NIH Announces $285 Million In New High-Risk, High-Reward Research Grants

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on Tuesday, October 4 that it is awarding 103 new research grants, totaling about $285 million, over the next five years as part of its High-Risk, High-Reward Research program.

According to NIH, the High-Risk, High-Reward Research program provides support for “exceptionally creative scientists pursuing highly innovative research with the potential for broad impact in biomedical, behavioral, or social sciences within the NIH mission.”

The program is funded through NIH’s Common Fund which is something like the agency’s “venture capital” resource that invests in innovative research projects that cut across different divisions within the agency and that - because of their inherent risk - may be overlooked in the traditional NIH peer-review process.

In addition to the NIH Common Fund, the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Cancer Institute also provided support for the grants.

“The science advanced by these researchers is poised to blaze new paths of discovery in human health,” said Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., Acting Director of NIH. “This unique cohort of scientists will transform what is known in the biological and behavioral world. We are privileged to support this innovative science.”

The High-Risk, High-Reward Research program oversees four award categories, two of which are specifically aimed at researchers in the early stages of their careers. The four awards include:

The NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, established in 2004, challenges investigators at all career levels to pursue new research directions and develop groundbreaking, high-impact approaches to a broad area of biomedical, behavioral, or social science.

• NIH is funding eight Pioneer awards in 2022, including a University of Colorado project that’s developing a new animal model for HIV infection that could lead to the development of the long-sought vaccine for HIV; and a project at Duke University that’s exploring new methods for rewiring synapses with the potential for developing new therapies for mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and addiction.

The NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, established in 2007, supports unusually innovative research from early career investigators who are within 10 years of their final degree or clinical residency and have not yet received an NIH R01 or equivalent grant.

• A total of 72 New Innovator awards were announced for research projects that include developing new surgical techniques, studying how brain mechanisms influence working memory, examining the reasons women are more susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease, building a bionic eye for people with incurable blindness, investigating the physiology of hibernation, and developing a synthetic kidney as an alternative to kidney transplantation.

The NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award, established in 2009, promotes cross-cutting, interdisciplinary approaches and is open to individuals and teams of investigators who propose research that could potentially create or challenge existing paradigms.

• Nine Transformative Research awards were made in areas such as precision cancer medicine, suicide prevention using different forms of digital technology, and drug treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease.

The NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, established in 2011, provides an opportunity to support exceptional junior scientists who have recently received their doctoral degree or completed their medical residency to skip traditional post-doctoral training and move immediately into independent research positions.

• A total of 14 Early Independence awards were made for 2022. They include a Washington University (St. Louis) investigation of new treatment approaches for Alzheimer’’s disease, the development of novel vaccine technologies for the coronavirus at the California Institute of Technology, and a Vanderbilt University study of how potassium deficiency contributes to chronic kidney disease.