NSF Day Scheduled Sept. 21 in Toledo

The National Science Foundation and the University of Toledo will hold a one-day workshop on Tuesday, September 21, 2010, at the Dana Conference Center (adjacent to the Hilton Hotel) on the University of Toledo Health Science Campus.

The workshop will provide an overview of the Foundation, its mission, priorities, and budget. It will cover the NSF proposal and merit review process and NSF programs that cut across disciplines. Additionally, representatives from the seven NSF directorates and the Office of International Science and Engineering and the Office of Cyberinfrastructure will make presentations on their programs and will also be available informally and in breakout sessions for discussions of potential research proposals.

There is a $25.00 registration fee for this workshop payable by cash or check the day of the event. Please register by Monday, September 13, 2010. Registration is limited, so please register early. Download agenda and registration form (MS Word).

For additional information, please contact George Wilson at the National Science Foundation, Office of Legislative and Public Affairs, (703) 292-7733 or Karen Bell at the University of Toledo, Karen.bell@utoledo.edu or (419) 530-2729.

The National Science Foundation is charged with keeping our nation’s science and engineering enterprise healthy, dynamic, and relevant and with advancing science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education at all levels from pre-K through postdoctoral training.

Daland Fellowships Support Clinical Research by Early Stage Investigators

The American Philosophical Society (APS) awards a limited number of Daland Fellowships in Clinical Investigation for research in various branches of clinical medicine, including internal medicine, neurology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery. The committee emphasizes patient-oriented research.

The fellowships are designed for qualified early stage investigators who have held an M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. degree for less than eight years. The fellowship is generally intended to be an investigator’s first post-clinical fellowship; but each case will be decided on its merits. Preference is usually given to candidates who have not more than two years of post-doctoral training and research.

Stipends for the fellowship are $40,000 for the first year and $40,000 for the second year. The term of the fellowship is one year, with renewal for one year if satisfactory progress is demonstrated.

APS expects that essentially 100% of the Fellow’s time will be devoted to research, and the fellowship will constitute salary support. With the cognizance of the selection committee, teaching or clinical service of a limited amount is permitted, and a small portion of the fellowship may be used for supplies.

The next application deadline is September 1, 2010. Notice of award will be mailed in January.

For more information and application forms, see the APS website: http://www.amphilsoc.org/grants/daland.

RSP Presents “Proposal Writing 101”

Have you wanted to write a grant proposal but don’t know how to get started?  WSU’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) is offering a seminar on “Proposal Writing 101” on Thursday, July 15, from 11:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m. in E163 Student Union on the WSU main campus.

This lecture-style training seminar walks novice grant writers through the process of writing a proposal and covers the basics such as describing the main components of the proposal, where to find funding, proposal writing tips, and budget preparation.

Please RSVP by July 13 to Jan Power at 937-775-2425 or via email to janice.power@wright.edu.

NIH Releases New Videos Explaining Enhanced Peer Review

The National Institutes of Health’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR) today released a new video to show new applicants and others how NIH assesses over 80,000 grant applications each year to help find those with the most merit. With the majority of NIH’s $31 billion budget supporting grants to researchers, these assessments help ensure investments lead to significant advances in science and health.

The NIH Peer Review Revealed video can be viewed and downloaded via CSR’s website: http://www.csr.nih.gov/video/video.asp.

CSR also has released a companion video: NIH Tips for Applicants.  In this video, the reviewers and NIH staff members featured in the NIH Peer Review Revealed video provide advice to new applicants.

Both videos incorporate many of the recent enhancements to the NIH peer review and grants systems.  They replace a similar CSR video that has been viewed by thousands online and used by hundreds of research institutions across the country and abroad to train and educate new and established researchers.

CSR organizes the peer review groups that evaluate the majority of grant applications submitted to NIH. These groups include experienced and respected researchers from across the country and abroad. Since 1946, CSR’s mission has been to see that NIH grant applications receive fair, independent, expert, and timely reviews – free from inappropriate influences – so NIH can fund the most promising research. CSR also receives all incoming applications and assigns them to the NIH institutes and centers that fund grants. For more information, go to the CSR website.

Wright State Ranks Highly in Social Mission of Medical Schools

In a study published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine ranked 4th out of 141 U.S. medical schools in a new metric called the social mission score.

The composite score represents the percentage of graduates who practice primary care, work in health professional shortage areas, and are underrepresented minorities. The study included 60 043 physicians in active practice who graduated from medical school between 1999 and 2001, a sample period that accounts for residency training and other service obligations.

The nation’s three historically black medical schools (Morehouse University in Atlanta, Mehary Medical College in Nashville, and Howard University in Washington, D.C.) topped the social mission ranking, followed by Wright State and the University of Kansas.

Howard Part, M.D., dean of the Boonshoft School of Medicine, told the Dayton Daily News that the school’s high ranking in terms of social mission reflects its community-based organization. “It’s remarkable how focused our students are in serving their fellow human beings,” he said.

According to the authors of The Social Mission of Medical Education:

Medical schools contribute numerous important public goods to society beyond training the future physician workforce. They generate new scientific knowledge, are the home of leading-edge clinical treatments, and often provide substantial health care to underserved communities through their university hospitals and affiliates. Medical schools, however, are the only institutions in our society that can produce physicians; yet assessments of medical schools, such as the well-known U.S. News & World Report ranking system, often value research funding, school reputation, and student selectivity factors (16) over the actual educational output of each school, particularly regarding the number of graduates who enter primary care, practice in underserved areas, and are underrepresented minorities. Read more.

NSF RAPID Mechanism Funds Gulf Oil Spill Research

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has in place a mechanism to receive and review proposals having a severe urgency with regard to availability of, or access to data, facilities or specialized equipment, as well as quick-response research on natural or anthropogenic disasters and similar unanticipated events.

This Rapid Response Research (RAPID) mechanism has been regularly used to enable research on unanticipated events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or any other event where a timely presence is required to enable the research.  A number of RAPID awards were made to support research on the earthquakes earlier this year in Haiti and Chile, and awards are being made related to the oil spill.

RAPID is a special grant mechanism developed specifically to respond to unusual circumstances where a timely response is essential to achieving research results.  To help determine whether the proposed research is appropriate for NSF’s RAPID funding, potential investigators must contact the NSF program officer(s) most germane to the proposal topic before submitting a RAPID proposal.

Complete guidance on submitting a RAPID proposal is located on NSF’s web site at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf10_1/gpg_2.jsp#IID1.

STAR METRICS Will Measure Impact Of Federally Funded Research

A new initiative promises to monitor the impact of federal science investments on employment, knowledge generation, and health outcomes. The initiative — Science and Technology for America’s Reinvestment: Measuring the Effect of Research on Innovation, Competitiveness and Science, or STAR METRICS — is a multi-agency venture led by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

STAR METRICS will help the Federal government document the value of its investments in research and development, to a degree not previously possible. Together, NSF and NIH have committed $1 million for the program’s first year.

Data for the program will come from research institutions that volunteer to participate and the federal agencies that fund them. Information will be gathered from the universities in a highly automated way, with minimal or no burden for the scientists and the university administration.

STAR METRICS is based on a highly successful pilot program that includes seven research institutions. Now the program is being extended to more universities, with 60 already having expressed interest in taking part.

There are two-phases to the program. The first phase will use university administrative records to calculate the employment impact of federal science spending through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and agencies’ existing budgets. The second phase will measure the impact of science investment in four key areas:

• Economic growth will be measured through indicators such as patents and business start-ups.
• Workforce outcomes will be measured by student mobility into the workforce and employment markers.
• Scientific knowledge will be measured through publications and citations.
• Social outcomes will be measured by long-term health and environmental impact of funding.

Read more about STAR METRICS.

Nominations Sought for HSR Impact Awards

AcademyHealth has issued a call for nominations for the sixth annual Health Services Research Impact Award which recognizes outstanding research that has been successfully translated into health policy, management, or clinical practice and, as a result, had a positive impact on health and health care.

The lead researcher of the winning impact will receive $2,000, and the research will be disseminated widely as part of AcademyHealth’s ongoing efforts to promote the field of health services research. The deadline for nominations is July 30, 2010. For more information on eligibility requirements, selection criteria, and application details, see the AcademyHealth web site.

If you have any questions, please contact Patrick Burbine at Patrick.burbine@academyhealth.org or 202.292.6738

AcademyHealth represents a broad community of people with an interest in and commitment to using health services research to improve health care. The organization promotes interaction across the health research and policy arenas by bringing together a broad spectrum of players to share their perspectives, learn from each other, and strengthen their working relationships. Read more.

New NIH Policy on Post-Submission Application Materials

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a new policy on post-submission application materials. Effective with the September 25 NIH grant application submission date, the only materials that will be accepted after the submission of the application but before the initial peer review will be materials that “result from unforeseen administrative issues.” Some exceptions are listed in NIH notice NOT-OD-10-091. This policy does not modify existing “Just-in-Time” requirements or requests for additional information after the initial peer review.

The new policy is intended to expedite timely peer review, reduce burden on NIH extramural staff and peer reviewers, and provide a uniform amount of materials for each grant application going to review.

NIH notes that post-submission of application materials is not required. Adding materials to reviewer workload may be counterproductive, so applicants should consider carefully the need to send post-submission materials. Read more.

OMV Neuroscience Day Is May 10

Rajita Sinha, Ph.D. (left), will be the keynote speaker at OMV-SfN’s 2010 Neuroscience Day on Monday, May 10, at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Sinha is professor of psychiatry and director of the Yale Stress Center at Yale University. The title of her presentation is “Desire gone awry! Can the Neuroscience of Stress and Reward-seeking Provide Clues for Understanding and Treating Addiction?”

Neuroscience Day is free of charge for current chapter members. If you didn’t register in advance, you can register at Neuroscience Day and pay 2010 chapter dues, if necessary. See more details.

Program | Map of UC Medical Campus | Map of UC Environs | Parking

The Ohio Miami Valley Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (OMV-SfN) is a nonprofit membership organization that promotes neuroscience research and education in the southwest Ohio region. The chapter’s sponsoring institutions include Miami University, the University of Cincinnati, and Wright State University.

Held every spring at one of OMV-SfN’s participating institutions, Neuroscience Day is the chapter’s showcase scientific meeting. The program includes a keynote presentation by a leading neuroscientist, student and post-doc presentations, and a poster competition and reception.