eRoundup for 05/29/09

Seven CTSA/GCRC nursing colleagues have helped to establish a private, not for profit, professional nursing organization for clinical research nurses (CRNs). The group is pleased to announce the International Association of Clinical Research Nurses (IACRN).

IACRN will advocate in support of all CRNs in academia, as well as industry settings. The association will help set and maintain professional standards and best practices for all CRNs to ensure quality research practices, high ethical standards, regulatory compliance, and human subjects' protection.

IACRN is officially 'incorporated' and hosting their first meeting in October at the Children's Hospital in Boston. The association is supported by the American Nurses Association and will over the next couple of years establish a certification for this practice, just as other nursing specialties are recognized. The IACRN will also help standardize education, training, and practice in the CRN specialty.

The other founding IACRN members are from Georgetown University Medical Center; Children's Hospital, Boston; University of California, Davis; University of Texas HSC, Houston; Oregon Health Sciences University; and University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. To learn more about the organization and the meeting please click here.

Dr. Jeannie Visootsak is an ACTSI MSCR/KL2 scholar and was recently awarded the NIH K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award for the project Neurodevelopmental Impact of Congenital Heart Defects in Down Syndrome. Dr. Visootsak's goal for this research is to optimize the neurodevelopmental outcomes of children with Down syndrome (DS) and congenital heart defect (CHD) and, eventually, with other DS-associated medical conditions.

Dr. Visootsak, Assistant Professor in Human Genetics and Pediatrics, is the Medical Director of the Down Syndrome and Fragile X Syndrome Clinics. She received her bachelor's degree from University of Southern California and MD from UCLA School of Medicine. She completed her Pediatric training and then a fellowship in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, UCLA School of Medicine. She has been awarded the Emory Egleston Children's Research Center grant, the National Down Syndrome Society Charles J. Epstein Research Award to conduct research in Down syndrome, and recently won first place at the Great American Baking Contest-Atlanta for her green tea almond cheesecake. Read more...

Medical, engineering schools team up to tackle big research
The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint program of the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech and the Emory University School of Medicine was profiled in this month's AAMC.

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. The receipt date is June 15; with funding by September 2009.

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.

In the midst of the numerous recovery act funding announcements from the NIH, the CCPH noticed a dramatic rise in inquiries from community-based organizations that are either applying directly for NIH funding or as partners of academic institutions that are the lead applicants. This conference call is the first in a series that will focus on responding to the most frequently asked questions. Each call will include speakers who will provide answers and insights from their direct experience, helpful handouts, and links to relevant resources.  Call notes and handouts will be posted on the CCPH website for future reference. The first call is scheduled for June 3, from 3:30-5:00 p.m. and will address the "why and how" of obtaining a federally negotiated indirect rate, a federal wide assurance for human subjects research, and registration through grants.gov and NIH eraCommons. Speakers on the call will include Elmer Freeman, Executive Director, Center for Community Health Education, Research, and Service in Boston, MA and Loretta Jones, Executive Director, Healthy African American Families II, Los Angeles, CA.  Learn more about their organizations online at www.cchers.org/ and www.haaf2.org/. To register for the call, please click on this link: https://catalysttools.washington.edu/webq/survey/ccphuw/77771.

This seminar will focus on challenges and solutions for collecting DNA and RNA samples, including an overview of how Oragene products can integrate into your workflow from collection to genetic analysis. The seminar will be held on Friday June 5, from noon -1:00 p.m. at Emory University's Whitehead Biomedical Research Building (615 Michael Street), Conference Room 300. All participants will receive complimentary test kits. Should you wish to attend, please RSVP to the following email address:  anusha.gandhi@dnagenotek.com . Alternately, you may sign up for one of these seminars online by registering here. Lunch and refreshments provided.

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.