Last week was awesome for researchers waiting on an RFA . . . at least for non-ME/CFS researchers anyway. NIH issued RFAs totaling more than $75 million, pushing the fiscal year total over the $2.2 billion mark.
Life is especially good for researchers interested in Autism Centers of Excellence ($25 million) or a pediatric data center for birth defects and cancer ($22.8 million). Keep these numbers in mind, if/when ME/CFS gets its research consortium RFA (remember, the concept was approved by the NINDS Council in May).
And just as a refresher, I do occasionally get questions about why I haven’t counted recently announced ME/CFS grants in the Ticker. I explain more fully in the inaugural RFA Ticker post, but the short answer is that those grants were made under general program announcements, not an RFA.
Why does that matter? Because an RFA is a set aside amount of funding for a specific purpose, and it is far more likely to attract applications than general program announcements. Furthermore, RFAs have been repeatedly recommended by the CFS Advisory Committee and have been a focus of advocacy efforts for ten years.
If NIH is committed to changing its approach to ME/CFS, then RFAs are an essential piece of that change. That is why I am focused on the RFA Ticker.
- Total RFAs Issued by NIH: 259 (October 2015 to date)
- Total Dollars Committed to RFAs: $2,205,541,000 (October 2015 to date)
- Total RFAs for ME/CFS: ZERO (October 2015 to date)
| Week Beginning | RFAs Issued | Total Commitment | RFAs for ME/CFS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7/11/16 | 10 | $75,855,000 | Zero |
| 7/4/16 | 0 | $0 | Zero |
| 6/27/16 | 3 | $12,971,000 | Zero |
| 6/20/16 | 1 | $2,000,000 | Zero |
| 6/13/16 | 5 | $21,475,000 | Zero |
| 6/6/16 | 5 | $7,100,000 | Zero |
| 5/30/16 | 4 | $6,900,000 | Zero |
| 5/23/16 | 8 | $42,400,000 | Zero |
| 5/16/16 | 2 | $7,800,000 | Zero |
| 5/9/16 | 11 | $32,100,000 | Zero |
| 5/2/16 | 8 | $32,485,000 | Zero |
| 4/25/16 | 4 | $7,500,000 | Zero |
| 4/18/16 | 10 | $42,230,000 | Zero |
| 4/18/16 | 10 | $42,230,000 | Zero |
| 4/11/16 | 4 | $6,825,000 | Zero |
| 4/4/16 | 8 | $27,000,000 | Zero |
| 3/28/16 | 13 | $161,000,000 | Zero |
| 3/21/16 | 1 | $2,700,000 | Zero |
| 3/14/16 | 5 | $23,650,000 | Zero |
| 3/7/16 | 9 | $82,710,000 | Zero |
| 2/29/16 | 1 | $1,890,000 | Zero |
| 2/22/16 | 9 | $30,100,000 | Zero |
| 2/15/16 | 4 | $26,500,000 | Zero |
| 2/8/16 | 5 | $9,500,000 | Zero |
| 2/1/16 | 8 | $26,000,000 | Zero |
| 1/25/16 | 4 | $9,300,000 | Zero |
| 1/18/16 | 2 | $4,500,000 | Zero |
| 1/11/16 | 10 | $71,200,000 | Zero |
| 1/4/16 | 0 | $0 | Zero |
| 12/28/15 | 0 | $0 | Zero |
| 12/21/15 | 3 | $10,260,000 | Zero |
| 12/18/15 | 5 | $20,260,000 | Zero |
| 12/11/15 | 27 | $765,090,000 | Zero |
| 12/4/15 | 6 | $26,600,000 | Zero |
| 11/27/15 | 4 | $21,000,000 | Zero |
| 11/20/15 | 15 | $134,400,000 | Zero |
| 11/13/15 | 2 | $16,100,000 | Zero |
| 11/6/15 | 10 | $22,850,000 | Zero |
| 10/30/15 | 7 | $49,800,000 | Zero |
| 10/23/15 | 10 | $33,200,000 | Zero |
| 10/16/15 | 0 | $0 | Zero |
| 10/9/15 | 13 | $332,450,000 | Zero |
If you want more background on the RFA Ticker, read the inaugural post.
thanks for the elucidation, Jennie. Most enlightening for a non-American
Discouraging, isn’t it?
Thanks for keeping this honest: ZERO dollars so far is ZERO dollars so far.
If it makes you feel any better, I have my first novel out, with a CFS main character, and sales have literally come to a stop – we can’t seem to sell CFS any way, can we?
This is a great endeavour that you take the time to keep us informed. Thank You Jeannie! We may have cognitive delays, but we can follow the money. Your work is amazing!
Thanks for keeping us informed and the NIH honest! I mean, really!