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Partner Network:
While we invite you to take part in all of our programs, items featuring this icon may be of particular interest. Look for the symbol throughout the Digest. Have news you'd like to share? Send it to:
ccts@uab.edu
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Two Exciting Grant Announcements Lead to Research Opportunities
This week researchers at UAB learned about the award of two grants which will fund innovative research, and the CCTS is proud to be a part of each.
The first, a
U.S. Department of Defense contract for $10 million over 3 years,
will fund studies of a synthetic estrogen molecule that may have a profound effect on an individual's ability to survive major blood loss. UAB will launch
the first Phase 1 human trials of a drug - derived from the female hormone estrogen - that may help patients with severe bleeding survive long enough to get to appropriate medical care. The contract is with the Combat Casualty Care Research Program, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick MD.
The initial observations and subsequent research in animal models was done by Irshad H. Chaudry, Ph.D., professor in the
Department of Surgery
at UAB and co-principal investigator on the contract. Chaudry and his colleagues discovered that following severe bleeding, a single injection increased survival times even in the absence of any fluid resuscitation. Time is the key. Severely hemorrhaging patients - those who experience approximately 40 percent or more blood loss - who do not receive fluid or blood product resuscitation within a few hours usually do not survive.
"The work of Dr. Chaudry and colleagues showed that EE-3-SO4 is extremely effective in improving cardiovascular functions and boosting survival rates following injuries with extreme hemorrhage," said principal investigator Mansoor Saleh, M.D., professor in the
Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, and director of the UAB Phase 1 Clinical Trials Program
. "This drug could have major implications for treating trauma, from battlefield injuries to life threatening hemorrhage following any injury. We are excited to be launching the first-in-human studies of this drug that was developed by one of our own here at UAB. This is a classic example of bench-to-bedside translational research." Read more about it.
The second grant is a $7.5 million award from the
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics to
identify potential new drugs for people with rare cystic fibrosis mutations, known as nonsense mutations.
UAB is collaborating with Southern Research on this five-year project.
Southern Research will use a sophisticated screening process to identify compounds in its chemical library that could promote the production of functional CFTR protein. In individuals with CF, a
defective CFTR protein leads to a buildup of thick mucus, which in turn leads to persistent lung infections and complications in other parts of the body.
Read more about it.
Congratulations to both groups on these innovative research efforts, bolstered by strong collaborations.
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Seminars, Symposia and Conferences
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CCTS Forum: Training Academy Opportunities
4:45-6pm
PCAMS, 1924 7th Avenue South
Join the CCTS for hors d'oeuvres, beverages, and a host of presentations on training opportunities offered by the CCTS Training Academy. Hosted by Dr. David Chaplin, Training Academy Director.
You can also dial in using your phone (312) 757-3121
Access Code: 533-000-725
Thursday, October 29
"Toward Precision Medicine: Informatics Hurdles and Policies Pending"
Presented by Jessica Tenenbaum, PhD
Associate Director for Bioinformatics, Biomedical Informatics Core
Duke University, Duke Translational Medicine Institute, Durham, NC
9-10am
Shelby 515
1825 University Blvd
Questions? Please contact Dr. James Cimino, Director, Informatics Institute (ciminoj@uab.edu; 205.996.1958)
Thursday, November 5
Vulnerable Populations: What You Should Know, with Sheila Moore
12-1pm
PCAMS, 1924 7th Avenue South
Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
930-891-813
Friday, November 6
First Friday Mentoring Lunch
Join the CCTS Training Academy Leadership in an informal lunch setting to discuss mentoring opportunities, challenges, and advantages. Featuring Dr. David Chaplin and Ryan Outman, CCTS Training Academy.
Noon-Until
PCAMS, 1924 7th Avenue South
Tuesday, November 17
TIERS: "Research Project Management: Organizing Your Approach to Team Science"
Featuring
Molly Wasko, PhD
Professor & Chairman of Management, Information Systems and Quantitative Methods, Collat School of Business
No later than Thursday, November 12, 2015
Cocktail and heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served beginning at 4:45pm.
4:45-6 pm
PCAMS - 1924 7th Avenue South
Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
You can also dial in using your phone: (408) 650-3123 Access Code: 718-705-597
FALL SYMPOSIA
Friday, November 13
The 10th Annual Research Scientific Retreat
hosted by
UAB Department of Genetics (Heflin Center) in conjunction with HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology
UAB Alumni House
Keynote address presented by:
Howard Jacob, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President for Medical Genomics and Chief Medical Genomics Officer
HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology
Sunday & Monday, November 15-16
Network of Minority Health Research Investigators (NMRI) South Regional Meeting
Who attends?
* Network of Minority Health Research Investigators (NMRI) members
* Underrepresented minority investigators, including post-graduate doctoral students, who are conducting biomedical research in the fields of:
o diabetes, endocrinology, metabolism
o digestive and liver diseases, nutrition
o kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases.
How do I attend?
What happens at the meeting?
*
Mentorship
*
Poster Presentation
*
Scholarly exchange among field leaders
Can I submit an abstract for the poster presentation?
Participants are encouraged to submit abstracts. Visit the
meeting page
for more information.
Questions? Contact Dr.
Alethea Hill, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing and member of the NMRI
at:
ahill@southalabama.edu.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
NCATS Accepting Collaborative Proposals for Pre-Clinical Programs
The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is now accepting proposals to collaborate with its Bridging Interventional Development Gaps (BrIDGs) and Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program scientists. BrIDGs scientists collaborate with researchers to advance candidate therapeutics for both common and rare diseases into clinical testing. TRND researchers and their collaborators move new therapeutic candidates through pre-clinical testing, from lead optimization to submission of an investigational new drug application.
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New to the UAB platform of education offerings for research is a program designed for young investigators and research staff who are new to research (possibly within the first 2 months of starting in research).
The program will be a basic review of how to implement a sponsored- or investigator-initiated study including clinical, regulatory and financial aspects. The intent of this program is to provide a basic overview of implementing a study, familiarize attendees with the language, and hopefully provide guidance on avoiding pitfalls when starting out. This is not an all-encompassing program, but will provide basic tools and some of the necessary language in order to successfully conduct a research study.
We encourage new faculty, coordinators, budget and regulatory staff to attend.
Fourth Thursday of each month 8am - 12noon in PCAMS (1924 7th Avenue S.).
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UAB's 5th SHORT COURSE ON NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING: TECHNOLOGY AND STATISTICAL METHODS
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December 14-17
Next-generation sequencing technology is impacting almost all aspects of biomedical research. This technology generates an unprecedented wealth of data that demands novel analysis strategies. While IT infrastructure and bioinformatics developments are obviously required to enable sound information extraction, sophisticated statistical methodologies and algorithms are also essential for interpreting the data. We are calling statisticians, genetic epidemiologists, bioinformaticians, and genome biologists, to discuss the statistical challenges and opportunities in next-generation sequencing data analysis. We believe that this course will provide a venue for exchanging of cutting-edge information and ideas, and fostering collaborations among methodologists, analysts, and biomedical investigators.
Topics: (tentative)
Technical overview of NGS (Platforms; chemistry; library construction); Next Generation Sequencing in Methylation Studies; Predicting Causal Variation; StatGenLab - a virtual machine for genetics data analysis; Functional Genomics; Variant Calling & Assembly NGS Data; Rare Variants Analysis; Transcriptome Analysis; ChIP-Seq Data Analysis; Methylation using Bisulfite Sequencing; Cloud Computing; Statistical Methods for NGS Data.
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Deadline for Application: Friday, October 30, 2015. Acceptance decisions will be made by Friday, November 6, 2015.
Attendance is limited. Please register early.
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BIOSTATISTICS & BIOREPOSITORY (*new!)
Mondays
Epidemiology/Biostatistics Clinic in The Edge of Chaos
This clinic provides the UAB community access to epidemiology and biostatistics resources. Available most
Mondays, 10am-2pm in The Edge of Chaos (Lister Hill Library, 4th floor). Check the
Edge of Chaos calendar
for confirmation of meeting dates and times.
Biostats: Weekly on Wednesdays, 11:30am-1pm
Biorepository: First Wednesday of each month, 11:30am-1pm
PCAMS Building 1924 7th Avenue South
We've expanded our Biostats Clinic to include members of our CCTS Biorepository Team. On the
FIRST WEDNESDAY of each month, experts from our
CCTS Core Lab will join the CCTS Biostats experts to
answer questions and provide consultative services on any aspect of specimen collection, specimen management, specimen processing and biorepository needs.
The Biostatistics & Biorepository Clinic is open to all faculty members, post-docs, fellows, residents, and students. Attendees are invited to bring statistical and methodological questions about on-going research projects, projects being planned, manuscripts in progress, responses to peer reviewers, and published articles. They are also invited to bring their laptops. Assistance will be provided by members of the
CCTS BERD & Biorepository groups. A light lunch is served.
BERD Design Consultation Available Today
In support of
Pilot & Feasibility Projects, the CCTS is offering design consultation through its
Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Division (BERD). A team of methodologists, including experts in Epidemiology (Gerald McGwin, Russell Griffin), Biostatistics (Robert Oster, David Redden, Leslie McClure, Paul Lin), and Statistical Genetics (Hemant Tiwari, Xiangqin Cui) are available to collaborate in the design of the pilot proposals as well as in their review. If other methodological expertise is required in the project design, the BERD will recruit the required expertise from among the network of UAB methodologists.
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Clinical and Translational Science (CTS) Training Program
The CTS Training Program is a six-month certificate program that includes approximately 50 hours of didactic instruction and interactive experience.
STARTS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2016
Our program provides training in clinical and translational research over a six-month period (January to June) with class on Wednesday mornings, 8-10 am. Videoconference access is available for those away from UAB.
Course content represents the following modules: Clinical Trials, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Ethics, Clinical Genetics Research, Behavioral Research, Outcomes Research, Dissemination of Results, and Grant Writing and Funding Opportunities.
Trainees from Partner Network institutions may attend via videoconference from schools outside of driving range to UAB. Please contact Wendy Price to access the meeting code.
All of the sessions are presented by experienced clinical and translational researchers or individuals with special expertise in areas such as grants and contracts and regulatory issues. Preceptors include faculty and research staff from across the Partner Network.
For more
information about participation in the program, or if you are interested in presenting, contact Jean Lambert, Training Academy, at:
jeanl@uab.edu
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Celebrating CCTS Success
On Wednesday, October 21, the CCTS was excited to celebrate the receipt of a nearly $34 million Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health with a reception. Staff, faculty, CCTS members and supporters from around UAB and our Partner Network gathered at the Alys Stephens Center for a fete hosted by the UAB School of Medicine. Dr. Ray Watts, UAB President; Dr. Selwyn Vickers, Dean, UAB School of Medicine, and Dr. Robert Kimberly, Principle Investigator of the UAB CCTS spoke in gratitude of the hours of hard work and support that went into the grant award. Thank you again to everyone who helped us make this possible!
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Pittman Center for Advanced Medical Sciences
1924 Seventh Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35294
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