Research News - April 4, 2014

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Join the Amazon Web Services Discussion List

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a collection of remote computing services that together make up a cloud computing platform, offered over the Internet by Amazon.com. Amazon has signed a Business Associate Agreement with Partners and is an approved vendor in eBuy. Are you currently using AWS? Enterprise Research Infrastructure & Services (ERIS) has set up an email discussion list for the AWS community to collectively share experiences and insight. Subscribe online to join the AWS forum. Please contact rcc@partners.org if you have any questions or concerns.

2. Core of the Week: Mouse Imaging Program

Mouse Imaging Program
Director: Matthias Nahrendorf, MD, PhD
Location: Simches 8th Floor

The Mouse Imaging Program (MIP) at the Center for Systems Biology is a uniquely integrated imaging resource providing the larger Harvard/MIT research community with access to state-of-the-art in vivo imaging technologies.

The program offers magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET-CT), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT-CT), computed tomography (CT), bioluminescence (BLI), fluorescence mediated tomography (FMT), and various other fluorescence imaging technologies. The fully integrated program also provides mouse holding facilities for serial imaging, surgery, anesthesia and veterinary care. Image reconstruction, 3D display, fusion, quantitative image analysis and online data access are also available. The program performs its own research, aimed at continuously improving existing imaging technologies and has a deep knowledge of cardiovascular, oncology and neurological mouse models of disease.

A list of publications made possible by utilizing MIP resources is available on the Program Website.

Imaging requests may be submitted through the MIP Website.

To learn more about the Mouse Imaging Program, please click here.
 

3. PHS Government Affairs Update - March 28, 2014

Please click here to read the latest update from the PHS Government Affairs office.

4. NIH Update: May Due Date Adjustments; Measuring Biomedical Research Purchasing Power; Collecting Data on Postdoc Benefits

Please click here to read the NIH Extramural Nexus update.

EVENTS

1. CRP Spotlight Series: Epic Research Functionality Overview

Wednesday, April 23, 12:00pm - 1:30pm, Simches Room 3.110

Sponsored by the MGH Clinical Research Program and the Partners eCare Research Team

Join us for a discussion on Epic research functionality and the impact it will have on your current workflow. This overview will introduce you to Epic and provide you with the information necessary to begin talking about how you and your colleagues will incorporate these changes into your workflow.

You will be provided with a high level overview of the research activities that will be conducted through Epic. These activities include:

• Subject/Patient Enrollments to Specific Protocols
• Scheduling of Appointments/Registration of Patients
• Research Charge Review

**Lunch will be provided**

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

2. Research Nurse Book Club

April 22, 2014, 12:00pm - 1:00pm, Garrod/Mendel Conference Room

The mission of the Research Nurse Roundtable is to provide a forum for nurses who work in clinical research to discuss issues common to their practice. The roundtable meets once a month and is led by experienced research nurses in collaboration with the MGH Clinical Research Program Education Unit. This forum provides a great opportunity for knowledge sharing, problem solving, peer support and community building.

We are very pleased to announce the next selection of the Research Nurse Book Club. We will be discussing The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby. Book club is open to anyone who has read the book or who is interested in hearing more about it.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly can be found at Amazon.com, public libraries or your local bookstore.

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

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

1. MGH-MIT RFA Announcement: "Transforming Diagnosis"

Investigators and research leadership at MGH and MIT have been working for the past year to establish an MIT-MGH Strategic Partnership. The first Grand Challenge in this partnership is entitled Transforming Diagnostics and has been the subject of two workshops to date. Based on discussions at these workshops and in other venues, on behalf of co-chairs Charlie Sodini and David Louis, the MIT-MGH Strategic Partnership is pleased to announce the new RFA and call for proposals.

MGH-MIT Strategic Partnership Grand Challenge 1: Diagnostics
Make diagnosis cost-effective and accurate, and guide individual clinical decisions based on real-time monitoring and massive patient data sets.

Award Types and Amounts:

• 2 (two) “large” grants at $150,000 (total costs) per team per year for up to 2 years
• 4 (four) "small" at $50,000 (total costs) per team per year for 1 year
• 3 (three) “continuation" projects at $50,000 (total costs) per team for 1 year, to follow a "small" project

Letter of Intent: E-mail notification is required by May 15, 2014 if you plan on submitting a proposal. Letters of intent should include the names of the principal investigators and a brief description of the project. Write to: rdfadel@mit.edu AND to ecor@partners.org

Full Proposal Submission Date: June 16, 2014

Project Start Date: September 1, 2014

Submission Information: Letters of intent and applications should be submitted electronically to: rdfadel@mit.edu AND to ecor@partners.org

To learn more about the MGH-MIT Strategic Partnership and to view the complete RFA, please click here.
 

2. 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.

• Charles H. Hood Foundation Major Grants Initiative to Advance Child Health
• Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus: Network Leadership Center (UM2)
• Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus: Network Research Sites (UH2/UH3)
• Team-Based Design in Biomedical Engineering Education (R25) - NEW!
• The NEI Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Program Award (K12) – NEW!
• NIH Blueprint Program for Enhancing Neuroscience Diversity through Undergraduate Research Education Experiences (R25) - NEW!
• Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (UG1)
• Data Coordinating Center for the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (U01)
• 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
• Atopic Dermatitis Research Network (ADRN) (U19)

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.
 

3. Private Funding Opportunities

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.

• Antonio Champalimaud Vision Award, Champalimaud Foundation
• 2014 Shields Award, Child Neurology Foundation
• Edward H. Schuchman Research Fellowship, National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation
• Alton Ochsner Research Scholarship, American Association for Thoracic Surgery
• Institutional Research Training Grants, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Foundation

Please click here for further details on these funding opportunities.
 

4. NIH Update for Week Ending April 4, 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

The Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award
Letter of Intent Deadline: May 2

Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard Pilot Feasibility Project Applications in Nutrition, Obesity or Related Research Fields
Application Deadline: May 15

CRP Spotlight Series: Best Practices for Training a New Clinical Research Coordinator - April 9

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

Epigenetics: An Introduction and Applications - April 15

Budgeting for Industry Sponsored Clinical Trials - April 24

Executive Committee On Research (ECOR) Massachusetts General Hospital

50 Staniford Street, Suite 1001, Boston, MA 02114

ecor@partners.org