Office of Pediatric Research Development
Empower. Catalyze. Strategize.
OPRD News and Events
SPONSOR UPDATES
NIH General Announcements
NIH Extramural Loan Repayment Programs (LRP): The NIH LRPs are a set of programs established by Congress and designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. The escalating costs of advanced education and training in medicine and clinical specialties are forcing some scientists to abandon their research careers for higher-paying private industry or private practice careers. The LRPs counteract that financial pressure by repaying up to $50,000 annually of a researcher's qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research.
Application deadline:
Extramural LRP applications will be accepted from September 1, 2025 through November 20, 2025.
All LRP applications must be submitted electronically using the NIH LRP Website.
If you plan to apply to an NIH LRP, please contact OPRD for assistance!
NIH POLICY UPDATES
NIH Announces NEW required Other Support Training (NOT-OD-25-133)
Faculty and Senior/Key Personnel should view a 3-minute video to fulfill this requirement. Complete the training prior to the submission of a proposal or RPPR. Then, confirm compliance with this requirement when you approve the Proposal Development & Routing Form (PDRF). No additional documentation is needed.
NIH requires both Individual and Institutional Certifications of Compliance:
- For all proposals, the Principal Investigator and all listed Senior/Key Personnel in the SeRA system complete a Certification of Responsibilities task where they certify the following statement:
“I have read and am aware of the specific sponsor requirements associated with this proposal submission, including federal disclosure requirements. I confirm that I have completed all applicable training as required by the specific sponsor”
Senior/Key Personnel certification of the above will constitute their compliance with the NIH Other Support Disclosures training requirement.
- The NIH also requires Individual certifications be uploaded as an attachment to proposal applications and RPPRs.
A NOTE FROM THE OPRD TEAM
Four Positive Changes to the NIH Common Forms Biosketch
To prepare for the upcoming shift to SciENcv, OPRD's Proposal Development & Training Manager, Danny Sierra, previewed the new NIH Common Forms Biosketch and has good news for faculty and staff who work on these documents.
1. There is less data entry.
Several sections have been pared down to match what other agencies (like NSF) require for their biosketch. An example is research products, which will now be limited to 10 total entries. Instead of scattering citations throughout the document (and having to ensure compliance for each entry), researchers will now highlight 5 products most relevant to the proposed project, and 5 additional products that align with their Contributions to Science section. Similarly, the Honors section is now limited to 15 total entries. This results in a more focused document where the strongest work and accomplishments are clearly highlighted.
2. The new templates are more intuitive than the current SciENcv versions.
If you’ve worked in this system before, you’ll remember how challenging it was to sort through bibliographies without a search function. This is fixed with the Common Forms, and the new functionality takes away a lot of ability to make common errors. One great example is that it automatically places your listed information (Honors, Positions, etc.) in the correct order. That means PIs and RAs no longer have to worry about which information should be presented in chronological versus reverse chronological order!
3. The 5-page limit for Biosketch forms goes away with this update.
While few researchers struggle with the page limit, the Common Forms will rely on character counts for the narrative sections (Personal Statement, Contributions to Science) that are intuitive and still provide more than adequate space.
4. The certification step adds necessary protections for researchers and support staff.
Currently, anyone with delegate access in SciENcv can certify and download documents on behalf of the PI. With the change, support staff can only download documents that have been certified as accurate and complete by the PI. This extra step will result in more work, but it is worth it to ensure that documents are not generated in error or with unapproved changes.
OPRD GENERAL UPDATES
Reminder! New Letter of Support Process
If you require a letter of support, such as for a grant or fellowship, signed by the Chair, submit a draft letter to the LoS intake form found on our new webpage (Letters of Support), within our Researchers’ Toolkit. Please be sure to submit draft letters at least 4 weeks in advance of the due date to allow sufficient time for review, approval, and signature.
Please do not submit letters of support for signature via email. They will be returned with instructions to submit it to the LoS Intake Form.
For more information about this new process and to access important resources, please see the new Letter of Support webpage.
Guidelines for Pediatric Research Transition Funding Task Force Released
The Department of Pediatrics is pleased to announce the Research Transition Funding Task Force (Learn more, requires SUNetID). This Task Force will guide decision-making regarding short-term support needed for our faculty facing deficits in their research funding directly related to Federal Government actions since January 20, 2025.
Chaired by Drs Jennifer Woo Baidal and Anna Gloyn, the Task Force has developed a framework and process for making requests (Learn more, requires SUNetID). Our framework is informed by University (April 17, 2025) and School of Medicine (April 2025) policies and recommendations.
As a reminder, if you receive a termination notice or stop work order, immediately contact the Office of the Senior Associate Dean of Research (SADR)- Dr. Ruth O’Hara (ROH@stanford.edu) as well as your Research Process Manager (RPM) within RMG (find your RPM on this page). Additionally, please cc Dr. Mary Leonard, Drs. Jennifer Woo Baidal and Anna Gloyn, your Chief and your post-award research finance administrator. Dr. O’Hara will advise you on next steps.
UPCOMING EVENTS
NIH NRSA F Series Individual Postdoctoral and Predoctoral Fellowships Upcoming Training Sessions
During this course, the Fellowship Office will address all application updates as currently made available by NIH.
Research Management Group (RMG) offers virtual training modules for upcoming NIH, AHRQ, and NIOSH Individual (F) Fellowship Award deadline cycles. Please sign up for the training sessions via STARS as soon as possible.
Training Sessions:
Learn how to begin your ASSIST application and complete the administrative requirements for submitting a proposal in these virtual training sessions. Become familiar with required Stanford-specific internal documents (PDRF) and how to work with the Research Management Group (RMG) Fellowship Office.
Sign up for the session:
How do I register? Register via STARS. Search using the Search Catalog function by entering keyword "DOR-1218” or “fellowship”.
Available Upcoming Sessions:
11/04/25: 10:00AM - 11:00AM
11/12/25: 10:00AM - 11:00AM
11/20/25: 10:00AM - 11:00AM
Location: web-based (zoom)
Questions?
Fill out a request for assistance and a member of our team will be in contact with you.
Federal Transition Resources and Updates
For the most current news regarding agency updates and policy guidance, please see Stanford's 2025 Federal Administration Transition Information & Resources page.
