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.
Dr. Lee Klinkenberg received his Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University at Albany, SUNY. He completed post-doctoral training at the Tuberculosis Research Center in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Subsequently, Dr. Klinkenberg became research faculty at Johns Hopkins and…
Dr. Lisa Steele serves as Chief of the Epidemiology and Population Health Review Branch (EPH RB).Dr. Lisa Steele received her Ph.D. in immunology from Harvard University with an emphasis on CD8 T cell responses to microbial pathogens. Following her graduate work, she entered CDC as a CDC/APHL…
Dr. Marilyn Moore-Hoon received a Ph.D. in natural sciences (molecular biology) from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, where she combined molecular biology and biophysical approaches to study ion transport across epithelial cell membranes through solute transporter family members (SLC…
Dr. Melinda Harrison Krick received her Ph.D. in chemistry from Duquesne University, where she studied heavy metal-binding proteins using quantum and molecular modeling and spectroscopic techniques. Dr. Krick then studied biosensors at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Prior to joining CSR, she…
Dr. Michelle M. Timmerman is the Associate Director/Guide Liaison Officer at the Division of Receipt and Referral (DRR) at CSR.Prior to joining DRR, she served in the Office of Extramural Research as the Acting Director and Guide Policy Officer of the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts. She also…
Dr. Joshua Park holds an MS degree in pharmacology, microbiology, and immunology from the Medical University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology from Johns Hopkins University. Thereafter, he pursued postdoctoral training at the National Institute of…
Dr. June Gin received a Ph.D. in resource policy and behavior from the University of Michigan's School of Environment and Sustainability, focusing on environmental sociology. Before joining CSR, she was a research health scientist at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Emergency…
Dr. Ganesan Ramesh obtained his doctorate from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, where his dissertation focused on the role of TGF-βs in pre-implantation embryo development and its regulation by steroid hormones in the uterus. His expertise is in kidney pathophysiology and…
Dr. Jennifer C. Villa received a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and conducted her thesis research on gamma-secretase regulation of notch signaling in hypoxic breast cancer at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She received postdoctoral training…
Dr. Jian Cao received his M.D. from Zhengzhou University School of Medicine in China and an M.S. from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. He had postdoctoral training in the field of molecular and cellular biology of cancer at Kanazawa University in Japan and then at Stony Brook University (…
Dr. Iyer received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Mumbai, India, where she developed novel linkers for applications in combinatorial chemistry. She completed post-doctoral training at the National Institutes of Health, where she synthesized and characterized oxidative…
Dr. Rass M. Shayiq received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from India, he then finished postdoctoral training in the Department of Animal Biology, at the University of Pennsylvania. His research has focused on the biochemical and molecular characterization of a group of six constitutive and inducible…
Dr. Roger Bannister began his Ph.D. studies in biology at the University of Iowa and completed his thesis at Utah State University. He received his post-doctoral training in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Colorado and was then appointed to a tenure-track faculty…
Dr. Karin Garg received her Ph.D. in social work from Washington University in St. Louis. She completed post-doctoral fellowship training in clinical substance abuse treatment research at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Garg joined the faculty at Temple University, where she collaborated on…
Dr. Adam Heuberger received his Ph.D. from Colorado State University, where he later served as an associate professor. At CSU, he led a transdisciplinary research program integrating molecular biology, genetics, and metabolomics to investigate food, nutrition, and health sciences. His work focused…
Dr. Steven Frenk came to CSR after serving as an epidemiologist at CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics where he managed the questionnaires of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES). While at CDC, he also served as an advisor for the National Death Index and as a…
Dr. Hope Cummings is a Senior Social Science Analyst who supports CSR’s research and evaluation efforts. Dr. Cummings received her Ph.D. in communication studies from the University of Michigan and did post-doctoral training in the Harvard School of Public Health. As a social and behavioral…
Dr. Hasan Siddiqui received his Ph.D. in cancer and cell biology from the University of Cincinnati. He completed extensive postdoctoral training at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in molecular oncology and epigenetics. Subsequently, he was a staff scientist at Nationwide…
How Application Assignments Are MadeThe Division of Receipt and Referral (DRR) in the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) assigns each application to a scientific review group (study section) with the expertise to evaluate the scientific and technical merit of the application and to one or more…
Dr. Abdelouahab Aitouche is the Scientific Review Officer for the CSR’s Physiology and Pathobiology of Organ Systems Study Sections. He coordinates the review process of various fellowship grant application mechanisms.
Dr. Aitouche did his undergraduate studies in his native country Algeria. He…
Dr. Anthony Chan received his veterinarian training at National Taiwan University and his Ph.D. in Endocrinology and Reproductive Physiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he received training in assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) and developed a gene transfer method to…
Dr. Barry Margulies received B.S. at MIT in Applied Biological Sciences, with research in controlled release technology. He earned his Ph.D. at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in biochemistry, cellular, and molecular biology, where he studied the G protein-coupled receptors encoded…
Dr. David Filpula received his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Minnesota and completed postdoctoral training in protein chemistry and molecular genetics at Stanford University and the University of California, San Diego. Subsequently, he served for nearly three decades as a research…
Dr. Eleni Liapi received her M.D. at the University of Ioannina Faculty of Medicine, Greece, and residency training in diagnostic radiology, in Greece. She completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in interventional radiology at Johns Hopkins University and was subsequently appointed as faculty…
Dr. Emily Kilroy earned her Ph.D. in occupational science with a concentration in neuroscience from the University of Southern California (USC). She also holds a Master of Science from University College London and Yale University, specializing in developmental neuropathology. Dr. Kilroy has…