 |
|
|
Peer Review Integration with the Center for Scientific Review (Formerly
DRG)
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the Center
for Scientific Review (CSR-formerly DRG) have completed a process initiated
in October 1992 with implementation of Public Law 103-321, which transferred
the three research institutes (NIAAA, National Institute of Mental Health,
and National Institute on Drug Abuse) of the former Alcohol, Drug Abuse
and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA) to the National Institutes of
Health (NIH). The Congress recognized that the most significant operational
distinction in 1992 between the NIH and the ADAMHA Institutes related
to peer review operations, and hence, included a provision in the law
that postponed the integration of that process until October 1996.
In preliminary work, NIAAA staff identified two broad areas of research
and the relevant peer review committees within CSR and NIAAA. The first
area was biomedical research on alcohol and other xenobiotics. Four
review groups were involved: two subcommittees of NIAAA's Alcohol Biomedical
Research Review Committee -- Biochemistry, Physiology and Medicine Subcommittee
(ALCB-1) and Neuroscience and Behavior Subcommittee (ALCB-2) -- and
two study sections of CSR's Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Initial Review Group -- Toxicology 1 (TOX-1) and Toxicology 2 (TOX-2).
The second area of integration activity was community prevention and
control. This area involved one subcommittee of NIAAA's Alcohol Psychosocial
Research Review Committee -- Epidemiology and Prevention Subcommittee
(ALCP-2) -- and a special emphasis panel in CSR's Biobehavioral and
Social Sciences Initial Review Group.
Following preliminary discussions begun during the October 1995 initial
review sessions, a planning meeting was held with chairpersons and representative
members of the four preexisting committees involved in the relevant
research areas (TOX 1, TOX 2, ALCB 1, ALCB 2). These individuals met
in Bethesda in December 1995 to develop the structure and referral guidelines
for four new integrated review committees -- Alcohol and Toxicology
1-4 ( ALTX) -- and to assign members to each of the appropriate committees.
These four new committees met concurrently for the first time in February
1996. The four new Alcohol and Toxicology Study Sections are now established
within the CSR Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Initial Review
Group, as ZRG4 ALTX (1-4). The Scientific Review Administrator for ALTX
1 and ALTX 3 is Dr. Christina Melchior, (301)435-1783.
In the community prevention and control area, ALCP-2, the alcohol
prevention subcommittee, met contiguously in February 1996 with the
CSR ad hoc committee, Community Prevention and Control (CPC). The back-to-back
meetings facilitated participation of several CPC reviewers at ALCP-2,
and ALCP-2 member participation at the CPC meeting. In June of 1996,
the two committees merged to form the basis for a newly established
CSR committee (Community Prevention and Control) within the Biobehavioral
and Social Sciences Initial Review Group. These reviews are managed
by Dr. Bob Weller, (301)435-1259.
The final area of implementation was integration of NIAAA's AIDS review
activities, which paralleled efforts in the other two areas above. CSR
already had an Initial Review Group dedicated solely to AIDS (AIDS and
Related Research), which operates in a highly flexible mode. This flexibility
allowed the smooth integration of NIAAA's review of AIDS applications
into theCSR AIDS study sections with minimal readjustments.
|
