Dear Colleagues,

Unfortunately, in the past few days, many of us have received grant cancellation notices. We know as investigators how devastating that is and what the impact is on investigators, their study teams, and trainees in our Emory Department of Medicine community.

As we navigate these very difficult times, we remain committed to research at Emory and would like to provide you with information as to the process to appeal these decisions.

• Remember that grants are awarded to universities and not individuals, so all appeals must be submitted on behalf of the University centrally through Emory's Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP).
• Appeals must be submitted within 30 days of termination, and the process is time-consuming, so it’s important to start within a week of termination.

If you receive an NIH grant cancellation notice for an award on which you are the PI,  OSP has likely already been notified as well. However, if you receive a notification from a collaborator on a grant in which Emory is not the primary institution it is unlikely that OSP knows about it. If that is the case, please let OSP know. We would also like to ask you to utilize the following link to inform us.

f you decide to appeal, please do not send anything to NIH on your own.

The appeal process is as follows:

• Prepare a brief one-page justification for why the science is important and what the public loss will be without the study/studies. Do not try to make any legal arguments such as referring to executive orders or restraining orders. The justification should be about the science, and the language must try and align with federal priorities. It should refute the reasons cited for termination in the letter.

• Send this summary to Carlos Del Rio, MD, Vibha Lama, MD, and your division chief, with cc to Kanika Chatkara and John Sauer.

• DOM will review your appeal request and forward your request and justification to Senior Vice President for Research Deb Bruner, RN, PhD, FAAN, and Dean Sandra Wong, MD.

• If Emory agrees to proceed after a review by the School of Medicine (SOM) and the Senior Vice President for Research (SVPR) (there are criteria and a prioritization process), the SOM will consult with the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and the Executive Vice Presidents (EVPs). OGC prepares the appeal letter with input from the PI and SOM.

The key factors being reviewed and would likely be considered: 

• Amount of award remaining
• Status of the progress (i.e., is it publishable as is)
• Whether it’s possible to remove elements inconsistent with program goals or agency priorities
• Specific impact to the investigator

We understand that these are very difficult and unprecedented times. We thank you for your patience and we will continue to communicate as we learn more in this dynamic environment.

Best,

Carlos del Rio and Vibha Lama