The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Council of Councils convened its annual spring meeting on May 14 and 15. Across the two days, NIH leadership updated Council members on new and ongoing programs, presented concept clearances for approval, and reviewed plans for implementing the Trump Administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) initiative at the agency.
This group advises the NIH Director on matters related to the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) within the Office of the Director (OD). It consists of 27 members selected from NIH institute and center (IC) Advisory Councils, representatives nominated by OD program offices, and broad non-NIH representation.
[Agenda] [Day 1 Videocast] [Day 2 Videocast]
Day 1
DPCPSI Director Dr. Nicole Kleinstreuer kicked off the meeting with her Director’s Report. She first reviewed recent staffing changes at NIH, including the selection of Dr. Jonathan M. Green to lead NIH’s Clinical Center (CC) and the departure of Dr. Bruce Reed, who had served as Acting Director of the Center for Scientific Review (CSR). Dr. Kleinstreuer then provided updates on several DPCPSI and OD programs and initiatives. Of note for FABBS members, NIH finally selected two scholars for its Science of Science pilot program: Dr. Aaron S. Kesselheim, Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Megan MacGarvie, Boston University.
Next, the Council considered two revised concept clearances. The first was “R3PEATS Program: Rigor, Replicability, and Reproducibility to Promote Excellence, Accuracy, and Translation in Science,” which will “address the critical need for increased rigor, replicability, and reproducibility in biomedical research” (see the background and presentation). The Council initially discussed this program during its January meeting (see previous FABBS coverage). Dr. Michael Chiang, Director of the National Eye Institute (NEI), presented the revised concept that incorporated the Council’s previous feedback. The Council still had several concerns with the revised concept, particularly its potential to (1) centralize replication research in a small number of institutions and (2) set NIH as the arbiter of which findings are considered strong or weak. The second concept clearance, “Ultra-Processed Foods: Investigating Mechanisms, Prevention, and Action for Chronic Disease and Transformation (UPF-IMPACT)” (background and presentation), was better received but still generated additional modifications.
After a brief closed session to review grant applications, the Council heard from NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. His presentation covered NIH’s efforts to advance gold standard science to address America’s chronic disease epidemic. Recognizing that U.S. life expectancy flatlined between 2010 and 2019 and fell during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Bhattacharya argued that the lack of improvement is due to three factors: (1) too much safe, incremental research, (2) poor replicability of findings, and (3) funding concentrated in a few institutions. The remainder of his presentation focused on how NIH can democratize and transform how scientists do biomedical and behavioral research. He explained that the agency’s new Unified Funding Strategy and increased investment in replication work will improve and diversify NIH’s research portfolio.
During the question-and-answer session, Dr. Bhattacharya indicated the agency will soon roll out a new policy requiring three criteria for funded research: (1) Is it actionable? (2) Is it rigorous? and (3) Is it within the scope of the NIH mission? Council members also pressed him on reports that NIH funding for fiscal year 2026 (FY26) is behind where it should be. Dr. Bhattacharya reiterated that the agency will spend all of its FY26 funds, a claim he has made in recent congressional hearings. FABBS notes that this contradicts widely reported bottlenecks across institutes and centers.
Several Council members raised issues related to equity, sparking somewhat heated debate. One council member asked about reports that NIH is screening grant applications for alignment with administration priorities. Dr. Bhattacharya claimed that there is no “banned word list,” while also saying that the number of DEI grants has shrunk considerably. This led into a discussion regarding how NIH-funded findings (e.g., treatments) are not equitably distributed throughout the U.S. population. Dr. Bhattacharya suggested this is due to the high costs of healthcare, not other inequities, and argued that NIH has a responsibility to invest in research to lower the costs of treatments.
Dr. Bhattacharya also responded to concerns about the continued lack of permanent directors across NIH institutes, centers, and offices (ICOs). He said his office is moving as quickly as possible but reminded the Council that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has the final say, not NIH. The Director also informed the Council that he is no longer in favor of term limits for ICO directors, but does think turnover and a mix of experience among this group is good for the agency.
Dr. Rick Woychik, Senior Advisor to the NIH Director, gave the final presentation of the day on the agency’s Proposed MAHA Implementation Strategy and Governance Structure. HHS has given NIH a mandate to “launch an Initiative on Chronic Disease to leverage and align existing NIH research projects, improve NIH coordination on chronic disease research, and generate actionable results for diseases arising in childhood and adulthood.” Dr. Woychik emphasized that the agency is not interested in creating a new bureaucracy to implement the MAHA initiative; instead, they will use the existing ICO infrastructure and build on and leverage existing cross-NIH collaborative efforts, such as the BRAIN Initiative. Additionally, NIH will employ a Whole Person Health (WPH) Framework to better understand chronic diseases and promote precision health in prevention and treatment. A new NIH MAHA Coordination Office – led by a steering committee – will manage the implementation efforts.
Day 2
The meeting’s second day included presentations on four programs, with the first two concerning funding for research infrastructure. Dr. Monika Aggarwal, from NIH’s Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP), provided an overview of the Shared Instrumentation Grant Program. Back in 1982, this program established the S10 funding mechanism to support the purchase of scientific instruments for shared use, which especially benefits under-resourced institutions. Next, Dr. Yong Chen, also from ORIP, reviewed the agency’s Construction Program (C06 funding mechanism), which supports the development of research facilities. He shared several examples of successful C06 projects, including at institutions in New Mexico and Florida.
In the second session, Dr. S. Sonia Arteaga updated Council members on the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program. ECHO is in the middle of a transition period, as inaugural director Dr. Matthew Gillman is set to retire at the end of May after ten years of service to the program. Dr. Josh Denny, CEO of the All of Us program, will also lead ECHO until a permanent director is named. Dr. Arteaga then summarized the program, its accomplishments (so far), and its goals for the next five years.
Finally, Dr. Denny presented Council members with the All of Us program’s progress to date, tracing how data from nearly 900,000 participants across all 50 states have contributed to key advances in clinical care. He also discussed the program’s role in providing shared genomic and real-world data infrastructure that benefits researchers across the country. Additionally, Dr. Denny revealed that the All of Us Researcher Workbench will incorporate ECHO cohort data, greatly expanding the number of researchers who can use ECHO data in their work. Long-term, NIH wants to see ECHO participants “graduate” into the All of Us program, where longitudinal follow-up can continue.
The Council of Councils will next meet on September 10-11 for their final convening of 2026.
