CSR’s primary role is to handle the receipt and review of all grant applications that NIH receives. NIH separates the review process from funding decisions.
For Reviewers
Reviewers are critical to our mission to see that NIH grant applications receive, fair, independent, expert, and timely scientific reviews. We appreciate the generosity with which reviewers give their time.
Study Sections
Applications are reviewed in study sections (Scientific Review Groups, SRGs). Review Branches (RBs) are clusters of study sections based on scientific discipline.
Review Meetings
Applications are reviewed in study sections (Scientific Review Groups, SRGs). Review Branches (RBs) are clusters of study sections based on scientific discipline.
Evaluation Initiatives
Access data visualizations, reports, and analytical tools to track progress.
About CSR
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.
The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit
cc.nih.gov.
Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at
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When multiple PD/PIs are proposed, must all PD/PIs and all institutions involved be AREA-eligible?
When multiple PD/PIs are proposed, must all PD/PIs and all institutions involved be AREA-eligible?
Yes, each PD/PI must have an appointment at an AREA-eligible institution. In addition, each PD…
Training Resources National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Extramural Training Mechanisms
Careers
K Kiosk - Information about NIH Career Development Awards
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Training opportunities and funding for cancer training and…
Dr. Yi Liu earned his Ph.D. in molecular microbiology and immunology and received his postdoctoral training in developmental genetics from the University of Southern California. Prior to joining CSR, he was an associate professor of research and the principal investigator and co-investigator of NIH…
Some Observations from the NIH Director – Dr. Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., NIH Director
CSR Advisory Council Update – Dr. Noni Byrnes, Ph.D., CSR Director
ENQUIRE – Evaluating Panel Quality in Review – Dr. Valerie Durrant, Ph.D., CSR DABP Director
ENQUIRE – Evaluating Panel Quality in Review…
Dr. Ghenima Dirami received a Ph.D. in biochemical endocrinology from the University of London in England. Before joining NIH, Dr. Dirami received her postdoctoral training at Georgetown University. Her research in the Lung Biology Laboratory there focused on oxidant-induced lung injury and on the…
Selection CriteriaScientists must meet general requirements, expertise requirements, and requirements specific to the given study section/scientific review group. Balancing experience and diversity when developing rosters for a scientific review group is one of the most challenging tasks a…
Dr. Afia Sultana earned her Ph.D. in molecular genetics from L. V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, India. She pursued her postdoctoral training and served as a senior research fellow in the laboratory of Retinal Cell and Molecular Biology at the National Eye Institute at NIH. Her research…
Dr. Emily Foley completed her Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular pharmacology at Harvard University, where she studied the mechanisms that control eukaryotic DNA replication and ensure it occurs only once per cell cycle. She then pursued postdoctoral training at The Rockefeller University,…
Dr. Jennifer Sanders received her Ph.D. in molecular biology, cell biology, and biochemistry from Brown University and completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at Rhode Island Hospital. Following fellowship, she joined the faculty at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Her…
Dr. Liangbiao Zheng received his Ph. D. in biology from Harvard University. His postdoctoral training at Harvard focused on molecular genetics of mosquitoes. He continued his research in vector biology with special emphases on host-pathogen interactions and innate immunity as a staff scientist in…
Michael McQuestion received a B.S. degree from the University of Notre Dame, an M.P.H. from Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and a Ph..D in sociology from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Prior to joining NIH, Dr. McQuestion was an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins…
Dr. Pablo M. Blazquez Gamez obtained his Ph.D. in vestibular and cerebellar physiology at Washington University (St. Louis) and Seville University (Spain). He received his postdoctoral training in basal ganglia physiology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Subsequently, he joined the…
Scientific and health breakthroughs are heralded in the press almost every day. You often can trace them back—directly or indirectly—to one or more NIH peer review groups that found promise in an application. To illustrate the point, we share the following stories:
Geneticist Advances…
The FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552, provides individuals with a right to access to records in the possession of the Federal government. The government may withhold information pursuant to the nine exemptions and three exclusions contained in the Act.
If you have questions regarding FOIA requests pending with…
Dr. Jeanne McCaffery received her Ph.D. in clinical and health psychology with a focus on cardiovascular behavioral medicine from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining the NIH, she served as assistant and associate professor at the Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine and the…
After receiving his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois, where he worked in the area of solid state NMR of membrane proteins, Dr. Bowers worked on the development of fast chemical shift imaging techniques and non-invasive magnetic resonance-based assays for liver graft viability.He…
Dr. Joseph Rudolph serves as Chief of the Neurotechnology and Vision Review Branch (NV RB).Dr. Rudolph earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Florida, where he studied the effects of chronic ethanol exposure on NMDA receptor pharmacology and physiology. He first came to the NIH…
Dr. Krystyna Szymczyk came to CSR after working at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases intramural research program in bioinformatics and data science. She received a Ph.D. in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Her…
Dr. Michael Knapp earned his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of California, San Diego, specializing in magnetism and spectroscopy of polynuclear metal complexes. He carried out postdoctoral training at UC Berkeley on H-atom tunneling in enzymes. He then spent 22 years on the…
While there is no administrative requirement that the science in a new A0 application be substantively different from any previously reviewed submission, it is not allowable to have duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time as per 2.3.7.4 Resubmission of an Unfunded…
Mr. Chuck Dunn is an associate director within the CSR Office of Communications and Outreach. He develops and executes communication and outreach strategies in support of CSR’s goals and objectives. Chuck oversees outreach on social media, serves as CSR’s legislative liaison, and represents CSR on…
The ECR program aims to:
Help early career scientists become more competitive for R01 funding by giving them first-hand experience with the review process
Enrich the existing pool of reviewers through increased recruitment of groups traditionally underrepresented on panels such as women,…
Dr. Maria DeBernardi is an Assistant Director in the Division of Receipt and Referral (DRR) at the Center for Scientific Review (CSR).
Prior to this position, she served as Scientific Review Officer in the Interdisciplinary Molecular Sciences and Training review group for seven years. Her primary…
Dr. Abigail Haydon received her PhD and MPH in maternal and child health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with concentrations in demography and developmental science. After leaving UNC, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at NICHD through the AAAS Science and Technology…
Dr. Atul Sahai. received a Ph.D. degree in biochemistry from Howard University. He was an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago, before joining the NIH. The major focus of his research involved delineating the role of chronic local hypoxia in renal/…