eRoundup for 07/10/09

The CDC's Injury Center has designated the Emory Center for Injury Control as one of two new Injury Control Research Centers (ICRC). "Connecting research to communities is a primary focus for CDC and we are pleased to announce the new ICRCs, as well as those renewed. I consider each to be a part of this critical research network," said Dr. Ileana Arias, Director of CDC's Injury Center. "Their work will fill a critical gap and can help shape a better understanding of how to improve the lives of those affected to help them live to their full potential."At each ICRC, scientists from a wide spectrum of disciplines focus upon discovering how to prevent and control injuries more effectively. They work to identify critical knowledge gaps in injury risk and protection and also conduct research to address these gaps. Furthermore, this network of ICRCs also provides technical assistance to injury prevention and control programs within their geographic region. For more information about CDC's injury prevention and response work, go to www.cdc.gov/injury. The Emory Center for Injury Control was featured in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, Emory Wins CDC Grants for Injury Prevention, on Wednesday.

The Institute of Medicine report on Initial National Priorities for Comparative Effectiveness Research was recently released. Follow the link to the report, list of priorities, news release, and brief. For further reference please click here.

One of the ACTSI's Pilot & Collaborative Translational & Clinical Studies (PiCo-TraCS) program award recipients, Dr. Page Pennell, was recently cited in Atlanta magazine's list of the city's Top Doctors. Read more... 

for the consortium Wiki, initiated by NCRR to meet the needs of the consortium members. Please visit the sites and return often.

An article covering the ACTSI's involvement with the 2009 BIO International Convention is featured in the current CTSA eNewsletter.

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. 

To enhance and promote the best practices to train the next generation of investigators in clinical and translational research, the Association for Clinical Research Training and the CTSA consortium have collaborated to develop a national conference for scholars and leaders in research education. The 2010 National Clinical and Translational Research Education Annual Meeting will take place on April 6-7, 2010, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC.

NCRR, in collaboration with the CTSA Education and Career Development Key Function Committee, formed the Education Core Competency Work Group to define the training standards for core competencies in clinical and translational research. The overall goal is to create competency-based educational curricula for training clinician-scientists that will define the discipline of clinical and translational science. The current focus has been on defining the basic knowledge, skills, and attributes that a master's-level candidate should attain. The final recommendations for the core competencies can be found here. In early June, the CTSA Consortium Steering Committee reviewed and endorsed the competencies. The Strategic Goal Committee will now begin aligning the competencies with curricula in programs across the CTSA consortium.

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.

The ACTSI Clinical Interaction Network (CIN) site at Grady Memorial Hospital is a discrete inpatient/outpatient unit that serves over 45 investigators from Emory and Morehouse School of Medicine. This unit supports investigators working in the areas of obesity, type II diabetes, HIV, MRSA, sickle cell disease, hypertension, stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, schizophrenia, preterm birth, intrauterine growth retardation, and blunt head trauma. The unit provides the resources necessary for clinical research at Grady. For more information please click here. To learn how to submit a protocol click here.