Council of Councils Hears NIH Updates from Director Bhattacharya

By: Galen Cobb
Thursday, September 24, 2026
On September 10, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jayanta "Jay" Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, addressed the Council of Councils (CoC), providing updates on recently appointed Institute and Center (IC) directors and on the development process for the forthcoming NIH-wide strategic plan. The discussion gave Council members an opportunity to raise a number of community concerns directly with the Director:

• NIAID and DoD: Director Bhattacharya clarified recent reporting on changes at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), explaining that they do not involve a transfer of funds to the Department of Defense (DoD). Rather, the changes reflect an agreement between DoD and NIAID to cost-share on projects that meet the Institute's mission and goals. He added that biodefense has been removed from NIAID's mission, with responsibility for biodefense research remaining with DoD going forward.
• Strategic plan timeline: Director Bhattacharya told Council members that the NIH-wide strategic plan is expected to be released before the end of the year, and that NIH does not plan to offer further opportunities for public comment beyond the Request for Information (NOT-OD-26-047) released this past March.
• Peer review outcomes reporting: A proposed change to how peer review outcomes are reported (NOT-OD-26-088) drew substantial discussion. Under the proposal, NIH would no longer report overall scores and percentiles to applicants. Council members raised concerns about the resulting loss of transparency, as well as the added difficulty this change could pose for mentors helping mentees revise and strengthen future grant applications.
• Policy-related research: Director Bhattacharya clarified that NIH-funded research may continue to inform policy, but that any policy implications must remain indirect, with the research itself focused on topics relevant to the NIH mission. He noted that NIH will not fund research with an advocacy or partisan aim, and that a Director's Statement further clarifying this policy is expected shortly.
• K-award changes: Director Bhattacharya addressed a recent policy change making K-awards inapplicable to clinical trials, explaining that the change was made in part to encourage early-career researchers to pursue full R-level grants instead. He noted that R-level funding will be made more accessible to early-career applicants through prioritization under NIH's new Unified Funding Strategy.

Several other Council of Councils working groups also presented updates during the meeting. The CoC Working Group on Fostering Transformative Biomedical Research shared progress on its forthcoming report. Separately, the CoC Working Group on Science of Science presented its final report, drawing considerable enthusiasm from both NIH staff and Council members; the report includes 21 recommendations, many of which overlap with ongoing NIH policy reform efforts, and was approved unanimously by the Council. 

NIH Chief AI Officer Bradley Bower, PhD, also presented the NIH Artificial Intelligence Strategic Plan, which received Council approval. The Office of the Chief AI Officer now resides within the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI), which organizes the Council of Councils.

Meeting materials and additional information are available on the Council of Councils website.