NIH Extramural Nexus (News)

In May, we shared NIH-wide fiscal year (FY) 2025 enrollment data on the sex, race, ethnicity, and age of participants in NIH-supported clinical research, offering a broad view of inclusion across the NIH portfolio. More detailed FY25 enrollment data are now available through the NIH Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC) Inclusion Statistics Report.

NIH’s Unified Funding Strategy provides a common NIH-wide framework for funding decisions while keeping peer review and scientific merit at the center. Explore key takeaways from a recent community webinar and access the recording and related resources.

NIH (including help desks) will be closed on Monday, October 12, 2026 for the federal holiday (Columbus Day). 

We are sharing upcoming NIH National Advisory Council or Board (NAC) meetings for your awareness. A portion of NAC meeting proceedings are open to the public. Viewers can hear Institute or Center Director remarks, updates on priorities and initiatives, budget overviews, scientific highlights, and concept clearance for future possible funding opportunities.

In 2025, we announced an updated NIH Policy on Foreign Subawards (NOT-OD-25-104) and introduced the Collaborative International Research application and award structure using the PF5 activity code (NOT-OD-25-155) which was implemented earlier this year.  

Nearly two decades ago, we began allowing more than one researcher to be designated as program director/principal investigator on a single grant award. The multiple PD/PI (MPI) model can provide important benefits, including giving each investigator credit as an NIH-designated PD/PI, but it is not required to conduct collaborative or team science. Here, we revisit when multiple PD/PIs may make sense, as well as some of the responsibilities and potential drawbacks investigators should consider.

The Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act strengthens the government’s ability to prevent adversarial nations from exploiting federally funded technologies. Here we offer a practical guide to help small businesses avoid security risks from foreign countries of concern when applying.

“Inside Extramural at NIH” is a new feature that gives individual NIH institutes, Centers, and Offices a dedicated space to share updates and resources relevant to their extramural research community. NIDCR Acting Director Dr. Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque outlines the institute’s continued commitment to the full spectrum of dental, oral, and craniofacial science while highlighting priority areas including chronic disease, nutrition, AI, real-world data, health disparities, and scientific rigor. 

In June, we sought your feedback on a proposed approach to cap the number of Research Project Grants (RPG) a researcher can be principal investigator on simultaneously (NOT-OD-26-086). The proposal explored whether limits on simultaneous RPG support could contribute to a more balanced research portfolio. Here, we share some high-level outcomes from your thoughtful and helpful comments, which will inform our next steps.

NIH is seeking public comment on proposed changes to the reporting of peer review outcomes for grant applications (NOT-OD-26-088). Comments will be accepted electronically until October 13, 2026.