eRoundup for 09/04/09

Listen to Sound Science as David Stephens, MD, describes how partners in the Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute work with local communities, sparking clinical research that can translate into better patient outcomes. Dr. Stephens is Emory's Woodruff Health Sciences vice president for research and ACTSI PI. Read and listen. . . 

Robert Lyles, PhD, associate professor in biostatistics and bioinformatics in Emory's Rollins School of Public Health, has been named the new program director of ACTSI's Biostatistics, Epidemiology, & Research Design (BERD) program. Dr. Lyles has a strong research record in both statistical and collaborative research. He has been at Emory for over ten years, is a successful NIH-investigator, and has a strong record of providing biostatistical support to the Winship Cancer Institute during its planning and implementation phases. As the director of BERD, he will provide biostatistical collaboration, consulting, and support to ACTSI investigators.  

Congratulations to Dr. Iris Smith, ACTSI's Tracking & Evaluation program director, and Tim Morris and Circe Tsui of ACTSI's Biomedical Informatics Program, for having their poster accepted at the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Conference. The poster is based off of the ACTSI social networking analysis they completed earlier this year. Read More... 

From the earliest days of the global H1N1 pandemic, Emory infectious disease experts have been on the forefront of international preparedness and response, laboratory and vaccine research, and lifesaving treatments. ACTSI investigator and Hubert professor of Global Health, Carlos del Rio was one of the first experts called when the H1N1 virus broke out in his home country of Mexico. Read more. . . 

The CDC announced that they will give $40 million in federal stimulus money to state health departments to help prevent infections and to encourage the use of a federal surveillance system that tracks healthcare-associated infections. Read More...

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. Proposals are due on September 15.

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.

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.

Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) will host a Clinical and Translational Research Seminar on Thursday, September 10, from 1:00-2:00 p.m. in the MRC Building, G-14. The seminar, The Effects of Circadian Disruption on Performance and Well-being, will be presented by Gianluca Tosini, PhD, professor and chair of the MSM Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Click here for more information. The seminar is sponsored by the ACTSI and MSM's Master of Science in Clinical Research Program and the Clinical Research Center.

The Morehouse School of Medicine, in conjunction with the National Black Leadership Initiative on Cancer III, will host Health Disparities Symposium on Cancer: Addressing the Issues on September 21-22, at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown. The keynote speakers are Dr. David Satcher, director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute, and Stephen Sodeke, associate director of the National Center for Bioethics in Research and Healthcare at Tuskegee University. Click here for more information.

Morehouse School of Medicine will host the 14th annual HeLa Women's Health Conference on September 25, at the Louis W. Sullivan National Center for Primary Care. The conference will focus on reproductive health and cancer, including the relationship between obesity and cancer. Writer Rebecca Skloot, assistant professor of English at the University of Memphis, will be the keynote speaker. Skloot is the author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Click here for more information.

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. Read more... 

Addressing Childhood Obesity in Georgia: Scientific, Educational, Philanthropic, Community-Based, and Legislative Efforts will be held on November 19 and 20 at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center. The conference is sponsored by The University System of Georgia and the Georgia Research Alliance. All faculty, researchers, and graduate students are invited to join with colleagues from within Georgia and beyond for a scholarly meeting on childhood obesity. The conference will contain poster sessions, panels, and keynote addresses, in hopes of sharing research findings, attracting funding, and beginning new collaborations.

The event is free, but participants will need to assume travel costs. To RSVP and for further details please contact Angelia Thomas, angelia.thomas@usg.edu, 404.657.1332. Three Top Student Paper Awards are also available for graduate or undergraduate students who submit materials to the poster session. A limited number of travel grants to cover mileage and a stay at the Conference Center hotel are available for students only.  For the poster session criteria, click here.

NIH fosters the careers of thousands of scientific researchers through its extramural Loan Repayment Programs (LRP). The LRP's two-year award repays up to $35,000 per year of educational loan debt for individuals who commit to conducting two years of qualified biomedical or behavioral research at a nonprofit or government institution. The five extramural LRPs are Clinical Research, Pediatric Research, Health Disparities Research, Contraception and Infertility Research, and Clinical Research for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds. The 2010 application cycle opened September 1 and closes December 1. Read More...

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 Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) Community Physician's Network (CPN) is a consortium of health care practitioners who are in academic partnership with MSM. The site is a medical office-based ACTSI Clinical Interaction Site and provides comprehensive support for clinical investigation with its various core resources and facilities. CPN facilitates participation of minority physician practices by bringing together a critical mass of patients and investigators from minority practices, providing educational tools for physicians necessary for participation in clinical trials, facilitating partnerships with academic and other institutions, and establishing Regional Practice Based Registries in Hypertension and Heart Failure. By conducting research in the real world of the community practice, the MSM CPN consortium can help bridge some of the health disparity gap. The CPN 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.