ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø

Statement  Thursday, August 7, 2025

Statement on the retirement of Dr. Noni Byrnes

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I would like to share with you that Noni Byrnes, Ph.D., director of ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR), has announced that she will retire from federal service on Aug. 31, 2025. Dr. Byrnes has served as CSR Director since 2019, overseeing a majority of ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø’s scientific peer review, which remains the gold standard for grant peer review around the world. Most recently, she oversaw the HHS and ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø effort to centralize the peer review of applications and proposals for all the agency’s grants, cooperative agreements, and research and development contracts – totaling approximately 100,000 per year.

During her tenure, Dr. Byrnes led the successful development and implementation of multiple initiatives to promote quality, integrity, and fairness in ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø peer review. These include (Evaluating Panel Quality in Review), CSR’s systematic, data-driven process for the continuous restructuring of study sections to align with current and emerging science; ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø’s new for Research Project Grants, which simultaneously focuses reviewers on the important question of significance/innovation, reduces the inappropriate influence of the institution’s reputation or the investigator’s pedigree on the research project evaluation, and removes many administrative compliance items from the scientific peer review process; and ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø’s , which identifies the most promising among the next generation of biomedical research scientists. In addition, she implemented many other changes to review practices and culture, designed to promote integrity, accountability, and active management of undue influence in ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø peer review. These include development of a broader, continuously refreshed pool of experts who serve as ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø reviewers to reduce scientific gatekeeping in study sections; expansion of CSR’s program; implementation of for all ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø reviewers, and establishment of a mechanism for the community to report integrity breaches and unfair reviews directly and confidentially to CSR to address and act upon as warranted.

Within CSR, Dr. Byrnes made strategic decisions to develop foundational capacity in technology, data analytics and training, and significantly increased CSR’s engagement with the broader extramural scientific community – all of which were critical for thoughtful implementation of the changes in peer review. She demonstrated her expertise in leading organizational change, evident by her prioritization of strengthening internal communications, increasing transparency within the center, investing in staff development and recognizing employee achievements.

Dr. Byrnes joined CSR in 2000 as a scientific review officer in the Chemistry and Biophysics Branch. Prior to becoming director, she took on a variety of leadership roles with increasing responsibility. These included internship coordinator in 2004; Cell Biology Branch Chief in 2006; Director of the Division of Basic and Integrative Biological Sciences, which oversees all study sections in the basic sciences, in 2012; acting CSR Deputy Director and, later, Acting CSR Director, in 2018. Prior to joining CSR, she conducted research in bioanalytical chemistry in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Byrnes holds a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Emory University in Atlanta.

Effective Sept. 1, 2025, Dr. Bruce Reed will serve as CSR’s Acting Director while a search process is underway. Please join me in thanking Dr. Byrnes for her nearly 25 years of exemplary service to ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya
ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø Director

About the National Institutes of Health (ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø): ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

ÈýÒÚÌåÓý¹ÙÍø…Turning Discovery Into Health^®