Research News- Oct. 11, 2013

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Dr. Slavin's Annual Conversation with the Research Community - slides posted!

Dr. Slavin provided a review of the past year in Research and Dr. Orf provided an update on the progress made by the CROI Initiative. The presentation is now available online for anyone who missed it by clicking here.

2. Save money on MATLAB software license purchases through ERIS group buy

Enterprise Research Infrastructure & Services (ERIS) is coordinating a group buy of MATLAB Software for all MGH faculty and staff. Email rcc@partners.org with your MATLAB software needs by Thursday, October 31, 2013.

3. Core of the Week: PMB Microscope Core

PMB Microscope Core
Director: Dennis Brown, PhD
Location: 185 Cambridge St., Simches Building, 8th Floor, Boston

The Microscopy Core of the Program in Membrane Biology (PMB) at MGH is equipped and staffed to provide a wide range of services to investigators from MGH and the Boston area scientific community in the area of light and electron microscopy. The Core is housed on the 8th floor of the Simches Research Center at MGH, and is directed by Dr. Dennis Brown, Ph.D. The Core will provide services ranging from complete performance of the technical procedures required, to full training of personnel. Among the techniques available are laser scanning confocal microscopy, spinning disk confocal microscopy, tissue fixation, sectioning, immunostaining and conventional immunofluorescence microscopy, image analysis, and all aspects of electron microscopy including immunogold staining. The Core facility provides a unique and important resource for members of the scientific community as they approach a variety of research problems that call for these advanced microscopy techniques.

To learn more about the PMB Microscope Core please click here.

4. Partners Research Management Message - October 10, 2013

Please click here to read the latest Partners Research Management Message.

• Government Shutdown Update
• FY14 Indirect Cost Rates & Fringe Benefit Rates
• New Workflow Changes to PeopleSoft HRMS Transactions
• InfoEd PD Now Offers Progressive Search for Entering Personnel to Budgets
• Insight 3.4 Released September 27, 2013
• Partners Enterprise Apple Support (PEAS) Program
• Partners Guide to Charging Expenses to Sponsored Projects, Revised 10/1/13
• Updated Financial Reporting Policy
• Upcoming RM Training Classes

EVENTS

1. Workshop on Study Design: Using MGH Clinical Care Data for Clinical Effectiveness Research

Wednesdays, November 5, 12, 19, December 10* & 17, Simches 3.130, 3:30 - 5:00 pm

Sponsored by the MGH Clinical Research Program

James Meigs, MD, MPH, Director, MGH Clinical Research Program's Clinical Effectiveness Research Unit
Clemens Hong, MD, Instructor in Medicine, HMS, Co-Director, MGH Clinical Research Program's Clinical Effectiveness Research Unit

The Clinical Research Program is offering a five-session seminar series on Clinical Effectiveness Research in the fall of 2013. Throughout these sessions, distinguished faculty will take participants step-by-step through the process of designing an outcomes study using MGH clinical care data.

In parallel to didactic teaching, participants will be expected to develop their own projects, obtain Medical Records IRB approval, submit an RPDR query, and present their work for critical feedback by the end of the course.

Essential curriculum content will include: framing a testable hypothesis, developing a testable hypothesis, using MGH clinical care data, using the Research Patient Data Registry and transforming clinical care data into analytic datasets.

Office hours on Medical Records IRB submission and the RPDR will be offered to assist those who need additional guidance.

Please note that there is a moderate amount of work required outside of the classroom for this course. If you register for this course, please make sure you will be able to devote some time outside of class to complete the assignments.

Enrollment is limited to 20 participants to facilitate interaction and individual attention. Application and approval is required. To ensure placement in the course, early registration is recommended.

*The session on Wednesday, December 10th will be a hands-on computer lab. Each participant must bring a laptop to this session (connected to the Partners network) for an RPDR workshop.

To register for this course and/or view a course outline, click Clinical Effectiveness. Please contact Molly Morrow.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

1. MGH ECOR Formulaic Bridge Funding Support

The Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) offers Formulaic Bridge Funding Support to assist MGH Principal Investigators (PIs) during a lapse or delay in their research funding from the NIH. To be eligible for Formulaic Bridge Funding, applicants must have applied as a PI for an R01 or R21 NIH grant to support an independent, long-term research program.

The Formulaic Bridge process is open to:
1. Investigators whose grants received a score < or = 20th percentile and have received written communication from the NIH that the grant will not be funded.
2. Investigators whose grants received a fundable score (< or = 20th percentile), but are three months past the nominal start date of their NIH grant.

Applications deadline: 7th day of each month

Click here for additional information and to apply.

2. Private Funding Opportunities

Please contact Corporate & Foundation Relations in the Office of Development at devcfr@partners.org 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.

• Clinical Scientist Development Award, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
• Joint Grant Awards Program (JGAP), American Academy of Family & American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation
• McKnight Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Awards, McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience
• Pediatric Health Grants, Gerber Foundation
• Pediatric Nutrition Grants, Gerber Foundation
• Environmental Hazards Grants (Nutrient Competitors Grants), Gerber Foundation
• Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative: Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Clinical Effectiveness Research Funding, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Please click here for further details on these funding opportunities.

3. NIH Update for Week Ending October 11, 2013

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/10-11-13/

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Reminders of recently posted funding opportunities, deadlines and events

NIH Director's Early Independence Awards (DP5)
MGH Letter of Intent Due Date: November 1, 2013
Click here for more information.

MGH Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Pilot/Feasibility Study Grants
Application Deadline: October 15, 2013 - Deadline Extended!

HMS Foundation Funds
Application Deadline: October 16, 2013

2014 Howard M. Goodman Fellowship
Application deadline: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - Midnight

Bullock-Wellman Postdoctoral Fellowship
Application deadline: November 1, 2013

Charles A. King Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program
Application deadline: December 16, 2013

What Does the IRB Really Want? How to Write a Human Studies Protocol - October 16

Getting Started With REDCap - October 17

Study Electronic Data Capture: REDCap and StudyTRAX - October 23

IRB Hot Topics: IRB Implications of Survey Research - October 23

Save the Date: Research Core Day - December 2