NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) Program Guidelines

PART 2: Submission of New/Competing Application Section III.B.2.5 – Review Criteria
Network RT & Imaging Core Services Centers
2.5 Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Centers Review Criteria
Only the review criteria described below (and the Additional Review Criteria – Overall listed
in Part 2 – Section III.B.3.) will be considered in the review process. As part of the NIH
mission, all applications submitted to the NIH in support of biomedical and behavioral
research are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review
system.
2.5.1 Overall Impact - Overall
Reviewers will provide an overall impact/priority score to reflect their assessment of
the likelihood for the proposed Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services
Centers to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in
consideration of the following review criteria and additional review criteria (as
applicable for the proposed Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services
Centers).
2.5.2 Scored Review Criteria – Overall (Including Program for Collaborations & Participation
in Collective Management)
Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of
scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to
be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact. For
example, a proposed Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Centers that
by its nature is not innovative may be essential to advance a field.
Significance
Does the proposed Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Centers’
organization help address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the
field? If the aims of the proposed Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services
Centers are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or
clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the
concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions
that drive this field?
Investigator(s)
Are the PD(s)/PI(s), collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the proposed
Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Centers' plans for support of NCTN
trials as well as the Centers' plans for collaborations? If Early Stage Investigators or
New Investigators, or in the early stages of independent careers, do they have
appropriate experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an
ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? Given that
NCTN Program research projects/trials are collaborative (and irrespective of whether
the applicant chooses to use the multi-PD/PI option), do the investigators have
complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach, governance
and organizational structure appropriate for the support services that the proposed
Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Centers plan to provide?
Innovation
Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice
paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies,
instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies,
instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad
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