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. Raul Covian received his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the Institute of Cell Physiology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and worked at the National Institute of Cardiology in Mexico City studying mitochondrial metabolism. He obtained postdoctoral training at Dartmouth…
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…
Before joining CSR, Dr. Shahana Majid was an associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco. The main focus of Dr. Majid’s research was to understand the genetic, epigenetic, molecular signaling pathways and non-coding RNAs that drive initiation, progression and metastasis of…
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. Annie Walker-Abbey obtained her Ph.D. degree in microbiology from the Heinrich-Heine University of Duesseldorf, Germany. She then received postdoctoral training in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), where she conducted…
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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-…
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. Baskaran Thyagarajan received a master’s degree in pharmacy with a specialization in Pharmaceutics from Banaras Hindu University, India, and pursued a Ph.D. in molecular physiology and pharmacology from Karl-Franzen’s University of Graz, Austria. He completed his post-doctoral training at the…
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. Jimok Kim received his Ph.D. degree in neuroscience from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He completed postdoctoral training at Stanford University studying neurophysiology and cannabinoid receptor pharmacology. Thereafter, Dr. Kim moved to the Medical College of Georgia, where his…
Dr. Joonil Seog received his Sc.D. in polymer science and Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then performed his postdoctoral research on conformational regulations of cell adhesion molecules under force at the Harvard Medical School. Dr. Seog joined the University of…
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…
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…