE ABOUT THAT THE BRAIN
INITIATIVE IS DOING, SEEING THE
TECHNOLOGY THAT'S BEING
DEVELOPED, I'M GETTING INVOLVED,
I I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO
CONSIDER THIS MEETING WHICH IS
COMING UP IN JUST A MONTH OR SO.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL STOP
SHARING, IF I CAN FIGURE OUT HOW
BEST TO DO THAT.
THERE WE GO.
VERY GOOD.
THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR YOUR
ATTENTION.
>> THANK YOU, BRUCE.
>> THANKS, BRUCE.
PRETTY SPECTACULAR TOUR.
VERY IMPRESSIVE.
WE HAVE TIME FOR SOME QUESTIONS.
I SEE A HAND UP.
>> I HAVE A QUESTION FOR BRUCE
AND BRUCE.
CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY?
I'VE GOT A PRETTY BAD COLD.
BRUCE ROSEN, THIS LAST SLIDE YOU
SHOWED WAS PRETTY INTRIGUING,
WITH A CLOSED LOOPED DBS.
CAN YOU CLARIFY THAT A BIT?
WHAT'S BEING DETECTED,
STIMULATION, WHAT SIGNAL
TRIGGERS THE STIMULATION?
>> WELL, SO, YOU KNOW, THE TRICK
OF COURSE IS TO BE ABLE TO
MEASURE ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL
SIGNALS COMING FROM DEEP IN THE
BRAIN AS WELL AS TO GENERATE
SIGNALS TO STIMULATE THE BRAIN.
AND THE TRICK IS THAT YOU HAVE
TO LOOK FOR SIGNATURES WITHIN
THE ELECTRICAL SIGNALS COMING
FROM THERE CORRELATED TO THE
CHANGE --
>> (INAUDIBLE).
>> EXACTLY.
AS USE THEM AS A WAY TO THEN USE
THAT TO THEN TRIGGER THE
STIMULATION.
THE INTERESTING CHALLENGE OF
COURSE IS FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE
OF WHAT THOSE NEURONAL SIGNALS
ARE TELLING US ABOUT IS REALLY
EMPIRICAL DETERMINATION.
LOTS, AGAIN, FOR YOUR COMMUNITY
TO DO.
LOTS OF APPLICATIONS FOR A.I. TO
BE ABLE TO LOOK THROUGH THE
COMPLEX DATA THAT'S COMING OUT
BUT I THINK INCREASINGLY THIS IS
HOW THESE DEEP BRAIN STIMULATORS
ARE BEING BUILT.
I THINK WE'LL SEE MORE AND MORE
OF THESE CLOSED LOOP SYSTEMS
COMING ONLINE.
>> OKAY.
THANK YOU.
A QUICK QUESTION FOR BRUCE T.
BRUCE, I JOINED A BIT LATE, AS
JILL WAS CONCLUDING HER REMARKS.
BUT I THINK YOU SAID THAT THE
EVENTUAL SITE OF ARPA-H IS NOT A
SETTLED ISSUE YET, DID I
UNDERSTAND THAT CORRECTLY?
>> THAT'S MY UNDERSTANDING, ROD,
YES.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S STILL
CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ONGOING
AND SOME HAVE EXPRESSED VOCALLY
THEIR CONCERN ABOUT HOUSING IT
AT THE NIH.
I THINK IT IS A PRESIDENTIAL
PRIORITY.
AND SO I THINK THERE'S PROBABLY
A PRETTY GOOD CHANCE IT WILL
EXIST SOMEPLACE.
THERE'S BEEN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF
WORK, PEOPLE HAVE WORKED ALL
ACROSS THE NIH TO DEMONSTRATE
THE VALUE FOR HOUSING IT AT NIH.
THERE ARE A LOT OF PRACTICAL
SYNERGIES, JUST IN TERMS OF
BEING ABLE TO HANDLE THE
BUREAUCRACY OF SUBMISSION OF
IDEAS AND AWARDS, AND AS YOU
KNOW VERY WELL ALL THOSE
SYNERGIES CAN BE IMMEDIATELY
UTILIZED TO GET A PROGRAM UP AND
RUNNING.
BUT FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, IT'S
NOT A DONE DEAL.
>> I UNDERSTAND.
WELL, FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH I
THINK IT WOULD BE A REAL MISSED
OPPORTUNITY IF IT WASN'T AT THE
NIH.
>> AND THAT'S -- YOU SHOULD ADD
YOUR VOICE TO THAT.
THAT'S CERTAINLY -- IT'S A TOPIC
THAT'S UNDER PRETTY INTENSIVE
DISCUSSION.
>> THANK YOU.
GREAT JOB, BRUCE.
>> THANKS.
>> THANK YOU.
SEEING NO MORE QUESTIONS OR
COMMENTS, BRUCE TROMBERG, BEFORE
WE ADJOURN WOULD YOU LIKE TO
MAKE ANY FINAL REMARKS?
BEFORE WE ADJOURN OPEN SESSION,
I SHOULD CLARIFY.
>> RIGHT.
YEAH, WE'RE DOING VERY WELL.
SO, I'D LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE
FOR THEIR ENGAGEMENT AND
PARTICIPATION IN THIS OPEN
SESSION.
AND I GUESS THAT'S FORMAL NOTE
TO ADJOURN.
DAVID, DO YOU HAVE AP -- ARE WE
GOING TO USE OUR 15-MINUTE
BREAK?
>> YEAH, LET'S TAKE ABOUT A
10-MINUTE BREAK, SO BEFORE WE
ADJOURN LET ME REMIND EVERYONE,
COUNCIL AND MY COLLEAGUES IN THE
CLOSED SESSION, IT'S A SEPARATE
ZOOM MEETING ROOM.
WE'LL DROP OUT OF THIS AND SO
LET'S GO FOR 3:10.
NOW WE'LL OFFICIALLY ADJOURN THE
OPEN SESSION OF COUNCIL.
I WANT TO THANK OUR SPECIAL
GUESTS, BOTH IN THE VIDEO
CONFERENCE ROOM AND OUR VISITORS
ONLINE FOR ATTENDING THE
VIDEOCAST.
THE OPEN SESSION OF THE 59th
MEETING OF THE NIBIB NATIONAL
ADVISORY COUNCIL IS HEREBY
ADJOURNED.