NIH Reinstates Advisory Group

By: Jennifer Zeitzer
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, recently announced that the agency re-established the Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB) which was authorized by Congress in the NIH Reform Act of 2006. SMRB is charged with advising and making recommendations to the NIH director and secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) related to how NIH’s various institutes, centers, and research offices are organized within the agency. SMRB last met in July 2015.

The new members of SMRB include Gilda A. Barabino, PhD, President and Professor, Olin College of Engineering. Barabino is a former member of the FASEB Science Policy Committee. A complete SMRB roster is available on the NIH website.

Members of SMRB are nominated by the secretary of HHS and consist of directors of NIH institutes and centers, individuals from NIH-funded institutions, and those with expertise on NIH’s functions and mission. The NIH director is a permanent nonvoting ex officio member. Those appointed to SMRB serve five-year terms. More information about SMRB’s duties and operational structure is available in the charter.