The National Institutes of Health on Friday revised its early-stage investigator, or ESI, policy to allow those working on previously granted extensions to request more time as ESIs, due to COVID-19 or other “life events.”

Prior to the policy adjustment, many women said they’d been denied pandemic-related extension requests because they’d already been granted extensions due to childbirth. This raised questions about the NIH’s stated commitment to supporting women in science, specifically to women who run academic labs as principal investigators (PIs).

“There has been a lot of focus on early stage investigator (ESI) extension requests in the community recently. And we certainly understand why,” Mike Lauer, the NIH’s deputy director for extramural research, said in an announcement about the change. “The experience of the COVID-19 public health emergency has brought into sharp focus that the effects of the pandemic on careers and life in general may continue for years to come. This fact has led us to revisit our approach to granting ESI extension requests.”