Strategies to identify and increase innovative research

1. Report on the OPASI “Fostering Innovation” Workshop of December 5, 2007 Strategies to identify and increase innovative research NIDA Advisory Council February 6, 2008 Alan M. Krensky, M.D., Director Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives Deputy Director, National Institutes of Health Department of Health and Human Services NIDA Advisory Council

2. NIH OD sponsors several new programs designed to foster innovation • Pioneer Awards– established PIs with outstanding track records • New Innovators Awards – new PIs with outstanding ideas • Grand Challenges (Roadmap): • Interdisciplinary Research - original research teams attacking important questions • CTSAs – a new approach to translational research, transforming the way academic institutions value clinical research NIDA Advisory Council

3. High Risk-High Reward Research • HR-HR Demonstration Oversight Group • Mandated by 2006 NIH Reform Act • Griff Rodgers, Alan Krensky, co-chairs • Nora Volkow - member • Other IC Directors: Steve Katz, Larry Tabak • Other members: Carl Roth (NHLBI), Diane Frasier (OM), Sam Shekar (OER), Katherine Manzi )GC), Mark Rohrbaugh (OTT) and Lynn Hudson (OSP) • To define the portfolio, recommend strategic initiatives and evaluate HR-HR science at NIH. NIDA Advisory Council

4. Report on the OPASI “Fostering Innovation” Workshop of December 5, 2007 Alan M. Krensky, NIH Keith Yamamoto, UCSF co-chairs Other approachesto identify and increase innovative research NIDA Advisory Council

5. Strategies to identify and increase innovative research Panelists NIDA Advisory Council

6. Innovation vs. Transformation • Innovative research: original, inventive, paradigm-shifting • Transformative research: revolutionary, disruptive, paradigm-generating • Culture • Structure • Institutional policies • Degrees of freedom NIDA Advisory Council

7. Factors that discourage innovation • NIH grants process, including peer review process • Expansion of soft money positions during the “doubling” • Flattening of budget encourages conservatism NIDA Advisory Council

8. Environments in which innovation thrives • Importance of research institutions in fostering innovation • Support investigators’ salaries with “hard” money = more time and more freedom • Focus on intellectual endeavors of faculty rather than grant acquisition NIDA Advisory Council

9. TOP TEN Recommendations • Separate grant mechanism based upon track record • Increase career awards – space for discovery • Create a separate mechanism for “transformative” (disruptive, paradigm changing) research • Foster new ideas outside the mainstream • Recruit generalists to review applications • Separate salaries from research grants • Awards for career years 3–9 • Reform intramural NIH to focus on high risk research • Promote local environments that encourage risk taking • Fill the gap between basic discovery and commercialization NIDA Advisory Council

10. 1. Separate grant mechanism based upon track record • A more retrospectively focused reward system would be more successful in funding innovative research since innovation is thought to be easier to recognize than to predict. • Broadening a program like the NIH MERIT Award program could encourage creative principal investigators by eliminating the burden of continually writing grants. NIDA Advisory Council

11. 2. Increase career awards – space for discovery • Would allow freedom for discovery research. • Would decrease the direct link between salary support and the research award, which encourages investigators to write conservative proposals. NIDA Advisory Council

12. 3. Create a separate mechanism for “transformative” research • The Pioneer award and other initiatives are designed to fund transformative research. • The panel envisioned a separate mechanism, with a shorter budget period, for investigator-initiated proposals that the PI sees as transformative. NIDA Advisory Council

13. 4. Foster new ideas outside the mainstream • Support PIs to explore underappreciated ideas. • Proposals for new discoveries would need to be potentially momentous but would require no preliminary data. NIDA Advisory Council

14. 5. Recruit generalists to review applications • Could emphasize potential impact by selecting projects with broad appeal. • May reduce bias by removing competitors as reviewers NIDA Advisory Council

15. 6. Separate salaries from research grants • In addition to providing more career awards, provide additional support for new PIs, technicians, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows so the success of the research application does not determine the job security of the lab staff. NIDA Advisory Council

16. 7. Awards for career years 3–9 • Fund all newly independent investigators with substantial guaranteed institutional support for 7-10 years without a renewal application. • Subsequent funding would be based upon past track record, rather than specific aims. • Would allow new PIs to pursue research without the demands of writing grant applications. NIDA Advisory Council

17. 8. Reform intramural NIH to focus on high risk research • The NIH intramural program has many aspects that foster innovation, including a separation of salary from grant support, little emphasis on projected plans, freedom to explore discoveries, and time to think. • Several of the panelists felt that NIH should leverage the potential of the intramural program by recruiting and retaining the most innovative investigators and culling others. NIDA Advisory Council

18. 9. Promote local environments that encourage risk taking • The NIH and universities could work together to give new investigators stability through the tenure decision, allowing them the unfettered freedom to build their research programs and investigate more innovative, but potentially risky, ideas. • Ensuring that the tenure promotion criteria at all institutions recognizes innovative and transformative work would create a culture that nurtured paradigm-shifting research. • For more senior scientists, both the universities and the NIH could work to reduce the amount of time spent on committees, some of which are presently mandated by law. NIDA Advisory Council

19. 10. Fill the gap between basic discovery and commercialization • This proposed new program would fill the gap between early stage innovations and their acceptance as good investment opportunities, facilitating the movement of good ideas into the marketplace. • Although the NIH already sponsors many small business (SBIR and STRR proposals) some felt the need for a transition phase. NIDA Advisory Council

20. A healthy ecosystem • Government, academia, philanthropy, industry need better alignment and cooperation. • Sever direct ties between research grant and salary. • Encourage excellent scientists to take leadership roles. • Encourage risk-taking by providing more pilot grants and bridge grants from years 3-9 of career. NIDA Advisory Council