Research News- March 21,2014

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. SAC 2014 Agenda & Materials now available online!

The 67th Annual Meeting of the MGH Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) is being held on April 2 & 3, 2014.

• The agenda for SAC 2014 is now available online at the following link: http://ecor.mgh.harvard.edu/content/files/SAC/SAC2014_Agenda.pdf
   
• The Celebration of Science book contains a review of the past year in research at MGH and a summary report by Harry Orf, PhD, Sr. VP for Research, as well as profiles of the Martin and Goodman Prize winners and the SAC Keynote speaker. This is available at: http://ecor.mgh.harvard.edu/content/files/SAC/ECOR_Celebration2014.pdf
  
   
• The Poster Session Abstract book contains the 252 abstracts submitted by MGH Researchers, as well as the listing of Poster of Distinction Awards. This is available at: http://ecor.mgh.harvard.edu/content/files/SAC/ECOR_Posters2014.pdf

We hope that you will be able to attend at least part of the SAC events on April 2 & 3. Please note that all of the events, except the Poster Session, will be held in the Simches Auditorium and will also be broadcast to the Isselbacher Auditorium at CNY.

2. Core of the Week: Histopathology Research Core

Histopathology Research Core
Director: Robert B. Colvin M.D.
Location: MGH Thier Building Rm. 827, Main Campus

The Histopathology Research Core provides standard and customized research specific histology services including routine formalin fixation and paraffin embedding, and sectioning and preparation of frozen sections. The Core offers routine and special histological stains, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence, as well as digitized whole slide imaging using the Aperio Scanscope. The laboratory has experience with a wide variety of tissues and stain techniques from mice, rats, non-human primates, pigs and humans and in the development of protocols for new antibodies. Pathology consultation and interpretation is available as needed.

To learn more about the Histopathology Research Core, please click here.
 

 

3. PHS Research Management Message - March 20, 2014

Please click here to read the most recent Partners Research Management Message.

• New Application to Manage Access in Insight and InfoEd
• NIH FY2014 Policies on Fiscal Operations and Legislative Mandates
• Changes to Annual FSRs due in April and Final FSRs due in May
• Volunteers Needed to Address Operational Changes as part of the LOC Subaccount Process
• Reminder: Effort Reporting Begins April 1st
• New Forum to learn more about the Partners Enterprise Research Portal
• RM Training Update
• Government Affairs Update: Brigham Report: Sex-Specific Medical Research
• Boston Biomedical Innovation Center (B-BIC) Launches PILOT and DRIVE Grants

EVENTS

1. Join the Research Technical Lunch via WebEx

Thursday, March 27, 12:00-2:00 PM

The monthly Tech Lunch is an important forum for research IT administrators and managers to engage with ERIS, Partners IS and each other regarding services, technologies, security and infrastructure. To ensure the research community is represented in this forum, ERIS would like to invite you to participate in tech lunches via WebEx. Subscribe to the mailing list and you will be sent the WebEx information a couple days before the event. At the March Tech Lunch, Scott McNeal, Manager of Research Applications and Analytics at PHS, and his team will present an overview of research applications and analytics. Andrew Chase, Vice President of Research Management and Research Finance at PHS will present a research management case study on the role of IS in a successful change management environment. Visit the website and contact rcc@partners.org with any questions about Tech Lunch.

2. Budgeting for Industry Sponsored Clinical Trials

Thursday, April 24, 2:30pm to 4:00 pm, Simches 3.110

This program is sponsored by the MGH Clinical Research Program and the Partners Clinical Research Office

Francine Molay, Project Manager, MGH Clinical Research Program
Megan Hunt, Financial Analyst Specialist, Partners Clinical Research Office
Sarah Bednar, Financial Analyst/MCA Specialist, Partners Clinical Research Office

This course will review the steps for developing an industry sponsored - clinical trial budget, describe direct costs, indirect costs, professional and technical fees, discuss the role of a Medicare Coverage Analysis and review the MGH budget approval process highlighting the role of the Partners Clinical Research Office (PCRO). An overview and live demonstration of Budget Builder will also be presented.

This session meets the requirements of the Board of Registration in Nursing, at 244 CMR 5.00, for 1.5 contact hours of nursing continuing education.

Registration is required. Please contact Jillian Tonelli with any questions.

3. CRP Spotlight Series: Best Practices for Training a New Clinical Research Coordinator

Wednesday, April 9th, 12:00pm - 1:00pm, Simches Room 3.110

Mallory Hillard, Clinical Research Coordinator II, MGH Diabetes Research Center
Kristen Dalton, Clinical Research Coordinator II, MGH Diabetes Research Center
Camille Collings, Office Manager, MGH Diabetes Research Center

Are you responsible for hiring clinical research coordinators? OR Are you a newly hired clinical research coordinator wondering, "What should I know?"

If so, please join us for this Spotlight Series. Clinical Research Coordinators from the MGH Diabetes Center will discuss the Center's departmental orientation/training program and suggest ways for other departments to develop a similar training program. This session will also help newly-hired clinical research coordinators learn about resources at MGH.

Registration is required. Contact Jillian Tonelli with further questions about this session.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

1. The Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award

The Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award recognizes physician-scientists throughout the U.S. whose research has the potential to change standard of care.

The Award provides inventive physician-scientists the resources to advance their discoveries:

• An unrestricted award of $100,000
• Additional funding based on the needs of the project
• Direct strategic and project management support through our Innovation Support Center

Deadlines:

• Letter of Intent: Friday, May 2, 2014 at 5:00 PM, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).
• Full Proposal (for those invited): Friday, August 1, 2014 at 5:00 PM, EDT.
   

Application Instructions and Policies: For complete list of instructions and to review the grant policies, please visit HarringtonDiscovery.org/grant.

For more information on the LOI requirements, please click here.

Questions: Please email HDIquestions@UHhospitals.org or call 216-983-3472.
 

2. ALSF Announces New $1.5 Million Bio-Therapeutics Impact Grant

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation is excited to offer our new Bio-Therapeutics Impact Grant, totaling a maximum of $1.5 million over three years. This grant will fill a critical funding niche in our research Accelerator Program by empowering investigators to initiate clinical trials for promising and novel biologic approaches to treating childhood cancer.

According to David G. Poplack, MD, PhD, and ALSF Scientific Advisory Board Member, this new grant category is unique because it maximizes recent advances in biomedical research making it possible to develop new treatments that harness a patient's own immune system to fight their cancer or apply new biologically based treatments to target specific childhood cancers.

Please click here to review the guidelines. Deadline: June 12, 2014

Questions? Contact Jenny Filer at Grants@AlexsLemonade.org or (610) 649-3034.

3. Limited Submission 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:
1. Name of the Principal Investigator with appropriate contact information
2. A descriptive title of the potential application
3. Brief description of the project
4. 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 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.

• Population Dynamics Centers Research Infrastructure FY 2014 (P2C)
• Botanical Dietary Supplement Research Centers (BDSRC) (P50)
• Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers 2014 (U54)
• Alzheimer's Disease Core Centers (P30)
• Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers (P50)
• Charles H. Hood Foundation Major Grants Initiative to Advance Child Health
• Diabetes Research Centers (P30)
• Consortium for Food Allergy Research (U19)
• Jointly Sponsored Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Institutional Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences (T32)
• Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation Grant
• Cystic Fibrosis Research and Translation Core Center (P30)
• American Diabetes Association Pathway to Stop Diabetes Research Awards

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.

4. 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.

• Peter G. Pentchev Research Fellowship, National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation (NNPDF)
• Another Look: Better Health for Elders in Care Facilities, Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation
• Woman to Woman Support Groups, Ovarian Cancer Research Fund
• Gut-Brain Interactions and Treatment of Autism-Associated GI Disorders, Autism Speaks

Please click here for further details on these funding opportunities.
 

5. NIH Update for Week Ending March 21, 2014

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

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Reminders of recently posted funding opportunities, deadlines and events

MGH ECOR Deliberative Interim Support Funding
Application Deadline: April 1

MGH ECOR Sequestration Relief Funding
Application Deadline: April 1

Orientation Program: Clinical Research Resources at MGH - March 27

Connecting Immunologists across Harvard: Junior Faculty Retreat - March 31

IRB Roundtable Series: Part I: Continuing Review and Amendments - April 3

Applied Biostatistics for Clinical Trials - April 9, 16, 23 & 30

Epigenetics: An Introduction and Applications - April 15

Executive Committee On Research (ECOR) Massachusetts General Hospital

50 Staniford Street, Suite 1001, Boston, MA 02114

ecor@partners.org