This month’s Forum featured panelists from across the CCTS partner network who share a special area of research expertise—all have served on an NIH study section since the rollout of that institution’s rigor, reproducibility, and transparency requirements (aka “R2T”), which took effect earlier this year.
In less than an hour, and while enjoying stellar refreshments, attendees received numerous tips to help ensure their next grant successfully tackles NIH’s R2T requirements. Although more than one panelist acknowledged the enforcement of the requirements is still a bit hazy, with one stating “we are all learning as we go,” they stressed that applicants who make an evident effort to address R2T—including the authentication attachment—will make a better impression on reviewers than those who don’t.
Other helpful thoughts and suggestions included:
- Incorporate a plan for regular authentication of key biological/chemical resources, with regularity defined in keeping with the study’s goals.
- Authentication of commercial resources needs to be more than noting where a resource was purchased; antibodies in particular get special attention from the NIH due to variability within certain commercial lots leading to differing results in the past.
- Budget issues are not an acceptable reason for skipping consideration of relevant biological variables, such as sex; a scientific rationale is required.
- Investigators are not required to power a study to detect sex differences, but need to include them to observe variations in response and so produce more generalizable results.
- Be explicit and use NIH language when addressing scientific premise. Delineate how the proposed work will fill a gap or extend what is known.
- NIH focus on rigorous design is nothing new, just a re-emphasis of what has always been important.
The CCTS wishes to thank its outstanding panelists for sharing their time and insights:
- Bruce Bunnell, PhD, director, Center for Gene Therapy, Tulane
- Christopher Easley, PhD, associate professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Auburn
- Mark Gillespie, PhD, chair, Pharmacology, University of South Alabama
- Emily Levitan, ScD, associate professor, Epidemiology, UAB
- Hua Lu, MD, PhD, chair, Biochemistry, Tulane
- Vishnu Suppiramaniam, PhD, DVM, assistant dean, Research and Graduate Programs, Auburn
- Jianhua Zhang, PhD, associate professor, Division of Molecular & Cellular Pathology, UAB
Still have questions about R2T and how to address it in your grant? We have the answers, contact CCTS Research Commons (via
For those who were unable to attend the Sept. Forum, a video of the panel discussion will soon join our other online NIH Rigor and Reproducibility resources, including a suite of R2T videos and samples of authentication appendices in our Grant Library.