Council News Vol. 7, no. 2

IOM ADVISES NIH TO IMPROVE INPUT WHEN SETTING PRIORITIES
An Institute of Medicine report released on July 9 advises NIH to do a better
job of involving the public when determining its research priorities. Spurred by
concerns from advocacy groups and Congress about how NIH allocates funds
to different diseases, the committee determined that the process NIH uses to
define priorities has served the nation well but could be strengthened.

Though NIH's criteria for setting priorities are sound, decision making would be improved
and better accepted by giving
the public more say in the process, which would also help
NIH's public
relations.

The
committee
felt that NIH
decision
making
would be
improved
and better
accepted by
giving the
public more

The committee had two
suggestions
to build a
structure for
public input.
First, it
advised
creating
public liaison
offices in
each institute
and a central
liaison office.

do a better job of analyzing and
using health data on the burden
of different diseases.
Further, the NIH director
should require strategic plans
from all institutes to ensure a
uniform approach.
N/AID cited for its
plonning process
Like other institutes, NIAID
provided information to the
committee and was ultimately
cited by it for our comprehensive planning process.
The committee noted that to
review its priorities, NIAID has
two annual retreats and other
efforts that include representatives of the scientific community
in planning (see box on the next
page).
During the past few years,
NIAID has bolstered its efforts
to solicit input by holding focus
group meetings with the extramural research community and
by including patient advocates in
some review meetings for clinical applications.
Setting NIH research
priorities
The committee identified five
criteria NIH uses to determine
priorities:

* public health needs
* scientific quality of the
research
* potential for scientific
progress
* portfolio diversification along
expanding frontiers of science
* adequate support of infrastructure
According to the report, NIH
has a two-part mission: 1) identify public health needs and
reduce disease burden and 2)
extend the base of basic knowledge.
These two concepts may be
closer to each other than many
scientists believe.
See the article on page 8 for a
perspective that juxtaposes
science and agency objectives.
Produced by the Committee on
the NIH Research PrioritySetting Process, the congressionally mandated report is called
"Scientific Opportunities and
Public Needs: Improving Priority-Setting and Public Input at
the National Institutes of
Health."
Find it on the Web at http://
www.nap.edu/readingroom/
books/nih, or you can order a
printed copy by calling 1-800/
624-6242.

say in the Second, the
process committee
recommended
establishing a
council of
public representatives that advises the NIH director. Plans to
implement these suggestions are
under development.
Other recommendations may
also have an impact.
To improve public awareness of
how priorities are made and
resources allocated, NIH should