Race Disparity in Grants: Oversight at Home—Response

Abstract

Sherley is concerned that NIH does not provide sufficient oversight of the minority recruitment plans at institutions. We agree that this is an important point. NIH recognizes a unique and compelling need to promote diversity in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences workforce. Therefore, NIH requires recruitment plans to enhance diversity, including underrepresented minorities, for institutional training grants at the pre- and postdoctoral levels ([ 1 ][1]). The plans on all NRSA training grants are rigorously reviewed, and if they are deficient, the grants are not funded until corrective action is taken on the part of the grantee. Awarded training grants that are subsequently submitted for renewal are reviewed for the recruitment plan's results. If the plans are judged ineffective, this assessment affects its likelihood of being funded again. 1. [↵][2]Part I Section 8.7 of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide ([http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/SF424\_RR\_Guide\_General\_Adobe_VerB.pdf][3]). [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [3]: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/SF424_RR_Guide_General_Adobe_VerB.pdf