Research News - February 26, 2016

For new hires only!

The Research Institute Training and Education (RITE) Committee and the Division of Clinical Research are launching a new Research Personnel Survey to customize a safety training program for every research employee at MGH and eliminate time spent on unnecessary training. The survey consists of 9 questions related to job function and will take less than 5 minutes to complete. Once the survey is complete a list of courses specific to job responsibilities will be generated and sent to the new employee and supervisor.   Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that the trainings assigned to each new hire are completed within the required timeframe.

Each new hire will receive an email from the Division of Clinical Research with a link to the survey.
Completion of this survey is mandatory.

Questions about the survey should be sent to: CRPEDU@partners.org

Monday, March 7, 2016, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, Simches Auditorium (3.110), Broadcast to Isselbacher Auditorium (CNY-149, 7th Floor)

 Isuggest Launch
Gary Smith, Sr. Administrative Director
MGH Research Management

Insight 4.0: A Preview of What’s to Come
Scott McNeal, Corporate Director
Partners Research Applications and Analytics

(Lunch available at 11:45 AM)

All MGH Researchers welcome!

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

The ORCD's Research Fellow Poster Celebration will take place on May 25, 2016. The annual Poster Celebration highlights the excellent research being done by MGH postdoctoral fellows. The Call for Abstracts is now open! All MGH postdocs are invited to submit your research abstract now to present your research to the MGH community at this high-profile event. Abstracts/posters will be evaluated by a review committee, and the top presentations will receive awards and cash prizes.

Abstracts are due at 5:00 pm on Fri, Mar 18.

Please click here for instructions and abstract submission materials.

Tuesday, March 1, 4:00pm, CNY 149, Room 2.204                             

Molecular mechanisms that link metabolic and cardiovascular disease
Kenneth Walsh, PhD
Director, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute
Boston University School of Medicine

Letters of Intent are now being accepted by the Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) for the American Diabetes Association Pathways to Stop Diabetes Award

What are they?
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) Pathways to Stop Diabetes supports innovative basic, clinical, translational, epidemiological, behavioral, or health services research relevant to any diabetes type, diabetes-related disease state, or diabetes complication. The ADA seeks exceptional candidates from a broad range of disciplines, including medicine, biology, chemistry, computing, physics, mathematics and engineering.

MGH is eligible to nominate one candidate to apply to the ADA for this award.

When is the deadline?  
MGH Letters of Intent: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 – 3:00 PM

How do I learn more and apply?
Click here for more information and to apply for this award.

Preliminary applications are now being accepted by the Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) for the
Charles H. Hood Foundation 2017 Major Grants Initiative to Advance Child Health research award. 

What are they?
Major Grants Initiative to Advance Child Health research award
The Charles H. Hood Foundation 2017 Major Grants Initiative to Advance Child Health supports outstanding investigators conducting innovative and transformative research in child health. The overall goal of the Program remains the funding of translational or clinical research that will improve child health clinical outcomes, or improve health care access, affordability, and quality. For the 2017 grant cycle, the Hood Foundation requests applications related to either of two areas of child health research: Neonatology or Brain Science and Child Development. 

The Major Grants Initiative is a component of the Hood Foundation’s research funding portfolio. Since 1942, the Foundation has supported investigators at New England research institutions to improve the health and quality of life for children. The Hood Foundation Child Health Research Awards Program has launched the careers of close to 600 junior faculty whose discoveries have contributed to significant improvements in child health. Since 1989, the Foundation has also supported 45 Postdoctoral Fellows conducting projects spanning the continuum from basic laboratory research to clinical and health services research.
MGH is eligible to nominate one candidate.

When is the deadline?  
MGH Internal Preliminary Application Deadline:  Friday, March 4, 2016 - 3:00 p.m.

How do I learn more and apply?
2017 Major Grants Initiative to Advance Child Health research award - Click here

The Center for the Human Immunology (CHI) is a multidisciplinary program funded by NIAID.  CHI promotes the research of both basic and clinical scientists in areas related to the persistence of hepatitis C virus infection. 

These include, but are not limited to:

• Immune and Inflammatory Responses to Pathogens (including innate immune recognition and antigen presentation)
• Viral Pathogenesis (including virus-host cell interactions, but related to the immune response)

GOALS:  Funds have been made available to support Pilot/Feasibility Study grants consistent with the overall goals of the Center.  The goals of the CHI Program are to support:

• Young investigators (junior faculty or senior fellows*) working in areas that will improve our understanding of basic processes relevant to viral persistence. 
• Established investigators initiating a new area of research in their laboratories relevant to mechanisms underlying viral persistence.

The objective of a Pilot/Feasibility Study grant is to enable an investigator to complete sufficient preliminary studies to enable successful application for more substantial funding from other sources.  Pilot/Feasibility Study grants are not intended to supplement ongoing or currently funded projects.  

FUNDING:  The CHI will be funding grants of up to $50,000 direct costs through this program.  Pilot/Feasibility Study awards are made for a one-year period; a second year may be considered on a competing basis. 

APPLICATIONS:  May be obtained by sending a request to Barbara Steele via telephone at 617-724-7554 or via email at bsteele@mgh.harvard.edu.  The deadline for receipt of applications is March 4, 2016.

* Fellow must be in the final year of training and must have a documented commitment to a faculty appointment by the sponsoring unit or department.

The Andrew L. Warshaw, M.D. Institute for Pancreatic Cancer Research invites applications for pilot grant funding from MGH investigators. Applications are welcome from new investigators, established investigators in the field of pancreatic cancer, as well as senior investigators who have not previously worked in this area. The Institute is particularly interested in research directed towards identifying specific causes of pancreatic cancer; early detection, understanding factors that promote tumor growth; novel imaging modalities; understanding mechanisms of resistance to existing chemotherapy and radiation, as well as exploring novel therapeutic approaches. Basic, translational, and clinical research projects will be considered.

Awards:  Up to three pilot grants will be funded for one year at $50,000 (direct costs) renewable for a second year upon demonstration of significant progress.

Application Guidelines: 

• Principal Investigator’s NIH formatted biosketch (2-page maximum) including key references emphasizing the Principal Investigator’s publications.
• Three-page proposal including:
  • Project title with contact information for the Principal Investigator.
  • Abstract (200 words).
  • Description of project, including background, aims and experimental approaches. Graphs, tables and references are not included in the 3-page maximum.
  • Brief budget allocation.

Important Dates:

• Due date for proposals is March 18,2016.
• Proposals will be reviewed by the executive committee of the Warshaw Institute.
• Funding will begin on July 1, 2016.

Submission Instructions:

• Please submit a single PDF (and address inquiries) to:
• Daniel Salvati, Administrative Director for Research, Department of Surgery
• Email: MGHDeptOfSurgeryResearch@partners.org

The Precision Trials Challenge is a pioneering competition to generate ideas on how to bring diagnostics and therapies to market faster by reinventing the clinical trials process. From research labs to medicine cabinets, it takes at least 10 years and billions of dollars for one FDA-approved drug.

Precision medicine will bring faster innovation, targeted medicine and better treatment. Realizing the full potential of precision medicine will require a transformation of the clinical trials process. That is why the Health Care Initiative at Harvard Business School wants ideas from the scientific, patient, business, and medical communities.

For more information, click here.

Please contact Corporate & Foundation Relations in the Office of Development at devcfr@mgh.harvard.edu if you wish to submit a proposal in response to any of these funding opportunities.  Note that proposals are still routed through the standard InfoEd/Research Management process.

• Glenn/AFAR Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for Translational Research on Aging, American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR)
• Request for Blepharospasm/Meige Research Proposals, Benign Essential Blepharospasm Research Foundation, Inc. (BEBRF)
• Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award (Innovation Award), Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
• Grants, Fidelity Foundation
• Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Awards, Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF)

Please click here for further details on these funding opportunities.

We ask that all MGH Investigators interested in applying for any limited submission award submit a Letter of Intent (see detailed instructions below) to the MGH Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) by the deadline indicated for each award to be considered to receive an institutional nomination.

Process
Submit a one- to two-page Letter of Intent (LOI) to the MGH Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) via email to ecor@partners.org.  In addition to your LOI, please include an NIH Biosketch.

The letter of intent should include:

• Name of the Principal Investigator with appropriate contact information
• A descriptive title of the potential application
• Brief description of the project
• Brief description of why you specifically should be selected to receive institutional nomination for this award

In the event that there is more than one MGH investigators interested in applying for each limited submission award, the LOIs will be used to assess candidates and a review and selection process will take place.

Current Limited Submission Funding Opportunities
Please click here for more information and for our internal deadlines.

• NLM Institutional Training Grants for Research Training in Biomedical Informatics and Data Science (T15) - NEW
• Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers (EHS CC) (P30)
• National Health Education Lupus Program (NHELP)
• Consortium for Food Allergy Research: Leadership Center (UM2)
• Consortium for Food Allergy Research: Clinical Research Units (UM1)

If there is a limited submission funding opportunity you do not see listed above or you have any additional questions, please contact Erin McGivney at 617-643-6471.

For the latest National Institutes of Health notices, requests for applications, and program announcements, follow this link: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/WeeklyIndex.cfm

NIH Instrumentation Grant Programs (S10)
Deadline to Notify ECOR:  March 4, 2016

MGH ECOR Formulaic Bridge Funding Support
Application Deadline: March 7, 2016; 7th day of each month

MGH Physician and/or Scientist Development Award 2016
Application Deadline: March 18, 2016

MGH ECOR Deliberative Interim Support Funding (ISF)
Application Deadline: April 1, 2016

The Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORC-H) Pilot Feasibility Project Grants in Nutrition, Obesity, or Related Research Fields
Application Deadline:  April 1, 2016

KL2 Catalyst Medical Research Investigator Training (CMeRIT) Award
Application Deadline: April 14, 2016

Boston Biomedical Innovation Center (B-BIC) Accepting PILOT & DRIVE Grant Pre-Proposals

HMS Faculty Seminar: Managing Difficult Conversations – March 3

Clinical Research Spotlight Series: Research Subject Support and Education – March 16

SAVE THE DATE! SAC 2016 - April 6 & 7

Innovation at Partners HealthCare: Fall Newsletter

Information Systems News - Fall 2015

Partners Office for Interactions with Industry’s FY15 Annual Report

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