The following is adapted from a letter ISCB Executive Officer received from the Director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Please read the letter and follow the link to offer your personal input on the suggested topics or others that directly impact your research funding.

Dear ISCB Members and Colleagues:

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) is engaged in a strategic planning activity that will guide its decision-making over the next five years. I am writing to invite the International Society for Computational Biology to provide input throughout this process.

NIGMS, a component of the National Institutes of Health, supports basic research that is the foundation for disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Institute-funded researchers seek to answer important questions in fields such as cell biology, biophysics, genetics, developmental biology, pharmacology, physiology, biochemistry, chemistry, bioinformatics, computational biology, and selected cross-cutting clinical areas that affect multiple organ systems, including anesthesiology, trauma and burn injury, and wound healing. NIGMS also provides leadership in promoting diversity in the scientific workforce and in training the next generation of scientists to assure the vitality and continued productivity of the research enterprise.

From February 20 to March 20, 2007, we are soliciting comments at http://www.nigms.nih.gov/About/StrategicPlan/Input.htm. I encourage you to provide input at this site. Please also inform your members of this opportunity.

Input is anonymous and can be on any of our suggested topics or in other areas. The suggested topics include how NIGMS should:

  • set priorities for funding research and research training;
  • support emerging scientific fields and technologies;
  • encourage diversity in the scientific workforce; and
  • enhance communications with the biomedical community and the public.

In the coming months, I will invite comment on our draft strategic plan. Finally, when the plan is complete, I will send you a notification that you can forward to your members.

If you have questions about the NIGMS strategic planning process, please contact:

Judith H. Greenberg, Ph.D.
Director, Division of Genetics and Developmental Biology
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200
301-594-0943
greenbej@nigms.nih.gov

I look forward to receiving input that will help NIGMS better serve the scientific community and the American public.

Best Regards,

Jeremy M. Berg, Ph.D.
Director, National Institute of General Medical Sciences

National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200

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