June 2015 Newsletter

Events:
Good Clinical Practice Certification for Investigators:
June 2, 2015
Great Lakes Breast Cancer Symposium:
June 4-6, 2015
PRCHN Seminar:
June 10, 2015
SEED Symposium:
June 11-12, 2015

News

The CTSC has a New Principal Investigator
 

The leadership of the CTSC has recently changed with the appointment of Michael W. Konstan, MD as Principal Investigator. Internationally recognized for his research in cystic fibrosis, Michael has been a clinical and academic leader at UH Case Medical Center and the School of Medicine for more than 25 years. He is the Gertrude Lee Chandler Tucker Professor of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine, and the Austin Ricci Chair in Pediatric Pulmonary Care and Research and the Vice Chair of Clinical Research at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital.  


Michael led the Department of Pediatrics for the past five years.   He fostered the department's research program to a No. 3 ranking in the country in NIH research funding among pediatric departments of U.S. medical schools, and has been instrumental in growing UH Rainbow's reputation.
 

Pamela B. Davis, MD, PhD who has led the CTSC for the past 8 years and has propelled this program to achieve its national stature, will remain involved as a Co PI along with Co PIs Mark Chance and Serpil Erzurum, MD.
 

Additionally, Raed Dweik, MD leads our KL2/Research Education and Training Program.  This leadership structure is well suited to support the program with expertise spanning technology and commercialization, clinical research, consortium participation, and education and training.
 

This year's CTSC successes include the development of a reliant IRB model, working toward GCP training through NCATS, and collaboration with cores inside and outside of the CTSC, including the Ohio Clinical Trials Collaboration, NetWellness, other Ohio CTSA's, and other disease specific consortia.
 

The CTSC's goals for the upcoming year include a focus on community engagement methodologies which include describing testing, and validating methods that can be applied locally and exported to other hubs; determining the value of the CTSC by measuring support provided by CTSC resources to other programs; and by standardizing a set of metrics across all CTSC funded projects to show direct impact;  ensuring that CTSC programs include representation from KL2 program participants and to consider an increase in the networking of KL2 scholars to encourage team thinking and action in scientific fields; a focus on Child Health, and product development support.
 

Michael is excited to further develop and expand our successes and looks forward to new opportunities as they present.    
Welcome to the New Co-Director of the CTSC 
Pilot Grant Program, John Kirwan!
We would like to welcome John Kirwan, PhD, from the Cleveland Clinic as the new co-director of the CTSC Pilot Grant Program.  Dr. Kirwan replaces Wilson Tang, PhD, as Dr. Tang will now lead the CTSC Clinical Research Unit Services core at the Cleveland Clinic.

In his research lab, Dr. Kirwan heads a team that conducts clinical translational research in aging, obesity, and diabetes. Dr. Kirwan has participated in numerous CTSC Pilot Review Committees and is currently a co-chair for the CTSC Scientific Review committee.
The CTSC Welcomes the Urban Health Initiative!

We are pleased to welcome the Urban Health Initiative to the CTSC! The Urban Health Initiative (UHI) was established in 2011 to better leverage the assets of the School of Medicine, the University and our clinical affiliates to make an impact on the health of the urban underserved population in the Cleveland area. With the Affordable Care Act's emphasis on population health improvement, UHI's work is more important and relevant than ever. By bringing UHI into the CTSC, we can better connect and leverage its activities with the research mission of the CTSC. In particular, we see opportunities with the Community Engagement Core, the PBRN, the Evaluation Core, the Population Health Outcomes Core, and more. At the same time, access to CTSC infrastructure will amplify UHI's work and impact.

Through an environmental scan, the UHI identified a number of key needs and opportunities for achieving its mission. These include:

  • An easy way to identify existing partnerships between the University and the community that pertain to improving health at the community or population level;
     
  • A one-stop shop for finding current data on health and the determinants of health in the local population; and
     
  • The need to improve nutrition and physical activity in child care settings.

Visit UHI's website to learn about its progress in all of these areas. UHI Director Dr. Amy Sheon is located in the Bioethics suite of the School of Medicine (TA-208); the program can be reached at urbanhealth@case.edu.
Message from the Director of the Urban Health Initiative

The Urban Health Initiative is pleased to join the CTSC and looks forward to collaborating with its members. On June 6, 2015, the Cleveland Public Library will host the official public launch for the Cleveland& Cuyahoga Health Resource-a website that seeks to be the "go to" place for up-to-date and reliable data on local population health. Funded by the Saint Luke's and George Gund Foundations, this project represents the collective work of numerous partners including the County Board of Health, MetroHealth and the Better Health Partnership, the Cleveland Department of Public Health, plus numerous CWRU faculty including Dr. Scott Frank, now serving as the project PI. Watch for a greatly expanded data portal capacity to be added in the next year, thanks to participation of the University's Information Technology Services group. We welcome your comments and suggestions about the Health Resource, and your submission of data sets that can be shared.  We also invite you to "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @CLEhealthCUY. Visit the UHI calendar for more details on the June 6th public launch. (While you're at it, you can subscribe to UHI's calendar and post events by inviting urbanhealth@case.edu.) Stay tuned for future updates on UHI's other activities.

Amy Sheon, PhD, MPH

Executive Director of the Urban Health Initiative
Congratulations to the 2015 CTSC Annual Pilot Award Recipients

Ozan Akkus, PhD
Case Western Reserve University - Department of Mechanical Engineering "Point of Care Detection of Urinary Stones for Improved Care of Stone Patients"

Norbert Avril, MD
University Hospitals Case Medical Center "PET Guided Inhibition of Metabolic Pathways in Ovarian Cancer"

Jane Corteville, MD
University Hospitals Case Medical Center "Measurement of Fetal Cerebral Oxygen Levels Using Photoacoustic Spectroscopy"

Fatema Ghasia, MD
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine "Neuro-modulation: A Novel Treatment Strategy in Amblyopia Management"

Frank Jacono, MD
Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center "Developing Predictive Biomarkers by Modeling Inflammation-induced Changes in Cardiorespiratory Variability Dynamics"

Siran Koroukian, PhD
Case Western Reserve Univesity School of Medicine "Evaluating the Utility of the Linked MetroHealth Electronic Health Records and CareSource Claims Data in Health Services, Outcomes, and Policy Research"

Matthew Schiefer, PhD
Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center "Developing Stimulus Waveforms for the Splanchnic Nerves that Mimic Eating to Reduce Excess Body Weight in Obese Rodents"

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.
Available Funds: Up to $50,000 per project for up to one year of support
For more information: http://casemed.case.edu/ctsc/funding/pilot.cfm
Congratulations to the March 2015 CTSC Core Utilization Pilot Award Recipients

Analisa DiFeo, PhD                                                                                                                                

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine                                                                         "Identification of differentially expressed lincRNAs in Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer Cells by RNA-seq"

 John Kirwan, PhD
 Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
  "Mitochondrial Fission and Fragmentation: A Novel Pathway for Treating Diabetes"
 

John Tilton, PhD                                                                                                                                          

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine                                                    

 "Characterizing the Acetylome of CD4+ T-cells to Identify Anti-HIV Targets"
 

Qing Zheng, MD

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine                                                            

"Prevention of Hearing Loss in Mice by CRISPR/Cas9 Editing of Germline DNA"
Call for Mentors for the BMT:STEM Internship Program
 
The BioMedTech: Students Translating and Exploring Medicine (BMT:STEM) Internship program is designed to improve student knowledge of obesity, diabetes, and/or cardiovascular disease. Juniors and seniors from Cleveland public high schools who are
competitively selected for the internship are given the opportunity to work with medical and research staff at CTSC institutions. As of June, we have placed over 45 students at CTSC institutions over the past 4 years! Activities for past students have included shadowing in clinic, observing human subjects research, assisting with laboratory research, learning about research design, performing literature reviews, assisting with data entry and analysis, attending staff meetings, participating in outreach events, and helping with general office duties. The BMT:STEM program is a collaboration between the CTSC and the Great Lakes Science Center and is funded by a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

We are currently seeking clinical and research mentors for the fall internship session (late September-mid-November, exact dates to be determined). Students are expected to work with their mentor(s) for a total of 120 hours (10-12 hours/week). Typically, students have co-mentors or are sponsored by a department, which allows the student to have a broader experience while reducing the time commitment of an individual mentor. This is an excellent opportunity for CTSC faculty and staff to engage with students who come from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds; these types of educational opportunities can have a significant and long-lasting impact on the participating students. Students frequently re-apply after participating because they find the experience so rewarding! Participating as a mentor is also a wonderful way to give back to the Cleveland community that supports the CTSC. Additionally, a small mentor stipend is provided to offset any expenses associated with hosting a student. For additional information or to sign up, please contact Antoinette Hillian, PhD (antoinette.hillian@uhhospitals.org).
 

Photo caption: Charmaine Jeff, a junior at the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine at John Hay, completed her internship with the Center for Health Care Research and Policy and the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at MetroHealth with Dr. Eileen Seeholzer, Janeen León, and other team members in Fall 2014. (L-R: Eileen Seeholzer, MD, MS; Charmaine Jeff; Janeen León, MS, RD, LD).
Translational Science 2015 
Translational Science 2015 showcased a variety of sessions focusing on the latest discoveries in the field of translational science. We brought together leading minds in the field to update you on hot topics and teach you how to take your research to the next evel.

View our Program Guide or slides from plenary sessions from Translational Science 2015.
 CTSC Research Ethics Consultation Program 
Collaborations between scientific investigators and research ethicists are as critical to the research process as are collaborations between physicians and hospital ethicists for patient care. The CTSC Research Ethics Consultation Program helps researchers proactively identify and address ethical concerns that may occur during the course of clinical, animal or laboratory research. The Program's consultants have expertise to help identify potential ethical issues when researchers formulate their research projects, and to resolve issues which arise during the conduct of the research or in its aftermath. A Research Ethics Consultation is advisory and collaborative, and provides a way of adding a non-regulatory element to the research process. It does not replace the Institutional Review Board's review.
 
When to Request a Research Ethics Consultation:
A CTSC Research Ethics Consultation can be requested whenever an ethical problem or question involving research is encountered by anyone involved in research, including investigators, participants, and non-investigator personnel at any of the CTSC partnering institutions. Consultation may occur during research protocol development, study implementation, the conduct of the research, or as a result of data analysis or post-trial findings. For example, the Program's consultants can aid investigators' plans for human subjects recruitment or provide mock informed consent interviews to assist study staff. Consultants can even help investigators think through their responses to IRB requests and stipulations after IRB committee review. Such consultations are considered confidential between the researcher and the consultation service, within the limits of government regulations and law.
Dr. Insoo Hyun (Case Western Reserve University) and Dr. Susannah Rose (Cleveland Clinic) are the Co-Directors of CTSC's Office of Bioethics.

To request a Research Ethics Consultation or to schedule a Research Ethics Education session, contact Carolyn Apperson at cva9@case.edu or 216-368-0035.
New NIH Public Access Policy Checklist
The CTSC has recently posted a one page document on how to make your publications NIH compliant. See the document here under NIH Public Access Policy Checklist for CTSC Investigators and Scholars. 
 

NIH Biosketch Format Reminder


This is a reminder that the new NIH Biosketch format will take effect for applications submitted on or after May 25, 2015. Key changes include:
  • Extending the biosketch page limit to 5 pages
     
  • Allowing PIs and researchers to include up to four references in their personal statement
     
  • Allowing researchers to describe up to five of their most important contributions to science
     
  • Allowing researchers to include a link that provides access to a full list of your published work
Kathy Blazar, interim director at our Cleveland Health Sciences Library, has prepared a power point presentation that can help you navigate the new format: http://www.case.edu/chsl/library/NIHBiosketch.pptx

A few more points to consider:
  • Investigators need to update their personal profile on eRA Commons
     
  • Public access compliance need to be up to date
     
  • All non-CWRU, most especially international, collaborators must also be compliant if they are named as key personnel.
If you have questions about the process, please contact Kathy Blazar at kcb2@case.ed
News  from the PRCHN 
 PEER Training Program Seeks Faculty Partners 
Faculty partner recruitment for the third cohort of the Partners in Education, Evaluation and Research (PEER) training program begins May 1. The program was developed jointly by the CWRU Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods (PRCHN) and the Clinical Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC).

The 15-month part-time training program is designed to increase research capacity in community organizations and strengthen community/academic partnerships in order to more effectively facilitate translational research. The program enrolls 4-6 qualified applicants (Fellows) from local health-related organizations to work directly with a university faculty partner to conduct research relevant to health issues.

An important component of this program is linking the community organizations to faculty members who are interested in conducting a partnered research project. This partnership is structured to add value and build upon the faculty member's current responsibilities and research. Faculty partners are expected to have strong and/or promising research backgrounds, especially with regards to the collecting, management, and analysis of quantitative data. Faculty partners receive a small stipend for participating.

If you are a faculty member interested in learning more about the program, please email cyleste.collins@case.edu, or jeri.jewett@case.edu.
PRCHN Seminars
Mark your calendars for these upcoming PRCHN Seminars.

6/10/15
PEER Fellows Project Poster Session
Jeri Jewett, MPH, PEER Fellowship Coordinator, PEER Faculty & Fellows

7/8/15
Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program in Ohio
Siran Koroukian, PhD, Associate Professor, CWRU School of Medicine

You can find more information on these seminars and other PRCHN programs here.
New core eligible for CTSC Core Utilization Pilots! 
 Searching for an efficient and economical method of cell manufacturing? 


OH-ALIVE is a commercialization-driven platform that advances the understanding of cell culture processes with deep analytics

OH-Alive merges developmental biology and cell therapeutics with cutting edge hardware, and computerized experimental design and analysis to perform process-specific parameter optimization for customers seeking to develop cell therapies. Its methods are more efficient and economical compared to traditional methods and reflect the desires of the FDA for cell manufacturing.
  • If you have any of the following challenges, OH-Alive is right for you:
     
  • You want to change from experiments in cell culture that are linear, one-factor-at-a-time to a method that improves knowledge of multiple inputs and reduces time and supply costs.
     
  • You have a desire to reduce hands-on time and operator variability.
     
  • You want the ability to predict how additives will create desirable cell fates in culture.
     
  • Heterogeneous populations of cells are affecting your purity and potency.
     
  • You desire a deeper understanding of your cells so a more precise potency assay for clinical release can be developed.

OH-Alive's goals are:

  • To transform medical therapy through the use of cells rather than drugs to heal tissues and organs.
     
  • To create world-class commercial and academic infrastructure in Ohio that is self-sufficient, vibrant, and attractive to the biotechnology and cell therapy support industry.

To see if OH-Alive can help your research, visit: http://corefacilities.case.edu/cells.php#ohalive
Research Highlights
 KL2 Scholar, Kathy Wright, finds that housework keeps older adults physically and emotionally fit 
In the study, she analyzed the socioeconomic and geographic data in relationship to the health of over 300 participants. From this analysis she concluded that housework played a key role in the physical and mental well being of the participants.
To read the article that outlines this study click here.
Patients with heart failure thrive with early palliative care, however, study shows distressed family caregivers need additional supports
Early multidisciplinary care intervention for patients with serious illnesses and their families: A pilot study
Susannah Rose, Ph.D. (CTSC KL2 Scholar), along with an interdisciplinary team of investigators at Cleveland Clinic collaborated on a pilot study 
aimed at changing how care is delivered to seriously ill heart failure patients and their family caregivers. This study aimed to learn more about the quality of life and distress of New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Class III/IV heart failure patients and family caregivers, as well as to assess the feasibility of conducting a future clinical trial of a palliative care intervention in heart failure patients. The study followed a cohort of 29 patients and 10 family caregivers for a period six months. In addition to receiving care from their usual doctors, patients had monthly to bi-monthly visits with a palliative care clinician and a nurse practitioner. All participants completed surveys at three month intervals, and were referred to supportive services from social work, chaplaincy and bioethics as needed.

Preliminary findings suggest that heart failure outpatients at the Cleveland Clinic are receptive to early palliative care intervention, and experience moderate heart failure-related disability, low levels of distress, and high satisfaction with their care. However, family members reported more distress than patients. These findings suggest that family members might particularly benefit from targeted supportive care interventions. This is important given that a family member is likely to become a surrogate decision-maker if or when the patient becomes critically ill and loses capacity to make medical decisions. The study identified several issues impacting the feasibility of implementing the palliative care intervention, such as visit scheduling and communication, travel time, and costs for patients such as co-pay fees.

This study was led by Susannah Rose, Ph.D., PI and CTSC KL2 Scholar (mentored by Barbara Daly, Ph.D., RN), along with researchers from the Palliative Medicine, Social Work, Bioethics, and Heart Failure departments at the Cleveland Clinic.  
Collaborators:
  • Barbara Daly, Ph.D., RN: Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University
     
  • Chirag Patel, MD, Krista Dobbie, MD, Terence Gutgsell, MD, Clare Grey, MSW, and Cheryl Carrino: Department of Hematology and Oncology; Section of Palliative Medicine, Cleveland Clinic
     
  • Randall Starling, MD, MPH, and Eiran Gorodeski, MD: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Heart Failure Section, Cleveland Clinic
     
  • Eric Kodish, MD, Martin Smith, STD, Janelle Highland, MA, Angela Leek: From the Department of Bioethics, Cleveland Clinic
     
This research was made possible by the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Cleveland KL2 Training Program, KL2TR000440, from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) component of the National Institutes of Health and NIH roadmap for Medical Research.

CTSC Success Stories

Share Your Success Story With Us!

Click here to tell us your own story!
 
Events

Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Certification for Investigators, Principal Investigator (PI) Responsibilities, and Ethical Considerations
 

Tuesday, June 2, 2015                                                                                                                  

8:00AM - 11:30 AM                                                                                                                   

Wolstein Research Building Auditorium (WRB 1413)                                                           

Light refreshments provided                                                                                                       

CME pending approval


 A UH training and educational program for our investigators

8:00 - 10:00 AM- GCP and PI Responsibilities:

This session will include discussions of the relationships between laws, regulations, guidelines, and standard operating procedures. Key obligations of sponsors, monitors and investigators and their inter-relationships will be described. Investigators completing the program will receive a GCP certificate that can be provided to sponsors.

Objectives:

- To understand the relationship between laws, regulations and guidelines

- To learn the obligations of sponsors, monitors and investigators

10:15- 11:30 AM- Ethical Considerations, Informed Consent and Financial Disclosure:

This session will include a brief historical perspective of ethical considerations in conducting clinical research. The elements and process for obtaining informed consent from potential study participants will be discussed and well as financial disclosure.

Objectives:

- To understand the elements of informed consent and recognize consent as an ongoing process

- To discuss challenges associated with obtaining informed consent

- To understand the rationale for financial disclosure and learn reporting requirements

- To know studies to which financial disclosure rules apply

Great Lakes Breast Cancer Symposium

June 4-6, 2015
Tinkham Veale Center, CWRU

Together with the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), partner with University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) CancerCenter, and The Ohio State University (OSU) Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC) is pleased to announce the inaugural Great Lakes Breast Cancer Symposium to be held June 4-6, 2015, on the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. These three organizations are located less than 200 miles from one another and have complementary strengths in basic, translational, and clinical breast cancer research. Thus, this symposium was developed with the goal of providing an avenue for networking and building cross-disciplinary collaborations across the region occupied by our Centers.
For more information and registration click here.
 

Synthesis, Engagement, Elevation to Eliminate Disparities (SEED) Symposium


June 11-12, 2015

The Synthesis, Engagement, Elevation to Eliminate Disparities (SEED) Symposium is an innovative gathering to generate new ideas for health equity. Sponsored by the UMass Center for Health Equity Intervention Research (CHEIR) and UMMS Diversity and Inclusion Office, the SEED Symposium uses cutting-edge approaches to generate new findings and resources to eliminate health disparities. Our keynote speaker is Dr. Camara Jones, President-Elect of APHA and our symposium moderator is Dr. Marc Nivet, AAMC's Chief Diversity Officer.

Registration includes access to 2-days of THOUGHT-PROVOKING, INSPIRING activities. Starting on Thursday, June 11th with arts and healing performances and the SEED Collections, a common area where interaction and engagement is stimulated by graffiti walls with provocative questions, videos, and interactive stations. Friday, June 12th has TED-like presentations by health equity researchers in policy, environmental justice, grant making, and visual arts, followed by intentional activities to provoke dialogue and collective thinking about ways to move health equity work further upstream.

For more information view our registration flyer and program flyer, or contact us at SEED@umassmed.edu if you have questions about the SEED Symposium. Go to http://www.cheir.org/seed-symposium to register.

Save the Date - An Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) Regional Conference


Wednesday, September 16, 2015
8:00 am - 6:00 pm
Global Center for Health Innovation
Cleveland, Ohio

Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland are pleased to announce that we are jointly hosting an OHRP Regional Conference this fall. Mark your calendar now, and keep an eye out for further updates and registration information coming soon!    

Funding Opportunities

CDC: Global Health Security Partner Engagement: Expanding Efforts and Strategies to Protect and Improve Public Health Globally
Application Deadline: June 5, 2015

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) supports the implementation of programs and activities that focus on protecting and improving health globally through regional, national, and local partnerships. Its purpose is to support immediate response efforts for the current Ebola outbreak, other infectious disease outbreaks or health threats, and Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEICs). It is intended to build capacities to prevent, detect, respond, and control infectious disease outbreaks, PHEICs, and other health threats.

Application Deadline: June 5, 2015

For more information visit the Grants.Gov webpage.
  

W.M. Keck Foundation Research Program
Key Deadlines: June 15, 2015 (CWRU internal LOI), November 1, 2015 (Sponsor Deadline).

The W.M. Keck Foundation Research Program seeks to benefit humanity by funding fundamental, high-risk research in two specific areas: 1) medical research and 2) science and engineering. Both Senior and Early Career investigators are encouraged to apply. CWRU may submit two proposals per funding cycle: one (1) in Medical Research and one (1) in Science and Engineering Research.

Applicants are encouraged to consult with their Associate Deans for Research prior to internal submission to assure they meet eligibility criteria and their projects meet stated program objectives.

Grants of up to $1 million over 3 years are awarded for projects in science and engineering research and medical research that:
  • Focus on basic, early stage, emerging areas of research, not on clinical or translational research, treatment trials or research for the sole purpose of drug development.
     
  • Have the potential to develop breakthrough technologies, instrumentation or methodologies.
  • Have few, if any, peer groups pursuing comparable or related work.
     
  • Have high level of risk due to unconventional approaches, or by challenging the prevailing paradigm.
     
  • Have the potential for transformative impact, such as the founding of a new field of research, the enabling of observations not previously possible, or the altered perception of a previously intractable problem.
     
  • Fall outside the mission of public funding agencies. Provide specifics. If you've been declined federal funding, provide the documentation stating why, if available.
     
  • Demonstrate that the W. M. Keck Foundation's support is essential to the project's success.
For more information on this limited submission opportunity, visit the Office of Research Administration website. 
  

Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children & Families
Application Deadline: June 24, 2015

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications for the Competitive Abstinence Education (CAE)program. The purpose of the CAE program is to provide funding for additional tools to address the rates of teen pregnancy among adolescent youth who are at greatest risk of sexually transmitted infections and most likely to bear children out of wedlock. Program plans will focus on the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by delaying initiation of sexual activity and engaging in healthy relationships. Grantees under this program will be expected to develop a targeted and medically accurate approach to reducing teen pregnancies through abstinence education.

Application Deadline: June 24, 2015

 For more information visit the Grants.Gov webpage.

Funding Opportunity from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Application Deadline: June 24, 2015

Healthy Eating Research, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has announced a call for proposals for two types of awards aimed at providing advocates, decision-makers, and policymakers with evidence to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic. To learn more about these grant types and to apply, visit the RWJ Foundation's  Healthy Eating Research page.

Department of Health and Human Services - Food & Drug Administration

Application Deadline: June 30, 2015

The goal of this program is to support the advancement of regulatory science that can facilitate the implementation and the assessment of emerging manufacturing technology in the pharmaceutical sector. Emerging manufacturing technology can be viewed as a technology that has the potential to modernize the pharmaceutical manufacturing body of knowledge to support more robust, predictable, and/or cost-effective processes and with which the FDA has limited review or inspection experiences, due to its relative novelty. Examples of such elements include innovative or novel (1) product manufacturing technology, such as the dosage form; (2) manufacturing process (e.g., design, scale-up, and/or commercial scale); and/or (3) testing technology. 
 

Application Deadline: June 30 , 2015 

 For more information visit the Grants.Gov webpage.

Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships

 

Application Deadline: June 30, 2015
 
Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships are the Australian Government's internationally competitive, merit-based scholarship program that last year awarded up to AUD$272,500 per scholar for study, research or professional development opportunities between Australia and the world.

Endeavour Postgraduate Scholarships for eligible non-Australians including Americans and Canadians to undertake a postgraduate qualification either by coursework or research in any field in Australia for up to two years for a Masters or up to 4 years for a PhD.

Endeavour Research Fellowships for American and Canadian postgraduate research students and postdoctoral researchers to undertake 4-6 months of research in Australia.

Endeavour Executive Fellowships offer professional development opportunities of (1 to 4 months) for high achievers in business, industry, education or government from eligible participating countries.

Deadline for Applications: June 30, 2015 (Australian Eastern Standard Time)


For more information visit the ORAU webpage. 
 

Ferring Pharmaceuticals
 
Application Deadline: July 1, 2015

Ferring Pharmaceuticals is pleased to announce that the Ferring Innovation Grants Portal is now open and accepting applications. The goal of the Ferring Innovation Grants program is to fund projects designed to identify novel drug targetsthat are:

  • For indications within their core therapeutic areas (Reproductive Health, Urology, Gastroenterology)
  • Addressable with peptides and/or proteins
  • Exploratory, discovery and/or preclinical in nature


The program will provide a limited number of grants in the amount of $50,000. The grants DO NOT carry indirect costs and are not renewable. Funding will not be provided for clinical studies, studies which require collection of patient biopsies or studies to develop small molecules. In all cases the intellectual property rights remain with the applicant.

Application Deadline: July 1st, 2015

For more information visit the Ferring Pharmaceuticals webpage. 


 

 Department of Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families
 
Application Deadline: July 7, 2015

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications for demonstration projects that support programs that have the capacity and proven record of accomplishment in providing a broad range of marriage and relationship skills training. To address the multiple barriers faced by individuals, couples, partners, and families, programs will provide healthy marriage and relationship skills designed to change behaviors of individuals and move families towards economic self-sufficiency.

Application Deadline: July 7, 2015

For more information visit the Grants.Gov webpage.

Simmons Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
 

Application Deadline: July 28, 2015 
 

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Simmons Foundation have partnered to create a new program, the 2016 Faculty Scholar Program, designed to support early-career scientists. The Faculty Scholars competition is open to basic researchers and physician scientists at more than 220 eligible institutions, including Case Western Reserve. The competition seeks scholars who will apply molecular, genetic, computational and theoretical approaches to fundamental problems in diverse areas of biology.

Eligibility Criteria
* PhD and/or MD (or the equivalent).
 

* Tenured or tenure-track position as an assistant professor or higher academic rank at an eligible U.S. institution, or, if at an eligible institution that has no tenure track, an appointment that reflects a significant institutional commitment. Federal government employees are not eligible.
 

* More than 4, but no more than 10, years of post-training, professional experience. To meet this requirement, the applicant's post-training, professional experience must have begun no earlier than June 1, 2005, and no later than July 1, 2011.
 

* Principal investigator or Co-Principal investigator on at least one active, nationally competitive grant with an initial term of two or more years at some point from April 1, 2013 through July 1, 2015. Career development grants qualify. Multi-investigator grants may qualify.

Important Conditions
* Up to 70 awardees will receive non-renewable grants ranging from $100k to $400k per year over 5 years ($500k - $2M per award).
 

* Faculty Scholars are required to devote at least 50% of their total effort to the direct conduct of research.
 

* Scholars conducting research at the interface of the biological and physical sciences are encouraged to apply.
 

* Scholars studying biological questions emerging from and applicable to global human health problems, including malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and other diseases that disproportionately affect individuals living in low resource settings are encouraged to apply.
 

* Women and minorities under-represented in the biomedical and biological sciences are strongly encouraged to apply.

Application Deadline: July 28, 2015

For more information visit the Howard Hughes Medical Institute website.   

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.

Application Deadline: August 3, 2015
 
The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation seeks to further the development of scientific leadership in the field of environmental chemistry with a postdoctoral fellowship program. The Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry provides a principal investigator with an award of $120,000 over two years to appoint a Postdoctoral Fellow in environmental chemistry.

The Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry is open to all academic and other not-for-profit organizations in the States, Districts, and Territories of the United States of America. Applications are accepted from principal investigators who have well-established research efforts in environmental science or engineering. These research activities need not be located in traditional departments in the chemical sciences, and collaboration across departments and institutions is encouraged. The postdoctoral fellow is usually not already identified nor in the principal investigator's lab at the time of application.

Application Deadline: August 3, 2015

For more information visit the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation website.

National Institutes of Health - Lasker Clinical Research Scholars

Application Deadline: August 27, 2015

The National Institutes of Health, the nation's premier agency for biomedical and behavioral research, in partnership with the Lasker Foundation, is pleased to announce the Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program, an historic "intramural-extramural" partnership to nurture the next generation of clinical researchers. The program supports a small number of exceptional clinical researchers in the early stages of their careers to promote their development to fully independent positions. Successful candidates are designated as Lasker Clinical Research Scholars.

Lasker Scholars receive a unique combination of NIH funding for clinical research for to 10 years. In the first phase of the program, Scholars will receive appointments for 5-7 years as tenure-track investigators within the NIH Intramural Research Program with independent budgets. In the second phase, successful Scholars will receive up to 3 years of NIH support for their research at an extramural research facility; or the Scholar can be considered to remain as an investigator within the intramural program.

Lasker Scholars will have access to the NIH Clinical Center, the nation's largest hospital devoted entirely to clinical research. Through an arrangement with the Lasker Foundation, Scholars will have the opportunity to participate in selected activities, including attendance at the Lasker Breakfast and Award Luncheon, and participation in annual scientific meetings.

Application Deadline: August 27, 2015

For more information visit the NIH webpage. 

Department of Defense

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

Department of the Army - USAMRAA

Peer Reviewed Cancer
FY15 Peer Reviewed Cancer Idea Award with Special Focus
FY15 Peer Reviewed Cancer Career Development Award
FY15 Peer Reviewed Cancer Translational Team Science Award 

Neurofibromatosis
DoD Neurofibromatosis Clinical Trial Award
DoD Neurofibromatosis Exploration - Hypothesis Development Award
DoD Neurofibromatosis Investigator-Initiated Research Award
DoD Neurofibromatosis New Investigator Award

Tuberous Sclerosis Complex
DoD Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Exploration - Hypothesis Development Award
DoD Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Pilot Clinical Trial Award
DoD Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Idea Development Award

Gulf War Illness
DoD Gulf War Illness Innovative Treatment Evaluation Award
DoD Gulf War Illness Clinical Trial Award
DoD Gulf War Illness Epidemiology Research Award
DoD Gulf War Illness Investigator-Initiated Research Award
DoD Gulf War Illness New Investigator Research Award  

Prostate Cancer
DoD Prostate Cancer Physician Research Training Award
DoD Prostate Cancer Postdoctoral Training Award
DoD Prostate Cancer Collaborative Undergraduate Historically Black Colleges and Universities Student Summer Training 
DoD Prostate Cancer Exceptional Responders Award
DoD Prostate Cancer Impact Award
DoD Prostate Cancer Dr. Barbara Terry-Koroma Health Disparity Research Award
DoD Prostate Cancer Idea Development Award 

Vision Prosthesis
DoD FY15 Vision Prosthesis Pilot Study Award
Have you explored SciVal yet?

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Also be sure to contact our Research Concierge Service for all CTSC and research-related queries.

Researchers: Register for an
ORCID ID
NIH has now adopted the ORCID ID, a free, open-source unique identifing 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 clara.pelfrey@case.edu or (216) 368-6478.

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