UPDATE: The vacancy announcement for this position is now available and is open through May 29.

We're recruiting for an accomplished scientist with interest and experience in inflammation, innate immunity, and the physiological responses to injury, 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.

A global recruitment is a way NIH hires for common positions such as Health Scientist Administrators. NIH creates a single announcement in USAJobs.gov which can be used by any Institute or Center with an approved vacancy. Applying to a global recruitment means that, with a single announcement, hiring officials throughout the entire NIH will have access to your application. Most importantly, if your application is determined to be qualified for the recruitment, it may remain active for at least three months. This means that if NIGMS receives approval to recruit, our selecting officials will be able to view your application immediately.

We’re recruiting for an accomplished scientist with experience in the pharmacological sciences to join the Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences (PPS) Branch of the Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry. The successful applicant will have responsibility for scientific and administrative management of a portfolio of grants, both research and training, in the Division. The PPS Branch supports research studies ranging from the molecular to cellular to organismal, which can be basic or clinical in nature. This position offers stewardship of grant awards related to modern approaches to examining the effects of drugs on the body and the body's effects on drugs, as well as how these effects vary from individual to individual. This includes investigations of the absorption, transport, distribution, metabolism, biotransformation, toxicity, and excretion of drugs, as well as determinants and models of pharmacokinetics. The portfolio also includes investigation of drug delivery strategies and the packaging and delivery of molecules and biologics, with an emphasis on drug release and kinetics.

We’re recruiting for a program director (also known as a health scientist administrator or program officer) to manage research grant, fellowship, training, and other types of awards focused on the structure and function of cells and cellular components, and the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie inheritance, gene expression, and development. The position is in our Division of Genetics and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology​, and it involves working collaboratively with other program directors in the division to support outstanding science in these fields. Candidates should have expertise in state-of-the-art molecular genetics, cell biology, and/or developmental biology. Familiarity with NIH extramural funding as an applicant, reviewer, or NIH scientific administrator is a plus, and outstanding written and oral communication skills are essential.

UPDATE: The vacancy announcement for this position is now available and is open through February 7. UPDATE: The vacancy announcement will be available beginning on January 29, 2018. We’re recruiting for an accomplished scientist with experience in the chemical sciences to join the Biochemistry and Bio-related Chemistry Branch (BBC) of the Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry (PPBC). The successful applicant will have responsibility for both scientific and administrative management of a portfolio of grants (both research and training) and fellowships, to include: stimulating, planning, advising, directing, and evaluating program activities for the portfolio of research awards. The BBC Branch supports basic research in areas of synthetic chemistry, biochemistry, bio-related chemistry, and the glycosciences. This position will include stewardship of grant awards related to creation of new synthetic methodologies, biosynthesis, and structure of macromolecules, synthesis of natural products, development of novel medicinal agents and mimics of macromolecular function, and/or the chemical basis of regulation and catalytic properties of enzymes. Applicants should have expertise in chemistry, chemical biology, biological chemistry, or biochemistry, and should have experience in applications of chemistry to biological systems and/or therapeutics (for example, organic synthesis and methodology; biological catalysis and regulation; biotechnology, biosynthesis, and bioengineering; or chemical tools for manipulation of biological systems). Candidates should also have outstanding written and oral communication skills. The position is included in the global recruitment for Health Scientist Administrators. The vacancy will only be open for a few days, beginning on January 29, 2018. For additional information about this position, see the announcement on the NIGMS website. Do not hesitate to ask questions about this position or the recruitment process. In preparing an application, Applying for Scientific Administration Jobs at NIGMS may offer other useful information. Not looking to become a Health Scientist Administrator right now? Please help us out by forwarding this information to others who might be interested in this opportunity.

There has been ongoing discussion—both here and in the general scientific community—related to the first MIRA awards to New and Early Stage Investigators (NI/ESI). One question that arose was why applications were administratively withdrawn. Both the NIH Center for Scientific Review and multiple NIGMS staff members, including the program director with a portfolio of grants closest to the applicant’s area of science, screened the applications. Of the withdrawn applications, a majority (~80%) were returned prior to review because they proposed research that fell outside of the NIGMS mission. Others were withdrawn because the applicant was not eligible for the FOA. After review, some applications were withdrawn because the PI accepted another award that was mutually exclusive with the MIRA. As recommended on the MIRA website and elsewhere, we encourage anyone who intends to apply for the Early Stage Investigator MIRA to discuss their plans with the appropriate NIGMS program director to determine whether the proposed research area is within the mission of the Institute and if the applicant is eligible to apply. A major NIGMS goal is to support a broad portfolio that is diverse in research topics, approaches, institutions and investigators. This means we are looking carefully at the outcomes of awards, including gender and race/ethnicity data. We are also trying to take proactive steps to prevent bias during the review, for instance by covering the topic as part of reviewer orientations that take place several weeks before the MIRA study sections meet. In our recent summary of MIRA applicant and awardee demographics, we looked to see how applications from underrepresented groups compared to those from well-represented groups (White and Asian). The p-value for a difference between the distributions of funded and unfunded applications from these groups was 0.63, meaning that there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. We also compared the MIRA success rates to those of ESI applicants for NIGMS R01s in fiscal years (FY) 2011-2015 (Table 1).

I've been a program officer for NIGMS research and training activities for 27 years. The Molecular Biology of the Cell journal recently asked me to describe the general roles of such a position, including the challenges and rewards. My essay, which appeared in the August 1 issue, offers insight into what the job entails and how we can help our applicants and grantees. Here's the abstract for "A View from the NIH Bridge: Perspectives of a Program Officer":

This essay is written from my perspective as a program officer for research and training activities at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) for almost 27 yr. It gives a bird's-eye view of the job of a program officer, which includes providing advice to applicants and grantees, making funding recommendations, overseeing grantees' progress, facilitating scientific opportunities in specific areas of program responsibility, and shaping NIGMS and National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy. I have highlighted the numerous rewards of serving as a program officer, as well as some of the difficulties. For those who may be considering a position as an NIH program officer now or in the future, I've also described the qualities and qualifications that are important for such a career choice. Finally, this essay addresses some of the challenges for the NIH and the research community in the years ahead as we simultaneously face exciting scientific opportunities and tighter budgets.