Medical Education Day

Monday, April 7

12:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Dow Auditorium,

Towsley Center

Medical Education Day is a time to acknowledge and highlight educational innovations taking place throughout the U-M Medical School. This year's Medical Education Day will also take place in conjunction with the American Medical Association's Accelerating Change in Education initiative.

Click here for more information.

On Saturday, April 26, University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) donors, leaders, and friends will gather to celebrate the promise of our medical research at the first-ever Discovery Ball. The gala, which will take place at the North Campus Research Complex (NCRC), will serve as a cornerstone event for the recently launched UMHS Victors for Michigan campaign - a $1 billion effort that will enable the U-M Health System and Medical School to invest in all aspects of our mission and advance our vision to create the future of health care.

The Discovery Ball will help raise awareness about this exciting and unprecedented campaign - the biggest fundraising effort in UMHS history - and will put a spotlight on the groundbreaking medical discovery underway on our campus.

The NCRC will be transformed with unique décor elements that highlight science and discovery. The evening will be hosted by CNN Chief Medical Correspondent and U-M alumnus Sanjay Gupta (M.D. 1993, Residency 2000) and feature a performance from Grammy Award-winning recording artist Michael McDonald.

Proceeds from the Discovery Ball will benefit the newly created Discovery Fund, which is dedicated to innovative research, focused on solutions to the most pressing health care issues of our time.

"Today, our faculty depends more and more upon private support to pursue high-risk, high-reward ideas," says Steven L. Kunkel, Ph.D., senior associate dean for research and Endowed Professor of Pathology Research. "Through the UMHS Victors for Michigan campaign and the new Discovery Fund, donors will help us advance the best science and bring much needed answers to patients."

We are pleased to share that, due to overwhelming response from partners and sponsors, seating at the Discovery Ball is extremely limited. For more information about the event and the Discovery Fund, please visit http://victorsdiscoveryball.org.

The Fast Forward Medical Innovation (FFMI) team, a part of the U-M Medical School Office of Research devoted to providing research faculty at the Medical School with the connections and resources needed to successfully commercialize technology, recently announced the launch of its new U-M Translational Research and Commercialization for Life Sciences (MTRAC) Kickstart Award program. 

Offering funding up to $25,000, Kickstart Awards provide support for preliminary studies or development activities such as animal testing, prototype development, beta development, or drug-candidate screening. The FFMI team is specifically seeking proposals which address a discrete milestone that is critical to the advancement of research to the point of product development. Funds will enable activities that can help a project along a developmental path from lab to clinic, potentially making it more eligible for commercialization. 

All interested faculty must complete a pre-submission application before submitting a full proposal. Following completion of a pre-submission application, research teams will work directly with FFMI staff to determine an appropriate research plan and key milestone before submitting a complete proposal for review. Mentorship will be provided during the award period to guide further commercialization efforts.

Kickstart will be an ongoing program, with proposals being reviewed on a rolling basis until available funding has been distributed. Additional details about this program, including pre-submission forms, are available on the MTRAC website.

If you have any questions regarding the MTRAC Kickstart Award or other resources within FFMI, please contact Nick DeHaan at [email protected].

The Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR)'s Pilot Grant Program seeks proposals from basic, clinical, and social scientists for bench-to-bedside and bedside-to-practice translational research. The program aims to facilitate and support innovative research across the translational spectrum; encouraging interdisciplinary collaborations that promote the development of transformative solutions for improving patient outcomes.

The following mechanisms are offered in Round 16: 

• T1 Bench to Bedside Translation ($75,000 maximum)
• T1 Endowment for Basic Sciences Partnership Accelerating Translation ($50,000 maximum)
• T2 Translational Science ($50,000 maximum)
• T3 Research Into Practice ($50,000 maximum)
• T3 Community University Research (CURES) Partnership ($25,000 maximum)
• T3/T4 Implementing Research-Based Practices to Improve Quality of Care ($20,000 maximum) 

All faculty (12-month and 9-month appointments) with lecturer or instructor appointments or higher from all schools and colleges at the University of Michigan are eligible to apply as principal investigators; including, all basic, clinical, and social scientists.

For additional details and descriptions of each grant's mechanisms; including application expectations and eligibility guidelines, please visit MICHR's Pilot Grant Program page.

Proposals are submitted electronically through the new 

web-based UMMS Competition Space. Please click here to access the application.

Letter of Intent is due Friday, April 18 and submissions are due Friday, April 25. 

For questions, please contact Diana Ha, the MICHR Pilot Program Manager via email or phone at 734-998-7626. 

After this winter, we may feel like dry ice is just a step beyond what we see outside each day, but Dry Ice Shipping is no ordinary matter. Serious harm to persons and property can result when mistakes are made.

Skeptical? A pop bottle screwed shut with dry ice pellets inside will explode as the solid changes to gas. The same pop bottle inserted into a cement block will explode the cement block as well! Don't believe us? Check out this YouTube demo.

Special training, packaging, and labeling requirements are prescribed by law, and the Federal Aviation Administration imposes hefty fines on those who do not comply, as members of the University community have learned the hard way over recent years.

To help persons shipping with dry ice remember their special responsibilities, the Office of Regulatory Affairs has posted Dry Ice Safe Shipping posters in areas where dry ice is stored (see photo above). If you know of an area that needs such a poster, please request one from Regulatory Affairs via email or phone at 734-647-1576.

Mandatory training for persons who ship with dry ice is provided by U-M Occupational Safety and Environmental Health (OSEH) here. The OSEH on-line training coordinates with the U-M procurement system to help ensure that all required information about dry ice content is properly included in the shipping documents.

If someone asks you to "just send this package off," please stop and ask the questions you need to know in order to do it safely: 

• Does this package contain hazardous material, including 
  dry ice?
• Does this package contain biological material, which may also require special labeling or training?
• What training am I required to have taken to be allowed to ship it?
• How do I properly pack the material and label the package, or know that someone else has done it properly?
• How do I properly prepare the shipping documents?   

These small steps can help avoid harm to reputation and persons, as well as associated fines. Please be safe, not sorry! 

Questions?  

Please contact the Medical School Office of Regulatory Affairs via email or phone at 734-647-1576, visit the U-M OSEH website, or contact the U-M OSEH office directly at 734-647-1143.

If you do not comply with Public Access requirements, your grant renewal funding will now be held up by the National Institutes

of Health (NIH).   

This enforcement is beginning to be felt right here at the U-M, where last month two grant renewals were delayed for this reason. Policy and compliance suggestions are available on the NIH Grants page, or by visiting publicaccess.nih.gov.   

Our own Merle Rosenzweig, of the Taubman Health Sciences Library, has offered numerous presentations on how to comply, which are available on the web. The Office of Regulatory Affairs and the Taubman Health Sciences Library are working with the 

U-M Office of Research and Sponsored Projects to develop proactive ways to help you stay on track with this obligation, but in the meantime let's make sure the bucks don't stop (coming) here.

If you have further questions, please contact Diane Wilson in the Office of Regulatory Affairs or Merle Rosenzweig at the Taubman Health Sciences Library. 

U-M has begun working with several external, central institutional review boards (IRBs) to cede regulatory oversight of certain eligible research studies. 

U-M currently has master service agreements with: Chesapeake IRB, Western IRB, Schulman Associates IRB, Quorum Review, and the National Cancer Institute Central Institutional Review Board (NCI-CIRB). Ceding of oversight to a central IRB is currently limited to phases III and IV, multi-site, industry-sponsored research, where the central IRB will provide the project oversight and U-M will be added on as a performance site or for NCI-CIRB clinical trials 

(all phases).

Although the project will be under the primary oversight of the external, central IRB, the project must be submitted in the eResearch system through the application type (Section 1-1.1) entitled Requesting Review by a Non-U-M IRB.

This brief application: 

1. Registers the intent to cede to an external, central IRB, 

2. Collects limited information for ancillary committees to    

    conduct their necessary reviews, and 

3. Allows IRBMED to assure that the research is appropriate 

    for ceding. A final acknowledgment will be issued   

    by IRBMED.

For more information, please visit IRBMED's Central IRB Information page.

The Honest Broker Office (HBO) recently added an experienced Data Analyst to the team thanks to the newly established recharge rate. 

As a result, the team is able to provide data efficiently again. The provision of data through the HBO allows the research team to focus on the science rather than on the process of manual data extraction. The HBO office hours and appointments are available to assist with defining data requests, understanding the strengths and limitations of available data, and can provide an estimate of time and cost. 

Visit the HBO website for more information, including office hours and location. 

You may also contact the HBO via email or phone at 

734-615-2100 to make an appointment.

The Medical School Dean's Office and the Office of Research are soliciting nominations for these three faculty research awards as part of the UMMS Dean's Award Program. These awards recognize outstanding faculty who demonstrate exceptional accomplishments in research and in the research community. 

This award is the highest honor bestowed by the Medical School upon a faculty member for research in the biomedical sciences. The recipient of this award is an exceptional leader in research, whose landmark contributions are recognized both nationally and internationally. Their contributions are usually linked to pivotal discoveries that have wide-ranging impact for the advancement of scientific knowledge. The recipient of this award also excels in teaching, mentoring, and service to our institution and to their colleagues in the scientific community at large. 

Nominees must be a full professor with their primary appointment in the U-M Medical School, including faculty from Biomedical Engineering (BME). Junior faculty are not eligible for this award; however, they may be eligible for the Basic Science Research Award. Please direct questions to Camille Mrozowski at 

734-615-8802 or [email protected].

Basic Science Research Award

This award recognizes a scientist or group of scientists identified as having made outstanding contributions to the Medical School in basic biomedical science research. Nominees must be in the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor, or Assistant or Associate Research Professor in the U-M Medical School, which includes faculty from Biomedical Engineering (BME). Professors and Research Professors are not eligible for this award; however, they may be eligible for the Distinguished Faculty Lectureship Award in Biomedical Research. Please direct questions to Camille Mrozowski at 734-615-8802 or [email protected].  

This award recognizes a faculty member or group of faculty members who are identified as having made outstanding contributions to the Medical School in clinical or health services research. Nominees must be faculty of the U-M Medical School. Any rank or track are eligible. Please direct questions to 

Paula van Velden at 734-764-2204 or [email protected]. 

The University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center (UM-KECC) has been awarded a five-year, $8.5 million federal contract to serve as the coordinating center for the

United States Renal Data System (USRDS).

The USRDS is a national data system that collects, analyzes, and distributes information about patients with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease. An estimated 13 percent of Americans have chronic kidney disease, which increases their risk for early death due mainly to cardiovascular disease. The coordinating center, in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, provides clinical, biostatistical, epidemiological, data management and analytical expertise necessary to maintain and update the existing USRDS database.

"The award presents a unique opportunity to address one of the

nation's fastest growing chronic diseases," says U-M nephrologist 

Dr. Rajiv Saran

Rajiv Saran, MBBS, project director of the USRDS, professor of internal medicine and associate director of 

UM-KECC. "The work we do will 

provide the impetus for improving the care and quality of life for patients with all aspects of kidney disease and guide prevention efforts."

The USRDS project includes a multidisciplinary team of 21 investigators from the U-M Medical School, School of Public Health, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, 

Frankel Cardiovascular Center and School of Pharmacy, as well as subcontractors from Arbor Research Collaborative for Health and the University of California-Irvine.

Yi Li, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics at the School of Public Health, and Bruce Robinson, M.D., vice president of clinical research at Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, are co-deputy directors on the project.

The award, combined with a $17.6 million award from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services granted in October, expands UM-KECC's funding for national kidney disease monitoring, quality improvement, and research. It also illustrates the long-standing impact of the UM-KECC, which was involved in the earlier phase of USRDS from 1988-1999.

"I am extremely excited with the achievement made by Dr. Saran and the team," says Li, director of the UM-KECC. "With the strong support of the School of Public Health and Medical School, UM-KECC is committed to facilitating the successful operation of the project. I envision that the new Coordinating Center will provide a solid platform for publishing high impact papers and reports of scientific findings based on USRDS data, and for fostering research in the renal field."

The University of Michigan is home to one of the world's leading research groups concerned with the health problems that women encounter as a consequence of their unique role in reproduction. Interdisciplinary researchers across the campus are involved in cutting edge work, seeking to understand the basic mechanisms of incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse that disproportionately affect women who have given birth vaginally. Each year, researchers gather to discuss progress and make plans for new research. On Wednesday, February 12, the annual Pelvic Floor Research Group Day was held in Palmer Commons.

This year, Paul Hodges, Ph.D., from The University of Queensland delivered the keynote presentation, entitled "Pelvic Floor Muscles, Breathing, Back Pain, Balance and Continence: What's the Link?" Dr. Hodges' talk highlighted new insights into the finely orchestrated motor control of pelvic floor muscles as they relate to incontinence. His visit underscores the Pelvic Floor Research Group's growing interest in the understanding that can be gained from sex differences research -- a major priority of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Women's Health. 

Presentations concerning current investigative work being done at the U-M were given by members of the departments (schools) of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Urology, Public Health, Radiology and Nursing. Updates on investigations into birth-related pelvic floor injury, a new conceptual model for pelvic organ prolapse mechanisms, and instrument development activities were also presented. 

The poster session featured presentations made at national meetings during 2013, and allowed more students, faculty, and staff to share their research and interests. Dr. Hodges also lectured at a joint Urology and Obstetrics and Gynecology Grand Rounds the following morning on the topic "Male Pelvic Floor Function: New Insights from New Technologies." The Pelvic Floor Research Group looks forward to capitalizing on the success of this year's event and continuing its growth and scope at the 2015 Pelvic Floor Research Group Day.

Primary funding for this interdisciplinary research comes from the NIH's Office of Research on Women's Health, and administrative funding and support for the annual Pelvic Floor Research Group Day come from the U-M Office of Research and the 

U-M Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

For more information about the internationally recognized Pelvic Floor Research Group at the U-M, visit the Group's website.

By Chris Black, M.L.S., Assistant Director for Research Development Support, 

Office of Research

(One in a series of tips published in UMMS Research News about writing proposals.)

• Limit section to approximately 1/2 to 1 page
• Highlight one or a few innovations (not a laundry list of little items)
• Start with explaining the norm/status quo in your field (judge how much your reviewers will know about this topic to determine degree of background needed); literature citations are useful here
• Remember, emphasis here is on impact of the research concept or tool to the scientific field (as opposed to the impact of the study outcome to the NIH mission).