The National Advisory General Medical Sciences (NAGMS) Council convened remotely for its 188th meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 22, 2025.

Jon R. Lorsch, Ph.D., director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), presided as meeting chair. After an open session from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., the closed session of May 2025 Council convened from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Council Members Attending Remotely

Natalie G. Ahn, Ph.D.
Eric Alani, Ph.D.
Ron G. King, Ph.D., M.B.A.
Terri Goss Kinzy, Ph.D.
David H. Mathews, M.D., Ph.D.
Lesilee Rose, Ph.D.
Christopher W. Seymour, M.D., M.Sc.

Council roster (available from NIGMS)

Ex-Officio Member Attending Remotely

Ronald M. Przygodzki, M.D.
Director, Genomic Medicine
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
Office of Research and Development
Washington, DC 20420

Ad Hoc Council Participants Attending Remotely

Julie Bastarache, M.D.
Director, Edge for Scholars
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine, Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, TN 37232-2650

Sudha Chakrapani, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Pharmacology
John H. Hord Professor
Director, Cleveland Center for Membrane and Structural Biology
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH 44106

Stephen Cutler, Ph.D.
Vice President for Economic Development
Dean and Professor
College of Pharmacy
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208

Neil Garg, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor and Kenneth N. Trueblood Chair
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Christina Kendziorski, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI 53706

L. Andrew Lee, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
IMCS, Inc.
Irmo, SC 29063

Petra Levin, Ph.D.
George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg
Professor
Department of Biology
Washington University
St. Louis, MO 63130

Gerald Marschke, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Economics
University at Albany, State University of New York
Albany, NY 12222

Pamela Padilla, Ph.D.
Professor
Vice President of Research and Innovation
Department of Biological Sciences
Division of Research and Innovation
University of North Texas
Denton, TX 76203-5017

Mansi Srivastava, Ph.D.
Professor
Curator in Invertebrate Zoology
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
Museum of Comparitive Zoology
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138

Aaron Thomas, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Chemistry
University of Montana
Missoula, MT 59812

JoAnn Trejo, Ph.D., M.B.A.
Professor
John H. Hord Professor
Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine
Senior Assistant Vice Chancellor, Health Sciences Faculty Affairs
Director, San Diego IRACDA Scholars Program
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA 92093

Ann West, Ph.D.
Grayce B. Kerr Centennial Chair
Director, Oklahoma COBRE in Structural Biology
Department of Chemistry and BioChemistry
University of Oklahoma
Stephenson Life Sciences Research Center
Norman, OK 73019-9705

Early Career Investigator Ad Hoc Council Participants Attending Remotely

Christine R. Beck, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences
University of Connecticut Health Center and The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine
Farmington, CT 06032

Paulo Caceres, Ph.D.
Assistant Scientist
Internal Medicine
Hypertension and Vascular Research Division
Henry Ford Health Integrative Biosciences Center
Detroit, MI 48202

Lydia Kisley, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Departments of Physics and Chemistry
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH 44106-7079

Oscar Vivas, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmacology
Department of Physiology and Biophysics
Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195

Members of the Public Attending Remotely

Not tracked because the meeting was available via unrestricted NIH Videocast.

OPEN SESSION OF THE MEETING

I. Call to Order and Opening Remarks

Dr. Lorsch welcomed Council members and guests. Council members approved the minutes from the September 18, 2024 meeting, the NIGMS Council operating procedures for 2025, and the NIGMS Triennial Report for Monitoring Adherence to the NIH Policy on the Inclusion of Women and Minorities in Clinical Research.

II. Future Meeting Dates

III. Review of Confidentiality and Conflict of Interest Procedures

Dr. Lorsch explained policies and procedures regarding confidentiality and avoidance of conflict-of-interest situations to Council members.

IV. NIGMS Director’s Report (NIH Videocast @ 14:35)

Jon Lorsch Council Presentation Slides
 

Dr. Lorsch announced retiring and incoming Council members and NIGMS retirements.

He acknowledged recent Nobel laureates who have received funding from NIGMS: Drs. Victor Ambrose, Gary Ruvkun, and David Baker.

Dr. Lorsch highlighted the following flagship NIGMS programs:

• R35 Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA)
• Institutional Development Award (IDeA)
  • Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III)
  • IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE)
  • IDeA Clinical and Tranlational Research Programs
  • IDeA Co-Funding
  • IDeA Regional Entrpreneurship Development (I-RED) Program
• Trans-Departmental Track of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Predoctoral Basic Biomedical Sciences Research Training Program (T32)

V. DISCUSSION (NIH Videocast @ 49:28)

Council members discussed how the IDeA program has vastly transformed the research capacity of institutions in IDeA states and has equipped early career investigators with the tools to compete for future funding. Along with noting that the Trans-Departmental T32 aligns with the interdisciplinary nature of most research fields, they discussed the benefits of allowing institutions to expand their graduate training broadly across an institution rather than restricting training funds to a specific department or program. They compared funding future scientists via fellowships versus training grants. Finally, Council members discussed how the MIRA program has enabled high-risk, high-reward research by providing more long-term funding and stability to investigators. Council members asked how the MIRA program is evaluated, how MIRA's success will be measured, about timeline for eligibility, and how likely it is that MIRA applications will be percentiled in the future.

VI. Plans to Evaluate the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) NIH Videocast @ 1:15:22)

NIGMS requested approval to create a working group of Council to evaluate COBRE. COBRE supports the establishment and development of research centers at institutions in IDeA eligible states that build research capacity in broad scientific areas of strategic importance to grantee institution(s).

NIGMS received Council approval to create the working group.

VII. Evaluation of the Mature Synchrotron Resources (MSR) Program NIH Videocast @ 1:20:14)

David Mathews, M.D., Ph.D., and Michael Chapman, Ph.D.

The MSR program aims to ensure that the biomedical research community has access to state-of-the-art synchrotron beamline technologies for biological research applications by:

• Maintaining or upgrading resources to current best practices
• Advertising resource capabilities and availability to the biomedical research community through outreach activities
• Providing user training and support in data collection, processing and analysis

An NAGMS Council working group convened to determine whether the program has met its goals and what lessons have been learned to inform future efforts. The working group found that, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, the MSRs have attracted a consistent or increasing number of users across 90 percent of states. Consistently, over 500 publications per year cite the NIGMS synchrotron resource. MSR outreach has been successful, and funding has provided beneficial access to state-of-the-art beamline technologies that have resulted in publicly available data.

The working group recommended standardizing processes, procedures, and reporting guidance across the different beamlines to make it easier for users to switch between resources and to foster consensus approaches through MSR meetings. The group also recommended the use of reporting templates to improve the quality of reported data. The final recommendation was for additional support for curriculum development and training, an enhancement of outreach activities, and the development of plans for long-term sustainability of the P30 MSR program, while considering how this support will affect other NIGMS-funded programs.

The NAGMS Council accepted the report.

VIII. Public Comment (Not recorded)

Yvette R. Seger, Ph.D.

Dr. Yvette Seger, chief science policy and workforce development officer at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), requested that Council discuss the significance of recent changes in administrative priorities for trainee support, early career researchers, and broadening of STEM participation. She noted that NIGMS' continued investments in research infrastructure and workforce development are critical to ensure scientists produce rigorous, high-quality research.

CLOSED SESSION OF THE MEETING

This portion of the meeting was closed to the public in accordance with the determination that it was concerned with matters exempt from mandatory disclosure under sections 552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C., and section 1009(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1014).

Members exited the meeting during the discussion and voting process on applications from their own institutions or other applications that presented a potential conflict of interest, real or apparent. Members signed a statement to this effect at the beginning of the meeting.

REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences considered 1,619 research and training applications requesting $513,564,996 in total costs. The Council recommended 1,619 applications with a total cost of $513,564,996.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m. on May 22, 2025.

CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that, to my knowledge, the foregoing minutes are accurate and complete.

Jon R. Lorsch, Ph.D.
Chair
National Advisory General
Medical Sciences Council

Erica Brown, Ph.D.
Executive Secretary
National Advisory General
Medical Sciences Council