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CCTS Digest 4.17 .15 | www.uab.edu/ccts
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In This Issue

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
Shameless Puppy Plug (in the name of science)
Is it love at first sight?

There is an (unofficial) contest underway online to hook in readers with the cutest puppy photos possible- is it working ?

This week, Science magazine published an article on how dogs endear themselves to us, beyond the tail wagging and frisbee catching. It turns out upon making eye contact, their gaze causes a boost of oxytocin in humans.
From the story: 


 

"If you think of your dog as your 'fur baby,' science has your back. New research shows that when our canine pals stare into our eyes, they activate the same hormonal response that bonds us to human infants. The study-the first to show this hormonal bonding effect between humans and another species-may help explain how dogs became our companions thousands of years ago.


 

'It's an incredible finding that suggests that dogs have hijacked the human bonding system,' says Brian Hare, an expert on canine cognition at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, who was not involved in the work. Hare says the discovery might lead to a better understanding of why service dogs are so helpful for people with autism and post-traumatic stress disorder. 'A finding of this magnitude will need to be replicated because it potentially has such far-reaching implications.'"


 

Science online has complied a special collection of stories relating to dogs, "Dogs: Scientist's Best Friend." And they are sponsoring a real contest asking readers to send in images of their dogs, tagged: #upwardfacingdog, by April 27, and potentially win a recreation of the magazine's cover featuring their dogs.  Click here for details (and be sure to let us know if you win!). 


This program funds new interdisciplinary clinical and translational research projects to grow mature research programs in these areas. The RFA is now live, with pre-applications due May 1, 2015, 5pm CT. For additional dates and full description, click here. 
ACTS Translational Science 2015 
We are There!

This week, April 16-18, the Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS) is hosting its annual meeting, Translational Science, in Washington, DC. The CCTS is excited to have several attendees presenting posters at the conference. They are:
  • Hope Amm, Postdoctoral Trainee, Institute of Oral Health Research, UAB School of Dentistry
  • John Donnelly, Graduate Student, Preventive Medicine, UAB SOM
  • David Robbins, Research Associate, Pathology Informatics
  • Arnold H. Zea, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology, Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, LSUHSC-NO

Dr. Francis Collins, Director, National Institutes of Health, joined yesterday's opening plenary section with a lecture on, "NIH Efforts to Encourage Physician Scientists." Look for updates from the conference on Twitter @UABCCTS.

 

Seminars
Seminars, Symposia and Conferences

CCTS/CTO Research Seminar Series

Critical research implementation and management topics will be presented on the first and third Thursday at noon in PCAMS (1924 7th Avenue South). These topics will be of interest and relevance specifically to clinical research personnel including investigators, regulatory personnel, study coordinators and financial administrators. The goal of this new program is to fill in the gaps in information related to the implementation of clinical trials that have been identified by investigators and their research teams. Presented by Penny Jester, co-director UAB Clinical Trials Office.

 

Topic:

This program will provide an overview of the reporting SAEs and how to appropriately use Notes to File.  Tools and checklists will be provided. The Journal club will provide a review of relevant literature.  Courses are not sequential and can be attended separately.

 

Attendees: Investigators, Research nurse coordinators, managers, research nurses, and administrators.

 

Thursday, May 7

Noon-1pm

 

"Multicenter Studies: What That means and How to Do It" 
Speakers: Penelope Jester, BSN, MPH, CCRC; Elizabeth Busby, RN, BSN, CCRP; Alice Howell, RN, BSN, CCRC

CME Credit Available

 

 

Partners: Please join us remotely via GoToMeeting:

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Seminars, Lectures & Workshops

Monday, April 20

UAB-VA Health Services, Outcomes, and

Effectiveness Research (HSOER) Training Program

  

"Durability of Contemporary HIV Regimens"

 

Presenter:

Ellen Eaton, MD

COERE T32 Postdoctoral Fellow

 

10:30-11:30am *NOTE START TIME*
Medical Towers 634


 

Wednesday, April 22

Twenty-Fourth Annual Paulette Shirey Pritchett Endowed Lecture in Pathology

"Regenerative Medicine: New Approaches to Healthcare"

(Note: The April 21 lecture is being moved to join Pathology to accommodate the audience)

 

 

Presenter: Anthony Atala, PhD

 

Dr. Anthony Atala is the director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, where his work focuses on growing and regenerating tissues and organs. His team engineered the first lab-grown organ to be implanted into a human -- a bladder -- and is developing experimental fabrication technology that can "print" human tissue on demand. In 2007, Atala and a team of Harvard University researchers showed that stem cells can be harvested from the amniotic fluid of pregnant women. This and other breakthroughs in the development of smart bio-materials and tissue fabrication technology promises to revolutionize the practice of medicine. 
 

2-3pm

Margaret Cameron Spain Auditorium, 620 19th Street South

 

 

Thursday, April 30

6th Annual Academic & Industry Intersection Conference 

Innovative Investment Models 

 

9am-1:30 pm 

Morehouse School of Medicine 

Louis W. Sullivan National Center for Primary Care Auditorium 

720 Westview Drive SW 

Atlanta, GA 30310 

 

The Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute (ACTSI), led by Emory University with partners Morehouse School of Medicine and Georgia Institute of Technology, and Georgia Bio, the state's life sciences industry association, organizes this conference annually to provide critical information on how academia and industry can work together to translate science into discovery and engage communities in clinical research efforts and outcomes. The event provides a collaborative environment for university investigators and industry executives using a program filled with subject-matter experts describing current models and innovative trends shaping the future of translational science. 

 

Thursday, May 14

Professional Skills Development Series

"Proposal Submissions Using ASSIST"


Presented by:

Timothy M. Parker, Associate Director, Office of Sponsored Programs


11am-12:15 PM (CDT)
Pittman Center for Advanced Medical Studies, 1924 7th Avenue South
For registration, click here.

 


 

Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone. https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/840329197

You can also dial in using your phone. United States (Long distance): +1 (224) 501-3412

Access Code: 840-329-197

 

 

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Coming in June:

 

UAB Multiple Sclerosis Symposium

"Multiple Sclerosis: Etiopathogenetic, Immunological and Clinical Concepts"

Thursday-Friday, June 4-5

Alumni House

Click here for more information

 

3rd Annual 3rd Annual Workshop on Metabolomics

Sunday, June 14-Thursday, June 18

 

The course is jointly sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) as part of the  NIH Common Fund Metabolomics Initiative, and the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology and Toxicology at UAB. 

Visit the website for full details on agenda, registration, and more.

 

Announcing the 2015 Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance  Seminar Series


 

Taking place  Tuesdays at noon at PCAMS, 1924 7th Avenue South

 

Presented by the Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance and the UAB CCTS:


 

 

April 21: How to Submit an IND - Penny Jester and Maaike Everts (UAB)

April 28: Intellectual Property Aspects in Drug Discovery - Kathy Nugent (UAB)

 

To access slide decks from past presentations, visit: http://www.uab.edu/medicine/adda/

Light lunch provided.  For more information email: adda@uab.edu

Join us remotely via GoToMeeting at:
Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance Seminar Series
Training Opportunities

NEW this month in TRAINING: 

Mentoring: A new group is forming around mentoring, facilitated by Dr. David Chaplin, CCTS Training Academy, with mentors engaging in two, 3-hour sessions in late spring. 

WHO? Anyone who would like to hone their mentoring skills, ranging from junior faculty just starting out, to more senior faculty wanting to sharpen their skills. This is an in-person only event; and registration is limited. INTERESTED? Please send your name and email address to ccts@uab.edu

 

K Writing Group: A new K writing group will convene for five sessions beginning April 17th at  2pm. The April 17 session provides an overview of a K section and follows with discussions of writing strategy, challenges, and progress. Group size is limited; you must be eligible to apply for a K award to engage. Commitment to all five sessions is strongly encouraged. Sessions will be presented via videoconference for our partners.  


 

Please submit your name to the CCTS (ccts@uab.edu) to learn more.

 

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UAB's  1 st Annual Mentoring Week kicks off next week, April 19-25

 

Open to all graduate students, postdocs, faculty and staff

 

Tuesday April 21: Kenneth Gibbs, PhD, from the National Cancer Institute on Tuesday April 21. Dr. Gibbs' conducts policy-relevant research aimed at strengthening the research enterprise. His work focuses on Biomedical Graduate and Postdoctoral Training, Workforce Development & Workforce Diversity. Specifically, understanding the mechanisms of career development among recent biomedical Ph.D. graduates and postdocs, and how they differ across lines of race/ethnicity and gender, so that strategies can be developed to promote inclusive excellence. Noon, Edge of Chaos (Lister Hill Library, 4th Floor). Lunch will be served.

 

Wednesday April 22: Theater Delta will be on campus. Theater Delta uses Interactive Theater - scripted and improvisational audience participatory theater - to promote dialogue and social change in communities around the globe. Their performance will focus on Faculty Mentorship. Noon-2pm, BBRB 170 

 

Independent of where you are in your career, this will provide helpful insight to training, developing and mentoring.

 

 

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The Alabama Launchpad Innovation Awards celebrate and honor contributions to Alabama's innovation economy. Visit Alabama Launchpad for more information.

 

Award Categories:

  • 2015 Lifetime Achievement in Innovation
  • 2015 Corporate Innovator of the Year (small corporation)
  • 2015 Corporate Innovator of the Year (large corporation)
  • 2015 Outstanding Public-Private Partnership for Innovation
  • 2015 Outstanding Achievement in Innovative Manufacturing

Deadlines:

March 30: Nominations Open

May 17: Nominations Due 

Mathematical Sciences in Obesity Research: Short Course Enrolling Now

You are invited to participate in a five day short course on "The Mathematical Sciences in Obesity Research" at UAB, taking place Monday, June 22-Friday, June 26.

 

The mathematical sciences including engineering, statistics, computer science, physics, econometrics, psychometrics, epidemiology, and mathematics qua mathematics are increasingly being applied to advance our understanding of the causes, consequences, and alleviation of obesity.  These applications do not merely involve routine well-established approaches easily implemented in widely available commercial software. Rather, they increasingly involve computationally demanding tasks, use and in some cases development of novel analytic methods and software, new derivations, computer simulations, and unprecedented interdigitation of two or more existing techniques. Such advances at the interface of the mathematical sciences and obesity research require bilateral training and exposure for investigators in both disciplines. This course on the mathematical sciences in obesity research features some of the world's finest scientists working in this domain to fill this unmet need by providing nine topic driven modules designed to bridge the disciplines.

 

For full details of the course, including application materials, please refer to this website.

 

Limited travel scholarships are available to young investigators. 

 

Please apply prior to Friday, May 1. Accepted applicants will be notified no later than Friday, May 8.

Women, members of underrepresented minority groups and individuals with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. We look forward to seeing you in Birmingham this summer!

 


 

Submitting an NIH application soon?  Every detail counts:

 

 

Please pay special attention to all the requirements specified in all of the following: the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, the Funding Opportunity Announcement, and relevant NIH Guide Notices. If you have questions about a particular requirement, contact your grants office or the NIH (see NOT-OD-15-095).


 

 

2016 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science

The Vilcek Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of immigrant contributions to American society. The Vilcek Foundation is seeking applicants for the 2016 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science. We are accepting applications from young, foreign-born researchers age 38 and under from now through June 15, 2015. Three winners will each receive a $50,000 unrestricted cash prize and will be honored at an awards ceremony in New York City in April 2016.


 

Complete eligibility requirements and online application can be found on Vilcek.org.  

 

Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program Funding Opportunities

The CCTS wants to help position investigators to apply for Department of Defense (DoD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) announcements. Check out a new page on the CCTS website highlighting these opportunities, which are rolling out now. It includes:


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Contact the CCTS Research Commons ( ccts@uab.edu; 4.7442) to learn more. Visit the site now for these and ongoing additions to the list!


Check out the CCTS Funding Opportunities page on our website


Sam Brown Bridge Builder Award

2015 Award Announcement

The Sam Brown Bridge Builder Award was established in 2009 to recognize the remarkable career of Dr. Sam Brown.The award honors his unique ability to develop and nurture working relationships between faculty and staff across the UAB campus in ways that embodied the vision, character, and bridge-building talents vital to the future of UAB. Previous award recipients were:

2010 - Dr. Sarah Morgan
2011 - Dr. Kent Keyser
2012 - Drs. Diane Tucker and Lou Bridges 
2013 - Drs. Jennifer Kilgo and Cynthia Ryan
2014 - Dr. Jack Lemons

Nominations are now being accepted for the 6th annual Sam Brown Bridge Builder Award to be announced in late June.  Nominees should have demonstrated a deep and abiding commitment to facilitating collaboration and partnership across campus in ways that enhance the research and/or teaching activities of the University.  All full time UAB faculty and staff are eligible for this Award. 

All nomination packets must be received by the COB Friday, May 29, 2015. Click here for full details.


 

Questions should be addressed to Max Michael (maxm@uab.edu or 5-7742).

The Sam Brown Bridge Builder Award recipient will be recognized at an awards luncheon.  The award recipient will receive a cash award plus a special commemorative plaque.

Biostatistics
BIOSTATISTICS

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. 
 

 

UAB CCTS Biostatistics Clinic                                                    

 

Weekly on Wednesdays, 11:30am-1pm

PCAMS Building 1924 7th Avenue South

 

The Biostatistics 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 group. 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.

 

Please contact the BERD and request design consultation by emailing ccts@uab.edu, calling (205) 934-4905 or connecting through Research Commons on the CCTS home page. 

 

UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science |   ccts@uab.edu
 Pittman Center for Advanced Medical Sciences
1924 Seventh Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35294