Read on for more details.

During the July meeting of the NIH Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB), NIH director Francis Collins raised the issue of whether in difficult times science agencies should shift a larger proportion of their research dollars into funding investigators, as opposed to projects that can be very detailed in terms of what the proposal says the investigator is going to do (see related story).

According to the RFI, the Institute is attempting to address the consequences of its funding mechanisms, including efficiency and efficacy, associated with providing basic research support to individual investigators via a pilot program to fund investigators' overall research programs. The hope is that the new mechanism will:

• Increase the stability of funding for NIGMS-supported investigators, which could enhance their ability to take on ambitious scientific projects and approach problems creatively.
• Increase flexibility for investigators to follow important new research directions as opportunities arise, rather than being bound to specific aims proposed in advance of the studies.
• Improve the distribution of funding among the nation's highly talented and promising investigators to increase overall scientific productivity and the chances for important breakthroughs.
• Reduce the time spent by researchers writing and reviewing grant applications, in the long term.

For additional details, read on.

NIGMS intends to use the examples to help inform the historical context of scientific breakthroughs and the Institute's role in supporting them. The examples will supplement NIGMS' ongoing efforts to link advances in human health and well-being to taxpayer-supported basic research and to stimulate further innovation by explaining the value and the impact of basic research on human health.

Submissions are expected to be a written document that describes the basic research and how it directly led to improvements in human health, well-being, or other tangible benefits to the public; NIGMS support must have played a major/critical role in one or more of the underlying discoveries. A history of continuous or exclusive NIGMS support is not required.

The focus of the submission must fall into one or both of the following categories:

1. Major advances funded by NIGMS that have led to improvements in human health, well-being, or other tangible benefits to the public.
2. Applications in medicine, industry, technology, or elsewhere that have their roots in NIGMS-funded research projects. Examples include commonly used diagnostics, therapeutics, devices, or technologies used in medical, industrial, agricultural, or other fields.

NIGMS plans to select up to ten winners, who will receive $500 prizes and recognition on the NIGMS website. Submissions are due by October 20, 2014. For additional requirements, judging criteria, FAQs, and other information, see NIGMS' website.

The SMRB's PEBS working group is chaired by Clyde Yancy, Northwestern University. PEBS is charged with "recommending ways to optimize NIH's precollege programs and initiatives that both align with the NIH mission and ensure a continued pipeline of biomedical science students and professionals."

Read on for more details.

According to Dentzer, the briefing was designed to address the data in the 2013 National Research Council (NRC) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health (see Update, October 7, 2013), also the subject of an earlier congressional briefing sponsored by the Coalition for the Advancement of Health Through Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (CAHT-BSSR), a COSSA-led coalition co-chaired by deputy director Angela Sharpe. Dentzer highlighted research by David A. Kindig and Erika R. Cheng which examined the trends in age-adjusted mortality rates in U.S. counties between 1992 and 2006 and found that "even as mortality fell in most U.S. counties, female mortality rose in 42.8 percent of counties during this period."

The NRC/IOM report found that Americans are at a distinct health disadvantage relative to populations of peer nations. With regard to female mortality, new research reveals particularly troubling trends across the U.S. Specifically, the trends show that for many women, there is a reversal of the long-term trend of rising life expectancy. Dentzer also pointed out that we know less than we need to know about the causes and stressed the "need for more research and action."

Read on for more details regarding the briefing.

At the time of the meeting, the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee had just approved a cut of $8 million (more than 5 percent) to the NEH's $146 million budget for fiscal year (FY) 2015, which would have brought the agency to its lowest funding level since 1972. In the days following, the full House Appropriations Committee restored the cut, proposing to maintain NEH's FY 2014 budget. However, as the Congressional appropriations process has all but ground to a halt, all federal agencies are facing a certain amount of fiscal uncertainty.

During the meeting, the Council heard a presentation about the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) from Dan Cohen, DPLA's executive director. Supported by funding from the NEH as well as private foundations, DPLA is a repository of digitized items (photographs, artwork, manuscripts, etc.) made freely available to the public and organized according to categories including topic, location, format, and time period. Its content comes from a network of regional hubs located around the country. When it launched in April 2013, the library consisted of 2.4 million items provided by six hubs, comprising 500 contributing institutions (local libraries, historical societies, museums, etc.). Today, less than a year and a half later, DPLA's collection has grown to 7.3 million items, coming from 11 hubs and 1300 contributing institutions. DPLA also maintains an open data policy, allowing for the development of a vibrant ecosystem of third-party apps. Cohen explained that DPLA's next goal is to expand its hubs and partnerships so it truly covers the entire country. He noted that NEH's initial support for the project was critical, not just in terms of funding but because the NEH's "seal of approval" was a draw for other partners. 

NCHS has also released its first sexual orientation-based health data, drawn from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), as a new National Health Statistics Report, Sexual Orientation and Health Among U.S. Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2013. Based on interviews with adults ages 18-64, the report indicates that 96.6 percent of adults identified as straight, 1.6 percent as gay or lesbian, and 0.7 percent as bisexual, with the remainder answering "don't know," "something else," or refusing to answer. The report found higher rates of smoking and binge drinking among gay or lesbian and bisexual adults. Overall, there were no significant differences between straight-identified and lesbian-, gay-, or bisexual-identified adults based on physical activity, self-reported health, or uninsurance rates (although there was some variation by gender). A higher percentage of gay and lesbian adults received an influenza vaccine (42.9 percent) than straight adults (35 percent). 

• More than half a million young adults were serving on active duty in the armed forces in 2012.
• Over 180,000 young adults were imprisoned in state correctional institutions in 2011.
• College enrollment increased from 26 percent in 1980 to 41 percent in 2012.
• The mean cumulative debt for a fourth-year student in 2011-12 was $25,400, compared to $14,700 in 1989-90.
• Median annual earnings in 2012 (in constant dollars) were lower for young adults at all levels of education than they were in 2000.
• In 2013, 58 percent of young adult men and 51 percent of young adult women lived with their parents.
• After a significant increase in obesity between 1988-1994 and 1999-2002, there was not a significant change in the obesity rate between 1999-2002 and 2007-2010.

The Forum is a working group of 22 federal agencies that "fosters coordination, collaboration, and integration of Federal efforts to collect, analyze and report data on conditions and trends related to child and family well-being."

"The Convention explicitly recognizes the rights of persons with disabilities to enjoy equal access to medical facilities, education, workplaces, and communications technologies. Furthermore, it calls on nations to support research and development on adaptive goods and services, as well as new assistive technologies; encourages international cooperation in research, facilitating access to scientific and technical knowledge, and standards for sharing medical and technological advances; and reiterates the prohibition against medical or scientific experimentation on any person without their free consent."

To read more on the connections between science and technology and disability rights, read COSSA's report on the January 2014 meeting of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition. See also our related story in this issue on the Coalition's summer 2014 meeting.