The National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Nov. 12 convened the Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB), a group comprised of NIH institute and center directors and external members from NIH-funded institutions or with substantial knowledge about the function of NIH, to advise the NIH director on the organization and functions of the NIH. The SMRB was created through the NIH Reform Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-482) and began meeting in 2009, creating a series of eight reports over the following seven years. The board has not convened since 2015, a fact noted by both the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in their discussion framework and position paper on NIH reform [refer to Washington Highlights, June 21 and May 17].
The SMRB charge includes reviewing previous boards’ reports, considering the suggested changes to the agency set forth in the committee proposals, reevaluating the current criteria for proposing changes to the NIH, and providing the NIH director and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary with recommendations on changes to the NIH in fulfilling its mission. The SMRB members from AAMC-member institutions are SMRB Chair Andrea Hayes Dixon, MD, dean of the Howard University College of Medicine; Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo; and James Hildreth, PhD, MD, president and CEO, Meharry Medical College, and Joshua Wynne, MD, MBA, MPH, dean and vice president for health affairs, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota.
- Washington Highlights