1

Science Administration at the United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy

September 15-17, 2011

Section 8.a: Global Experiences in Innovation Policy

Maryann D’Alessandro, Ph.D.

Associate Director for Science, NPPTL

NIOSH PPT Program Coordinator

2

Case study objective

• Gather information regarding NIOSH strategies and processes to generate annual research plans, priorities, across operating units.

• Use information to generate a consolidated description of these processes.

• Develop and recommend best practices across the Institute

3

Overall goals of effective science administration

• Provides a concentrated source for coherent management information (Sandia report, 2010)

• Conveys consistent information for decision making (Sandia report, 2010)

• Links inputs to outputs and outcomes (NIOSH logic model, 2007)

4

Overview

• NIOSH background• Case study methodology• Key findings

5

NIOSH background

6

NIOSH

The mission of NIOSH is to generate new knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health and to transfer that knowledge into practice for the betterment of workers.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the U.S. federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness.

7

HHSHHS

CDCCDC

NIOSHNIOSH

Department of Health and Human Services

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

NIOSH resources

~$6.5 billion

~$294.1 million

~$910.7 billion

8

• Office of the Director, NIOSH• Office of Extramural Programs (OEP)• National Personal Protective Technology

Laboratory (NPPTL)• Office of Mine Safety and Health Research

(OMSHR)• Alaska Pacific Regional Office (APRO)

• Division of Respiratory Disease Studies (DRDS)

• Division of Safety Research (DSR)• Health Effects Laboratory Division (HELD)• Education and Information Division (EID)• Division of Applied Research and

Technology (DART)• Division of Surveillance Hazard

Evaluation and Field Studies (DSHEFS)• Division of Compensation Analysis and

Support (DCAS)• Western States Office (WSO)

NIOSH Divisions, Laboratories and Offices

9

NIOSH Program Portfolio NIOSH

Industry Sectors (10)

NIOSH

Cross Sector Programs (24)

• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing *

• Construction *• Healthcare and social

assistance• Manufacturing

• Mining *• Oil and Gas Extraction• Public Safety• Services• Transportation,

warehousing, and utilities• Wholesale and retail trade

• Authoritative recommendations development

• Cancer, reproductive, and cardiovascular diseases

• Communications and information dissemination

• Economics• Emergency preparedness

and response• Engineering controls• Exposure assessment• Global collaborations• Health hazard evaluation

(HHE) *• Hearing loss prevention *• Immune, dermal and

infectious diseases

• Musculoskeletal disorders• Nanotechnology• Occupational health

disparities• Personal Protective

Technology (PPT) *• Prevention through design• Radiation dose

reconstruction• Respiratory diseases *• Small business assistance

and outreach• Surveillance• Total worker health• Training grants• Traumatic injury *• Work organization and

stress-related disorders

* Program recently reviewed by the National Academies

10

Federal legislation, evaluations and stakeholder involvement help prioritize initiatives

• Federal legislation – OSH Act of 1970

• Evaluations– National Academies reviews of 8 NIOSH programs – Additional National Academies initiatives – NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors

• Stakeholder involvement– 1977 - First nine Education Research Centers (ERCs) awarded – 1980 - First State-based OSH cooperative agreements established– 1996 - National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) established– 2006 - Second Decade of NORA begins (Program Portfolio Structure established)

11

NIOSH funding mechanisms

• Base budget• Competitive• Reimbursable

– CDC Foundation– External Funding sources

• Other

12

NIOSH Project Management and Planning System (NPPM)• Developed in 2004 to account for all funds expended

by project• Evolved to a project management system to track

multiple project dimensions– Project activities – Outputs – Outcomes – Partners – Funding – Milestone tracking

• Reports generated from NPPM support Program and Project reviews

Congressional budget process drives the timing of the planning process

13

Number of FY11 NIOSH Intramural Projects by Funding Category

NIOSH Base Budget Competitive ReimbursableCDC

FoundationOther Total

Variability across DLOs 0 - 86 1 - 43 0 - 14 0 - 11 0 1 - 109

Total 367 187 47 18 0 619

14

NIOSH Science administration challenges

• There are many needs across all NIOSH sector research programs

• Prioritizing agency resources during tight budgetary times is important

• Approaches to maximize relevance and impact while sustaining innovation are needed

• Dual structure introduces activity alignment complexities

15

Case study methodology

16

Questionnaire design

• Dimensions used to survey operational units– Documentation of current processes – Schedule – Roles – Evaluation criteria– Ongoing projects– New starts– Emergency response activities– Emerging issues

17

Sample survey questions

• How well documented is the program/budget formulation process that is presently being used?

• What are the steps followed for the process?

• What are the criteria used to evaluate and prioritize proposed projects?

• After a project concept is generated, how are decisions made to fund the project?

18

Communication with operational units

• Email and telephone communication described process and information to be gathered with telephone interviews

• Questionnaire emailed to operational unit representative prior to interview

• Science administration team contacted each operational unit by phone to conduct interview

• Processes for each operational unit documented

19

Key findings

20

Various strategies are used to generate project concepts • Regulation• Advisory committee recommendations• Surveillance• Stakeholder needs• Requests from stakeholders• Relevance• Impact

Uniformly there is significant stakeholder involvement in program and project formulation

21

Project selection and monitoring processes vary throughout Institute

• Midyear reviews• Quarterly reviews• Monthly reviews and reporting• Program reviews• Milestone assessments• National academies reviews of select

activitiesAll operating units conduct vigorous reviews of project status (usually midyear), but there is a wide variation on the evaluation criteria used to select future projects

22

Jun 2010 Oct 2011

Jan 2011

Dec 2010

LOIs Selected for Preparation of Proposals

Apr 2011

Proposals Submitted

Jul 2010

Call for LOIsOct 2010

LOIs Prepared and Submitted

COMPETITIVE FUNDING (e.g. intramural NORA)

Jun 2010 Oct 2011

Jan 2011

NIOSH PROJECT PLANNING ACTIVITIES

Dec 2010

Request forGoals Issued

Apr 2011

Project Planning Guidance Issued

Jan 2011

GoalsSubmitted

Jun 2010 Oct 2011

Jan 2011

BASE BUDGET FUNDING

Feb 2011 - Apr 2011

FY11 Mid-YearReviews

Apr 2011 - Oct 2011

FY12 Project Selection

Jun 2011

New Projects entered in NPPM

Aug 2011

Announcement of Selected Projects

Aug 2011

NPPM for AllProjects Submitted

FY11-FY12 NIOSH project planning activities

23

Candidate best practice strategies

• Competitive and rigorous scientific and stakeholder review process at project conception

• Documented planning process including an agreed upon set of evaluation criteria for project selection

• Harmonized timeline for project formulation activities

24

Next steps

• Establish consensus among NIOSH Science Administration Working Group members regarding best practice strategies

• Recommend adoption of best practice strategies to Institute management

• Adopt and implement best practice strategies across the Institute

25

Acknowledgements

The efforts of the NIOSH Science Administration Working Group Members to develop the strategy and gather the data for this effort are acknowledged.

Ann Berry, Senior Scientist

John Decker, Senior Scientist

Amia Downes, Public Health Analyst

Amanda Harney, Health Communications Specialist

John Sporrer, Public Health Analyst

26

Contact information: Maryann D’Alessandro

bpj5@cdc.gov 412-386-4033

Visit us at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh

Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this presentation are those of the author and have not been formally disseminated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy.