Study Section Leaders, Members Important Resources for Faculty

If you’ve submitted a grant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), chances are it has made its way to a study section. Over 70 percent of all NIH grant applications are reviewed within the NIH Center for Scientific Review, the organizing body for study sections.

These peer-review groups—formed to serve as the first level of evaluation of grant applications—are made up of members from across the country (respected experts in their scientific fields) selected by designated NIH Scientific Review Officers (SROs).

While the actual discussions that take place at study section meetings are confidential, two UC College of Medicine senior associate deans—each currently serve as study section chairs—say there are still important messages that study section leaders and members can bring back to their institution.

"Broadly speaking, we can share information about how a study section views grants and share a bit more about the process of peer review—especially for faculty in the beginning stages of their research careers,” says Alex Lentsch, PhD, senior associate dean for faculty affairs and development and professor of surgery who serves as chair of the Hepatobiliary Pathophysiology Study Section.

Study section chairs are charged with serving as the "scientific face” for their specific area of review. Annually, they each preside over three face-to-face sessions where they:

• partner with scientific review officers (SROs) to conduct meetings,
• guide and summarize discussion,
• ensure all members’ opinions are given careful consideration and
• manage scientific discussions and keep meetings on track.

Chairs also read through each grant submitted during each funding cycle for which they are meeting so that they can guide discussion appropriately. Members, on the other hand, are each assigned a smaller number of grants to review, but are asked to review in greater depth to present and discuss with the larger team.

Melanie Cushion, PhD, senior associate dean for research, professor of medicine and chair of AIDS-Associated Opportunistic Infections and Cancer Study Section, says UC-based study section leaders and members—of which UC has many—should be viewed as key resources by faculty.
 
"People selected to participate in study sections are firmly engaged in the research mission of UC,” says Cushion. "These are active members of our faculty deemed experts in their respective fields who we all can learn from.”

If you’d be interested in forming an informal group to discuss the peer-review process, email Brieanne Sheehan, program officer, College of Medicine research office, at sheehabe@ucmail.uc.edu.

University of Cincinnati faculty serving on NIH study sections.
(Terms end June 30 on the year indicted in parenthesis)

AIDS-ASSOCIATED OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTIONS AND CANCER STUDY SECTION
Melanie Cushion, PhD, CHAIR (‘16)
Professor, Internal Medicine

ARTHRITIS, CONNECTIVE TISSUE AND SKIN STUDY SECTION
John Harley, MD, PhD (‘15)
Professor of Pediatrics

ATHEROSCLEROSIS AND INFLAMMATION OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM STUDY SECTION
David Hui, PhD (‘18)
Professor and Vice Chairman, Pathology

CARDIAC CONTRACTILITY, HYPERTROPHY, AND FAILURE STUDY SECTION
Burns Blaxall, PhD, CHAIR ('16)
Professor of Pediatrics

Evangelia Kranias, PhD, (‘17)
Professor of Pharmacology & Cell Biophysics
 
CARDIOVASCULAR DIFFERENTIATION AND DEVELOPMENT STUDY SECTION
Katherine Yutzey, PhD, (‘18)
Professor of Pediatrics

CANCER ETIOLOGY STUDY SECTION
Susanne Wells, PhD, (‘16)
Associate Professor of Pediatrics

CANCER MOLECULAR PATHOBIOLOGY STUDY SECTION
Susan Waltz, PhD, (’20)
Professor of Cancer Biology

CELLULAR ASPECTS OF DIABETES AND OBESITY STUDY SECTION
James Wells, PhD, (‘15)
Professor of Pediatrics

CLINICAL AND INTEGRATIVE CARDIOVASCULAR SCIENCES STUDY SECTION
Elaine Urbina, MD, CHAIR (‘15)
Professor of Pediatrics

CLINICAL, INTEGRATIVE AND MOLECULAR GASTROENTEROLOGY STUDY SECTION
Anjaparavanda Naren, PhD, (’18)
Professor of Pediatrics

Patrick Tso, PhD, (’15)
Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

CLINICAL NEUROPLASTICITY AND NEUROTRANSMITTERS STUDY SECTION
Steve Danzer, PhD, (’17)
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology

DEVELOPMENT-1 STUDY SECTION
Aaron Zorn, PhD, (’18)
Professor of Pediatrics

GASTROINTESTINAL MUCOSAL PATHOBIOLOGY STUDY
Yana Zavros, PhD, (’20)
Associate Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology

HEPATOBILIARY PATHOPHYSIOLOGY STUDY SECTION
Alex Lentsch, PhD, CHAIR (‘16)
Professor and Vice Chairman for Research, Department of Surgery

HOST INTERACTIONS WITH BACTERIAL PATHOGENS STUDY SECTION
Sing Sing Way, MD, PhD, (‘17)
Associate Professor of Pediatrics

INTEGRATIVE NUTRITION AND METABOLIC PROCESSES STUDY SECTION
Sean Davidson, PhD, CHAIR (‘16)
Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

INTERNATIONAL AND COOPERATIVE PROJECTS - 1 STUDY SECTION
Mohamed Shata, MBBS, PhD, (‘17)
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine

KIDNEY MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND GENITOURINARY ORGAN DEVELOPMENT
Steven Potter, PhD, (‘15)
Professor of Pediatrics

LUNG CELLULAR, MOLECULAR, AND IMMUNOBIOLOGY STUDY SECTION
Bruce Trapnell, PhD, (‘16)
Professor of Pediatrics

LUNG INJURY, REPAIR, AND REMODELING STUDY SECTION
Timothy Weaver, PhD, (‘16)
Professor of Pediatrics

MEDICAL IMAGING STUDY SECTION
Kim Cecil, PhD, (‘15)
Professor of Radiology

MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR HEMATOLOGY STUDY SECTION
Punam Malik, MD, (’16)
Professor of Pediatrics

MOLECULAR GENETICS A STUDY SECTION
Carolyn Price, PhD, (’18)
Professor of Cancer Biology

MOTOR FUNCTION, SPEECH AND REHABILITATION STUDY SECTION
Siddarth Khosla, MD, (’18)
Associate Professor of Otolaryngology

NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, NEUROIMMUNOLOGY, RHYTHMS AND SLEEP STUDY SECTION
Min Liu, PhD, (‘20)
Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

NEUROLOGICAL, AGING AND MUSCULOSKELETAL EPIDEMIOLOGY STUDY SECTION
Brett Kissela, MD, (’15)
Chair and Professor of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine

NEUROSCIENCE AND OPHTHALMIC IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES STUDY SECTION
Richard Komoroski, PhD, (’15)
Professor of Psychiatry

PATHOBIOLOGY OF KIDNEY DISEASE STUDY SECTION
Prasad Devarajan, MD, (’15)
Professor of Pediatrics

SOMATOSENSORY AND CHEMOSENSORY SYSTEMS STUDY SECTION
Mark Baccei, PhD, (‘19)
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology

SURGERY, ANESTHESIOLOGY AND TRAUMA STUDY SECTION
Hector Wong, MD, (’18)
Professor of Pediatrics

TUMOR CELL BIOLOGY STUDY SECTION
David Plas, PhD, (’18)
Associate Professor, Cancer Biology

VIROLOGY-A STUDY SECTION
Nancy Sawtell, PhD (‘19)
Professor of Pediatrics

VACCINES AGAINST MICROBIAL DISEASES STUDY SECTION
Julio Alberto, PhD, (‘16)
Professor of Pediatrics