The role of lay panelists on grant review panels

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of scientists and lay people participating in National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) grant review panels towards the inclusion of non-scientists in the review process. Questionnaires were sent to the 126 scientists and 24 lay panelists who participated in NCIC's grant reviews in 1998. Survey topics included lay member selection, the role of the lay panelist and suggestions for improving the process. Data were analyzed qualitatively, and quantitatively using SPSS. Sixty-one of the 126 scientists (48.4%) and 16 of the 24 lay panelists (66.7%) completed the survey. Female scientists were significantly more supportive than male scientists of the selection of cancer patients/survivors/advocates as lay members (p = 0.01), but overall their responses were more similar to those of their male colleagues than of the lay respondents. There were significant differences between the lay and scientist respondents on lay member responsibilities (p = 0.01), the format of lay grant review (p = 0.04), lay member contribution to panel discussion (p = 0.01), and understanding of the lay role (p = 0.02).