Research News - February 12, 2016

Enterprise Research Infrastructure & Services (ERIS) has identified a few Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN) vendors that meet the business and security requirements for Partners Healthcare workforce members focused on scientific laboratory research. We are now seeking feedback from the research community for technical and feature requirements.

Vendors will present their solutions on the following dates:

February 18th, 2:30 - 4:00 PM, Simches Building 3rd Floor, Room 3.110
February 24th, 2:30 - 4:00 PM, Carrie Hall Conference Room

A different vendor will present on each date, so please participate in both sessions, either remotely via WebEx or watch the recorded sessions later. REGISTER to be sent all of the meeting details.

Researchers should evaluate the products based on their laboratory workflow requirements. ERIS will gather end-user requirements, use cases, and identify labs interested in piloting the selected service. Follow-up round-table discussions will be planned for early March. To view a vendor comparison summary, visit rc.partners.org/eln/demos (Partners login will be required).

Replacing paper lab notebooks with ELNs has many advantages: ELNs streamline the documentation and protection of intellectual property, help scientists collaborate, and make scientific data and observations associated with experiments easier to search, find and use. However, adoption of ELNs at Partners HealthCare has been slow due to a number of barriers including access and cost.

Please join our ELN Discussion group for direct up to date information on this process. We appreciate and value your participation in this process!

Fabio Martins, the new Research Information Security Officer (RISO) for Partners HealthCare, shares his perspective on cybersecurity in response to an article recently published in Science Translational Medicine. In "A cybersecurity primer for translational research", Eric D. Perakslis and Martin Stanley explore why health care data is at high risk for cyber threat and how organizations and researchers alike need to manage the risk. Read Fabio’s blog, Perspective on Cybersecurity in Research, for highlights and the link to the full article.

Thursday, February 25, Noon - 2p.m., WebEx or Prudential Center

This month, Microsoft Engineers will present an overview of Office 365 as a suite, which contains features and applications available to Partners along with other applications that fall outside our current license and, therefore, scope for deployment. Brian Kilduff, PHS Manager of Office Productivity & Collaboration Tools Services, will provide an overview of current deployment plans and what will be included as features of both Office Pro Plus and Exchange Online, as well as current discussions surrounding use of Skype, One Drive for business and SharePoint Online. RSVP Online by 2/23 and note if you plan to attend remotely so that details are sent. Contact rcc@partners.org with questions about Tech Lunch.

Thursday, March 3, 2016, 11:00 am - 2:00 pm, Location Provided upon registration

The Center for Faculty Development presents a seminar for MGH faculty with HMS academic appointments.

We all have conversations we avoid, such as raising a sensitive topic with our boss and giving or receiving negative feedback. The focus of the session will be on the structure of difficult conversations and the systematic errors we make when trying to discuss sensitive or emotional topics. In addition, it will explore the mental shifts that can help us change our difficult conversations into learning conversations.

Managing Difficult Conversations
Facilitator: Gillien Todd, JD, Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School and Consultant, Triad Consulting Group

Faculty with HMS academic appointments please click here to register. If you have any questions please contact us at cfd@partners.org.

Accreditation
Partners HealthCare System is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Partners HealthCare System designates this live activity for a maximum of 3 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016, 2:00pm - 3:00pm, Simches 3.120

Speaker: Enrico Cagliero, MD, MGH Diabetes Center, Associate Professor of Medicine, HMS Director, Research Subject Advocacy, The Harvard Catalyst

The MGH Division of Clinical Research and The Harvard Catalyst Research Subject Advocacy (RSA) Program invite the research community to join us to learn more about The Harvard Catalyst RSA Program, and how it serves as a resource to the research community and to research participants. During this presentation, Dr. Cagliero will discuss the history of research subject advocacy and educational materials, videos, and resources available to support conversations with research participants.

Registration is required. Contact Jillian Tonelli with questions.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

The ORCD's Research Fellow Poster Celebration will take place on May 25, 2016. The annual 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. Abstracts/posters will be evaluated by a review committee, and the top presentations will receive awards and cash prizes.

Abstracts are due at 5:00 pm on Fri, Mar 18.

Please click here for instructions and abstract submission materials.

Preliminary applications are now being accepted by the Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) for the Charles H. Hood Foundation 2017 Major Grants Initiative to Advance Child Health research award.  

What are they?
Major Grants Initiative to Advance Child Health research award
The Charles H. Hood Foundation 2017 Major Grants Initiative to Advance Child Health supports outstanding investigators conducting innovative and transformative research in child health. The overall goal of the Program remains the funding of translational or clinical research that will improve child health clinical outcomes, or improve health care access, affordability, and quality. For the 2017 grant cycle, the Hood Foundation requests applications related to either of two areas of child health research: Neonatology or Brain Science and Child Development. 

The Major Grants Initiative is a component of the Hood Foundation’s research funding portfolio. Since 1942, the Foundation has supported investigators at New England research institutions to improve the health and quality of life for children. The Hood Foundation Child Health Research Awards Program has launched the careers of close to 600 junior faculty whose discoveries have contributed to significant improvements in child health. Since 1989, the Foundation has also supported 45 Postdoctoral Fellows conducting projects spanning the continuum from basic laboratory research to clinical and health services research.
MGH is eligible to nominate one candidate.

When is the deadline?  
MGH Internal Preliminary Application Deadline:  Friday, March 4, 2016 - 3:00 p.m.

How do I learn more and apply?
2017 Major Grants Initiative to Advance Child Health research award - Click here

The Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) is accepting applications for the April 1st deadline for the Deliberative Interim Support Funding.  April is the 2nd of three standing deadlines for these awards in Fiscal Year 2016.  The next deadline will be August 1, 2016.  

What are they?
Deliberative Interim Support Funding
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 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?
Friday, April 1, 2016 - 5:00 PM

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

Intent to apply due March 4, 2016

The NIH ORIP's Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG) program supports the purchase of research equipment in the $50,000 to $600,000 price range. Examples of instrumentation supported by SIG funding include nuclear magnetic resonance systems, electron and confocal microscopes, mass spectrometers, protein and DNA sequencers, biosensors, X-ray diffractometers and cell sorters. For research equipment exceeding the $600,000 price range, investigators may apply for the High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant Program.

The MGH Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) has again committed funding to provide institutional support this year for Shared Instrumentation Grant and High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant proposals. ECOR has made this commitment because it recognizes that institutional support greatly increases the likelihood that a SIG or HEI application will be funded.

Several required application components for submitting an S10 grant to the NIH were changed in 2014 for this call and ECOR will be preparing this information and including it with the institutional letter of support.  The changes include:

• The institution must now explicitly state a commitment to provide financial support for the proposed financial plan should a shortfall be experienced due to a lack of other grant funding or chargeback/volume fluctuations (see Sect. IV).
  • A separate communication will be sent directly to department chiefs addressing the support of financial plans for submitted applications.
• The institution must also provide a Letter of Support that includes a table that provides information about instrument performance of all previous S10 awards for instruments awarded or installed within the past five years.
  • To meet this requirement, any recipient of an S10 award from 2011-present will be asked to provide specific details that will be used to support all shared instrumentation grants going forward. A separate email will be sent directly to the PIs to which this applies.

How to Apply
Due to increased administrative components required for these grants to be submitted for review going forward, we ask that any investigator who will be seeking institutional support to email their intent to apply to ecor@partners.org no later than Friday, March 4. This email should simply be a statement of intent to apply with the contact information for the PI intending to apply as well as their administrator. Once we have received this email, we will contact you with next steps on how to proceed.

If you have questions, please contact MGH ECOR at ecor@partners.org or call Erin McGivney at 617-643-6471.

The Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School invites applications for the Postdoctoral Research Scholars Program in Bioethics, for appointments commencing in summer/fall 2016. This two-year program aims to prepare scholars with the knowledge and skills necessary to become leaders in the field of bioethics. Research Scholars will be fully integrated into the community of scholars at the Center for Bioethics, with access to the resources of the entire Medical School and the University at large.

Scholars will receive an annual stipend, benefits, and an allotment for academic expenses and travel.

Application Requirements
Applications are invited from scholars who have or will have completed a doctoral degree (MDs, JDs, PhDs or equivalent) by June 1, 2016. Doctorates may be in any relevant field, including but not limited to public health, psychology, economics, philosophy, sociology anthropology, or anthropology. 

The deadline for summer or fall 2016 is May 2nd. Applications are considered throughout the year under special circumstances.

For additional information about the program contact the Center for Bioethics at bioethics_postdoc@hms.harvard.edu or the main office number at 617-432-2570.

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.

• Research Grant Program, Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation, Inc. (AA&MDSIF)
• Sojourns Award Program : Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program, Cambia Health Solutions/Cambia Health Foundation
• Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowships, Cancer Research Institute (CRI)
• Call for Research Proposals on Equine Assisted Activities, Horses and Humans Research Foundation (HHRF)
• Research Grant Award Program, International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)
• Beta Cell Replacement Therapies:  Generating Improved Beta/Islet Cell Sources Through Genetic Modifications, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF)
• Grants for Research and Development Projects, Stiftelsen Promobilia - Promobilia Foundation

Please click here for further details on these 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.

• Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers (EHS CC) (P30) – NEW!
• National Health Education Lupus Program (NHELP) – NEW!
• Consortium for Food Allergy Research: Leadership Center (UM2) – NEW!
• Consortium for Food Allergy Research: Clinical Research Units (UM1) – NEW!

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.

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

2016 Partners HealthCare $1 million Innovation Discovery Grants Program (IDG)
Application Deadline: February 19, 2016

Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI)
Application Deadline: February 26, 2016

MGH ECOR Formulaic Bridge Funding Support
Application Deadline: March 7, 2016; 7th day of each month

MGH Physician and/or Scientist Development Award 2016
Application Deadline: March 18, 2016

The Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORC-H) Pilot Feasibility Project Grants in Nutrition, Obesity, or Related Research Fields
Application Deadline:  April 1, 2016

KL2 Catalyst Medical Research Investigator Training (CMeRIT) Award
Application Deadline: April 14, 2016

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

SAVE THE DATE! SAC 2016 - April 6 & 7

Innovation at Partners HealthCare: Fall Newsletter

Information Systems News - Fall 2015

Partners Office for Interactions with Industry’s FY15 Annual Report

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