Research News - March 3, 2017

The following communication has been posted to Research Navigator by Research Analytics.

FY16 NIH Market Analysis - the latest on NIH funding for FY16, including Institutional ranking.

The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command's (USAMRMC) Office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) is pleased to announce the publication of the 2016 Annual Report.  During 2016, the CDMRP assisted in or completed the execution of Fiscal Year (FY)2015 appropriations by processing 918 new awards across 28 programs for the Department of Defense, Defense Health Program.  In addition, in FY16, CDMRP initiated the management of $1,065 million of appropriations across 28 programs.  Enclosed is the 2016 CDMRP Annual Report. 

The 2016 Annual Report presents an overview of the CDMRP including current programs, management cycle, vital partnerships, milestones, and scientific discoveries.

To view the Annual Report, please visit our website at:
http://cdmrp.army.mil/pubs/annreports/2016annrep/2016annreport.pdf

Monday, March 6, 2017, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, Simches Auditorium (3.110)
Broadcast to Isselbacher Auditorium (CNY-149, 7th Floor)

Meeting Chair: Sylvie Breton, PhD

AGENDA

Update from the Partners Office for International Professionals and Students (PIPS)
Claire Ayer, Director

Partners Biobank Update and the “All of Us” Research Program
Jordan Smoller, M.D., Sc.D., Dept. of Psychiatry and Center for Genomic Medicine
 
Elected Representatives will be available 30 minutes before and after this meeting in Simches 3.130 if you’d like to speak with them.

(Lunch available at 11:45 AM)

All MGH Researchers welcome!

Wednesday, April 5, Simches Auditorium 3.110

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend!

The annual MGH Celebration of Science and the Warren Triennial Prize and Symposium will be held on Wednesday, April 5, 2017 in Simches Auditorium (3.110), broadcasting to Isselbacher Auditorium at CNY 149. Click here to view the full agenda!

More information on the event, as well as our Celebration of Science book, will be sent in the near future. Stay tuned!

Please note that there will not be a formal meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) or a poster session this year.

Tuesday, March 14, 11:00am - 12:00pm, Simches 2nd Floor, Garrod/Mendel Conference Room

Sponsored by the MGH Clinical Research Program and Partners Human Research Committee

What Constitutes a Minimal Risk Study?
Melissa Frumin, MD Chair, Partners Human Research Committee

Specific categories of human subject research can be approved via the expedited review procedure if it presents no more than minimal risk to subjects. IRB Chair, Melissa Frumin, MD, will offer insight into what qualifies as minimal risk, the categories of research that are eligible for expedited review and the ethical issues surrounding minimal risk studies.

This course is designed for Clinical Research Coordinators, Research Nurses and Project Managers, though all are welcome to attend. Please feel free to bring your lunch.

Registration is required. Please contact Tiereny Morrison-Rohlfs with questions.

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.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

The ORCD's Research Fellow Poster Celebration will take place on May 18, 2017. 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 Mon, Mar 13.

Please click here for instructions and to submit your abstract.

April 4, 2017, 8:00am-4:30pm, Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, Harvard Medical School

The current research landscape presents a variety of challenges for multisite pediatric research. Our speakers from across the US will share contemporary findings and update Harvard's Child Health Research community on recent developments around multisite pediatric trials. 

Please see the website for more information and to register by March 28.
If you have questions, please contact us. 

Tuesday, April 4, 2017, Folkman Auditorium, Enders Research Building, Boston Children’s Hospital 320 Longwood Avenue

Wolfram Goessling, MD, PhD, Scientific Host
Wayne Lencer, MD and Richard S. Blumberg, MD, Co-Hosts

Please click here for more details on the event as well as speakers!

To register for this event, please visit: http://hddc.hms.harvard.edu/event/2017-hddc-spring-scientific-symposium  or contact Amanda Reilly (amanda.reilly@childrens.harvard.edu)

Information on funding opportunities offered through the HMS Foundation Funds is now available.
For some awards, MGH receives invitations to submit their own nominations. In this case, MGH faculty must first apply for the MGH nomination through ECOR and a committee at MGH will select the final MGH candidate(s) to submit applications to the foundations. 

Click here to view a chart listing the HMS Foundation Funds that are currently available and the Institution that MGH faculty should apply through.

ECOR handles the application process for a number of limited submission opportunities through MGH. The following funding opportunities are now open and accepting letters of intent.  Please click the links for more information.

• ADA Pathways to Stop Diabetes – Deadline 3/20/17
• Breast Cancer Alliance – Deadline 3/13/17

Please direct all inquiries regarding the application process at HMS to Clare Lamont, Program Coordinator, Office for Academic and Clinical Affairs, 617-432-7463, clare_lamont@hms.harvard.edu. 

If you have questions regarding the MGH application process, please email MGH ECOR, ecor@mgh.harvard.edu. 

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

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.  

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

If there is more than one MGH investigator 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.

• Breast Cancer Alliance (BCA) - Exceptional Project Grant – NEW!
• ADA Pathways to Stop Diabetes – NEW!
• Team-Based Design in Biomedical Engineering Education (R25) – 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.

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 3/3/17

• Stand Up To Cancer - LUNGevity - American Lung Association Lung Cancer Interception Dream Team, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)/Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C)
• Stand Up To Cancer - Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Interception Dream Team, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
• Alpha-1 Research Grant (A1), American Lung Association (ALA)
• ASTRO Junior Faculty Award, American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)
• ASH-AMFDP Award, American Society of Hematology (ASH)
• Grants, Cabot Family Charitable Trust
• Child Neurology Foundation PERF Scientific Research Grant, Child Neurology Foundation (CNF)
• Child Neurology Foundation Shields Research Grant, Child Neurology Foundation (CNF)
• Psychosocial Research Grants (PSR) - PSR Pilot Grants, Craig H. Neilsen Foundation
• Psychosocial Research Grants (PSR) - PSR Postdoctoral Fellowships, Craig H. Neilsen Foundation
• Psychosocial Research Grants (PSR) - PSR Studies and Demonstration Projects, Craig H. Neilsen Foundation
• Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Grants, Dravet Syndrome Foundation (DSF)
• Research Grant Program, Dravet Syndrome Foundation (DSF)
• IARS Mentored Research Awards (IMRA), International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS)
• MDA Venture Philanthropy Research Project, Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) – USA
• Advancing Science through Pfizer:  Investigator Research Exchange (ASPIRE) Gene Therapy for Hemophilia Research Awards Program, Pfizer, Inc.
• Independent Grants for Learning & Change (IGL&C): Track 2 - Call for Grant Applications (CGA) - Micronutrients for Human Health, Pfizer, Inc.
• Coordinating Efforts to Enhance Hospitals' Role in Population Health (EHPH Solicitation), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
• Coordinating Efforts to Enhance Hospitals' Role in Population Health (EHPH Solicitation), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
• Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23), Society for Vascular Surgery Foundation

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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