Aside from a handful of locations around the country, there are no local opportunities for the vast majority of PhD students to learn about glycobiology. A search on NIH Reporter for T32 grants with "glycobiology” reveals two grants (one NCI for cancer cell biology, one NIGMS for pharmacology). Neither of these grants are focused upon glycobiology. In fact, glycobiology is essentially never integrated into any standard... more »

We in Wisconsin have developed a robust training program for mixed MD and PhD postdocs in a clinical dept and yet their future in research is blocked by few faculty positions, poor funding and over complicated NIH applications. One of the simplest grants is the R03 and we have already had graduates with only a few years postdoc experience succeed in gaining R03 funding. The R03 is a very simple very flexible mechanism.... more »

We need to spread R01 funding around more to ensure that the best science has funding adequate to move forward. To do this I believe changing how we think about R01 funding and expenditures can be used to put the NIH funds to better use. Too often successful researchers have the majority of their salaries on R01s and the institutions have little skin in the game. PI salaries can be a large part of the escalating budget... more »

NHLBI should consider creating specific programs that encourage the participation of investigators that often do not apply to NHLBI such as kidney researchers.

Progress in rare lung diseases, such as interstitial lung diseases, has been hampered by a lack of patient-derived samples in large enough quantities or high-enough quality for systematic study. This is due to the inability of individual centers to recruit enough patients, and because of the varied samples each center obtains. Collecting, preparing, and storing such samples is not fundable by the NHLBI because it is not... more »

We need to increase our base of T4 implementation research expertise among researchers, reviewers, and investigators.

This will require a new process of partnerships between successful basic scientists and the physician who is committed to a synergistic relationship with the investigators in order to unravel the pathophysiology of disease. The failure of the part-time “MD trainee scientist” due to increasing clinical requirements to complete their fellowship, has only reinforced the impression that physicians no longer belong in the... more »

Are T32s doing a sufficient job of promoting interdisciplinary and team science? Should we change the way these programs are structured?

Attitudes to Mistakes. Changing prescription and protocol philosophy. As an older patient, I am 89, I have one thing many others do not have, experience. As an engineer with much experience in manufacturing industry I have seen great recent changes in manufacturing sociology. Now, even top management comes to listen to “the Gemba” (the shop floor) and what could be regarded as mistakes are seen as opportunities to improve... more »

What are the best methods to identify future training areas and develop/adapt training and mentorship programs to address future critical needs?

What can research institutions do to entice and support potential and actual K award applicants to become independent scientists?

Challenge is to have revised grants reviewed by the same reviewers, rather than delayed by new sets of reviewers. Also, having points such as changing model species addressable through Program Staff rather than prolonged re-review.

One of the major challenges in translating from bench-to-bedside and back is communication: the ability of basic and clinical scientists to understand each other's scientific language to be able to appreciate the importance of the other’s research questions and findings.

A critical challenge will be making career paths transparent to prospective PhD students and postdocs. At present, few departments, programs and institutions are collecting and making readily available any credible data about the career experiences of their past graduates. To be useful, such data should address at least five years of post-PhD career experience; shorter-term data is likely to be dominated by postdoctoral... more »

How can we insure that there are sufficient numbers of clinical scientists over the next 20 years?