View source for Center for Scientific Review

{{Organization
|OrganizationName=Center for Scientific Review
|OrganizationType=Research and Development Agencies (Sub-organization)
|Mission=CSR is the portal for NIH grant applications, managing the initial peer review of grant applications for scientific and technical merit, ensuring the scientific quality and relevance of the research NIH supports.
|ParentOrganization=National Institutes of Health
|Employees=300
|OrganizationExecutive=Director
|Services=Grant Application Review; Scientific Peer Review; Study Section Management; Reviewer Training
|HeadquartersLocation=38.99922, -77.09822
|HeadquartersAddress=9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892 (NIH Campus)
|Website=https://public.csr.nih.gov
}}
The '''Center for Scientific Review''' ('''CSR''') is the portal for [[United States]] [[National Institutes of Health]] (NIH) [[grant (money)|grant]] applications and their review for scientific merit. The CSR organizes the peer review groups or study sections that evaluate the majority (76%) of the [[research]] grant applications sent to NIH.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CSR Data & Evaluations {{!}} NIH Center for Scientific Review |url=https://public.csr.nih.gov/AboutCSR/Evaluations |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=public.csr.nih.gov}}</ref> It also receives all grant applications for NIH, as well as for some other components of the [[United States Department of Health and Human Services]] (DHHS). Since 1946, its mission has remained clear and timely: to see that NIH grant applications receive fair, independent, expert, and timely reviews—free from inappropriate influences—so NIH can fund the most promising research.

CSR receives nearly 80,000 applications a year and recruits over 19,000 external [[expert]]s<ref>{{Cite web |title=CSR Data & Evaluations {{!}} NIH Center for Scientific Review |url=https://public.csr.nih.gov/AboutCSR/Evaluations |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=public.csr.nih.gov}}</ref> to review its portion of them in its study sections, which often meet three times during the year. Additional [[scientist]]s serve on other NIH advisory councils, which provide a second level of [[peer review]] and make funding recommendations based on priorities set by the [[United States Congress]], DHHS, and the public.

From 1946 to 1997, the CSR was known as the '''Division of Research Grants''' (DRG).

==Directors==
Past directors from 1946 - present<ref>{{cite web|title=CSR Directors|url=https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/nih-almanac/center-scientific-review-csr|website=www.nih.gov|date=10 July 2015 }}</ref>

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|-
!Director
!Took office
!Left office
|-
|Cassius James Van Slyke
|January 1946
|December 1, 1959
|-
|David E. Price MD
|1948
|1950
|-
|Ernest M. Allen
|1951
|1960
|-
|Dale R. Lindsay
|1960
|1963
|-
|Eugene A. Confrey
|October 1963
|1969
|-
|Stephen P. Hatchett
|1969
|August 1976
|-
|Carl D. Douglass
|August 1976
|December 1985
|-
|Jerome G. Green
|January 1986
|June 1, 1995
|-
|Ellie Ehrenfeld
|January 1997
|September 30, 2003
|-
|Brent Stanfield (acting)
|October 1, 2003
|June 30, 2005
|-
|Antonio Scarpa
|July 1, 2005
|September 2, 2011
|-
|Richard K. Nakamura
|September 18, 2011
|April 30, 2018
|-
|Noni Byrnes
|February 14, 2019
|Present
|-
|}

==Current initiatives==
*Shorten the review process so applicants can revise and resubmit their applications in the next review round if necessary and NIH can more timely fund the best research. Shortening the review process by 45 days could thus reduce the time to resubmit by four months.
*Recruit and retain the best reviewers so NIH and applicants receive the best advice.
*Foster a culture more favorable to innovative applications, so that NIH can fund research that promises larger advances in science and health.
*Address the concern that clinical research is not properly evaluated, so this important research is well represented in the NIH program.
*Increase the transparency, accountability, and uniformity of NIH peer review.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cms.csr.nih.gov/AboutCSR/Welcome+to+CSR/ |title=Welcome to CSR<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614141710/http://cms.csr.nih.gov/AboutCSR/Welcome+to+CSR/ |archive-date=2007-06-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[United States Department of Health and Human Services]]
* [[NIH grant]]
*[[grant (money)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Official website}}
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* [https://www.nih.gov/ NIH website]

{{National Institutes of Health}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:National Institutes of Health]]