CSR’s primary role is to handle the receipt and review of ~ 75% of the 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.
News & Policy
The latest news and policy updates from CSR. Read about our outreach programs and publications.
Study Sections
Applications are reviewed in study sections (Scientific Review Group, SRG). Review Branches (RBs) are clusters of study sections based on scientific discipline.
Review Panels & Dates
Applications are reviewed in study sections (Scientific Review Group, SRG). Review Branches (RBs) are clusters of study sections based on scientific discipline.
After receiving his Ph.D. in physics in the area of structural biology from the University of Oregon, Dr. Jacobson carried out postdoctoral training in the Molecular and Cell Biology Department at the University of California, Berkeley. He then went on to the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer…
Dr. Tara Earl received her Ph.D. in social work at the University of Texas at Austin and post-doctoral training in health and mental health disparities and health services research through a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Minority/Diversity Supplement. Prior to joining CSR, Dr. Earl was…
Dr. Tatiana Cohen obtained her Ph.D. in pharmacology at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, where she studied transcriptional regulation of muscle-specific genes.
She continued her postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute, where she developed transgenic mouse models of human…
Dr. Thomas Beres serves as Chief of the Health Services and Systems Review Branch (HSS RB).Dr. Thomas Beres received his Ph.D. in Genetics and Development from the University of Texas Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Dallas, Texas. There he studied both bHLH and homeodomain…
Dr. Thomas Zeyda earned his Ph.D. from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz Germany founded on loss-of-function studies that targeted the somatostatin system, which he performed as a guest researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Throughout his academic path, at the Max-…
Dr. Todd E. White earned his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Florida and completed his postdoctoral training at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM). Prior to joining the NIH, he was a research biologist at the Atlanta VA Health Care System and an assistant professor at MSM. Dr. White's…
Dr. Salm Ward earned an M.S.W. and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in health sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She was an assistant professor jointly appointed in public health and social work at the University of Georgia and an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-…
Dr. Tina Tang received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the NIH Graduate Partnerships Program jointly hosted by the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and the NIH Intramural Program. She conducted her graduate research at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke studying…
Dr. Uma Basavanna received her Ph.D. in biochemistry at University of Mysore, India where her graduate work was focused on characterizing snake venom toxins, along with testing and the production of antivenom therapeutics. She continued her postdoctoral trainings at the University of Maryland and…
Dr. Vandana Kumari earned her Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry, specializing in structure-based drug discovery at the College of Pharmacy, Ohio State University. She pursued her postdoctoral training at the Center for Structural Biology (formerly Macromolecular Crystallography Laboratory), National…
Dr. Vanessa Boyce received her Master’s degree in biology from Duquesne University and Doctoral degree in Neuroscience from Drexel University College of Medicine. She completed post-doctoral research at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and was also an associate of the International…
Dr. Vanessa Sherk received her Ph.D. in exercise physiology from the University of Oklahoma. She received post-doctoral training at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where she focused on how nutrition affects bone metabolism. During that time, Dr. Sherk was also an assistant…
Dr. Velasco Cimica earned his Ph.D. in biology at the University of Göttingen, Germany, where he studied gene expression regulation in liver regeneration. He completed his post-doctoral training in the U.S. studying virology, immunology, and pharmacology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine,…
Dr. Victor Panchenko holds a Ph.D. in biological sciences from the National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine. Prior to joining CSR Dr. Panchenko was a Tech Transfer Project Manager at Amgen, Inc and worked on their first anticancer program small molecule KRAS inhibitor. Before that he worked as a…
Dr. Victoria Virador received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis where she studied grape polyphenol oxidase, a ubiquitous enzyme that catalyzes oxidative browning. As a postdoctoral trainee at the NCI, Dr. Virador developed in-cell assays to study pigmentation modifiers, and…
Dr. Vinod Charles serves as Chief of the Bioengineering, Biodata, and Biomodeling Technologies Review Branch (BBBT RB).
Dr. Vinod Charles returned to CSR after working in the Division of Extramural Activities at NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), where he served in multiple…
Dr. Vivian Tang has a bachelor’s degree in physiology from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. degree in physiology from the University of California, San Francisco. After obtaining her degrees, Dr. Tang became a postdoctoral research fellow and an instructor of cell biology at…
Dr. Bogdanov obtained his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences in 1999 at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine / City University of New York, where he studied molecular and cellular mechanisms that contribute to vessel reocclusion following coronary angioplasty. After…
Dr. Vonda Smith 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(SRO) of the Small Business: Bioanalytical Chemistry, Chemistry, Biophysics, and Assay Development Study…
Dr. Wei-Qin Zhao serves as Chief of the Aging and Neurodegeneration Review Branch (AN RB).
Dr. Wei-Qin Zhao received her medical training from Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences in China, and a Ph.D. in neurobiology from LaTrobe University in Australia. She worked as a postdoctoral fellow…
Dr. Weihua Luo received his Ph.D. in medical oncology from the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom and obtained his M.D. from Shanghai Second Medical University in China, where he worked as a surgeon as well as a cancer research scientist. Dr. Luo had postdoctoral training in the University…
Dr. Wenyan Han received her Ph.D. in neuropharmacology from Shenyang Pharmaceutical University in China, where she studied neuropeptides and drug addiction. She then completed postdoctoral research training at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and the National Institute of…
Dr. Willard Wilson received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Rochester, where he studied auditory neurophysiology. After postdoctoral training, he moved to industry, where he directed SBIR-funded research and development on hardware and software products for neurophysiology research…
Dr. Wing-Hang Tong obtained her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied the mechanism of the assembly of the tyrosyl radical-diiron (III) cofactor of E. coli ribonucleotide reductase using biophysical methods. As a postdoctoral fellow at the…
Dr. Yanming Bi received her Ph.D. in bone biology from Case Western University, School of Medicine. Her graduate work on orthopaedic implant loosening received the William Harris Award for outstanding research related to the hip and the Kappa Delta Award for excellence in orthopaedic research.…