🪴 Oliver’s Note - could it be good news?
Recently, NIH received positive news: on September 1st, the House Appropriations Committee released the Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee bill. The press release includes this bullet:
Providing $48 billion in funding to support biomedical research, a necessary counter to China’s growing threat in basic science research.
As noted on LinkedIn by Dr. Ned Sharpless, former NCI Director and FDA Commissioner, this proposal, which aligns with the prior Senate markup, would essentially maintain the NIH budget at its current level for fiscal year 2025. This suggests bipartisan agreement on NIH funding, potentially alleviating recent concerns about significant cuts.
With the fiscal year beginning October 1st, progress on spending bills has to happen soon to avoid a shutdown, and so the final funding level may be revealed soon. However, a larger concern for me, is whether congressional appropriations still hold weight, given recent observations that the executive branch doesn’t always honor Congress’ intent when it comes to spending. The Senate's attempts to assert its authority (NYT gift link) may lead to more specific spending bill language, which could ensure taxpayer dollars are used as intended.
Of course it might not, but it looks as of Congress may appropriate funds to keep NIH at its current level which is a clear prerequisite for funding normalization.
🗓️ Upcoming Grants
Standard NIH Due Dates
For new R01 submissions these are Feb 5, June 5, Oct 5
For R01 renewal, resubmission or revisions these are Mar 5, July 5, Nov 5
For more information check out the NIH Standard Due Dates page.
Cancer Research Institute
CRI Clinical Innovator grants support innovative immunotherapy clinical trials led by academic researchers, with the aim of improving patient outcomes. These trials are to target cancers with high unmet needs, explore mechanisms of clinical response, and identify predictive biomarkers. To enhance the impact of funded trials, CRI will provide expert guidance to optimize trial design and translational studies.
Applicants must be the PI of the study and work at a non-profit institution.
deadline: Concept Dec 1; Full Proposal April 4
Up to $1M structured into milestones
Cancer Research Institute
The CRI Technology Impact Award offers up to $300,000 in seed funding to bridge the gap between technology development and clinical application of cancer immunotherapies. These grants foster collaboration between technology developers and clinical cancer immunologists, supporting proof-of-principle studies for novel platform technologies. Technologies of interest include bioinformatics, ex vivo/in silico modeling, immunological/tumor profiling, and other tools that empower clinicians to better understand cancer immunotherapy mechanisms.
Award selection prioritizes novelty, creativity, technical sophistication, and transformative potential to impact global cancer immunotherapy research. This program ultimately seeks to accelerate the development of effective immunotherapies for all cancer patients.
Applicants must be tenure track Assistant Professor or more senior at the time of award activation.
deadline: Letter of Intent Nov 15; Full Application Mar 3
Up to $300,000 over 2 years
🦋 Growth Mindset
In the face of adversity, and let’s face it there is plenty at the moment in science particularly for early career scientists, what can you do?
Here are some ideas from my learning and experience as a coach. I know that the in the heat of the moment they can seem a bit trite - but I have found that in calmer moments they can be helpful.
Consciously Choose Your Response: Instead of automatically reacting to stressful situations, practice pausing to reflect and consciously choose a more constructive energetic response. You have the freedom to choose how you perceive and experience life's circumstances. I know that i
Reframe Challenges as Opportunities for Growth: View all experiences, even painful ones, as opportunities for learning and growth. "Mistakes" can be reframed as valuable learning tools that help you decide who you want to be. This is probably best done at a distance, after the emotions of the moment have had a chance to soften.
🏆 Success Tools … of the Future?
AI is increasingly becoming a collaborative partner in scientific discovery, moving beyond its role as a tool like AlphaFold. Following Google's Co-Scientist publication earlier this year, OpenAI is now developing an AI platform to further accelerate scientific breakthroughs.
Given my interest in creativity (I work at the Night Science Institute supporting scientists' creative processes), I'm eager to explore AI's potential in this realm. Economist Ethan Mollick, in "Co-Intelligence," describes two AI integration approaches: the "cyborg," seamlessly blending AI into all tasks, and the "centaur," maintaining a distinct boundary between human and AI work. This raises the question: How will these tools ultimately be employed? Will you use them?
For now, I maintain that uniquely human creativity stems from feelings and life experiences difficult to replicate in AI, at least currently.
Share this newsletter with others who may be interested in this area - I will keep tabs on it for my readers.
🗞️ Science & Policy Updates
SciENcv capabilities being expanded for Common Forms
NIH will release a preview versions of NIH Common Forms (Biographical Sketch, Current and Pending (Other) Support, and Biographical Sketch Supplement) within SciENcv by September 15, 2025. These previews are for familiarization only and will not support PDF downloads. Data will be deleted upon the official release of the forms in November 2025. Refer to the full notice for details on Common Forms, preview document creation, recommended preparation steps (including ORCID and account linking), and a reminder that previews are not for submission.
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