NIH LAYS OUT PLAN TO MAXIMIZE R&D BUDGET
The NIH is placing greater emphasis on bringing new researchers into the R&D pipeline and rewarding more productive labs to make the most of what is likely a flat budget in fiscal 2008, a high-ranking agency official says.
The NIH is "going through tough times" financially, Norka Ruiz Bravo, the agency's deputy director for extramural research, said at a Jan. 26 meeting sponsored by Families USA. The agency currently has $28.4 billion available for R&D and needs to "maximize our investment in research," she said.
The NIH will be giving more funds to researchers fresh out of medical school to encourage new ideas in an effort to revitalize R&D, Bravo said. "The system depends on innovative ideas," which younger biomedical researchers are able to provide.
The agency is also planning to give greater weight to a laboratory's research track record in allocating funding each year in an effort to keep greater continuity in the research pipeline. Funding the most productive labs each year helps to "make sure the NIH keeps their investment," Bravo said. Without such an effort, the agency would "lose the continuity that the science requires."
The agency is also working on a way to stabilize the number of grants it awards each year. If the NIH is able to find a way to ensure more predictability, it will "help scientists and institutions plan better."