Do You Have an Opinion About Postdoc Training? NIH Wants to Hear It!
NIH is seeking input from trainees, early-stage faculty, and others invested in the biomedical workforce about challenges the postdoctoral trainee community faces. An NIH Advisory Committee to the Director working group is hosting virtual listening sessions to hear from the community about issues contributing to the recent decline in postdoctoral trainees and about possible solutions. Each session will focus on a specific theme. Interested participants can visit the listening sessions webpage
to register.
In addition to attending the listening sessions, please consider responding to a concurrent Request for Information (RFI): Re-envisioning U.S. Postdoctoral Research Training and Career Progression within the Biomedical Research Enterprise on these topics; the RFI closes on April 14, 2023. Your participation in the listening sessions and responses to the RFI will be used to help develop recommendations to address this problem, which affects U.S. competitiveness in biomedical research and innovation.
Cerebral Palsy Workshop Summary Posted
In August 2022, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and NICHD hosted a workshop to update the field on progress made in the 2017 NINDS/NICHD Cerebral Palsy Strategic Plan. The workshop summary has been added as an update to the NINDS webpage for the 2017 plan.
Have You Conducted Research on Seat Elevation Systems Used With Power Wheelchairs?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has accepted a formal request to consider both the benefit category and coverage for seat elevation systems and standing systems associated with Group 3 power wheelchairs. Currently neither system is covered on a power wheelchair, because it has not been determined that their use is primarily medical in nature. CMS is soliciting public comment relevant to the request. CMS is specifically interested in scientific literature that provides evidence of the medical necessity of seat elevation systems demonstrated by measurable characteristics related to the performance of transfers. For more information, visit the request tracking sheet.
Resources for Accessible Point-of-Care Technologies
Since the spring of 2022, NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Technology (RADx® Tech) initiative has been working to make COVID-19 home tests more accessible (see January 2023 webinar). During this work, the Consortia for Improving Medicine with Innovation and Technology (CIMIT) team has also captured what they have learned (from knowledgeable evaluators, designers, subject matter experts, and vendors in the field) in a best practices document. Although a comprehensive document is expected this spring, an early edition of these best practices was published in December, with support from NIH, on the U.S. Access Board website. And although it is based on COVID-19 test development, they hope it will have future applications across the field of home test design.
NIH Releases Public Access Plan for Public Feedback
NIH, which has long championed principles of transparency and accessibility in NIH-funded research, supports the August 2022 Office of Science and Technology Policy memorandum (PDF, 372 KB) directing federal agencies to expedite access to results of federally funded research. The NIH Plan to Enhance Public Access to the Results of NIH-Supported Research (NIH’s Public Access Plan) provides a roadmap for how NIH will enhance access to research products (i.e., scholarly publications and scientific data) and how NIH will ensure that these research products are useful and accessible to the public.
NIH’s Public Access Plan is now available for public comment. Comments will be accepted until April 24, 2023, and can be submitted through the comment portal.
For some perspective on how NIH is approaching public access, please see the blog post from the leadership of OSP, the National Library of Medicine, the Office of Extramural Research, the Office of Intramural Research, and the Office of Data Science Strategy on the steps NIH is taking to ensure we maximize access to the results of taxpayer-funded research. Questions may be sent to SciencePolicy@od.nih.gov.
