[Christine Lagana Riordan]

Dear HRA members,

The due date for sign-ons to the following letter on fair and equitable clinical trial participant selection has been extended until December 22, 2025:

On behalf of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), I am writing to request your review and signature on a letter that ASH is writing to the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) asking for amendments to its guidelines and resources for Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) seeking accreditation or accreditation renewal. These amendments aim to help IRBs work with investigators to increase representation in the selection of research participants. Thus, upholding the justice principle which is one of the core ethical foundational principles, outlined in the Belmont Report.

For more context, the need for IRBs to advance fairness and equitable distribution of risks and benefits for participants in clinical trials was cited in ASH’s Roadmap initiative published in Blood Advances, as a key barrier to enhancing access to trials. To address this barrier, the letter calls for AAHRPP to:

1. Develop Guidance to Promote the Attainment of Fair and Equitable Selection of Participants in Clinical Trials; and
2. Provide a Framework to Address Whether and When Payment Constitutes Coercion OR Undue Influence

ASK: Before this letter is shared with AAHRPP, ASH would appreciate your organization’s review and support. To that end, kindly review the detailed letter here and have the individual who can sign on your organization’s behalf complete this FORM no later than Friday, November 14th. Questions about this letter can be emailed to ASH’s Director of ASH Scientific Affairs, Alice Kuaban, MS, at [email protected]. Thank you for your consideration of this request! Best Regards,

Kelly Chavez Rose, PhD (She/her/ella) Chief Scientific Officer Main: 202.776.0544 | Mobile: 202.875.0502 Web: http://www.hematology.org | Email: [email protected] 2021 L Street NW #900, Washington, DC 20036

[Christine Lagana Riordan]

Register for the next AI Community Call NEXT WEEK: Monday, December 8, 2025 at 1:00 pm ET

The NovaGen Research Fund (NGRF) is a newly established 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by former NIH scientists and contractors. NGRF serves as a research hub dedicated to advancing and preserving bioinformatics and AI tools, applications, and resources that support the broader biomedical research community. NGRF maintains stewardship of a vital portfolio of open-source AI and bioinformatics tools, ensuring their accessibility and continued development for researchers worldwide. In this webinar we will discuss the challenges in bioinformatics and AI for research, how our tools address these challenges, and the impacts of the current climate on AI and bioinformatics for medical research. A sample of NGRF’s supported tools can be found at PCDR final — NovaGen.

Register here

[Christine Lagana Riordan]

REMINDER: Join the Open Science Learning Community tomorrow (11/5/2025) from 1:00-2:00 PM ET to learn about monitoring Open Science compliance of awardees. We will discuss why open science compliance matters, what tools are available, and what current practices entail. There will be an overview of compliance components as they relate to publications, data and code, and tangible materials. REGISTER HERE!

Speakers include Meredith Schmehl, PhD – Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Sara Jarvis, PhD – American Heart Association; Elisia Clark, PhD, MSTR – Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

Moderator: Anna Hatch, PhD

Co-Chairs for the Open Science Learning Community:

Anna Hatch, PhD – Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Sara Jarvis, PhD – American Heart Association

Britta Magnuson, DMD – Health Resources in Action

[Christine Lagana Riordan]

REMINDER: Join the Open Science Learning Community on Wednesday 11/5/2025 from 1:00-2:00 PM ET to learn about monitoring Open Science compliance of awardees. We will discuss why open science compliance matters, what tools are available, and what current practices entail. There will be an overview of compliance components as they relate to publications, data and code, and tangible materials. REGISTER HERE!

Speakers include Meredith Schmehl, PhD – Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Sara Jarvis, PhD – American Heart Association; Elisia Clark, PhD, MSTR – Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

Moderator: Anna Hatch, PhD

Co-Chairs for the Open Science Learning Community:

Anna Hatch, PhD – Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Sara Jarvis, PhD – American Heart Association

Britta Magnuson, DMD – Health Resources in Action

[Christine Lagana Riordan]

Last chance to register for HRA’s upcoming Policy Series session on October 29, 2025 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

HRA Federal Policy Series: How Researchers, Funders, and Nonprofits are Joining Forces in an Unprecedented Threat Landscape: Finding a Path Forward

Join us for for a critical conversation on how researchers, funders, and nonprofits are coming together to protect and advance vital research through collaboration, strategy, and innovation. Register here.

In this session, we’ll explore:

• Current challenges facing biomedical research and nonprofits, relevant to the HRA community
• Community responses through communications, litigation, legislation, humility, and organizing
• Interactive discussion and Q&A, giving you a chance to engage directly with our experts

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from leading voices at Protect Democracy and discuss actionable strategies for protecting and advancing research in today’s evolving environment.

[Christine Lagana Riordan]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your interest in the early career survey and for tutoring me on the best way to upload documents in the forum!

The survey is a partnership between ASF and the Broad Institute, but is meant to be inclusive of all fields of biomedical research. Everything will be anonymous, so we will not share raw data but can share summary data. I was imagining that if many of us recruited a lot of participants, we could write a joint paper on the results.

Here are the survey questions and a flyer: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/70kb9bye8m49qj4f8r1g9/AFIWGIlmJLuiugFzwppohlk?rlkey=4dbnj6dx4s6uwgunlachfuul0&st=2exk68om&dl=0

We discussed this survey with the research workforce community, but I’m not sure everyone was on that call. The goal is to get as many people as possible to fill it out so we can get some data on how DOGE cuts are affecting career plans, mental health, and views of science in general.

Thanks everyone!

Alycia

[Christine Lagana Riordan]

HRA Grants Administration Community Open Mic TODAY at 2 PM ET!

Register HERE for the call (please note: you must be logged in to access the link on the HRA website)

The next Grants Administration Community open mic is on today, October 22nd from 2:00-3:00 pm ET. This session will focus on non-compliance (e.g. not submitting reports to closeout, returning unspent funds, research misconduct, etc.) and how different organizations handle such issues. We encourage attendees to come ready with questions around this and other post-award considerations! As always, we urge members to come and ask other, non-monthly-topic-related grants admin questions, as well.

[Christine Lagana Riordan]

HRA Federal Policy Series: How Researchers, Funders, and Nonprofits are Joining Forces in an Unprecedented Threat Landscape: Finding a Path Forward

Now is the time to register for our upcoming HRA Federal Policy Webinar, featuring Protect Democracy, on October 29, 2025 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. Join us for for a critical conversation on how researchers, funders, and nonprofits are coming together to protect and advance vital research through collaboration, strategy, and innovation. Register here.

In this session, we’ll explore:

• Current challenges facing biomedical research and nonprofits, relevant to the HRA community
• Community responses through communications, litigation, legislation, humility, and organizing
• Interactive discussion and Q&A, giving you a chance to engage directly with our experts

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from leading voices and discuss actionable strategies for protecting and advancing research in today’s evolving environment.

Speakers:

Protect Democracy is a nonpartisan, anti-authoritarianism group that works to preserve democracy with a unified and cross-ideological strategy rooted in expertise.

• ​Corey Dukes leads Protect Democracy’s efforts to support civil society’s defense of the institutions upon which our democracy relies. Previously, he established the organization’s state advocacy program and led efforts to defend the 2020 election. Corey joined Protect Democracy’s after a career as a campaign and domestic policy adviser to multiple U.S. Senators and Presidents.
• ​Nikkilia (Nikki) Lu is a dynamic leader with over 10 years of experience helping to shape policy, advocacy and political campaigns. Over the course of her career she has been instrumental in building advocacy and electoral infrastructure across the country with national non-profit organizations focused on state engagement. She has worked at the highest levels of American government and politics, including at The White House and as senior leadership for multiple presidential campaigns in Pennsylvania.

Reply To: Federal Policy Series: Joining Forces in an U

[Christine Lagana Riordan]

HRA members,

Please remember to submit your nominations for 2026 HRA Board Members TODAY! The nomination process is simple! Please nominate yourself or colleagues by submitting a name to this LINK.

Special thanks to the Nominating Committee for leading the nomination and election efforts for the HRA Board of Directors! Feel free to reach out to me with any questions about the Board of Directors nomination and election process at [email protected].

Thank you,

Kristy

Christine Lagana Riordan, PhD | Executive Director

Health Research Alliance

[email protected]

http://healthra.org

she/her/hers

[Christine Lagana Riordan]

Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in this initiative to connect with academic institutions! I will partner with Sindy to determine next steps and keep the group informed! If you are interested in participating, but have not replied to this thread, please feel free to email me at [email protected]!

[Christine Lagana Riordan]

All HRA members with an active user account on the HRA website are subscribed to all forums for which they have viewing privileges. This means:

• Everyone who has an active user account on the HRA website will receive email notifications from the Info, Jobs, and RFA/RFP Forums
• HRA members who are designated as the CEO for their organization can access and will receive email notifications from the CEO Forum (including Executive Directors, etc.)

You can unsubscribe from email notifications at any time by clicking the ‘Unsubscribe’ link within the footer of a Forum email notification.

Thanks!

Jenna

[Christine Lagana Riordan]

Hi Kavita,

In response to your first question, we utilize the NIH scoring range of 1 to 9 as the overall impact score, with our funding cutoff set between 1.0 and 2.99 (high impact). Applications that receive scores in the range of 3.0 to 3.2  may be funded and considered for a process we refer to as “rapid revise and resubmit.” This provides applicants with the opportunity to address critiques raised by our scientific review committee that can be effectively resolved within the timeframe prior to presenting our funding recommendations to the board for official approval.

Our decision on these scoring cutoffs was informed by a thorough analysis of data from recent years, including initial and final scores from reviewers, the variability between these scores, and the typical score of applications we typically choose to fund. It is important to note that while scoring plays a significant role in our evaluation process, we also take into account additional factors such as the career stage of the investigator, the relevance of the research topic,  our budget, etc. This approach is very helpful when we are faced with a highly competitive pool of proposals that demonstrate strong scores, and there are budget constraints.

Vanessa Gonzalez

Director of Grant Programs

 2510 North Frontage Road, Darien, IL 60561
Direct: 630-737-9724 | P: 630-737-9700 | foundation.aasm.org

 

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