The NIEHS director and scientific staff are advised by a number of advisory boards and councils made up of membership from the scientific community and the public, whose input is essential in guiding and reviewing the endeavors of the institute. A brief description of these bodies and links to more information are below.
Board of Scientific Counselors
The Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) is an external peer review committee that evaluates Division of Intramural (DIR) scientists on the basis of accomplishments since their last peer review. The BSC review evaluates an individual research program’s long-term objectives, accomplishments, innovation, relevance to the NIEHS mission and overall quality and impact. The review also includes an evaluation of both the Laboratory/Branch leadership and the research performed by independent investigators and staff scientists. Each DIR Laboratory/Branch is subjected to this rigorous scientific review at least once every four years.
Environmental Health Sciences Review Committee
The Environmental Health Sciences Review Committee is the chartered review committee for NIEHS and is responsible for the scientific review of the following grant mechanisms: Environmental Health Science P30 Core Centers; Institutional National Research Service Award (T32); career awards (various K applications); and conference grants (R13/U13). This committee is composed of 21 members who serve a term of four overlapping years.
Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee
In October of 2008, the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act was into law by the President, amending the Public Health Service Act and creating the Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committe (IBCERCC). This advisory committee, established by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), will review all efforts within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concerning research being conducted on the environmental and genomic factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer, will develop a comprehensive summary of advances, and will make recommendations the Secretary of HHS regarding research gaps and needs.
National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council
NIEHS as an NIH institute that makes grant awards for research projects and training, must by law, maintain an appropriate council to review and recommend approval of the project before an award can be made. For NIEHS, this role is served by the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council (NAEHSC). NAEHSC advises the secretary of HHS, through the director of NIH and the director of NIEHS. Membership of NAEHSC consists of a designee of the secretary of HHS, the NIH director, the NIEHS director, the chief medical officer of the Veteran's Administration, and the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs (or designees of such officers) as ex officio members; and eighteen members who are leaders in the fundamental sciences, medical sciences, education, and public affairs. One-third of the non-federal government members must be public members.
National Toxicology Program Advisory Board & Committees
The National Toxicology Program (NTP) relies upon advice from external groups and ad hoc panels. The formal advisory committees to the program are linked below. In particular, the is a federally chartered advisory committee, whose members are appointed by the Secretary, HHS, that provides scientific advice to the director for NTP, and evaluates the scientific merit of NTP intramural and collaborative programs.
As needed, the program convenes working groups to address specific topics.