I’m pleased to announce that Richard Aragon is the new director of the Institute's Division of Data Integration, Modeling, and Analytics (DIMA). He has been acting director of DIMA since January 2020.

Richard has ably led NIGMS’ strategic planning and evaluation activities and has served as our Congressional liaison since joining us in 2014 as chief of what was then our Office of Program Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation. In this role, he has evolved and expanded our capabilities to include predictive analytics, budget and fiscal modeling, and the use of artificial intelligence to enhance business processes. As we prepare to the launch the NIGMS 2021-2025 Strategic Plan this spring, Richard’s extensive expertise in spearheading these activities makes him the ideal candidate to lead this critical component of the Institute.

UPDATE: The video from this webinar is now available.

We’re pleased to announce the reissuance of funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) for the Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE) (PAR-21-146) and the Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) (PAR-21-147) T34 programs. The FOAs continue the shared goal to develop a diverse pool of undergraduates who complete their baccalaureate degree, and transition into and complete biomedical, research-focused higher degree programs (e.g., Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D.).

The first application due date for these FOAs is May 26, 2021, and the earliest start date for both programs is April 2022.

We’re pleased to announce our Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) (T32) funding opportunity announcement (FOA) has been reissued (PAR-21-189). This FOA continues our efforts toward changes in integrated medical and graduate research training to keep pace with the rapidly evolving research environment that’s increasingly complex, interdisciplinary, quantitative, and collaborative. This program provides support to eligible domestic institutions to develop and implement effective, evidence-informed approaches to integrated dual-degree training leading to the award of both clinical degrees (e.g., M.D., D.O., D.V.M., D.D.S., and Pharm.D.), and research doctorate degrees (Ph.D.).

UPDATE: The video from this webinar is now available.

NIGMS is committed to increasing biomedical research capacity, including at institutions where faculty have significant teaching responsibilities. In these settings, research collaborations across institutions can be especially beneficial. Join us as we explore this topic:

Thursday, March 25, 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET

We’re pleased to announce the availability of administrative supplements to the Institutional Development Awards (IDeA). We invite eligible investigators to submit proposals in response to the following notices:

The search is underway for a critically important position on the NIGMS leadership team: our deputy director. The deputy director assists me in managing the Institute, advises on a range of topics, and handles special projects. This person also works closely with groups within and outside NIH and represents us on various federal and nonfederal scientific and professional committees.

We’re pleased to announce the availability of supplements to active INBRE (P20), COBRE (P20, P30), IDeA-CTR (U54), and NARCH (S06) awards to support vaccine hesitancy research relevant to SARS-CoV-2. The supplements are aimed at studying the causes of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy in IDeA states and/or American Indian/Alaska Native communities, and at developing innovative evidence-based interventions to enhance vaccine acceptance with the goal of increased vaccine uptake.

Applications are due by April 30, 2021; see NOT-GM-21-021 for additional details.

If you have any questions about this supplement opportunity, please contact me.

NIGMS recognizes the need to provide support to grantees for equipment, particularly to replace essential instrumentation that breaks down, or to expand into rapidly growing research areas. As an example, advances in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) detectors, microscopes, and methods have made acquisition of atomic resolution structural data a reality, and investigators need these to prepare viable specimens and process data in their home labs to successfully utilize cryo-EM data collection resources elsewhere.

We’re pleased to share with you recent funding opportunities for equipment support.

We’re offering administrative supplements to provide summer research experiences for undergraduate students. The research experiences can be conducted remotely or in person, depending on the institutional regulations. These supplements are open to all NIGMS-funded investigators with active R01, R35, and R37 awards, including those in their final year of funding. We’ll accept requests under PA-20-272, Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional).

To continue our efforts to catalyze the modernization of biomedical research training and career development, we invite eligible institutions with NIGMS training (T32, T34), certain research education (R25), or institutional career development (K12) awards to apply for administrative supplements to develop and implement curricular, training, or administrative activities to: