# Presentation: 302231

## Asynchronous Electronic Discussion 

**Asynchronous Electronic Discussion **

*Joseph Rudolph and Ross Shonat*

**August 27, 2007**

**National Institutes of Health****U.S. Department of Health and Human Services**

## Asynchronous Electronic Discussion(AED):  What is it? 

**Asynchronous Electronic Discussion****(AED):  What is it?**** **

**Secure Web Based Review method.**
**Threaded Discussion Board.**
**Separate server environment from IMPAC II and IAR, however data is mined from both IMPAC II and IAR.**
**Both AED and IAR are utilized.**

## Intended Purpose of AED

**Intended Purpose of AED**

**AED is NOT intended to replace the traditional large face to face meetings.**
**AED is intended to provide an additional review platform to SRAs and Reviewers which would fill the niche between phone and face to face meetings.**
**Attract senior and experienced reviewers who are not able to travel.**
**AED is flexible enough to adapt to the requirements of the individual SRA.**

## Advantages of AED

**Advantages of AED**

**Greater flexibility for scheduling and running peer review meetings.**
**Expand potential reviewer base, by eliminating travel and time constraints.**
**Allows for more thoughtful and thorough discussion.**
**Efficient mechanism for streamlining.**
**Simplifies participation of program staff. **
**Improved management of conflicts.**
**Website is straightforward for reviewers and requires little training.**

## Initial Challenges for AED

**Initial Challenges for AED**

**Format is new for both Reviewers, SRAs, and Program and will require a familiarization period.**
**Requires active participation on the part of SRA, Chair and reviewers.**

## How Does it Work?

**How Does it Work?**

**Reviewers are recruited and grant materials sent out.**
**Reviewers submit initial scores and critiques to IAR.**
**AED web site link is given to SRA and meeting data is entered.**
**All meeting data is pulled from IMPAC II and IAR.**

## How Does it Work (2)?

**How Does it Work (2)?**

**The meeting occurs on the website and is comprised of 3 phases:**
**Streamline phase**
**Discussion phase**
**Final scoring phase.**
**Following meeting reviewers revise critiques in IAR.**
**The threaded discussion is not archived.  Once the meeting is over, the website is deleted including backups.**

## What Does It look Like?

**What Does It look Like?**

## Review Page

**Review Page**

## Challenges of AED

**Challenges of AED**

**Developing a culture of usage and acceptance from SRAs, Reviewers and Program Officers.**
**Training – both for SRAs, Reviewers and Program.**
**Technical challenges, integration and usability.**

## Growth of AED – Number of Applications

**Growth of AED – Number of Applications**

## Growth of AED – Number of Meetings

**Growth of AED – Number of Meetings**

## Increased Efficiency of AED Meetings

**Increased Efficiency of AED Meetings**

## Increased Usage Among SRAs

**Increased Usage Among SRAs**

## A Study Section Chair Talks About Asynchronous Electronic Discussions

**A Study Section Chair Talks About ****Asynchronous Electronic Discussions**

**“****Finally, in spite of my initial skepticism regarding this “blog-like” review mechanism, all . . . [reviewers] produced comments, critiques, posed questions in a fashion that I would judge to be the BEST I’ve seen in ~30 years of chairing various review groups.”**** **

**Craig M. Jackson, Ph.D.            President and Principal Scientist Hemosaga Diagnostics Corp.**

## Future Directions

**Future Directions**

**Scaling**
**Number of review panels (100 per round by 2008).**
**Number of applications. **
**Involvement of other ICs.**
- NIGMS, NIMH, NIA, NIDA, NHLBI, NCI, NIDDK
**Improvements to Interface (Version 3.0 to be released 11/2007).**
**Improvements to hardware.**
**Synchronize reviewer authentication with NIH Commons.**
**Wider adoption and acceptance.**

## Acknowledgements

**Acknowledgements**

**Project Management Team**
**Rich McKay, Jim Blagaich, Richard Panniers, RV Srinivas, George Chacko, Ross Shonat.**
**Developers**
**Leo Wu, Sara Wu, Dipak Bhattacharyya, Harish Vajja, and Yulia Shifrin.**
**AED Support**
**Bella Kazantseva and Carlton Williams.**
**Executive Sponsors**
**Toni Scarpa and Cheryl Kitt**