Research News - February 17, 2017

Please click here to read the Winter release of the Partners Innovation newsletter.

Please click here to read the latest news from the NIH Office for Extramural Research

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

Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 12:00 - 1:00 pm, MGH campus, details with registration

The Center for Faculty Development's Office for Research Career Development presents a seminar for HMS faculty and trainees.

Expanding from Basic to Translational Research
Would you like to develop your basic research program to include translational science?

This panel discussion will help you achieve this goal with advice from basic scientists who have successfully funded translational projects, and established translational researchers. You will also hear about resources and collaboration opportunities that MGH basic scientists can use to grow their research programs in new directions.

Panelists: Sylvie Breton, PhD, Professor of Medicine, HMS; Program in Membrane Biology/Nephrology Division; Center for Systems Biology, MGH
Mason W. Freeman, MD, Professor of Medicine, HMS; Director, Translational Research Center, MGH
M. Korkut Uygun, PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery (Bioengineering), HMS; Deputy Director of Research, Shriners Hospitals for Children; Director, Cell Resource Core, MGH

Please click here to register or email orcd@partners.org.

Tuesday, February 28, 5:30 –7:30 pm, MIT Media Lab, 75 Amherst St, E14, 6th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139

Accelerating Breakthrough Innovations:
Info Session for Founders with Katie Rae, President and CEO of The Engine

5:00 pm Doors open
5:30 pm Program
6:30 pm Reception

The Engine aims to fill the gaps between scientific and technological entrepreneurial activity, commercialization efforts, and regional economic development. Blending an accelerator, a network of technical facilities and expertise, and a fund, we seek to build an ecosystem where the world’s brightest innovators will find the comprehensive support they need to develop their biggest and most transformative ideas.

The Engine supports startup teams with bold ideas regardless of where they originated, and founders do not have to be affiliated with MIT to apply.

Join us to learn more about how you can make an impact as part of The Engine program! Register Here

Thursday, March 2, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, Joseph B. Martin Rotunda, 3rd Floor of the NRB, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston

Please join us for an informative Symposium to learn how metabolomics is changing the field of precision medicine, making the Precision Medicine Initiative transition from ideology to actuality. Hear from leaders in the field who will discuss a range of research, from how metabolomics is currently being utilized in the clinic to how it is being used in conjunction with other omics data, to accelerate our understanding of the mechanisms of disease.

Registration starts at 8:15 - Complimentary Breakfast and Luncheon provided.

Scott Weiss, MD, MS, Scientific Director
Partners HealthCare Personalized Medicine
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School 
“Introduction, Welcome and Comments on Partners HealthCare vision for Personalized Medicine and the role of Metabolomics.”

Jessica Lasky-Su, ScD, Assistant Professor of Medicine
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
“Personalized Medicine with multi-omics data”

John Ryals, PhD, CEO, Metabolon Inc.
“Metabolomics and its role in Precision Medicine”

Dana Gabuzda, MD, Professor of Neurology
Harvard Medical School, Dana Farber Cancer Institute Department of Immunology and Microbiology
“Metabolomics and Personalized Medicine in Infectious Disease”

Eric Boerwinkle, PhD, Dean and M. David Low Chair of Public Health
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health
“Multi-ethnic Metabolomic Studies ”

Vernon R. Sutton, MD, Professor Molecular and Human Genetics
Baylor College of Medicine
“Diagnosis of Inborn Errors of Metabolism by Untargeted Metabolomic Profiling”

Space is limited and registration is required - Please pre-register If you are unable to attend after registering, please notify us in order to open up available seats for others. Detailed agenda

Tuesday, March 14, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Simches, 3rd Floor

Please join us for the 7th Annual Research Administrators Retreat. 

All MGH Department Administrators (Grant Administrators, Grant Coordinators, Grant Managers, Research Coordinators, Staff Assistants, Support Staff, etc.) and Partners Central Administrators are invited to attend, as well as any interested investigators.  The retreat will be equally beneficial to those who are new to research administration and those who have been in the field for years.  The retreat will also be a great opportunity to network with your colleagues.

An agenda will be released on the Research Intranet page shortly.  Please keep checking back.

Please note that registration is required and is on a first come, first served basis as attendance is limited.  The deadline to register is Friday, March 3, 2017. If you have any questions regarding the retreat, please email researchmanagement@mgh.harvard.edu  Please click here to register.

Tuesday, March 28, 10:30 am - 3:30 pm

The MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) Scientific Advisory Board invites faculty, fellows, residents, nurses and other trainees at MGH to submit abstracts describing their original child health-related research. Selected researchers will offer poster presentations at the Ninth Annual MGHfC Research Day on Tuesday, March 28 from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm.

Held on the third floor of the Simches Research Center, MGHfC’s Research Day highlights recent accomplishments and advances from MGHfC researchers, as well as scientists from the broader pediatric research community. Three outstanding abstracts will be awarded a $1000 travel grant for travel to a scientific meeting of the presenter’s choice in the following year.

For more information on MGHfC Research Day and details on submitting abstracts, visit http://www.massgeneral.org/children/research/research-day.aspx.  Authors should be in attendance from 2:15 to 3:30 pm for announcement of the travel awards.

The NIH ORIP's Shared Instrumentation Grant (S10) program, also known as a SIG, 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 (S10) and High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant proposals. ECOR has made this commitment because it recognizes that institutional support greatly increases the likelihood that a S10 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 2012-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 fill out a Request for Consideration form and email the completed form to ecor@mgh.harvard.edu no later than Friday, March 17.

The Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) is accepting applications for the April 3rd deadline for the Deliberative Interim Support Funding.  April is the second of three standing deadlines for these awards in Fiscal Year 2017.  The next deadline will be August 1, 2017.  

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 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?
Monday, April 3, 2017 - 5:00 PM

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

Four Year Award for Investigators who are Underrepresented in Academic Medicine*
*Basic, Clinical, Translational, and Health Services investigators are all eligible

Applications for grants are invited by the MGH Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI), and the Executive Committee on Research (ECOR). 

What is the Award?
The MGH Physician/Scientist Development Award (PSDA) is designed for MD and/or PhD investigators at MGH who are considered underrepresented in academic medicine (URM). This Award is intended to provide transitional funding for support in the development of physicians and scientists underrepresented in academic medicine, and thereby increase opportunities for URM researchers to advance to senior positions in academic medicine at MGH.  The CDI will evaluate the need for this Award on a regular basis.

Am I URM (Underrepresented in Medicine)?
For the purposes of the PSDA, MGH follows the definition of underrepresented in medicine and biomedical research (URM) of the NIH and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).  URM groups may include Latino/ Hispanic (including Brazilian), African-American/Black, American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Alaskan Natives, among others. Please note that Asians are not considered URM, UNLESS they are underrepresented relative to the population MGH serves, e.g., Cambodian or Laotian.

How much is the award?
A maximum of $120,000.00 will be awarded to be spent over a three or four-year period, with a maximum of $40,000.00 per year of funding in direct costs, plus 15% for indirect costs.

When is the deadline?
Thursday, March 2, 2017 – 5:00 PM

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

Applications are due March 10, 2017
The Center for the Human Immunology (CHI) is a multidisciplinary program funded by NIAID.  CHI promotes the research of both basic and clinical scientists in areas related to the persistence of hepatitis C virus infection.  These include, but are not limited to:

• Immune and Inflammatory Responses to Pathogens (including innate immune recognition and antigen presentation)
• Viral Pathogenesis (including virus-host cell interactions, but related to the immune response)

GOALS:  Funds have been made available to support Pilot/Feasibility Study grants consistent with the overall goals of the Center.  The goals of the CHI Program are to support:

• Young investigators (junior faculty or senior fellows*) working in areas that will improve our understanding of basic processes relevant to viral persistence. 
• Established investigators initiating a new area of research in their laboratories relevant to mechanisms underlying viral persistence.

The objective of a Pilot/Feasibility Study grant is to enable an investigator to complete sufficient preliminary studies to enable successful application for more substantial funding from other sources.  Pilot/Feasibility Study grants are not intended to supplement ongoing or currently funded projects.  

FUNDING:  The CHI will be funding grants of up to $50,000 direct costs through this program.  Pilot/Feasibility Study awards are made for a one-year period; a second year may be considered on a competing basis. 

APPLICATIONS:  May be obtained by sending a request to Barbara Steele via telephone at 617-724-7554 or via email at bsteele@mgh.harvard.edu.  The deadline for receipt of applications is March 10, 2017.

* Fellow must be in the final year of training and must have a documented commitment to a faculty appointment by the sponsoring unit or department.  

Please note that any grant that brings in less than 15% in indirect costs (IDC) will need to be supplemented up to the 15% equivalent by existing investigator or departmental sundry funds. Resolution of this issue must occur prior to submission of the award.

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.

Week of 2/17/17

• International Research Grant Program:  Alzheimer's Association Clinical Fellowship to Promote Diversity (AACF-D) Program, Alzheimer's Association (ALZ)
• International Research Grant:  Alzheimer's Association Research Grant to Promote Diversity (AARG-D), Alzheimer's Association (ALZ)
• International Research Grant Program:  Alzheimer's Association Clinical Fellowship (AACF), Alzheimer's Association (ALZ)
• International Research Grant Program:  Alzheimer's Association Research Grant (AARG), Alzheimer's Association (ALZ)
• GlaxoSmithKline Distinguished Scholar in Respiratory Health, American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP)/CHEST Foundation
• CHEST Foundation Research Grant in Lung Cancer, American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP)/CHEST Foundation
• CHEST Foundation Research Grant in Lung Cancer, American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP)/CHEST Foundation
• CHEST Foundation Research Grant in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP)/CHEST Foundation
• Pilot and Feasibility Awards, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF)
• CFF/NIH-Unfunded Grant Award, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF)
• Jacobs Foundation Research Fellowship Program - Jacobs Early Career Research Fellowship, Jacobs Foundation
• Jacobs Foundation Research Fellowship Program - Jacobs Advanced Research Fellowship, Jacobs Foundation
• Research Grants, Morton Cure Paralysis Fund (MCPF)
• Large Grants for Research on Gambling Disorders, National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG)
• Independent Grants for Learning & Change (IGL&C):  Track 2 - Call for Grant Applications - Emerging Therapies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Pfizer, Inc.
• Independent Grants for Learning & Change (IGL&C): Track 2 - Call for Grant Applications (CGA) - Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment: Real World CDK 4/6 Inhibition Therapy Management in the Clinical Practice Team, Pfizer, Inc. 
• ASPIRE Rheumatology, Dermatology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Awards, Pfizer, Inc./Advancing Science through Pfizer - Investigator Research Exchange (ASPIRE Research Awards)
• ASPIRE Awards in Hemophilia Research, Pfizer, Inc./Advancing Science through Pfizer - Investigator Research Exchange (ASPIRE Research Awards)
• Research Grants, Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome Foundation (SDSF)

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

MGH ECOR Formulaic Bridge Funding Support
Application Deadline: March 7, 2017; 7th day of each month

KL2 Catalyst Medical Research Investigator Training (CMeRIT) Award
Application Deadline: March 30

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

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