Web Evaluation at the US National Institutes of Health: Use of the American Customer Satisfaction Index Online Customer Survey

Reviewer: Bailey, Bob[This item is a preserved copy and is not necessarily the most recent version. To view the current item, visit http://www.jmir.org/2008/1/e4/ ] Background: The National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), realized the need to better understand its Web users in order to help assure that websites are user friendly and well designed for effective information dissemination. A trans-NIH group proposed a trans-NIH project to implement an online customer survey, known as the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey, on a large number of NIH websites—the first “enterprise-wide” ACSI application, and probably the largest enterprise Web evaluation of any kind, in the US government. The proposal was funded by the NIH Evaluation Set-Aside Program for two years at a cost of US $1.5 million (US$1.275 million for survey licenses for 60 websites at US $18,000 per website; US$225,000 for a project evaluation contractor). Objective: The overall project objectives were to assess the value added to the participating NIH websites of using the ACSI online survey, identify any NIH-wide benefits (and limitations) of the ACSI, ascertain any new understanding about the NIH Web presence based on ACSI survey results, and evaluate the effectiveness of a trans-NIH approach to Web evaluation. This was not an experimental study and was not intended to evaluate the ACSI survey methodology, per se, or the impacts of its use on customer satisfaction with NIH websites. Methods: The evaluation methodology included baseline pre-project websites profiles; before and after email surveys of participating website teams; interviews with a representative cross-section of website staff; observations of debriefing meetings with website teams; observations at quarterly trans-NIH Web staff meetings and biweekly trans-NIH leadership team meetings; and review and analysis of secondary data. Results: Of the original 60 NIH websites signed up, 55 implemented the ACSI survey, 42 generated sufficient data for formal reporting of survey results for their sites, and 51 completed the final project survey. A broad cross-section of websites participated, and a majority reported significant benefits and new knowledge gained from the ACSI survey results. NIH websites as a group scored consistently higher on overall customer satisfaction relative to US government-wide and private sector benchmarks. Conclusions: Overall, the enterprise-wide experiment was successful. On the level of individual websites, the project confirmed the value of online customer surveys as a Web evaluation method. The evaluation results indicated that successful use of the ACSI, whether site-by-site or enterprise-wide, depends in large part on strong staff and management support and adequate funding and time for the use of such evaluative methods. In the age of Web-based e-government, a broad commitment to Web evaluation may well be needed. This commitment would help assure that the potential of the Web and other information technologies to improve customer and citizen satisfaction is fully realized

Engineered SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain improves manufacturability in yeast and immunogenicity in mice

Global containment of COVID-19 still requires accessible and affordable vaccines for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Recently approved vaccines provide needed interventions, albeit at prices that may limit their global access. Subunit vaccines based on recombinant proteins are suited for large-volume microbial manufacturing to yield billions of doses annually, minimizing their manufacturing cost. These types of vaccines are well-established, proven interventions with multiple safe and efficacious commercial examples. Many vaccine candidates of this type for SARS-CoV-2 rely on sequences containing the receptor-binding domain (RBD), which mediates viral entry to cells via ACE2. Here we report an engineered sequence variant of RBD that exhibits high-yield manufacturability, high-affinity binding to ACE2, and enhanced immunogenicity after a single dose in mice compared to the Wuhan-Hu-1 variant used in current vaccines. Antibodies raised against the engineered protein exhibited heterotypic binding to the RBD from two recently reported SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (501Y.V1/V2). Presentation of the engineered RBD on a designed virus-like particle (VLP) also reduced weight loss in hamsters upon viral challenge

miR-155 harnesses Phf19 to potentiate cancer immunotherapy through epigenetic reprogramming of CD8+ T cell fate

T cell senescence and exhaustion are major barriers to successful cancer immunotherapy. Here we show that miR-155 increases CD8+ T cell antitumor function by restraining T cell senescence and functional exhaustion through epigenetic silencing of drivers of terminal differentiation. miR-155 enhances Polycomb repressor complex 2 (PRC2) activity indirectly by promoting the expression of the PRC2-associated factor Phf19 through downregulation of the Akt inhibitor, Ship1. Phf19 orchestrates a transcriptional program extensively shared with miR-155 to restrain T cell senescence and sustain CD8+ T cell antitumor responses. These effects rely on Phf19 histone-binding capacity, which is critical for the recruitment of PRC2 to the target chromatin. These findings establish the miR-155-Phf19-PRC2 as a pivotal axis regulating CD8+ T cell differentiation, thereby paving new ways for potentiating cancer immunotherapy through epigenetic reprogramming of CD8+ T cell fate.This research was supported by the Intramural Research Programs of the US National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute (ZIABC011480