The ARDS, Pneumonia, and Sepsis (APS) Consortium is funded through a collaboration between the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and NIGMS. This large observational study will collect longitudinal data and biospecimens from approximately 4,000 adults hospitalized with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), pneumonia, or sepsis at over 20 hospitals in the United States. The scientific goal is to conduct analyses to gain greater understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying APS and, in particular, to link to well-defined clinical phenotypes.

UPDATE: This position is now closed.

We’re seeking a highly qualified scientist to serve as a program director in our Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry (PPBC). This is a newly created position for the Division as it reorganizes into three Branches. Applicants should have significant interest and experience in the scientific areas comprising the newly formed Chemistry and Chemical Biology Branch. The purpose of the Branch is to foster meritorious research in chemical biology, synthetic biology, chemical catalysis and synthesis, carbohydrate chemistry, natural products, bioinorganic chemistry, and metabolic engineering. We seek candidates with cutting-edge skills and abilities who can complement existing Branch members.

We receive many questions from prospective applicants about getting NIGMS funding for their research: How do I know if my research fits within the scientific interests of NIGMS? What grant programs does the Institute offer? What are NIGMS' research priorities? Whom do I talk to—and when—to learn more?

This post will help to answer those questions. And because it’s the first post in a new series from our staff, think of it as a primer for your initial interactions with us.

UPDATE: The position is now closed.

We’re seeking a highly qualified scientist to serve as a branch chief in our Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry (PPBC). This is a newly created position for the Division as it reorganizes into three branches. Applicants should have significant interest and experience in the scientific areas managed by the Division, which will continue to encompass all the existing research portfolios and will generally be arranged into branches covering physiology and clinical sciences, biochemistry and molecular pharmacology, and chemistry and chemical biology. For a listing of the current scientific topics, see the research areas entries under PPBC.

We want the research community to know about two funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) that NIGMS has joined as part of an NHLBI initiative to support the formation of a multisite study, the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), Pneumonia, and Sepsis Phenotyping (APS) Consortium. The study seeks to better define the heterogeneity underlying critical illness syndromes and to identify the mechanisms of illness development and recovery, as well as relationships and overlap between these syndromes. The FOAs are:

At the September meeting of our National Advisory Council, I presented a concept clearance for our next step in response to the recommendations of the working group on sepsis. The videocast of the presentation is now available.

Watch the sepsis concept clearance at the September Advisory Council meeting.

UPDATE: The position is now closed.

We’re recruiting for an accomplished scientist with interest and experience in total body responses to traumatic and other injuries, as well as sepsis, to join the Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences (PPS) Branch of the Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry (PPBC). The successful applicant will have responsibility for scientific and administrative management of a portfolio of research, career development, and training grants. Opportunities also exist for Small Business Innovation and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) grants.

UPDATE: The vacancy announcement for this position is now open and will close January 30, 2020.

We’re recruiting for an accomplished scientist with experience in the biochemical sciences to join the Biochemistry and Bio-related Chemistry (BBC) Branch of the Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and
Biological Chemistry (PPBC). The BBC Branch supports research studies in synthetic chemistry, biochemistry, and bio-related chemistry. Research in this Branch is related to enzymology, bioenergetics, carbohydrate chemistry and recognition, synthetic methodology development, natural product synthesis and biosynthesis, peptide and protein chemistry, and synthetic biology. 

At the September meeting of the NIGMS Advisory Council, I delivered the Institute’s response to the recommendations of the Working Group on Sepsis. For more information, you can watch the videocast of the presentation.

NIGMS wants to advance our understanding of sepsis in order to accelerate improved diagnosis and treatment strategies. Based on the recommendations of our National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council Working Group on Sepsis, we intend to continue our support of fundamental discovery and mechanistic science relevant to sepsis. We recently identified the Institute’s specific priorities for sepsis research in an NIH Guide notice (NOT-GM-19-054). Additionally, the Working Group recommended that NIGMS encourage the use of human clinical materials to facilitate more rapid progress toward better identification, staging, and endotyping of the disease.