What's New? Updates from the CFAR

Duke CFAR Newsletter - February 16, 2022


In this newsletter:

News from the CFAR

Upcoming Events

Funding Opportunities

In case you missed it: Check out the new CFAR Pilot Grant RFA on our website

Text reads "CFAR Pilot Grant RFA. 2 options for submission: Standard application ($100K award) or Focused application ($60k award). LOI due 2/28, application due 5/2.

News from the CFAR

Photo of six members of the multigenerational Wilson family, smiling and close together with trees in the background

Dr. Sarah Wilson and family featured in Inside Duke Health for their dedication to Duke Health


Dr. Sarah 'Sadie' Wilson is a CFAR investigator and one of the Associate Directors of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Core, supporting the CFAR's community engagement efforts. Dr. Wilson is an assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences with Duke and a clinical psychologist and health services researcher at the Durham Veteran's Affairs (VA) Health Care System, where she leads a program on gender equality. She also comes from a family who has dedicated a combined 83 years to improving the lives of their patients and colleagues at Duke Health.


Read more about the Wilson family here.

Duke University School of Medicine ranked #3 in the nation for NIH funding, Dr. Georgia Tomaras ranked #3 among researchers receiving highest funding


Duke University School of Medicine was awarded more than $608 million in federal funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2021, ranking third nationally among academic medical centers, up from 10th last year, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.


Dr. Georgia Tomaras, CFAR Director and Professor in Surgery, Division of Surgical Sciences, currently ranks third nationally among principal investigators receiving funding from the NIH. Dr. Tomaras recently sat down for a Q&A with Jessica Bronchick of Duke Surgery to discuss her history with Duke and her current research.

Georgia.PNG

Read the interview here.

Seeking projects: Are you looking for a graduate student intern to assist with modeling or analysis this summer?

Graphic of laptop with colorful graphs. Text reads: "Could your project benefit from modeling or analysis? Mentor a fully-funded graduate student through the Quantitative Summer Internship in HIV/AIDS!"

Through an NIAID funded research education program, the Quantitative Sciences Core can sponsor up to 12 fully funded graduate student interns to perform HIV/AIDS research over summer. Interns will be co-mentored by someone in the PI group and a quantitative faculty mentor and work full-time over the summer. Many continue with the project as part of their thesis research, although this is not a program requirement. 

 

Past projects have involved data science, machine learning, statistical inference, and mathematical modeling, but we are open to all quantitative projects (e.g. epidemiology, health services research, bioinformatics pipeline development). The main requirements are that you agree to co-mentor the intern, and that any data necessary for the project is available by May 2022.

 

If you have a suitable project, please send a project title and brief description (a few sentences) to Dr. Cliburn Chan - this will be circulated to the applicants. Email cliburn.chan@duke.edu if you have any questions or want to find out more. 


The program has already interviewed and short-listed 14 graduate students for the internships and needs to match them up with appropriate projects.


Responses are requested by the end of the week.

Upcoming Events

Background shows tipped over plastic pill bottle and a pile of light blue pills. Text reads "PrEP in 2022: What's new in the guidelines? February 18th"

Webinar: PrEP in 2022: What's New in the Guidelines?


Friday, February 18th | 12-1pm EST


Presented by Christopher Hurt, MD FIDSA.


This one-hour webinar will cover key changes in the management of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for the United States, following the issuance of the most recent CDC/USPHS PrEP Guideline update in December 2021. Participants will learn about the evidence base behind the changes and where to find resources to help support the implementation of updated recommendations. The speaker, Dr. Christopher Hurt from the UNC School of Medicine, has been working to help providers implement PrEP in North Carolina since 2014 and is an expert on PrEP service delivery.


Learn more and register here.

CFAR-wide webinars hosted by UNC: Spring schedule


Monday, February 28th | 3:30-4:30pm EST

Topic: Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Network

Presenter: Dave Metzger, PhD

Learn more and register here.


Monday, March 28th | 3:30-4:30pm EDT

Topic: HPTN: Where are we now and WHERE are we GOING

Presenters: Mike Cohen, MD and Wafa El-Sadr, MD

Register here.


Monday, April 25th | 3:30-4:30pm EDT

Topic: TBA

Presenter: Carl Dieffenbach, PhD

Register here.

Funding Opportunities

Research@Pickett Community Outreach and Engagement Voucher Program


The Research@Pickett Community Outreach and Engagement Voucher is a funding source designed to build capacity for research projects to maximize their impact. Teams may leverage Duke Research@Pickett services and programs to maximize the ability to increase diverse participation in clinical research, enhance community partnered research, and maximize community engagement or promote outreach activities that promotes awareness, education, and participation in clinical research among underrepresented, underserved, and under engaged populations, with particular focus on race and ethnicity.

 

A total of $195,000 is available to support a minimum of four projects focused on community-partnered research projects with a focus on enhancing diversity of clinical research and improving community health. Funding is provided in the form of a voucher to cover services provided by the Duke Research@Pickett Service Center (staff services and/or facility use). Projects that include community-academic research partnerships are preferred. In addition to receiving the voucher, a data manager and statistician are available at no cost to help support the projects receiving a voucher.

 

The application deadline is April 1, 2022.

A consultation with the Research@Pickett team is required prior to submission.


Learn more on our website here.

Reminder - Administrative Supplements to Support the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) in the U.S. Intiative


The NIH invites eligible NIH CFARs and NIMH ARCs to submit administrative supplements in support of the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the United States initiative. The Duke CFAR is eligible to submit a total of five applications for Topics 1-5.


Send your intent to submit to mary.oris@duke.edu. If interest exceeds the allowable submissions, a review of specific aims will determine the applicants approved for a full proposal to NIH. The NIH due date is April 4, 2022. Submission process and SPS record is initiated by the Duke CFAR and completed by the PI's grant manager.


Find more info on our website.


Please communicate interest in submitting to Mary Oris by Monday, February 21st.

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