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.
Dr. Lystranne Maynard-Smith obtained her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford University with a focus on development of a chemical biology approach to controlling protein stability. She then pursued her postdoctoral training in the Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry, NIDDK with an emphasis on…
Dr. Roger Janz received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Cologne, Germany, and then did postdoctoral training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas with Dr. Thomas Südhof (Nobel laureate 2013). Before joining CSR, Dr. Janz was an associate professor in the…
Dr. Rochelle F. Hentges received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of Rochester. She completed post-doctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh before joining the Owerko Centre for Neurodevelopment at the University of Calgary. Prior to joining CSR, Dr. Hentges was a…
Dr. Elena Smirnova serves as Chief of the Molecular Genetics and Genomics Review Branch (MGG RB).
Dr. Elena Smirnova earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry/biophysics from Heidelberg University in Germany. She did her post-doctoral training in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the UCLA School of…
Dr. Mark Vosvick is a behavioral scientist who was trained at and received degrees from Yale, Rutgers, Harvard and Stanford and completed an NRSA postdoctoral fellowship at the NIH-funded Center for AIDS Intervention Research at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Immediately prior to CSR, Dr.…
Dr. Gheda Temsah earned her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Maryland, specializing in demography and gender, work, and family. Before joining CSR, she spent over a decade in the private sector, leading studies and evaluations of international development and humanitarian programs for…
Dr. Joshua Powell received his M.S. in genetics and his Ph.D. in microbiology from Oregon State University. As a molecular virologist for 18 years in academia, industry and government, Dr. Powell’s research expertise spans both basic and applied research themes focused on human pathogens. Before…
Dr. Thompson earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Utah studying how visual information is processed in the retina and early central visual pathways. He received postdoctoral training in the psychology department at Vanderbilt University, where he studied how the brain selects…
Dr. Bradley Nuss earned his Ph.D. in physiology from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, and he did postdoctoral training in cardiology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He then joined the faculty as an assistant professor and investigated cardiac excitability…
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. Jianxin Hu received his Ph. D. in molecular biology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of South Carolina. Before joining the CSR, he was a staff scientist at the National Institute of Diabetes and…
Dr. Adem Can completed his doctoral training in the behavioral neuroscience program of the department of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He then started his postdoctoral fellowship in the department of psychiatry at the University of Maryland - Baltimore School of Medicine, where…
Dr. Anna Riley received her Ph.D. in sociology from Washington State University. Her training is in social psychology, mental health, and gerontology. She came to CSR as an SRO intern from the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, where she was a postdoctoral research fellow…
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…
Ertan Ornek is a data scientist with a diverse engineering background spanning transportation, medical devices, and data analytics. He specializes in traffic analysis, medical device development, and AI-driven analytics, developing innovative data-driven tools that empower engineers and scientists…
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. Lambratu Rahman Sesay serves as Chief of the Cancer Therapeutics Review Branch (CTH RB).Dr. Lambratu Rahman Sesay received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Howard University in Washington, DC. Before coming to CSR, she was an intramural research training associate in the Molecular Therapeutics…
Dr. Susan Gillmor served a faculty member of the chemistry department at George Washington University prior to joining CSR. She won an NSF fellowship pursing her doctoral studies, and after defending her dissertation on DNA microarrays, she joined a start-up company. She returned to academia as a…
Dr. DeAnna Bublitz received her Ph.D. in microbiology and molecular genetics from Stony Brook University. She then trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories (NIAID/NIH) studying intracellular pathogens. Later as a staff scientist at the University of Montana she studied…
Dr. Guo Feng Xu receiving his Ph.D. in organic polymer chemistry from Texas A&M University, he then completed his postdoctoral training in the Department of Chemistry at Southern Methodist University. Before coming to CSR, he worked in CYTEC Industries as a research scientist and Park-Nelco as…
Dr. Helena Dagadu earned her Ph.D. in medical sociology from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Dagadu also holds an M.P.H. from The George Washington University. Prior to CSR, Dr. Dagadu was the Inaugural Endowed Assistant Professor of Sociology with a joint appointment in the Department of Public Health…
Dr. James Li received his Ph.D. degree in chemistry from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he then started his professional career as a senior medicinal chemist in the pharmaceutical industry working on preclinical drug discovery programs involving pain management, anti-inflammatory,…
Dr. Anne-Sophie Wattiez received a Ph.D. in neuropharmacology from the Université d’Auvergne in France, then trained at the University of Iowa on a John J. Bonica fellowship before starting her independent research in a joint position between the University of Iowa and the Iowa City Veterans…
Dr. Michael O'Connell received his Ph.D. in developmental origins of health and disease (cell and molecular biology) from the University of Southampton School of Medicine in the United Kingdom, in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania. He further trained in the areas of metastatic…