NASEM Releases Report on Simplifying Research Regulations and Policies

By: Yvette Seger
Thursday, September 11, 2025
On September 3, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released the new report, Simplifying Research Regulations and Policies: Optimizing American Science. The result of a fast-track study built upon the findings of previous efforts to reduce administrative burdens associated with federally funded research, this latest report highlights 53 options for streamlining regulatory oversight, covering topics ranging from development of grant proposals and award management and tracking financial conflicts of interest to oversight of research involving human and nonhuman animal subjects. During the report release event, Committee Chair Alan Leshner, PhD, acknowledged that while the core issues and solutions identified by the Committee were not necessarily new, particularly to organizations that have advocated for the reduction of extraneous and even conflicting policies and regulations overseeing federal research activities, the current political environment presents a positive environment within which to enact change.

The 53 individual options for action can be organized around the report’s three cross-cutting principles:

1. Harmonize regulations and requirements across all federal agencies;
2. Tier new regulations or requirements to the level of risk of an activity to society or regulatory objectives; and
3. Adopt technological solutions to simplify the completion of compliance processes.

A recent statement issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicates progress towards the second principle with the announcement that the agency will be taking steps to modernize biosafety oversight, including the application of a risk-based approach for potential risks beyond recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid technologies.

Additional information about the NASEM report, including an archive of the report release event, is available here.