CONTENDING WITH NIH SUMMARY STATEMENTS AND REVISED APPLICATIONS

1. CONTENDING WITH NIH SUMMARYSTATEMENTS AND REVISED APPLICATIONS William (Bill) Sansalone, Ph.D. Director, Grants and Faculty Development Imaging Science and Information Systems (ISIS) Center Department of Radiology Georgetown University Medical Center 202-687-2891 sansalone@isis.georgetown.edu January 11, 2006, Seminar; Research Building Auditorium

2. NIH Guidance • The need for an Introduction responding to Summary Statement • The mechanics of preparing revised Research Plan • See the first handout for details. What Form 398 tells you: What Form 398 does not tell you: • The pros and cons of re-writing the entire Research Plan • How to be responsive to Summary Statement Slide 2

3. Purpose of a Summary Statement Purpose: To inform Advisory Council and the PI of reviewers’ comments. • Not a consensus document • SRA writes Summary; the rest is “cut and paste.” • Anomalies creep in sometimes. Slide 3

4. Your Summary Statement (I) • Significance • Innovation • Approach • Investigation • Environment (For details, see the second handout.) Study your Summary Statement with review criteria in mind. Slide 4

5. Your Summary Statement (II) Use grid (third handout) to analyze Reviewers’ Comments. Slide 5

6. Start Your Introduction on a Positive Note We wish to thank the reviewers of the _______ Study Section for their comments on our proposal. We are pleased the reviewers “had high enthusiasm for this proposal” and that they considered “the approach [to be] strong and consistent with the scope of PA-02-011… .” We may not have clearly articulated our vision for the role of robotic assistance in prostate implants for gene therapy. The primary role of robotics is to spatially connect the needle/seed placement to the ultrasound scan,not just to ensure pinpoint accuracy of needle and seed placement … .” Below, we discuss concerns expressed in the Summary and, then, the reviewers’ Critiques. Summary Concern 1: The application would also be strengthened by … Critique 1. This reviewer rated the proposal very good, but had the following concerns: Critique 1 Concern 1. Figure 5 compares Seed dosimetry… . (For completed sample Introductions, see 4th handout.) Slide 6

7. Layout -- Grantsmanship • Produce an attractive Introduction and revised Research Plan. • Use white space to make your write-up inviting. • Indent bullets. • Split paragraphs. • Set headers in a hierarchical scheme. • Indicate revised text by vertical borders, different font, or brackets. -- • Recognizes the scientific contributions of reviewers; see Sumary Statement roster. • Study Handouts 5 and 6 for tips on grant writing and grantsmanship. Slide 7

8. A New Saying From an Old Adage No reviewer is interested in your needs unless those needs meet their needs. (Bottom line: considered writing) Slide 8