[Melissa Lena]

Reminder: The deadline to sign up for the HRA Book Club is today – sign up now!
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Dear HRA Members,

HRA Book Club is back! Join us for another season of great reads, lively discussions, and community connection.

We want to shape this next chapter together. Once everyone has signed up, we will decide on a book and a reading timeline as a group.

If you would like to participate in Book Club, sign up here by July 22nd.

Kind regards,
Melissa

Melissa Lena | Operations Manager

Health Research Alliance

[email protected]

http://www.healthra.org

she/her/hers

[Melissa Lena]

Reminder: HRA is seeking speaker/moderator volunteers for the Fall 2026 Members Meeting. To volunteer, submit the Speaker/Moderator Volunteer Form by July 28th.

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Dear HRA members,

The Program Committee has been hard at work preparing for the hybrid Fall 2026 Members Meeting taking place on October 14th-15th at the University of California – Irvine campus, and sponsored by Arthritis National Research Foundation.

We are now seeking volunteers from the HRA community to serve as session speakers and moderators. Session descriptions can be found on the Fall 2026 Members Meeting page on the HRA website, which will be updated as additional details become available.

To volunteer to participate in a session as a speaker or moderator, please submit the Speaker/Moderator Volunteer form by July 28th.

Responses will be shared with the relevant session planners. Volunteering to participate is not a binding commitment; once all responses are collected, Program Committee members will determine which speakers best fit the needs of each session. HRA will follow up with you either way about your submission.

On behalf of the Program Committee, thank you so much for your willingness to share your experience!

Sincerely,
Melissa

Melissa Lena | Operations Manager
Health Research Alliance
[email protected]
http://www.healthra.org

[Melissa Lena]

Reminder: Therapeutic Development Learning Community webinar is next week – Tuesday, July 28th from 1pm-2pm ET

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Hello, HRA Members,

The Therapeutic Development Learning Community will be hosting an open mic webinar titled From Grants to Game Plans: Open Mic on Translational Portfolio Management on Tuesday, July 28th from 1pm-2pm ET.

Managing a translational or drug discovery grant portfolio is not quite the same beast as managing a basic research portfolio. Join the Health Research Alliance Therapeutic Development Learning Community for an open-mic discussion on how funders define success, set milestones, assess applicants, manage follow-on funding, and make the most of co-funder interest. Come ready to share what has worked, what has flopped, and what you wish you had known earlier.

Click here to access the Zoom registration link.

Kind regards,
Melissa

Melissa Lena | Operations Manager

Health Research Alliance

[email protected]

http://www.healthra.org

she/her/hers

[Melissa Lena]

Reminder: Registry & Biorepository Learning Community Open Mic webinar – today, July 7th from 1pm-2pm ET

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Hello, HRA Members,

The Registry & Biorepository Learning Community will be hosting an Open Mic webinar on Tuesday, July 7th from 1pm-2pm ET.

Title: Open Mic for managers of registries/biorepositories to discuss challenges

This facilitated open mic invites managers of registries and biorepositories to surface persistent operational, technical, and governance challenges, share practical solutions, and discuss actionable next steps for improving quality, sustainability, and participant trust. We encourage attendees to bring real challenges — from consent and governance dilemmas to sample/data interoperability, QC, and long‑term program sustainability — for short, focused peer problem‑solving and experience sharing.

Click here for the registration link.

Kind regards,
Melissa

Melissa Lena | Operations Manager

Health Research Alliance

[email protected]

http://www.healthra.org

she/her/hers

[Melissa Lena]

Reminder: Registry & Biorepository Learning Community Open Mic webinar next week – Tuesday, July 7th from 1pm-2pm ET

————————————-

Hello, HRA Members,

The Registry & Biorepository Learning Community will be hosting an Open Mic webinar on Tuesday, July 7th from 1pm-2pm ET.

Title: Open Mic for managers of registries/biorepositories to discuss challenges

This facilitated open mic invites managers of registries and biorepositories to surface persistent operational, technical, and governance challenges, share practical solutions, and discuss actionable next steps for improving quality, sustainability, and participant trust. We encourage attendees to bring real challenges — from consent and governance dilemmas to sample/data interoperability, QC, and long‑term program sustainability — for short, focused peer problem‑solving and experience sharing.

Click here for the registration link.

Kind regards,
Melissa

Melissa Lena | Operations Manager

Health Research Alliance

[email protected]

http://www.healthra.org

she/her/hers

[Melissa Lena]

Reminder: Program Evaluation webinar tomorrow 6/25 from 2pm-3pm ET

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Program Evaluation Learning Community Summer Webinar: Translating Results into Action

Effectively communicating evaluation results is critical to ensuring that insights lead to understanding, engagement, and action. This webinar will explore practical strategies for translating complex evaluation findings into clear, compelling messages that resonate with diverse audiences.

The Program Evaluation Community is excited to welcome Alison Opoku Donyina from DCG Communications and Kristin Helz from Foundation Fighting Blindness who will be presenting on how to strike the right balance between quantitative and qualitative data as well as help evaluators determine when to emphasize numbers, when to lean into storytelling, and how to integrate both for maximum influence.

Join us on Thursday, June 25 from 2pm-3pm EST for a dynamic discussion.

Click here for more information and the Zoom registration link.

[Melissa Lena]

Reminder: Grants Administration Open Mic tomorrow – Weds. 6/24, 2pm-3pm ET

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Dear HRA Members,

The next Grants Administration Learning Community Open Mic will be Wednesday, June 24th from 2-3 pm ET.

Topic: Administering the Peer Review Process

As we discussed at the May open mic, the increase in application volume continues to pose unique challenges to our member organizations. To build upon that conversation, this session will focus on successfully managing the scientific review process. Join us as we dive into the following topics:

1. How do you recruit and onboard reviewers, and do you offer any incentives or compensation?
2. Does your organization have any guidelines or best practices for assigning reviews to ensure appropriate expertise and avoid overburdening reviewers?
3. What strategies have you developed to handle unexpected issues, such as unresponsive reviewers?
4. How do you manage review meetings so they run smoothly? Please describe your review procedure at the meeting for evaluating each application.

Click to access the Zoom registration link.

To see upcoming open mics, visit the 2026 Grants Administration Learning Community Events Schedule.

Pending continued member interest, the Grants Admin Community will plan to hold recurring monthly webinars in an open mic-style format—unless there is a topic that lends itself to an invited expert speaker(s)—around two or three pre-planned topics based on common listserv questions and per member request to spark candid discussion. These webinars are not limited to the scheduled topics, and will unfold as the conversation dictates, offering common problems and potential (ideally evidence-based) solutions.

Please see and add to the running list of topics here.

Lastly, we’d like to share the revised HRA Grants Administration Handbook for your awareness and reference. We encourage sharing this with other staff in your organization who may find it helpful. Please feel free to send us your feedback if you have any comments or additional content you may want to include. Please note you must log in to the HRA website to access the handbook.

Kind regards,
Melissa

Melissa Lena | Operations Manager

Health Research Alliance

[email protected]

http://www.healthra.org

she/her/hers

[Melissa Lena]

Reminder: Grants Administration Open Mic next week – Weds. 6/24, 2pm-3pm ET

———————————-

Dear HRA Members,

The next Grants Administration Learning Community Open Mic will be Wednesday, June 24th from 2-3 pm ET.

Topic: Administering the Peer Review Process

As we discussed at the May open mic, the increase in application volume continues to pose unique challenges to our member organizations. To build upon that conversation, this session will focus on successfully managing the scientific review process. Join us as we dive into the following topics:

1. How do you recruit and onboard reviewers, and do you offer any incentives or compensation?
2. Does your organization have any guidelines or best practices for assigning reviews to ensure appropriate expertise and avoid overburdening reviewers?
3. What strategies have you developed to handle unexpected issues, such as unresponsive reviewers?
4. How do you manage review meetings so they run smoothly? Please describe your review procedure at the meeting for evaluating each application.

Click to access the Zoom registration link.

To see upcoming open mics, visit the 2026 Grants Administration Learning Community Events Schedule.

Pending continued member interest, the Grants Admin Community will plan to hold recurring monthly webinars in an open mic-style format—unless there is a topic that lends itself to an invited expert speaker(s)—around two or three pre-planned topics based on common listserv questions and per member request to spark candid discussion. These webinars are not limited to the scheduled topics, and will unfold as the conversation dictates, offering common problems and potential (ideally evidence-based) solutions.

Please see and add to the running list of topics here.

Lastly, we’d like to share the revised HRA Grants Administration Handbook for your awareness and reference. We encourage sharing this with other staff in your organization who may find it helpful. Please feel free to send us your feedback if you have any comments or additional content you may want to include. Please note you must log in to the HRA website to access the handbook.

Kind regards,
Melissa

Melissa Lena | Operations Manager

Health Research Alliance

[email protected]

http://www.healthra.org

she/her/hers

[Melissa Lena]

Reminder: The June CEO Roundtable is happening tomorrow on June 17th, 12pm-1pm ET.

Register once on Zoom for the full series of 2026 meetings.

HRA hosts monthly roundtables giving CEOs (including Presidents, Executive Directors, etc.) of HRA Member organizations the opportunity to network and learn from their peers. Previous roundtable discussions have covered strategic planning and human resource issues such as remote and hybrid work, compensation, and expanding programs under increasing expense constraints, as well as fostering strategic partnerships.

If you have any topics that you would like to discuss at the Roundtable, please add them to our list here.

Hope you can join us!

[Melissa Lena]

The recording and additional resources from the webinar – Science Without the Wait: A Preprint Primer for the Open Science Community – are now available: https://healthra.org/resources/science-without-the-wait-a-preprint-primer-for-the-open-science-community-may-14-2026/

[Melissa Lena]

This is a reminder that the DEI Learning Community will be hosting an Open Mic webinar this afternoon – Thursday, May 28th from 3pm-4pm ET.

As the NIH moves away from traditional score-based paylines toward a “unified funding strategy,” nonprofit biomedical funders may see some similarities to their own holistic approaches to grantmaking. Yet the NIH’s shift is happening in a moment of intense legal and political pressure on DEI in research funding and of questionable transparency in funding decisions.

In this open mic session, members of the HRA DEI Learning Community will discuss whether discretion in funding decisions protect or threaten equity. How do we measure and defend the impact of inclusive grantmaking when “priorities” can shift? And what can nonprofit funders learn (or unlearn) from how federal agencies are navigating this tension? We invite our community to share how their organizations are thinking about funding decision frameworks in light of these developments.

Please note this webinar will not be recorded.

Click here for more information and the registration link.

[Melissa Lena]

The Program Evaluation Community Summer Webinar: Translating Results into Action event page with Zoom registration link can be found here:
https://healthra.org/events/program-evaluation-community-summer-webinar-translating-results-into-action-june-25-2026/

[Melissa Lena]

This is a reminder that the DEI Learning Community will be hosting an Open Mic webinar tomorrow – Thursday, May 28th from 3pm-4pm ET.

As the NIH moves away from traditional score-based paylines toward a “unified funding strategy,” nonprofit biomedical funders may see some similarities to their own holistic approaches to grantmaking. Yet the NIH’s shift is happening in a moment of intense legal and political pressure on DEI in research funding and of questionable transparency in funding decisions.

In this open mic session, members of the HRA DEI Learning Community will discuss whether discretion in funding decisions protect or threaten equity. How do we measure and defend the impact of inclusive grantmaking when “priorities” can shift? And what can nonprofit funders learn (or unlearn) from how federal agencies are navigating this tension? We invite our community to share how their organizations are thinking about funding decision frameworks in light of these developments.

Please note this webinar will not be recorded.

Click here for more information and the registration link.

[Melissa Lena]

Dear HRA members,

We are still seeking volunteers to join the Program Committee that is responsible for planning the agenda for the Fall 2026 HRA Members Meeting being held October 14th-15th at the University of California – Irvine and sponsored by Arthritis National Research Foundation. Serving on the Program Committee is a great opportunity to network with other members of the HRA community and have your voice heard by directly shaping the content and format of the Members Meeting!

Our first meeting will be in early June. The Program Committee meets approximately every other week until the Fall meeting. You do not need to attend the in-person meeting in order to serve on the committee.

Please submit this form to volunteer;
and email any questions to [email protected]

We hope you’ll join us!

Kind regards,
Melissa

Melissa Lena | Operations Manager

Health Research Alliance

[email protected]

http://www.healthra.org

she/her/hers

[Melissa Lena]

Dear HRA members,

We are still seeking volunteers to join the Program Committee that is responsible for planning the agenda for the Fall 2026 HRA Members Meeting being held October 14th-15th at the University of California – Irvine and sponsored by Arthritis National Research Foundation. Serving on the Program Committee is a great opportunity to network with other members of the HRA community and have your voice heard by directly shaping the content and format of the Members Meeting!

The Program Committee meets approximately every other week, from late Spring until the Fall meeting. You do not need to attend the in-person meeting in order to serve on the committee.

Please submit this form to volunteer;
and email any questions to [email protected]

We hope you’ll join us!

Kind regards,
Melissa

Melissa Lena | Operations Manager

Health Research Alliance

[email protected]

http://www.healthra.org

she/her/hers

[Author]

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