NIH Establishes Working Groups to Examine Peer Review

The Director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr Elias A. Zerhouni, annnounced on Friday last week (8 June) the formation of two working groups to examine the NIH peer review process, with the goal of maximizing its effectiveness. The two groups will seek input from the scientific community, including investigators, scientific societies, academic institutions and health organizations, as well as from within NIH. The groups will study the context, criteria and culture of peer review to make sure the most talented individuals and reviewers are engaged in the process. More details, and the composition of the external and internal working groups, are available at the link at the top of this post.