UG Medical School researcher achieves rare perfect score on NIH grant application

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants, renowned for their competitiveness, have attracted thousands of applications from leading researchers worldwide.

In an exceptional feat, Professor Eric Sampane-Donkor, Head of the Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS), obtained a perfect score on his UE5 application to the NIH earlier this year.

This remarkable achievement signifies the exceptional impact, innovation, and quality of Professor Sampane-Donkor’s grant proposal, which focuses on the groundbreaking “ZOOFOOD Project.”

The project aims to address crucial aspects of zoonoses and foodborne infections in West Africa through the utilization of bioinformatics and disease modeling.

The NIH’s Centre for Scientific Review Special Emphasis Panel deemed Professor Sampane-Donkor’s grant application exceptional, awarding it a perfect impact score of 10, the highest possible score.

This remarkable recognition places the University of Ghana’s submission among the top one percentile of all grants ever submitted to the NIH. Only a handful of institutions worldwide have achieved this prestigious “Unicorn Score,” despite the NIH receiving over 50,000 applications annually.

The NIH evaluates grant applications using a 9-point rating scale, with scores ranging from 1 (Exceptional) to 9 (Poor) for each assessment criterion.

These scores are then used to compute overall impact scores, determining funding decisions. The perfect score indicates that all three independent initial NIH reviewers unanimously recognized Professor Sampane-Donkor’s application as exceptional across all five assessment criteria: significance, innovation, approach, environment, and investigator.

This level of consensus among reviewers is extremely rare and speaks to the exceptional quality of the research proposed.

Professor Sampane-Donkor’s accomplishment further solidifies his research’s high impact at the University of Ghana Medical School.

Earlier this year, his work received an “outstanding” rating from the Royal College of Pathologists in the United Kingdom, which granted him the fast-track route to fellowship of the College (FRCPath).

The ZOOFOOD Project will foster collaboration among 28 co-investigators from the University of Ghana, various institutions in West Africa, the United States, and Israel. Additionally, the project will provide training opportunities for 24 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Professor Kofi Owusu Boahene, Director of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, commended Professor Sampane-Donkor’s achievements, highlighting the rarity and significance of receiving multiple NIH grants in a single year, let alone achieving a perfect score.

He stated that this accomplishment validates the profound impact of Professor Sampane-Donkor’s research and reflects positively on the University of Ghana.

Expressing his gratitude, Professor Sampane-Donkor humbly acknowledged the honor bestowed upon the University of Ghana, stating, “We thank God for this honor and are grateful that an application from the University of Ghana was recognized as the best by the United States’ most prestigious research funding institution.”

SOURCE: Coverghana.com.gh