eRoundup for 04/24/09

Marcus promises Grady $20 million
Atlanta Journal-Constitution - April 17, 2009
Bernie Marcus, a co-founder of Home Depot and the force behind the Georgia Aquarium, has committed $20 million of his financial might to expand Grady's trauma center and stroke care.

This is a reminder if you have not yet completed the CTSA Pharmaceutical Assets Portal Project Survey. If you are interested in learning whether investigational compounds (i.e., those that have been previously tested in humans) are available for your research please participate in the survey at www.ctsapharmaportal.org. Your participation is important in establishing the Pharma Assets Portal and may result in the development of new research partnerships and access to important clinical grade compounds for your research. Please take a moment to complete the survey.

In an effort to foster interdisciplinary collaborations and promote technology training and awareness, the Translational Technologies and Resources (TTR) program of the ACTSI is pleased to co-sponsor biomedical symposia and other educational events related to translational technologies in research. Limited funds ($5,000-$10,000 per event) are available through the TTR program for co-sponsorship of educational events that align with TTR and ACTSI goals. To apply for funds to support your upcoming biomedical symposium or educational event, please complete an application.  Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. For more information about this educational partnering opportunity, please Deb Smith.

Solicitation of Assays for High Throughput Screening (HTS) in the Molecular Libraries Probe Production Centers Network (R03) encourages HTS assay applications from investigators who have the interest and capability to work with the Molecular Libraries Probe Production Centers Network for chemical probe development. Read more. 

Investigators and U.S. institutions or organizations with active NIH research grants may request administrative supplements from NCRR for the purpose of accelerating the tempo of scientific research on active grants. Support for these supplements will come from funds provided to NIH through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) of 2009, Public Law 111-5. Consistent with the intent of the Recovery Act, the purpose of this program is to promote job creation and economic development along with accelerating the pace and achievement of scientific research. The NCRR administrative supplement application due date is May 18, 2009. View Administrative Supplements' Areas of Interest...

Midcareer Investigator Award in Mouse Pathobiology Research (K26) seeks to support established, outstanding pathobiologists by providing protected time for mouse pathobiology research and mentoring of beginning investigators. The target candidates are scientists engaged in mouse pathobiology research who are within 15 years of their specialty training. Read more.

NCRR just released a new ARRA funding opportunity entitled Enabling National Networking of Scientists and Resource Discovery (U24) (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RR-09-009.html). The goal of the initiative is to develop, enhance, or extend infrastructure for connecting people and resources to facilitate national discovery of individuals and of scientific resources by scientists and students to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and scientific exchange. Six diverse institutions must collaborate in an application. Letters of intent are due May 18; the receipt date is June 15; with funding by September 2009.

NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) is designed to facilitate a timely transition from a mentored postdoctoral research position to a stable independent research position with independent NIH or other independent research support at an earlier stage than is currently the norm. Read more

The Clinical Research Curriculum Award (K30) is intended to stimulate the inclusion of high-quality didactic training as part of the career development of clinical investigators from diverse scientific backgrounds and disciplines. These programs prepare undergraduate, predoctoral or postdoctoral candidates to conduct research in team settings that are highly interdisciplinary and collaborative. Read more. 

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) announces a new funding opportunity to enhance the development of clinical partnerships and translational research in the study of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) - Partnerships for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Clinical Translational Research (U19): RFA-AT-09-002. For more information please click here. The NCCAM also announces a new funding opportunity that encourages investigator-initiated applications that propose to develop, enhance, and validate translational tools to facilitate rigorous study of CAM approaches that are in wide use by the public - Translational Tools for Clinical Studies of CAM Interventions (R01): PAR-09-066. For more information please click here.

Instrument Development for Biomedical Applications (R21) solicits innovative applications for the development of new or improved instrumentation for biomedical research. Projects should propose tools that can be used by a wide range of biomedical or clinical researchers, and are not limited to a specific organ or disease. Read more

Emory Children's Center and Emory Center for Clinical and Molecular Nutrition present Intestinal Failure and Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth: It is not as simple as you think by Dr. Samuel Kocoshis, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Nutrition and Intestinal Transplantation at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, on Tuesday, April 28, at 1:00 p.m. in Emory Children's Center, Room 202.

Mimi Guarneri, MD, founder and medical director of the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, will speak on Personalized Medicine in the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease as part of the Emory/Georgia Tech Predictive Health Institute's campus-wide seminar series. The seminar will be held on Thursday, April 30, at noon in the Emory School of Medicine Building, Room 110.  It is free and open to the public. Guarneri is author of the book, The Heart Speaks: A Cardiologist Reveals the Secret Language of Healing. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the seminar.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health presents The Ghost Map, The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic and How it Changed Cities, Science, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson, PhD on Tuesday, May 5, from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. in the Cox Ballroom, Emory University. Dr. Johnson is the bestselling author of six books, including The Ghost Map, and his latest, The Invention of Air; the Distinguished Writer-in-Residence in the Department of Journalism at New York University; and the founder of FEED, Plastic, and, outside.in.

Drawn from one of the defining moments in the invention of modern life-the emergence of modern public health during the London cholera epidemic of 1854-The Ghost Map is a gripping case study in how change happens, the turbulent way in which wrong or ineffectual ideas are overthrown by better ones. The focus of the Models of Excellence lecture series is to explore the linkage between innovation and public health preparedness-related practice as well as ways in which public health practitioners and health science faculty can facilitate the translation of innovation into practice. 

There is no charge for this lecture and lunch. Book signing immediately after lecture-bring your own copies or purchase a copy. Register online by May 1, at http://www.pware.com/2626. For more information contact Karen Hudson (404-727-5132) or Laura M. Lloyd, MPH, CHES, Director of Continuing Professional Education (404-727-3035). Continuing education credit available.

Dr. David Stephens will serve as the moderator on a panel focused on NIH CTSAs and the ACTSI, Maximizing the Potential of CTSAs for Carrying out Multicenter Clinical Trials, and Translational Informatics and Establishing Clinical Trials at Specific CTSA Sites during the meeting of The Society of Clinical Trials from 3:00-4:00 p.m. on May 5. Mike Kutner, PhD, ACTSI Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) program director and Joel Saltz, MD, PhD, ACTSI Biomedical Informatics Program (BIP) director will serve as panel members. The meeting will be held from May 3 until 6, in Atlanta at the CNN Center's Omni Hotel. For more information and registration please visit www.sctweb.org.

The ACTSI's Community Engagement & Research Program (CERP) presents a Research-Community Workshop on Obesity. Morehouse School of Medicine and Emory University Rollins School of Public Health faculty cordially invite you or your representative to attend the workshop on Wednesday, May 20, at Morehouse School of Medicine. Click here for more information.

The Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute (ACTSI) presents The Role of MYH9 Polymorphisms in Glomerular Disease presented by Jeffrey Kopp, MD, Captain, U.S. Public Health Service and Staff Clinician, Kidney Disease Section, NIDDK, NIH. The lecture will be held on May 27, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the Emory School of Medicine (1648 Pierce Drive NE), Room 120. For more information please click here.

The Society for Clinical Trials meeting in Atlanta on May 3, is hosting a one-day short course on clinical trials. To register please click here. Early registration, by March 20, is $325 and advanced registration, by April 15, is $350.

Current medical students at Emory University School of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), and other health professional trainees pursuing doctoral degrees in public health, biomedical engineering, nursing and other fields at Emory, MSM and GA Tech can apply for short-term (3 month) stipends ($5,190 of salary support) funded by the Research Education, Training and Career Development (RETCD) program of the ACTSI. This mechanism will support medical and graduate students who are interested in a short course program focused on clinical and/or translational research under the mentorship of a successful, federally funded faculty mentor. Application for the short-term training program includes several components that should be submitted electronically by emailing TL1Applications@erooms.emory.edu. For more information please visit www.atlantactsi.org/areas/retcd/documents/TL1_three-month_program-9-30-08_FINAL.pdf.