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. Jason Hoffert received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He obtained post-doctoral training in renal salt and water transport at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in the Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism. For 12…
As Branch Chief for the Scientific Review Evaluation Activities (SREA) Branch, Mr. Wheat has oversight of the organization responsible for managing the review meeting hotel contracts, non-Federal traveler contract, and reviewer reimbursement. Each and every one of these activities make review…
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. Zack Howard received a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of South Carolina. Her research there focused on the molecular and structural chemistry of complement component eight. Before coming to the NIH, Dr. Howard conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson…
Dr. Allison Kurti completed her Ph.D. in experimental psychology from University of Florida, after which she held positions in both academia as a research assistant professor at the University of Vermont, and within the government as a health scientist for the Center for Tobacco Products.…
Dr. Jonathan Peterson received his Ph.D. in exercise physiology at West Virginia University School of Medicine. There he studied the role of fatty acid toxicity on attenuating muscle growth in severe obesity. He then became a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Metabolism and Obesity Research at…
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. Jessica Bellinger received her Ph.D. in health services policy and management from the University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health. Before joining NIH, she was a social scientist at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she directed projects examining…
Dr. Sergei Ruvinov received his Ph.D. in chemical enzymology from the Moscow Lomonosov University in Russia. He came to NIH under a Fogarty International Center fellowship and conducted enzyme structure and function studies in the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Pharmacology at the National…
Dr. Simon Peron received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Baylor College of Medicine, where he worked on the biophysical mechanisms subserving neural computations in insect vision. He received postdoctoral training at Janelia Farm Research Campus in large-scale two-photon calcium imaging of the mouse…
Dr. Stephanie Nagle Emmens earned her Ph.D. in speech, language and hearing at the University of Connecticut, investigating the role of the auditory centers of the brain in behavioral perception of complex auditory information. She joined the faculty at Towson University and also worked as a…
Dr. Linda Jurata received her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of California, San Diego, where she studied interactions between transcription factors and transcription mediators in the context of vertebrate development. During her NIH-supported postdoctoral fellowship at the Salk…
Dr. Maqsood Wani serves as Chief of the Cell and Developmental Biology Review Branch (CDB RB).
Dr. Maqsood Wani received his Ph.D. at the Ohio State University and did his postdoctoral work at the University of Cincinnati where he was also a new investigator in Program of Excellence in Molecular…
Dr. Maria Cardenas-Corona joined CSR following her retirement as a research professor emeritus of molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke University School of Medicine. During her academic career, her studies focused on the elucidation of the mechanism of action of the anti-cancer,…
Dr. Andrew Wolfe received his Ph.D. in neurobiology and physiology from Northwestern University, where he studied regulation of reproductive neuroendocrine function. His post-doctoral training at Boston Children’s Hospital focused on understanding the cell-specific regulation of the gonadotropin…
She came to CSR from the National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH, where she was a staff scientist for the last ten years. Prior this, she worked at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Topol is a graduate of the Moscow State University with a bachelor degree in physiology, and she has a Ph.D…
Dr. Nywana Sizemore received her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University for her work on the interactions of human papillomavirus and epidermal growth factor signaling in human ectocervical epithelial cells. Her postdoctoral work focused on the role of growth factor signaling in Ras-mediated…
Dr. Gagan Pandya serves as Chief of the Basic Neuroscience Review Branch (BN RB).Before coming to CSR, Dr. Gagan Pandya was a staff scientist and a team leader for the comparative genomics program within the Pathogen Functional Genomics Resource Center at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville…
Dr. Izabella Zandberg received her Ph.D. in mass communications at the University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to joining CSR, she served as a social scientist at the Food and Drug Administration, Center for Tobacco Products. During her tenure at FDA, Dr. Zandberg designed and implemented…
Dr. David E. Pollio received his Ph.D. in social work and psychology from the University of Michigan. He came to CSR after serving as a distinguished professor, chairing the department of social work at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Prior to that he was the Hill Crest Foundation Endowed…
Dr. Jonathan Ivins serves as Chief of the Kidney, Urology, and Digestive Systems Review Branch (KUDS RB).
Dr. Ivins received his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. After postdoctoral work at CalTech, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and UC Irvine…
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. Angela Thrasher received her Ph.D. in health behavior from the University of North Carolina (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health. Dr. Thrasher completed postdoctoral training in health disparities, social determinants of health, and minority aging research at the University of…
Suzanne Ryan is a Scientific Review Officer in CSR’s Population Sciences and Epidemiology Integrated Review Group.
She earned her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a focus on family demography. Before coming to NIH, Dr. Ryan was a senior research…
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,…