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December 2014
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS...

December 10, 2014 12:00-1:15 pm

Applications Due: December 15, 2014
Program: June 15-18, 2015

January 9, 2015

Save the Date - PRCHN Seminar: Behavior Change Interventions Using Social Media
January 14, 2015

Save the Date - Navigating the FDA Process: Devices (IDEs)
April 9, 2015
1-5pm
News
UP with Cleveland

 

On Friday, November 14th, at the CTSC retreat, co-principal investigator Serpil Erzurum, MD, reminded us that Cleveland is back! 
 

We have a newly-minted Cy Young winner. The Browns are in the playoff hunt. And LeBron & Co. are making the Cavs a must-see team again. That same evening as the CTSC retreat, they came back from an 18-point deficit to beat the Celtics by one point. The next night, they blew out the Hawks at the Q, as if to punctuate the notion that Cleveland is on the rise.
 

So are we. Our community programs, as I noted last week, are thriving, attracting national attention and funding. Together with our partners, we continue to make a difference in Cleveland.  
 

Our clinical affiliates are making waves, constructing new and replacement buildings in Cleveland and its outlying areas. MetroHealth is planning a whole new campus. UH has announced new rehabilitation hospitals, east and west. The Cleveland Clinic is constructing the Taussig Cancer Center, as well as expanding the Richard E. Jacobs Health Center in Avon to include an outpatient hospital. Despite the shrinking Cleveland population, the aging population that remains is sustaining demand for medical services.  
 

Our research programs emerge as leaders, time and time again. Nationally, only one epilepsy center without walls was awarded this year, with CWRU as the lead contributor. Sam Lhatoo, MD, FRCP, and GQ Zhang, PhD, are leading a national consortium aimed at solving stubborn issues in the disorder. Our inflammatory bowel disease team, headed by Fabio Cominelli, MD, PhD, has won not only an NIH program project grant, but a Silvio Conte Center grant as well. Mark Chance, PhD, has renewed the only National Center for Synchrotron Research, which provides service to more than 100 investigators across the country. Many others of our faculty are national leaders in research! 

 

Some spectacular young investigators are emerging to join these impressive ranks. Rong Xu, PhD, earned an NIH innovator award this year with an imaginative proposal utilizing informatics to assess drug side effects. Kristian Baker, PhD, has made innovative observations on how RNA is metabolized and transcribed. Paul Tesar, PhD, continues to amaze with his platform technologies from induced pluripotent stem cells. 
 

Our education programs are on the move. Last month, the board of regents approved us for a PhD in clinical investigation. Hats off to Li Li, MD, PhD, who shepherded this program through the approval process! And this month, our proposal to establish a physician assistant masters program passed the faculty senate and is next on the board's docket. Our new medical education building will be absolutely spectacular; it will encourage forward thinking and inter-professional education across the board. 
 

I would be remiss if I left this note without noting the remarkable momentum of the lady who inspired it: Serpil Erzurum, MD. Her last two grants scored a perfect 10! She's a MERIT investigator of NHLBI, and is not only a leader in the field of oxidant damage in asthma, but also a great collaborator and national leader. Clinician, scientist, mentor, and academic superstar, she is both gracious and cognizant of the greatness around her in sports teams, in medicine, in research, and in education.    
 

I agree with her wholeheartedly. Up with Cleveland! 

 

Pam   

Cleveland Collaborations

 

A couple of weeks ago, The Plain Dealer ran the headline: "Partnership Pays: Collaboration Among Case Western Reserve, Cuyahoga County, and YMCA of Greater Cleveland Catalyzes More Than $13 Million in Public Health Grants."
 

The article goes on to showcase the funding renewal for the Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods. The grant, led by Elaine Borawski, PhD, attracted attention from CDC director, Tom Frieden, MD, and Senator Sherrod Brown, both of whom praised the PRCHN's work at a recent visit. This is all the more remarkable when considering the fact that national numbers of similar centers has shrunk from 37 to 26 in the last five years. At the same time, the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Health HIP-C collaboration landed a large grant from the CDC as well. So, too, did the YMCA in the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program. All of these programs will work toward a healthier community. 

 

"The PRCHN has been a key collaborator in our countywide effort to combat the root causes of the chronic diseases that negatively impact the health, wealth, and life expectancy of our most vulnerable citizens," said Terry Allan, health commissioner of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health (CCBH). "The multiple successful grant applications in our community that support this important work serve as clear evidence of the power of this collaboration."

 

The key to this progress is collaboration - one of the themes of our School of Medicine exemplified by these community alliances. Terry Allen himself participates in important research advisory boards at the SOM. CWRU faculty member Heidi Gullet, MD, is embedded part time in the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Health. The school has worked collaboratively with the YMCA, CCBH, Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD), and the Rite-Aid Cleveland Marathon on We Run This City. This is a great program in which CMSD middle schoolers are trained to run a segment of the Cleveland Marathon and, in the process, lower their blood pressures and body mass indexes. Over several years, we have built trust with these and other community agencies; the relationships have led to many successful grant applications and more hope of making a dent in the dismal public health statistics of our community.  
 

These are only some of our strong community collaborations that lead to progress for us and our neighbors. I am proud to witness so many wonderful examples of collaboration and community.   In fact, I think these kinds of successes validate our school's approach in its initial iteration - we now have funding to execute many of the programs that we have conceived and planned with our partners - but the real vindication of our mission will be when public health in Cleveland improves.  

 

Pam  

PacificGMP and Ohio Clinical Trials Collaborative Launch Partnership

 


 


 


The Ohio Clinical Trials Collaborative (OCTC) and PacificGMP have entered into a co-marketing relationship to employ PacificGMP's contracting and biopharmaceutical development services with the OCTC's integrated research, clinical trial and core lab services. The OCTC has partnered with an outstanding array of nationally renowned organizations focused on designing and performing clinical trials.

 

"By working closely with the OCTC network, we at PacificGMP believe that our clients will be able to complete their clinical trials faster and more quickly, thus bringing needed therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics to the public," said Gary Pierce, the Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel of PacificGMP. 

 

PacificGMP's client pool is largely the biopharmaceutical companies located in the southwest United States, particularly San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Likewise, the OCTC is well positioned in the eastern United States and Europe to approach clusters of biopharmaceutical industry companies located in North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Switzerland. The partnership will provide both parties with broader market exposure. With the global clinical pipeline of new products rapidly expanding in the biologics market, the partnership seeks to bring together client pools from both OCTC and PacificGMP to yield sales outreach on a more consistent basis. By way of a current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) manufacturing partner, the partnership supports production of biological active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) as well as clinical trial development.

 

"PacificGMP provides all the key elements of developing and manufacturing a biologic product successfully from cell line development to upstream and downstream process development, cGMP manufacturing for clinical trial purposes, analytical performance, and regulatory support," Pierce said.

 

The OCTC will provide its clinical trial customer with access to PacificGMP's biological manufacturing technology to optimize the customer's drug manufacturing process and ensure an uninterrupted supply for clinical and drug launches. The relationship is intended to save the customer time and money and accelerate time to market. PacificGMP's approach relies on single-use, flexible bioprocessing platforms and expertise in monoclonal antibodies, hard-to-express proteins, vaccines, and cell therapies.

 

"By integrating PacificGMP's development and manufacturing activities with the clinical trial work provided by the OCTC," Pierce said, "we can offer our industry and academic research community participants the full continuum of clinical support and the peace of mind knowing that they will successfully complete their clinical activities on the road to a commercial launch."

 

Added OCTC Chief Executive and Director James Chmiel, MD, "Our collaboration with PacificGMP is part of the OCTC's strategy to be able to serve the global pharmaceutical industry with integrated product development capabilities to speed time to market. Similar to our partnership with ClinicalRM, a full-service contract research organization, we each bring complementary services and expertise in a seamless integration that together mirror that found in big pharma and fill much needed gaps in a biopharmaceutical company's repertoire."

 

About PacificGMP

PacificGMP's core services revolve around GMP manufacturing for human usage. We manufacture master cell banks and drug substances and drug products under cGMP standards for human clinical trials, development and qualification of release assays, fill/finish of drug product, oversight of necessary third party vendors and advising on regulatory matters. We also manufacture under cGMP, proteins for commercial, non-therapeutic purposes. As an integral part of manufacturing under GMP standards, PacificGMP creates document packages sufficient to meet the requirements facing organizations in obtaining regulatory approval of drug product used in human clinical trials. PacificGMP generates with its partners the Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) section of Investigational New Drug ("IND") applications. For more information, please go to www.pacificgmp.com.

 

About the Ohio Clinical Trials Collaborative

The OCTC is an initiative under Governor John Kasich's vision of a premier research medical corridor in Ohio that is co-founded by the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative at Case Western Reserve University, the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at The Ohio State University and the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training at the University of Cincinnati. With offices at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine, the OCTC seeks to establish Ohio as one of the most efficient and effective states in which to test new medications and treatment strategies. The OCTC offers economies of scale and unique capacity, leveraging expertise from across the state of Ohio to conduct clinical trials on behalf of industry sponsors. For more information, please go to www.ohioclintrials.org.

 

To read the article on BusinessWire click here

Resources and Announcements
New Biographical Sketch Format Required for Grant Applications
 
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that a new biographical sketch format is to be used in all grant applications with due dates on or after January 25th, 2015.

See the NIH Guide notice for more details: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-15-024.html

CWRU Master of Science in Clinical Research Program Accepting Applications

 

The Clinical Research Scholars Program (CRSP) at CWRU is accepting applications for the Master of Science Program in Clinical Research. This is a flexible 2-5 year program designed for post-doctoral trainees and faculty who seek training in the design and implementation of high-quality clinical research involving human subjects. The goal of the program is to prepare a new generation of clinical investigators for leadership roles in academia, government, and industry. Admission requirements include a degree in Medicine, Dentistry, a doctorate in Nursing, or allied sciences such as Pharmacy, Biomedical Engineering, or other clinicians. Individuals with other scientific or medical backgrounds are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

 

CRSP offers a 36 credit-hour course of study that culminates in a Master of Science degree awarded by the CWRU School of Graduate Studies. The degree is granted upon the completion of the core curriculum in clinical research (13 credits); elective courses (14 credits) and a thesis (9 credits). Tuition support may be available through institutional training grants, individual fellowships, research career awards (e.g., NIH-funded T, F, or K grants), employers' tuition benefits program, or other resources.

 

Note: CRSP courses are also open to individuals who are not pursuing a Master's degree but wish to enhance their skills in the design and conduct of clinical research. The list of courses is attached.

Please direct any questions to Angela Bowling at [email protected], 216-368-2601


 

For more information: http://casemed.case.edu/ctsc/calendar/announcement_details.cfm?recnum=685

Graduate Certificate Program in Clinical Research Now Accepting Applications

The purpose is to provide firm grounding in the method and conduct of patient-oriented clinical research. The program provides foundational training in clinical research methods to those individuals seeking an alternative to the Master of Science Program in Clinical Research. Course credits earned may be applied later to M.S. program in Clinical Research and to other graduate programs

Who should apply?

The Program is geared towards clinicians (physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, etc.), other health-science professionals and students, and basic science researchers who are interested in conducting clinical research or collaborating with other clinician-scientists who conduct clinical research.

 Please contact Angela Bowling, MA, Education Administrator, at 216-368-2601 or [email protected] for additional information or go to:  http://casemed.case.edu/ctsc/calendar/announcement_details.cfm?recnum=686

Events
PRCHN SeminarsPRCHNSeminar
Next Seminar: December 10, 2014 - 12:00 to 1:15 pm

IMPACT: A Multi-Level Behavioral Intervention for Overweight Middle School Urban Youth
Dr. Elaine Borawski will discuss the study design and methods of IMPACT (Ideas Moving Parents and Adolescents to Change Together), one of four NHLBI funded studies within its Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment Research Program. IMPACT is a 3 group randomized, multi-level trial comparing the efficacy of two distinct family-based interventions coupled with a school-based fitness intervention, on body mass index (BMI) in middle school, disadvantaged urban youth who are overweight or obese (>85th percentile BMI). In addition, the study examines the role of peer normed (collected via local YRBS) and objectively assessed home, school and neighborhood environments as moderators of program impact on outcomes of BMI, blood pressure, cardiovascular risk factors, and quality of life. 

For a full list of the Seminars and more information on each one go to the PRCHN website.
Call for Applications: Mixed Methods Training ProgramMixedMethods

Applications Due Dec. 15

 

We invite applications for a new and exciting one-year, fully funded Mixed Methods Research Training Program in the Health Sciences. The program is sponsored by the NIH, and led by Dr. Joseph J. Gallo (Professor, Johns Hopkins University), Dr. John Creswell (Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln), and Dr. Charles Deutsch (Director, Population Health Research Program, Harvard Catalyst | The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center). Program scholars will have the opportunity to enhance their mixed method research skills through a state-of-the-art training program including interactive webinars, working with nationally recognized mixed methods mentors and consultants, and attending a summer retreat. This program is conducted remotely except for the summer retreat.

 

Summer retreat: June 15-18, 2015
Location: Baltimore, Maryland

 

For eligibility requirements and application instructions, please email [email protected].  

CR Forum Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awards Call for Nominations is Now OpenTopTen


Dear Colleagues,

The Clinical Research Forum is pleased to announce the call for nominations for its annual Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awards honoring outstanding accomplishments in clinical research published in 2014.  This national competition seeks to identify major advances resulting from the nation's investment in research to benefit the health and welfare of its citizens.

The Forum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing national leadership in clinical research.  Its mission is to generate support for clinical research and promote understanding of its impact on health and healthcare delivery.  Members are among the nation's most prestigious academic medical centers and health systems.

We invite you to nominate outstanding research projects that:

  • represent innovation, creativity and scientific advancement,
  • contribute to the understanding of human disease and/or human physiology; and/or
  • demonstrate impact on the prevention, diagnosis and/or treatment or increased understanding of the disease state.

NEW this year is an on-line submission process for nominations. For details regarding eligibility criteria, nomination/submission process and for access to the link for online submissions go to Call for nominations. The deadline for submissions  is January 9, 2015. 

Winning projects will be recognized at the Clinical Research Forum Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., April 16-17, 2015.  The top accomplishment will be honored with the Herbert Pardes Clinical Research Excellence Award, which has a monetary component.  Other monetary prizes will also be awarded.  A representative investigator from selected study teams will present their work during the meeting.  Study summaries will be included in materials prepared for distribution to the U.S. Congress as part of an effort to encourage continued investment in clinical research.

Thank you for your enduring support of clinical research. 

Robert M. Califf, MD                                                William F. Crowley, Jr., MD

Chairman                                                                    Founder and Past Chairman

 

 

Funding Opportunities
CTSC Annual Pilot Award
Deadline for Letter of Intent: January 15, 2015
 

Available Funds: Up to $50,000 per project for up to one year of support

 

The CTSC Annual Pilot Program is for researchers to conduct innovative translational research projects focused on the invention, preclinical development and/or first in man studies of novel therapeutic agents, biomedical devices, and diagnostics designed to address unmet clinical needs. Funding is intended to facilitate development of enabling technologies; new therapeutic, diagnostic or outcomes assessment approaches and/or device; novel cross-disciplinary collaborative programs; and promote research in the community. Research which may create intellectual property is encouraged. If funding would enhance an existing non-federally funded project or enable a proposal to a federal agency for use of CTSC and CCTRP resources, the application would be considered. This pilot has few restrictions and allows for the hiring of personnel. Researchers new to clinical research, clinical research scholars, or experienced researchers who are moving into a new area of research are strongly encouraged to apply.

For questions contact:
CTSC Pilot Program Office:
 
Department of Defense
Deadline for Proposals: December 10, 2014
 
The Department of Defense has announced the following new funding opportunity: 

Department of the Army - USAMRAA

DOD CDMRP DMR&DP: Clinical and Rehabilitative Medicine Research: Neurosensory and Rehabilitation Research Award� Pre-Proposals are due December 10th, 2014 
Invitation to submit: January 5, 2015
Proposals: February 11, 2015

Program supports: Applied pre-clinical research and clinical trials addressing TBI within areas of focus: pain management, hearing loss/dysfunction, balance disorders, tinnitus, vision, or physical rehabilitation.

The Commonwealth Fund
Deadline to Apply: December 15, 2014 
 
The Mongan Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy is a one-year, degree-granting, full-time fellowship at Harvard Medical School, Boston, beginning in July 2015. 

The program is designed to prepare physicians for leadership roles in transforming health care delivery systems and promoting health policies and practices that improve access to high performance health care for racial and ethnic minorities, economically disadvantaged groups, and other vulnerable populations.

For more information and to download the brochure and application, visit the MCFF website.


CFAR Catalytic Fund for Strategic Interdisciplinary Research

Deadline: December 15, 2014

 

The CFAR at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center will provide strategic investment for funding of programs aligned with in faculty to foster interdisciplinary research in HIV/AIDS. The CFAR has established the following areas to be of highest priority in its research agenda: virology and cure, immune mechanisms and pathogenesis and HIV co-infections and co-morbidities.  Emerging areas of strategic importance for the CFAR include, but are not limited to HIV-associated malignancies, cardiovascular disease and neuro-AIDS.  Investigators in the basic sciences and clinical departments in the School of Medicine and Hospital System as well as in other departments throughout the University are eligible Applications should include a basic science emphasis with a translational/clinical component or a clinical focus with a translational/basic component. Grants will have an initial annual budget not to exceed $75,000 direct costs each, will be awarded to multidisciplinary teams who intend to expand or initiate translational programs aligned with areas of research and strategic emphasis of the CFAR.  Up to four grants will be awarded.

For this application, we would like to strongly emphasize the following points:

  •          This must be for a multi-disciplinary program with the expectation that this investment will lead to significant future funding
  •          Young investigators should have a leadership role in the team, although we fully expect seasoned investigators to play a major role
  •          Involvement of groups/topics/investigators new to the CFAR as a component of the proposal are encouraged

Funding to begin No LATER THAN January 21, 2015

Please send an electronic version of the application (in pdf format) to: Brinn Omabegho, email:  [email protected]You may also direct any questions to her attention.

 

For more information click here

The National Academies
Deadline to Apply: January 12, 2015
 
The National Academies has announced their 2015 Jefferson Science Fellows (JSF) competition. The Jefferson Science Fellows program, now in its 12th year, was established by the U.S. Secretary of State to engage the American academic science, technology, engineering and medical communities I the design and implementation of U.S. foreign policy.

Jefferson Science Fellows spend one year at the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for an on-site assignment in Washington, D.C. that may also involve extended stays at U.S. foreign embassies and/or missions. The fellowship is open to tenured, or similarly ranked, academic scientists, engineers and physicians from U.S. institutions of higher learning who are U.S. citizens.

The application deadline is January 12, 2015, and awardees will be notified in March. Up to fifteen Fellows are expected to be selected for the 2015 program year.

Visit the Jefferson Science Fellowship website for more information on requirements and deadlines.


Case Specialized Program of Research Excellence in Gastrointestinal Malignancies (CASE GI SPORE)

Application Deadline: January 16, 2015

 

All Faculty members are invited to submit concept proposals for 5 year Projects to compete for incorporation as a full project proposal in the upcoming GI SPORE competing renewal application that will be prepared starting in January 2015 for submission in September 2015

All proposals must be directed towards translational research of a GI malignancy, with at least one specific aim that involves direct study of patients or of human tissues.

Proposals must include two project leaders; one Basic Science leader and one Clinical leader.

Maximum Funding Level - $185,000/year direct cost for 5 years ($925,000 total direct costs).

Concept Proposal Guidelines:

 

1.) Contact information for PI and faculty collaborators

2.) Proposal (5 pages) in length (excluding references) as follows: (29000 characters with spaces, Arial font, 11) a. Specific aims (1 page)

b. Background and significance (1-2 pages)

c. Experimental Design (2-3 pages)

3.) NIH biosketches for all faculty participants

4.) Detailed budget in NIH Budget Format

5.) Please append a short description of any proposed utilization of any of the current SPORE core resources (Bioinformatics, Genomics, Biorepository)

 

Completed proposals must be emailed to John Pounardjian, [email protected]

 

More information on GI SPORE, http://www.case.edu/cancer/research/initiatives/gispore/  

For questions, please contact John Pounardjian,[email protected]  

*Previously submitted SPORE pilot applications are welcome to be resubmitted as full projects, and may be updated with any new progress

 

Cleveland StrokeNet Clinical Research and Training Award Opportunity

Application Deadline: February 1, 2015

 

The Cleveland StrokeNet is offering a Clinical Research and Training Award focused on training in research methodologies and conduct of research related to cerebrovascular diseases.   The Cleveland StrokeNet is collaboration of clinical cerebrovascular programs at University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth Medical Center, and Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center and is funded by the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

This Clinical Research and Training Award is open to clinical and/or research fellows, postdoctoral fellows and faculty within 5 years of training who wish to devote a significant portion of their career to methodologically rigorous research.   It is designed to provide research support to allow the investigator to obtain external grant funding in an area of cerebrovascular research, which could include (but are not limited to) primary prevention, acute management, mechanisms of ischemia, genetics,   rehabilitation and recovery, and secondary prevention.

Depending on the circumstances of the applicant, the funds from the award may be used to support salary, coursework in clinical research or to provide direct support for research activities (statistical support, research materials, etc).   Up to $55,000 will be awarded for a period of one year.   The investigator must spend 50% of their effort on research during the period of the award. Appilcants are encouraged to work with their institutions to develop a plan to provide adequate protected time and any required ancillary support for the year. 

Notification: anticipated mid-end February, 2015

Application instructions:

Send (1) completed application and (2) current CV to Irene Katzan MD at [email protected]

Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
CWRU Letter of Intent Deadline: December 29, 2014; Application Deadline: February 11, 2015
 
The Macy Foundation is pleased to invite applications for the fifth class of Macy Faculty Scholars.

The Macy Faculty Scholars program is designed to identify and nurture the careers of promising educational innovators in medicine and nursing. With support from the Macy Foundation, scholars will implement new educational innovations at their home institutions and participate in career development activities.

Chosen scholars will receive: 
* Salary support of up to $100,000 per year for two years
* At least 50% protected time for two years to pursue educational projects
* Active mentorship by a senior faculty member at their institution
* Access to the program's national advisory committee
* Opportunities to participate in Macy conferences and other national meetings

For more information and guidelines, visit the Macy Foundation website.


Foundation of the National Student Nurses' Association (FNSNA)
Deadline to Apply: February 13, 2015
 
The Foundation of the National Student Nurses' Association is accepting applications for its Marilyn Bagwell Leadership Development Grant, an annual program to foster the development of leadership skills in nursing students at the school level.

A grant of up to $2,500 will be awarded to one nursing program that wishes to establish or enhance its involvement in NSNA. The funds may be used to create an official NSNA chapter; to support special initiatives/activities of an official chapter where leadership principles can be applied and learned; and to promote the advancement of the resolutions adopted by NSNA within the last ten years.

The school that receives the grant will be recognized at the 63rd NSNA Annual Convention in Phoenix, Arizona, in April 2015.

A faculty advisor from the nursing program must apply for the grant. Individual students are not eligible.

For complete program guidelines and application instructions, visit the foundation FNSNA website.


Division of Infectious Diseases & HIV Medicine, CWRU and UH Case Medical Center

The Division of Infectious Diseases & HIV Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, with funds from STERIS Corporation, will provide seed money to faculty to foster research in emerging and healthcare-associated infections. Investigators in the basic science and clinical departments in the School of Medicine and Hospital System as well as in other departments throughout the University are eligible.

Grants, not to exceed $37,500 direct costs each, will be awarded to investigators who intend to gather preliminary data to be used in seeking future independently funded awards. Basic science applications are encouraged but should have a clear translational component related to the themes of this request for application. Up to four grants annually will be awarded.

For more information please contact Martha Salata at 844-1988 or [email protected] or visit the Center's website.

William T. Grant Foundation

The William T. Grant Foundation's Distinguished Fellows Program is designed to increase the supply of, demand for, and use of high-quality research in the service of improved youth outcomes. To accomplish its goals, the program gives influential mid-career researchers the opportunity to immerse themselves in practice or policy settings and gives influential practitioners and policy makers the opportunity to work in research settings.

To that end, the program encourages mid-career researchers to submit proposals that are designed to deepen their understanding of policy processes and practice settings. The program also invites policy makers and practitioners to propose projects that will enhance their capacities to recognize and use high-quality research.

Proposed fellowships must fit the Grant Foundation's research interests. The foundation currently supports research to understand and improve the everyday settings of youth in the United States. Specifically, the foundation funds studies that enhance the understanding of how youth settings work, how they affect youth development, and how they can be improved; and when, how, and under what conditions research evidence is used in policy and practice that affect youth, and how its use can be improved.

Letters of Inquiry must be received no later than January 6, 2015. Upon review, selected applicants will be invited to submit full applications.

The 2014-15 Distinguished Fellows Application Guide, which includes a complete description of the program, eligibility guidelines, and application instructions, is available at the William T. Grant Foundation website.

Pilot Grants Available from CGREAL

The Center for Genetic Research Ethics and Law (CGREAL) is currently accepting applications for pilot projects from Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic faculty who are interested in developing research on:

  • Ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) in the design and conduct of human genetic research, or
  • The translation of research results into clinical medicine, public health, and health policy needs related to genetics.

These grants are designed to support exploratory efforts towards the development of larger scholarly projects or lines of research related to CGREAL's mission to facilitate interdisciplinary inquiry into the ethical, legal, and social implications of new advances in genetic and genomic science.

Criteria for evaluation will focus on the potential for expanding and enriching the range of perspectives being brought to genetic research ethics and law at CGREAL. Preference will be given to projects that are deemed likely to foster further collaborative research opportunities. 

Requests may be made for up to $5,000. Funds may not be used for faculty salary support. Applications are encouraged from Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic faculty at any rank/level. 

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and funding for awarded seed grants will be available immediately upon project approval.

Interested faculty should contact Aaron Goldenberg ([email protected] or 216-368-8729).

 
For further information on the Center for Genetic Research Ethics and Law, see http://www.case.edu/med/bioethics/cgreal/.

 

Department of Defense
Apply early. Funding is limited and subject to availability. 
The BAA is continuously open, and accepts proposals on a rolling basis. Pre-proposals may be submitted and will be evaluated at any time throughout the year. 

Scope: The USAMRMC's mission is to provide solutions to medical problems of importance to the American warfighter. Projects must pertain to at least one of the research areas of interest outlined in the BAA. 

Funding: Budgets are not capped and must reflect the scope of the work. Funding can be requested for up to 5 years. 

Areas of interest: 
1. Military Infectious Diseases Research Program 
2. Combat Casualty Care Research Program 
3. Military Operational Medicine Research Program 
4. Clinical and Rehabilitative Medicine Research Program 
5. Medical Biological Defense Research Program 
6. Medical Chemical Defense Research Program 
7. Medical Simulation and Information Sciences Research Program 8. Radiation Health Effects Research Program
9. Special Investment Areas/Innovation Funding

Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI): Case School of Medicine's OSI can work with you to make sure that you meet the current goals and objectives of the USAMRMC that is paramount for your success. OSI can assist you in preparing a competitive proposal and can help guide your efforts from the first draft of the pre-proposal to submission of the full application. 

Timeline: Invitation to submit a Full proposal will be given within 90 days of submission of the pre-proposal. An additional 90 days is provided to the applicant to complete the full application. Allow for at least 6 months between submission of the whitepaper to submission of the full application. 

Contact us: If you are planning on submitting a pre-proposal, have questions, or would like more information - contact OSI Project Manager Irene Shaland - [email protected] - 216.368.4970

Department of Defense
 
The Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14) Defense Appropriations Act provides research funding for the peer reviewed programs managed by the Department of Defense (DOD) office of Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). 

Gulf War Illness Research Program (GWIRP)
Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP)

Department of Defense
 
The Department of Defense has announced the following new funding opportunities: 

Department of the Army - USAMRAA
DoD Orthotics and Prosthetics Outcomes Research AwardU.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Extramural Medical Research - Dept. of the Army -- USAMRAA - W81XWH-BAA-15-1

Opening date: October 1, 2014 
Closing date: September 30, 2015
Pre-Proposals:Applicants are encouraged to submit their Pre-Proposals as early as possible in the fiscal year as funding is based on availability
Invitation to Submit: 
within 120 days of pre-proposal submission
Full Proposals: 
submitted within 90 days of the invitation
Notice of Awards: 
within 180 days of submission
Funding: 
Budgets are not capped and must reflect the scope of the work. Funding can be requested for up to 5 years.

Programs of interest:
1. Military Infectious Diseases Research
2. Combat Casualty Care Research
3. Military Operational Medicine Research 
4. Clinical and Rehabilitative Medicine Research 
5. Medical Biological Defense Research 
6. Medical Chemical Defense Research 
7. Medical Training and Health Information Sciences 
8. Radiation Health Effects Research 
9. Special Investment Areas

Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI): CWRU School of Medicine's OSI can work with you to make sure that you meet the current goals and objectives of the USAMRMC.
Contact OSI: Irene Shaland - [email protected] - 216.368.4970.


Foundation Fighting Blindness and Harrington Discovery Institue
 
Foundation Fighting Blindness and Harrington Discovery Institute have partnered to form, the The National Center for Excellence in Fighting Blindness, a Gund-Harrington initiative. This initiative is focused on accelerating the translation of research findings in inherited retinal degenerative diseases (IRD) with the ultimate goal of developing new therapies to improve and/or restore vision.

* This Initiative seeks to award Gund-Harrington Scholar Awards that recognize innovators throughout the USA whose research has the potential to advance standards of care.
* There will be an average of three awards per year, which will be restricted to researchers working at institutions within the USA. Applications from outside the USA are not accepted.
* The Gund-Harrington Scholar Award provides funding for translational drug development and cell therapy along with non-financial project support to help bridge the gap between laboratory-based research and the clinic.
* Funding up to a total of $900,000 over three years and non-financial support will be provided by the The National Center for Excellence in Fighting Blindness. The non-financial support, provided by a team of pharmaceutical experts, will include project management and experienced industry advice in all aspects of drug development, encompassing chemistry, formulation, toxicology, regulatory, intellectual property and business development.
* Awards will be made to physician-scientists, or scientists with a research team that includes significant involvement of a physician with clinical expertise in the IRD.
* Selected projects must demonstrate a reasonable expectation that they can develop a lead product with strong potential for clinical and commercial application by the end of the three year funding period.
* Multi-disciplinary investigators outside the field of retinal disease are particularly encouraged to apply.

Applicants interested in the Gund-Harrington Scholar Awards must apply through Foundation Fighting Blindness.

For more information about Foundation Fighting Blindness visit the Fighting Blindness website.


National Multiple Sclerosis Society

The Barancik Prize for Innovation in Multiple Sclerosis Research recognizes an exceptional scientist or a team of scientists whose work in MS research has demonstrated outstanding innovation and originality.

  The prize is administered by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. A selection committee comprised of leaders in science, medicine, and MS advocacy will review nominees. The committee will evaluate:
* Exceptional innovation and originality in scientific research relevant to MS
* Impact and potential of the research to lead to pathways for the treatment and cure for MS
* Scientific accomplishments that merit recognition as a future leader in MS research

For more information and guidelines, visit the
Society's website.
Wellcome Trust (UK)
 
The Wellcome Trust is a UK-based organization that funds research to improve human and animal health. The Wellcome Trust supports research conducted outside the UK where research develops international partnerships, or focuses on biomedical or clinical medicine in developing countries.

Visit the Wellcome Trust website for more information on available funding.


Take Advantage of All Pivot Has to Offer

 

For years, Community of Science (COS) has been recognized around the world for its funding from a wide variety of sources as well as its access to the world's research community.

CWRU has subscribed to COS's new product, Pivot, which provides you the edge by bringing together the right research opportunities, funding, and people-quickly and easily. It provides global and local connections that strengthen research by exploring new avenues for funding and collaboration-for faculty, staff researchers, and graduate students.

Pivot can:

  • provide access to the most comprehensive global source of funding opportunities;
  • identify research expertise from within or outside of CWRU;
  • foster collaboration by cultivating essential partnerships and alliances; and
  • build strong network connections for future opportunities.

Learn more about how to use all the features Pivot has to offer.

Sign up for a Pivot Webinar: https://refworks.webex.com/refworks/onstage/g.php?p=4&t=m.

 
Learn to use Pivot via YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/proquestpivot.

National Institute of Health (NIH)
 Deadline: March 18, 2015
 
The National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services has announced the following new funding opportunity: 

BRAIN Initiative: Development and Validation of Novel Tools to Analyze Cell-Specific and Circuit Specific Processes in the Brain (U01)

Researchers: 
Register for an ORCID ID

NIH has now adopted the ORCID ID, a free, open-source unique identifying number. Learn more about ORCID.

It is also recommended that researchers link their ORCID ID to their CV in NIH's SciENcv, which creates a current, customizable biosketch on NIH grant form pages for any NIH grant.

If you would like to learn more about how to register and link your ORCID number, please contact: Clara Pelfrey, Evaluation Director at [email protected] 
or (216) 368-6478
Have you explored  SciVal yet?
Check out SciVal Experts, a directory of researcher expertise that enables collaboration among researchers!

 

Also be sure to contact our Research Concierge Service for all CTSC and research-related queries.
Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative |  [email protected] | casemed.case.edu/ctsc
Case Western Reserve University
School of Medicine - Biomedical Research Building, Room 109
10900 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106