In This Month's E-News: July 2020

NIH has opened its “initial data set and tools” in its All of Us research program to investigators under a new beta model that does not allow downloading of information. And on June 16, the program announced that it will conduct COVID-19 antibody tests on samples from “10,000 or more participants who joined the program most recently, starting with samples from March 2020 and working backward until positive tests are no longer found.” The goal is to “show the prevalence of novel coronavirus exposure among All of Us participants, and help researchers assess varying rates across regions and communities.” The All of Us program is part of a precision medicine initiative launched by President Obama that began recruitment just two years ago, with the goal of enrolling a million individuals. Some 350,000 have become involved to date; of the total, data from 225,000 is now accessible to researchers, according to CEO Josh Denny. (6/18/20)

In an unusual move, the National Science Foundation agreed with an Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit finding that Arizona State University (ASU) had transferred a “significant” portion of an award to a new institution as a subaward allegedly without NSF approval but is only seeking partial repayment. NSF did not request repayment of $890,982 in costs OIG had questioned; instead, it reached a negotiated settlement with ASU to repay just $75,000, according to a June 11 resolution report. ASU had opposed the finding in its response to the draft audit, saying that a program officer was aware of its actions. All told, the April 2019 audit, which spanned from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 31, 2016, questioned $1,178,488 in direct and indirect costs, including the subaward payments. (6/18/20)

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