eRoundup for 07/02/09

You are invited to subscribe to a new free electronic monthly newsletter, the Clinical Trial Magnifier. In the current Magnifier issue, the results are presented from an online subscriber survey indicating the general opinion that investigator-initiated clinical studies should comply with the same standards as industry sponsored clinical trials, as about half of the respondents did not believe this to be the case in real life. The vast majority disagreed that supporting organizations, i.e. industry sponsors, should have rights to control publication, own study data or own any invention or discovery arising from ii-trials. Taking into account opinion expressed by Magnifier subscribers on this issue, a template contract proposal for ii-trials is provided.

Please visit http://emorysure.blogspot.com/ for more information and to meet the 2009 SURE scholars.

In the first study of its kind, Georgia Tech and Emory researchers collaborated on a multidisciplinary approach to predict how well a vaccine will work. The strategy combines immunology, genomics and bioinformatics and could speed better vaccines against global pandemics and emerging infections. Dr. Eva Lee, Georgia Tech's co-director of the ACTSI Biomedical Informatics Program (BIP), is a member of the research team. 

A symposium in Athens earlier this year kicked off a collaboration among the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Emory to transform Georgia into a major magnet and incubator for emerging nanotechnology based industries. The collaborations will target nanotechnology applications for infectious diseases, in areas such as medicine, pharmacology, food processing, food safety, agriculture, and sensors to detect emerging diseases. Read more... 

A new fertility preservation RFA, Fertility Preservation Research: Advancing Beyond Technology (R01) (RFA-HD-09-009), has been published by the NIH and CDC. Please click here http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HD-09-009.html for details. The application is due on October 20. 

The Health Literacy Annual Research Conference will be an interdisciplinary meeting for investigators dedicated to health literacy research.  It will be an opportunity to advance the field of health literacy, a method to raise the quality of research, and a venue for professional development. The aim is to attract a full range of investigators engaged in health literacy research including faculty involved in a broad array of public health, health services, epidemiology, translational, and interventional research activities. Investigators who have an abstract selected for oral presentation at the meeting will receive a stipend for meeting attendance (abstract deadline is August 19). This meeting is coordinated with the assistance of the Institute of Medicine and will be held at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Building. This activity has been sponsored by a grant from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. For more information please visit http://www.bumc.bu.edu/healthliteracyconference/ or email healthliteracyconference@bmc.org. 

The GA Tech/Emory Department of Biomedical Engineering is looking for projects, ideas, problems, and opportunities from any member of the medical/research community for Senior Design Project I and II (BMED 4600 & 4601). The Senior Design Project course uses biomedical engineering and development, FDA regulations and ISO standards, business and management processes, and clinical projects to complete submitted projects and create products. The students start with a problem statement and during the course of an academic year GA Tech's director of design instruction, Franklin Bost, MBA, IDSA, guides the students through the process. Industry advisors and non-profits from around the U.S. suggest global health, medical device, basic science, and clinical projects. The course is two semesters, with project teams beginning each fall, spring, and summer. Students work in teams of four on clinical or research relevant projects with medical, clinical, or PhD project advisors. The course produces BME industry-ready engineers, complete with work skills and technical, business, and clinical literacy. Bost invites anyone with a project idea to contact him. Note: if you would like to be an advisor but have several ideas (or no specific ideas), a team can meet with you to formulate a project idea through clinical observation and idea discussion. Please click here for more information about the courses and here for an idea submission form. Send all forms and questions to L. Franklin Bost, MBA, IDSA. 

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.