For the past 12 years, I have served on multiple government and private foundation review panels and currently serve on the NIH Cellular Biology and Physiology II study section. Like all biomedical scientists, I, too, am competing for NIH and private foundation funding.
It has been my experience that grant reviewers are highly dedicated, hardworking, bright, objective individuals. I believe that the peer-review system is as impartial and fair as it can be, given that-as in any effort built upon human endeavor-mistakes can occur. All of us who sit on review panels understand and readily identify the enormous physical and emotional effort that goes into the preparation of a proposal and the anguish associated with the peer-review process, as our grants undergo that same peer-review process.
Grant proposals are submitted to the Division of Research Grants and are assigned to individual study sections by referral officers in consultation with scientific ...
