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FYI from the NHLBI Index
September 2012: Vol. 13, Issue 2
Summaries of Meetings
and Announcements of Upcoming Events
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council February Meeting
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council June Meeting
June 13, 2012
Dr. Shurin, Acting Director, NHLBI, welcomed members to the 246th meeting of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council.
Dr. Shurin updated the Council on several NHLBI and NIH leadership appointments: Dr. Gary H. Gibbons has been appointed the next NHLBI Director and is expected to start in early August; Ms. Sandy Gault, NHLBI Financial Management Officer, is retiring at the end of the month; Mr. Alex Hawkins is the new NHLBI Financial Management Officer; and Ms. Debra C. Chew has been appointed Director, NIH Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity.
Dr Shurin updated the Council on member news: Mr. Jonathan Alger has been named President of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Dr. Lanetta Jordan joined the faculty of the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami.
Dr. Shurin discussed the FY2013 President's Budget, which would increase the NHLBI budget by 0.02%, or approximately $700 thousand. Despite the modest increase, the research project grant line would decrease slightly, in part due to a mandated increase in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) funding. The reauthorization of the SBIR/STTR programs requires increasing the set-aside percentages over the course of the next 6 years.
Dr. Shurin updated the Council on the new National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the proposed National Institute of Substance Use and Addiction Disorders that would encompass all substance use, abuse, and addiction-related research and supplant the current National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Dr. Shurin discussed the proposed NIH policy for Special Council Review, i.e., extra consideration before awarding a grant to a PI with $1.5 million or more annual NIH research support in total costs. (Note: The policy has since been changed to $1.0 million in direct costs. Please see http://www.grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT- OD-12-140.html for a full description.)
Dr. Michael Lauer, Director, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, NHLBI, presented an update of ongoing activities in the Institute's program divisions to assess impact and productivity of research investments. He also discussed developing results-based accountability as a part of the NHLBI culture.
Dr. Monica Shah, NHLBI AIDS Coordinator, discussed the NHLBI AIDS program, which has an independent budget ($68 million in FY2012), a separate payline that is approximately 10 percentile points higher than the regular payline, specific receipt dates, and specific review. Success rates of AIDS applications are much higher than those of non-AIDS applications - 42% versus 18% in FY2011. The NHLBI hopes to encourage more submissions of AIDS projects and hopes to understand the barriers to submission.
Council member Dr. Lanetta Jordan reported on the 13th annual NHLBI PIO meeting held June 11-12, 2012. Four Council members attended the meeting in addition to representatives from PIOs and professional societies and NHLBI staff.
Dr. Joylene John-Sowah, Medical Officer, NHLBI, and Dr. George Buchanan, Professor of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and Co-Chair, Sickle Cell Guidelines Expert Panel, presented background and a summary of the Panel's report on the management of sickle cell disease. The Panel had been convened at the request of the Council to develop evidence-based sickle cell disease guidelines.
Dr. John-Sowah outlined the guideline development steps and the review and approval process. Release of the guide lines is expected in December 2012. Dr. Buchanan discussed the goals of the panel, which are to generate implementable evidence-based recommendations on managing sickle cell disease in clinical practice and to identify gaps in knowledge for additional research.
Dr. Pamela Douglas, Ursula Geller Professor for Research in Cardiovascular Diseases and Director, Cardiovascular Imaging Program, Duke University School of Medicine, and Council member, presented a report of the Council Working Group on Clinical Practice Guidelines. The working group had been asked to consider whether the NHLBI should create guidelines. She offered a snapshot of the cost of guideline creation and dissemination and presented pros and cons for creation of guidelines by the NHLBI.
Dr. Larry Tabak, Principal Deputy Director, NIH, and the Council recognized Dr. Shurin's outstanding service as Acting Director of the NHLBI for the past 2.5 years.
NHLBI staff presented 7 new initiatives and 5 renewals, all of which had been reviewed in May by the Board of External Experts. The Council was mostly supportive of the initiatives presented, but made a number of specific recommendations for consideration prior to their release.
Full minutes of Council meetings and summaries of the initiatives are available.
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Upcoming 2012 Events
Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association
2012 Annual Conference Program
Date: September 13 - 15, 2012
Location: Orlando, FL
It’s My Heart
4th Annual CHD Family Conference
Date: September 14 - 16, 2012
Location: Houston, TX
Vascular Disease Foundation
Annual Meeting
Date: September 21 - 23, 2012
Location: Tysons Corner, VA
Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation, Inc.
2012 Patient and Family Conferences
Date: September 22, 2012
Location: Dallas, TX
Date: October 20, 2012
Location: Chicago, IL
PXE (Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum) International
2012 Biennial Conference
Date: September 22 - 23, 2012
Location: Bethesda, MD
Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc.
40th Annual Conference
Date: September 25 - 28, 2012
Location: Baltimore, MD
Fanconi Anemia Research Fund, Inc.
24th Annual Scientific Symposium
Date: September 27 - 30, 2012
Location: Denver, CO
First Candle / SIDS Alliance
2012 International Conference on Stillbirth, SIDS, and Infant Survival
Date: October 4 - 7, 2012
Location: Baltimore, MD
WomenHeart
2012 Science & Leadership Symposium
Date: October 5 - 8, 2012
Location: Rochester, MN
Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) Foundation
6th International Conference
Date: October 12 - 14, 2012
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Narcolepsy Network
27th Annual Patient Conference
Date: October 19 - 21, 2012
Location: Cleveland, OH
HHT (Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia) Foundation International
National Conference
Date: October 26 - 28, 2012
Location: Orlando, FL
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council 248th Meeting
Date: October 30, 2012
Location: Bethesda, MD
National Hemophilia Foundation
64th Annual Meeting
Date: November 8 - 10, 2012
Location: Orlando, FL
Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance
2012 Regional TSC Conference Series
Date: November 11, 2012
Location: Boston, MA
Date: November 17, 2012
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Parent Heart Watch
2013 National Conference
Date: January 17 - 20, 2013
Location: Seattle, WA
National Sleep Foundation
Sleep Health & Safety 2013
Date: March 1 - 2, 2013
Location: National Harbor, MD
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Last Updated September 2012
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