Council Minutes - September 1997

NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL ON AGING

The Seventy-Second Meeting

Summary Minutes:
September 25-26, 1997

National Institutes of Health
Building 31, Conference Room 6
Bethesda, Maryland 20892

CONTENTS

1. Call to Order
2. Food and Drug Administration Presentation
3. Translational Research at NIA: Overall Program Review
4. Review of Applications
5. Extramural Report
6. Working Group on Program
7. Council Minority Task Force on Aging
8. Comments: Retiring Council Members
9. Adjournment
10. Certification

Department of Health and Human Services
Public Health Service
National Institutes of Health
National Institute on Aging

NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL ON AGING
SUMMARY MINUTES
September 25-26, 1997

The 72nd meeting of the National Advisory Council on Aging (NACA) was convened on Thursday, September 25, at 1:00 p.m. in Building 31, Conference Room 6, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Richard J. Hodes, Director, National Institute on Aging (NIA), presided.

In accordance with the provisions of Public Law 92-463, the meeting was open to the public on Thursday, September 25, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Friday, September 26, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. The meeting was closed to the public on Friday, September 26, from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m. for the review, discussion, and evaluation of grant applications in accordance with the provisions set forth in Sections 552(b)(c)(4) and 552(b)(c)(6), Title 5, U.S. Code, and Section 10(d) of Public Law 92-463.

Council Participants:

Dr. Walter R. Allen
Dr. Carol A. Barnes
Dr. Elizabeth L. Barrett-Conner
Dr. Helen M. Blau
Dr. Jeffrey A. Bluestone
Dr. Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic
Dr. Richard A. Goldsby
Dr. James S. Jackson
Mr. Jorge J. Lambrinos
Dr. Gerald E. McClearn
Dr. John W. Rowe
Dr. John Q. Trojanowski
Dr. Robert B. Wallace
Dr. David A. Wise
Dr. Anne B. Young

Ex Officio Participant:

Dr. Judith A. Salerno, DVA

The Council Roster, which gives titles, affiliations, and terms of appointment, is appended to these minutes as Supplement A.

Members of the Public Present :

Nancy Aldrich, Aging Research and Training News
Jennifer Badoff, Population Association of America, American Population Council
Christy Brown, National Council on Aging
Dale Dirks, American Sleep Disorders Association
Andrew Guccione, American Physical Therapists Association
Anne Harrison-Clark, Population Association of America, American Population Council
John Holm, Washington Fax
Alan Kraut, American Psychological Society
Carol Schutz, The Gerontological Society of America
Angela Sharpe, Consortium of Social Science Associations
Pam Witte, Loyola University

In addition to NIA Staff, other Federal employees attending were:

Karen Bashir, NCI
Susan Persons, OD/OBSSR
Jane Steinberg, NIMH

1. Call To Order

Dr. Hodes welcomed Council members and guests. Drs. Bill Hazzard and George Fuller and Mr. Hugh Downs were absent.

Future Meeting Dates

• February 5-6, 1998 (Thursday-Friday)
• May 21-22, 1998 (Thursday-Friday)
• September 24-25, 1998 (Thursday-Friday)
• February 3-4, 1999 (Wednesday-Thursday)
• May 27-28, 1999 (Thursday-Friday)
• September 23-24, 1999 (Thursday-Friday)

Consideration of Minutes of Last Meeting

The minutes of the May 22-23, 1997, meeting were approved as submitted.

Director's Status Report

Dr. Hodes summarized the FY 1998 House of Representatives and Senate budget allowances indicating that a budget increase is likely. He briefed the Council on areas noted in Congressional Report language and on Hearings and Congressional visits that have taken place since the last Council meeting.

During discussion, Council members considered implications of a significant budget increase, particularly ways to identify fruitful areas to achieve maximum benefit from additional funds. Dr. Hodes noted that promising areas are identified as part of the NIA planning process in which programs propose the activities that they would like to support within designated areas.

Staff changes and current staff openings were announced. The Director's Status Report is appended to these Minutes.

2. Food And Drug Administration Presentation

Dr. Michael Friedman, Lead Deputy Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), addressed ways in which the FDA and NIA can work together more effectively. He described functions of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and Center for Veterinary Medicine. He also addressed the broad range of responsibility of the Administration. He said that stronger collaboration between the FDA and NIH would advance science and lead to better treatment options. As an example of productive cooperation, he described a collaboration between the FDA and the National Institute of Dental Research that is designed to reduce the time between product research and development and its commercial availability. Expertise is being shared by the sister agencies in joint research projects, in information exchange, in increased collaboration with the academic community, in staff exchange programs, and in development of information for the public.

Dr. Friedman would like to achieve parallel interaction with other NIH organizations. Possible issues that could be addressed in collaboration between FDA and NIA include improved testing of anti-aging compounds and increased testing of products in older and other special populations. Dr. Friedman and members of Council discussed issues surrounding testing of drug combinations. The importance of getting information on clinical trials conducted by companies in other countries also was considered.

3. Translational Research At Nia: Overall Program Review

In its periodic review of NIA programs overall, the Council reviewed translational research across the Institute. The topic was identified by Council's Working Group on Program and NIA staff, and was selected because of the important need to find ways to translate basic research findings into applications that benefit older people. The review group was provided four questions from NIA to frame the discussion. These were:

 

1. Are there ways that NIA can use existing research and training mechanisms to more effectively identify and respond to translational opportunities?
2. What additional planning processes (e.g., retreats, workgroups, workshops, and conferences) might NIA use to identify and predict future translational research opportunities?
3. How can NIA (and the field) improve information flow and exchange?
4. How can NIA/NIH facilitate academic, industry and government interactions to encourage translation?

Twelve preliminary recommendations that resulted from the review were presented to Council. The full report of the review will be provided to Council. Preliminary recommendations include:

 

1. NIA should develop staff expertise for translational research for both the extramural and intramural programs through use of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act. This should allow representation of different areas of science on a rotational basis.
2. NIA should develop a series of translational research lectures to promote NIA/NIH staff education. This could be implemented by having an invited lecturer deliver a formal presentation, followed by a group interaction including NIA staff and Center for Scientific Review (CSR) Scientific Review Administrators (SRAs).
3. NIA should encourage staff to visit translational research facilities in order to learn about the needs and opportunities at such facilities, and to learn about cutting-edge translational research. These visits would foster development of translational research in aging at these sites and encourage bi-directional research communication.
4. NIA should develop ways to use existing training mechanisms more effectively. NIA should reconfigure present training mechanisms to encourage translational research and to publicize the training program. The training program should include investigators at all career levels.
5. NACA should foster the presentation and discussion of translational research issues with Dr. Ehrenfeld, the present head of CSR.
6. NIA should foster additional use of existing mechanisms to encourage translational research in "Centers Without Walls," interactive program projects, and pilot grants.
7. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) mechanisms could be used much more effectively to promote translational research if the quality of review were improved. It was recommended that NIA develop a review group specifically to review the SBIR and STTR applications. One option to accomplish this goal would be to increase the size of the current Aging Review Committee to accommodate the development of a subgroup to review these applications. It was recommended that this issue should become a topic of continuing discussion for the NACA Working Group on Program.
8. NIA should conduct needs assessments for biological resources, databases, and instrumentation resources.
9. NIA should re-evaluate the existing licensing and Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) mechanisms for effectiveness in fostering translational research.
10. NIA should encourage a liaison between the private sector (biotechnology) and NIA programs on the functional genomics of aging.
11. NIA should identify the communication mechanisms needed to disseminate information to different sectors of the aging community.
12. NIA should foster dialogues among universities, investigators, industrial sectors and the intramural research program in order to facilitate development of translational research.

4. Review Of Applications

This portion of the meeting was closed to the public in accordance with the determination that it was concerned with matters exempt from mandatory disclosure under Sections 552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5, U.S. Code and Section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix).

A total of 683 applications requesting $407,782,408 for all years were reviewed. Council recommended 444 for a total of $236,740,934 for all years. The actual funding of the awards recommended is determined by the availability of funds, percentile ranks, priority scores, and program relevance.

5. Extramural Report

Dr. Kelty reported on recent changes in extramural policies and procedures. A copy of material distributed is appended to these Minutes.

6. Working Group On Program

The Working Group on Program recommended that Council approve two interim reports: Progress is Occurring in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention for Elders drafted by Dr. Robert Wallace on behalf of Council, and Minority Aging and Long Term Care, drafted for the Council by Dr. Walter Allen. Council approved both reports. Council requested that a short abstract be prepared for each report. It was agreed that the NIA Public Information Office would prepare the abstract for each report in collaboration with the author. The report drafted by Dr. John Trojanowski, Sleep Disorders of the Elderly , is ready for distribution.

The Working Group had a discussion on training that addressed recruitment, tracking of trainees, and determination of appropriate numbers of trainees to meet current and future needs. Training mechanisms, including stipend levels, were discussed. Following a recommendation from the Working Group, Council voted to establish a Council Task Force on Training. Interested members were asked to contact Dr. Hodes.

The Working Group reported on its discussions of the two program reviews scheduled for February 1998. Council will review the Behavioral and Social Research Program. The entire program will be considered rather than specific areas. Council members requested that the interface between NNA and BSR with respect to cognitive research be addressed specifically. Also, the program staff and reviewers were asked to address the integration and cross-fertilization of the work of bench scientists with that of scientists working with community populations.

The Working Group considered the upcoming Council review of intramural research programs. Dr. Longo discussed the continuing format for this review. The review will focus on the laboratories that were recently reviewed by the Board of Scientific Counselors, for which the NIA Scientific Director has provided responses to the review. For this round these are the reviews of the Longitudinal Studies Branch and the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, and the Epidemiology, Demography and Biometry Program.

The Working Group requested information on the impact of unscored applications on submission of amended applications, particularly by new investigators. Staff reported that insufficient data are available at this time. The topic will be addressed when additional data are available.

7. Council Minority Task Force On Aging

Mr. Lambrinos reported on the results of the Council Minority Task Force on Aging meeting. He described a performance plan for evaluating the several minority initiatives of the Institute and indicated that the Task Force would focus on this evaluation at future meetings.

8. Comments: Retiring Council Members

Six members of Council completed their terms at the September meeting: Mr. Lambrinos, and Drs. Trojanowski, Young, Barnes, Wallace, and Allen. Dr. Hodes thanked them for their generosity with their time and for their intellectual contributions to Council. Members expressed their appreciation for having had the opportunity to serve and thereby gain greater understanding of NIH, NIA, and the interface between science and public policy.

9. Adjournment

The 72nd meeting of the National Advisory Council on Aging was adjourned at 12:00 noon on September 26, 1997. The next meeting is scheduled for February 5-6, 1998.

Attachments:
A. Roster of Council Members (Not available)
B. Director's Report to the NACA (Not available)
C. Changes in Extramural Policies and Procedures (Not available)

10. Certification

I hereby certify that to the best of my knowledge the foregoing minutes and attachments are accurate and complete.

Richard J. Hodes, M.D.
Chairman, National Advisory Council on Aging
Director, National Institute on Aging

Prepared by Miriam F. Kelty, Ph.D.