Research News - February 10, 2017

Please click here to read the latest news from the NIH Office for Extramural Research

2.  International Travel Tips for Visa Holders
PIPS Advisors have updated their tips for international travelers in light of a temporary restraining order issued on February 3, 2017 that prohibits federal government agencies from enforcing the Executive Order of January 27, 2017. The temporary restraining order's effect on travel is immediate and nationwide, but its duration is unknown; litigation is already underway today. If you are considering travel to the U.S. or international travel from the U.S. in the near future, please review this updated advice on the PIPS website.

If you have questions about your individual circumstances, please contact pips@partners.org

Please click here to read the Winter release of the Partners Innovation newsletter.

Tuesday, February 14, 4:00 – 5:00 pm, CNY149, Rm. 2.204

The Role of Circulating Transcripts in Disease and Inflammation
Jane E. Freedman, MD
Professor of Medicine
Director, Translational Research
University of Massachusetts Medical School

Thursday, February 16, 12:00 PM, CNY 149, Isselbacher Auditorium, 7th Floor
Will be broadcasted to MGH Bulfinch 165

“Genetically modified T cells as drugs”
Marcela Maus, MD, PhD. MGH

Contact Person – Fiona Chen (617/726-1527)
http://www.massgeneral.org/ciid/ourseminars/seminarseries.aspx

Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 12:00 - 1:00 pm, MGH campus, details with registration

The Center for Faculty Development's Office for Research Career Development presents a seminar for HMS faculty and trainees.

Expanding from Basic to Translational Research
Would you like to develop your basic research program to include translational science?

This panel discussion will help you achieve this goal with advice from basic scientists who have successfully funded translational projects, and established translational researchers. You will also hear about resources and collaboration opportunities that MGH basic scientists can use to grow their research programs in new directions.

Panelists: Sylvie Breton, PhD, Professor of Medicine, HMS; Program in Membrane Biology/Nephrology Division; Center for Systems Biology, MGH
Mason W. Freeman, MD, Professor of Medicine, HMS; Director, Translational Research Center, MGH
M. Korkut Uygun, PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery (Bioengineering), HMS; Deputy Director of Research, Shriners Hospitals for Children; Director, Cell Resource Core, MGH

Please click here to register or email orcd@partners.org.

Tuesday, March 14, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Simches, 3rd Floor

Please join us for the 7th Annual Research Administrators Retreat. 

All MGH Department Administrators (Grant Administrators, Grant Coordinators, Grant Managers, Research Coordinators, Staff Assistants, Support Staff, etc.) and Partners Central Administrators are invited to attend, as well as any interested investigators.  The retreat will be equally beneficial to those who are new to research administration and those who have been in the field for years.  The retreat will also be a great opportunity to network with your colleagues.

An agenda will be released on the Research Intranet page shortly.  Please keep checking back.

Tuesday, March 14, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm, Simches 2nd Floor, Garrod/Mendel Conference Room

Melissa Frumin, MD Chair, Partners Human Research Committee

Specific categories of human subject research can be approved via the expedited review procedure if it presents no more than minimal risk to subjects. IRB Chair, Melissa Frumin, MD, will offer insight into what qualifies as minimal risk, the categories of research that are eligible for expedited review and the ethical issues surrounding minimal risk studies.

Mondays, March 27, April 3, 10 & 25, 2:30 – 4:30pm, Simches Research Building, Garrod/Mendel Conference Room

This course is sponsored by the MGH Division of Clinical Research and the Mongan Institute Health Policy Center.

Course Director: Karen Donelan, ScD, EdM

Course Description 
This course is designed to prepare health professionals with an introduction to theory and practice in the design and conduct of surveys. Course topics will include all phases of the survey process: matching research design to data needs, understanding the role of qualitative research in survey development, probability and non-probability sampling methods, developing questions and questionnaires, choosing modes and methods of data collection, issues in analyzing and reporting survey data, and the effective presentation and reporting of survey findings to relevant audiences.

Session 1: March 27
2:30 – 3:30pm - Lecture: Overview of Survey Design and Methods
3:30 – 4:30pm - Mini Conferences (sign-up required)

Session 2: April 3
2:30 – 3:30pm: Lecture:Questions and Questionnaires
3:30 – 4:30pm: Mini Conferences (sign-up required)

Session 3: April 10
2:30 – 3:30pm: Lecture:Data Collection Methods
3:30 – 4:30pm: Judging the quality of survey studies: Journal Club

Session 4:  April 25
2:30 – 4:30pm: Lecture IRB: Rules and Regulations Regarding the Conduct of Survey Research

** Incomplete applications will not be considered **

Register here. Please contact Tiereny Morrison-Rohlfs with any questions.

Thursdays, March 2, 9, 16, 23, 1:30 - 3:00 pm, Simches 3.110

Sponsored by the MGH Division of Clinical Research and the MGH Biostatistics Center

Brian Healy, PhD, MGH Biostatistics Center

This four-session seminar series will be offered on Thursdays in March. In this series, participants will review the statistical approach to problems commonly encountered in research. Each of the four sessions will focus on a different theme using concrete and realistic examples. In particular, you will learn how to perform specific types of analyses in the class using the statistical package called R, which is a free software package. This course is intended for investigators who are interested in clinical research.

Speaker: Brian Healy, PhD, MGH Biostatistics Center

Course Outline:
Session 1 – Introduction to statistics and computing
Session 2 – Linear regression
Session 3 – Survival Analysis
Session 4 – Repeated Measures

You can download R from this website http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/R/CRAN/. R is a very powerful statistical package. The dataset that we will analyze each week will be posted course site. The datasets will be saved in comma delimited format, which can be imported into all statistical packages

Registration is required. Please contact Tiereny Morrison-Rohlfs at tmorrison-rohlfs@partners.org with any questions.

The Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) is accepting applications for the April 3rd deadline for the Deliberative Interim Support Funding.  April is the second of three standing deadlines for these awards in Fiscal Year 2017.  The next deadline will be August 1, 2017.  

What are they?
This is open to Principal Investigators during a lapse or delay in their research funding from the NIH or another Federal agency (e.g., the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense).  Investigators must have applied for independent, long-term support (R01, R21, U01 and P01).  The Deliberative Interim Support process is open to:

1. Investigators whose grants were not scored or whose scores were not translated into a percentile ranking.
2. Investigators whose grants received scores >20th percentile.
3. Investigators who have already received Formulaic Bridge Funding or Deliberative Interim Support on their A0 grant application and are now requesting support for their A1 or A0 resubmission.  Investigators in this category must apply through the Deliberative Interim Support process for their A1 and A0 resubmission regardless of the score they received on their resubmitted grant.

When is the deadline?
Monday, April 3, 2017 - 5:00 PM

How do I learn more and apply?
Deliberative Interim Support Funding - Click here

Four Year Award for Investigators who are Underrepresented in Academic Medicine*
*Basic, Clinical, Translational, and Health Services investigators are all eligible

Applications for grants are invited by the MGH Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI), and the Executive Committee on Research (ECOR). 

What is the Award?
The MGH Physician/Scientist Development Award (PSDA) is designed for MD and/or PhD investigators at MGH who are considered underrepresented in academic medicine (URM). This Award is intended to provide transitional funding for support in the development of physicians and scientists underrepresented in academic medicine, and thereby increase opportunities for URM researchers to advance to senior positions in academic medicine at MGH.  The CDI will evaluate the need for this Award on a regular basis.

Am I URM (Underrepresented in Medicine)?
For the purposes of the PSDA, MGH follows the definition of underrepresented in medicine and biomedical research (URM) of the NIH and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).  URM groups may include Latino/ Hispanic (including Brazilian), African-American/Black, American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Alaskan Natives, among others. Please note that Asians are not considered URM, UNLESS they are underrepresented relative to the population MGH serves, e.g., Cambodian or Laotian.

How much is the award?
A maximum of $120,000.00 will be awarded to be spent over a three or four-year period, with a maximum of $40,000.00 per year of funding in direct costs, plus 15% for indirect costs.

When is the deadline?
Thursday, March 2, 2017 – 5:00 PM

Applications are due March 10, 2017
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 10, 2017.

* 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.  

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

If there is more than one MGH investigator 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.

• Asthma and Allergic Diseases Cooperative Research Centers (U19)
• FY17 Partnerships to Achieve Health Equity
• CTSA Program Data to Health (CD2H) Coordinating Center (U24)

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.

Please note that any grant that brings in less than 15% in indirect costs (IDC) will need to be supplemented up to the 15% equivalent by existing investigator or departmental sundry funds. Resolution of this issue must occur prior to submission of the award.

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.

Week of 2/3/17

• International Project Grant, Action on Hearing Loss (Trading Name of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People ([RNID])
• TRIH Grant, Action on Hearing Loss (Trading Name of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People ([RNID])
• ASF, Pedersen Family, KFOC Alport Syndrome Research Funding Program, Alport Syndrome Foundation (ASF)
• Junior Investigator Award, Supported by the AACAP Research Initiative, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)
• Career Guidance for Trainees (CGT), Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF)
• NBA & GE Healthcare Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Collaboration Call for Proposals: Myotendinous Injuries, General Electric (GE)/GE Healthcare Worldwide
• Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize, Jacobs Foundation
• Career Transition Fellowships, National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS)
• Collaborative MS Research Center Awards, National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS)
• Research Grants, National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS)
• Sylvia Lawry Physician Fellowship Program (Sylvia Lawry Physician Fellowship Award for Training in MS Clinical Trials), National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS)
• Policies for Action:  Policy and Law Research to Build a Culture of Health (P4A), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
• Grants for Research and Development Projects, Stiftelsen Promobilia - Promobilia Foundation

Week of 2/10/17

• Grant Program, ABMRF/The Foundation for Alcohol Research
• International Research Grant Program:  Alzheimer's Association Research Fellowship (AARF), Alzheimer's Association (ALZ)
• Core Program - Training Awards - Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship (PMF), American Diabetes Association (ADA)
• Core Program - Development Awards - Junior Faculty Development (JFD), American Diabetes Association (ADA)
• Core Program - Training Awards - Postdoctoral Fellowship (PDF), American Diabetes Association (ADA)
• Core Awards - Research Awards - Innovative Clinical or Translational Science (ICTS), American Diabetes Association (ADA)
• Core Program - Research Awards:  Innovative Basic Science Awards, American Diabetes Association (ADA)
• New Investigator Awards in Alzheimer's Disease, American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR)
• Limited Project Grants (LPG), American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS)/Research Foundation of ASCRS
• Career Development Award, American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS)/Research Foundation of ASCRS
• Clinical Studies on Benign Colorectal Disorders, American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS)/Research Foundation of ASCRS
• SSAT and Research Foundation Joint Award, American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS)/Research Foundation of ASCRS
• International Fellowship Grant, American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS)/Research Foundation of ASCRS
• NARSAD Young Investigator Grant (YI Grant), Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF)
• Request for Applications, Foundation for Prader-Willi Research (FPWR)
• Career Development Award, Lupus Foundation of America (LFA)
• NHF-Baxtalta Clinical Fellowship Program, National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF)
• Prader-Willi Syndrome Research, Prader-Willi Syndrome Association (USA)
• PCF Challenge Award, Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF)
• Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
• Coordinating Efforts to Enhance Hospitals' Role in Population Health (EHPH Solicitation), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) 
• ERF-SNMMI Molecular Imaging Research Grant for Junior Academic Faculty, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI)/Education and Research Foundation for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging

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

MGH ECOR Formulaic Bridge Funding Support
Application Deadline: February 7, 2017; 7th day of each month

KL2 Catalyst Medical Research Investigator Training (CMeRIT) Award
Application Deadline: March 30

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

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