NIH Has Acted To Protect Confidential Information Handled by Peer Reviewers, But It Could Do More

Congress, NIH, and Federal intelligence agencies have raised concerns about foreign threats to the integrity of U.S. medical research and intellectual property. This includes foreign programs that may unduly influence and capitalize on NIH-funded research. In August 2018, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins raised concerns that peer reviewers-who review applications for NIH extramural grants and have unique access to confidential information in those applications-were, in some cases, inappropriately sharing this information with foreign entities. Subsequently, Congress appropriated funding for OIG to conduct oversight of NIH grant programs and operations, including examining the effectiveness of NIH's efforts to protect intellectual property derived from NIH-supported research. This study describes and assesses NIH's oversight of peer reviewers' handling of confidential information.