Grace Dean Tapped for Standing Membership on the NIH Center for Scientific Review Study Section

Grace Dean, PhD, RN, associate professor in the University at Buffalo School of Nursing, has accepted an invitation from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Scientific Review to join the Clinical Management of Patients in Community-Based Settings study section as a standing member for the term beginning July 1, 2020 and ending June 30, 2024.

Members are selected on the basis of their demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors.

In a letter to Dean Marsha Lewis, Noni Byrnes, director of the Center for Scientific Review, said “Service on a study section … requires mature judgment and objectivity as well as the ability to work effectively in a group, qualities we believe Dr. Dean will bring to this important task.”

“Dr. Dean’s selection to serve on this NIH study section is a perfect choice,” says Lewis. “All of the qualities and characteristics Dr. Byrnes outlines fit Dr. Dean to a tee. I am delighted that her expertise and sound judgment will be a great influence on research in the future.”

Participation as a member of this study section is an important and unique opportunity for Dean to contribute to national biomedical research. Members review NIH grant submissions, make recommendations on grant applications to the relevant NIH national advisory councils and boards, and survey the status of research in their field.

“For the past two years, I served as an ad hoc member of this study section and then was invited to apply for standing membership,” Dean says. “It opened my eyes to learn the level of detail that is involved in membership selection on these important committees.”

The Clinical Management of Patients in Community-Based Settings (CMPC) study section was established in 2018 after the number of grant applications submitted to NIH and reviewed by the  Nursing and Related Clinical Sciences study section increased beyond that study section’s capacity. The CMPC study section focuses specifically on applications related to management of patients in community, primary care and home settings, with an emphasis on patient self-management, quality of life for chronically ill patients and their caregivers, survivorship care, and home care. In addition to nursing, the CMPC study section reviews applications from a range of disciplines, including medicine, social work, pharmacy, health psychology and rehabilitative therapies.

“The role of the reviewer is to assess the scientific merit of grant applications,” says Dean. “But there are personal benefits for the reviewer: learn from other grant writers on how to write stronger grant applications and get a glimpse of new research ideas/trends that may ultimately influence your program of research.”

Dean’s research area of expertise is quality of life, symptom management, and the development of testing of theoretically-guided interventions to improve outcomes for patients with cancer. She is currently the primary investigator on a $2.2 million NIH/National Institute of Nursing Research R01 grant studying the efficacy of nurse-delivered brief behavioral treatment to self-manage insomnia in cancer survivors. Some of her recent accolades include the Susan Baird Excellence in Clinical Writing Award from the Oncology Nursing Society in 2019 and the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research from UB School of Nursing in 2014 and 2019.

-Sarah Goldthrite