Steering Committee Working Group

The NIH Steering Committee (SC) was established by the NIH Director as an efficient and transparent forum for trans-NIH governance and streamlined decision-making at NIH.  With the establishment of the new Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives (OPASI) within the Office of the Director, there is a need for a new Working Group (WG) to oversee governance issues related to OPASI’s work.

The OPASI WG advises the NIH SC, the NIH ICs, and the NIH Director on governance matters, policy and planning issues, and overall management goals and objectives related to OPASI’s mission and operations.

A critical initial task of the WG is to develop formal criteria for the types of initiatives that fall within the purview of OPASI. Among other responsibilities, the working group is charged with the following key tasks:

1. Defining, in broad terms, the parameters/dimensions of initiatives to be considered/supported (variation in the size and scope of initiatives is expected);
2. Determining the most appropriate processes for review and evaluation of initiatives; and
3. Developing guidance on the periodicity/timeframe for assessing and launching initiatives (e.g., incubation in OPASI v. graduation to ICs).

Over time, the role of the working group may evolve to monitor the overall effectiveness of the Office, advise on policy and planning issues, and forecast the need for changes in its activities.

The Working Group is co-chaired by Dr. Alan M. Krensky, Director of OPASI and an IC Director (the co-chair is a rotating position). Dr. Jeremy Berg, Director, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), is the current IC Director Co-chair. For more information on the Working Group, please contact Luci Roberts, Executive Secretary.

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