News Release

Monday, December 3, 2012

NIH names Dr. Richard Nakamura director of the Center for Scientific Review

National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., announced today the selection of Richard Nakamura, Ph.D., as the new director for the NIH’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR). Dr. Nakamura has been serving as the acting director since September 2011. He leads CSR’s 450 scientists and administrative staff, overseeing their efforts to manage 80,000 incoming NIH grant applications a year and review the majority of them in CSR peer review groups. CSR holds 1,600 review meetings a year, involving about 18,000 reviewers from the scientific community.

"Richard has done a tremendous job of leading CSR in this transitional period," said Dr. Collins. "CSR has experienced many changes in a short amount of time, and Richard has demonstrated extraordinary leadership abilities as CSR continues to evaluate its trans-NIH peer review processes by putting improved and more efficient procedures in place so the NIH can fund the most promising research."

Dr. Nakamura came to NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 1976 as a postdoctoral fellow. In the mid-80's he coordinated NIMH’s Biobehavioral Program and later was Chief of its Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch. Between 1997 and 2007, he served as the institute's Deputy Director. From 2007 to 2011 he has been institute Scientific Director. While at NIMH, he also has held other positions, including Associate Director for Science Policy and Program Planning; Chief, Behavioral and Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch; and Coordinator, ADAMHA Office of Animal Research Issues.

Dr. Nakamura had a 32-year career at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), where he has served as both its Scientific Director and Deputy Director. He also was Acting Director of the NIMH from 2001 to 2002. During his time at NIMH, he received a number of leadership awards, including the prestigious Presidential Rank Award.

Dr. Nakamura earned his B.A. in psychology from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, his M.A. in psychology from New York University, and his Ph.D. in psychology from the State University of New York in Stony Brook. He has expertise in a number of areas, including cognitive and comparative neuroscience, science policy/funding and ethics in science. He has published 30 peer reviewed scientific journal articles, most related to neurocognition in primates.

About CSR: CSR organizes the peer review groups that evaluate the majority of grant applications submitted to NIH. These groups include experienced and respected researchers from across the country and abroad. Since 1946, CSR's mission has been to see that NIH grant applications receive fair, independent, expert, and timely reviews — free from inappropriate influences — so NIH can fund the most promising research. CSR also receives all incoming applications and assigns them to the NIH institutes and centers that fund grants. For more information, go to http://www.csr.nih.gov or phone 301-435-1111.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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