Volunteers Make the ACS Grant Review Process a Success
For Volunteer Appreciation Week, we want to recognize the volunteers that play a critical role in our research grant review process.
At the American Cancer Society (ACS), there's very little that we do that is not powered by volunteers.
During the most recent grant cycle, for instance, we engaged 546 volunteer scientific peer reviewers and community research partners to review 1,153 applications across our various funding mechanisms.
We recruit scientific peer reviewers from research institutions across the country based on their specific areas of knowledge so that each application is reviewed by an expert in the relevant field.
Our Peer Review Committee scientists embrace the central ACS tenet that peer review not only helps us fund the most impactful cancer research, but also serves to make the applicants better scientists. We are tremendously grateful this week and every day for their time and thoughtfulness."
Each research grant application is also reviewed by one of our dedicated Community Research Partners. These volunteer reviewers have a strong interest in advancing cancer research because of their intimate experience with the disease, even though they do not have formal scientific or oncology training themselves. Their role is to ensure that the patient and/or caregiver perspective is taken into account during our funding decisions.
Our community research partners are a critical part of our peer review process and keep us focused on making sure the research we fund makes a difference for people at risk for, or diagnosed with, cancer. They generously give their time to ACS, and we are very thankful for them during Volunteer Appreciation Week and throughout the year."
This entire peer review process is led by our Peer Review Committee chairs and co-chairs who work in tandem with our ACS Extramural Discovery Science staff to ensure rigor, timeliness, and consistency across our 19 different Peer Review Committees.
This peer review process is vital to maintaining the integrity of our funding decisions and that the best of the best grant applications are elevated for consideration for funding. We are extremely grateful to everyone who has volunteered to help us make this grant review cycle a success.
If you would like to learn more about becoming an ACS scientific peer reviewer or community research partner, please contact Dr. Sabrina Times, Research Engagement Manager, at Sabrina.time@cancer.org.
