Reviewed on 2/23/2017

Naming SROs on Review Meeting Rosters

Background:

  1. Peer Review Meeting Rosters identify the participants and their roles.
  2. Generally, only one SRO is responsible for managing the peer review meeting and is identified on the Roster as the Designated Federal Officer (DFO).
  3. Some circumstances may justify placing more than one SRO on the Roster.
  4. Contract SROs are not Federal Officers and are not placed on the Roster.

Situations where only one SRO should be identified on the Roster

  1. The assigned SRO is responsible for the entire review process and received limited help from others during the review process, e.g. another SRO/SRS/TW.
  2. For training purposes, a new SRO is assigned to work with another SRO to learn entire review process. The new SRO is not the decision maker; therefore the SRO in training is not listed on the roster.
  3. Small set of applications are clustered because of the similar science but are assigned to more than one SRO to work together, e.g. two or more P01s or IICT applications. Only one SRO should be listed on the roster.

Situations where more than one SRO may be identified on the Roster

  1. The assigned SRO is unable to complete the entire review (e.g. due to an emergency). Another SRO must be assigned to complete the review process. Depending on the time/situation, it may be possible to addanother SRO to the roster. The roster heading “DFO” is used for the SRO(s) who managed the meeting. The roster heading “SRO” is used for other SRO(s).
  2. The assigned SRO is inconflict with one or more application(s) received in response to the initiative and another SRO is assigned to handle the review of the conflicted application(s)(from beginning to the end). Both SROs should be listed on the roster as DFO (because both managed the meeting).
  3. A large number of applications or complex applications are received in response to ONE initiative and all applications are assigned to one SEP. Due to the volume or complexity, more than one SRO is assigned to handle the entire review process, e.g. administrative review, reviewers’ recruitment, the review meeting, and the summary statements preparation/finalization. The roster heading “DFO” is used for the SRO(s) who managed the meeting. The roster heading “SRO” is used for other SRO(s).
  4. Applications received in response to two or more initiatives requiring similar reviewer expertise are assigned to one SEP. More than one SRO is assigned to work together to handle the entire review process, e.g. administrative review, reviewers’recruitment, the review meeting, and the summary statements preparation/finalization. The roster heading “DFO” is used for the SRO(s) who managed the meeting. The roster heading “SRO” is used for other SRO(s).

The OER definition of SRO and DFO is singular….

A Scientific Review Officer (SRO) is the NIH official who serves as the designated Federal official having legal responsibility for managing the peer review meeting, the procedures for evaluating the applications assigned to the Scientific Review Group and the determinations and management of conflicts of interest, as noted in 42 CFR 52(h).

The definition of DFO in the COI policy is singular:

The DFO is the NIH staff member who has legal responsibility under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) for managing the peer review meeting in a manner consistent with applicable statute, regulation, and policy.

And the Regulatory language is singular….

42 CFR 52(h)

The conduct of meetings is directed by the chairperson, although the SRA is the Designated Federal Official who must be present during the review of applications to ensure that the reviews are conducted according to regulations, which includes adherence to established review criteria. Although there is no supervisory relationship between the SRA and the peer reviewers, general guidance on the conduct of meetings has been developed over time through an agreement between the Federal employee overseeing the process and the peer reviewers.