eRoundup for 08/14/09

A team of researchers led by John Hanfelt, PhD (Emory University ACTSI/Biostatistics, Epidemiology, & Research Design [BERD]) and Junmin Peng, PhD (Department of Human Genetics, Emory University) with the assistance of Emory biostatistics doctoral student Sameera Wijayawardana have developed the software toolkit SAPHIRRA (Statistical Analysis of Protein High-Throughput Robust Relative Abundances), which provides a new set of powerful statistical methods to analyze large proteomics data sets. With SAPHIRRA, researchers can reliably estimate the relative abundances of proteins in a complex mixture consisting of possibly thousands of proteins and identify those proteins that are differentially expressed. A novel feature is that SAPHIRRA avoids many of the restrictive modeling assumptions found in many current analytical approaches; for example, SAPHIRRA does not require that the relative abundances of proteins are normally distributed. Written using the Matlab mathematical programming language, SAPHIRRA is designed to be used in experiments based on heavy/light labeling of proteins followed by LC-MS/MS (liquid chromatography -tandem mass spectrometry). The SAPHIRRA toolkit includes methods to efficiently combine information from individual peptides by smooth local averaging of reciprocal variance estimates; generation of test statistics incorporating information from both matched and unmatched proteins; visually displays of the proteins' relative abundances and test statistics; and control of the local false discovery rate. These new statistical methods have been shown to dramatically reduce the false discovery rate and yield more true discoveries than are possible with standard approaches for analyzing relative abundances of proteins in a complex mixture (Wijayawardama et al., manuscript in preparation).

Beau Bruce, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology and neurology, Emory University School of Medicine and ACTSI UL Scholar presented Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension: Not Just a Woman's Disease during the ACTSI's May External Advisory Committee meeting. His work has now also been featured in the summer issue of Emory Eye Magazine (page 15).

The ACTSI's Translational Technologies & Resources (TTR) program is pleased to announce a new RFA to use available funds for new technologies capital investments. One primary focus of the ACTSI is to orchestrate the advancement, selection, and funding of promising new technology. The TTR program established a Proof-of-Principle Technology Fund which, with additional support from the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), facilitates a focused approach to identifying and investing in new, enabling technologies aligned with the ACTSI strategic goals. The application deadline is September 1. See RFA for more details.

The Georgia Tech/Emory Center (GTEC) for the Engineering of Living Tissues and the Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute (ACTSI) have partnered in the establishment of an inter-institutional grant program for regenerative medicine, Planning the Future of Regenerative Medicine in Atlanta. Last year, five planning grants were awarded, three of which were renewed for a second year of funding in summer 2009, based on excellent progress towards building successful extramural proposals and interdisciplinary teams in the area of regenerative medicine. This fall 2009 call for proposal is aimed at new groups intending to pursue a multi‐disciplinary project in the area of regenerative medicine that has the potential for multi‐investigator extramural funding in a two to three year time horizon.

Awards range from $50,000 to $100,000 in direct costs for the first year with the possibility of similar level of support for the second and third years (subject to meeting the eligibility conditions for renewal). Teams consisting of members from more than one institution are strongly encouraged. Please click here for the call for proposals which includes details regarding criteria and submission procedures. Letter of Intent is due on September 1, and proposals are due on September 15.

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 HMO Research Network is planning to respond to this announcement.  If there are any interested partners, please feel free to contact Robert L. Davis, MD, MPH, Director of Research for the Center for Health Research, Southeast, (404) 364-7197 or Robert.L.Davis@kp.org.

AHRQ invites applications to develop a prospective clinical registry of orthopedic devices, drugs, and procedures through a practice-based research collaborative and clinical and outcomes data resource (P50 grant mechanism). The goal of this registry initiative is to support the development of a sustainable data infrastructure and to conduct rigorous clinical and scientific research including comparative effectiveness and safety research.  AHRQ envisions utilizing a practice based orthopedic registry across a broad provider network as one of the potentially most effective and productive approaches to develop scientific evidence regarding the short and long term benefits and harms of implantable orthopedic devices and other related services. The registry will be a model and basis for other national device and procedure registries and will actively disseminate study results into clinical practice. The application is due on September 23. For more information please click here.

The executive vice president for health affairs at Emory presents the Future Makers Lecture Series featuring Darrell G. Kirch, MD president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges. The lecture will be held on Thursday, October 29, in the Woodruff Health Science Center Administration Building at 5:00 p.m. Please save the date.

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 Mason Outpatient Transplant Clinic is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art clinical and patient education center housed in The Emory Clinic. The clinic features six patient-friendly evaluation suites with multi-media education capability, 20 exam rooms, increased infusion room capacity, advanced biopsy procedure rooms with high tech ultrasound equipment, and expanded clinical laboratory space. The clinic is a hospital-based ACTSI Clinical Interaction Site and provides comprehensive support for clinical investigation with its various core resources and facilities. The Mason Transplant Outpatient Clinic supports more than 7,000 lab visits per year. The Emory Transplant Center is one of the most advanced and comprehensive transplant centers in the Southeast. It is the only institution in Georgia offering a full spectrum of transplantation services (heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas, and islet) with more than 300 adult and pediatric transplants each year at Emory University Hospital and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. The Emory Transplant Center is a recognized national leader in research, fostering inter-departmental, multi-disciplinary grants from federal sources such as the National Institutes of Health (including the ACTSI) and private foundations with current research funding of more than $8 million. The Mason Outpatient Transplant Clinic provides the infrastructure necessary for Emory, MSM, and Georgia Tech faculty to conduct clinical research. For more information please click here. To learn how to submit a protocol click here.