Effective Communication with Your NIH Program Officer
Communication with your NIH program officer will provide you with valuable guidance and insight throughout your SBIR/STTR grant application and review experience. As an applicant, you’ll be navigating various NIH institutes and feedback processes that may be unfamiliar to you. Establishing clear lines of communication with a program officer will help steer you in the right direction.
In this post, we’ll draw on our decades of grant writing experience to help you identify key project stages when you will want to interact with your program officer. Additionally, we’ll introduce a brief overview of the message to focus on for each stage. Alongside the Blue Haven Grant Consultants Advantage, good communication with your Program Officer will help refine your application and secure SBIR/STTR funding.
Pre-Application Process Dialogue
Preparation separates fundable applications from non-fundable applications. Part of this preparation is aligning your project with the mission and goals of NIH institutes. There are 25 NIH institutes, each with specific goals and areas of emphasis that need to be considered as you write your SBIR/STTR application. Each institute also has a team of program officers who can help clarify which institute your project most aligns with.
At BHGC, we not only help you write your grant, but we also facilitate this pre-application communication and help you identify where your project aligns with NIH institutes.
Navigating Post-Review
Following the NIH review process, you will have an opportunity to discuss your impact score and get clarification about reviewer critiques in your summary statement. Feedback is valuable, but you also want to take advantage of this opportunity to clarify points in your grant and write meaningful clarifications to key critiques. Communication with your program officer will help you better understand the critiques and impact score so that you are in a good position.
Getting critiques is not always easy, so BHGC will be there to help facilitate this communication and increase the likelihood that your responses have the intended effects of clarification and strengthening your application. We will also use our experience to help ask the program officer questions during the post-review meeting to help get even closer to our goal of getting your project funded.
Post-Award Partnership Maintenance
Upon securing your SBIR/STTR grant, your communication with the program officer becomes more routinized. Make sure to establish a channel of communication where you can discuss potential project changes, such as the scope of work, and provide regular updates on project progress. Your program officer is a valuable resource, ready to offer insights and support as your project unfolds.
With over a decade of experience working on NIH funded grant projects, BHGC will help you establish these channels and maintain the valuable relationship you want to with your program officer.
Next Steps – Transitioning from Phase I to Phase II
The end stage of your Phase I project is a great opportunity to initiate communication with your program officer to discuss a Phase II grant application. As a successful recipient of a Phase I grant, you are more likely to receive a Phase II grant, but this is not a guarantee. A meaningful discussion with your program officer about the strengths of your project and their recommendations on how to move toward a Phase II application will help foster a smoother transition for your team and project.
Effective communication is the bedrock of successful NIH SBIR/STTR grant applications and fulfillment. From the initial stages of determining programmatic fit to the nuanced discussions during the post-review and awarded stages, BHGC can be your guide and partner in fostering a strong relationship with NIH program officers and your application in general. Consistent and clear communication can be hard. If you’re ready for an experienced collaborator, schedule a free consultation with us to start your SBIR/STTR journey.