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. 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…
The CSR Division of Receipt and Referral (DRR) receives all NIH grant applications. DRR assigns grant applications to a scientific review group (study section) for first-level peer review and to a funding institute/center for the second level of review for funding consideration. Appeals…
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…
Dr. David Ransom received his Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology from the University of Virginia. He then obtained postdoctoral training in genetics at Harvard University. Dr. Ransom next took a faculty position in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Oregon Health and…
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. Stephanie Hicks received her Ph.D. in biochemistry, cellular, and molecular biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She completed her postdoctoral training at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in the Pharmacology Department, where she conducted structure-function…
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. 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. Laureen Connell received her Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from Stony Brook University, where she studied the molecular mechanisms regulating the actin cytoskeleton and cell adhesion in cancer cells. She then worked as the assistant editor and then associate editor for the molecular…
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. Manoj Valiyaveettil earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Kerala, India. He completed postdoctoral training at Georgetown University Medical Center, focusing on proteoglycan biochemistry in the onset of malaria pathology, followed by a junior faculty position at Cleveland…
Dr. Nakia Brown received her Ph.D. in biopsychology from the University of Michigan. Her professional background includes experience in organizational and program evaluation within the public and private sectors. She has supported several NIH trans-agency initiatives focused on advancing community-…
Dr. Kathy Partlow received her Ph.D. in molecular cell biology from Washington University, St. Louis. She conducted her graduate and postdoctoral work in laboratories that specialized in imaging (e.g., ultrasound and MRI) and organic chemistry, respectively. Dr. Partlow’s research experience has…
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…
Ms. Carla Ward is an Ethics Program Specialist located in the Office of the Director. She, along with other Ethics Specialists, are responsible for being the first line of contact for employees. Ms. Ward assists CSR’s Deputy Ethics Counselor with handling the day-to-day functioning of…
Dr. Stephen Gallo received his Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Buffalo, exploring novel methods of transdermal drug delivery using rheological, histological, and imaging techniques. He then trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), examining the membrane…
Dr. Baskaran “Baski” Thyagarajan received his Ph.D. in molecular physiology and pharmacology from the Karl-Franzen’s University of Graz, Austria. He completed his post-doctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, MD, and then at the New Jersey Medical School, NJ. Before…
After obtaining a D.V.M. degree from the University of Agriculture, Dr. Shah received a Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology from Boston University, where his research focused on the neurotransmitter expression in the embryonic neurons. Dr. Shah conducted postdoctoral studies on the regulation…
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. Ekaterina (Katia) Nestorovich holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from St. Petersburg State University and a Professional Certificate in project management from Stanford. Her postdoctoral research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development focused on the…
Dr. Seyhan Boyoglu-Barnum earned her Ph.D. from Alabama State University and completed postdoctoral training at Emory University, specializing in RSV vaccine development. Dr. Boyoglu-Barnum contributed to the MERS outbreak response at the CDC’s Division of Viral Diseases and joined the NIH Vaccine…
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. 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. Zheng Li received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Fudan University in China and had her postdoctoral training in radiochemistry at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, NIH. She then took a faculty position at Houston Methodist Hospital, where she built the…
Dr. Louis Rosenthal received his Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania with a focus on retrovirus-induced leukemogenesis and tumor immunology. After obtaining postdoctoral training in parasite immunology and cytokine signaling at Temple University and the Food and Drug…