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NIH Director Describes Mechanisms for Distributing Stimulus Research Dollars

Endocrine Insider
February 19, 2009

Society staff attended a meeting held by NIH Acting Director Raynard Kington, MD PhD, for the biomedical research community on February 18 to describe the NIH’s plans for disbursement of the $10.4 billion it will receive as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Throughout his presentation and the ensuing discussion, Dr. Kington repeatedly stressed that these funds are a one-time infusion of dollars that are to be spent in their entirety within two years.  He also emphasized that the expenditure of funds is to be transparent and to reflect an immediate economic impact with measurable outcomes in terms of jobs retained/created and money infused into the economy.  As such, research funded with stimulus dollars must be completed within the two-year time frame, and investigators receiving stimulus funds should be prepared for reporting requirements above and beyond those typically involved with NIH grants.

The largest portion of the stimulus funds—$8.2 billion—is allocated for research and will be sent to the Office of the Director (OD).  $7.4 billion will subsequently be transferred to the Institutes and Centers (ICs) in the same proportion as dictated under FY09 funding.  The remaining $800 million will be retained in the OD for trans-NIH initiatives.  The entire $8.2 billion will be allocated primarily through three mechanisms, with final dollar amounts under each mechanism yet to be determined.
 
•    Previously submitted and reviewed R01 applications

o    NIH staff will examine previously submitted applications to determine if two years of funding would result in significant scientific advances and if the research is in line with IC priorities.

•    Administrative supplements to existing grants

o    For existing grants with at least one year of funds remaining, there may be opportunities for administrative supplements.  Details on the implementation of this mechanism are yet to be determined, but potential processes include a proposal/review process and administrative identification of eligible grants.  Examples of potentially eligible items for supplemental funding include equipment, extensions for postdocs, summer students, and related projects. 

•    Challenge Grants

o    NIH will issue a Request for Applications for new, two-year grants describing cross-cutting, highly innovative projects.  These will be large grants.

The remaining $2.2B of stimulus funds will be disbursed as follows:

•    $1.3 billion to the National Center for Research Resources ($1B for competitive extramural facilities and $300M for shared instrumentation)
•    $500 million to intramural facilities
•    $400 million (through the Agency for Health Research and Quality) for comparative effectiveness research

Dr. Kington repeatedly expressed the NIH’s gratitude to Congress and the Administration for the additional funds, while simultaneously cautioning the biomedical research community against viewing the funds as a recuperation of lost funding or as the promise of increased future funding.  He also encouraged the research community to express its gratitude to Congress for its recognition of research as a vital part of the American economy.  Society members are encouraged to write their members of Congress and thank them for including NIH in the stimulus package.  A customizable sample letter has been created at http://capwiz.com/endocrine/home/