EVENTS
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Where Do I Start?
Wednesday, June 10
Two sessions:
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM or
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
BSRB Seminar Rooms
Fourth Annual BRCF Technology & Services Showcase
Thursday, June 11
11:30 AM - 2:00 PM
Great Lakes Room
and Forum Hall, 4th Floor,
Palmer Commons
Cancer Center Director Town Hall Meeting
Thursday, June 11
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Research Auditorium,
NCRC Building 10
Meetings for Action: AAALAC
Friday, June 12
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
BSRB Seminar Rooms
Metabolomics MRC2 Summer Workshop
Monday, June 15 - Thursday, June 18
Kellogg Auditorium, Kellogg Eye Center
For more information, please contact Terri Ridenour via email or phone at (734) 647-7449.
Researchpalooza
Thursday, August 20
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Circle Drive in front of Med Sci I
U-M Injury Center Sport Concussion Summit
Thursday, September 24
8:00 AM - 4:45 PM
Junge Family
Champions Center at Michigan Stadium
Early registration for
this event is strongly encouraged.
Creating
Effective Slides:
Design, Construction, and Use in Science
Monday, September 28
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
BSRB Seminar Rooms
CALL FOR POSTERS: Quality Month 2015 "Get to the Root Cause"
Tuesday, October 6 - Wednesday, October 7
All poster submissions must be received by the Wednesday, July 1 deadline.
Click here for
submission instructions.
Doing Biomedical Research? There's a Map for That!
Friday, October 9
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
BSRB Seminar Rooms
Health System Headlines Research Seminars & Events
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RESEARCH NEWS
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QUICKLINKS
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IN THIS ISSUE
Funding
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Policies
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Training & Professional Development
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Announcements
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Accolades & Milestones
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Select Research Funding &
Award Opportunities
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External Limited Submissions
Other Opportunities
On the Horizon
Award
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Expected Announcement Date
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2016 Searle Scholars Program
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Summer 2015
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2015 AAALAC Site Visit Coming Soon
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Use these resources to make sure you're prepared
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Beginning Monday, June 22 - Friday, June 26, U-M will host eight visitors from the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) to conduct a site visit of our animal research program. During this time, anticipate a visit to all housing locations on every campus and many laboratories.
All laboratory or research groups conducting research or teaching with animals should take all necessary steps to prepare for the visit, including:
- All laboratory staff and PIs should attend a
Meeting for Action: AAALAC (a full list of dates/times/locations can be found on the website)
- Discuss the visit with your staff and colleagues
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The U-M Office of Research and the University Committee on Use and Care of Animals (UCUCA) Office will continue to share additional information regarding the visit.
Use this form to submit any questions you may have about the upcoming site visit or how to prepare your laboratory staff.
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Be Aware: Multiple Phishing Scams are Circulating Around Campus
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What's going around and what you can do about it
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 In recent weeks, U-M staff members across campus have reported an increase in phishing scam emails and pop-ups warning that their computers are infected. While these scams are not new, they have increased in number as they've become specifically targeted at U-M. These are the most recent scams that have been circulating: - IRS Information Validation Scam. These emails ask people to validate personal information, such as Social Security Number, by entering it on a Google Form. The information is being collected by criminals. (See IRS scam example at U-M)
- Academic Publishing Scam. These emails ask faculty to share articles by clicking links that require login to get to online copies of the articles. The login page is a fake one that steals the faculty member's uniqname and UMICH password. (See Academic Publishing scam example at U-M)
- School Mail-Box Validation Scam. These emails warn people that email accounts that have not been validated by a certain date will be deleted, and ask that people click on the link to re-validate their email. These emails may appear to come from the Umich Servicedesk or Umich Helpdesk.
- Infected Computer Pop-Up Warning. Several staff members have reported seeing alarming pop-ups warning that their computer is infected. The pop-ups, which block browser use and may include audio, urge the user to call a phone number for tech support assistance. The call is answered by someone who offers to fix the problem for
a fee but who hijacks the computer in the process.
It's important that you remain especially vigilant and report any suspicious email or computer activity. You're also encouraged to share this information with your colleagues and to take the following precautionary steps:
- Be cautious of links in unsolicited emails
- Do not enter personal private information
in Google Forms
- If you suspect that you've been caught by one of
these scams, change your UMICH password and contact MSIS immediately at (734) 763-7770
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Please refer to the "IIA Alert: Beware of phishing scams circulating at U-M" message posted on the Safe Computing website for more information.
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The Burroughs Wellcome Fund Announces Awards, New Changes
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Important procedural change: Award applicants must now go through a self-nomination process
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The Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) is currently seeking applicants for the following awards:
Important Procedural Change These awards no longer require institutional nomination of applications, and now have a self-nomination process that will remove the limit on applications an institution can submit. Since this change is expected to increase the number of applications, the BWF is moving to a two-stage competition. Each award will have a pre-proposal deadline, followed by a deadline for invited full proposals.
Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS)
Sponsor Deadlines:
| Pre-proposal Deadline: Wednesday, August 5 by 4:00 PM EST
Invited Full Application Deadline: Thursday, November 12 by 4:00 PM EST |
Funding Available:
| $700,000 over five years |
Eligibility:
| The eligibility requirements for these awards are detailed and lengthy. Please refer to the Request for Proposals for the full list of requirements, and review the guidelines with your department grants administrator prior to submitting. Some of the key requirements include:
- Must be MD, DO, DVM, DDS
- Candidates must not be more than 11 years past their most recent earned clinical doctorate degree.
- Candidates must be a fellow, resident,
or postdoctoral researcher and have at least two years of postdoc research experience at the time of application. - Candidates holding a non-tenure junior faculty appointment may be eligible if they have been in a faculty position for two years or less at the time of application.
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Program Focus:
| To bridge advanced postdoctoral/fellowship training and the early years of faculty service for physician-scientists committed to an academic career. |
Research Emphasis:
| Must be in basic biomedical, disease-oriented, or translational research.
Proposals in health services research or involving large-scale clinical trials are NOT eligible.
Also, up to two awards will be made to clinically-trained psychiatrists who focus their research at the interface of psychiatry and neuroscience. |
Frequently Asked Questions:
| Details here. |
Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease (PATH)
Sponsor Deadlines:
| Pre-proposal Deadline: Wednesday, July 15 by 4:00 PM EST
Invited Full Application Deadline: Thursday, November 5 by 4:00 PM EST |
Funding Available:
| $500,000 over five years |
Eligibility:
| Please review the full list of requirements in the Request for Proposals. Some of the key requirements for this award include:
- Mid-to-Late Assistant Professor
- Tenured or its well-supported equivalent in non tenure-offering department
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Research Emphasis:
| Study pathogenesis with a focus on the interplay between infectious agents and their hosts, shedding light on how human and microbial systems are affected by their encounters. |
Frequently Asked Questions:
| Details here. |
Questions about either of these opportunities should be directed to Joe Piffaretti in UMHS Corporate and Foundation Relations or Camille Mrozowski in the Medical School Office of Research.
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Meet with All of the Biomedical Research Core Facilities in One Room
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BRCF Technology & Services Showcase takes place this Thursday, June 11 at Palmer Commons
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MCRU Updates Cost Structure for Clinical Research Support Services
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 Due to recently announced changes in NIH financial support, MICHR's Michigan Clinical Research Unit (MCRU) is updating its cost structure for both industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated research studies, effective Wednesday, July 1, 2015, in order to continue as a key clinical and translational research service provider. The full list of rates is available here. MCRU staff is available to help research teams create or update budgets based on the new cost structure. Please contact Dr. Blake Roessler or Administrative Program Director Cyndi Bower with any questions.
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Learn How to Foster Research Excellence in Your Department
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Attend FREE workshop on Wednesday, July 22
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 Join the Medical School Office of Research and the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research as they host a workshop for research leadership, "The Pittsburgh Model: Building a Collaborative and Productive Research Environment," on Wednesday, July 22 from 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM in the Kahn Auditorium of the Biomedical Science Research Building. The event features David Kupfer, M.D., the former Chair of the Psychiatry Department at the University of Pittsburgh, who will speak about his work in the past three decades to build a strong department-based infrastructure that fosters research excellence and a collaborative culture. In recent years, his department has been consistently ranked No. 1 in NIH funding among psychiatry departments nationwide. Such success is, in part, the result of the department's mandatory peer-review program for proposal development, a strong collaborative culture, and formal mentoring mechanisms. Click here for additional details and registration information.
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Deadlines Approaching for Three Major Research Training Programs
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Rudi Ansbacher Women in Academic Medicine Leadership Scholars Program

The U-M Medical School is currently seeking nominations for the second cohort of the Rudi Ansbacher Women in Academic Medicine Leadership Scholars Program.
This intensive 18-month leadership development program is designed to accelerate the development of women for senior leadership positions in academic medicine and healthcare. Developed in partnership with Linkage, Inc. and U-M's Stephen M. Ross School of Business, the program will provide individuals with insights about their leadership strengths and challenges to facilitate self-awareness and opportunities for growth.
A list of eligibility requirements is available here. All applicants must be nominated by the dean of their institution, chair, or the chief executive officer of their academic center. Additional program details, including program costs and application instructions, can be found on the program website.
Nominations for this year's cohort must be received by Friday, June 19, and can be completed using this form.
Please email Whitney Williams in the Medical School Faculty Development Office with any questions.
Faculty Scholars Program in Integrative Healthcare

The U-M Faculty Scholars Program in Integrative Healthcare (FSP) is currently seeking applications from the university community for its 14th cohort. The FSP is a unique, small group, inter-professional faculty development program that encourages faculty and teaching staff from different professional schools and disciplines to explore the field(s) of integrative medicine and healthcare.
Participation in this year-long, multi-disciplinary program involves 11 full days scheduled throughout the academic year, beginning in September 2015. Between meetings, scholars are expected to complete assigned readings and to work on designing an individual curriculum, research, or clinical service project of their own passion and interest related to integrative health.
Faculty scholars receive mentoring on their projects from Integrative Medicine program faculty. This program is limited to 12 participants, and has previously been approved for 77.5 AMA PRA category 1 credits. Click here for more information about program costs and eligibility requirements.
Applications are due by 5:00 PM on Friday, June 26. Please contact Dr. Rita Benn with any questions.
National Clinician Scholars Program at the Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation

The University of Michigan has teamed up with three of the nation's top universities to launch a new initiative to educate nurses and physicians together to serve as leaders, researchers, and change agents in healthcare, community health, and public policy. Called the National Clinician Scholars Program, it will train scholars to lead policy-relevant research and catalyze partnerships to improve health and healthcare.
At U-M, the program is based in the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, and is called the IHPI-CSP Program. The VA Center for Clinical Management Research, based at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, is also a partner in the U-M program. This program generally involves two years of study with generous time for research. Although the programs at each site vary in design and emphasis, each institution has developed a core structure that introduces scholars to the methods used in healthcare research, and each offers formal coursework, individual mentorship, and guidance in project development.
The program is currently accepting applications for the 2016 - 2018 cohort, which would start in July 2016. Interested applicants are encouraged to visit the national program website for more information, including eligibility requirements.
Applications are due by Tuesday, September 1 and should be submitted through the national program website.
General questions about the program should be directed to nationalclinicianscholars@gmail.com. For questions specific to the U-M program, please contact site program administrators at NationalCSP@umich.edu or (734) 647-4844.
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New Initiative Underway to Provide
All U-M Researchers with ORCID IDs
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U-M Library effort uses unique identifiers to help resolve authorship confusion in scholarly work
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Click on image above to view
a brief video about ORCID.
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For many of us, sharing a common name with thousands of others might be an occasional inconvenience, or a source of frustration when Googling ourselves. But for researchers like U-M's Jennifer Smith, the implications are a little more serious. Smith is an assistant research scientist in epidemiology at the School of Public Health, but in PubMed, a search engine with more than 24 million citations, there are 20,000 entries for J. Smith, and no clear way to distinguish one J. Smith from another.
Thanks to a U-M Library initiative, soon all of the university's researchers will have a unique identifier via membership in ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID), a non-profit organization working to reliably identify and link researchers with their work.
Key features of ORCID include:
- A registry of unique research identifiers and a transparent method of linking research activities
and outputs to these identifiers.
- A standard, unique author identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher and a system that supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities.
- An ORCID identifier that persists throughout your
entire research career, regardless of job transitions or name changes, that can be attached to any research output - datasets, articles, books, grants, and more.
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The library is currently in the process of creating ORCID ID numbers for all U-M researchers and, upon integration, ORCID numbers will appear in MCommunity listings in a new section labeled "Professional Information."
To learn more about the U-M Library's ORCID initiative and implementation, visit the ORCID Research Guide or click on the image above to view a brief informational video.
If you have any questions or would like additional information about ORCID, please contact Merle Rosenzweig in the Taubman Health Sciences Library at oriley@umich.edu.
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Looking for Help with Your Research?
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1,000 undergraduate research assistants available
to assist you during the new academic year
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Dr. Christine Nelson, Department of Ophthamology and Visual Sciences, receives outstanding mentor award from her UROP student Jane Smith during the Spring Research Symposium.
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This year, the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) will admit more than 1,000 students ready to start working on research projects in September 2015 and continuing through April 2016.
The program needs additional lab, clinical, and public health projects for the upcoming academic year.
What is UROP?
UROP is a structured program. In addition to working on their research project, UROP students attend bi-weekly seminars addressing a variety of research topics, meet regularly with their UROP peer advisor who is an alumnus of the program, and are offered skill-building workshops and other resources.
UROP is not a match program. Instead, UROP provides a list of approved projects and interested students contact the researcher directly. As the researcher, YOU decide who you want to interview and who you want to offer the position to.
There is no financial cost to you. Supplemental funding of $500 - $1000 per project is available for student-related research costs.
Eligibility
U-M clinical and research faculty, research investigators, fellows, and visiting scholars who will be on campus September 2015 through April 2016 are eligible to apply for help.
 How to Apply If you could use help with your current research project, collecting pilot data, or exploring a related topic, please fill out the brief online application. Projects submitted by the end of June will have top priority. Project applications will be accepted through mid-August for distribution to the entire cohort of UROP students. If you have questions, please contact the UROP Office via email or phone at (734) 615-9000.
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R01 Boot Camp Makes Major Impact
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Mentorship program helps UMMS faculty receive first NIH R01 grants
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| Click on image to view and download infographic. |
The Mentored Research Academy: R01 Boot Camp (R01 Boot Camp), now in its second year, is a multi-tiered mentorship program to support and increase the success rate of Medical School faculty applying for their first NIH Research Project Grant (R01).
Managed by the Medical School Office of Research and developed as part of Dean Woolliscroft's long-term Strategic Research Initiative, the R01 Boot Camp pilot program launched in 2013 with 40 mentees.
To date, pilot program mentees have produced:
- $26.8M in funded proposals as a result of the pilot program; almost $22M from funded R01 proposals
and $4.9M from non-R01 funded proposals - 11 R01 proposals that have been funded and one
more in the fundable range (i.e., 9th percentile) - 6 other NIH R awards (R21s, R03s)
- Proposals that have been funded by 27 programs
and organizations other than the NIH
In preparing to submit their NIH R01 applications, mentees participate in several activities to develop and review their proposals. They also receive individual counsel on their research plans from subject matter experts and their faculty coaches.
Several mentees from the pilot program have continued with R01 Boot Camp 1.2 to prepare their A1 or new R01 application(s) in response to the NIH summary sheets they received. A second cohort comprised of 48 new mentees began R01 Boot Camp 2.0 in fall 2014.
A new session of the program is expected to be announced later this year, with application instructions to follow. Please visit the R01 Boot Camp webpage for more information, or contact us via email at R01BootCamp@umich.edu.
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Mingle with the Medical School Research Community
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Has YOUR Office Signed Up for a Table
at Researchpalooza?
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Hosted by the Medical School Office of Research and coinciding with the annual UMHS Ice Cream Social, Researchpalooza will take place on Thursday, August 20. Last year, over 60 offices and labs staffed tables and took advantage of the opportunity to meet with 3,000+ of their customers among the Medical School's research community. Has YOUR office signed up for a table yet?
Organizations that have already registered to exhibit include:
- Bioinformatics Core
- Biomedical Research Core Facilities
- Biomedical Research Council
- Biomedical Research Store
- Biorepository
- Calendar Review & Analysis Office
- CAMTraST
- Center for Molecular Imaging
- DNA Sequencing Core
- Fast Forward Medical Innovation
- Fostering Innovation Grants
- Flow Cytometry Core
- Grant Review & Analysis Office
- Honest Broker Office
- Institutional Review Boards
- Lurie Nanofabrication Facility
- Michigan Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care
- Medical School Information Services
- Metabolomics Core
- MiChart Research
- Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research
- Microscopy & Image Analysis Laboratory
- Occupational Safety & Environmental Health
- PIBS Student Organizations
- Proteomics & Peptide Synthesis Core
- Research IT
- School of Dentistry Research Cores
- Taubman Health Sciences Library
- Transgenic Animal Model Core
- U-M Postdoctoral Association
- University Committee on Use & Care of Animals
- UMHS Department of Communication
- UMHS Development, Corporate & Foundation Relations
- UMMS Faculty Development
- UMMS Office of Research
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine
- University of Michigan Injury Center
- Vector Core
CLICK HERE to learn more about the benefits of exhibiting at Researchpalooza and to register for a FREE table for your U-M research organization.
Questions? Contact Ann Curtis at accurtis@umich.edu.
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Wondering About that Unsolicited Publication Request You Received?
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Here's how to spot a predatory publishing appeal
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 You return home from delivering a paper at a conference, and before you can even finish unpacking you start to receive unsolicited emails about your paper. An editor promises impossibly fast peer review, asking you to submit your work to a publication with a vague name, or one that is strikingly similar to another journal in your field. Perhaps you've never received these appeals, but you've heard from colleagues who were duped into submitting their work to fake journals, or maybe you've found your name listed on the editorial board of a journal you've never heard of. Situations like these bear all the hallmarks of predatory publishing, and are becoming increasingly common. Predatory publishing mimics the system of academic publishing, but in the service of generating revenue rather than advancing scholarship. These fake publishers and journals seek to use your name, reputation, and scholarship to make their activities appear legitimate in order to fool others into falling for their scheme. Thankfully, with a careful eye you can learn to recognize these scams before becoming their next victim. Here are a few tips to help you avoid the predators:
- Ignore unsolicited emails and calls-for-proposals
from organizations and individuals you don't know. If you receive such emails, just delete them.
- Never agree to review manuscripts or serve on an editorial board without thoroughly researching the publication in question. Independently confirm any
claims they make about members of their editorial board, impact factor, or reputation.
- Make sure your departmental bio or professional
website is up to date, listing all your publications, editorial responsibilities, and organizational affiliations. This makes it easier for others to do the kind of fact-checking you'll need to do when researching a publication.
- Talk to your students and colleagues about how
to avoid falling prey to predatory publishers. This makes it harder for others to fall for their tricks, thus breaking the cycle of deception.
- When in doubt, talk to a librarian. They are research experts who can help you determine if a publication is legitimate or predatory.
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For more information about how to avoid predatory publishers, please contact the Taubman Health Sciences Library at thlibrary@umich.edu or (734) 764-1210. [This material was adapted from Meredith Kahn, "Sharing your scholarship while avoiding the predators: Guidelines for medical physicists interested in open access publishing," Medical Physics 41, no. 7 (July 2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1118/1.4883836. Licensed under CC BY 3.0.]
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U-M Clinical Research Team Recognized with Recruitment Award
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Pop-Busui team wins award for PERL Trial
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 The clinical research team of Rodica Pop-Busui, M.D., Ph.D., was recently recognized for excellence in study recruitment for the Preventing Early Renal Function Loss in Type 1 Diabetes (PERL) Trial by the PERL Executive Committee and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). The PERL Trial is funded by the NIDDK at the National Institutes of Health. The U-M clinical research team and its affiliate sub-site at Henry Ford Health System were acknowledged for recruiting the largest number of subjects in the study among all the research sites, as well as for exceeding the study quota by more than double during the first four months of this year. The University of Michigan is one of the lead academic institutions participating in the PERL Consortium, which includes Harvard's Joslin Diabetes Center, the University of Minnesota, the Barbara Davis Center at the University of Colorado, Northwestern University, the University of Toronto, and the Steno Diabetes Center in Denmark. The PERL study is a five-year double-blind randomized clinical trial evaluating whether allopurinol, an inexpensive and safe FDA-approved drug for another metabolic disease (gout), is effective in reducing kidney function loss among people with type 1 diabetes.
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Sharpening Your Focus:
Tips on Grant Proposal Preparation
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By Jill Jividen, Ph.D., Senior Manager for Research Development Support,
U-M Medical School Office of Research
(One in a series of tips published in UMMS Research News about writing proposals.)
SWOT analysis is a method of evaluating factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving some set objective. Applied during the planning phase of proposal writing, this method helps identify both the strengths and the challenges that may affect your pursuit of research funding.
The model is a 4-block matrix (see image below) that groups elements of a project into internal factors (strengths, weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities, threats) on one axis; internal elements represent the specifics of the project and people, while externals denote the attributes of a larger environment (e.g., field of study, sponsor, or funding climate).
| This diagram can help you get started on analysis. Click on the image for a larger, downloadable version. |
The other axis groups positive factors (strengths, opportunities) and negative ones (weaknesses, threats) that affect the potential for success. Evaluating these qualities can pinpoint which strengths to highlight within a proposal and which opportunities to maximize. Moreover, it can help investigators recognize snags, allowing time to mitigate or counter those possibly detrimental impacts.
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