eRoundup for 12/17/10

Read This, But Don't Tell Anybody

This fall semester there was a joint class of biomedical engineering (BME) capstone design and mechanical engineering (ME) capstone design students working in 5 teams on clinically significant projects. About 40 teams presented their capstone projects in the Marcus Nanotechnology Building Thursday evening, December 9, 2010. Team project results and presentations were rated on five criteria by 34 judges from industry and faculty representatives. Read more...

ACTSI CERP funded four proposals from Community Based-Organizations (CBOs) to conduct dissemination activities regarding particular health topics for the 2010-2011 funding cycle (e.g., community forums, development of educational materials, and local presentations by researchers). Selected CBOs will receive mini-grants of up to $4,000 to conduct these activities while working in concert with the researcher whose findings are being shared. Read more...

Low adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet, including increased intake of dietary sodium and sweetened beverages, predicted vascular dysfunction and insulin resistance among a cohort of healthy black women, regardless of body weight.  Although the reason for the association remains unclear, genetic susceptibility and lifestyle factors may play a role, said Dr. Priscilla E. Pemu, an internist at Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta and ACTSI investigator, at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society.  Dr. Pemu is also director of clinical trials at the MSM clinical Research Center, which is a CIN Clinical Interaction Site.  Read More...

Emory Magazine profiled Emory's contributions in treating HIV/AIDS.  Even as the HIV/AIDS pandemic continues its stealthy global advance, Emory scientists are striking blows against the virus from all directions.  The AIDS pandemic has devastated countries and communities, taken the poorest of the world and made them poorer, and created millions of individual stories of illness and loss.  AIDS has taken 25 million lives since 1981.  However, Emory can claim its share of victories in the world’s war against the disease.  ACTSI personalities mentioned in the article include Raymond Schinazi, PhD, Rafi Ahmed, PhD, Jeffrey Lennox, MD, Rama Amara, PhD, Eric Hunter, PhD, Mark Mulligan, MD, Ralph DiClemente, PhD, and M. Neale Weitzman, PhD. Read more...

David Harrison

The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) announces the opportunity to submit an administrative supplement request to support designated topic areas of CTSA activity that are within the scope of the original funded application.  Requests should identify topics that can be completed in a single year. Each CTSA is limited to a total of three requests except by prior arrangement with the NCRR Program Contact.  Please submit your idea(s) to Andrew West at awest2@emory.edu by close of business on Monday, December 27th for consideration. The three (3) selected applicants will be notified no later than Wednesday, January 5th. Read more…

The NIH is making a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for highly innovative Research Project Grant (R01) applications that propose to translate findings from basic research on human behavior into effective clinical, community, or population-based behavioral interventions to improve health.  The FOA is being issued by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), with participation from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, (NIDDK), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH). Read more…

The University Research Committee (URC) and the Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute (ACTSI) are pleased to announce their fourth annual call for applications for new pilot studies in clinical translational research.  Proposals exploring all aspects of clinical and translational biomedical research, including development of biostatistical methodology, bioethics, and assessment of new technologies will be considered.  Funding decisions will be made on March 14th, 2011.  For more information contact Ling Guo at lguo@emory.edu. Read more…

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and its partners in research Emory University and Georgia Tech are pleased to announce the availability of new pilot project funds through the Pediatric Research Centers.  The pilot award funds are designed to stimulate new research projects and build new collaborations in child health-related research areas.  For questions regarding your particular area of interest, please contact the Director listed for the center, or Paul Spearman, MD, at paul.spearman@emory.edu.  For more details, click here.

Dr. Roger Y. Tsien is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Professor of Pharmacology and of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego.  He was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP.  Dr. Tsien's lecture will focus on his laboratory's development of novel biological molecular probes with application in diverse area from fundamental studies of cellular structural biology to cancer treatment and fluorescence-guided surgery.   Read More...

Recognizing the interdependence of the efforts between academia, industry, not-for-profits, foundations, private investment, and government needed to move scientific discoveries to practical application, the Second Annual Academic & Industry Intersection Conference seeks to profile successful collaborations as well as examine potential ethical pitfalls related to the life science partnerships .  For questions contact Georgia Bio’s Maria Thacker at maria.thacker@gabio.org.  For more details, click here.

Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) have announced the dates of two major programs popular with medical school leaders and faculty. The 2011 Institutional Animal Care and Use Conference will be held March 29-April 1, in Chicago, IL. The 2011 Social, Behavioral, and Educational Research Conference will be held April 26-29 in Boston, MA and the Advancing Ethical Research Conference is scheduled for December 5-8 in San Diego. This is considered the pre-eminent national meeting for those concerned with Institutional Review Board issues and activities. Read More...

The HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) is now accepting applications for Research and Mentorship Program (RAMP) Scholar Grants to attract new minds and new ideas to the development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine.  Grant recipients will work under the mentorship of HVTN-affiliated investigators to conduct short-term research projects in areas of basic, clinical, behavioral and social science. Applications are due January 10, 2011 via e-mail to vtn.research@hvtn.org.  For more details, click here.

The T-32 Sleep/Cardiovascular Research Training Program at Morehouse School of Medicine seeks to train underrepresented minority PhD and Medical students to pursue careers in clinical and translational research.  This T-32 program benefits from established ACTSI infrastructure and research faculty in training CTR predoctoral students in sleep and cardiovascular disorders research.  Pre-doctoral students from groups underrepresented in the sciences are eligible, and tuition and stipend support are available for those who qualify. Read more...

The National Institutes of Health, in partnership with the Lasker Foundation, is pleased to announce the Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program.  The program supports a small number of exceptional clinical researchers in the early stages of their careers to promote their development to fully independent positions.  The program combines a period of independent research as a Principal Investigator in the NIH Intramural Research Program for 5 to 7 years, with the opportunity for additional years of independent financial support either at the NIH or at an extramural research institution. Read more...

Pfizer is proud to present our Medical & Academic Partnerships program, which improves patient care and increases the safe and effective use of our medicines.  This program is a reflection of Pfizer's commitment to advancing research, innovation, and medical education in Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Osteopathic Medicine, Pharmacy and Public Health.  The Medical & Academic Partnerships program provides financial support for fellows in a wide range of therapeutic and public health areas.  Applications will be accepted until February 11, 2011. Read more…

Junior faculty members at the MD or PhD level at Emory University, Morehouse School of Medicine, or Georgia Institute of Technology are encouraged to apply to the KL2 – Mentored Clinical and Translational Research Scholars (MCTRS) Program.  The KL2 award provides support for didactic and mentored research training for junior faculty members committed to a career in clinical investigation. For more details, click here.

The NHLBI wishes to alert researchers to a special funding strategy they are using for three Program Announcements (PAs) recently published in the NIH Guide.  The NHLBI is seeking to announce these opportunities as broadly as possible and encourage researchers to share this information with anyone who might be interested.  For more details, click here. 

The Research Education, Training and Career Development (RETCD) Program of the ACTSI is accepting applications for a clinical and translational research training opportunity for Emory Medical Students interested in careers in clinical and/or translational research.  This dual degree track leads to a joint Emory MD/MSCR (Master of Science in Clinical Research) degree and is designed to prepare physician-scientists for patient-oriented medical research.  For more details, click here.

The Emory Woodruff Health Sciences Center/School of Medicine is seeking pilot proposals from faculty for support for core facilities that will accelerate the development of and/or facilitate widespread access of the investigator community access to emerging technology resources. The purpose of this RFP is to encourage and support the development of leveraging core facilities that will provide novel and platform technologies to Emory faculty. Read more…

The purpose of this Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) is to provide salary and “protected time” (up to five years for this award) to support the career development of investigators who have made a commitment to focus their research endeavors on patient-oriented research.  The Translational Scholar Awards in Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine program is intended to address the scarcity of investigators cross-trained in both clinical research core competencies and modern methods required to address pharmacogenomics research problems in patient populations.  Dual mentors from the Clinical and Translational Science Awards consortium and the Pharmacogenomics Research Network are required. Read more…

The ACTSI is pleased to announce a new resource for investigators called Studio Consultations to aid in the successful design and implementation of clinical and translational science research proposals. The Studio Consultation concept involves a clinical investigator presenting their proposals to representatives of ACTSI’s Biostatistics, Epidemiology, & Research Design (BERD) program, Biomedical Informatics Program (BIP), and Clinical Interaction Network (CIN) who in turn will give the investigator their expert feedback. Read more…

The electronic Biomedical Interactive Resource Tool (eBIRT) is a web-based application used for research resource discovery.  For researchers, eBIRT serves as a "one-stop virtual shop" for research resources, such as laboratory services, equipment, software, consultation services, training opportunities, and more.  For resource providers, such as service centers and cores, eBIRT offers a platform to advertise research-related services and products.  If you have resources and would like to make them more discoverable to the scientific community, or if you would like more information about eBIRT, please write to: ebirt_support@emory.edu.  To try eBIRT, go to http://ebirt.emory.edu.

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