WELCOME TO NIGMS COUNCIL MEETING WE WILL START BY DOING INTRODUCTIONS. I'D ASK THAT WHEN YOU SPEAK, BOTH AT INTRODUCTIONS AND IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, YOU SPEAK RIGHT INTO THE MICROPHONE, MAKE SURE YOUR MICROPHONE IS ON SO THAT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE WATCHING ONLINE CAN HEAR YOU. SO I'M JON LORSCH, DIRECTOR OF NIGMS. >> GOOD MORNING, I'M ERICA BROWN, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF COUNCIL AND THE DIRECTOR OF THE DIVISION OF EXTRAMURAL ACTIVITIES. >> GOOD MORNING. I'M DARRIN AKINS, UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER. DO YOU WANT US TO -- >> GIVE ONE SENTENCE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO. >> OKAY. SO MY LAB WORKS ON THE FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF PROTEIN SECRETION, ESPECIALLY HOW MEMBRANE PROTEINS GET INTO THE MEMBRANE. >> MORNING. PAMELA STACKS FROM SAN JOSƒ STATE UNIVERSITY. AS AN AD HOC COUNSELOR AND I'M THE ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH THERE. >> MORNING, I'M RON PRZYGODZKI FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND I'M DIRECTOR OF -- MEDICINE THERE. >> HI, NOZOMI ANDO FROM CORNELL UNIVERSITY. MY LAB STUDIES PROTEIN USING STRUCTURAL METHODS. >> GOOD MORNING, MY NAME IS JEREMY WHICH LEWIS FROM UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR THERE, INTERESTED IN RNA BIOLOGY AND HOW RNAs ARE MADE AND PROCESSED. >> GOOD MORNING, I'M CELESTE BERG FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON IN SEATTLE. AND I USE MODEL ORGANISMS SUCH AS DROSOPHILA TO STUDY DEVELOPMENT USING GENETIC, GENOMIC AND CELL BIOLOGICAL TOOLS. >> HI, MY NAME IS PETER ESPENSHADE FROM JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF CELL BIOLOGY STUDYING HOW CELLS RESPOND TO LOW NUTRIENTS SUCH AS OXYGEN AND LIPIDS IN THE CONTEXT OF PANCREAS CANCER. >> MY NAME IS ANGELA DEPACE, I'M AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMS BIOLOGY AT HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL AND MY LAB THERE STUDIES THE MECHANISM AND EVOLUTION OF TRANSCRIPTION DURING DEVELOPMENT USING FRUIT FLY DROSOPHILA AND HIGH RESOLUTION MICROSCOPY AND MATHEMATICAL MODELING. >> GOOD MORNING. I'M SQUIRE BOOKER FROM PENN STATE AND HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE. WE STUDY NATURAL PRODUCT. >> I'M CATHY WU, PROFESSOR IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND ALSO DATA SCIENCE INSTITUTE. MY RESEARCH USES NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING, MACHINE LEARNING ONCOLOGY APPROACHES TO FACILITATE BIOMEDICAL DISCOVERY. >> GOOD MORNING. I'M LAURA GIBSON FROM WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY, HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER. I'M THE SENIOR ASSOCIATE VP FOR RESEARCH IN GRADUATE EDUCATION AT WBU AND OUR LAB WORKS ON TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT AND MODULATION BY THE BONE MARROW THERAPEUTIC RESPONSE IN LEUKEMIA. >> GOOD MORNING, I'M JOHN YOUNGER, VICE PRESIDENT FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AT UNIVERSITY CITY SCIENCE CENTER, WHICH IS THE NATION'S LARGEST URBAN RESEARCH PARK. WE'RE LOCATED IN WEST PHILADELPHIA. I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE COMMERCIALIZATION ACTIVITIES THERE INCLUDING THE EARLY STAGE INVESTMENT. >> GOOD MORNING, I'M WENDY YOUNG, I'M SENIOR VICE PRESIDNT OF SMALL MOLECULE DISCOVERY AT GENENTECH, NEW MEDICINES IN ONCOLOGY, IMMUNOLOGY, INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND NEUROSCIENCE. >> GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE. HENRI KEY DE LA CRUZ, MOLECULAR BIOPHYSICS AND BIOCHEMISTRY AT YALE UNIVERSITY. I WORK ON THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE SIGH FOE CYTOSKELETON, WE ALSO WORK ON RNA ENZYMES INVOLVED IN CALCIFICATION AND WHEN I'M NOT DOING THAT, I AM HEADING ONE OF YALE'S RESIDENTIAL UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGES. >> GOOD MORNING. ANGELA BYERS WINSTON, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE AT UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON. I RUN A SERIES OF FEDERALLY FUNDED STUDIES ON THE SCIENCE OF EFFECTIVE MENTOR SHIP AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PREDICTORS OF PERSISTENCE IN STEM FIELDS. >> GOOD MORNING. I'M GUY PADBURY, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF PRE-CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT AT MERCK. I HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE NON-CLINICAL SAFETY, PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, DRUG METABOLISM AND PHARMACOKINETIC SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES. >> GOOD MORNING, I'M JUDITH GREENBERG, DEPUTY DREG DIRECTOR, NIGMS. >> THANK YOU ALL AGAIN AND FOR YOUR SERVICE BEING HERE. IT IS NOW MY PLEASURE TO READ THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT TO YOU. SO PLEASE OPEN YOUR FOLDERS. ON THE RIGHT SIDE YOU WILL SEE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST FORM. PLEASE SIGN IT AS I READ THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT. ADVISORS AND CONSULTANTS SERVING AS MEMBERS OF PUBLIC ADVISORY COMMITTEES MAY NOT PARTICIPATE IN SITUATIONS IN WHICH ANY VIOLATION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST LAWS AND REGULATIONS MAY OCCUR. STAFF SHALL ENSURE THAT A COMMITTEE MEMBER DOES NOT PARTICIPATE IN AND IS NOT PRESENT DURING REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS OR PROJECTS IN WHICH TO THE MEMBER'S KNOWLEDGE, ANY OF THE FOLLOWING HAS A FINANCIAL INTEREST: THE MEMBER, HIS OR HER SPOUSE, MINOR CHILD, PARTNER, INCLUDING CLOSE PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATES OR AN ORGANIZATION WITH WHICH THE MEMBER IS CONNECTED. IN ADDITION, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST MAY OCCUR BECAUSE OF OTHER PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS SUCH AS WITH RECENT STUDENTS, COLLABORATORS, PERSONAL FRIENDS OR SCIENTISTS WITH WHOM THE MEMBER HAS HAD A LONG-STANDING SCIENTIFIC OR PERSONAL DIFFERENCE. TO ENSURE THAT A MEMBER DOES NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE DISCUSSION OF NOR VOTE ON AN APPLICTION IN WHICH HE OR SHE IS IN CONFLICT, A WRITTEN CERTIFICATION IS REQUIRED. THIS STATEMENT WILL BECOME PART OF THE MEETING FILE. THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS OR OGE HAS PROVIDED A WAIVER FOR FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS EMPLOYED IN ONE UNIVERSITY OF A STATE MULTI-UNIVERSITY SYSTEM TO REVIEW APPLICATIONS FROM A SEPARATE UNIVERSITY OF THE SAME SYSTEM PROVIDED THE MEMBER HAS NO CONFLICTING INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES. IN ADDITION, THE FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER WHO IS EMPLOYED BY A PRIVATE INSTITUTION OR AT A PRIVATE INSTITUTION AT ONE OF ITS AFFILIATES MAY -- BY ANOTHER AFFILIATE OF THE PRIVATE INSTITUTION IF HE OR SHE DOES NOT HOLD A JOINT APPOINTMENT WITH THE AFFILIATE THAT HAS SUBMITTED THE APPLICATION, DOES NOT HAVE AFFILIATE-WIDE RESPONSIBILITIES, AND HAS A WAIVER TO DO SO. WE AT NIGMS KEEP TRACK OF THE MORE EASILY IDENTIFIABLE CONFLICTS FOR YOU. WE RELY ON YOU TO IDENTIFY OTHER TYPES OF CONFLICTS SUCH AS THOSE THAT WE ARE UNLIKELY TO KNOW ABOUT, RECENT STUDENTS, PERSONAL FRIENDS, ET CETERA. PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT A POTENTIAL CONFLICT. FINALLY, IF YOU ARE CONTACTED ABOUT ANY ISSUES DISCUSSED DURING THE CLOSED SESSION OF COUNCIL, PLEASE REFER THEM TO ERICA BROWN, DARRIN OR THE APPROPRIATE DIVISION DIRECTOR AT NIGMS AND THEY WILL RESPOND TO THOSE INQUIRIES FOR YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT? NO? GOOD. WE ARE, THEREFORE, GOING TO GO TO ONE MORE ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUE, WHICH IS THE CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES. I'M SURE YOU ALL READ THE MINUTES FROM THE LAST MEETING WITH GREAT CARE. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY AMENDMENTS OR CORRECTIONS TO THE MINUTES? HEARING NONE, I'D ASK FOR A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES. SECOND? ALL IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED? THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THE MINUTES ARE NOW APPROVED FROM THE LAST MEETING. I'M NOW GOING TO GO TO THE DIRECTOR'S REPORT, THE STATE OF THE INSTITUTE REPORT, AND THEN WE'LL HAVE A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT PRESENTATIONS FOR YOU. SO AGAIN I WANT TO THANK ALL OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR COMING AND FOR THEIR SERVICE. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF BOTH THE PEER REVIEW PROCESS SERVING AS A SECOND STAGE OF PEER REVIEW AND ALSO THE ADVISORY PROCESS, WHERE THE INSTITUTE GETS ADVICE AND INFORMATION FROM MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY REPRESENTED AROUND THIS TABLE. LET ME START AGAIN BY INTRODUCTIONS A LITTLE BIT. WE'VE HEARD FROM THE MEMBERS THEMSELVES BUT LET ME POINT OUT A FEW OF OUR AD HOC PARTICIPANTS WHO WE'VE INVITED THIS ROUND TO PARTICIPATE IN THESE PRO DEEDINGS. ANGELA BYARS WINSTON, DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, ANGELA DEPACE FROM HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, LAURA GIBSON FROM WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY, PAMELA STACKS FROM SAN JOSƒ STATE UNIVERSITY, AND FINALLY WENDY YOUNG FROM GENENTECH. SO THANKS, ALL OF YOU, FOR AGREEING TO DO THIS. WE ALSO AS WE'VE DONE FOR THE PAST FOUR YEARS HAVE TWO EARLY CAREER INVESTIGATORS SERVING AS AD HOC PARTICIPANTS, AND WE BRING THESE INDIVIDUALS, TWO PER ROUND, ON TO BOTH REPRESENT THE VIEWPOINTS OF MORE JUNIOR INVESTIGATORS, WHICH WE FIND TO BE VERY VALUABLE TO OUR DELIBERATIONS AND OUR DISCUSSIONS, BUT ALSO TO SERVE AS A CONDUIT OF INFORMATION PACK BACK TO THE COMMUNITY BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT HOW THE FIRST STAGE OF PEER REVIEW TAKES PLACE IN THE STUDY SECTIONS BUT I THINK FEW PEOPLE REALLY KNOW WHAT GOES ON IN COUNCIL SO WE'RE TRYING TO DEMYSTIFY THAT, AND WE THOUGHT BY BRINGING SOME EARLY YEAR INVESTIGATORS ON TO THE COUNCIL, WE COULD HELP DISSEMINATE THAT INFORMATION, SO AGAIN, THANKS TO BOTH NOZOMI ANDO AND JEREMY WHICH LEWIS FOR WILUSZ FOR PARTICIPATING THIS ROUND. SO I WANT TO GIVE YOU SOME BOTH COMINGS AND GOINGS AT THE INSTITUTE, SOME NEW FACES AND SOME NOT NEW FACES. I'M VERY PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE SELECTION OF OUR NEW ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR EXTRAMURAL ACTIVITIES WHO REPLACES ANNE HAGAN WHO RETIRED ABOUT A YEAR AGO, AS YOU MAY RECALL, AND THAT IS ERICA BROWN WHO'S SITTING RIGHT HERE. ERICA JOINS NIGMS IN 2017 AS DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR EXTRAMURAL ACTIVITIES SERVING UNDER ANNE HAGAN. AND SINCE 2019, SHE'S ACTUALLY BEEN IN THE ACTING ROLE IN THAT POSITION SINCE ANNE HAGAN RETIRED. PRIOR TO THAT, SHE WAS THE DIRECTOR OF THE NIH GUIDE TO GRANTS AND CONTRACTS IN THE OFFICE OF EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH, ALSO DIRECTED NIH'S AREA GRANT PROGRAM, THE R15 PROGRAM, AND PRIOR TO THAT, SERVED AS A SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OFFICER AT NIAID, SO SHE BRINGS A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE TO THE POSITION AND WE'RE EXTREMELY GLAD TO HAVE HER ON BOARD. SHE ALSO SERVES AS EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THIS COUNCIL, AS YOU KNOW. ERICA HAS A B.S. IN BIOCHEMISTRY FROM ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE AND PH.D. IN MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY FROM WAKE FOREST. SO ERICA, WE ARE VERY PLEASED TO HAVE YOU PERMANENTLY ON BOARD. [APPLAUSE] SOME OTHER IMPORTANT NEW LEADERSHIP POSITIONS TO ANNOUNCE, THESE ARE BECAUSE, AGAIN, OF RETIREMENTS OF THE PREVIOUS PEOPLE IN THESE POSITIONS AND THESE ARE A NUMBER OF CHIEFS OF OUR VARIOUS BRANCHES. ALL THE FACES ACTUALLY ARE FAMILIAR TO YOU IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. THE FIRST IS MILES FABIAN, CHIEF THE BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIORELATED CHEMISTRY BRANCH IN OUR PHARMACOLOGY, PHYSIOLOGY BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY DIVISION. SHAWN GAILLARD, NEW CHIEF OF DEVELOPMENTAL AND CELLULAR PROCESSES BRANCH. SHAWN, PRIOR TO THIS, WAS AT NIGHED ADD NIAID SERVING AS THE TRAINING OFFICER, BUT PRIOR TO THAT SHE WAS ACTUALLY AT NIG. IN S AS PROGRAM DIRECTOR IN OUR TRAINING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND DIVERSITY DIVISION, SO AS SHE HERSELF HAS SAID, SHE HAS COME HOME TO NIGMS WHICH IS WONDERFUL. FINALLY, ZHONGZHEN NIE, PHARMACOLOGICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL SCIENCES BRANCH, WAS A PROGRAM DIRECTOR IN THAT DIVISION AND BRINGS A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE IN RELEVANT SCIENTIFIC AREAS. SO WE'RE REALLY LUCKY TO HAVE ALL THESE PEOPLE JOINING THE LEADERSHIP TEAM OF THE INSTITUTE, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH THEM MOVING FORWARD. SOME MORE NEW HIRES, SOME OF WHICH ARE FACES THAT ARE FAMILIAR, SOME THAT ARE ACTUALLY NEW. FIRST EILEEN ONI, WHO WAS, PRIOR TO THIS, A CONTRACTOR IN OUR OFFICE OF PROGRAM PLANNING ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION IS NOW A FED AND IS A HEALTH SCIENCE POLICY ANALYST, AND THIS ALLOWS ME TO TELL YOU THAT OUR PREVIOUS OFFICE OF PROGRAM PLANNING ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION HAS BECOME A DIVISION, AND WILL, HENCEFORTH, BE KNOWN AS THE DIVISION OF DATA INTEGRATION, MODELING AND ANALYTICS. SO THAT IS THE NEW NAME, DIMA, FOR OPAE. WE ALSO HAVE TWO NEW PROGRAM DIRECTORS, BOTH IN PPBC, THE FIRST IS JIONG YANG WHO IS TAKING OVER FROM BOB LEES WHO RETIRED IN MANAGING THE SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY PORTFOLIO. HE BRINGS A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE IN SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY AND IS OBVIOUSLY A GREAT HIRE FOR US. SECRETARILY, XIAOLI ZHAO IS TAKING OVER PORTFOLIO IN WOUND HEALING, TRAUMA, AND IMMUNOLOGY RELATED TO THE CLINICAL AREAS OF NIGMS. SHE HAS EXPERTISE IN THOSE VERY AREAS, AND THUS, AGAIN, IS A GREAT HIRE FOR THE INSTITUTE. SO WE'RE VERY LUCKY TO HAVE ATTRACTED ALL THESE GREAT PEOPLE TO NIGMS. AS YOU WOULD EXPECT WITH ALL THESE COMINGS, THERE HAVE ALSO BEEN A LOT OF GOINGS. RHASHADA ALEXANDER HAS MOVED ON AND IS NOW WORKING FOR THE FOUNDATION FOR THE FDA UNDER SALLY ROCKY, WHO SOME OF YOU MAY REMEMBER USED TO BE THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH AT NIH. ALISON COLE, PREVIOUS CHIEF OF THE PHARMACOLOGICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL SCIENCES BRANCH RETIRED EARLIER THIS YEAR. LUIS CUBANO IN OUR DIVISION TRAINING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND DIVERSITY DIVISION, WONDERFUL TO HAVE SOMEONE WITH LUIS'S EXPERTISE AND WISDOM TO WORK WITH OVER THERE. AS I MENTIONED, BOB LEES RUNNING OUR SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY PORTFOLIO RETIRED RECENTLY. AS DID PAM MARINO, CHIEF OF THE BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIORELATED CHEMISTRY BRANCH, PPBC, AND SCOTT SOMERS ALSO RETIRED, PROGRAM DIRECTOR IN THE FARM PHARMICOLOGICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY BRANCH OR DIVISION. SO SOME SAD NEWS BUT SOME GOOD NEWS AS WELL, AT THE SAME TIME. NIH-WIDE, THERE HAVE BEEN SOME IMPORTANT NEW COMINGS AND GOINGS AS WELL. STARTING WITH THE SELECTION OF JOSHUA DENNY AS THE NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE ALL-OF-US RESEARCH PROGRAM. SO THAT'S THE LARGE PRECISION OF MEDICINE GENOME SEQUENCING AND OTHER HEALTH OUTCOMES STUDY THAT NIH IS CONDUCTING. HE'S REPLACING THE PREVIOUS CEO, ERIC DISHMAN, WHO IS ACTUALLY STEPPING DOWN TO BECOME THE CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER OF ALL-OF-US. JOSHUA IS CURRENTLY, UNTIL HE ARRIVES AT NIH, A PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE AND BIOMEDICAL INFORMATICS AT VANDERBILT AND HE'S ALSO A LONG TIME NIGMS GRANTEE IN THE PHARMACOGENOMICS ARENA. SO IT'S REALLY WONDERFUL TO HAVE SOMEONE ASSOCIATED WITH NIGMS TAKING ON THIS IMPORTANT POSITION. IN ADDITION, STEPHANIE DEVANEY IS MOVING TO BECOME THE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER. I THINK AN IMPORTANT SET OF MOVEMENTS WITHIN THE ALL-OF-US PROGRAM. ON THE LAW SIDE, MARTHA SOMERMAN, LONG TIME DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DENTAL AND CRANIOFACIAL RESEARCH FOR THE PAST ALMOST DECADE RETIRED IN DECEMBER. SHE'S REMAINING IN CHARGE OF HER LABORATORY FOR A YEAR OR SO BEFORE MOVING ON TO RETIREMENT. SHE WILL BE REPLACED TEMPORARILY BY LARRY TABAK, WHO MANY OF YOU KNOW, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR NIH, WHO IS OBVIOUSLY WELL SUITED TO BE THE ACTING DIRECTOR BECAUSE HE WAS THE PREVIOUS ACTUAL DIRECTOR OF NIDCR, SO HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING THERE, AND THAT'S GOING TO BE -- HE'LL BE IN THAT POSITION WHILE THE SEARCH IS ONGOING FOR A REPLACEMENT FOR MARTHA. A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS TO MAKE. ONE THING WE'RE VERY PLEASED OF IS WE NOMINATED FOUR INDIVIDUALS FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL EARLY CAREER AWARD FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS, ALL FOUR WHICH WERE SELECTED BY THE WHITE HOUSE AND OSTP. I'M VERY PLEASED TO TELL YOU THAT MICHAEL BOYCE FROM DUKE UNIVERSITY, ELIZABETH NANCE FROM UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, JAMES OLZMANN AND SOHINI RAMACHANDRAN RECEIVED THE AWARD SO WE'RE PROUD OF THEM AND THE WORK THAT THEY'RE DOING. AN UPCOMING WEBINAR NEXT WEEK I'D LIKE YOU TO KNOW ABOUT AND HELP GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT IS A JOINT WEBINAR THAT WE'RE CONDUCTING WITH FASEB ON RESEARCH ORGANISMS. SO DIVERSIFYING THE RESEARCH ORGANISM LANDSCAPE. THIS FOLLOWS ON THE MEETING THAT WE HAD HERE THAT DORIT ZUK CONDUCTED ABOUT SELECTING THE BEST ORGANISM FOR YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION, ALONG WITH EMMA FARLEY AND WALLACE MARSHALL. THIS WILL BE JANUARY 21ST FROM 2:00 TO 3:00. YOU CAN WATCH IT LIVE AT THAT WEBSITE, OR WATCH IT LATER BECAUSE FASEB WILL BE ARCHIVING IT SO THAT YOU CAN SEE IT. AND THIS IS YET ANOTHER GREAT PARTNERSHIP THAT WE HAVE WITH FASEB. YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT A FEW YEARS A WE LAUNCHED A NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH SCHOLASTIC, INCORPORATED, WHICH YOU PROBABLY REMEMBER FROM YOUR DAYS IN SCHOOL. IT'S ONE OF THE BIG EDUCATIONAL THIS PARTNERSHIP IS TO PUT OUT A MAGAZINE. WE'RE GOING TO BE DOING, I INK THIS, TWO A YEAR THAT HIGHLIGHTS BASIC BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND CAREERS IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH. IT'S GOING TO REACH -- REACH IS ESTIMATED 2 1/2 MILLION MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND 19,000 TEACHERS ACROSS ALL 50 STATES. WE HAVE NOW DONE TWO ISSUES, THE NEXT ONE IS JUST ABOUT TO COME OUT AND THE NEXT ISSUE WILL BE ON CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS. YOU CAN SEE THE COVER THERE. IT'S GOING TO BE TIMED TO COME OUT JUST AROUND THE TIME THAT THE TIME CHANGE HAPPENS IN THE SPRING SO IT WILL BE VERY TOPICAL. IT'S BUNDLED WITH THEIR FLAGSHIP SCIENCE MAG MAGAZINE, "SCIENCE WORLD." IT HAS LESSON PLANS FOR TEACHERS THAT MAP TO THE ACTUAL CURRICULAR STANDARDS SO TEACHERS CAN USE IT IN THEIR TEACHING AND THERE ARE A LOT OF ONLINE ACTIVITIES AND VIDEOS. YOU CAN GO TO THE WEBSITE AND SEE THE WHOLE THING, DOWNLOAD A COPY FOR YOURSELF, SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, CHILDREN, ET CETERA. I THINK THIS IS REALLY QUITE EXCITING. I WANT TO MOVE ON TO THAT FOR A COUPLE OF ISSUES THAT I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT NIGMS AND NIH HAS BEEN THINKING ABOUT WORKING ON QUITE A BIT RECENTLY, BOTH RELATE TO TRAINING, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND DIVERSITY IN VARIOUS WAYS. THE FIRST ONE HAS TO DO WITH NIH'S NOTICE INTEREST AND DIVERSITY. SO THIS IS A GUIDE NOTICE THAT NIH HAS BEEN PUTTING OUT SINCE I THINK 2015 THAT EXPLAINS THE AGENCY'S INTEREST IN DIVERSITY, WHY WE THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO BUILD DIVERSITY IN THE WORKFORCE, AND EXPLAIN SOME OF THE GROUPS THAT WOULD CONSTITUTE BUILDING DIVERSITY IN THE WORKFORCE IF WE COULD INCREASE THEIR PARTICIPATION AND INCLUSION. SO WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS MAYBE THE KEY LANGUAGE FROM THAT NOTICE, SO IT STARTS WITH NIH ENCOURAGES INSTITUTIONS TO DIVERSIFY THEIR STUDENT AND FACULTY POPULATIONS TO ENHANCE THE PARTICIPATION OF INDIVIDUALS FROM GROUPS THAT ARE UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE BIOMEDICAL, CLINICAL, BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, SUCH AS -- AND I PUT "SUCH AS" IN READ BECAUSE I THINK IT HAS OFTEN BEEN MISCONSTRUED THAT THE CATEGORIES THAT FOLLOW ARE EXCLUSIONARY AND EXCLUSIVE, THEY'RE THE ONLY CATEGORIES THAT NIH WOULD CONSIDER TO BE UNDERREPRESENTED OR BUILDING DIVERSITY. THAT'S NOT TRUE, THESE ARE JUST EXAMPLES OF CATEGORIES THAT DO QUALIFY. SO THE FIRST IS, A, INDIVIDUALS FROM RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS THAT HAVE BEEN SHOWN BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION TO BE UNDERREPRESENTED IN HEALTH-RELATED SCIENCES ON A NATIONAL BASIS, AND THEN IT GOES ON TO EXPLAIN THAT FURTHER. B IS, INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. IT GOES ON TO EXPLAIN THAT FURTHER. AND THEN C IS INDIVIDUALS FROM DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUNDS, WHICH AS I'LL TELL YOU IN A MINUTE, THE NOTICE ALSO WENT ON TO EXPLAIN FURTHER. I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU FIRST THE LANGUAGE THAT IS IN THE PREVIOUS NOTICE THAT WAS PUT OUT JULY 16TH, 2018, AND I'M GOING TO FOCUS ON THAT CATEGORY C FOR THE PRESENTATION HERE. SO WHY DOES NIH THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO FOCUS SOME ATTENTION ON STUDENTS FROM DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUNDS, FOR INSTANCE, FROM LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS BACKGROUNDS? AND IN PART, IT'S BECAUSE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS IS HIGHLY CORRELATED WITH EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT. AND, THEREFORE, REPRESENTATION IN THE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH WORKFORCE. THESE ARE DATA FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, AND WHAT THEY SHOW IS THE PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS WHO WERE SOPHOMORES IN 2002, BY 2012, WHAT THEIR HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT WAS. AND IF YOU LOOK ON THE LEFT, THIS IS STUDENTS WHO DID NOT GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL. SO LESS THAN HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETION. YOU'LL SEE THERE'S A SEVEN FOLD HIGHER CHANCE OF NOT GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL IF YOU'RE IN THE LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS BRACKET THAN IF YOU'RE IN THE HIGHEST. THAT'S HUGE. SO THEN IF YOU GO TO THE OTHER SIDE, BACHELOR'S DEGREE OR HIGHER, THERE'S ALMOST FOUR FOLD DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE IN THE LOW SOCIOECONOMIC GROUP AND THOSE IN THE HIGHEST. SO THESE ARE REALLY BIG EFFECTS IN TERMS OF EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES DRIVEN OR AT LEAST PREDICTED BY SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS. SO THE PREVIOUS LANGUAGE WHEN WE LOOKED AT IT STRUCK US A COUPLE YEARS AGO AS HAVING SOME SIGNIFICANT DRAW BACKS AND PROBLEMS. AND I WAS ACTUALLY ASKED TO CHAIR A WORKING GROUP THAT LOOKED AT THIS LANGUAGE, DID SOME SIGNIFICANT RESEARCH AND DISCUSSION AND CAME UP WITH ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE. LET ME FIRST START BY TELLING YOU WHAT WE PERCEIVED AS THE PROBLEMS WITH THE PREVIOUS LANGUAGE. AGAIN, IT STARTS WITH INDIVIDUALS FROM DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUNDS DEFINED AS -- THEN IT HAS TWO DIFFERENT PARTS IN THE DEFINITION. THE FIRST, IT SAYS, IS INDIVIDUALS WHO COME FROM A FAMILY WITH AN ANNUAL INCOME BELOW ESTABLISHED LOW INCOME THRESHOLDS. WHICH IS THEN DEFINED, THESE THRESHOLDS ARE BASED ON FAMILY SIZE PUBLISHED BY THE CENSUS BUREAU, ADJUSTED FOR COP SEUMER CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, PUBLISHED BY THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES FOR HEALTH PROGRAMS. THAT IS GOOD IN THE SENSE IT'S DEFINED, IT'S SET BY THE GOVERNMENT, IT IS PUBLISHED ON A WEBSITE WHERE SOMEONE CAN FIND. SO THAT'S THE GOOD NEWS. HOWEVER, THERE'S SOME BAD NEWS, WHICH IS ONE OF THE PROBLEMS WE PERCEIVE, WHICH IS, FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY THE LOW INCOME DEFINITION, IT'S THE POVERTY LINE. THIS IS DEFINITION OF POVERTY THAT'S USED. AND IF YOU LOOK AT IT, YOU WILL, I THINK, AGREE IT'S AN EX-TEAMLY LOW NUMBER SO FOR A FAMILY OF 4, THE THAT'S OBVIOUSLY LOW INCOME BUT I THINK YOU WOULD PROBABLY AGREE WITH ME YOU COULD DOUBLE THAT NUMBER AND A FAMILY OF FOUR MAKING 50,000 A YEAR TOAD IS STILL BONA FIDE A LOW INCOME AND WOULD HAVE SIGNIFICANT DISADVANTAGES IN TERMS OF THEIR EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT. CONSISTENT WITH THAT, MOST GOVERNMENT AGENCIES DON'T ACTUALLY USE THIS NUMBER, THEY USE A MULTIPLIER OF THIS MEMBER, OFTEN ABOUT TWOFOLD. THAT WAS THE FIRST PROBLEM, ALTHOUGH IT DOES CAPTURE PEOPLE WHO ARE DEFINITELY LOW INCOME, IT'S LEAVING A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO ALSO ARE DLEFL LOW INCOME OUT OF THE DEFINITION. THE OTHER ISSUE WITH IT IS IT'S USING A FAMILY INCOME, AN ACTUAL NUMBER, WHICH STUDENTS GENERALLY WOULD HAVE A HARD TIME KNOWING. SO REMEMBER, THIS IS GOING TO BE SOMEONE, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT OR MORE OFTEN UNDERGRADUATE, WANTS TO BE A GRADUATE STUDENT, IT'S, AND WE'RE ASKING THEM TO KNOW WHAT THEIR FAMILY INCOME WAS GROWING UP. AND THAT'S NOT A VERY EASY THING TO NECESSARILY KNOW. SO THAT'S A BARRIER TO SELF-IDENTIFYING BECAUSE YOU WOULD ACTUALLY HAVE TO KNOW WHAT YOUR INCOME WAS. IF YOU'RE USING A NUMBER LIKE THIS, WAS IT $25,750 OR WAS IT $35,000? NOT EASY FOR A STUDENT TO KNOW. THE SECOND CATEGORY HAS DIFFERENT PROBLEMS THAT WE PERCEIVED. IT SAYS INDIVIDUALS WHO COME FROM AN EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT SUCH AS THAT FOUND IN CERTAIN RURAL OR INNER-CITY ENVIRONMENTS, SO "CERTAIN" NOT DEFINED, NOT CLEAR WHAT'S MEANT BY THAT. THAT HAS DEMONSTRABLY AND DIRECTLY INHIBITED THE INDIVIDUAL FROM OBTAINING THE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIESNESS SIRE EE TO DEVELOP AND PARTICIPATE IN A RESEARCH CAREER. SO WE DON'T KNOW WHAT "CERTAIN" MEANS, AND WE'RE THE NIH, WE WROTE THIS, AND IF WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS, IT'S NOT CLEAR WHO ELSE IS GOING TO, AND WE& ALSO DON'T KNOW HOW SOMEONE IS SUPPOSED TO DEMONSTRABLY SHOW THAT IT DIRECTLY INHIBITED THOSE THINGS. SO THAT'S A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM TO SOMEBODY SELF-IDENTIFYING INTO THESE CATEGORIES. AN ADDITIONAL PROBLEM WITH THIS THAT WE DISCUSSED WAS, THE USE OF THIS TERM "INNER-CITY," I THINK IS REALLY KIND OF OUTDATED TO INDICATE A LOW INCOME NEIGHBORHOOD BECAUSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT MOST CITIES, THE INNER CITY, THE CENTER OF THE CITY, IS THESE DAYS USUALLY NOT WHERE THE LOW INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS ARE. THEY'VE BEEN PUSHED TO THE PERIPHERY. SO THAT MAY BE A MINOR POINT BUT I THINK THAT'S NOT A TERM THAT REALLY SHOULD BE USED, AT LEAST IT'S NOT ACCURATE. SO AGAIN, WE WERE CHARGED WITH EXAMINING THIS WITH RESEARCHING IT AND WITH COMING UP WITH ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE. I SHOULD JUST SAY, ONE OF THE KEY PROBLEMS WE PER PERCEIVE IS THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR STUDENTS TO SELF-IDENTIFY IN THOSE CATEGORIES. ALL THOSE CATEGORIES ARE SELF IDENTIFIED. THAT IS GOING TO BE A BARRIER TO ENTRY, WHICH WE KNOW IS A PROBLEM. CONSISTENT WITH THIS, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE DATA AND WE USED NIH'S DIVERSITY SUPPLEMENTS AS A SORT OF BELLWETHER OF HOW PEOPLE WERE SELF-IDENTIFYING INTO THESE CATEGORIES, THESE CATEGORIES ARE TRUE FOR ALL NIH DIVERSITY PROGRAMS BUT THE SUPPLEMENTS ARE ONE THAT WE HAVE DATA FOR AND COULD BE EASILY LOOKED AT AS AGAIN A BELLWETHER. WHAT ONE FINDS, I'M SHOWING YOU 2018 DATA BUT THIS WAS TRUE FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS AND ACTUALLY BEFORE THAT AS WELL IS THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE ARE COMING IN UNDER THE RACIAL OR ETHNIC CATEGORIES, WHICH IS GOOD AND IS WHAT WE WANT, WE WANT TO SEE PEOPLE SELF-IDENTIFYING AND USING THESE CATEGORIES, A SMALLER NUMBER CAME IN UNDER THE DISABILITIES CATEGORY, WE CAN'T EVEN SHOW YOU BECAUSE IT'S LESS THAN THE ACCEPTABLE CELL SIZE CAME IN UNDER THE DISADVANTAGED CATEGORY, THAT'S BEEN TRUE FOR MANY YEARS. SO TO FIRST APPROXIMATION, NO ONE WAS USING THE DISADVANTAGED CATEGORY, WE THINK IN PART BECAUSE IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT FOR SOMEONE TO KNOW. SO I'M SKIPPING A LOT OF THINGS NOW, A LOT OF EXPLANATION OR RATIONALE, BUT AFTER A LOT OF WORK, THIS IS THE NEW CATEGORY C THAT DEFINES THE DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUND CATEGORY. AND SO WHAT WE SAY IS THAT INDIVIDUALS FROM DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUNDS DEFINED AS THOSE WHO MEET TWO OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA, SO TWO OR MORE OF THESE CRITERIA, AND YOU KNOW YOU ARE QUALIFIED AS DISADVANTAGED ACCORDING TO NIH. SORE WERE OR CURRENTLY ARE HOMELESS, WERE OR CURRENTLY ARE IN THE FOS TR CARE SYSTEM, WERE ELIGIBLE FOR THE -- WERE OR RAILROAD CURRENTLY ELIGIBLE FOR PELL GRANTS, RECEIVED SUPPORT FROM THE WIC PROGRAM EITHER AS A PARENT OR CHILD AND GREW UP IN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS, EITHER A U.S. RURAL AREA, THAT'S DEFINED BY USING A ZIP CODE LOOKUP FROM HRSA, OR CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID LOW INCOME AND HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGE AREA, AGAIN, THAT HAS A ZIP CODE LOOKUP. SO FIRST OF ALL, THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT CAN BE SELF-IDENTIFIED EASILY, AND IN ADDITION, THEY'RE ALL FEDERALLY DEFINED, THERE ARE WEBSITES THAT SHOW YOU WHAT THEY ARE, AND NONE OF THEM REQUIRE A STUDENT TO KNOW EXACT NUMBERS ABOUT THEIR PARENTAL INCOME GROWING UP. THEY'RE MORE LIKELY TO KNOW, WE REASONED WHETHER OR NOT THEY GOT A PELL GRANT, PERHAPS WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAD FREE SCHOOL LUNCHES, ET CETERA, THAN THE EXACT INCOME THEIR PARENTS HAD. SO WE'RE USING PROXIES OF PARENTAL INCOME THAT WE THINK STUDENTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO KNOW ABOUT THAN THE ACTUAL NUMBERS WHICH REQUIRES A LOT OF WORK ON THEIR PART. THE REASON WE DEFINED IT AS TWO OR MORE WAS TO SORT OF MAKE SURE THAT SOMEONE, FOR INSTANCE, THE EXAMPLE THAT KEPT BEING GIVEN WAS, WELL, SOMEONE COULD LIVE IN A U.S. RURAL AREA BUT NOT BE LOW INCOME. THEY COULD BE THE CHILD OF A VERY WEALTHY RANCHER, FOR EXAMPLE. SO BY REQUIRING TWO OR MORE OF THESE CRITERIA TO BE FILLED, WE REASONED THAT IT WOULD EE LITTLE ELIMINATE THOSE RARE SITUATIONS AND GET TO PEOPLE WHO TRULY WERE DISADVANTAGED. NOW, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS NEW DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUND CATEGORY? AS I MENTIONED, THESE THE EASE OF SELF-REPORTING, IT'S NOT THAT WE REQUIRE YOU TO PROVIDE DATA, IT'S EASY FOR PEOPLE TO KNOW IF THEY ARE WITHIN THAT OR NOT. THEY'RE ALL DEFINED BY FEDERAL AGENCIES AND/OR LAWS AND ARE PUN PUBLISHED ON GOVERNMENT WEBSITES WHICH IS IMPORTANT TO US, IT MAKES IT EASIER TO FIND. I SHOULD ALSO POINT OUT THERE IS SUBSTANTIAL OVERLAP BETWEEN THE DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUND CATEGORIES AND THE UNDERREPRESENTED RACIAL/ETHNIC GROUPS CATEGORIES. WE ACTUALLY VIEW THAT AS A GOOD THING BECAUSE IT ALLOWS MULTIPLE ON RAMPS INTO THE DIVERSITY PROGRAM. SOMEONE CAN DECIDE THEY WANT TO SELF-IDENTIFY THROUGH THE DISADVANTAGED CATEGORY OR THE RACIAL/ETHNIC CATEGORIES, EITHER ONE IS FINE, IT BRINGS THEM IN, BUT WE'RE PROVIDING ADDITIONAL WAYS FOR PEOPLE TO COME INTO THE PROGRAM. IT ALSO ALLOWS FOR INCLUSION OF POPULATIONS WHO ARE NOT CLEARLY CALLED OUT IN THE PREVIOUS LANGUAGE. SO FOR EXAMPLE, ASIANS AS A GROUP ARE NOT UNDERREPRESENTED THE WAY THEY'RE DEFINED BY THE GOVERNMENT, BUT SUBPOPULATIONS OF ASIANS, FOR INSTANCE, HMONG OR CAMBODIAN, ARE UNDERREPRESENTED, FREQUENTLY COME FROM LOW SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS AND, THEREFORE, THIS NEW CATEGORY ALLOWS THOSE GROUPS TO PARTICIPATE IN A SIMPLE WAY IN THESE PROGRAMS THROUGH THIS NEW LOW SES, THIS DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUND CATEGORY. SO WE ALSO VIEW THAT AS A SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGE TO THIS NEW DEFINITION. FINALLY, IT PROVIDES ON RAMPS FOR STUDENTS FROM LOW SOCIOECONOMIC RURAL BACKGROUNDS WHICH WAS NOT PREVIOUSLY CLEARLY DEFINED IN THE LANGUAGE I SHOWED YOU. THE OTHER THING I WANT TO POINT OUT IS THAT IN THE PREVIOUS GUIDE NOTICES, THERE WAS SOME LANGUAGE ABOUT WOMEN AND UNDERREPRESENTATION OF WOMEN AT THE FACULTY LEVELS. IT WAS NOT, HOWEVER, CALLED OUT AS A SPECIFIC CATEGORY. SO WHAT WE DID IS WE TOOK THAT LANGUAGE, WE DIDN'T CHANGE IT BUT WE MADE IT A CATEGORY D. SO NOW THERE'S A, B, C AND D, D BEING WOMEN AT THE FACULTY LEVEL. SO WE CALL THAT OUT SPECIFICALLY, WHICH I THINK IS ALSO AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE LANGUAGE IN THE NOTICE. SO THAT'S ONE THING I WANTED TO TELL YOU ABOUT, AND WE CAN DISCUSS THAT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS IN A MINUTE. THE OTHER THING I WANT TO TELL YOU ABOUT RELATES TO SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT, WHICH IS THE WORD "SAFE" OR "SAFETY." IF YOU LOOK AT NIGMS'S RECENT TRAINING GRANT FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS, YOU'LL SEE WE TALK A FAIR AMOUNT ABOUT SAFE, INCLUSIVE, DIVERSE ENVIRONMENTS. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY SAFE WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THOSE ECK EXPECTATIONS? WELL, WE ACTUALLY MEAN MULTIPLE THINGS. WE DEFINITELY MEAN SAFETY FROM HARASSMENT, ABUSE AND INTIMIDATION. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THERE'S BEEN QUITE A LOT OF DISCUSSION AND EMPHASIS ON RECENTLY, FOR INSTANCE, FROM THE REPORT FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN, SOMETHING THAT NIH HAS BEEN WORKING ON QUITE A BIT. YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE NIH DIRECTOR REPORT ON HARASSMENT AND SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THEY MADE, NIH IS WORKING RIGHT NOW ON TRYING TO ADDRESS THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS, AND THEY'LL CONTINUE TO BE AN EMPHASIS. SO WE DEFINITELY MEAN THAT, AND WE EXPECT OUR TRAINING PROGRAMS TO BE THINKING A LOT ABOUT HOW THEY CAN MAKE THEIR ENVIRONMENTS SAFE FROM HARASSMENT, ABUSE AND INTIMIDATION. WE ALSO MEAN SAFETY ON CAMPUS. IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT NECESSARILY YOU THINK ABOUT A LOT, BUT IF YOU WERE IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE YOU DO NOT FEEL SAFE FROM CRIME, ET CETERA, IT GOING TO BE HARD TO LEARN, IT'S GOING TO BE HARD TO DO GOOD RESEARCH, SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE EXPECT GRADUATE TRAINING PROGRAMS AND UNIVERSITIES IN GENERAL TO BE THINKING ABOUT AND WORKING ON. AND FINALLY, WE ALSO MEAN LABORATORY SAFETY WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SAFE. AND THAT'S ACTUALLY WHAT I WANT TO FOCUS ON HERE. THE OTHER TWO THINGS ARE OBVIOUSLY EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE, WE'LL TALK ABOUT AGAIN, BUT I WANT TO TALK ABOUT LABORATORY SAFETY BECAUSE I THINK IT IS NOT DISCUSSED ENOUGH, IT HAS NOT BEEN FOCUSED ON ENOUGH BY THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY, IN ACADEMIA OR BY TRAINING PROGRAMS IN PARTICULAR. THIS PICTURE SHOWS THE AFTERMATH OF A TERRIBLE LAB ACCIDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII. I'LL DESCRIBE THAT IN A MINUTE, BUT I DO WANT TO POINT OUT TO YOU THAT IN ADDITION TO THIS DEVASTATION, ALL OF THIS YOU SEE HERE IS BLOOD, OKAY? SO THIS IS THE LEVEL AT WHICH THIS CAN AFFECT HUMAN LIVES, IT CAN AFFECT AN INSTITUTION, IT CAN AFFECT THE ENTIRE RESEARCH COMMUNITY. SO THAT'S REALLY WHAT I WANT TO FOCUS ON NOW, THE SERIOUS NATURE THESE PROBLEMS AND THE FACT THAT I DON'T THINK WE'RE TAKING THEM SERIOUSLY ENOUGH. SO THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF HIGH PROFILE LAB ACCIDENTS THAT SHOULD HAVE GALVANIZED THE COMMUNITY, AND I THINK DID GALVANIZE SOME ELEMENTS OF TO TAKE THIS MORE SERIOUSLY, BUT I WANT TO TRY TO SPREAD THAT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY. ONE OF THEM, PROBABLY THE MOST HIGH PROFILE WAS THE REALLY TRAGIC DEATH ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO OF SHARE EE SIGNGI, SHE WAS WORKING IN A CHEMISTRY LAB WORKING WITH A PYROGEN. IT IGNITES IF EXPOSED TO THE AIR. SHE HAD IT IN A SYRINGE. SOMEHOW THE PISTON OF THE SYRINGE POPPED OUT. IT GOT ON TO HER CLOTHES AND HER SKIN, SHE WASN'T WEARING A LAB COAT APPARENTLY. SHE CAUGHT FIRE AND UNFORTUNATELY TRAGICALLY DIED OF HER BYRNES A BURNS A FEW DAYS LATER. BECAUSE OF THIS, THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA OR LOS ANGELES FILED FELONY CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST THE UNIVERSITY AND AGAINST THE P.I. JUST LET THAT SINK IN FOR A MINUTE AS A P.I. DEATH IS ABSOLUTELY TRAGIC, AND THEN IN ADDITION, FELONY CRIMINAL CHARGES. SO TO THEIR CREDIT, THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES USED THIS TRAGEDY TO TRY TO MAKE SOMETHING GOOD COME OF IT, AND THEY STARTED THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA CENTER FOR LABORATORY SAFETY. I ENCOURAGE ALL OF YOU TO GO TO THEIR WEBSITE. I THINK THEY REALLY ARE AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS, AT LEAST IN ACADEMIA IN THE COUNTRY. THEY HAVE A GREAT WEBSITE WITH GREAT RESOURCES AND SOME GREAT STAFF WHO REALLY ARE NOT JUST PROMOTING LAB SAFETY BUT ACTUALLY STUDYING IT, AND STUDYING THE CULTURE AND THE INFLUENCES THAT CAN MAKE A LAB OR A UNIVERSITY SAFER OR LESS SAFE. I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT AS WELL, HOW CAN WE PROMOTE THAT. SO THAT WAS ONE TRA TRAGIC LAB ACCIDENT BUT THERE HAVE BEEN OTHERS. I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH TO MAKE THE POINT HERE THAT THAT'S NOT JUST SOMETHING THAT'S HAPPENING OCCASIONALLY AND ONE OFF BUT SOMETHING MORE SYSTEMIC AND SERIOUS. IN THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII CASE THAT I TALKED ABOUT, POSTDOC WAS WORKING WITH A LARGE CYLINDER OF COMPRESSED GAS INCLUDING HYDROGEN, THIS WAS A BIOENERGY LAB AND EXPERIMENT, A SPARC FROM STATIC ELECTRICITY APPARENTLY CAUSED THE TANK TO EXPLODE. IT WASN'T A TANK THAT WAS ACTUALLY RATED FOR USE WITH THOSE COMPRESSED GASES. IT EXPLODED, YOU SAW THE AFTERMATH. THE POSTDOC LOST AN ARM AND SUFFERED OTHER VERY SERIOUS INJURIES. BECAUSE OF THIS, DUE TO THE DAMAGES, DUE TO FINE, ET CETERA, THE LOSSES TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII HAVE ALREADY TOTALED A MILLION DOLLARS ALMOST AND ARE LIKELY TO GO UP. AGAIN, TRULY TRAGIC SITUATION. I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO READ ABOUT IT BECAUSE THERE ARE LESSONS LEARNED THERE, THINGS THAT WERE NOT DONE THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE, AND I THINK IT MAY HELP YOU FULLY GRASP THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE SITUATION. AT YALE SOME YEARS AGO, ENRIQUE MAY KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS, TRAGIC DEATH OF AN UNDERGRADUATE WORKING IN A LABORATORY ACTUALLY ALONE AT NIGHT WHEN HER HAIR BECAME CAUGHT IN A LATHE. TRULY TERRIBLE INCIDENT, COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED WITH BETTER TRAINING, BETTER OVERSIGHT. STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH MORE RECENTLY SUFFERED DAMAGE TO HIS CORNEA WHEN SODIUM HYDROXIDE SPLASHED INTO HIS EYES. WHEN THEY WENT TO TRY TO WASH IF OUT, THEY DISCOVERED THE LAB DIDN'T HAVE A WORKING EYE WASH. THOSE ARE A FEW. IN THE CASE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII, AFTER THE ACCIDENT THERE, THEY ACTUALLY CONTRACTED WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES CENTER FOR LABORATORY SAFETY TO STUDY THEIR ENVIRONMENT, WHAT HAPPENED, AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS. AGAIN, THAT REPORT IS WORTH LOOKING AT, BUT ONE OF THE KEY THINGS THAT THEY SAY IS THAT THE CULTURE THAT EXISTED THERE IN THEIR VIEW THAT DIDN'T PRIORITIZE LAB SAFETY ENOUGH EXISTS AT MANY, POSSIBLY MOST OTHER ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS AS WELL, WAS NOT UNIQUE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE POINTS I'M TRYING TO MAKE HERE. AND THEY VIEW IT AS A CALL TO ACTION FOR ALL RESEARCHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS AND STAFF NOT ONLY AT HAWAII, BUT AROUND HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE COUNTRY TO REALLY FOCUS ATTENTION ON THIS SERIOUS ISSUE. I'LL GO THROUGH A FEW MORE, I'M NOT GOING TO READ ALL THESE BUT, AGAIN, THESE ONES SEEM MAYBE A LITTLE MORE COMMON. THOSE WERE EXTREME SITUATIONS. AGAIN, THEY HAPPEN, THOUGH. LOW PROBABILITY CHANCE MAYBE, BUT THEY'RE HAPPENING, AND THEY NEED TO BE STOPPED. THESE ONES, I THINK FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO RUN LABS OR WORK IN LABS ARE THINGS THAT YOU PROBABLY COULD SEE HAPPENING ON A DAILY BASIS, PERHAPS. SO FOR EXAMPLE, THERE WAS A SITUATION WHERE A SUPER CONDUCTING MAGNET THAT WAS COOLED WITH LIQUID HELIUM ACTUALLY EXPLODED IN A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE BECAUSE THE VENTING SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONED. LUCKILY NO ONE WAS THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED, BUT THE REPORT SAYS THAT HAD SOMEONE BEEN THERE, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUS HARM TO THE INDIVIDUALS. AND THERE WAS SERIOUS HARM TO THE INSTRUMENTS AROUND THAT. HERE'S ONE THAT FILLS ME WITH FEAR BECAUSE MY LAB DOES ELECTROPHORESIS PRETTY MUCH CONSTANTLY. A LABORATORY WORKER RECEIVED A POTENTIALLY FATAL SHOCK WHEN HE ACCIDENTALLY TOUCHED ONE OF THE HIGH VOLTAGE CONNECTORS. THIS WAS ACTUALLY A SITUATION WHERE YOU'VE PROBABLY SEEN THESE, THERE'S A MALE LEAD STICKING OFF OF THE FEMALE LEAD, AND THE MALE LEAD WAS LIVE AND WAS JUST STICKING OUT AND HE TOUCHED IT. THE ONLY REASON HE DIDN'T DIE, THEY SAID, WAS THE OTHER CONTACT POINT WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF HIS BODY, SO IT DIDN'T GO THROUGH HIS HEART, IT JUST WENT DOWN HIS BODY, BUT HAD IT BEEN ON THE OTHER SIDE, THE REPORT CONCLUDED IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FATAL. HERE'S ANOTHER ONE I HAVE PERSONALLY SEEN HAPPEN MULTIPLE TIMES IN MY CAREER. A STUDENT WAS SPREADING CELLS ON TO PLATES IN A PETRI DISH AND WAS FLAMING THE SPREADER INSTRUMENT AND SOMEHOW PROBABLY A DROP OF FLAMING ETHANOL LANDED IN THE DISH OF ETHANOL, WHICH THEN BROKE, AND WENT ALL OVER THE STUDENT AND HIS OR HER CLOTHES, AND AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, CAUGHT THE CHAIR ON FIRE, CAUGHT THE ICE BUCKET ON FIRE, AND ALSO APPARENTLY A WASTE BASKET THAT WAS NEARBY. THE STUDENT WAS TREATED FOR FIRST AND SECOND DEGREE BYRNES AT THE HOSPITAL. AGAIN, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT CAN HAPPEN EVERY SINGLE DAY IN A LAB, AND I'VE SEEN HAPPEN IN MY OWN CAREER PROBABLY FIVE TIMES. HERE'S ANOTHER ONE, AGAIN, SOMETHING UNFORTUNATELY YOU CAN EASILY IMAGINE HAPPENING IN MANY PEOPLE'S LABS. A STUDENT WAS DOING A PHENYL CHLOROFORM EXTRACTION, CENTRIFUGED THE EX-TRATION, SEPARATED THE PHASES, PUT THE TUBES WITHOUT CAPS ON THEM IN THE STYROFOAM SHIPPING CONTAINER THAT THE TUBES COME IN, WHO HASN'T DONE SOMETHING LIKE THAT. THE STYROFOAM BROKE, I DON'T KNOW IF THE SOLVENT SPILLED ON IT BUT IT BROKE, IT SPLASHED UP INTO HIS FACE AND DRIPPED DOWN HIS CHEST. HE WAS TREATED FOR SECOND DEGREE BURNS TO THE FACE, CHEST AND ABDOMEN. AGAIN, SOMETHING ONE COULD EASILY SEE HAPPENING. ANOTHER ONE, A POSTDOC WAS CLEANING UP A SPILL IN THE KIND OF INCUBATORS MANY LABS HAVE. SOMEBODY HAD REMOVED THE GUARD AROUND THE FAN, THE POSTDOC'S HAND GOT CAUGHT IN THE GUARD. NOT TO BELABOR IT, BUT THOSE ARE JUST SOME EXAMPLES I HOPE YOU'LL THINK THESE ARE NOT JUST THE EXTREME CASES, THIS IS ALSO THE DAILY THINGS PEOPLE ARE DOING THAT COULD LEAD TO SERIOUS ADVERSE OUTCOMES. SO WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT IT SO FAR? AND THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS I WANT TO GET YOU THINKING ABOUT AND GET YOUR ADVICE ON. SO WE ALREADY HAVE PUT A LOT LANGUAGE INTO OUR NEW TRAINING FOAs ABOUT SAFETY AND AGAIN, WE MEAN ALL THOSE THREE THINGS OF SAFETY WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SAFETY. BUT YOU KNOW, MAYBE IN TERMS OF PARTICULARLY LAB SAFETY, IN THE INSTITUTIONAL LETTER, THE INSTITUTION HAS TO ENSURE THAT THE RESEARCH AND CLINICAL FACILITIES AS WELL AS THE LABORATORY AND CLINICAL PRACTICES PROMOTE THE SAFETY OF THE TRAINEES. IN THE REVIEW CRITERIA, THEY'RE ASKED ABOUT SAFE ENVIRONMENTS, THEY'RE ALSO ASKED IS THERE EVIDENCE THAT THE RESEARCH FACILITIES AND PRACTICES ENSURE THE SAFETY OF TRAINEES, AND THEN THE RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH SECTION, LABORATORY SAFETY IS SPECIFICALLY CALLED OUT. HOWEVER, WHEN WE LOOKED AT THIS, AS WE STARTED TO REVISE OUR NEW T32 FOA WHICH COMING OUT FAIRLY SOON, WE DECIDED THIS STILL WASN'T ENOUGH, THAT THERE WASN'T QUITE ENOUGH EMPHASIS AND POINT PUT ON TO THIS, SO WHEN THE NEW FOA COMES OUT, YOU WILL SEE THAT THERE'S EVEN MORE EMPHASIS ON SAFETY. AGAIN, MEANING ALL THOSE THREE THINGS, AND PARTICULARLY CALLING OUT -- WE WANT TO SEE SAFETY BEING TAUGHT AND INTEGRATED THROUGHOUT THE CURRICULUM, AND NOT JUST TAUGHT BY THE UNIVERSITY HEALTH SAFETY PEOPLE WHO GENERALLY DO A GREAT JOB BUT THEY'RE NOT WORKING IN THE LAB, THEY'RE NOT TEACHING THE STUDENTS, THEY'R NOT DOING THE RESEARCH. WE WANT TO SEE THIS BECOME PART OF THE CULTURE. AND THAT'S A VERY IMPORTANT POINT THAT THE UCLA GROUP MAKES, IS THAT WHEN THEY LOOK AT WHAT LEADS TO OR WHAT PREDICTS OR INFLUENCES WHETHER OR NOT THERE WILL BE LAB ACCIDENTS OR NOT, IT'S THE CULTURE IN THE LAB THAT SEEMS TO BE VERY IMPORTANT. IF THE P.I. IS TALKING ABOUT SAFETY A LOT, MAKES CLEAR THAT SHE OR HE EMPHASIZES SAFETY, IT'S LESS LIKELY THERE WILL BE ACCIDENTS. IF IT'S CAVALIER AND THERE'S NO DISCUSSION OF IT, IT TURNS OUT TO BE A LOT MORE LIKELY THAT THERE WILL BE ACCIDENTS. SO DEVELOPING A CULTURE OF SAFETY IS SOMETHING WE REALLY WANT TO SEE. WE ALSO WANT TO ENCOURAGE PROGRAMS TO START THINKING ABOUT TEACHING IN ACADEMIA TO INDUSTRY STANDARDS. WE HAVE A NUMBER OF INDUSTRY PEOPLE AROUND THE TABLE I'M HOPING TO HEAR FROM HERE, AND I THINK IT'S FAIR OF ME TO SAY THAT THE FOCUS AND REQUIREMENTS IN INDUSTRY ON SAFETY ARE CONSIDERABLY HIGHER THAN THEY ARE IN ACADEMIA. I'M GETTING NODS. INDEED, YES. SO IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THERE'S A NUMBER OF ADVANTAGES IF AN ACADEMIC PROGRAM STARTED TO TRY TO UP THEIR GAME TO GET CLOSER TO OR AT THE INDUSTRY STANDARD FOR SAFETY AND FOR OTHER THINGS AS WELL. FIRST OF ALL, IT WOULD LEAD TO A MUCH SAFER CULTURE. THAT'S THE NUMBER ONE IMPORTANT THING. FEWER LAB ACCIDENTS, ET CETERA. BUT IN ADDITION, SINCE MANY OF THE GRADUATES OF THE PROGRAMS ARE GOING TO GO INTO INDUSTRY, WHICH IS A GREAT THING, THEY'LL BE A STEP AHEAD IF THEY'VE ALREADY BEEN TAUGHT THE LEVEL OF EXPECTATIONS IN INDUSTRY RATHER THAN HAVING TO BE RE-TAUGHT WHEN THEY GET THERE. AND WE THINK THAT IN ADDITION TO TEACHING TO INDUSTRY STANDARDS FOR SAFETY, THERE ARE OTHER AREAS WHERE THIS WOULD BE BENEFICIAL AS WELL. FOR EXAMPLE, IN RECORD-KEEPING WHERE, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE'S A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT GULF BETWEEN RECORD-KEEPING IN INDUSTRY VERSUS ACADEMIA AT THE MOMENT. WE ALSO, AT THE TWD PROGRAM DIRECTORS' MEETING WHERE MOST OF THE DIRECTORS OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMS THAT WE FUND CAME TOGETHER ACTUALLY JUST UP HERE IN NORTH BETHESDA LAST SUMMER, HAD A PLENARY SESSION ABOUT LABORATORY SAFETY WHERE THE DIRECTOR OF THE U.C. CENTER FOR LABORATORY SAFETY, CRAIG MERLICK, WHO'S A CHEMIST, CAME AND GIVE A TALK. I THINK MANY PEOPLE THOUGHT WHY ARE WE HAVING A TALK ABOUT LAB SAFETY? THIS TURNED OUT TO BE THE TOP RATED TALK OF THE MEETING. 100% POSITIVE REVIEWS. THE ONLY ONE. IT WAS PHENOMENAL, IT WAS TERRIFYING, BUT IT WAS PHENOMENAL. SO I REALLY ENCOURAGE YOU IF YOU EVER GET A CHANCE TO HEAR HIM TALK OR WANT TO INVITE HIM TO YOUR INSTITUTION, THAT WILL BE GALVANIZING IN AND OF ITSELF. I THINK THE TRAINING PROGRAM DIRECTORS CAME AWAY THINKING VERY DIFFERENTLY ABOUT THIS ISSUE AFTER THEY HEARD CRAIG TALK. WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE SUPPLEMENTS TO OUR VARIOUS TRAINING GRANTS TO IMPROVE CURRICULAR MATERIALS AND WE'RE GOING TO REALLY TRY TO PUT AN EMPHASIS ON SAFETY. WE DID IT IN THE PAST, WE ONLY ENDED UP BEING ABLE TO FUND ONE, ALTHOUGH THIS WAS A GOOD ONE. THE CLEVELAND CLINIC HAD ONE IN LABORATORY SAFETY AND ACCIDENT PREVENTION, AGAIN, I THINK THEY GOT IT RIGHT HERE, TO BUILD A CULTURE OF SAFETY. BUT WE'D LIKE TO SEE MORE PROGRAMS THINKING ABOUT HOW TO INTEGRATE TEACHING OF SAFETY INTO THEIR CURRICULUM. QUESTION, WE'RE GOING TO HEAR ABOUT THE R25 TRAINING MODULES IN A FEW MINUTES FROM ALISON. SHOULD WE SPECIFICALLY HAVE SOME R25 TRAINING MODULE GRANTS MAKING TRAINING MATERIALS FOR LAB SAFETY THAT CAN BE SHARED AND USED ACROSS INSTITUTIONS. THAT'S SOMETHING WE MAY DO AND WE'D LIKE YOUR INPUT ON. IN KEEPING WITH BOTH THOSE THINGS, WE'RE GOING TO BE CREATING A CLEARINGHOUSE ON OUR WEBSITE FOR LINKS TO LAB SAFETY TRAINING MATERIALS, SO THE UCLA GROUP HAS A LOT, THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY AND OTHERS HAVE IT. WE'D LIKE TO SORT OF AGGREGATE THEM IN ONE PLACE SO THAT ALL OF OUR TRAINING PROGRAMS CAN EASILY FIND THEM. AND AS WE FUND THE CREATION OF NEW MATERIALS EITHER THROUGH SUPPLEMENTS OR THROUGH R25s, WE'LL PUT LINKS TO THOSE THERE AS WELL. SIMILAR TO WHAT WE'VE DONE FOR THE RIGOR AND REPRODUCIBILITY MATERIALS THAT WE FUNDED. AND FINALLY, I THINK THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PARTNER WITH PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES. WE HAVE A NUMBER OF MEMBERS HERE FROM PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES. I THINK THIS IS REALLY AN AREA WHERE THEY AND WE TOGETHER COULD SYNERGIZE AND PROBABLY DO A LOT MORE THAN EITHER ONE COULD DO BY THEMSELVES. KUDOS AND A SHOUT OUT, I THINK THE SOCIETY THAT'S BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS HAS BEEN THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SEW SIDE. REALLY RECOGNIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS, DOING QUITE A LOT TO TRY TO EMPHASIZE IT WITHIN THE CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY, INCLUDING NEW REQUIREMENTS A FEW YEARS AGO IN THEIR JOURNALS THAT SAY THAT ANYONE PUBLISHING IN THOSE JOURNALS HAS TO SPECIFICALLY HAVE A SECTION TALKING ABOUT ANYTHING WITHIN THE WORK THAT HAS SIGNIFICANT SAFETY RISKS OR HAZARDS OR NOVEL PROBLEMS. I THINK THAT'S REALLY A GREAT THING FOR THEM TO HAVE DONE. SO THAT'S WHAT I HAD TO SAY, I'M HAVING TO TAKE A FEW QUESTIONS. >> GREAT PRESENTATION, JON. I WONDER TO SOME EXTENT, SOME OF THE POINTS THAT YOU BROUGHT UP REALLY LOOK LIKE THERE ARE THEY'RE ISSUES WITH OSHA, AND WOULD THERE BE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR PARTNERSHIP WITH THAT GROUP TO SORT OF COME UP WITH BEING A RESEARCHER IS AN OCCUPATION, AND HAVING A SPECIFIC CUT OF WHAT WOULD BE JUST LAB ASPECTS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT FOR THEIR GIVEN SAFETY I THINK WOULD BE PRETTY POWERFUL. IT GIVES ME PAUSE TO THOUGHT ABOUT SOME OF THE ACCIDENTS, NOT HAVING A LAB COAT? IF IT'S EVEN -- IF IT'S THE ON FIRE, YOU PULL THE LAB COAT OFF AND YOU'RE NOT TOTALLY ON FIRE. GETTING YOUR HAIR CAUGHT IN A LATHE? MOST PEOPLE THAT WORK ON A LATHE KNOW THAT THEY HAVE TO HAVE THEIR HAIR IN A BUN OR A CAP OR SOMETHING. IT'S VERY RUDIMENTARY. SOMETHING IS MISSING. >> I AGREE WITH YOU COMPLETELY. >> IT'S TERRIFYING, HONESTLY. >> I THINK THE IDEA OF TALKING, WORKING SOME WITH OSHA IS A VERY GOOD IDEA. WE SHOULD EXPLORE THAT. IN TERMS OF LAB COATS, ONE OF THE THINGS WE LEARNED FROM CRAIG MERLICK IS THAT THE WHITE LAB COATS THAT ARE INDEM NICK IN MOST LABORATORIES ARE MADE OF COTTON AND ARE NEITHER FLAME-RESISTANT NOR SOLVENT-RESISTANT. SO AS SOON AS I HEARD THAT, I MADE MY LAB THROW THEM ALL AWAY AND BUY THE BLUE ONES THAT ARE SOLVENT RESISTANT AND FLAME RESISTANT AND ALSO HAVE CLOSED CUFFS SO YOU DON'T ACCIDENTALLY GET YOUR CUFF IN THE FLAME. BUT I DON'T THINK MOST PEOPLE EVEN KNOW SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS THAT, BUT IT GETS TO YOUR POINT THAT IF YOU'RE WEARING A FLAMMABLE COAT THAT'S GOING TO ABSORB SOLVENTS AND HOLD THEM NEXT TO YOUR SKIN, IT COSTS A LITTLE MORE MONEY TO BUY THE BLUE ONES, BUT GOT TO BE WORTH IT. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR THOUGHTS? >> LAURA. >> WHEN YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT CATEGORY D, WOMEN AT THE FACULTY LEVEL, IT STRUCK ME BECAUSE OF A SALARY EQUITY EXERCISE WE'RE LOOKING AT AND I WONDERED IF YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN TENURE AND NON-TENURE TRACK FACULTY BECAUSE WHEN WE LUMP, THINGS LOOK FINE, AND WHEN WE SEPARATE, SOME CLEAR DISCREPANCIES EMERGED. >> THAT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT, LAURA. IN FACT, IN THE LANGUAGE THERE, IT TALKS FIRST ABOUT DISCREPANCIES AT THE SENIOR LEVELS. AND THEN SAYS AT LOWER LEVELS AS WELL, THERE MAY BE DISCREPANCIES. SO IT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT. IT GETS WORSE, THE MORE SENIOR YOU BECOME. THEN YOU PUT ON TOP SALARY EQUITY ISSUES, I THINK THAT'S ANOTHER SERIOUS QUESTION. BUT AT THE GRADUATE STUDENT LEVEL FOR SOME TIME, IT'S BEEN 50/50 IN THE LIFE SCIENCES, AND THEN IT JUST DROPS OFF AS YOU GO UP THE CHAIN AFTER THAT. >> THE THING THAT WE WERE MISSING IN OUR ANALYSIS, BECAUSE YOU'RE RIGHT, THAT PROGRESSION OF IT GETTING WORSE IS WELL DOCUMENTED AND PROBLEMATIC OBVIOUSLY. IF WE LOOK AT NON-TENURE TRACK, WE HAVE SEVERAL NON-TENURE TRACK RESEARCH PROFESSORS. IT GIVES YOU THE ILLUSION THAT THE PROBLEM IS NOT THERE. WHEN WE LOCK AT OUR TENURE TRACK, IT'S CLEARLY THERE. THEY FALL OFF AT THE HIGHER RANKS. SO I'M JUST -- I HAVE THE NON-TENURE TRACK GROUP ON MY MIND FOR A DIFFERENT REASON BECAUSE THE STATS LOOK BETTER THAN THE REALITY. >> THAT'S A REALLY INTERESTING POINT. I THINK WE SHOULD BEAR IN MIND. GUY, ANGELA, THEN PAMELA. >> SO I APPLAUD THE FOCUS ON -- AGAIN APOLOGIZE YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE BACK OF MY HEAD. THIS IS ACTUALLY MY BETTER SIDE. [LAUGHTER] I APPLAUD THE FOCUS ON THE SAFETY ELEMENT. I MIGHT ENCOURAGE YOU TO FOLD INTO THE LANGUAGE HERE, FOCUS NOT ON WHAT I'LL CALL THE PHYSICAL ACCIDENT TYPE OF ELEMENT BUT CHEMICAL/BIOLOGICAL HYGIENE. IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE DON'T PAY A LOT OF ATTENTION TO. IT FOLDS INTO THE PERSONAL PROTECTIVE GUIDANCE THAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT, BUT AS OUR CHEMISTRY AND PROTEIN SCIENTISTS HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAKE MORE AND MORE POTENT LIE LIGAND INHIBITORS, I DON'T THINK WE PAY ENOUGH ATTENTION TO CHEMICAL REAGENTS. >> THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT POINT, GUY. IF YOU GO TO THE UCLA WEBSITE, THEY HAVE A NUMBER OF CASES OF PEOPLE BECOMING INFECTED WITH INFECTIOUS AGENTS, FOR EXAMPLE, BECAUSE OF IMPROPER PRACTICE. YOUR CHEMISTRY POINT IS A GREAT ONE, ESPECIALLY IN THAT WHEN YOU'RE SYNTHESIZING A NEW MOLECULE, YOU HAVE NO IDEA THE TOXIC PROPERTIES OF IT OR ITS INTERMEDIATES, AND I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF CAVALIER NATURE WHICH IS VERY SCARY. ANGELA AND THEN PAMELA? >> I ALSO HAD A SUGGESTION ABOUT SOMETHING YOU MIGHT WANT TO BUNDLE INTO THE WORDING. PARTICULARLY THE R25s FOCUSED ON SAFETY, WHICH IS WHEN TALKING ABOUT A CULTURE OF SAFETY, IT MAY BE BEYOND EMPHASIZING IT AS IMPORTANT OR IDENTIFYING HAZARDS, BUT ALSO WHAT ARE SOME SOCIAL ACTIVITIES THAT YOU COULD DO THAT WOULD PROMOTE THE KIND OF ENVIRONMENT WHERE PEOPLE COULD ALERT AUTHORITY TO ISSUES, AND SO SOME SORT -- SORT OF INCLUDE CASE STUDIES OR ROLE PLAYING KINDS OF THINGS THAT WOULD PROMOTE THE KIND OF GROUP COHESIVENESS WHERE PEOPLE ARE PSYCHOLOGICALLY SAFE ENOUGH TO TALK ABOUT THESE ISSUES AS THEY SEE THEM, BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE A PRETTY IMPORTANT -- >> THAT'S A REALLY GOOD IDEA. IN FACT, THAT UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII CASE, THERE HAD BEEN A PRIOR ACCIDENT ON A SMALL SCALE, AND THEN THEY DECIDED TO GO AHEAD, SO YOU HAD THAT KIND OF -- REPORTED, IT PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN STOPPED. THAT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT. PAMELA. >> THANKS FOR BRINGING UP THE ISSUES AROUND SAFETY AND IN PARTICULAR THE CULTURE OF SAFETY. WE UNFORTUNATELY HAD AN ACCIDENT THAT DEALT WITH WHAT WAS PERCEIVED TO BE AFTERWARDS, AND KEEPING IN MIND STUDENTS AND THE FACT THAT THEY GET HIGHLY FOCUSED, SO WHEN YOU ARE AT THAT STAGE WHEN YOU'RE DISCARDING MATERIALS, YOU START TO THINK, OH, EVERYTHING IS OVER, BUT OF COURSE THAT'S ACTUALLY A TIME THAT IF YOU PUT THE WRONG THING IN THE WRONG BUCKET, BAD THINGS CAN HAPPEN. SO ONE OF THE CHANGES THAT TOOK PLACE WAS TO CREATE A CURRICULUM WHERE EACH LABORATORY ACTUALLY HAD THE DISCARDING OF THE MATERIALS AS PART OF THE PROTOCOL SO THAT THE STUDENT DOESN'T, LIKE, SIGN OFF IN TERMS OF THEIR THINKING, BUT I THINK IT'S REALLY THIS NOTION ABOUT THE CULTURE OF THE SAFETY AND THEN REMEMBERING THAT PEOPLE ARE NEW TO IT AND SO HOW TO ENGAGE THE STUDENTS IN THAT WAY. >> THAT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT. >> BACK ON THE CULTURE OF SAFETY. SO IT IS A BIG DEAL IN INDUSTRY, AND THE GUIDELINES ARE SUPER STRICT. ONE OF THE THINGS WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT IS THAT YOU GET THE BEHAVIOR YOU REWARD. BEING SAFE SHOULD BE REWARD ENOUGH, BUT KIDS THINK THEY'RE INVINCIBLE. SO WE SET UP INCENTIVES SO WE GET THE BEHAVIOR WE WANT TO REWARD, AND SO WE HAVE AN INCENTIVE SYSTEM TO STAY SAFE. IT ALSO ENDS UP IN YOUR YEAR-END REVIEW, YOU'RE RATED AND IF YOU GET A POOR RATING, IT CAN AFFECT YOUR YEAR-END BENEFIT. >> THAT'S A VERY GOOD POINT. VERY GOOD POINT. CELESTE. >> I ALSO WANTED TO COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU BROUGHT UP ABOUT THE WEBSITE THAT DESCRIBES THE RIGOR AND REPRODUCIBILITY. THE ONES THAT ARE THERE ARE REALLY NICE. THEY'RE SHORT, SOMETHING THAT STUDENTS WILL ACTUALLY LOOK AT BECAUSE THEY'RE SHORT. FACULTY TOO. AND ALSO THAT'S NOT JUST DESCRIBING A PARTICULAR TOPIC SUCH AS DID THEY DO THE RIGHT STATISTICS, BUT IT REVEALS THE CULTURE OF STUDY SECTION OR INTERACTIONS IN THE LAB OR OTHER KINDS OF THINGS. SO IF THE SAFETY ISSUES COULD HAVE BOTH THOSE COMPONENTS, THAT MAKES THEM DOUBLE THE RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT. >> THAT GOES TO ANGELA'S POINT AS WELL. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH, GOOD DISCUSSION. I THINK WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON NOW. AM I CORRECT, ERICA? OKAY. AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO HEAR FROM PETER ESPENSHADE, WHO HAS CO-CHAIRED THE WORKING GROUP OR COUNCIL THAT WAS EVALUATING OUR SCORE PROGRAM. IT'S MY PLEASURE TODAY TO PRESENT THE WORK OF THE NIGMS WORKING GROUP THAT WAS CHARGED WITH EVALUATING THE SCORE PROGRAM, WHICH STANDS FOR SUPPORT FOR COMPETTIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM. AND SO THE FIRST LITTLE BIT OF AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SCORE PROGRAM, SCORE STANDS FOR SUPPORT FOR COMPETITIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM. THE SCORE PROGRAM COMPRISES THREE FUNDING MECHANISMS. THEY'RE REFERRED TO AS SC1, SC2, SC3, AND THE GOALS OF SCORE ARE TO SUPPORT THE RESEARCH AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT AT INSTITUTIONS SERVING UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS. IN ADDITION, ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS HAVE RECEIVED LESS THAN $6 MILLION IN THE PAST YEAR OF R01 FUNDING. THESE AWARDS ARE MADE FOR INVESTIGATOR INITIATED PROJECTS. INVESTIGATORS ARE ULTIMATELY EXPECTED TO OBTAIN AND TRANSITION TO NON-SCORE FUNDING. SO THIS IS ONE OF THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF SCORE TO MOVE FROM SCORE-BASED FUNDING TO OTHER FORMS OF NIH FUNDING. SO I HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF CO-CHAIRING THIS GROUP WITH KAYE HUSBANDS-FEALING, AND WE WERE JOINED BY SEVEN EXPERTS OF CURRENT AND FORMER COUNCILMEMBERS AS WELL AS OTHER NATIONAL EXPERTS IN THE FIELD. THE STAFF PROVIDED US WITH COMPREHENSIVE DATA ON THE DATA ON SCORE APPLICATIONS, AWARDS, TRENDS, OUTCOMES. AND THIS WAS USED TO FORM THE BASIS OF OUR EVALUATION. SO BEFORE I GET INTO SOME OF THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE WORKING GROUP, I JUST WANTED TO PROVIDE SOME BACKGROUND FOR THESE THREE DIFFERENT FUNDING MECHANISMS, AND FOR COUNCILMEMBERS, THERE IS A REFERENCE OF THIS SLIDE IN YOUR FOLDERS. THIS IS PRIMARILY BECAUSE ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT COMES OUT OF THE GROUP IS TO ALTER THESE FUNDING MECHANISMS OR WE AT LEAST RECOMMEND THAT. SO THERE ARE THREE. SC1, SC2 AND SC3. THIS SLIDE SHOWS A SUMMARY OF THE FUNDING IN TERMS OF DIRECT COST PER YEAR, THE NUMBER OF YEARS OF THESE AWARDS, WHETHER THEY'RE RENEWABLE OR NOT, AND PRINCE PRINCIPALLY THE AWARD GOALS. SO WHILE THEY'RE NUMBERED SC1, 2 AND 3, TH E PLAN TRAJECTORY FOR APPLICANTS IN THIS PROGRAM IS TO ENTER INTO THIS SC2 FUNDING MECHANISM. HERE YOU'RE NOT REQUIRED TO HAVE ANY PRIOR SUPPORT, YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE PRELIMINARY DATA, AND THE GOAL OF THIS MECHANISM IS TO GENERATE PRELIMINARY DATA, AND THEN TO USE THIS SC2 AWARD TO THEN APPLY FOR ONE OF THE OTHER TWO MECHANISMS IN SCORE. EITHER SC1, WHICH IS ON THE LEVEL OF AN R01-TYPE FUNDING SUPPORT WHERE IT'S ROUGHLY $250,000 FOR FOUR YEARS AND CAN BE RENEWED ONCE, OR A SMALLER GRANT, SC3 MECHANISM, WHERE IT'S AROUND $75,000 FOR FOUR YEARS, AND THESE CAN BE RENEWED INDEFINITELY. SO THE IDEA IS THAT YOU ENTER THE PROGRAM AS AN SC2 AWARDEE, AND THEN THERE ARE TWO ROUTES, EITHER THE SC1 OR SC3, AND THEY HAVE DIFFERENT MECHANISMS FOR RENEWALS. IN BOTH CASES WITH SC1 AND 3, THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS THAT PEOPLE LEAVE THE SCORE PROGRAM AND MOVE ON TO OTHER FORMS OF NIH FUNDING. AND THIS IS JUST SHOWING AS AN EXAMPLE OF THESE AN R01 FUNDING. SO WITH THAT BACKGROUND, THE WORKING GROUP WAS ASKED TO ADDRESS THREE QUESTIONS IN ITS EVALUATION. ONE, IS THE SCORE PROGRAM MEETING ITS OBJECTIVES, ARE THE CURRENT PROGRAM OBJECTIVES THE RIGHT ONES, AND WHAT CHALLENGES OR DIFFICULTIES HAS THE SCORE PROGRAM FACED, AND THEN BASED ON THIS, WHAT IS THE GROUP'S KEY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. SO WITH REGARD TO IS THE SCORE PROGRAM MEETING ITS OBJECTIVES, THE GROUP FELT THAT LARGELY THE PROGRAM WAS MEETING ITS CURRENT OBJECTIVES. SO THE DATA SUGGESTS THAT THERE HAVE BEEN INCREASES IN RESEARCH COMPETITIVENESS, INCREASED NUMBER OF UNDERREPRESENTED INVESTIGATORS, INCREASES IN THE NUMBER OF QUALIFYING LABORATORIES, BUT ONE OF THE PRINCIPLE OBJECTIVES WAS TO HAVE SCORE FUNDED SIGN FISTS MOVE ON FIST TISES FUNDING SCIENTISTS -- SOME OF THEM WE THOUGHT REQUIRED SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE AND I'LL DETAIL THOSE IN THE RECOMMENDATIONS. WITH REGARD TO THE CHALLENGES OR DIFFICULTIES THE PROGRAMS FACED, IT WAS CLEAR THAT INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS AS WELL AS INSTITUTIONAL READINESS AND COMMITMENT TO GROWTH AT THE RESEARCH INSTITUTION WAS UNEVEN AMONG AWARDING INSTITUTIONS. IN ADDITION, THESE SCORE AWARDS ARE CONCENTRATED IN TOO FEW COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS. I'LL SHOW YOU A SLIDE THAT SUPPORTS THAT CONCLUSION, ONLY 30% OF SCORE AWARDEES AND APPLICANTS ARE GROUPS OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITIES, AND WHILE THIS SC2 FUNDING MECHANISM, AGAIN I MENTION THAT THE GOAL OF THAT IS TO HAVE PEOPLE MOVE ON INTO EITHER THE SC1 OR SC3, IT WAS FOUNDED ONLY 57% OF THOSE AWARDEES ACTUALLY SUBMITTED A SUBSEQUENT APPLICATION FOR ONE OF THOSE MECHANISMS. AND THAT SEEMED TO BE MISSING THE MARK. SO WHAT ARE THE KEY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE GROUP? THIS IS A SUMMARY AND THEN I'LL GO THROUGH THESE FIVE ONE BY ONE. THERE ARE FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS THE WORKING GROUP MADE. ONE, TO MODIFY THE PROGRAM'S OBJECTIVES WITH THE GOAL OF CATALYZING INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR SCORE FUNDED INVESTIGATORS. TWO, TO REVISE THE SCORE OUTCOMES FOR THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS INVOLVED. THREE, TO MODIFY THE PROGRAM OBJECTIVES WITH THE GOAL OF PRIORITIZING INCREASING THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS WHO ARE ACTUALLY ENGAGED IN THE QUALITY OF RESEARCH. AGAIN, THESE ARE ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS PRIMARILY OR HAVE LARGE NUMBERS OF UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS. FOUR, REVISE OR CONSOLIDATE FUNDING MECHANISMS TO MEET SOME OF THESE REVISED OBJECTIVES, AND FIFTH, TO DEVELOP PROSPECTIVE EVALUATION PLAN THAT ALIGNS THE DATA COLLECTION FOR THESE PROGRAMS WITH THE NEW OBJECTIVES. SO RECOMMENDATION ONE. THE GROUP RECOMMENDED THAT THEIR NIGMS MODIFY THE PROGRAM OBJECTIVES TO CATALYZE INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR SCORE FUNDED INVESTIGATORS. SO THE SUGGESTED ACTION ITEMS ARE: TO REQUIRE A PLAN IN THE APPLICATION, TO REQUIRE A PLAN FOR INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH CAPACITY. ONE OF THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROGRAM IS AT THESE INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE ELIGIBLE, THEY HAVE LOW LEVELS OF NIH R01 FUNDING BUT TO INCENTIVIZE THOSE INSTITUTIONS TO PROVIDE AND THEIR RESEARCH PROGRAMS TO PROVIDE THOSE TYPES OF SUPPORT THAT WILL ALLOW INVESTIGATORS TO FLOURISH AND TO GROW THE OVERALL CAPACITY FOR RESEARCH. WE'D LIKE IN THE APPLICATION TO REQUIRE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW THAT WILL HAPPEN, AS WELL AS TO REQUIRE MORE SPECIFIC PLANS FOR SUPPORT OF THE INDIVIDUAL PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS IN THE PROGRAM. SO THE RATIONALE FOR THIS RECOMMENDATION IS THAT THE DATA SHOWED THAT THE AWARDS ARE HIGHLY CONCENTRATED IN A FEW COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS. AND WE TOOK THIS TO MEAN THAT THERE WERE VARYING LEVELS OF INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY TO SUPPORT APPLICANTS AND AWARDEES. SO THIS IS DEMONSTRATED HERE ON THE RIGHT, WHICH ON THE Y AXIS IS REPRESENTING THE NUMBER OF INSTITUTIONS AND FOR EACH, HOW MANY AWARDS THEY HAD ON THE X. SO WHAT YOU CAN SEE IS THAT THE MAJORITY OF INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE ELIGIBLE HAVE VERY FEW SCORE AWARDS. A FEW INSTITUTIONS THAT REL IJIBLE THAT ARE ELIGIBLE HAVE A LARGE AMOUNT OF AWARLDZ, SUCH THAT 42% OF ALL SCORE AWARDS ARE CONCENTRATED IN THREE OF THE 83 ELIGIBLE UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS. TO US, THIS SUGGESTED THOSE SYSTEMS WERE DOING AN EXCELLENT JOB, ENCOURAGING SUPPORTING AND PROVIDING THE RESEARCH CAPACITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE FOR FACULTY TO DO THE RESEARCH WHEN THEY'RE AWARDED AND THAT MAYBE OTHERS AREN'T RISING TO THAT LEVEL OF SUPPORT. SO WE FELT THAT THERE WAS A NEED TO INCREASE INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT FOR THIS, AND REALLY, TO DESIGN THE OBJECTIVES SUCH THAT YOU CATALYZE CHANGE SO THAT REALLY MORE OF THESE INSTITUTIONS ARE MOVING OUT ON THIS CURVE. WITH REGARD TO RECOMMENDATION TWO, IT'S TO REVISE THE SCORE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR EXPECTED OUTCOMES. SO THE SUGGESTED ACTION ITEMS ARE TO EXPAND THE DEFINITION OF QUALIFYING FUNDING BEYOND SCORE TO INCLUDE NON-R01 FUNDING OR NOT TO SIMPLY HAVE IT TARGETED AROUN RO # FUNDING AS THE GOAL AND ALSO TO DEFINE COMPETITIVENESS TO ALIGN WITH THE SCORE GOALS. SO THE RATIONALE FOR THIS IS THAT THE WORKING GROUP LEAD RESEARCH EXCELLENCE AS THE PRIORITY AND REALLY THE DATA PRESENTED THAT THE SCORE AWARDEES RARELY APPLY FOR OR RECEIVE R01s. SO THIS GRAPH HERE, AGAIN NOTE THE Y HERE, THE FRACTION OF INVESTIGATORS, EITHER SCORE AWARDES IN THE SOLID LINE OR SCORE UNFUNDED APPLICANTS. SO THOSE ARE APPLICANTS WHO APPLIED BUT DIDN'T RECEIVE SCORE FUNDING, AND WHEN THEY WERE TRACKED TO SEE WHETHER THEY RECEIVED FUTURE R01 EQUIVALENT FUNDING, THERE'S ESSENTIALLY NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE WHO RECEIVED THE SCORE FUNDING AND THOSE WHO DIDN'T RECEIVE THE SCORE FUNDING IN TERMS OF THIS EXPECTED OUTCOME, THAT THEY WOULD MOVE FROM SCORE FUNDING INTO R01 EQUIVALENT TYPE FUNDING. SO THAT BEING THE CASE AND THIS PROGRAM HAS RUN LONG ENOUGH WE FELT THAT IT'S STILL IMPORTANT TO SUPPORT THESE INSTITUTIONS AND THE FACULTY THERE, BUT THAT THIS MAYBE ISN'T THE RIGHT OUTCOME, IT WITH THE PROGRAM. ALSO, AS WRITTEN, A GOAL OF THE PROGRAM IS RESEARCH COMPETITIVENESS, BUT THIS WAS NOT DEFINED VERY CAREFULLY. SO WE FELT THAT THERE NEEDED TO BE MORE CLAIREITY AROUND THAT CLARITY AROU ND THAT GOAL. RECOMMENDATION THREE FROM THE GROUP IS MODIFY PROGRAM OBJECTIVES TO PRIORITIZE INCREASING THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS ENGAGED IN QUALITY RESEARCH. SO SUGGESTED ACTION ITEMS ARE: TO CLARIFY STUDENT INVOLVEMENT IN SCORE SUPPORTED RESEARCH IN THE FOA, AND TO PREPARE A PROSPECTIVE EVALUATION OF STUDENT INVOLVEMENT IN SCORE. SO THE RATIONALE HERE IS THAT THERE'S CLEARLY NEED TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS ENGAGED IN HIGH QUALITY MOTIVATING RESEARCH WITH THE GOAL OF PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION OF UNDERREPRESENTED FACULTY. AND AS WRITTEN, SCORE FUNDING IS NOT ALLOWED TO BE USED TO FUND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, OR THERE'S A LACK OF CLARITY AROUND THAT. AND IT SEEMS AS THOUGH ONE OF THE GOALS AT THESE INSTITUTIONS IS TO PROVIDE HIGH QUALITY RESEARCH ENVIRONMENTS IN WHICH UNDERGRADUATES WILL TRAIN, BUT YET THEIR FUNDING -- WHETHER THEY COULD USE IT WAS AMBIGUOUS AND WE'RE RECOMMENDING THE OBJECTIVES BE ALIGNED AS WELL AS LATER I'LL TALK ABOUT AN EVALUATION PLAN TO MEET THIS GOAL. FOUR, REVISE OR CONSOLIDATE FUNDING MECHANISMS. SO THE WORKING GROUP IS SUGGESTING THAT THIS LARGER R01-LIKE FUNDING MECHANISM CALLED SC1 BE ELIMINATED, THAT THE SMALLER SC3 MECHANISM, WHICH IS RENEWABLE AN INDEFINITE NUMBER OF TIMES BE STRENGTHENED, PRINCIPALLY THAT RESOURCES BE SHIFTED FROM THESE LARGER GRANTS TO THESE GRANTS THAT COULD BE RENEWED INDEFINITELY, AND THAT THIS ON RAMP OF THE SC2 REMAIN. SO THE RATIONALE HERE IS THAT THE SC1 HAD THE OPPORTUNITY FOR ONE RENEWAL, AND IT ALSO IS THE CASE THAT MANY WEREN'T TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THAT MECHANISM, BUT THESE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THESE ACTIONS WOULD ALLOW OR WOULD INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD THAT THERE BE CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN SCORE, AND ALSO AS NOTED, VERY FEW OF THESE SC1 AWARDEES WERE GOING ON TO GET R01s AND THIS DATA, THE GRAPH HERE SHOWS THAT ACTUALLY AWARDEINGS FROM EACH OF THE THREE MECHANISMS, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS MOVING TO NON-SCORE FUNDING OR OTHER TYPES OR R01 EQUIVALENT FUNDING. ALSO THESE ACTIONS WOULD SUPPORT INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING THROUGH CONTINUED PARTICIPATION. THE IDEA IS THAT THESE CHANGES TO THE PROGRAM WOULD MAKE IT MORE LIKELY THAT PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS WOULD STAY INVOLVED IN THE SCORE PROGRAM WHICH WOULD ENCOURAGE THOSE INSTITUTIONS TO PROVIDE THE TYPE OF INFRASTRUCTURE KNOWING THAT THERE'S AN EXPECTATION THERE WOULD BE SOME FLOW OR REGULAR FLOW OF SCORE FUNDING INTO THE INSTITUTION. AND FINALLY, THIS WOULD STABILIZE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS. IF YOU DON'T THINK YOU'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO RENEW YOUR SC3 GRANT AND IT'S $75,000 A YEAR, IT'S VERY HARD TO DO THIS IN A VERY SHORT TERM AND TO BUILD A CULTURE IN YOUR LABORATORY OF BEING ABLE TO FUND STUDENT RESEARCH. SO FINALLY, WITH RECOMMENDATION 5, THE WORKING GROUP FELT THAT THERE WAS A NEED TO DEVELOP A PROSPECTIVE EVALUATION PLAN THAT ALIKES WITH THESE NEW OBJECTIVES AS RECOMMENDED IN THE PREVIOUS FOUR RECOMMENDATIONS, AND THE RATIONALE HERE IS THAT THE NEEDS TO BE ROBUST, COMPLETE EVALUATION DATA AND SPECIFICALLY NIGMS'S STRATEGIC PLAN AS A KEY COMPONENT OF IT THAT EVALUATION IS REALLY A PRIORITY, AND SO AS WE WERE RECOMMENDING THAT AS THESE OBJECTIVES BE EXAMINED, THAT IF THEY ARE REVISED, THERE BE AN EVALUATION PLANNED TO ALIGN WITH THOSE NEW OBJECTIVES. SO AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE THAT IF THE GOAL IS REFOCUSED, THEIR OBJECTIVES ARE REFOCUSED TO INCREASE STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN SCORE FUNDED RESEARCH, THAT THESE DATA NEED TO BE COLLECTED. SO FINALLY, I WANTED TO SUMMARIZE ON THIS SLIDE THE CONCLUSIONS OR RECOMMENDATIONS OF ALL OF THE COUNCIL'S WORKING GROUP, AND THAT IS THAT SCORE IS MEETING MANY OF ITS CURRENT OBJECTIVES, SO IT HAS INCREASED THE NUMBER OF LABORATORIES AND UNDERREPRESENTED PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS, IN ADDITION TO INCREASING THESE INVESTIGATORS' RESEARCH COMPETITIVENESS. BUT ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVES WAS TO FACILITATE THIS TRANSITION TO NON-SCORE FUNDING AND THAT'S NOT OCCURRING SO GIVEN THIS, I MENTIONED SOME REASONS AS TO WHY WE FELT THIS WAY, WE'RE RECOMMENDING THE OBJECTIVES SHOULD BE EXAMINED AND APPROPRIATELY MODIFIED WITH MORE EMPHASIS NEEDED ON THIS INSTITUTIONAL ROLE IN SCORE, I THINK THE GROUP FELT THAT ONE OF THE GOALS OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO CATALYZE INSTITUTIONS TO PROVIDE THE INFRASTRUCTURE SO THE FACULTY CAN GET HIGH QUALITY RESEARCH DONE AND THAT THAT WOULD ALLOW OR INCREASE THE NUMBER OF TRAINING ENVIRONMENTS FOR STUDENTS AT THESE INSTITUTIONS. AND SO WE BELIEVE THAT MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE TO SORT OF KICK START THIS OR TO MOTIVATE THOSE INSTITUTIONS. AND THAT SUPPORTING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENT RESEARCH AS I SAID SHOULD BE AN EXPLICIT PROGRAM GOAL, AND FINALLY, WE THINK THAT ONE WAY TO DO THIS WOULD BE TO SHIFT RESOURCES FROM THIS SC1 FUNDING MECHANISM TO -- OR STRENGTHENING THIS SC3 FUNDING MECHANISM. SO WITH THAT, IT WAS A PLEASURE TO WORK WITH THIS GROUP OF OUTSTANDING PEOPLE, EXPERTS IN THE FIELD, AND I WANT TO THANK KAYE HUSBANDS-FEALING FOR CO-CHAIRING THIS WITH ME, SQUIRE BOOKER IS HERE WHO CAN HELP ANSWER QUESTIONS AND I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS. [APPLAUSE] >> FIRST I WANT TO THANK YOU AND THE GROUP, PETER, YOU GUYS DID A FANTASTIC JOB. I THINK THIS IS A VERY IMPRESSIVE REPORT AND IT WAS A VERY IMPRESSIVE GROUP, WELL LED BY YOU AND KAYE. >> IT WAS WONDERFUL TO WORK WITH YOUR STAFF. THEY WERE OUTSTANDING AND MADE IT -- >> YOU GO AHEAD AND CALL ON PEOPLE. >> THIS IS GREAT. AND I WILL SECOND THE THREE CHEERS FOR THE ANALYTIC STAFF. SO WHAT HAPPENED IN 2014 AND WHAT LESSON IS THERE? SOMETHING AMAZING THAT HAPPENED IN 2014 THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN IN 2015 OR 16 WHERE SUDDENLY APPLICATIONS APPEARED AGAIN? >> I THINK IT'S SMALL NUMBERS, IT COULD HAVE BEEN JUST ONE OR TWO PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY RECEIVED R01 FUNDING THERE. >> CAN ANYONE SPEAK TO THE RAW DATA? >> RIGHT, IT'S A TOTAL OF FIVE AWARDS IN THAT YEAR. >> GOT IT. OKAY. >> ENRIQUE. >> GOING TO THAT TABLE OF ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS AND THAT FEW ARE ACTUALLY RECEIVNG IT, IS THERE SOMETHING KNOWN ABOUT THE SUBMISSIONS OF ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS, LIKE WHAT FRACTION OF ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS APPLY WITH SOME SCALING FOR THEIR SIZE? SO IS THE CLUSTERING A CONSEQUENCE OF INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR PREPARING GRANTS, CARRYING OUT THE GOALS, OR IS IT JUST A LACK OF SUBMISSIONS FROM A LARGE FRACTION OF SCHOOLS BECAUSE THEY HAVE FEWER COLLEAGUES THAT ARE ENCOURAGING THEM TO DO SO? >> THAT'S AB EXCELLET QUESTION, AND IF SOMEONE KNOWS THOSE DATA MORE SPECIFICALLY, FEEL FREE TO ANSWER. I THINK IN GENERAL THAT APPLICATIONS WOULD CORRELATE WITH THE SUCCESS HERE, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAD THIS PLOTTED BY SUCCESS RATE WHICH IS MAYBE ONE OF YOUR QUESTIONS TOO LIKE, YOU KNOW, DO THOSE INSTITUTIONS HAVE A HIGHER SUCCESS RATE OR -- >> THAT'S PRECISELY MY QUESTION, ARE THOSE BIG BLOCK SCHOOLS MORE LIKELY TO GET AN AWARD FOR JUST -- >> JAKE DID ALL THE DATA ANALYSIS. >> THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION IS YES ON ALL FRONTS. IT'S PARTLY A MASS ACTION, JUST THE SIZE, BUT MANY OF THE SCHOOLS, I THINK THERE ARE ZERO APPLICATIONS FROM AT ALL, AND OF COURSE IF YOU DON'T APPLY, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET IT: SOME OF THE SCHOOLS DON'T HAVE SPONSORED RESEARCH OFFICES, WHICH IS A SIGNIFICANT -- HOW CAN YOU APPLY FOR A GRANT, THE CULTURE OF WHETHER OR NOT PEOPLE ARE EXPECTED TO OR ENCOURAGED TO APPLY FOR GRANTS, SO MULTIFACTORIAL, I THINK. >> SHOULD THERE BE SOME MECHANISM OR AT LEAST AN AWARENESS THAT CASTING A WIDER NET SHOULD BE PART OF THE MISSION. >> THIS IS SOMETHING I BROUGHT UP IN OUR MEETING BECAUSE I NOTICED THAT RIGHT OFF THE BAT, THAT SCORE RECIPIENTS WERE CONCENTRATED AMONG JUST A VERY FEW SCHOOLS, OR LIKE THE CAL STATE SYSTEM, FOR EXAMPLE, AND A COUPLE OF OTHER SCHOOLS, BUT IT WAS CLEAR THAT IT WAS NOT A MECHANISM THAT WAS BROADLY BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF, AND ZOO WE TALKED ABOUT WAYS TO AMELIORATE THAT. >> THAT MAY NEED SOME MORE INVESTIGATION AS TO EXACTLY WHY THAT IS, WHETHER IT'S SIMPLY COMMUNICATING OUT THE OPPORTUNITY OR WHETHER IT'S -- COMMUNICATING THE OPPORTUNITY, WHETHER THEY CAN SUPPORT THE OPPORTUNITY. >> AND THAT ALSO APPLIES TO THE R01, WHICH YOU SHOWED THEY ARE BOTH LESS LIKELY TO APPLY AND LESS LIKELY TO RECEIVE THE AWARD. WHICH IS A CONCERN, BUT AT LEAST THE PROBLEM IS WELL-DEFINED. >> ANGELA. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THE COMMITTEE AND TO DR. ESPENSHADE FOR THE INFORMATION. MY QUESTION IS FOLLOWING UP ON DR. DE LA CRUZ'S COMMENT AND THAT IS, DID YOU ALL LEARN ANYTHING FROM THE AWARDEES THEMSELVES ABOUT THE BARRIERS TO FURTHER SUBMISSION OF OTHER APPLICATIONS? >> WE DIDN'T HAVE -- THERE'S NO FEEDBACK FROM AWARDEES SPECIFICALLY THAT WE SAW. >> SO MY QUESTION IS REALLY AROUND WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE FACILITATING CONDITIONS FOR APPLYING FOR OTHER TYPES OF MECHANISMS, AND IS IT BEYOND THE INSTITUTIONAL REPORT BUT REALLY THINKING ABOUT THE RESEARCH PROGRAMS THAT ARE BEING CONSIDERED AND FUNDING THROUGH THE SCORE MECHANISMS, WOULD THEY BE COMPETITIVE, FOR EXAMPLE, FOR R SERIES FUNDING, ARE THERE OTHER DYNAMICS I THINK THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED AND LEARNED FROM THE AWARDEES THEMSELVES? >> THE PANEL INCLUDED MEMBERS FROM SCORE ELIGIBLE IPS TEUTIONS SO THEY WERE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT PERSPECTIVE BUT WE DIDN'T HEAR FROM AWARDEES SPECIFICALLY. CATHY? >> I'M WONDERING WHETHER YOU HAVE DATA REGARDING [INAUDIBLE]. THIS IS CERTAINLY A PLACE WHERE THE -- CAN PROVIDE GREAT SUPPORT FOR THEIR INSTITUTIONS TO REALLY BECOME MORE EDUCATED ABOUT THIS KIND OF FUNDING MECHANISM AND HOW THE BROADER STATEWIDE INFRASTRUCTURE -- MECHANISMS CAN REALLY SUPPORT THOSE INSTITUTIONS AND THE INVESTIGATORS. >> I THINK -- WE DIDN'T DISCUSS THAT SPECIFICALLY. I'M SURE -- THERE WAS DISCUSSION ABOUT WHETHER THE FORMATION OF CONSORTIA WOULD BE HELPFUL HERE IN SOME WAY OR SHARED INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SUPPORT OF THE ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS AS ONE POSSIBILITY OF HOW TO -- AND A RESOURCE LIMITED ENVIRONMENT HOW TO FACILITATE THIS APPLICATION. PAMELA. >> TO FURTHER THAT, WITH REGARDS TO SAY THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM, TWICE A YEAR, THE CHIEF RESEARCH OFFICERS MEET SO THERE'S AN EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION AND SO THERE'S AN AWARENESS INSTITUTIONALLY, AND THEN MY COLLEAGUE TO MY LEFT HERE JUST BROUGHT UP THE ISSUE OF AWARENESS. SO WHEN YOU'RE INTERVIEWING WITH AN INSTITUTION AND THEY'RE ASKING YOU WHAT YOUR PLANS ARE AS A BEGINNING FACULTY MEMBER, ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT THESE MECHANISMS. SO IT JUST BRINGS IN THE AWARENESS STRAIGHT UP. >> NIGMS USED TO RUN A -- SORT OF A GRANT-WRITING AND MENTORING WORKSHOP FOR EARLY CAREER INVESTIGATORS, WHICH I THOUGHT AT THE TIME WAS A LITTLE BITTY LEETEST BECAUSE YOU HAD ALL THE PEOPLE FROM THE BEST SCHOOLS SHOWING UP. >> IT WAS ONLY IN CHEMISTRY. >> RIGHT, IT WAS IN CHEMISTRY AND IT WAS IN CHEMICAL BIOLOGY AND SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY. I'M WONDERING, WOULD IT BE WORTH CONSIDERING DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT WHERE YOU FOCUS ON PEOPLE FROM THESE TYPES OF INSTITUTIONS, YOU KNOW? >> SO I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA. ONE RESOURCE THAT EXISTS THAT WE MANAGE ALREADY IS THE NATIONAL RESEARCH MENTORING NETWORK, WHICH HAS JUST THOSE THINGS, SO I THINK THE PLACE TO START WOULD BE TO ENCOURAGE ADDITIONAL USE, AND THE DATA WE HAVE SO FAR ARE PRETTY ENCOURAGING FROM THOSE GRANT-WRITING WORKSHOPS ABOUT HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE GOING ON TO GET COMPETITIVE AWARDS. >> THE CURRENT APPLICATION REQUIRES A PROFESIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN OR CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE INVESTIGATOR, BUT MAYBE THERE COULD BE MORE SPECIFICITY ABOUT HOW FUNDS WOULD BE PROVIDED BY THE INSTITUTION TO SUPPORT GRANT-WRITING COURSES OR THINGS LIKE THAT. RON. >> I'M STILL MESMERIZED WITH THE TOP THREE TAKING ESSENTIALLY THE WHOLE KIT AND KA BOO DELL, AND YET LESS THAN HALF DON'T APPLY TO R01. AND THE QUESTION IS, SO WHAT'S UNIQUE ABOUT THIS PERFECT RECIPE TO BRING IN SCORE APPLICATIONS IN, GET THEM FUNDED, VERSUS THOSE THAT ARE ACTUALLY SUCCESSFUL IN GETTING R01s, WHAT'S THE GAP THERE THAT COULD BE HELPING -- >> SO THE COMPARATIVE GROUPS, I DIDN'T HIGHLIGHT THIS IN THAT SUMMARY OF THE DIFFERENT MECHANISMS. SO IN TERMS OF THE COMPARATIVE GROUPS FOR THE SC -- WHAT WAS IT, THE SC3 WAS CERTAINLY THE R15, AND THEN THE KO1 WAS THE SC2. SO THOSE ARE THE COMPARATIVE GROUPS THERE. BUT YOUR POINT IS -- SORRY, REPEAT YOUR QUESTION AGAIN. I APOLOGIZE. >> I GUESS THE QUESTION IS BASICALLY THIS: YOU'VE GOT GREAT INSTITUTES THAT GET A LOT OF R01s. YOURS, FOR EXAMPLE, RIGHT? YOU'VE GOT THESE GROUPS THAT ARE GETTING A LOT OF SCORE. WHAT'S THE GAP? THEY'RE NOT GETTING AN R01. BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY THEY'RE DOING GOOD RESEARCH. AND YET IT SEEMS LIKE IT SPUTTERS OUT OR FALTERS, OR DO THEY MOVE? >> SO I SHOULD SAY, SO THE SCORE AWARDEES WERE -- SAY FOR THE SC2 WHICH I S AID THE KO1 WAS THE COMPARATOR, THEY ARE ROUGHLY EQUIVALENT IN GETTING SUBSEQUENT FUNDING, THOSE TWO GROUPS. IT'S JUST THAT THE SC2 PEOPLE TEND TO GET SCORE FUNDING AND THE KO1 PEOPLE MOVE INTO THIS R MECHANISM. AND THAT, OF COURSE, FALLS ALONG THOSE LINES AS YOU'D SAY BECAUSE THE K TEND TO BE SORT OF MORE OF THE R01 -- BUT THEN I DON'T KNOW WHETHER IT'S JUST THE EXPECTATION THAT FOR PROMOTION THAT'S PART OF IT. I MEAN, THERE COULD BE MANY REASONS THAT UNDERLIE THIS. CERTAINLY AT THOSE INSTITUTIONS, YOU KNOW, IT'S THE PRIORITY AT THESE SCORE LEVEL INSTITUTIONS, OBVIOUSLY IT'S NOT THE PRIORITY. MAYBE THAT'S HOW IT BREAKS OUT AMONG THESE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS, MAYBE FOR PROMOTION, THE CAL STATE SYSTEM SAYS YOU'RE FAST TRACK FOR FEDERALLY FUNDED -- >> I THINK TEACHING LOAD IS SOMETHING TO CONSIDER, THERE'S HUGE TEACHING LOADS ON MOST OF THESE INSTITUTIONS. BEHIND YOU, JON. >> THAT'S REPO TENSIONALLY AN OPPORTUNITY TO GO BACK AND DO SOME FACE TO FACE CONVERSATION WITH PREVIOUS AWARDEES. BECAUSE I THINK THE -- YOU CAN INTERPRET THESE DATA AS THERE'S SOMEHOW A BLOCK OR YOU CAN INTERPRET IT AS THERE'S REALLY NO DEMAND. SO THESE PEOPLE ARE WORKING IN THE INSTITUTION THEY'RE WORKING IN FOR A REASON, AND SO IT'S NOT CLEAR TO ME THAT THESE FOLKS ARE NECESSARILY RESOURCE-STAR OFFED -STAFFORD BECAUSE CLEARLY RESEARCH STARVED, I THINK THOSE ONE ON ONE CONVERSATIONS WOULD BE REALLY VALUABLE. BECAUSE I THINK YOU COULD MISINTERPRET THIS AS FAILURE WHERE WHAT IT COULD BE IS SUCCESS IN THE PROGRAMS, WHENEVER YOU START TO THINK ABOUT THIS, HAVE DEVELOPED FACULTY THAT THINK ABOUT THINGS IN A DIFFERENT WAY, BUT THAT'S NOT THEIR JOB. THEIR JOB IS NOT THIS. AND SO I THINK IT'S WORTH MAYBE TALKING TO SOME FOLKS. AND IT'S A SMALL ENOUGH NUMBER. I MEAN, IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT FIVE APPLICANTS IN A YEAR, YOU COULD PROBABLY GET THEM ALL ON THE PHONE, RIGHT? >> WE DO ACTUALLY EVERY YEAR OR EVERY OTHER YEAR HAVE A SCORE MEETING HERE AND HEAR FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY, IF ANYONE WANTS TO ADDRESS THAT. BUT THAT IS AN OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE TO GET THEIR FEEDBACK. THE RECOMMENDATION IT SOUNDED LIKE TO ME WAS WHAT YOU WERE SAYING, WHICH IS THAT THE R01 SHOULD NOT BE THE MAIN OBJECTIVE AND ACTUALLY FOCUS ON MAYBE SUPPORTING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SHOULD BE A SHIFT THAT WE MAKE. >> I THINK WE'RE SORT OF PRESUMING THAT THERE'S SOME SPECIAL SAUCE FOR THESE INSTITUTIONS HERE, AND WE'D LIKE TO SEE THOSE PRACTICES ADOPTED HERE. LAURA, DID YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION? >> JUST ONE COMMENT. SORRY, EVERYBODY IS TURNING YOUR BACK. THIS REQUIREMENT FOR AN INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH CAPACITY PLAN I THINK IS REALLY INTRIGUING. AND PROBABLY COULD STAND TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY IN A LOT OF PLACES BECAUSE IT WILL -- IT COULD BE VALUABLE TO THE P.I.s AND TO THE INSTITUTION TO LOOK AT WHERE DOES THE SCORE PROGRAM FIT RELATIVE TO OTHER THINGS WE HAVE GOING ON LIKE IDEA PROGRAM, DERIVED SUPPORT. WHAT'S THE BIGGER CONNECTEDNESS, AND IT MIGHT ALSO THEN HIGHLIGHT, OH, THERE'S A GAP THAT WE HAVEN'T LEVERAGED, THIS COULD BE PART OF THE REASON SOME OF THE GUYS AREN'T GETTING OVER THE HUMP IF THAT'S THE CASE, OR JUST GIVE A BIGGER SENSE OF WHAT THE LONG TERM GAME IS AND HOW THIS PLAYS INTO IT. SO WHILE IT WILL MAKE SOME OF MY COLLEAGUES AT HOME CRINGE, I THINK THAT COULD BE A REALLY IMPORTANT EVEN SELF-IMPOSED REQUIREMENT IF NOT FORMALIZED. >> JEREMY. >> SO SORT OF MAYBE GOING BACK A LITTLE BIT TO WHAT JOHN WAS TALKING ABOUT, YOU ALMOST HAVE YOUR INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE JUST DISADVANTAGED THEMSELVES, THAT THEY DON'T HAVE THE ABILITY TO ALMOST APPLY TO PEOPLE. SO I'M CURIOUS, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ONE PART OF THE ISSUE, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S ANOTHER PART OF THIS HUGE ISSUE WHICH IS, I DON'T KNOW THE NUMBER OF SCHOOLS, BUT IF THEY'RE JUST NOT EVEN ABLE TO GET INTO THIS PROGRAM, WHAT CAN SORT OF BE DONE TO MAKE IT AN OPTION FOR THEM TO BE HONEST, I GUESS. I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWERS. >> I THINK THAT WILL BE IMPORTANT FOR PROGRAM TO LOOK AT WHEN THEY'RE REVISING OR CONSIDERING THESE RECOMMENDATIONS. THE HISTORY OF THIS WAS THE ORIGINALLY THE SCORE PROGRAM AWARDS WERE GIVEN TO AN INSTITUTION AND THAT INSTITUTION DOLED THEM OUT TO INVESTIGATORS THERE, AND YOU CAN IMAGINE IN THAT FORMAT IT WAS EASIER FOR AN INSTITUTION TO BUILD CAPACITY, SO I THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT POINT. PAMELA. >> JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOU FILTERED IN TERMINAL DEGREES, SO A LOT IN THE CSU, THEY DO HAVE A LOT OF INTERNAL MASTER'S DEGREES, AND JUST WHETHER OR NOT THAT KIND OF CULTURE, AGAIN, THAT NICHE IN TERMS OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE SCORE VERSUS THE R01s SO THAT THE DEGREES OF THE STUDENTS' OBJECTIVES MIGHT BE IMPORTANT. >> WE DIDN'T THINK ABOUT THE TYPES OF DEGREE PROGRAMS AT ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS. >> OKAY. THAT WAS A FANTASTIC DISCUSSION. AGAIN, THANK YOU TO YOU AND THE GROUP, TO EVERYONE. [APPLAUSE] WE'RE NOW GOING TO TAKE A 15-MINUTE BREAK, SO IF YOU COULD COME BACK AT QUARTER PAST, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. DR. TROMBERG IS THE DIRECTOR OF NIBIB. PRIOR TO JOINING NIH IN 2019, HE WAS A PROFESSOR OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AND SURGERY AND THE DIRECTOR OF THE BECKMANN LASER INSTITUTE AND MEDICAL CLINIC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE. HE SPECIALIZINGS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF OPTICS AND PHOTONICS AND HAS CO-AUTHORED MORE THAN 450 PUBLICATIONS AND HOLDS 19 PATENTS IN NEW TECHNOLOGIES, AS WELL AS BENCH TO BEDSIDE CLINICAL TRANSLATIONAL VALIDATION AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF DEVICES. HE'S RECEIVED NUMEROUS AWARDS INCLUDING THE R & D 100 AWARD, THE MICHAEL FELD BIOTONICS AWARD, THE DIRECTORS AWARD FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF OPTICAL ENGINEERING AND IS A FELLOW THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERS AND HE IS ALSO A REALLY COOL GLIE, GUY, I WILL TELL YOU. BRUCE, THANK YOU FOR COMING. [APPLAUSE] >> THANK YOU, JON. JON IS MY OFFICIAL MENTOR OH SO I REALLY LUCKED OUT, WE GET TO HAVE LUNCHES ONCE A MONTH OR MAYBE EVERY COUPLE WEEKS. SO I'VE BEEN HERE FOR A YEAR, AND WITHIN MY SECOND WEEK OR SO, I GOT TO JOIN JON'S DATA SCIENCE -- I'M CO-CHAIR OF THE SCIENTIFIC DATA COUNCIL ALONG WITH JON AND SUSAN. I THOUGHT I KNEW WHAT DATA SCIENCE WAS BUT I HAD NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS UNTIL I JOINED THE NIH. SO THAT'S BEEN VERY EXCITING. SO WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO IS GIVE YOU A FLAVOR FOR THE NIBIB. I HAVE A LOT OF KIND OF EYE CANDY AND A NICE VIDEO, BUT HOPEFULLY DEEP INSIDE THERE, YOU'LL GET AN IDEA OF WHAT OUR STRATEGY IS AND WHAT OUR PHILOSOPHY IS, AND HOW WE'RE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT FROM ALL THE OTHER INSTITUTES, BUT REALLY QUITE CENTRAL IN THE MISSION OF THE NIH. YOU ARE FROM ACADEMICS AND YOU KNOW IT'S REALLY EASY TO GET PEOPLE TOGETHER AND TAKE GROUP PHOTOS. THAT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE AT THE NIH. THAT WAS ONE OF MY EARLY AMBITIONS. THIS IS ABOUT HALF OF NIBIB, AND WE'VE BEEN HAVING VARIOUS RETREATS MOTIVATED BY FOOD, WHICH -- THAT'S NOT A TRIVIAL THING EITHER, AS YOU KNOW, SO WE'VE HAD TO USE CREATIVE FOOD GENERATION EXERCISE. SO I'D LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THIS WHOLE CREW, AND IN PARTICULAR, POINT OUT OUR LEADERSHIP, THE INTERIM DIRECTOR UNTIL I CAME ON BOARD LAST YEAR, DAVID GEORGE, THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, RICHARD LEAPMAN, OUR SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR, CHRIS CANDARPA AND JASON FORD. SO THIS IS THE LEADERSHIP TEAM WHO, IN ADDITION TO JON, HAVE MENTORED ME QUITE A LOT AND HELPED ME UNDERSTAND HOW THE NIH WORKS. I'VE PROJECTED BASED ON MY MODELING AND COMPUTATION THAT IT WILL BE THREE YEARS BEFORE I FULLY UNDERSTAND HOW THE NIH WORKS, SO I'M ABOUT A THIRD OF THE WAY IN. SO AS JON MENTIONED, MY BACKGROUND IS IN OPTICS AND PHOTONICS. I WAS SORT OF THE EARLY FORERUNNERS OF THAT FUSION BETWEEN ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE. I WAS JOINTLY APPOINTED IN ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE, I'M KIND OF THE POSTER CHILD FOR THE GROWTH OF OUR FIELD. WE STARTED THAT IN THE LATE 1990s, AND I'LL EXPLAIN TO YOU A LITTLE BIT THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND THAT. BUT I ALSO WAS VERY INVOLVED IN OUR CANCER CENTER I CO-LED AND CODIRECTED ONE OF OUR CORE PROGRAMS, AND RAN A P41 CENTER FOR 20 YEARS FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, WHICH I'LL COME BACK TO. WE HAD A CLINIC IN AN OPERATING ROOM, SAW ABOUT 3,000 PATIENTS PER YEAR, DEVELOPED TECHNOLOGIES AND COMMERCIALIZED THEM. WE HAD ONE OF THE FIRST -- ACTUALLY THE FIRST INCUBATORS, IT WAS CALLED A PHOTONICS INCUBATOR IN THE U.C. SYSTEM AND EVEN GOT A SEED GRANT FROM THE EDA, THE U.S. EDA TO GET THAT LAUNCHED IN THE LATE 1990s. SO IT'S BEEN A REALLY INTERESTING OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF TAKE ALL OF THOSE EXPERIENCES AND TRY TO SYNTHESIZE THEM, AND THEN BRING THEM TO THE NIH, WHICH I THINK 10 YEARS AGO, THE NIH WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN QUITE READY FOR ALL OF THAT, BUT NOW IS A VERY INTERESTING TIME AND I'M EXCITED THAT A LOT OF THESE THINGS, THE TRANSLATION, THE COMMERCIALIZATION, TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT WITHIN THE NIH. SO IF YOU GO BACK AND IF I KIND OF RETRACE A LITTLE BIT OF MY CAREER, THERE WERE MANY OF US -- MY FIRST GRANT ACTUALLY CAME FROM NIGMS, AND I'M ACTUALLY SHOCKED THAT IT WAS FUNDED, BECAUSE ESSENTIALLY IT WAS -- I PROPOSED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO TURN ON AND OFF SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE LASERS AT VERY, VERY HIGH SPEEDS INTO THE GIGAHERTZ REGIME, BECAUSE I SAID, WELL, I THINK SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE, WE'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS AND SHINE THOSE LIGHTS INTO PEOPLE AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO KEEP TRACK OF THE TIME THAT IT TAKES FOR THE LIGHT TO PROPAGATE THROUGH TER BIDBID MATERIALS AND MEASURE COMPOSITION AND SO FORTH. SO THAT WAS IN THE EARLY 1990s. THAT WAS AN NIH FIRST AWARD AND THAT CAME FROM GMS. AND GM WAS THE ONLY INSTITUTE AT THE TIME THAT EVEN, YOU KNOW, POSSIBLY THOUGHT ABOUT FUNDING TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT'S SAKE. NOW THERE'S A PARTNER, NIBIB, AND THAT PARTNERSHIP REALLY SPRANG UP FROM A PUBLIC LAW THAT THERE WAS LOTS OF EXCITEMENT IN THE COMMUNITY TO TRY TO BRING ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE INTO BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE, SPECIFICALLY WITH TRANSLATION, AND IN 2000, DECEMBER 29TH, ACTUALLY, 2000, BILL CLINTON -- THIS IS -- HE'S PICTURED HERE WITH ROD PETTIGREW, THE FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF THE NIBIB, AND I'LL CLOSE THE LOOP ON THIS STORY, HE IS THE DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AT TEXAS A & M, OR SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT TEXAS A & M THAT INTEGRATES ENGINEERING INTO THE CURRICULUM, BUT I'LL COME BACK TO THAT IN A SECOND. I'LL JUST READ THIS BECAUSE THIS IS KIND OF OUR "IN THE BEGINNING FOUNDING DOCTRINE." THE CONGRESS MAKES THE FOLLOWING FINDINGS: BASIC RESEARCH IN IMAGING, BIOENGINEERING, COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATICS AND RELATED FIELDS IS CRITICAL TO IMPROVING HEALTHCARE BUT IS FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT FROM THE RESEARCH IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY ON WHICH THE CURRENT NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES AT THE NIH ARE BASED. TO ENSURE THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY, THESE DISCIPLINES THEREFORE REQUIRE AN IDENTITY AND RESEARCH HOME AT THE NIH THAT IS INDEPENDENT OF THE EXISTING STRUCTURE. SO THOSE ARE KIND OF REALLY REVOLUTIONARY IN A SENSE LANGUAGE. THAT LANGUAGE WAS CRAFTED IN THE MID 1990s, AND IF YOU SORT OF TAKE A STEP BACK AND THINK ABOUT WHAT TECHNOLOGY WERE YOU USING IN THE MID 1990s, WHAT SORT OF DEVICES WERE YOU USING TO STORE INFORMATION ON YOUR COMPUTERS, HOW WERE YOU COMMUNICATING WITH PEOPLE, THAT WAS VERY, VERY FORWARD-LOOKING, AND HERE WE ARE TODAY, AND I THINK THIS HAS NEVER BEEN MORE IMPORTANT, PROBABLY THE BIGGEST PRACTICAL IMPACT THAT THIS HAS HAD ON OUR COMMUNITY, IT'S ALLOWED PEOPLE WHO ARE DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGY WITH THE HOPE THAT IT MAY WORK FOR SOMETHING USEFUL IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE. NON-HYPOTHESIS-BASED RESEARCH TO HAVE A HOME WITHIN THE NIBIB WITHOUT HAVING TO APOLOGIZE REALLY FOR THE LACK OF A HYPOTHESIS. SO THIS WAS THE INITIATION EVENT, AND IT TOOK A WHILE FOR US TO GET SET UP. WHEN I CAME TO THE NIH, I WAS STILL SEARCHING FOR, YOU KNOW, WHICH INSTITUTES ARE ACTUALLY EMBRACING THIS AND DOING THIS, AND HERE IS THE ENGINEERING BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE NIH. WHAT STRUCK ME IS THAT OUR BIG OPPORTUNITY WAS TO REORGANIZE THIS A LITTLE BIT, SO HERE I HAVE CONCEPTUALLY REORGANIZED, AND I THINK THIS IS ESSENTIALLY -- THIS CAPTURES PROBABLY MY WHOLE TALK. I COULD STOP RIGHT HERE. NIBIB TECHNOLOGIES ARE THE EARLY PHASE OF DEVELOPMENT, THE HOPE OF TAKING BASIC SCIENCE SUBSTRATE, A LOT OF WHICH IS COMING FROM NIGMS, AND THEN MOVE THAT INTO TECHNOLOGIES THAT CAN BE USED IN CLINICAL AND TRANSLATION APPLICATIONS. SO WE'RE COLLABORATING WITH AND INTERACTING WITH AND OUR COMMUNITY IS PROVIDING FUNDAMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE MOVING INTO VIRTUALLY ALL APPLICATION AREAS. WE'RE ABOUT 1% OF THE TOTAL NIH BUDGET ALWAYS, SO WE'RE ABOUT $400 MILLION NOW, AND WE SUPPORT A PORTFOLIO OF ABOUT A THOUSAND GRANTS IN TOTAL. NOW, THIS IS A PRETTY EXCITING -- I THINK THIS WAS MY GREATEST HITS SLIDE IN 2019. TO HELP BACK THAT UP, AND AGAIN, I LEARNED A LOT OF THIS FROM JON, HOW DO WE GET ANALYTICAL QUANTITATIVE DATA OUT OF OUR PORTFOLIO, THIS IS USING THE RCDC CODES THAT ARE AVAILABLE AT THE NIH. SO BIOENGINEERING, AS A TOPIC, HAS GROWN ENORMOUSLY AT THE NIH. SO SINCE THIS WAS A CODE IN 2008 OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS, THERE'S BEEN A 55% INCREASE, AND ACTUALLY WE JUST DID THE DATA, I DIDN'T MAKE A NEW SLIDE, BUT THIS INCREASED ANOTHER 1.1% IN 2019. SO WE'RE UP TO ALMOST 13% OF ALL OF THE NIH BUDGET, OVER $50 BILLION, JUST OVER $50 BILLION, THAT'S BEING SPENT ON BIOENGINEERING. I THINK THAT'S PRETTY IMPRESSIVE. IT MEANS THAT ALL ACROSS THE NIH, PEOPLE ARE EMBRACING THOSE PRINCIPLES, AND I THINK IT ALSO MEANS THAT BIOENGINEERING ITSELF IS CHANGING.& BOTH ARE INFLUENCING EACH OTHER. SO I'M EXCITED BY THIS, AND AGAIN, I LIKE TO DO MODELING AND COMPUTATION, SO I'VE DONE A LITTLE PROJECTION MERE. IN ABOUT 30 YEARS, MORE THAN 90% OF THE NIH BUDGET IS GOING TO BE BIOENGINEERING. AND I KNOW WE THINK IT'S KIND OF FUNNY, BUT YOU KNOW, THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WERE DOING 30 YEARS AGO. THIS HAS REALLY PENETRATED ALL ASPECTS OF OUR LIVES, AND CLEARLY MEDICINE ITSELF IS SORT OF THE LAST FRONTIER TO BE COMPLETELY DISRUPTED IN TERMS OF TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION. SO WE HAVE A NUMBER OF THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN SOCIETY THAT ARE HELPING SUPPORT THIS EXPANDING MISSION. YOU DON'T GET ALL THIS BIOENGINEERING UNLESS YOU HAVE WORKFORCE AND TRAINING PROGRAMS AND PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY MOVING INTO THIS AREA. SO THIS HAS BECOME A TOP PRIORITY IN SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING, AND SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING HAVE RECOGNIZED NOW IN THEIR STRATEGIC PLANS, HUMAN HEALTH, BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE HAS BECOME ONE, TWO OR THREE, IF YOU LOOK AT ALL THE STRATEGIC PLANS IN THE 90s, IT REALLY WASN'T TYPICALLY IN THE TOP 5, BUT BOTH THE RECOGNITION OF THE IMPORTANCE, THE CHALLENGE, HAS BEEN EMBRACED BY SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING. AND IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTS, WE'RE ADDING ABOUT 1600 NEW UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS EVERY YEAR, ABOUT 70 NEW FACULTY EVERY YEAR, ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY. SO IT'S A SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH AREA. WHEN NIBIB WAS STARTED, THERE WERE ONLY 30 OR SO ABET-CERTIFIED DEPARTMENTS, THIS IS A CERTIFICATION BODY FOR THE DISCIPLINE, AND THERE WERE ABOUT 120 AT THE END OF LAST YEAR. THERE ARE ABOUT 130 DEPARTMENTS OVERALL, ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY NOW. SO CLEARLY THIS IS AN EXPANDING OPPORTUNITY. THERE ARE INCREASING MEDICINE AND ENGINEERING PARTNERSHIPS. AS I MENTIONED, ROD PETTIGREW, THE FOUNDING DIRECTOR, LEFT NIH TO BECOME THE DEAN OF AN ENTIRELY NEW MED SCHOOL AT TEXAS A & M. THEY HAVE THEIR FIRST CLASS, IT'S ALREADY COME THROUGH. IN THE CURRICULUM, EMBEDDED IN THE CURRICULUM IS ENGINEERING. AND THEY ARE TARGETING ENGINEERS AND PHYSICAL SCIENTISTS AS APPLICANTS TO THOSE PROGRAMS. NOW, THAT'S NOT THE FIRST. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, KING IS ALSO AN IMAGER BY THE WAY. I DON'T THINK THAT'S A COINCIDENCE. THEY'VE BEEN EXTRAORDINARILY SUCCESSFUL, THEY ALREADY ARE IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THEIR CLASS. THEY'RE HARMONIZING THE CURRICULUM BETWEEN THOSE TWO. VANDERBILT HAS A PROGRAM NOT EXACTLY THE SAME BUT THEY TAKE IN PH.D.s WHO ARE FROM ENGINEERING OR PHYSICAL SCIENCE AND MOVE THEM THROUGH MED SCHOOL, AND I THINK THIS IS A MOVEMENT THAT WILL CONTINUE TO EXPAND. AND IT'S CERTAINLY HAVING A POSITIVE IMPACT ON HUMAN HEALTH AND ON ECONOMIC GROWTH BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF COMMERCIALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY WHICH I'LL GET TO IN JUST A LITTLE BIT. NIBIB HAS AS I MENTIONED ABOUT 1% OF THE NIH BUDGET BUT WE REALLY HAVE THIS M A DIGS AMBITION TO ENABLE TECHNOLOGIES THAT CAN GO INTO MANY, MANY APPLICATION AREAS. WE HAVE ABOUT 15 PROGRAM DIRECTORS, AND THEY'RE VERY, VERY ENGAGED IN INITIATIVES ALL ACROSS THE NIH, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU'RE VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE BRAIN INITIATIVE. WHAT'S INTERESTING, I DON'T HAVE THIS STATISTIC ON THERE, BUT ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF THE MONEY THAT'S BEEN SPENT IN THE BRAIN INITIATIVE SO FAR, ABOUT $950 MILLION IS SPENT ON BIOENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES. SO IT'S BEEN A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT SOURCE OF FUNDING AND RESOURCES FOR THIS COMMUNITY OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT. WE ARE ABLE TO ADD, THROUGH PARTICIPATION AND PARTNERSHIPS IN ALL OF THESE THINGS, ABOUT $50 MILLION PER YEAR BEYOND OUR APPROPRIATED BUDGET IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO SUPPLY NEW RESOURCES FOR OUR COMMUNITY. AND THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. ONE OF THESE, THE NEWEST ONE IS DATA SCIENCE AND INNOVATION IN AFRICA, WHICH IS A NEW PROGRAM YOU CAN LOOK AT THE COMMON FUND WEBSITE AND IT CURRENTLY -- THE FOAs ARE CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS, BUT THIS IS NOW ALL PUBLICLY AVAILABLE, AND IT WILL ENCOURAGE THE FORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAMS THAT WILL BOTH PURSUE NEW DATA SCIENCE APPROACHES AS WELL AS NEW TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON AFRICA AND SOLVING HEALTHCARE PROBLEMS IN AFRICA RELATED TO VERY LOW RESOURCE SETTINGS AND THE POTENTIAL TO INTRODUCE ENTIRELY NEW SORT OF LEAP FROGGING CONCEPTS INTO AN AREA THAT IS NOT -- LET SAY IT DOESN'T HAVE WELL EMBEDDED MA KNOW GRAPHIC IMAGING MAMAGRAPHY APPROACHES BUT THEY DO HAVE A FANTASTIC MOBILE NETWORK AND INCREASINGLY THE COMMUNICATIONS BACKBONE IS QUITE STRONG SO THAT TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THIS. SO ONE OF THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY SUPPORTING SORT OF PHILOSOPHICALLY WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO DRIVE, WHERE IS OUR INNOVATION, SO IT'S IN THESE MAIN AREAS. FIRST OF ALL, WE HAVE MODELING, COMMUTATION AND MACHINE INTELLIGENCE. THAT'S REALLY AT THE 16 FER OF EVERYTHING THAT CENTER OF EVERYTHING WE DO. I THINK THE DISTINCT FEATURE OF NIBIB INVESTIGATORS IS THEY ALL BELIEVE SOMEHOW, SOMEWHERE, THAT THERE'S A SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION OF BIOLOGIC PROESSES OR ENERGY APPLICATION PROCESSES LIKE AN IMAGING METHOD OR A THERAPEUTIC METHOD. THAT CAN BE REPRESENTED MATHEMATICALLY USING SOME PHYSICS-BASED MODEL, SOME SERIES OF EQUATIONS. SO THAT'S TYPICALLY EMBEDDED IN ALL OF THE APPROACHES. WHETHER IT'S ENGINEERED BIOLOGY, ENGINEERED BIOLOGY CAN SPAN FROM SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY WHICH YOU CAN THINK OF AS OPPORTUNITIES FOR REPROGRAMMING CELLS, THINKING OF CELLULAR PROCESSES AS ACTIVATABLE UNITS WHERE THERE ARE SWITCHES KIND OF LIKE TRANSISTORS HAVE SWITCH LS -- SORRY, TRANSISTORS -- IF THE CELL IS A GIANT MOLECULAR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT, IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT THE CODE, YOU CAN REPROGRAM THE DREM. SO CELL. SO THAT'S AN AREA OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY WHICH DOVETAILS VERY NICELY INTO WHAT NIGMS'S PORTFOLIO IS. I WOULD SAY WHERE THINGS KIND OF MOVE INTO NIBIB IS WHERE PEOPLE ARE REALLY TRYING TO FOCUS ON CAPITALIZING ON THAT BASIC KNOWLEDGE, AND THEN APPLYING TO DO SOMETHING LIKE DO GENE THERAPY BETTER OR COMPLETELY REPROGRAM A CELL SO THAT THERE'S A THERAPEUTIC OUTCOME. ALSO BUILD MULTICELLULAR SYSTEMS, WHICH CAN BE DONE ON CHIPS. SO I THINK ENGINEERED BIOLOGY ALSO CAPTURES THAT MYSTERIOUS BIOTIC/ABIOTIC INTERFACE. FIGURING OUT HOW TO TRANSDUCE THE ENERGY THAT'S FLOWING INTO THE BIOLOGIC SYSTEM AND OUT INTO THAT INANIMATE OBJECT. SO THAT'S ENGINEERED BIOLOGY. THEN WE HAVE A VERY ACTIVE PORTFOLIO IN SENSORS AND POINT OF CARE DEVICES. THESE CAN BE WEARABLE SENSORS, SO AS SORT OF TRIVIAL AS HEART RATE MONITORS AND MOTION SENSORS, TO IMPLANTABLE SENSORS THAT USE VERY SOPHISTICATED CHEMISTRY LIKE OPT MER-BASED CHEMISTRIES IN ORDER TO THEN TRANSDUCE A BINDING EVENT. THAT BINDING EVENT, OF COURSE, NEEDS TO BE DETECTED, IT CAN BE BUILT ON AN APPLICATION CIRCUIT SPECIFICALLY TO SEE THAT MOLECULAR REACTION, WHICH COULD BE IMPLANTED IN THE BODY AND THEN MEASURE GLUCOSE OR INSULIN CONTINUOUSLY. AND POINT OF CARE DEVICES WHICH I THINK MANY OF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH ARE REALLY REVOLUTIONIZING HOW WE'RE DOING BEDSIDE MEDICINE. MANY OF THEM ARE BASED ON MICRO -- PLATFORMS AND ALSO SPECIALIZED CHEMISTRIES, SO THOSE CAN GIVE YOU SAMPLE TO& ANSWER IN A MATTER OF MINUTES, WHICH IS WHAT WE REALLY NEED TO HAVE IF WE'RE GOING TO MAKE DECISIONS QUICKLY THAT ARE IMPACTFUL IN PATIENTS. IMAGING TECHNOLOGY. SO NOW WE'RE MOVING ACROSS SPATIAL SCALES. WE SUPPORT THE BIGGEST PHYSICS IMAGING THAT YOU CAN IMAGINE. YOU KNOW, GIANT MRI MAGNETS, AS WELL AS THE IDEA OF SHRINKING THEM AND TAKING ADVANTAGE OF NEW MATERIALS AND NEW COMPUTATIONAL TECHNIQUES AND TRYING TO MAKE THESE INCREASINGLY PERSONALIZED AND PORTABLE SO THIS IS A PICTURE OF A HEAD-ONLY MRI THAT MIKE GARWOOD IS DEVELOPING AT UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. THERE ARE A FEW OF THESE THAT ARE OUT THERE NOW. LARRY WALD ALSO AT MGH HAS DEVELOPED ONE, AND HIS ENTIRE SYSTEM IS -- YOU CAN LIFT IT AROUND. IT'S PORTABLE. IT'S POSSIBLE TO MOVE AROUND. AND THESE ARE FACILITATED BY NEW ADVANCES IN VARIOUS SUBSYSTEM COMPONENTS, AND ONE OF THEM, IT'S VERY EXCITING, ARE NEW DETECTORS. SO THERE ARE NEW DETECTORS THAT ARE BEING DEVELOPED THAT CAN MEASURE -- THESE OPEN UP ENTIRELY NEW POSSIBILITIES AND PEOPLE ARE REALLY PURSUING THEM. THERAPEUTIC DEVICES, THESE CAN BE ENERGY-BASED DELIVERY DEVICES THAT ARE NONINVASIVE AS WELL AS IMPLANTED OR MINIMALLY INVASIVE. ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE DEVICES THAT I CAN THINK OF IS HOW TO DO BRAIN SURGERY USING FOCUSED ULTRASOUND THAT'S FOCUSED EXTERNALLY AROUND THE BRAIN. THIS IS NOW AN FDA-CLEARED DEVICE, AND THE INITIAL INDICATION HAS BEEN FOR A CENTRAL TREMOR, SO WHAT IT DOES, THERE'S A SERIES OF ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCERS THAT ARE PLACED AROUND THE HEAD AND BY REALTIME UPDATING AND MATHEMATICAL TECHNIQUES THAT ARE PREDICTING WHERE THE WAVES ARE GOING TO GO, AND THEN GIVING FEEDBACK TO ADJUST THE DENSITY OF THE ENERGY, THE INTENSITY. YOU CAN FOCUS THESE ULTRASOUND WAVES DOWN TO MILLIMETER SPOTS DEEP INSIDE THE BRAIN, AND TREAT ESSENTIAL TREMOR. YOU CAN ALSO DISRUPT BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER AND DELIVER MOLECULES IN SPECIFIC LOCATIONS. SO PRETTY AMAZING TO THINK ABOUT. THERE ARE MANY OTHER TYPES OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE USING ENERGY MATHEMATICAL TECHNIQUES TO COMPUTE WHERE THE ENERGY IS GOING, AND ALSO COUPLED WITH MOLECULES SO YOU CAN ACTIVATE MOLECULES IN SPECIFIC LOCATIONS. SO THAT'S A VERY FAST MOVING AREA. I KNOW THAT'S A VERY WIDE PORTFOIO. I WOULD SAY WHAT ANCHORS ALL OF IT IS IN THE CENTER, THE MATHEMATICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL PROCESSES THAT ARE DESIGNED TO KEEP TRACK OF WHERE THE ENERGY IS GOING, WHETHER THE ENERGY IS APPLIED EXTERNALLY, OR WHETHER IT'S GENERATED INTERNALLY IN SOME SORT OF BIOLOGIC SYSTEM. SO HOW IS THAT GOING TO HELP US WITH HEALTHCARE? THIS IS MY SIMPLIFIED VIEW OF CURRENT HEALTHCARE. IT'S A BUNCH OF STATIC SNAPSHOTS THAT ARE TAKEN OVER A PERIOD OF TIME. WHETHER IT'S BLOOD PRESSURE, OR BLOOD CHEMISTRY OR GENOMIC ANALYSIS. THESE ARE DONE OVER FAIRLY LARGE TIME INTERVALS. AND WE KNOW THAT BIOLOGY IS CONTINUOUS, AND OFTEN TIMES, IT'S THE DYNAMICS OF THE BIOLOGIC PROCESS THAT'S PROBABLY MORE IMPORTANT IN PREDICTING YOUR OUTCOME. A SINGLE STATIC BLOOD PRESSURE MEASUREMENT MAY NOT BE THAT USEFUL, BUT BEING ABLE TO USE -- TO LOOK AT ITS DYNAMICS IN RESPONSE TO A PERTURBATION COULD BE QUITE POWERFUL IN PREDICTING WHETHER OR NOT YOU WILL ULTIMATELY DEVELOP HEART DISEASE. SO THIS IS WHY THERE HAS BEEN THIS ENORMOUS DIGITAL HEALTH REVOLUTION, AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO KEEP TRACK OF THIS VENTURE INVESTMENT, THE TRAIN HAS LEFT THE STATION ON THIS, IT'S WELL OVER $30 BILLION AT THIS POINT SINCE -- OH, GOSH, I FORGOT WHEN I STARTED COUNTING, BUT ROUGHLY SINCE THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT WAS INTRODUCED. THAT INTERESTINGLY STIMULATED AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF CREATIVITY IN COMMERCIALIZATION OPPORTUNITIES, WHERE ESSENTIALLY A LOT OF THIS IS DESIGNED TO GIVE PEOPLE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEASURE AND GET ACCESS TO HEALTH INFORMATION THAT THEY HADN'T HAD ACCESS TO BEFORE. AND THAT'S HELPED DRIVE THE EXPLOSION OF WEARABLE SENSORS AND THE INTEGRATION OF THAT INFORMATION WITH OTHER INFORMATION, MORE COMPLEX AND DYNAMIC INFORMATION. SO A LOT OF THE DIGITAL HEALTH MOVEMENT, AND YOU SEE THE FDA HAS CREATED AN ENTIRE BRANCH TO DEAL WITH DIGITAL HEALTH AND SOFTWARE AS A MEDICAL DEVICE, IS BASED ON THE IDEA THAT PERHAPS WE CAN GET MORE CONTINUOUS DATA FROM SENSORS THAT ARE WEARABLE, IMPLANTABLE, POINT OF CARE THAT COULD INFORM US ON THE DYNAMICS OF HEALTH PROCESSES AND PREDICT THE FUTURE FOR PATIENTS. SO HOW DOES ALL THIS COME TOGETHER? TRADITIONALLY, NIBIB HAS SUPPORTED IN A VERY SIGNIFICANT WAY THE GROWTH OF SENSING AND IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES. AND I HAVE JUST HERE THE 130 OR SO BILLION DOLLAR A YEAR MARKET FOR OPTICS DEVICES WHICH ARE NOW $70 BILLION A YEAR. THIS IS A LITTLE ASIDE. WHEN I STARTED WORKING IN OPTICS AND PHOTONICS IN THE 80s, HE WE MAY HAVE HAD A MARKET FOR LASERS TO CUT THINGS, NOW IT'S EXPANDED DRAMATICALLY AND THAT'S A WHOLE SEPARATE TALK I CAN GIVE, $70 BILLION A YEAR FROM DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES. RAID YO LICK SYSTEMS ARE ABOUT $40 BILLION YEAR. THIS IS ABOUT A QUARTER OF ALL OF THE MEDICAL DEVICE MARKET. MANY OF THESE THINGS WERE SUPPORTED BY THE NIH. NIGMS, NCRR, NIBIB, OF COURSE, ONCE NIBIB CAME ONLINE. AND THIS IS KIND OF OUR POWER STROKE, BUT THIS IS THE DYNAMIC PART, THE DIGITAL HEALTH. THIS IS EMERGING AND THERE ARE MANY, MANY NEW INTERESTING OPPORTUNITIES IN THIS. AND THIS IS ALL HAPPENING WITH THE BACKDROP OF THIS EXPLOSION IN KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF BIOLOGIC SYSTEMS, THE FUNDAMENTAL ASPECTS OF BIOLOGY, WHICH REALLY ULTIMATELY PROVIDE THE SUBSTRATE. THE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IS RELENTLESS. IT JUST NEVER STOPS. AND SO OUR BIG CHALLENGE IS TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO INTEGRATE THOSE TOOLS, OPTIMIZE THEM WITH RESPECT TO THESE DISCOVERIES. HOW DO WE TURN BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF BIOLOGY INTO BIOENG ENGINEERING THAT CAN BE TRANSLATED TO A PATIENT. SO HERE ARE SOME MECHANISMS, THAT KIND OF CAPTURES OUR BIG CHALLENGE. WE HAVE NOT SOLVED IT YET. BUT I HOPE WE'LL CONTINUE TO MAKE ADVANCES THERE. WE HAVE SOME UNIQUE MECHANISMS. SO I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT WHAT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE THAT ARE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAT OTHER INSTITUTES DON'T HAVE THAT ARE HELPING US DO THIS. I JOINED THE COUNCIL AT NIBIB IN 2012, AND I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP GUIDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS AWARD, THE R21 TRAILBLAZER. WE RECOGNIZED AT THAT TIME THAT WE HAD AN ENORMOUS R21 POOL. IT WAS ACTUALLY DWARFING -- THE PAYLINE IN THE R21 POOL WAS LOWER, THE PEOPLE WE WERE HOPING TO HELP THE MOST, YOUNG INVESTIGATORS, WERE REALLY GETTING SHUT OUT BECAUSE SEASONED INVESTIGATORS KNEW HOW TO COME IN TO THE R21s WITH THE RIGHT PROPOSAL, SO WE TURNED THIS UPSIDE-DOWN AND SAID WE WANT TO HAVE EARLY STAGE INVESTIGATORS AND NEW INVESTIGATORS GET FUNDED WITH R21 CONCEPTS, AND THAT WE'VE BEEN TRACKING STATISTICS SINCE THIS WAS INTRODUCED A FEW YEARS AGO. SO OUR R21 AWARDS, THE PERCENTAGE OF EARLY STAGE INVESTIGATORS AND NEW INVESTIGATORS HAS MORE THAN DOUBLED, AND THE NUMBER HAS MORE THAN DOUBLED SO WE'VE GONE FROM 16 TO 41 EARLY STAGE AND NEW INVESTIGATORS WITH THIS R21 TRAILBLAZER MECHANISM. AND THE PAYLINES FOR R21 HAVE GONE FROM ABOUT 12 PERCENTILE TO 19TH PERCENTILE. AND REALLY PART OF THE TRICK HERE IS BY CRAFTING THE EXPECTATIONS FOR R21 SUBMISSIONS, NARROWING DOWN WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR, WE'VE ALSO REDUCED THE NUMBER OF SUBMISSIONS. WE'VE INCREASED IN A SENSE THE TARGETING OR QUALITY OF THE SUBMISSIONS. THAT'S NOT NEW, THEATION THAT'S REALLY FROM THE NIGMS PLAYBOOK, BUT WE'VE ACTUALLY BEEN ABLE TO DO THIS WITH THE ENGINEERING COMMUNITY AS WELL. ANOTHER INTERESTING THING THAT'S HAPPENED OVER THE YEARS AND YOU GUYS HAVE ALSO EXPERIENCED THIS IS THE MOVEMENT AS NCRR DISAPPEARED AND MOVED ALL THEIR P41 CENTERS INTO NIBIB AND NIGMS. WE HAD THIS HUGE BUDGET SURGE IN 2012. IN FACT, THAT WAS AROUND THE TIME OF MY THIRD RENEWAL OF MY P41 SO I WAS ON COUNCIL JUST AFTER MY P41 WAS RENEWED, AND THIS HAS TURNED OUT TO BE A REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT MECHANISM FOR US BECAUSE OF THE PHILOSOPHY AND THE AMBITION OF NIBIB. SO WE ARE NOW ROUGHLY AT ABOUT 30 P41 CENTERS A YEAR, WE SPEND ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS PER CENTER, AND WE'VE HAD THIS BUDGET APPROXIMATE DOUBLING FROM THOSE EARLY DAYS OF P41 CENTERS THROUGH THAT TRANSFER. AND WHAT WE'VE JUST RECENTLY DONE, BECAUSE THIS IS SUCH A BIG AND IMPORTANT PART OF OUR PORTFOLIO, WE'VE CREATED A P41 DIRECTOR POSITION, AND HERE IS THE DISTRIBUTION ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WE'VE BEEN DOING A VERY DEEP ANALYSIS OF THEIR IMPACT AND PRODUCTIVITY. WHAT WE SEE IS, EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE ONLY 30, ALTHOUGH 30 IS QUITE A LOT OF VERY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY CENTERS, WE HAVE A HUGE IMPACT WITH MORE THAN 500 COLLABORATIVE AND SERVICE PROJECTS THAT ARE DISTRIBUTED ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, IN FACT, ALL AROUND THE WORLD. SO THEY'RE HEAVILY LEVERAGED, AND WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO SEE THAT THE PUBLICATIONS AND THE CITATIONS PER MILLION DOLLAR ADJUSTED ARE ACTUALLY QUITE GOOD. THERE'S A KIND OF IRRATIONAL COMMIT M, IT DOESN'T REALLY MAKE THAT MUCH SENSE TO HAVE A P41 BECAUSE ONLY GET A MILLION DOLLARS IN TOTAL, DIRECT PLUS INDIRECT, AND FROM THAT, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS ARE KIND OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT THEY'RE DEVELOPING AND OUR INTENT ON MOVING THEM OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY, DEVELOPING COLLABORATIONS. SO THIS IS VERY MUCH ALIGNED WITH WHAT THE OVERALL PHILOSOPHY IS OF THE NIBIB WHERE WE WANT TO DEVELOP ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES THAT CAN BE APPLIED IN MANY AREAS AND GET AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO TEST THEM OUT, FIND TRUTHS. MOST OF THE TIME WHOEVER IS INVENTING THAT TECHNOLOGY HAS NO IDEA REALLY WHAT IT'S GOING TO WOK FOR. ULTIMATELY IT WILL END UP IF IT SOCIALIZES IN THE RIGHT APPLICATIONS. WE ALSO SUPPORT POINT OF CARE TECHNOLOGIES RESEARCH NETWORK. THERE ARE FIVE CENTERS FOCUSED ON SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TOPICS. THE ONE AT HOPKINS -- SORRY -- AT GEORGIA TECH IS A LITTLE BIT MORE ORIENTED TOWARDS HIGHLY INNOVATIVE NEW TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT. THE OTHERS ARE MORE FOCUSED ON, LET'S SAY, SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES, HEART, LUNG, BLOOD AND SLEEP DISORDERS. WHAT'S REALLY INTERESTING ABOUT THIS IS IT'S A MULTI-INSTITUTE COLLABORATION, SO EVERYBODY IS A BIT OF A SHAREHOLDER IN THIS. WE'VE GOT NHLBI, NIAID, NICCH,& SO THAT'S THE COMPLEMENTARY -- NATIONAL CENTER FOR COMPLEMENTARY AND INTEGRATIVE HEALTH? YES. OF COURSE THE FOGARTY CENTER, THE OFFICE OF AIDS RESEARCH, AND CMS AND FDA ARE ACTUALLY INVOLVED IN THESE BECAUSE THERE'S A COMMERCIALIZATION PATH THAT'S QUITE IMPORTANT, AND THE BMGF, THE BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION HAS ALSO BEEN PARTICIPATING AND IS IN A LEADERSHIP ROLE ON THE ADVISORY BOARD. THEY DON'T PUT MONEY INTO THESE CENTERS BECAUSE WE'RE NOT ALLOWED TO MIX MONEY SOURCES BUT IT'S RESULTED IN SOME OF THESE GOING TO THE GATES FOUNDATION AND GETTING ASSISTANCE IN KIND FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THOSE TECHNOLOGIES. AND WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF THESE? REALLY BUILDING HEAVILY ON ADVANCES IN MICRO FLUIDICS PLATFORMS, SO THESE ARE HIGHLIGHTS OF PROJECTS COMING FROM GEORGIA TECH. THIS THROMBUS CHECK, HERE'S A SMARTPHONE APP FOR PERSONALIZED ANEMIA DETECTION, AND THIS IS REALLY QUITE CLEVER. IT'S ALL A DIGITAL HEALTH COMPUTATIONAL APPROACH. YOU JUST TAKE AN IMAGE OF YOUR FINGERNAIL AND YOU CAN MEASURE HEMOGLOBIN CONTENT AND IT'S REALLY AN INSTANTANEOUS DETECTION OF ANEMIA AND LOOKING AT RESPONSE TO THERAPIES. IT MEASURES HEMOGLOBIN JUST FROM RGB. THERE'S NO ALTERATION OR ADDITION OF TECHNOLOGY ON TO THE PHONE. AND THIS ALL THE WAY ON THE RIGHT IS A SEPSIS DIAGNOSTIC, AND IT'S, AGAIN, BASED ON A MICRO FLUIDICS PLATFORM, AND IT DOES IT WITHIN ABOUT FIVE MINUTES OF SAMPLING BLOOD. I KNOW SEPSIS IS A KEY MISSION OF NIGMS. ANOTHER REALLY EXCITING COMPONENT OF WHAT WE DO IS STIMULATING AND TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF ACTIVITY IN UNDERGRADUATE TRAINING IN ENGINEERING, WHICH ARE THESE DESIGN TEAMS AND DESIGN CLASSES. SO VIRTUALLY EVERY SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING HAS A SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT. INCREASINGLY, THESE ARE GETTING PUSHED BACK TO JUNIOR AND SENIOR SENIOR, SOPHOMORE CONCEPTS, JUNIOR DESIGNS, SENIOR IMPLEMENTATION. SO THERE'S A SHIFTING TO GET ENGINEERING STUDENTS AS ENGAGED IN PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE IN THEIR CAREERS. SO THIS HAS EXPLODED ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY. THERE'S A LOT OF INNOVATION IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP. SO UC IRVINE, WE HAD A SENIOR DESIGN TEAM TAKE THEIR CONCEPT ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO GETTING SBIR PHASE 1, THEY'RE NOW A REAL OPERATING COMPANY A FEW YEARS LATER. THEY'VE GOTTEN NIH SBIR SUPPORT FOR THEIR WORK. THEY STARTED AS UNDERGRADS IN A DESIGN PROJECT. SO WHAT I WAS PROBABLY DOING WHEN I WAS AROUND 40, KIDS ARE NOW DOING WHEN THEY'RE 20. THOSE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO GOT THAT SBIR, I THINK THEY WERE LIKE 21 OR 22 WHEN THEY GOT THEIR SBIR, BUT IT IS REALLY REMARKABLE TO SEE THE AMBITION. THERE'S THIS ALTRUISTIC DEDICATION TO FIGURING OUT HOW TO TAKE ENGINEERING AND PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY AND MATH AND COMPUTER SCIENCE AND PUT IT TOGETHER SO THAT THERE'S SOMETHING GOOD THAT COMES OUT THAT CAN BE WIDELY DISTRIBUTED. SO WE GIVE AWAY $80,000 IN PRIZES IN 2019, AND WE ANNOUNCED THESE AWARDS AT THE BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING SOCIETY MEETING. JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF LAST YEAR'S FIRST PLACE PRIZE WAS AN INTUBATION GUIDANCE SYSTEM. THIS SYSTEM WAS BUILT FROM SCRATCH. IT ALLOWS ANY NON-EXPERT TO BE ABLE TO INTUBATE A PATIENT AND IT'S PRETTY IMPRESSIVE, THERE IS A WHOLE VIDEO DEMONSTRATION THAT CAME WITH THE APPLICATION PACKET, AND THEY WERE EVEN ABLE TO DO SMALL SCALE TRIAL OF THE EFFICACY OF THE DEVICE, AND SO THAT'S KIND OF CHARACTERIZES HOW ALL THESE WORK. WHAT IS ALSO VERY COOL IS THE UNIQUENESS AND THE CLEVERNESS IN THE NAMING, SO THIS PARTICULAR PRICE, REMARKABLY THIS HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE, IT'S A SAFE WAY TO BOTH ARM AND DISARM SCALPELS. THIS IS NOW MOVING DOWN THE COMMERCIALIZATION PATH, THE SCALPAL. THE INTUBATION SYSTEM -- IT BRINGS TOGETHER SOME INTERESTING ENERGY. IN 2020, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO INCREASE THIS TO $100,000 IN PRIZES THAT ARE GIVEN OUT. WE PARTNER HERE WITH VENTURE WELL, AND WE WERE ABLE TO RECRUIT NIMHD, MINORITY HEALTH AND DISEASE -- DISPARITIES. OKAY. EVENTUALLY I'M GOING TO LEARN ALL THE ACRONYMS. SO THEY WILL CONTRIBUTE $15,000 AND THIS IS GOING TO ALLOW US TO GET UNDERGRAD STUDENTS -- NOW THERE'S ALREADY A LOT OF SENSITIVITY AND EXCITEMENT ABOUT ENGINEERING AND DEVICES FOR LOW RESOURCE SETTINGS, BUT I THINK THERE WILL RAISE THE BAR, RAISE THE VISIBILITY, AND EVEN IF THE STUDENTS DON'T NECESSARILY TAKE THEIR PRIZES AND TAKE THEIR TECHNOLOGIES AND COMMERCIALIZE THEM, IT WILL CHANGE THEIR LIVES. THEY'RE GOING TO THINK ABOUT THE PROBLEM THAT THEY SPENT THAT WHOLE YEAR IN A TEAM WORKING ON, OR TWO YEARS, AND THEN NOT LET GO OF IT FOR THEIR ENTIRE CAREERS. AND I KNOW MOST OF YOU ARE SITTING IN THE AUDIENCE THINKING STILL ABOUT WHAT YOU DID AS AN UNDERGRADUATE THAT REALLY SPARKED YOU AND YOU'RE STILL TRYING TO GET THAT THING DONE. SO IT'S A VERY, VERY UNIQUE WAY OF CULTURAL CHANGE, AND WE'RE HOPING TO BE ABLE TO EXPAND THAT ACROSS THE NIH AS BEST AS POSSIBLE. SO THIS IS THE ENTERTAINMENT PORTION OF THE TALK. I THINK A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF WHAT WE DO, SINCE MOST OF THE TIME WHEN YOU SAY ENGINEERING, PEOPLE START TO FALL ASLEEP AND THEN YOU TALK ABOUT MATH AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE AND THEN YOU HEAR PEOPLE SAY, WELL, THOSE ARE -- I DIDN'T LIKE ANY OF THOSE CLASSES AND SO PART OF MY JOB IS TO HELP MAKE IT A LITTLE MORE ACCESSIBLE UNDERSTANDABLE AND WE'VE BEEN DEVELOPING THESE VIDEOS, SO YOU CAN TELL ME IF WE HIT IT AT ALL WITH THIS VIDEO. [VIDEO PLAYING] >> SO I THINK THAT'S KIND OF AN ACCESSIBLE WAY TO HELP EXPLAIN THAT FACT TA ANY OF YOU HAVE INTERACTED WITH THE MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY, WHETHER IT'S MRI, ULTRASOUND, PULSE OXIMETER, THAT TECHNOLOGY ALREADY, IF IT'S OUT THERE IN MEDICINE, IS, BY DEFINITION, MAYBE 40 YEARS OLD. THERE'S AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF BASIC SCIENCE BEHIND IT, ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT. THERE'S A MINIMUM OF 10 YEARS FROM THE INCEPTION OF AN IDEA WHEN YOU BLACKBOARD TO GETTING FDA CLEARANCE AND GETTING IT DISTRIBUTED AND THAT'S IF YOU'RE LUCKY, AND IT'S A MINIMAL RISK DEVICE. SO THIS IS A WAY OF HELPING PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT IF WE DON'T HAVE A CONTINUOUS PIPELINE, YOU KNOW, A HANDOFF FROM ALL OF THE SUBSTRATE THAT'S HAPPENING ALL ACROSS THE NIH TO TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, WE WON'T HAVE THOSE NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN THE FUTURE. SO WE'RE PART OF THAT CONTINUUM. SO WHAT ARE OUR FUTURE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES? AND THIS IS REALLY KIND OF WHAT STRIKES ME AS BEING WHERE A LOT OF ENERGY CAN BE BROUGHT TOGETHER ACROSS THE NIH. OUR COMMUNITY IS DEVELOPING SORT OF BIOLOGIC SYSTEMS, CELLS, MOLECULES THAT ARE DERIVED FROM BIOLOGY, AND PUTTING THEM ON TO ENGINEERED DEVICES, WHETHER THEY'RE TISSUE CHIPS OR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS ON SILICON. MANY OF THESE ARE BEING USED TO SIMULATE PHYSIOLOGIC SYSTEMS, SO MICRO PHYSIOLOGIC SYSTEMS, SO THAT'S KIND OF IN THE UPPER LEFT-HAND CORNER, ORGAN SIMULATING DEVICES. WE ALSO HAVE ENGINEERED DEVICES THAT ARE ON HUMANS AND IN HUMANS. WE TAKE HUMANS AND WE PUT THEM IN GIANT PHYSICS-BASED DEVICES LIKE MRIs AND PET SCANNERS, AND SYSTEMS BIOLOGIES HELP STIMULATE THIS REALLY ENORMOUS GROWTH IN DEVELOPING MATHEMATICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL REPRESENTATIONS OF BIOLOGIC PROCESSES, AND IT'S NOW EXPANDING AS BIOENGINEERS GET MORE INVOLVED IN IT FROM LOOKING AT THESE THINGS INSIDE SIGNAL CELLS TO LOOK AT HOW ORGANS ARE COMMUNICATING AND HOW THIS IS CRITICAL IN UNDERSTANDING DISEASE PROCESSES AND CAN BE USED WITH PHYSICS-BASED MODELS AND EVEN DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION REPRESENTATIONS OF THESE PROCESSES. SO THESE ARE A LOT OF THE SORT OF KEY COMPONENTS WHAT WE'RE DOING AND WHAT ARE THE BIG CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE. WE ARE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT HELPING STIMULATE THE NOTION OF DIGITAL TWINS, SO HAVING COMPUTATIONAL REPRESENTATIONS OF ALL OF OURSELVES. AND THE DIABETES COMMUNITY IS ACTUALLY VERY DEEPLY ENGAGED IN THISS AND AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT, YOU NEED TO INTERPRET AND HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO MANAGE CONTINUOUS CHRONIC METABOLIC DISEASES, AND LOOK AT HOW EXTERNAL PERTURBATIONS LIKE WHATEVER YOU'RE EATING, MEDICATIONS YOU'RE TAKING, HOW YOU CAN OPTIMIZE AND ADJUST THOSE WITH RESPECT TO AN INDIVIDUAL. SO HAVING DIGITAL TWINS, I THENG IS GOING TO BE A VERY POWERFUL WAY TO DO PERSONALIZED MEDICINE. AND THE INFORMATION CONTENT THAT GOES INTO THE DIGITAL TWIN INITIALLY WILL HAVE MANY LUMPED PARAMETERS. WE WON'T BE ABLE TO HAVE ACCURATE REPRESENTATIONS IN THOSE DIGITAL TWINS OF EVERY PROCESS FROM GENOMICS TO EPIGENETICS TO PROTEOMICS AND EVERYTHING IN SINGLE CELLS ALL THE WAY UP TO MULTICELLS. BUT INCREASINGLY PEOPLE ARE ATTEMPTING TO BUILD THOSE BUILDING BLOCKS, THOSE STRUCTURES INTO THESE DIGITAL TWIN MODELS. SO VERY ACTIVE AREA. WE'RE ALSO SEEING THE EMERGENCE OF VIRTUAL CLINICAL TRIALS. SO THERE WAS RECENTLY JUST A COUPLE YEARS AGO A PAPER THAT WAS PUBLISHED BY A GROUP AT THE FDA COMPARING DIGITAL BREAST MAMMOGRAPHY TO DIGITAL BREAST TOMOSYNTHESIS. THOSE ARE TWO VERY CLOSELY RELATED TECHNIQUES. THE TOMOSYNTHCYST SIN THAT SIZES USING A COUPLE X-RAY PROJECTIONS. NOT THAT MANY, NOT A FULL CT. SO THE HOPE IS THAT DIGITAL BREAST TOMOSYNTHESIS COULD OUTPERFORM BREAST MAMMOGRAPHY AND GIVE BETTER INFORMATION CONTENT, AND THERE IS A BIG NCI TRIAL THAT'S ENROLLING I THINK 186,000 PATIENTS, AND IT'S GOING TO GO, PERHAPS, UP TO A DECADE TO GET TO THAT ANSWER. THIS GROUP PUBLISHED AN ENTIRELY VIRTUAL TRIAL, SO IT'S POSSIBLE TO IMSIMULATE THE PROPAGATION OF ENERGY, WHEREVER THE ENERGY COMES FROM, FROM SOURCES TO DETECTORS IN MULTIPLE SPATIAL DIMENSIONS AND THEN COMPUTATIONALLY GENERATE IMAGES. ONE OF THEM IS A DIGITAL IMAGE THAT'S REAL, ANOTHER ONE IS ONE THAT'S ENTIRELY VIRTUALLY GENERATED. SO THEY DID A STUDY AND COMPARED THE TWO TECHNOLOGIES, SMALL SCALE STUDY, BUT THE TECHNOLOGIES ARE THERE, THE CAPACITY IS THERE TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS KIND OF THING, AND YOU CAN IMAGINE, YOU KNOW, THIS JUST TOOK A FEW MONTHS, AND COMPUTER TIME, AND I THINK IT REALLY SHOWS THE WAY FOR THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT CAN POTENTIALLY HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE AS WE HAVE BETTER DIGITAL REPRESENTATION. AND IN FACT THE FUTURE IS HERE AT THE NIH, SO ALL-OF-US IS REALLY DESIGNED TO TRY TO TAKE LARGE POPULATION DATA, GET A LOT OF MULTI-PARAMETRIC INFORMATION. THE BIOBANK STUDY IN THE U.K. HAS BEEN DOING THAT, AND TRYING TO INTEGRATE ALL THAT INFORMATION, AND THIS IS HOW WE'RE HELPING ACCELERATE SOME OF THOSE THINGS, SO WE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED, NIGMS HAS BEEN INVOLVED, OTHER AGENCIES IN AN INTERAGENCY MODELING CONSORTIUM WHERE WE'RE BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER TO LOOK AT BOTH MEASUREMENTS AS WELL AS MODELS, VALIDATING THEM, INTRODUCING MACHINE LEARNING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE APPROACHES, AND THERE'S A NEW PUBLICATION THAT JUST CAME OUT BASED ON THIS WORKSHOP THAT HAPPENED IN OCTOBER IN THIS NATURE JOURNAL THAT HELPS DESCRIBE WHAT SOME OF THE PROMISES BEHIND DIGITAL TWINS AND VIRTUAL TRIALS AND HOW WE NEED TO VALIDATE THOSE WITH ALSO OUR MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES. GRACE PENG IS REALLY CHAMPIONING THIS ACROSS THE NIH. SO JUST TO SUMMARIZE, ALL THESE TECHNOLOGIES, WHETHER THEY'RE FLEXIBLE MICRO ELECTRONICS OR NANOPHOTONICS, THEY'RE REALLY ESSENTIAL AND WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO EVERYTHING WE'RE DOING IN HEALTHCARE. WE'RE SEEING THEY'RE GETTING MOVED INTO THE NIH ALL ACROSS, SO IN 2019, IT WAS 13% OF THE NIH BUDGET WAS BIOENGINEERING, AND THERE'S A LOT OF DEMAND ALL ACROSS THE NIH, AND I THINK OUR IMPACT IS HEAVILY LEVERAGED BECAUSE ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES CAN GO INTO MANY, MANY DIFFERENT AREAS. THE POTENTIAL IS, AS THESE TECHNOLOGIES BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD AND WE'RE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A LOT OF CONSUMER ELECTRONICS, THEY CAN BE DEMOCRATIZED, THEY CAN BE DISTRIBUTED RELATIVELY EASILY AT LOW COST. AND THEY ALSO ARE PROVIDING LOTS OF INTERESTING NEW INFORMATION CONTENT ALLOWING US TO HELP UNDERSTAND DYNAMIC BIOLOGIC PROCESSES. I THINK IN PART, THAT'S REALLY THE KEY UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY, IS TO BE ABLE TO GAIN A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING IN THE FIELD FROM HUMANS OF DYNAMIC BIOLOGY THAT WE'RE UNDERSTANDING FROM BASIC SCIENCE STUDIES. SO WE NEED OBVIOUSLY A NEW WORKFORCE INCREASINGLY. NIGMS HAS BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR QUITE SOME TIME, AND WE'RE SEEING A TRANSFORMATION IN WORKFORCE TRAINING WITH SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WHAT THIS CAN POTENTIALLY DO IS HELP US SHIFT TOWARDS OPTIMIZATION AND PREVENTION IN HUMAN HEALTH, EXTENDING HEALTH SPAN. WE'VE SON ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTERS POP UP ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY ASSOCIATED WITH SCHOOLS OF ENGINEERING AND SCHOOLS OF MEDICINE THAT ARE PURSUING THESE KINDS OF STRATEGIES. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ATTENTION. [APPLAUSE] >> THANKS, BRUCE, FOR A GREAT TALK. JOHN AND ENRIQUE. >> THIS IS GREAT, I REALLY APPRECIATE IT. I QUESTIONED ABOUT PRIZES. SO WHEN MY FIRST STARTUP WAS FIRST APPROACHED BY A VENTURE CAPITALIST, WE SIGNED IT ON MONDAY FOR A THOUSAND DOLLARS. NOW, WE TOOK ANOTHER MONTH TO DLOAS THE PAPERWORK, BUT THE DECISION WAS MADE LIKE THAT. AND THAT TRANSFORMED THE WAY I THOUGHT ABOUT RAISING MONEY FOR IDEAS THAT INSTEAD OF SORT OF SENDING A SUBMISSION IN, WAITING A YEAR, ADVISING BACK, A COUPLE YEARS AFTER YOU STARTED, YOU HAVE MONEY TO SPEND ON AN IDEA, YOU CAN GO OUT AND ENGAGE A DECISION MAKER VERY QUICKLY. AND I WAS ON A PANEL WITH SCOTT SOMERS A FEW YEARS AGO, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT SBIRs, A LOT OF FOLKS IN THE AUDIENCE ARE SAYING WHAT WE NEED IS MUCH BIGGER SBIRs. I SAID NO, WHAT YOU NEED IS MUCH SMALLER SBIRs THAT YOU CAN AWARD IN A WEEK, RIGHT? AND SO I WAS HAVING -- I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT PRIZES AT ALL, BUT I HAD THIS CONVERSATION WITH JODI BLACK IN THE DIRECTOR'S OFFICE. WHAT'S YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH GIVING A PRIZE? MAYBE YOU COULD TALK A LITTLE ABOUT THAT MECHANISM AND ABOUT WHAT IT ACCOMPLISHES AND WHAT YOU THINK FOR VERY FAST MOVING IDEAS WHERE THE LAST THING YOU WANT IS FOR SOMEONE TO PONDER SOMETHING FOR A YEAR, BUT FOR FAST MOVING COMMERCIALIZABLE IDEAS, WHAT'S THE ROLE OF PRIZES GOING FORWARD? >> THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. AND I'LL TRY TO BE BRIEF, SO FIRST -- AND IF WE FOCUS A LITTLE BIT ON THIS DEBUT PRIZE, SO REMEMBER, THESE ARE FOR UNDERGRADUATES, AND SO IT'S REALLY -- THERE'S A SOCIAL ENGINEERING ASPECT TO IT. IT'S TO REALLY CEMENT THEIR AMBITIONS IN A SENSE, THEIR COMMITMENT TO THESE -- TO BEING ABLE TO TAKE WHAT THEY'RE DOING THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THEIR CAREERS AND CONTINUE TO GROW AND DEVELOP IT. SO THIS IS VERY FOCUSED. IN TERMS OF OTHER PRIZES THAT ARE EMERGING, WE'RE DEFINITELY LOOKING AT THOSE VERY CAREFULLY TO SEE IF THERE IS A ROLE, AND I THINK IT'S PROBABLY GOING TO BE VERY STRONGLY COUPLED TO HOW SPECIFIC WE CAN DESIGN THE PRIZE CHALLENGE. SO ARE WE TRYING TO SORT OF STIMULATE EARLY ACTIVITY, THOSE ARE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THE SBIR LINE YOU GET NON-DILUTIVE CAPITAL INVESTMENT, YOU CAN DE-RISK TECHNOLOGIES. WE OFTEN SEE THAT FOR VERY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES, IT REQUIRES ABOUT A DECADE TO DE-RISK THEM BEFORE THEY'RE READY FOR ANY KIND OF A MARKET. SO THAT WOULDN'T BE APPROPRIATE. YOU OBVIOUSLY HAD A TECHNOLOGY THAT WAS FAIRLY HIGH UP THE TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL IN A SENSE, AND ALSO YOU PROBABLY HAD A FAIRLY WELL IDENTIFIED MARKET THAT IT COULD BE THEN CONVERTED FAIRLY QUICKLY. SO WE NEED TO HAVE OPPORTUNITIES ALL ALONG THAT CONTINUUM, AND OUR PRIZES IN THIS ARE REALLY MORE TO SUPPORT OUR ENGINEERING COMMUNITY AND SUPPORT THE STUDENTS. BUT WE ARE DEFINITELY THINKING ABOUT HOW WE COULD USE -- I THINK IT REALLY SPEAKS TO WE ARE FRUSTRATED WITH THE MECHANISMS THAT WE HAVE. THE R01 IS NOT AN IDEAL MECHANISM FOR -- IT CERTAINLY IS GOOD FOR THE CONTINUOUS INNOVATION CYCLE, BUT PEOPLE FALL BACK INTO THAT CYCLE. YOU KNOW, THEY INNOVATE AND THEN DO THEY WANT TO MOVE IT OUT? WELL, THEY'RE MUCH SAFE ARE WITH JUST INNOVATING AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. SO WE HAVE TO THINK OF WAYS, AND I'D BE HAPPY TO TALK TO YOU MORE ABOUT WAYS TO TARGET NEW MECHANISMS IN ORDER TO HELP PEOPLE INSPIRE TO MOVE OUT OF THE INNOVATION CYCLE. WE DON'T WANT EVERYBODY TO MOVE OUT OF THAT CYCLE, BUT SOME PEOPLE GET THE IDEA THAT THEIR TECHNOLOGY COULD BE THE ONE THAT ACTUALLY GETS LEGS AND STARTS TO MOVE AND WILL REALLY HAVE AN IMPACT. SO R01s ARE TYPICALLY NOT THAT GOOD FOR THAT. THEY'RE NOT REALLY DESIGNED FOR IT. >> EP ENRIQUE. >> SO THINKING OF THESE INITIATIVES THAT UTILIZE SORT OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY, CELL PHONES, ET CETERA, LIKE THE BIOBANK, ALL-OF-US AND THE DIGITAL TWINS, HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE CHALLENGES WITH PATIENT ANONYMITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY SO THAT THIS INFORMATION IS NOT USED FOR PURPOSES OTHER THAN YOU HAD INTENDED WHEN COLLECTING THEM? >> THOSE ARE ISSUES KIND OF THAT ARE BEING ADDRESSED A LITTLE BIT MORE WITH, FOR EXAMPLE, OUR SCIENTIFIC DATA COUNCIL AND THE ADVISORY COUNCIL TO THE DIRECTOR JUST RELEASED AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT THAT AFTER A LITTLE OVER A YEAR OF ANALYSIS SORT OF CAME OUT WITH AN OPINION ON THE USE OF LARGE DATASETS AND A.I. AND CAUTIONED PEOPLE TO REALLY BE CAREFULLY CONSIDERING THAT. MOST OF WHAT I'M SHOWING WHAT OUR COMMUNITY DOES, ARE PRETTY SMALL SCALE STUDY, IT'S NOT COMBING THE INTERNET FOR INFORMATION CONTENT. THESE ARE REALLY MORE STRONGLY COUPLED TO INNOVATIONS IN TECHNOLOGY THAT ARE DESIGNED TO GIVE ENTIRELY NEWALS AND INFORMATION CONTENT. THAT'S BEEN OUR POWER STRIP. NOT SO MUCH THE LET'S JUST SUCK UP DATA FROM LARGE, LARGE POPULATIONS AND THROW THEM INTO SOME COMPUTATIONAL ENGINE. BUT THAT CERTAINLY IS SOMETHING THAT'S GOING ON QUITE WIDELY, AND THERE IS -- AND JON CAN PROBABLY SPEAK TO THIS EVEN BETTER, IF SUSAN WERE HERE, SHE COULD PROBABLY ALSO SPEAK TO THAT. IT'S A VERY, VERY LEGITIMATE CONCERN. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH, BRUCE. REALLY APPRECIATE YOU TAKING THE TIME TO COME SPEAK TO US. [APPLAUSE] NOW WE'RE GOING TO MOVE OND AND HEAR A SERIES OF CONCEPT CLEARANCES FROM ALISON GAMMIE. WE'LL PROBABLY TAKE A VOTE I THINK AFTER EACH ONE. SO AGAIN I'LL ASK FOR A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONCEPT AND THEN WE'LL VOTE ON THEM. >> GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE. SO I'M HERE TODAY AS JON MENGSED MENTIONED TO BRING BEFORE YOU CONCEPT CLEARANCE. THE FIRST TWO ARE PART OF OUR LARGER PROGRAM FOR DIVERSITY ENHANCING PROGRAMS, AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THIS, WE RECENTLY UNDERWENT A MAJOR RESTRUCTURING OF OUR DIVERSTY ENHANCING PROGRAMS, AND WHAT YOU CAN SEE BY THIS SCHEMATIC IS THAT WE HAVE PROGRAMS THAT GO FROM THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE LEVEL UP THROUGH THE POSTDOCTORAL AND EARLY CAREER PHASE IN THE DIVERSITY ENHANCING SPACE. AND WHAT WE HAVE DONE IN PARTICULAR FOR SOME OF OUR FLAGSHIP PROGRAMS IS TO ENSURE, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT WE HAVE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE PROGRAMS THAT ARE BOTH IN RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTIONS AND IN RESEARCH-ACTIVE INSTITUTIONS, AND WE HAVE A DIVIDING LINE THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE AMOUNT OF RESEARCH PROJECT GRANTS THAT EACH OF THESE -- THESE TYPES OF INSTITUTIONS HAVE. SO WE DID THIS RESTRUCTURING IN PART TO PREVENT OVERLAP, ALSO TO MAKE SURE WE MOVED FROM OUR ACTIVITY FROM R ACTIVITY CODES TO T ACTIVITY CODES, THAT WAS TO ALIGN THEM. WE ALSO WANTED TO HAVE EQUITY OF SUPPORT FOR ALL TRAINEES IN OUR VARIOUS PROGRAMS. WE ALSO FELT AS THOUGH BY HAVING THESE SEPARATE TRACKS WOULD REPRESENT FAIRNESS IN THE REVIEW FAIRNESS AND ALSO PROVIDES FOR ENHANCED CAPACITY FOR EVALUATION. SO THAT'S THE BIG OVERVIEW FOR WHY WE WENT THROUGH THE RESTRUCTURING. SO TODAY I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE TWO GRADUATE PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE. ONE IS INITIATIVE FOR MAXIMIZING STUDENT DEVELOPMENT, AND THAT IS AT RESEARCH-INTENSIVE INSTITUTIONS OR GREATER THAN 7 1/2 MILLION DOLLARS ON AVERAGE RESEARCH PROJECT GRANTS PER YEAR. WE ALSO HAVE THE GRADUATE RESEARCH TRAINING INITIATIVE FOR STUDENT ENHANCEMENT OR G-RISE, AND THOSE ARE RESEARCH-ACTIVE INSTITUTIONS. THEY HAVE LESS THAN 7 1/2 MILLION DOLLARS RESEARCH PROJECT GRANTS ON AVERAGE. SO THE PURPOSE OF THESE ARE THE SAME, IT'S JUST THEY'RE AT DIFFERENT INSTITUTION TYPES. THE PURPOSE IS TO DEVELOP A POOL OF SCIENTISTS EARNING A PH.D. WHO HAVE THE SKILLS TO TRANSITION INTO CAREERS IN THE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH WORKFORCE. THESE PROGRAMS ARE QUITE NEW BECAUSE THE RESTRUCTURING HAS JUST HAPPENED SO WE HAVEN'T HAD SUFFICIENT TIME FOR OUTCOMES, BUT WHEN THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT LAG, SIX TO 10 YEARS, WE WILL CONDUCT AN EVALUATION AND GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT. THESE ARE RUN JOINTLY BY PROGRAM DIRECTORS AND SHOWN HERE. SO JUST TO GIVE YOU A QUICK SENSE OF WHAT IS COMMON TO ALL OF OUR TRAINING PROGRAMS, WE HAVE OVERARCHING THEMES. WE REALLY PLACE THE EMPHASIS ON THE TRAINEE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS THAT THEY NEED TO TRANSITION INTO CAREERS IN THE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH WORKFORCE. WE ALSO ENCOURAGE THE USE OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES IN THE REALM OF THINGS TRAINING AND MENTORING. WE ALSO REQUIRE THAT THERE ARE SPECIFIC MEASURABLE AND OBTAINABLE AIMS SIMILAR TO A RESEARCH PROJECT GRANT. YOU HAVE THE SAME FOR TRAINING GRANTS AS WELL. JON MENTIONED EARLIER BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE EMPHASIZING IS THAT RIGOR AND TRANSPARENCY AND THE RESPONSIBLE AND SAFE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH ARE ELEMENTS THAT ARE THREADED THROUGH THE ENTIRE CURRICULUM FROM THE MOMENT THE TRAINEES ENTER TO THE MOMENT THEY'RE GRANTED THEIR DEGREE. ALSO IMPORTANT TO US IS THAT DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IS PART OF THE CULTURE AND IT IS PART OF THE CULTURE AT ALL LEVELS. WE ALSO ENCOURAGE MENTOR TRAINING AND OVERSIGHT OF THE TRAINEE-MENTOR MATCHES THROUGHOUT THE TIME, AGAIN, THAT THE TRAINEES ARE IN THE PROGRAM. WE HAVE A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON CAREER PREPAREDNESS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE TRAINEES ARE GETTING EXPOSURE TO THE RANGE OF CAREERS OUT THERE AND THAT THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVELOP THE SKILLS THEY NEED TO MAKE THOSE TRANSITIONS. WE'RE ALSO LOOKING FOR STRONG INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT AND THIS TAKES MANY DIFFERENT FORMS BUT THERE IS A VERY STRONG EMPHASIS IN OUR FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENTS ON THAT. AND FOR ALL PROGRAM, WE HAVE A STRONG EMPHASIS ON EVALUATION, BOTH EACH SITE HAVING THEIR OWN EVALUATIONS BUT ALSO ON A LARGER SCALE FOR NIGMS TO EVALUATE THESE PROGRAMS. SO DRILLING DOWN TO G-RISE AND IMSD, WE WANT TO KEEP MANY ASPECTS THAT I JUST MENTIONED BUT WE HAD A FEW THINGS THAT CHANGED AS WE WERE WRITING FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENTS AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE LANGUAGE IS UNIFORM ACROSS ALL AND THAT WE WERE INCORPORATING IT AND STAYING UP TO DATE WITH OUR DEVELOP. MENT. SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE WANT TO DO IS ENCOURAGE PARTNERSHIPS AND GET INPUT FROM POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS, AND THIS INCLUDES INDIVIDUALS IN INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT AND NON-PROFITS. WE ALSO ENCOURAGE TEACHING THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF PRACTICE, AND JON MENTIONED THIS EARLIER IN HIS TALK, AND THIS INCLUDES IN A RANGE OF AREAS, PARTICULARLY IN THE AREA OF RIGOR, BUT AREAS OF SAFETY, RECORD-KEEPING AND SUCH. AND BASICALLY THE GOAL IS THAT THEY CAN -- TRAINEES CAN TRANSITION INTO A RANGE OF CAREERS INCLUDING INDUSTRY WITHOUT THERE BEING A LARGE GAP IN SKILLS. THIS SEEMS LIKE A LITTLE BIT OF A TECHNICAL POINT, BUT FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE EVER FILLED OUT TABLE 6, I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO BE HAPPY ABOUT THIS ONE. WE HAD A GREAT DEAL OF FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY THAT THIS WAS A HIGHLY LABOR-INTENSIVE TRAINING TABLE AND LIKEWISE WE HEARD THAT REVIEWERS DIDN'T FIND IT PARTICULARLY HELPFUL, SO WE'VE ELIMINATED THE REQUIREMENT FOR JUST THIS ONE TABLE, TABLE 6, BUT THEN WE ASK FOR KEY ELEMENTS ABOUT SURROUNDING THE APPLICATION AND THE APPLICATION PROCESS. WE'LL STILL ASK FOR THAT DATA, BUT IT WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE TEXT AND IT WON'T BE QUITE A LABOR-INTENSIVE. SO WE'RE DOING THIS NOW FOR ALL OF OWRL OUR PRE-DOCTORAL PROGRAMS. G-RISE, WHICH FORMERLY WAS PART OF A LARGER RISE PROGRAM, IT'S NOW KIND OF PULLED OFF TO ITS OWN GRADUATE LEVEL, WAS STILL BEING REVIEWED AT THE SAME TIME AS OUR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM, SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE GOING TO DO IS TO MOVE THE RECEIPT DATE AND HAVE IT BE REVIEWED THE SAME TIME AS IS MD SO REVIEWERS ARE ABLE TO ALL BE THINKIN ABOUT PREDOCTORAL DIVERSITY ENHANCING PROGRAMS AT THE SAME TIME. SO THOSE ARE JUST THE BROAD OVERVIEW OF THE CHANGES. THE TIMELINE IS SHOWN HERE. WE HOPE TO RELEASE IN THE SUMMER AND THEN GO THROUGH THE STANDARD REVIEW PROCESS AND THE EARLIEST AWARDS WOULD BE IN FEBRUARY OF 2022. SO BEFORE MOVING ON, AND I GUESS WE'LL TAKE A VOTE FIRST, BUT I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THESE TWO PROGRAMS. >> QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? >> THAT WAS GREAT, ALISON. GOING BACK TO YOUR SLIDE, YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT YOUR EMPHASIS FOR THE PROGRAMS. WILL THOSE EMPHASIS BE EXPLICITLY STATED AND REVIEWED BY THE REVIEWERS? FOR EXAMPLE, HOW DO YOU ENSURE INCLUSION AT ALL LEVELS OF A PROGRAM? WHAT WILL THE REVIEWERS BE LOOKING FOR? >> RIGHT. SO IT IS AN EXPLICIT PART OF THE FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT INSTRUCTIONS AND ALSO WE HAVE A PARALLEL QUESTION IN THE REVIEW CRITERIA. SO THAT'S DEFINITELY THERE. NOW, WE TEND NOT TO BE PRESCRIPTIVE ABOUT WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE. AND UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENT CONTEXTS, THERE ARE DIFFERENT POPULATIONS, THERE ARE DIFFERENT CHALLENGES FACED AND INSTITUTIONS AND WITH DIFFERENT POPULATIONS OF STUDENTS. SO WE'RE NOT PRESCRIPTIVE BUT WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE IS THAT PLACES ARE BEING RESPONSIVE TO THEIR CONTEXT AND THEIR STUDENTS AND THAT THEY ARE ADDRESSING THE AREAS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY OF CONCERN THERE. SO WE HESITATE TO HAVE ANY KIND OF, YOU KNOW, THIS IS WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE BECAUSE IT'S REALLY HARD TO SAY. >> ITS AN EXPLICIT PART OF THE ACTUAL APPLICATION AND REVIEW. >> ABSOLUTELY. THE KEY THING IS, AND THIS IS THE CHANGE THAT HAS HAPPENED WITH THESE NEW FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENTS IS IT'S PART OF THE SCORED REVIEW CRITERIA. SO PREVIOUSLY WE HAD A RECRUITMENT PLAN TO REPRESENT DIVERSITY, IT WAS A CHECK BOX BUT OUTSIDE OF THE SCORE REVIEWED CRITERIA, IT WAS EITHER ACCEPTABLE OR UNACCEPTABLE, BUT IT WASN'T SCORE-DRIVING. SO NOW IT IS PART -- IT'S SCORE-DRIVING. ANGELA. I'LL MOVE HERE SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO TURN. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH, DR. GAMMIE, AND THE TWB COMMUNITY FOR THIS REISSUANCE. MY QUESTION IS FOLLOWING UP TO DR. BERG'S COMMENT ABOUT REALIZING THAT NIGMS WANT TO BE PRESCRIPTIVE ABOUT HOW TO MEET THE VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMS. AND SO I DO WONDER AT THIS POINT ESPECIALLY RELATING TO MENTOR TRAINING BEING ENCOURAGED BUT NOT REQUIRED, TO WHAT EXTENT THE TWD IS WILLING TO CONSIDER AT LEAST USING THE WORDS EVIDENCE-BASED MENTOR TRAINING, GIVEN THAT WE DO HAVE THE NATIONAL RESEARCH MENTORING NETWORK, THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES HAVE NOW PUT TOGETHER A COMPENDIUM OF BEST PRACTICES, AND MY QUESTION IS REALLY ABOUT ADDING THE WORD AT LEAST "EVIDENCE-BASED" MENTOR TRAINING. REALIZING THERE ARE A LOT OF WAYS AND A LOT OF VARIABILITY OF HOW PEOPLE THINK ABOUT MENTOR TRAINING. >> SO I DON'T HAVE IT ALL MEMORIZED, BUT I AM REASONABLY SURE WE USE THE WORD EVIDENCE -- CERTAINLY EVIDENCE-INFORMED, IN PART -- BECAUSE YOU CAN LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE, YOU'RE INFORMED BY THAT AND YOU MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS ON SITE. BUT SPECIFICALLY, I THINK WE USE THE LANGUAGE OF TRAINING AND MENTORING. SO I THINK THEY TEND TO GO TOGETHER BUT WE'LL LOOK AT THAT AND WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE COUPLED AND THAT WE'RE CONSISTENT AND CAREFUL ALL THE WAY THROUGH. THAT WAS THE INTENTION CERTAINLY TO USE EVIDENCE-BASED -- AN EVIDENCE BASE TO INFORM YOUR DECISIONS ABOUT MENTOR TRAINING, ABOUT TRAINING ITSELF, THE RESEARCH TRAINING ITSELF THAT INCLUDES CURRICULUM, HOW WE LEARN, HOW WE THINK, ACROSS ALL AREAS, JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT THE GREAT LITERATURE THAT'S OUT THERE. >> I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD SAY A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE DIRECTION FOR PARTNERSHIPS. IT SAYS ENCOURAGING PARTNERSHIPS BUT YOU COULD IMAGINE THAT TAKING A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT FORMS, SO SORT OF INFORMATIONAL GROUPS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT SORTS OF THINGS THESE GROUPS ARE LOOKING FOR. YOU MENTIONED INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT, NON-PROFITS, INTERNSHIPS. I WAS WONDERING HOW MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT THAT IS INCLUDED IN THE NEW GUIDANCE. >> AS USUAL, WE'RE NOT BEING OVERLY PRESCRIPTIVE. WE DO HAVE A BIOTECHNOLOGY FROM THE 80s WHERE THERE ARE STRONG PARTNERSHIPS WITH INDUSTRY AND THAT HAS BEEN A NICE MODEL FOR HOW THOSE PARTNERSHIPS FEEDBACK INTO THE SORT OF CURRICULUM AND CULTURE FOR THOSE TRAINEES. THEY GET EXPOSURE TO DIFFERENT THINGS THAT THEY MIGHT NOT THINK ABOUT OTHERWISE. SO THAT'S AT LEAST A NEIST MODEL. BUT WE HESITATE TO -- AND AGAIN, IT'S SORT OF CONTEXT-SPECIFIC AND POPULATION-SPECIFIC, SO IF YOU HAVE -- IF YOU FIND THAT YOUR TRAINEES ARE HEADED TOWARDS, YOU KNOW, SCIENCE WRITING, FOR WHATEVER REASON, THEN MAYBE YOU WANT TO ENCOURAGE EMPLOYERS IN THAT AREA TO FEED BACK AND SAY, WELL, THEY'RE PRETTY GOOD WRITERS BUT MAYBE IT COULD BE BEEFED UP IN THIS REGARD. SO I THINK IT IS, ONCE AGAIN, CONTEXT-SPECIFIC, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WELL ALREADY, WHERE ARE YOUR STUDENTS HEADING, AND WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK ARE YOU GETTING FROM THE ALUMNI SAYING WE WERE READY OR WE WEREN'T READY FOR THAT PARTICULAR END POINT. SO THAT'S A PLACE FOR GROWTH. BUT I THINK THE IDEA GETTING BACK TO WHAT JON WAS MENTIONING EARLIER IS THAT YOU REALLY WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT IT HASN'T BECOME UNCOUPLED, THAT TRAINING HASN'T BECOME UNCOUPLED FROM THE CAREERS WHERE PEOPLE ARE HEADING. AND THAT CAN HAPPEN AS YOU STAY IN ACADEMIA, YOU'RE NOT GETTING FEEDBACK IN REALTIME. >> I WANT TO CAPTURE A VOTE FOR EACH OF THESE PROGRAMS SEPARATELY SO WE'LL START WITH ISMD. DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONCEPT FOR ISMD? A SECOND? APPROVED. THEN A MOTION FOR G-RISE. A MOTION TO APPROVE THAT, A SECOND. ALL IN FAVOR, ANY OPPOSED? THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. WE HAVE ONE MORE, AND THIS IS A CONCEPT CLEARANCE FOR TRAINING MODULES. AND JON HAS FORESHADOWED THIS SO THAT'S VERY HELPFUL. SO WHAT THIS IS IS IT'S GOING TO BE A STANDING FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT. FOR TRAINING MODULES FOR THE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH WORKFORCE. WE'LL USE WHAT'S CALLED AN R25 ACTIVITY CODE. SO THE IDEA HERE IS THAT THESE MODULES SHOULD HAVE THE FOLLOWING. THEY SHOULD BE INNOVATIVE, SHORT TRAINING UNITS THAT ARE AMENABLE TO BEING COMBINED INTO LARGER COURSES OR CURRICULA. THEY'RE DESIGNED TO TRAIN THE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH WORKFORCE. THEY SHOULD BE USEFUL FOR A BROAD RANGE OF NIH TRAINING PROGRAMS, THEY'RE NOT TOO NARROW. THEY SHOULD BE -- AND THIS IS AN IMPORTANT POINT, THEY SHOULD BE SHAREABLE AND AVAILABLE TO THE COMMUNITY AT NO COST AND THESE BUILD UPON, AS JON MENTIONED, OUR PREVIOUS EFFORTS IN THIS SPACE THAT WAS SPREFL TARGETED TO RI GHOR AND TRANSPARENCY TO ENHANCE REPRODUCIBILITY, AND ONE SURROUNDING DATA SCIENCE IN THE AREA OF RIGOR. SO WE HAVE A CLEARINGHOUSE FOR THESE, AND WITH A WEBSITE WHERE THE COMMUNITY CAN HAVE ACCESS TO THESE TRAINING MODULES. SO THE IDEA IS TO JUST BUILD UPON THIS SO WE HAVE A GENERIC SORT OF FREE-STANDING FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT, AND THIS WE WOULD THEN WE WOULD HAVE NOTICES OF SPECIAL INTEREST THAT ARE A LITTLE MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD TO GET PUBLISHED, THEY DON'T REQUIRE THE SAME REVIEW PROCESS AS A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT SO THAT WE CAN HIGHLIGHT DIFFERENT TOPICS IN THE AREA OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. AND THESE ARE ANTICIPATED TO BE RELEASED ANNUALLY. SO SOME OF THE AREAS AS JON MENTIONED EARLIER, ONE OF THEM WE'RE THINKING ABOUT IS LABORATORY SAFETY, BUT HERE ARE SOME OTHER AREAS, AND IT'S IN PART IN RESPONSE TO THE COMMUNITY AND SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT THEY'VE HAD WITH OUR RECENT TRAINING PROGRAS. ONE IS HOW TO EVALUATE PROGRAMS. THERE'S A LOT OF FRUSTRATION, I WOULD SAY, IN THE COMMUNITY ABOUT HOW TO DO THIS PROPERLY, SO WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO HELP THEM OUT. BUT YOU CAN SEE SOME OTHER AREAS HERE THAT RANGE FROM MENTOR TRAINING TO CAREER PREPAREDNESS, WELLNESS IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT'S COMING UP QUITE A BIT IN TERMS OF MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES THAT TRAINEES ARE FACING. GETTING BACK TO THE EVIDENCE INFORMED HAVING -- HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT INCORPORATING EVIDENCE-INFORMED EDUCATIONAL TRAINING AND MENTORING PRACTICES. PROFESSIONAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT, AND THEN CREATING SUPPORTIVE, SAFE AND INCLUSIVE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENTS. SO THESE ARE AT LEAST SOME OF THE IDEAS. WE'RE OPEN TO OTHERS AND WELCOME YOUR THOUGHTS. SO THESE ARE, AS I MENTIONED, USING THE R25 ACTIVITY CODE. THEY'RE SIMILAR TO THE ONES THAT HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY RELEASED. THREE-YEAR PROJECTS. IN YEARS 1 AND 2, IT'S THE DEVELOPMENT, PILOTING PHASE, MAYBE BEGINNING TO DISSEMINATE, AND THEN TAKING THE THIRD YEAR TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THESE MODULES. SO IT'S UP TO $250,000 DIRECT COSTS FOR THE ENTIRE AWARD. WE EXPECT TO MAKE FOUR TO SIX PER YEAR. THE TIMELINE IS ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME AS I JUST SHOWED YOU FOR THE PREVIOUS ONES. WE HOPE TO GET THE PUBLICATION -- WELL, OUT IN THE FALL OF 2020 AND THE FIRST AWARDS IN APRIL OF 2022. SO THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE FOR THIS CONCEPT CLEARANCE AND I'M HAPPY TO TAKE QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS BEFORE THE VOTE. >> THANKS, ALISON. THIS IS REALLY EXCITING. I'M JUST CURIOUS, IF YOU HAVE ONE TO TWO YEARS TO DEVELOP THESE REALLY IMPORTANT MODULES AND THEN A THIRD YEAR TO EVALUATE, IF YOUR EVALUATION SHOWS IT'S NOT WORTH IT, WHAT DO YOU DO AFTER THAT BECAUSE YOU CAN'T GET REFUNDED, RIGHT? >> I'M A BIG FAN OF GETTING OUT THERE THINGS THAT DON'T WORK. BECAUSE THERE IS THIS SENSE IN THE TRAINING COMMUNITY, THERE'S A HESITANCE TO SAY, WELL, WHAT DEPARTMENT WORK WELL, DIDN'T WORK WELL. ONE OF THE WAYS WE'RE GOING TO MAKE GREAT PROGRESS IS IF PEOPLE TRIED THINGS AND THEY WERE NOT EFFECTIVE, LET'S GET THE WORD OUT SO WE DON'T KEEP REPLICATING IT. BECAUSE IT WAS A GOOD IDEA. IT MADE IT THROUGH PEER REVIEW, PEOPLE THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA AND FOR WHATEVER REASON IT DIDN'T MEET ITS OBJECTIVES LET'S BE CLEAR ABOUT THAT. >> HOW DOES AN EVALUATIVE PROCESS GET EVALUATED BECAUSE THE GRANT ENDS AFTER THAT THIRD YEAR. >> HE WITH DO HAVE THE WEBPAGE WHERE WE HAVE THESE TRAINING MODULES, AND IF IT HAPPENED, I THINK WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE FULL DISCLOSURE TALK ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW, CAUTION THE COMMUNITY. I THINK THAT THE OTHER POINT THAT'S ALSO RAISED IS HOW DO WE CONTINUE TO EVALUATE THESE PROGRAMS WHEN WE NO LONGER FUND THEM, AND I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT, WHETHER THEY HAVE A WILLINGNESS TO GIVE US THEIR EVALUATIONS AS THESE CONTINUE INTO THE FUTURE. , WHETHER THEY'D BE WILLING TO CONTINUE TO SHARE WEB ANALYTICS AND OTHER SUCH THINGS THAT WOULD BE AT LEAST AN INDICATOR OF INTEREST. IT DOESN'T ALWAYS TELL YOU ABOUT EFFECTIVENESS. >> ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? OKAY. >> WE'LL CALL FOR A VOTE. ALL IN FAVOR OF THIS CONCEPT, CAN I GET A MOTION? A SECOND? ALL IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED? THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU, ALISON. THAT'S AMAZING. WOOER NOW EXACTLY ON WOOWE'RE NOW EXACTLY ON TIME. THE LAST ORDER OF BUSINESS FOR THE OPEN SESSION WILL BE THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD, AND WE HAVE TWO CARDS INDICATING PEOPLE WHO WANT TO SPEAK FOR DIFFERENT PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES. WE'LL START WITH YVETTE SEEGER FROM FASEB. WHY DON'T YOU COME UP HERE. >> THANK YOU FOR HAVING US AS PART OF YOUR PUBLIC SESSION OF YOUR MEETING. WE ALWAYS APPRECIATE COMING TO NIGMS COUNCIL. I'M EVETTE SEEGER, DIRECTOR DIRECTOR. I DO HAVE TWO OF MY COLLEAGUES WITH ME HERE TODAY AND I'M GOING TO ASK THEM TO WAVE. NAOMI AND JACQUELINE. SO NAOMI HANDLES OUR RESEARCH RESOURCES, PORTFOLIO, AND A LOT OF ANIMAL RESEARCH ACTIVITY AND THAT WEBINAR NEXT TUESDAY THAT WE HOPE YOU'LL JOIN US FOR, SHE'S BEEN WORKING ON THAT, AND THEN JACQUELINE HANDLES OUR TRAINING AND WORKFORCE PORTFOLIO, SO WE'RE EXCITED TO HAVE THEM JOIN COUNCIL AND WE ALWAYS APPRECIATE THE DISCUSSION. WITHIN NAOMI'S PORTFOLIO, I DIDN'T BRING HANDOUTS LIKE I NORMALLY DO, I WAS UNPREPARED, BUT NAOMI WORKED REALLY HARD WITH ONE OF OUR SUBCOMMITTEES TO DEVELOP A SERIES OF NEW FACT SHEETS ON ANIMAL RESEARCH USING -- LOOKING AT DIFFERENT SPECIES. MY PERSONAL FAVORITE IS LLAMA. SO YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT HOW THE RESEARCH NOT ONLY BENEFITS THE ANIMALS -- OR HUMANS BUT ALSO THE ANIMALS INVOLVED. SO IT'S A SERIES OF THREE AND THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT SPECIES ON EACH ONE SO PLEASE DO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT OR YOU CAN FIND ME AND WE CAN SEND YOU THE LINK. WE ALREADY HEARD ABOUT THE WEBINAR NEXT TUESDAY. AND THEN FOR MY PORTFOLIO, I ALWAYS LIKE THE JANUARY COUNCIL MEETING TO REMIND YOU THAT FASEB OFFERS AN EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE AWARD, AND ACTUALLY IT WAS EXPANDED LAST YEAR TO THREE, SO ACTUALLY 2020 IS THE FIRST YEAR WE'RE AWARDING -- WE'LL SEE OUR FIRST THREE AWARDEES AND WE'RE TAKING NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2021 AWARDEE SEASON, SO WE HAVE THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AS WELL, AND THAT'S A $10,000 AWARD AND THEN WE HAVE AN EARLY CAREER AND MID CAREER AWARD THAT IS AT $5,000 A PIECE. AND IT COMES WITH THE CASH PRIZE BUT ALSO GIVING A LECTURE AT THE FASEB MEMBER SOCIETY MEETING OF THEIR CHOICE. SO IT'S A REALLY GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO BUMP UP INDIVIDUALS THAT YOU KNOW WHO ARE MEMBERS OF FASEB SOCIETIES AND GIVE THEM THAT HIGH PROFILE AND GETTING THEM A TALK AT A CONFERENCE. THE LAST THING I WANT TO RAISE IS WE'VE USED NIGMS AS A MODEL, WE LOVE SEEING THE AD HOC MEMBERS YOU BRING IN, A LOT OF VALUE TO THE DISCUSSION, AND FASEB HAS RECENTLY CHANGED ITS BYLAWS SO WE WILL BE HAVING EARLY CAREER FACULTY AND POSTDOCS SERVING ON OUR SCIENCE POLICY COMMITTEE AND OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS. SO THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING SUCH A TERRIFIC MODEL, AND I'M REALLY EXCITED, THAT'S SOMETHING I'VE BEEN PUSHING FOR AS A STAFF MEMBER, BUT AGAIN, OPPORTUNITIES TO PUSH FORWARD YOUR COLLEAGUES, WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NOMINATIONS OF PEOPLE. SO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE OPPORTUNITY, AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. >> THANK YOU, I DIDN'T VET. YVETTE. THANKS FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO AT FASEB. IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO ALL OF US, WHAT YOU DO. SO NEXT WE'RE GOING TO HEAR FROM ERICA SHOEGUARD FROM THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY. >> HI, FOLKS. GOOD TO SEE EVERYONE. I REALLY APPRECIATE BEING HERE. I HAVE -- ALSO I'M JOINED BY KEVIN WILSON WHO ASKED ME TO ASK HIM NOT TO WAVE. I JUST WANT TO COVER A FEW THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN GOING ON AND ARE COMING UP AT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY. FIR IN THE FIRST IN THE AREA OF OUTREACH, LAST YEAR WE TEND OF AT THE END OF THE YE AR WE CELEBRATED A NEW PRIZE OR CONTEST TO RECOGNIZE THE IMAGING THAT GOES ON IN CELL BIOLOGY AROUND FLUORESCENT IMAGING. IT WAS IN CELEBRATION OF THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF -- IN PROTEIN. WE GOT SOME REALLY AMAZING IMAGES AND WE'RE REALLY PLEASED THAT THE NIH DIRECTOR'S BLOG DECIDED TO RECOGNIZE THOSE THIS MONTHAND FEATURE THEM. WE DO ANTICIPATE WE'LL GET EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL IMAGES. I ALWAYS THINK INCREASE BEING THE APPRECIATION OF THE BEAUTY OF SCIENCE IS A WONDERFUL THING TO DO TO GET PEOPLE TO ENTER INTO SCIENCE. THE SECOND THING WE HAVE GOING ON, SOMETHING THAT'S COMING UP, WE HAVE GOTTEN A RENEWAL OF FUNDING FOR A SET OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT GRANTS FROM SANDBOX SCIENCE, AN INITIATIVE OF THE SIMONS FOUNDATION. THESE ARE FROR GRANTS THAT ARE KIND OF MEDIUM SIZED. A LOT OF SCIENTISTS DO OUTREACH AND THEY'RE OFTEN PAYING FOR IT OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKETS. THESE GRANTS ARE 10,000 TO $35,000 FOR A YEAR. IT ALSO INCLUDES EVALUATION AND ACCESS TO AN EVALUATOR. WHAT WE REALLY HOPE IS THAT THESE GRANTS WILL START PROVIDING A BRIDGE TO GET PEOPLE TO LARGER FUNDING INITIATIVES, MAYBE THE CEPA PROGRAM, BECAUSE THEY WILL HAVE PRELIMINARY DATA, THEY'LL REALLY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SCALE UP SLIGHTLY THEIR INITIATIVE AND SO THAT WE HOPE TO HAVE MORE FOLKS COMING YOUR WAY IN THAT AREA IN THE FUTURE. IN THE PUBLIC DEVELOPMENT AREA, WE'RE REALLY PLEASED THAT WE'RE SUCCESSFUL BIOTECH COURSE. THIS IS A COURSE THAT HELPS POSTDOCS AND GRADUATE STUDENTS THAT ARE IN ACADEMIA TRANSITION TO INDUSTRY CAREERS. IF YOU LOOK BACK AT OUR RECORD FOR PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN IN FROM THREE OR FOUR YEARS AGO, ALMOST 60 TO 70% HAVE SUCCESSFULLY MADE A TRANSITION INTO INDUSTRY, SO WE'RE REALLY PLEASED WITH THOSE NUMBERS. WE NOW -- WE ALWAYS OFFERED IT ON THE WEST COAST. WE NOW HAVE AN EAST COAST VERSION AS WELL UP IN MASSACHUSETTS THAT WE'RE DOING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LOWELL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS IN, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS UP THERE. ADDITIONALLY, WE ARE PARTNERING WITH THE STORS INSTITUTE FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE IMBO LAB LEADERSHIP COURSE, A COURSE THAT'S BEEN VERY POPULAR IN EUROPE NOW BEING BLOWT HERE BROUGHT HERE TO THE STATES, TO LEARN ALL THOSE THINGS NOT TAUGHT IN GRADUATE SCHOOL TO MAKE THE TRANSITION INTO A FACULTY POSITION, SO WE'RE REALLY PLEASED TO BE ABLE TO HELP THEM EXPAND THE PROGRAM. THEIR NEXT SESSION IS IN APRIL, LET YOUR COLLEAGUES KNOW ABOUT THAT. ADDITIONALLY, WE HAVE BEEN EXPANDING OUR WEBINAR PROGRAM AND ARE STARTING TO PROVIDE A ROBUST SERIES OF WEBINARS ON A WIDE VARIETY OF TOPICS THAT RANGE IN EVERYTHING FROM SCIENCE EDUCATION TO PUBLIC SPEAKING, TO ADVOCACY AND OTHER KINDS OF EFFORTS. IN THE POLICY AREA, OUR ANNUAL MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A DECADE WAS HERE IN D.C. . IT WAS GREAT TO SEE A LOT OF FACES IN THE AUDIENCE THAT WERE ABLE TO COME TO THE MEETING. WE DID HAVE A HILL DAY WHERE WE HAD OVER 50, 60 PARTICIPANTS, IT'S OR LARGEST HILL DAY THAT WE'VE EVER HELD SO WE WERE REALLY DELIGHTED TO GET THEM UP ON THE HILL. IT WAS ACTUALLY A GOOD TIME, IT TURNED OUT, THERE IN EARLY DECEMBER TO GET THE ATTENTION OF A LOT OF DIFFERENT OFFICES. AND OUR POLICY COMMITTEE IS ALSO WORKING ON A NEW WHITE PAPER THAT'S GOING TO FOCUS ON WE'RE CURRENTLY CALLING IT SECOND ACTS, MAYBE ON CORE CAREERS. IT'S FOCUSED ON SORT OF WHAT PEOPLE DO AS THEY START HEADING TOWARDS THE END OF THEIR CAREER AND MAYBE WANT TO TRANSITION OUTSIDE OF RESEARCH LAB, MAYBE STAY IN THE RESEARCH LAB, AND WE'LL BE LOOKING AT DIFFERENT MODELS FROM OUR MEMBERSHIP AS WELL AS WIDER AND REALLY TRYING TO DOCUMENT BECAUSE WE KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF PATHS THAT PEOPLE TAKE AND A LOT OF ATTENTION IS PAID TO THE BEGINNING OF THEIR RESEARCH CAREER AND WE WANT TO ALSO KIND OF LOOK AT THOSE OPTIONS TOWARDS THE END. JUST A COUPLE MORE BRIEF THINGS. ONE, IF YOU WEREN'T AWARE, WE WERE REALLY DELIGHTED THIS YEAR TO BE ABLE TO AWARD OUR PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD. THIS IS OUR HIGHEST AWARD FOR PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF THE RESEARCH, IT WAS GIVEN TO JIM DEATHRIDGE FOR ALL OF HIS AMAZING WORK HE'S DONE FOR THE CELL BIOLOGY COMMUNITY. WE WERE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE HIM AT THE KEYNOTE AT OUR ANNUAL MEETING AND JUST WAS A DELIGHT TO BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THE HARD WORK OF BOTH HIM AND WE RECOGNIZED ALL OF THE PROGRAM OFFICERS THAT MAKE THE WORK THAT OUR MEMBERS DO POSSIBLE. SO BIG THANKS AND SHOUT OUT TO EVERYONE THAT'S STILL IN THE TRENCHES DOING THE GOOD WORK HERE. AND THEN FINALLY, WE HAVE MOVED OFFICES PHYSICALLY, YESTERDAY WAS OUR FIRST DAY IN THE NEW OFFICES UP IN EXECUTIVE BOULEVARD, SO IF YOU'RE EVER IN TOWN AND WOULD LIKE TO VISIT US, WE'D LOVE TO SHOW OFF OUR NEW SPACE AND LOOK FORWARD TO WELCOMING YOU THERE. SO THANK YOU. [APPLAUSE] >> ANYONE ELSE WANT TO SUBMIT A CARD? THAT'S THE END OF OPEN SESSION.