Federal agency management practices for prioritizing and funding rehabilitation-related research

This article focuses on the processes by which priorities are established a nd research is funded by three organizational entities that finance the pre ponderance of this country's rehabilitation-related research: the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, the National Center fo r Medical Rehabilitation Research (the focal point of rehabilitation resear ch at the National Institutes of Health), and the National Institutes of He alth in aggregate (i.e., the several institutes that support rehabilitation -related research), Two perspectives are emphasized: the stakeholders' oppo rtunities to influence deliberations at key steps in setting priorities and reaching funding decisions and the extent to which these management practi ces are explicitly conceptualized, transparent, and evidence-based. Those p erspectives are brought to bear on three pivotal considerations: the agenci es' commitment to directed vs. nondirected research, the role they assign t o strategic planning, and their approach to reviewing applications for fund ing.