Alison Criss, PhD
Congratulations to Alison Criss, PhD, Harrison Distinguished Teaching Professor and vice chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology, for her recent National Institutes of Health (NIH) R37 MERIT award for research about Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a bacterium that causes the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea.
The NIH MERIT award is a “Method to Extend Research in Time” funding mechanism that marks a conversion from an NIH R01 award to an R37 award. Dr. Criss was initially funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in 2012 through a grant that has been successfully renewed twice, most recently in 2024 for $2.7 million.
NIAID’s conversion of the award to an R37 grant for five years highlights her stellar record of research accomplishment. It also gives her the possibility of having the grant extended for up to five additional years without undergoing another integrated group peer review. It is notable that an R37 award recipient is nominated by the NIH program staff for outstanding research productivity and achievement in a research area that is especially important.
Read more about Dr. Criss’ research in the Medicine in Motion story published in January 2025.
Filed Under: Research