Research News

Research News - September 11, 2015

September 11, 2015

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. The MGH/Timilty Science Fair Mentoring Program needs you!
2. Core of the Week: Ragon Institute Imaging Core
3. PCORI - Cancer Twitter Chat; Applicants to Review Research Sought; Applicant Town Halls
4. NIH Update: We Want Your Input on Simplifying Application Instructions; PMCID or PMID?; Understanding NIH Forms Expirations

EVENTS

1. Seminar for HMS Postdocs – MGH ECOR Fellowships for Postdocs: How to Write a Competitive Application
2. Abstract Development Class - Nursing Research Day

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

1. The MGH Research Scholars Program
2. MGH ECOR Formulaic Bridge Support
3. Yvonne L. Munn Nursing Research Award
4. Request for Proposals – Innovation Travel Award
5. Private Funding Opportunities
6. Limited Submission Funding Opportunities
7. NIH Update for Week Ending September 11, 2015

In Case You Missed It

Reminders of recently posted funding opportunities, deadlines and events

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. The MGH/Timilty Science Fair Mentoring Program needs you!

Mentors make a difference! Encourage and empower a motivated student!

The MGH Youth Programs team is seeking volunteers to mentor Boston Middle School students through their science fair projects. Mentors meet with students at MGH or the Charlestown Navy Yard on two Friday mornings each month, October through January. No particular expertise in mentoring or science fair projects needed! The MGH Youth Programs team provides ongoing mentor training and support. For more information, please contact Tracy Stanley at 617-724-6424 or tstanley2@partners.org.

2. Core of the Week: Ragon Institute Imaging Core

Ragon Institute Imaging Core
Director: Galit Alter, Ph.D.
Location: 400 Technology Square, room 910, Cambridge, MA 02139

The mission of the Ragon Institute Imaging Core is to bring the latest imaging modalities to bear on fundamental molecular and cell biological questions pertaining to infectious diseases. As an MGH core, it also serves the greater MGH community in all aspects of microscopy, flow cytometry and cell sorting. The Flow Cytometry division of the Ragon Institute Imaging Core is located on the 9th floor of 400 Technology Square in Cambridge. The core offers training, assistance, and access to flow cytometers and other instrumentation. Consultation is provided on experimental design. Our high speed cell sorter is situated in a BL2+ facility, permitting sorting of fixed or live samples with up to BL2+ containment.

For more information about the Ragon Institute Imaging Core please click here.

3. PCORI - Cancer Twitter Chat; Applicants to Review Research Sought; Applicant Town Halls

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

4. NIH Update: We Want Your Input on Simplifying Application Instructions; PMCID or PMID?; Understanding NIH Forms Expirations

Please click here to read the NIH Extramural Nexus.

EVENTS

1. Seminar for HMS Postdocs – MGH ECOR Fellowships for Postdocs: How to Write a Competitive Application

Thursday, September 17, 2015, 12:00 - 1:00 pm, Charlestown Navy Yard (details upon registration)

The Center for Faculty Development’s Office for Research Career Development presents a seminar for MGH Postdocs with HMS academic appointments.

This session will help you understand the highly competitive Tosteson and Fund for Medical Discovery (FMD) application process, including:

When is the best time to apply?
What factors do reviewers consider in ranking your application?
How can you increase your chance of receiving an award?

MGH ECOR Fellowships for Postdocs: How to Write a Competitive Application
Speakers/Co-chairs of ECOR Review Committee:
Iain Drummond, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, MGH Renal Unit
Kristin White, PhD, Associate Professor of Dermatology, MGH Cutaneous Biology Research Center

Postdocs with HMS academic appointments please click here to register by Mon, Sep 14, 2015.

2. Abstract Development Class - Nursing Research Day

Monday, September 21, 12:00 - 1:00 pm, Founders Building, 3rd Floor, Room 311

Have you been working on a research, evidence-based practice or quality improvement project? Have you thought about submitting an abstract for the annual Nursing Research Day held in May?

Please attend this helpful session to learn how to write an abstract.

Instructor: Sara E. Looby, PhD, ANP-BC, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Please Register by September 16th to slooby@mgh.harvard.edu

Due Date for Abstracts for Nursing Research Day: January 11, 2016

Updated information regarding abstract submission will be available on our website this fall. The three categories for abstract submissions include: Original Research, Evidence-Based Practice, and Quality Improvement.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

1. The MGH Research Scholars Program

Applications are now being accepted by the Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) for the MGH Research Scholars Program

What is it?
The Massachusetts General Hospital Research Scholars Program was established with the aim of supporting MGH research faculty who are pursuing either fundamental (basic) or clinical research at the level of Assistant, Associate or Full Professor. The intent of these awards is to support the careers of outstanding MGH investigators doing cutting-edge research that is highly innovative and expected to result in fundamental scientific discoveries and/or clinical applications.

How much is each award?
These awards are for $500,000 over 5 years; and will be funded at $100,000 per year, including 15% indirect costs.

When is the deadline?
Tuesday, November 10, 2015 – 5:00 PM

How do I learn more and apply?

Click here to read more and apply online.
Click here to see a list of past recipients.
Visit the ECOR website for other funding opportunities.

2. MGH ECOR Formulaic Bridge Support

The Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) is accepting applications for Formulaic Bridge Funding Support.

What are they?
Formulaic Bridge Funding Support is offered 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:

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

When is the deadline?
7th day of each month

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

3. Yvonne L. Munn Nursing Research Award

Are you interested in applying for Yvonne L. Munn Nursing Research Award?

Eligible members of the MGH clinical nursing staff (registered RN, permanent benefits-eligible MGH employee of at least 20 hours per week in a staff nurse role) are invited to apply for a Munn Nursing Research Award to pursue a clinical investigation arising out of day-to-day practice. Your research team must include a PhD-prepared nurse mentor.

To set up an appointment to learn more about the Munn Award, please email: Kim Francis, PhD, RN or Mary Larkin, MS, RN.

Letter of Intent due: October 16
Proposal due: December 11

For general information about the Munn Award, please visit the Munn Center website.

4. Request for Proposals – Innovation Travel Award

The Center for Skeletal Research based in the Endocrine Unit at MGH, and funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (NIAMS) is announcing a request for applications for an Innovation Travel Award. This award will provide up to $5,000 for an investigator to travel to an outside laboratory to gain expertise in novel methodologies used for skeletal analyses and to help integrate these new technologies into one of the Research Cores upon return to Boston. These funds will subsidize travel, hotel, meals and reagent costs required for integration of the service into a Core.

Submission deadline is Thursday, October 15, 2015 at 5pm EST. Funding is anticipated to be available on or before December 1, 2015. Travel must be completed by Thursday, April 30, 2016.

For more information, go to https://csr.mgh.harvard.edu/travel-award.

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.

Wendy Walk/ACGT Sarcoma Clinical Research Grant, Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT)
ADDF/Belfer ApoE Therapeutics Innovation Program, Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)
AFSP Annual Grant Cycle: Innovation Grants: Young Investigator Grants, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
AFSP Annual Grant Cycle: Innovation Grants: Standard Research Grants, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
Clinical Neuroscience Research Grant Program, Dana Foundation
John J. Wasmuth Postdoctoral Fellowships, Hereditary Disease Foundation
Research Grants, International Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Foundation (IWMF)
SFARI Pilot Award, Simons Foundation/Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI)
SFARI Research Award, Simons Foundation/Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI)

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.

Nanomaterials Health Implications Research (NHIR): Comprehensive Evaluation of Interactions between Engineered Nanomaterials and Biological System (U01)
NIMHD Transdisciplinary Collaborative Centers for Health Disparities Research on Chronic Disease Prevention (U54)

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 September 11, 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