sociation of american
me ical colleges

 

June 30, 1978

 

Dr. Joshua Lederberg

President

Rockefeller University

66th Street § York Avenue

New York City, New York 10021

Dear Josh:

During a telephone conversation earlier today with Ted
Cooper, ,we discussed some of the problems besetting the
Study Section system at NIH. Ted mentioned that the two
of you had recently compared notes on the quality of the
NIH grant review.

Ted thought you might be interested in receiving a copy

of the enclosed document which we prepared earlier this
year, once we had fully informed ourselves as to the
nature and dimensions of this problem. Of particular con-
cern to us for some time has been the overload on this
system and the consequences with respect to quality of
review and its impact on the vigor and integrity of the
nation's biomedical research enterprise. We have been
working with several congressional staff members on various
aspects of this problem. Unfortunately, its complexities,
together with the split in jurisdictioms in the Congress,
make this a particularly difficult problem to tackle.
Nonetheless, we are somewhat heartened by sympathetic
reactions on the part of several influential people on the
Hill.

We would be grateful for any comments or suggestions you
might have about this document or as to how we might be
more effective in attempting to correct the difficulties.
With kindest personal regards,

Sinceg

   

 

  
 

 

VY,
O6hn F, Sherman, Ph.D.
ice President

Enclosure

cc: Dr. Morgan

Suite 200/One Dupont Circle, N.W./Washington, D.C. 20036/(202) 466-5100