IC Directors’ Meeting Highlights — Thursday, May 11, 2017

Announcements – Francis Collins

Dr. Collins (DIR) briefed the IC Directors on recent NIH activities, including a screening of “First in Human,” a new documentary about the Clinical Center airing on Discovery, and the Sound Health “Music and the Mind” concert, which will be jointly hosted by the Kennedy Center. Dr. Collins also reported out on a White House biomedicine meeting that was held on May 8, his attendance at the World Economic Forum and the Milken Global Conference, and upcoming meetings focused on the opioid addiction crisis. Finally, Dr. Collins discussed NIH’s involvement in Departmental efforts to “reimagine” HHS, and also noted that the House Appropriations Committee hearing will be held next week.

Update on Grant Support Index – Lawrence Tabak

Dr. Tabak (DEPD) updated the IC Directors on initial community feedback on the Grant Support Index (GSI), a metric that NIH proposes to use to limit the total amount of funding provided to an individual investigator through NIH-supported research. IC Director discussion focused on the reallocation of funds freed up by the implementation of this policy, the current GSI point value system, and additional policy implementation considerations.

Data Commons Pilots – James Anderson

Dr. Anderson (DPCPSI) updated the IC Directors on the NIH Data Commons pilots. The pilots are being tested in specific Institutes to determine the cost and feasibility of different platforms to enable the long-term goal of making NIH data and tools more accessible and shareable. IC Director discussion focused on the timeframe for implementation of the NIH Commons, the ability of the Commons to develop and incorporate new analytics and tools, data ownership considerations, and potential mechanisms for future input on Commons progress.

This page last reviewed on August 22, 2017