Community Collaboration Advances NIAMS Resource Development

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When I joined NIAMS three and a half years ago, I talked about my commitment to collaboration and learning from the NIAMS community in my first director's letter. Since then, we have done a lot of both collaborating and learning! I highly value the input from the NIAMS community on the development of our resources and in determining the direction of our research so that we are addressing the needs of the various audiences we serve, from researchers and medical providers to patients and caregivers.

NIAMS regularly solicits feedback to understand audience needs. Over the past two years, the NIAMS community has provided extensive feedback to help shape our upcoming FYs 2025-2029 Strategic Plan. Through three requests for information (RFI) and a three-day, virtual idea generation meeting series we have ensured that your voice was heard, and that your ideas are being used to shape the plan that will guide NIAMS research over the next five years. I want to thank you all for your thoughtful and thorough comments and I look forward to sharing the final version of the plan soon.

Reaching a Wider Audience

As we think about how to more effectively and sustainably attract future researchers to the scientific workforce, NIAMS is working to reach a much younger audience. We recently published new science-based classroom materials and activities for teachers to build lesson plans on bones, joints, muscles, and skin for students in grades 4 through 6. Each topic includes classroom-ready health information, visual aids, vocabulary terms, quizzes, and a teacher's corner that explains how the information maps to science and health education standards.

In addition to our educational content, NIAMS continuously updates its very popular health topics web pages, which are written for a consumer audience and account for more than 80 percent of our web site traffic. Moreover, NIAMS has developed a plethora of new videos. For example, in recognition of multiple health observances this year, we created short explainer videos for arthritis, lupus, osteoporosis, and psoriasis. The videos are designed to help consumers better understand and manage these conditions. Language accessibility is also a priority for us, as it is for all of the government. To that end, much of our online content is also available in Spanish, including many videos.

Along with providing our health content in new, engaging digital formats, NIAMS has also developed other plain-language videos to help break down complex research into more digestible content, highlight our grantees, and spotlight NIAMS facilities. For example:

• For National Women's Health week, NIAMS created a video series featuring NIAMS grantee Diana Dou, Ph.D., in which she discusses her career path and her research related to sex differences in autoimmune diseases.
• Edward Cowen, M.D., of the NIAMS Intramural Research Program (IRP) discussed how research conducted in his lab identified a nail condition linked to a rare cancer predisposition syndrome.
• The NIAMS IRP Core Facilities - which help researchers in NIAMS and other institutes at NIH enhance their projects by offering cutting-edge instruments, technologies, and data analysis services - were featured in a video series that provided a first-hand look.

To view more of our videos, and to keep an eye out for any new ones, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Keep Sharing Your Opinions with Us

Creating and disseminating information and helpful resources is a core part of the NIAMS mission, but we could not do it without you. We value your feedback, and truly do use it to guide and inform our future plans.

I also want to thank the 95-plus nonprofit organizations that comprise theNIAMS Coalition for consistently representing and elevating patient and provider voices from the communities we serve. From health topic resources and scientific roundtables to our strategic plan, NIAMS Coalition organizations give us valuable input on many of our activities and efforts.

With your help, NIAMS will continue to develop engaging materials in a variety of formats, including new, interactive webpages and short, engaging videos to reach the broadest audience possible. Follow us on LinkedIn, X, and Facebook to learn about NIAMS research news, health information, and opportunities, and to share your thoughts.

Lindsey A. Criswell, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc.
Director, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases