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. Robert Unfer received his Master of Science and Ph.D. in microbiology from Iowa State University. Prior to joining the NIH, Dr. Unfer held four postdoctoral fellowships, including at Fort Dodge Animal Health Laboratories; Rush University, Department of Immunology/Microbiology; the University of…
Dr. Robin Thompson received a joint Ph.D. in cognitive science and linguistics from the University of California, San Diego. She has held research positions at the Salk Institute, San Diego State University, and University College London before taking on an Associate Professor role at the…
Dr. Zhao is the Scientific Review Officer for the Gastrointestinal Mucosal Pathobiology Study Section within the Digestive, Kidney and Urological Systems Integrated Review Groups. After receiving his graduate degrees, Dr. Zhao had postdoctoral training in the Department of Medicine at Uniformed…
Dr. Alfredo Guerra received his Ph.D. in biological chemistry from Indiana University, where he studied metal-dependent transcriptional regulation. Dr. Guerra conducted his postdoctoral work at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology…
Dr. Baila Hall received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Weill Cornell Medicine, where she investigated frontostriatal circuit function in social hierarchy behaviors, resiliency to chronic social stress, and social choice. She obtained postdoctoral training at the University of California, Los…
Dr. Bernard Srambical Wilfred received his Ph.D. in biotechnology from the Cochin University of Science and Technology in India. He completed his postdoctoral training in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology from the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at University of Kentucky. He then joined the…
Dr. Carmen Bertoni received her Ph.D. from the University of Perugia, Italy. Her postdoctoral work at Stanford University was centered on optimizing gene therapy strategies for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). She then joined the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as an assistant…
Dr. Leslie Turner received her Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Turner trained at Harvard University, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, and the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She then joined the faculty of the Milner Centre for…
Dr. Marc Boulay received his Ph.D. in international health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he then served as an assistant professor in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society and as the Deputy Director for Program Evaluation in the School’s Center for…
Dr. Maureen Shuh received her Ph.D. at Brown University in biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell biology, and completed her post-doctoral fellowship in molecular retrovirology at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Frederick. After NCI, she was an assistant and associate professor at Loyola…
Dr. Steven Ripp received his Ph.D. in microbiology and molecular genetics at Oklahoma State University and thereafter completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Tennessee (UT)-Knoxville under an Alexander Hollaender Postdoctoral Fellowship. He remained at UT-Knoxville for 20 years,…
Dr. Sudha Veeraraghavan received Ph.D. in biophysics and biochemistry from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, where she conducted research in the area of protein folding. As a postdoctoral fellow she trained in structural biology at Tufts University School of Medicine and…
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…
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…
Dr. Yan received her Ph.D. in biology from Johns Hopkins University. Her dissertation research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) focused on immuno-oncology to understand how host immunity affects metastasis. For her post-doctoral training at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Yan…
Dr. Prithi Rajan received her Ph.D. in molecular virology from Northwestern University at Chicago. She then trained in molecular neurobiology and studied mechanisms of neuronal injury at Massachusetts General Hospital and studied cellular signals orchestrating differentiation of neural stem cells…
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. 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. Amy Rubinstein serves as Chief of the Basic and Translational Cancer Review Branch (BTC RB).Dr. Rubinstein received her Ph.D. in biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studying the molecular genetics of pollen development in maize. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie…
Dr. Anthony Foster received his Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda. He trained as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute before accepting a staff scientist position at the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC…
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/…
Dr. Bidyottam Mittra received a Ph.D. in biochemistry & molecular biology from the Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India, where he studied DNA replication in protozoan parasites and mechanisms of anti-parasitic therapeutics. He pursued his postdoctoral training in molecular microbiology at the…
Dr. Kirk Dineley received his Ph.D. and post-doctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, where his research focused on the role of metals in neurodegeneration. He subsequently served in faculty and administrative positions at several…
Dr. Hamity received her Ph.D. in psychology and neuroscience from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, where she studied a subpopulation of sensory neurons as potential muscle nociceptors. During her postdoctoral work at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, she studied the role of Substance P…
Dr. Neerja Kaushik-Basu received her Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Bombay University. Her postdoctoral training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, McGill University, Canada focused on structure-function…