June 2 Federal Research Update

Dear Research Community, 

Welcome to this week’s Federal Research Digest. Thank you for your continued engagement as we work to update our community regarding the latest guidance for NIH and other federal agencies. I want to highlight three evolving topics this week: 

Award terminations: Since last week’s Digest, there has been an uptick in award terminations received by UCSF investigators. Nearly all are related to diversity supplements. It is unclear why there has been a pause in terminations for three weeks earlier this month; my office is working to understand more. Please visit our dashboard for updated data. (Must be on UCSF network to view.)

Termination appeals: Based on the evolving legal landscape, both UC Office of the President’s and UCSF’s legal counsel have advised that continued submission of termination appeal letters is not recommended. Therefore, UCSF is pausing the development and submission of appeal letters until further notice. I realize this may be disappointing to some investigators; please contact me directly if you have concerns. 

Foreign subawards: As discussed in last week’s Digest, the NIH has issued a hold on all new award notices (NOAs) that contain a foreign subaward. While spending on existing NOAs can continue, this hold will increasingly impact our research community over the coming weeks as new awards are held up. This is a highly active area of advocacy and policy engagement, and things are evolving (see Digest post below). If you are impacted, please attend the Office of Research virtual informational forum this morning at 10:10 a.m. (click here to join on Zoom). 

On Tuesday, IGHS Executive Director Payam Nahid and I are traveling to Washington, DC, to meet with congressional offices and committees that influence NIH foreign subaward policy. Directly informing policymakers about the impact of the current policy and proposing alternative strategies will ensure the interests of our impacted investigators are represented. 

Please remember that UCSF leadership and I are working closely with the UC Office of the President and other stakeholders to advocate for our research mission and community. As always, my inbox is open at [email protected] for any questions or concerns. 

Yours, 

Hal

Harold R. Collard, MD, MS 
Vice Chancellor for Research 
Professor of Medicine and Health Policy