Research News - February 24, 2017

The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command's (USAMRMC) Office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) is pleased to announce the publication of the 2016 Annual Report.  During 2016, the CDMRP assisted in or completed the execution of Fiscal Year (FY)2015 appropriations by processing 918 new awards across 28 programs for the Department of Defense, Defense Health Program.  In addition, in FY16, CDMRP initiated the management of $1,065 million of appropriations across 28 programs.  Enclosed is the 2016 CDMRP Annual Report. 

The 2016 Annual Report presents an overview of the CDMRP including current programs, management cycle, vital partnerships, milestones, and scientific discoveries.

To view the Annual Report, please visit our website at:
http://cdmrp.army.mil/pubs/annreports/2016annrep/2016annreport.pdf

Monday, February 27, 2017, 4:00 - 5:00 pm, CNY 149, Isselbacher Auditorium, 7th Floor

“Tissue Logic in Epithelia”
Jayaraj Rajagopal, M.D.
Principal Investigator, Center for Regenerative Medicine (MGH)
Principal Investigator (Harvard Stem Cell Institute)
Associate Professor of Medicine (Harvard Medical School)

Tuesday, February 28, 4:00 - 5:00 pm, CNY 149, Rm 2.204

Inherited Cardiomyopathies: From Mutations to Therapies
Jonathan Seidman, PhD
Professor of Genetics
Harvard Medical School

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.

Thursday, March 2, 2017, 12:00 – 1:00 PM, CNY 149, Isselbacher Auditorium, 7th Floor

 “Clonal and cellular dynamics in germinal centers”
Gabriel Victora, PhD. Rockefeller University

Will be broadcasted MGH Bulfinch 165

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

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.

Tuesday, March 28, 10:30 am - 3:30 pm

The MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) Scientific Advisory Board invites faculty, fellows, residents, nurses and other trainees at MGH to submit abstracts describing their original child health-related research. Selected researchers will offer poster presentations at the Ninth Annual MGHfC Research Day on Tuesday, March 28 from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm.

Held on the third floor of the Simches Research Center, MGHfC’s Research Day highlights recent accomplishments and advances from MGHfC researchers, as well as scientists from the broader pediatric research community. Three outstanding abstracts will be awarded a $1000 travel grant for travel to a scientific meeting of the presenter’s choice in the following year.

For more information on MGHfC Research Day and details on submitting abstracts, visit http://www.massgeneral.org/children/research/research-day.aspx.  Authors should be in attendance from 2:15 to 3:30 pm for announcement of the travel awards.

Wednesday, April 5, Simches Auditorium 3.110

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend!

The annual MGH Celebration of Science and the Warren Triennial Prize and Symposium will be held on Wednesday, April 5, 2017 in Simches Auditorium (3.110), broadcasting to Isselbacher Auditorium at CNY 149. Click here to view the full agenda!

More information on the event, as well as our Celebration of Science book, will be sent in the near future. Stay tuned!

Please note that there will not be a formal meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) or a poster session this year.

The NIH ORIP's Shared Instrumentation Grant (S10) program, also known as a SIG, supports the purchase of research equipment in the $50,000 to $600,000 price range. Examples of instrumentation supported by SIG funding include nuclear magnetic resonance systems, electron and confocal microscopes, mass spectrometers, protein and DNA sequencers, biosensors, X-ray diffractometers and cell sorters. For research equipment exceeding the $600,000 price range, investigators may apply for the High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant Program.
The MGH Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) has again committed funding to provide institutional support this year for Shared Instrumentation Grant (S10) and High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant proposals. ECOR has made this commitment because it recognizes that institutional support greatly increases the likelihood that a S10 or HEI application will be funded.
Several required application components for submitting an S10 grant to the NIH were changed in 2014 for this call and ECOR will be preparing this information and including it with the institutional letter of support.  The changes include:

• The institution must now explicitly state a commitment to provide financial support for the proposed financial plan should a shortfall be experienced due to a lack of other grant funding or chargeback/volume fluctuations (see Sect. IV).
  • A separate communication will be sent directly to department chiefs addressing the support of financial plans for submitted applications.
• The institution must also provide a Letter of Support that includes a table that provides information about instrument performance of all previous S10 awards for instruments awarded or installed within the past five years.
  • To meet this requirement, any recipient of an S10 award from 2012-present will be asked to provide specific details that will be used to support all shared instrumentation grants going forward. A separate email will be sent directly to the PIs to which this applies.

How to Apply
Due to increased administrative components required for these grants to be submitted for review going forward, we ask that any investigator who will be seeking institutional support to fill out a Request for Consideration form and email the completed form to ecor@mgh.harvard.edu no later than Friday, March 17.

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?

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.

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 2/24/17

• Research Grant, Action for A-T
• Investigator's Award in Clinical Translation of Cell and Gene Therapy for Cancer, Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT)
• Effect of Augmentation Therapy on COPD Exacerbations in Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, Alpha-1 Foundation (A1F)
• International Research Grant Program:  Alzheimer's Association Research Fellowship to Promote Diversity (AARF-D) Program, Alzheimer's Association (ALZ)
• ASRM Research Grants (ASRM and SREI Research Grant Programs), American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM)
• PNH Research Grant, Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation, Inc. (AA&MDSIF)
• ASF, Macquarie, Pedersen Family, KFOC Alport Syndrome Research Funding Program, Kidney Foundation of Canada (KFOC)
• Center for Regulatory Excellence (CRE), National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN)
• Independent Grants for Learning & Change (IGL&C):  Track 2 - Call for Grant Applications (CGA) - Knowledge Gaps for Pharmacists in CDK 4/6 Therapies for Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment, Pfizer, Inc.
• Advancing Science through Pfizer:  Investigator Research Exchange (ASPIRE) Gene Therapy for Hemophilia Research Awards Program, Pfizer, Inc.
• Mentoring and Wellness RFP, Physicians Foundation
• Research Grants, Scoliosis Research Society (SRS)

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: March 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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