In September 2009 we described this  peer review system as two sequential levels of peer review by panels of  experts in various fields of research that help NIH identify the most  promising extramural grant applications to fund, as defined primarily by  an assessment of the applications’ scientific merit. The ICs award  administrative supplements using an administrative review process at the  IC level. NIH Used Standard Review Processes and Applied Standard and Recovery Act– Specific Criteria to Make Extramural Grant Awards with Recovery Act Funding

NIH used its standard review processes—peer review or administrative  review—to make extramural grant awards with its Recovery Act funding. These standard processes were  used to review three categories of applications for Recovery Act–funded  extramural grants, namely (1) new grant applications received from  Recovery Act funding announcements; (2) existing grant applications  that NIH received prior to the Recovery Act, but did not fund; and   (3) applications for administrative supplements and competitive revisions  to current active grants. NIH Awarded Recovery Act Funds Based on Standard NIH Criteria, Such as Scientific Merit and Relevance to IC Scientific Priorities, as Well as Criteria for Recovery Act Grants

NIH based funding decisions for all Recovery Act extramural grant awards  in fiscal years 2009 and 2010 on the three standard criteria NIH uses to  award extramural grants, plus three additional criteria established by NIH. In addition to the three standard NIH criteria, the three ICs we reviewed  considered three additional criteria established by NIH—geographic  distribution of Recovery Act funds, the potential for job creation, and the  potential for scientific progress within 2 years. NIH’s Recovery Act Grant Awards Varied across Grant Categories and Other Characteristics, and NIH Made Information about the Grants and Grantees Publicly Available

NIH’s Recovery Act extramural grant awards varied across three  categories—awards for applications that had previously been reviewed  but had not received funding, awards for new grant applications, and  awards for administrative supplements and competitive revisions to  current active grants. NIH  and the ICs communicated a variety of information to the public about the  grant awards—including information about grantees—through NIH’s Web  sites. As of April 2010, NIH used about $7 billion of  its $8.6 billion in Recovery Act scientific research funds and CER funds to  make over 14,000 extramural grants awards. Specifically, NIH used  nearly $2.7 billion of Recovery Act funding for grant applications that had  previously been peer reviewed by NIH but had not received NIH funding;  slightly over $2.4 billion for new grant applications received from  Recovery Act funding announcements; and about $1.9 billion for  administrative supplements and competitive revisions to current active  grants. The distribution of Recovery Act awards among the three categories of  extramural grants varied significantly across the three ICs we reviewed. For example, we found that as of April 2010, NIAID used 69 percent of its  Recovery Act funds for existing grant applications that had not previously  received NIH funding, while NCI used 31 percent of its Recovery Act funds  for existing grant applications that had not previously received NIH  funding. Grant Award Size: As of April 2010, we found that the average Recovery  Act extramural grant award was slightly more than $492,000, while about  25 percent of grants were awarded $623,000 or more. NIH Posted a Variety of Information about Recovery Act Extramural Grants and Grantees on Its Web Site

NIH communicated various information to the public about the extramural  grant awards it made using Recovery Act funds. For example, the site includes reports, analysis, and data on NIH  research activities, such as the fiscal year of the award, the location of  grantee, and awarding IC. Agency Comments

A draft of this report was provided to HHS for review and comment. HHS  provided technical comments that were incorporated as appropriate. This report will also be available on the GAO Web site at  http://www.gao.gov. Appendix I: Illustrative Examples of NIH Recovery Act Extramural Grants

The 45 grants presented below include a sample of 15 extramural grants  awarded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009  (Recovery Act) funds from each of the three Institutes and Centers (IC) we  reviewed—National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Heart, Lung, and  Blood Institute (NHLBI), and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious  Diseases (NIAID). 2. 2.
Why GAO Did This Study

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) included $10.4 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Of the NIH Recovery Act funding, $8.2 billion was to be used to support additional scientific research and $400 million for comparative effectiveness research, including extramural research at universities and research institutions. NIH is comprised of the Office of the Director (OD) and 27 Institutes and Centers (IC), 24 of which make grant funding decisions. GAO was asked to report on how NIH awarded Recovery Act funds for scientific research and the information that NIH made available about the award of these funds. This report describes the (1) process and criteria NIH used to award extramural grants using Recovery Act funding, and (2) characteristics of Recovery Act extramural grants and the information made publicly available about these grants. GAO interviewed NIH officials in the OD and the three ICs that received the largest proportion of Recovery Act funds, and reviewed related documents, such as NIH guidance on awarding grants using Recovery Act funds. GAO also obtained and analyzed NIH data on all Recovery Act grants awarded as of April 2010.

What GAO Found

NIH used its standard review processes--peer review, which comprises two sequential levels of review by panels of experts in various fields of research, or administrative review--to award extramural grants using Recovery Act funds. These standard review processes were used for three categories of extramural grant applications: (1) new grant applications from Recovery Act funding announcements; (2) existing grant applications that had not previously received NIH funding; and (3) administrative supplements and competitive revisions to current active grants. For new grant applications submitted in response to Recovery Act funding announcements, NIH followed its standard peer review process. For existing grant applications, which had already undergone the peer review process, each of the three ICs GAO reviewed--National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)--selected additional applications for Recovery Act funding based in part on the amount of this funding available to each IC. To award administrative supplements, NIH conducted its standard administrative review at the IC level, and for competitive revisions NIH followed its standard peer review process. In reviewing applications, NIH used its standard criteria--scientific merit, availability of funds, and relevance to scientific priorities--plus three criteria for Recovery Act grants. These criteria were the geographic distribution of Recovery Act funds, the potential for job creation, and the potential for making scientific progress within a 2-year period. NIH's Recovery Act grant awards varied across three grant categories and other characteristics, and NIH made a variety of information about the grants publicly available. NIH data show that as of April 2010, about $7 billion of the $8.6 billion in Recovery Act scientific research and comparative effectiveness research funds had been awarded for 14,152 extramural grants. NIH awarded nearly $2.7 billion to make extramural grants for existing grant applications that had not previously received funding, slightly over $2.4 billion for new grant applications, and about $1.9 billion for administrative supplements and competitive revisions. NIH officials reported that the remaining Recovery Act scientific research funds will be awarded by the end of fiscal year 2010. At the three ICs GAO reviewed, the distribution of Recovery Act funds to the three categories of Recovery Act extramural grants varied significantly. For example, GAO found that as of April 2010, NIAID used 69 percent of its Recovery Act funds for existing grant applications that had not previously received NIH funding, while NCI used 31 percent for these existing grant applications. The average NIH Recovery Act extramural grant award was about half a million dollars, and about 25 percent of grantees were awarded $623,000 or more. Through NIH's Web sites, NIH and the ICs communicated a variety of information to the public about Recovery Act extramural grant awards, such as information about grantees and awarding ICs. HHS provided technical comments on a draft of this report, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.