How the NIH Can Help You Get Funded

Michelle Kienholz has partnered with scientists, clinicians, and public health researchers from all disciplines at dozens of universities to develop grant applications for almost every federal agency, including most grant mechanisms for each of the institutes and centers at the NIH. She volunteers her knowledge and experience on her popular blog, Medical Writing, Editing and Grantsmanship (as writedit), through which she has learned the most common and vexing concerns of researchers who interact with the NIH and how best to foster a partnership between investigators and NIH personnel.Jeremy M. Berg served for eight years as Director of the National Institute for General Medical Sciences at NIH, where he championed transparency and communication. Prior to his time at NIH, he was at Johns Hopkins University for 19 years as a postdoctoral fellow, faculty member, and department chair. He is currently on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where he serves in several key administrative positions and conducts research in computational biology and personalized medicine. He has received numerous research, teaching, and public service awards.

The two authors are experienced with and knowledgeable about this bureaucratic system and provide researchers an exceptional aid in working through the process...the authors do a magnificent job of explaining why the application process is so time-intense. The book also gives superb advice about developing a protocol and applying for a grant and what the different decision steps mean for researchers.100 - 5 stars!

• Table of Contents ; Foreword ; Preface ; Acknowledgments ; Essential Steps for Securing NIH Funding: A Quick Guide to Key Concepts ; Abbreviations ; Chapter 1: National Institutes of Health ; * Overview of agency organization and activities ; * Congressional authorization and appropriations ; * Office of the Director components and oversight ; * Overview of grant application and award process, including timeline over three fiscal years ; Chapter 2: Institutes and Centers ; * Overview of each institute and center, with a common data set for each (key links, contact information, details on how funding decisions are made) ; * Advisory Council role ; * Funding trend data where available (number of applications scored and funded at each percentile for FY12 and in some cases FY11) ; Chapter 3: Center for Scientific Review and the Peer Review Process ; * Overview of CSR and its activities ; * Application referral to an IC and study section ; * Picking the right reviewers ; * How your application is reviewed (in person and on the Internet) ; * Tips for crafting your application to help the reviewers ; * How your application is scored and what the score means ; * How percentiles are calculated and the difference between percentile, payline, and success rate ; * Becoming a reviewer ; Chapter 4: Office of Extramural Research ; * Overview of OER and its activities ; * Finding and understanding funding opportunities ; * Preparing the application package ; * Overview of eRA Commons ; * Overview of NIH grants policy ; Chapter 5: Federal Budget Process ; * Impact of federal budget status on NIH funding decisions ; * Process of proposing and passing the federal budget (and NIH appropriation) ; * How you can advocate for more NIH funding ; * What ICs do once they have their final appropriation ; Chapter 6: NIH Funding Data and Trends ; * Overview of available funding data ; * Change in success rate by R01 application type and submission (FY03, FY12) ; * Using NIH data to enhance your grant strategy ; Chapter 7: Getting at Mechanism ; * Overview of NIH funding mechanisms ; * Research grants (R) ; * Small business research project grant mechanisms ; * Research programs (P) ; * Career development (K) ; * Research training (F, T) ; * Supplements and bridge funding ; Chapter 8: Telling Your Story Well ; * Overview of developing your proposal, including where to put preliminary data ; * Correlation between individual criterion scores and impact score ; * Specific aims ; * Approach ; * Significance ; * Innovation ; * Introduction ; * Protection of research subjects ; * Project summary (abstract) ; * Investigators and environment ; * Cover letter ; * Budget ; Chapter 9: Presenting Your Message Well ; * Organizing your ideas in parallel with review process ; * Reader-friendly formatting tips ; * Science of communicating (rhetoric) ; * Videos in NIH applications ; Chapter 10: Getting by with a Little Help from Your Friends ; * Interacting with POs (tips and etiquette) ; * Importance of having others read your narrative ; Chapter 11: Before and After the Review ; * Interacting with the SRO before the review ; * What to expect the week your application is reviewed ; * When and how to interact with your PO after the review ; * Council actions after the review ; * Why appeals are rarely a good idea (and what to do when one is warranted) ; * Administrative review of the application and award processing ; Chapter 12: Is the Check in the Mail? ; * Understanding what your score and, if included, percentile mean ; * Timing of payline setting and funding decisions ; * Interacting with your PO ; Chapter 13: The Check is Not in the Mail ; * Next-steps if your application was not discussed or did not make the paylist ; * Strategies for resubmission ; * Timing of resubmission ; * Whether to change study sections ; * Repurposing your application ; * Long-term grant application strategy ; Chapter 14: The Check is in the Mail, BUT ; * Reduction in budget and/or number of years ; * If you relocate to another institution ; * Carrying funds over from one FY to the next and no-cost extensions ; * Compliance with NIH Public Access Policy required for non-competing renewal and citing NIH support in manuscripts ; Appendix A ; Index