Michael F. Chiang
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michaelfchiang.bsky.social
Michael F. Chiang
@michaelfchiang.bsky.social
Director, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health
All opinions are my own
NIH R50 funding opportunity to provide salary support for Research Software Engineers who work on developing or disseminating biomedical-related software, tools, or algorithms.

Next deadline is Weds 6/4/2025. Details:
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
RFA-OD-24-011: NIH Research Software Engineer (RSE) Award (R50 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: NIH Research Software Engineer (RSE) Award (R50 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) RFA-OD-24-011. OD
grants.nih.gov
May 1, 2025 at 8:14 PM
To people interested in technologies such as organoids, computational models, real-world data (and others):

NIH is announcing a new initiative to expand innovative, human-based science in research. Aligns with FDA initiative to reduce testing in animals.

Details: www.nih.gov/news-events/...
NIH to prioritize human-based research technologies
New initiative aims to reduce use of animals in NIH-funded research.
www.nih.gov
April 30, 2025 at 8:16 PM
NIH is sponsoring a $1M Data Sharing Index ("S-Index") Challenge to develop a metric for assessing how effectively researchers share useful data. Can use to build more culture of open/team science.

Webinar coming up (Tues 1/28/25, 12pm ET): bit.ly/4h8vgrs

More info about Challenge: bit.ly/4abRypX
January 14, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Here's a website that describes the NIH "s-index challenge" to promote data sharing by developing a robust metric to identify exemplary data sharers.

National Eye Institute is excited lead a large group of participating NIH institutes (shown on website).

www.freelancer.com/contest/NIH-...
NIH Data Sharing Index (S-index) Challenge
Check out this contest and enter now!
www.freelancer.com
December 19, 2024 at 6:30 PM
Last year, the National Eye Institute held a workshop on extracellular vesicles for vision research (needs, gaps, opportunities).

Here's a white paper that summarizes key findings from that workshop: isevjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
A perspective from the National Eye Institute Extracellular Vesicle Workshop: Gaps, needs, and opportunities for studies of extracellular vesicles in vision research
With an evolving understanding and new discoveries in extracellular vesicle (EV) biology and their implications in health and disease, the significant diagnostic and therapeutic potential of EVs for ...
isevjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 19, 2024 at 2:46 PM
There is a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) public access policy. This is based on the premise that increasing access to publications resulting from NIH funding offers many benefits to the scientific community as well as the public.

Details: grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
NOT-OD-25-047: 2024 NIH Public Access Policy
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: 2024 NIH Public Access Policy NOT-OD-25-047. OD
grants.nih.gov
December 18, 2024 at 10:30 PM
Dry eye disease is very common and can be extremely frustrating for people, yet there are surprisingly few FDA-approved drug options.

Here's a video about an eye-on-a-chip model that creates a potential experimental drug testing platform (NEI-funded): www.youtube.com/watch?si=LfU...
A New Device Helps Treat Dry Eye
YouTube video by National Eye Institute, NIH
www.youtube.com
December 16, 2024 at 2:38 PM
There is planning at NIH to inform a potential major Common Fund program called "Precision Medicine with AI: Integrating Imaging with Multimodal Data (PRIMED-AI)".

If interested: virtual strategic planning workshop (3/11-12/2025). Free registration.

Details: commonfund.nih.gov/potential-pr...
Strategic Planning Workshop | NIH Common FundLock
Strategic Planning WorkshopMarch 11-12, 2025, 11AM – 5PM ET   |   VirtualRegistration now open!
commonfund.nih.gov
December 12, 2024 at 8:22 PM
Here's an amazing multimodal dataset optimized for #AI research in type 2 #diabetes (clinical/EHR, imaging, blood, urine, questionnaires, activity & continuous glucose monitoring, environmental data, more...).

@natureportfolio.bsky.social, funded by NIH Bridge2AI: www.nature.com/articles/s42...
AI-READI: rethinking AI data collection, preparation and sharing in diabetes research and beyond - Nature Metabolism
Here, we introduce Artificial Intelligence Ready and Equitable Atlas for Diabetes Insights (AI-READI), a multidisciplinary data-generation project designed to create and share a multimodal dataset opt...
www.nature.com
December 11, 2024 at 9:11 PM
Interesting article from The Scientist about careers in science policy. I've loved working with so many people like this at NIH!

www.the-scientist.com/what-does-a-...
What Does a Career in Science Policy Entail?
Science policy plays a crucial role in shaping research and funding, but its science policy analysts who evaluate and refine these policies to ensure that they effectively support scientific progress ...
www.the-scientist.com
December 10, 2024 at 3:49 PM
Today, Marla Feller (@mfeller.bsky.social) from UC-Berkeley delivered the Sayer Vision Research Lecture at NIH.

Beautiful talk about visual neuroscience & development entitled "Riding the retinal wave through visual system development".
December 9, 2024 at 10:35 PM
Quick story from @nypost.com.web.brid.gy a NYC traffic light that was installed upside-down. Quotes Bevil Conway from National Eye Institute about potential confusion for people with red-green color blindness...

nypost.com/2024/12/07/u...
Exclusive | Traffic light installed upside-down in NYC — and it’s stayed that way for months
The city installed an upside-down traffic light outside a Tribeca bar — and it’s been blinking away for months, The Post has learned.
nypost.com
December 9, 2024 at 2:41 PM
Here are some photos of National Eye Institute staff from our recent Director's Awards Ceremony. Truly privileged to work with this amazing group of people!
December 6, 2024 at 8:58 PM
Superb meeting hosted by @elsevierconnect.bsky.social on "Tomorrow Today in Research: Perspectives from Government, Industry, Academia"

Fascinating discussions with extremely thoughtful & accomplished speakers about how we can create better research culture for societal impact of work.
December 5, 2024 at 11:45 PM
If you haven't heard: @arpa-h.bsky.social has announced teams that will be working to enable whole-eye transplantation to restore vision for the blind & visually impaired. A bold goal!

Details: arpa-h.gov/news-and-eve...
ARPA-H announces pioneering investments to restore vision to people who are blind
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) supports transformative research to drive biomedical and health breakthroughs ranging from molecular to societal to provide transformative hea...
arpa-h.gov
December 4, 2024 at 9:23 PM
Incredible AI for Science meeting hosted by @deep-mind.bsky.social and @royalsociety.bsky.social:

Great talks on impact & future directions in health, science, sustainability by Demis Hassabis, John Jumper, Jennifer Doudna, Tom Friedman, @erictopol.bsky.social, Hannah Fry, more.

Many ideas...!
November 26, 2024 at 6:13 PM
Data sharing is a key feature of 21st-century science, yet researchers often feel disincentivized to share with others.

There is a new NIH "s-index challenge" to address this gap. Here's an article from @thetransmitter.bsky.social about it:

www.thetransmitter.org/open-neurosc...
The S-index Challenge: Develop a metric to quantify data-sharing success
The NIH-sponsored effort aims to help incentivize scientists to share data. But many barriers to the widespread adoption of useful data-sharing remain.
www.thetransmitter.org
November 26, 2024 at 4:33 AM
Was only at the AMIA 2024 meeting for 2 days, but had a chance to see some old colleagues & friends from the biomedical #informatics community.

Pics from American College of Medical Informatics induction (Katie Zhu).

@ted-shortliffe.bsky.social @jamescimino.bsky.social @vimla-patel.bsky.social
November 24, 2024 at 12:53 AM
Cerebral/cortical visual impairment (CVI) has become a leading cause of visual impairment among children in the US.

Here's a LinkedIn article on the topic that references recent publications in Ophthalmology and Pediatrics.

www.linkedin.com/posts/chiang...
Michael F. Chiang on LinkedIn: Advances in cerebral/cortical visual impairment
Advances in cerebral/cortical visual impairment
www.linkedin.com
November 22, 2024 at 8:46 PM