Research News - March 13, 2015

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Core of the Week: Cell, Tissue and Organ Resource Core

Cell, Tissue and Organ Resource Core
Director: Korkut Uygun, Ph.D.
Location: 51 Blossom Street, Boston, MA 02114

The mission of the Cell Resource Core (CRC) is to provide high quality primary cells and tissues to researchers reliably and affordably. Leveraging a new MGH technology that significantly increases the viable yield of high quality hepatocytes from human and animal donor livers, we are initially offering hepatocytes to the research community.

To learn more about the Cell, Tissue and Organ Resource Core, please click here.

2. PCORI March Newsletter: New Research and Engagement Awards; PCORnet and MS Workshops; GAO Report Issued

Please click here to read the latest news from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

EVENTS

1. Call for Abstracts! 2015 Research Fellow Poster Celebration

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

The ORCD's Research Fellow Poster Celebration will take place on May 27, 2015. The Poster Celebration highlights the excellent research being done by MGH postdoctoral fellows. The Call for Abstracts is now open! All MGH postdocs are invited to submit your research abstract now to present your research to the MGH community at this high-profile event and compete for cash prizes.

Abstracts are due Thu, Mar 19 at 5:00 pm.

Please click here for instructions and abstract submission materials.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

1. Fund for Medical Discovery (FMD) Clinical Fellowship Awards - Deadline Extended!

Applications are now being accepted by the Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) for the Fund for Medical Discovery (FMD) Clinical Fellowship Awards!

What are they?
MD fellows, PhD postdoctoral research fellows and Instructors within 5 years of the start of their fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital are encouraged to apply.
The award may be used only for salary and fringe benefits. The awards are not transferable to any other institution and will be effective on or about July 1, 2015. The awards are unrestricted as to area of study. 

How much is each award?
The awards will include a stipend of $40,000 plus applicable fringe benefits and 15% indirect costs.

When is the deadline?
Monday, March 16, 2015 - 5:00 PM

How do I learn more and apply?
Click here to read more and apply online!

For a guide to help make your application more competitive click here.  

2. MGH ECOR Deliberative Interim Support Funding

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 were awarded Formulaic Bridge Funding (grants with scores < or = 20th percentile), and are now requesting additional financial support (in excess of $75,000 for RO1s, and $37,500 for R21s).
4. 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?
Wednesday, April 1, 2015 - 5:00 PM

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

3. HMS Foundation Funds: Opportunities for Faculty and Fellows

Information on funding opportunities offered through the HMS Foundation Funds is now available online at: www.hms.harvard.edu/foundationfunds

Each year several foundations invite HMS junior faculty members and postdocs to apply for their fellowships and grants, which serve as critical funding at the early stages of a research career. For awards that limit the number of applicants from Harvard, interested investigators must first apply for the HMS nomination through the HMS Foundation Funds, and a committee will select the final candidates to submit applications to the foundations.

The following opportunities may be applied to via HMS:

• Brain Research Foundation Scientific Innovations Award
• Burroughs Wellcome Career Award for Medical Scientists
• Burroughs Wellcome Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases
• Greenwall Faculty Scholars Program
• Grunebaum Cancer Research Fellowship
• Microsoft New Faculty Fellowship Program
• Searle Scholars Program
• W.T. Grant Scholars Program

Researchers interested in applying for any of the awards listed above can apply for the HMS nomination by submitting an application online no later than Tuesday, April 7, 2015 by 5:00PM

Please join us for an informational forum on March 23, 2:00-3:00pm at HMS in the Armenise Amphitheater.

Please direct all inquiries to Betty Carbunari, Office of the HMS Dean for Academic and Clinical Affairs, 617-432-7463, Betty_Carbunari@hms.harvard.edu

The selection process for the following opportunities is handled by MGH ECOR. To view MGH’s internal process on applying for limited submission funding opportunities as well as corresponding deadlines, please click here. For more information, please visit the ECOR website.

• ADA Pathway to Stop Diabetes: Diabetes Research Accelerator Award
• ADA Pathway to Stop Diabetes: Diabetes Research Career Initiator Award
• ADA Pathway to Stop Diabetes: Diabetes Research Visionary Award
• Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation Grant
• Pew Scholars Program in Biomedical Sciences
• Smith Family Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research

If you have any questions regarding applying for a limited funding opportunity through MGH, please contact Erin McGivney at 617-643-6471.

4. 2016 Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award 

The Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals, in Cleveland, Ohio – part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development - is pleased to announce the call for applications for the 2016 Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award.  The award recognizes physician-scientists throughout the U.S. whose drug discovery research has the potential to change standard of care.  

The Harrington Discovery Institute is committed to providing Scholar-Innovator awardees with a full level of support, including:

• Up to $700,000 over two years ($100,000 guaranteed)
• Additional funding according to the needs of specific projects
• Project management support through our Innovation Support Center

Applicants must have a doctorate in medicine, be on faculty at an accredited U.S.-based academic institution, and must demonstrate exceptional promise.

Deadlines
1. Letters of Intent due May 1, 2015
2. Proposals (for those invited) due August 3, 2015

Up to 12 awardees will be selected by the Harrington Discovery Institute’s scientific advisory board and announced December 2015. For complete details and access to the Letter of Intent guidelines, please visit www.HarringtonDiscovery.org/grant. Please feel free to contact Natalie Haynes with any questions at Natalie.Haynes@HarringtonDiscovery.org.

5. 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.

• Bio-Therapeutics Impact Awards, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer (ALSF)
• 'A' Award, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer (ALSF)
• Medical Research Grants: Reach Awards, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer (ALSF)
• Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE):  Addressing Newborn and Infant Gut Health Through Bacteriophage-Mediated Microbiome Engineering, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE):  Surveillance Tools, Diagnostics and an Artificial Diet to Support New Approaches to Vector Control, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE):  New Ways to Reduce Childhood Pneumonia Deaths Through Delivery of Timely Effective Treatment, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE): New Approaches for Addressing Outdoor/Residual Malaria Transmission, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Please click here for further details on these funding opportunities.

6. 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:

• 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

In the event that there is more than one MGH investigators 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.

• NIAMS Skin Biology and Diseases Resource-based Centers (P30)
• NIAMS Musculoskeletal Biology and Medicine Resource-based Centers (P30)
• Margaret Q. Landenberger Research Foundation - NEW!
• American Diabetes Association Pathway to Stop Diabetes Research Awards
• Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation Grant
• NIAMS Rheumatic Diseases Research Resource-based Centers (P30)

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.

7. NIH Update for Week Ending March 13, 2015

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 Physician and/or Scientist Development Award 2015
Application Deadline: March 20

The Conquer Paralysis Now (CPN) Challenge
Application Deadline: April 1

Center for Skeletal Research Requests Proposals for Pilot and Feasibility Studies
Application Deadline: April 1 

MGH ECOR Formulaic Bridge Funding
Application Deadline: April 7, 7th day of each month

Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard
Application Deadline: April 22

National Comprehensive Cancer Network Request for Proposals
Application Deadline: April 27

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

Communicating within Study Teams - March 24

Bedside to Bench: Recognizing and studying patients that lead to new discoveries - March 31

2015 World Medical Innovation Forum - Neurosciences - April 27-29

New Biographical Sketch Format Required for NIH and AHRQ Grant Applications Submitted - May 25

Register for the Employee Alert System (EAS) today!

Executive Committee On Research (ECOR) Massachusetts General Hospital

50 Staniford Street, Suite 1001, Boston, MA 02114

ecor@mgh.harvard.edu