Dear Colleague,
Today, we proudly announce CIAPM’s open Request for Proposals for the Depression Research Program, a nine-million-dollar state investment to advance research for new, whole-person approaches to preventing, diagnosing, and treating depression. Letters of Intent are due October 30.
Read on as we share a last call for applications to the Precision Medicine Fall Internship (due September 25), report on the culminating Cancer Disparities Research Symposium, and cover news highlights of the CIAPM network in action. In this month's Researcher Spotlight, we present an interview with Dr. Gary Firestein and his project co-leads from UC San Diego, part of CIAPM’s Research Program for Adverse Childhood Experiences. Learn about their project, Partners Better Address ACEs with Precision Medicine & Organizational Change.
Lastly, we invite you to join us virtually at the next California Precision Medicine Advisory Council Meeting on Monday, September 25 at 11:00 am to learn more about the Representative Research Collaborative, among other engagements.
Thank you for being part of our network,
The CIAPM Team
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Letters of Intent are due October 30
CIAPM's latest research funding opportunity aims to drive innovation and reduce health inequities by applying a precision medicine approach to improve outcomes for patients with or at risk for depression. Up to $9 million will be awarded across three to five independent research teams ($1.8 to $3 million per team) over a three-year project term. To bolster the RFP's responsiveness to community needs, CIAPM shaped the program based on the Request for Information feedback and listening sessions throughout California this summer. Thank you to all participants who contributed.
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Key Dates
Announcement of the RFP 09/22/2023
Due: Letters of Intent to Submit a Proposal 10/30/2023 by Noon
Due: Concept Proposals 12/1/2023 by Noon
Notification of Finalists January 2024
Due: Full Proposals 02/15/2024 by Noon
Awardees Announced March 2024
Anticipated Project Start June 2024
Duration of Projects 36 months
All times listed are in Pacific Time.
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CIAPM Internship: Last Call for Applications
The team is expanding to bring aboard two California-based students, graduate or undergraduate, for four months, with the potential for extension. One intern will support graphic and web design; one intern will support science communications and research administrative roles. Both will work closely with staff and help advance programmatic efforts. We are accepting applications through September 25, 2023. Follow the links above to the application portals. The paid, remote internships start in mid-October at 12 to 20 hours per week, flexibly scheduled.
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CIAPM’s Culminating Cancer Disparities Research Symposium
CIAPM hosted a virtual research symposium on September 14 as the three State-funded Cancer Disparities research teams wind down their projects, which they began in 2019. CIAPM's Drs. McCall and Reiner overviewed the cancer disparities research portfolio, Cancer Disparities Principal Investigators, Dr. Manali Patel (Stanford University), Drs. William Kim and Pablo Tamayo (University of California, San Diego), and Dr. Elad Ziv (University of California, San Francisco) gave brief lectures of project summaries, and project team members engaged in rich discussions of lessons learned and paths forward. The CIAPM Team was honored to include three members of the Advisory Council in the symposium: Chair Dr. Clara Lajonchere, Ms. Ysabel Duron, and California Surgeon General Dr. Diana Ramos.
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In her talk entitled, “Addressing Latinx Cancer Care Equity”, Dr. Patel discussed how her team developed, implemented, and evaluated a community health worker precision cancer care intervention for low-income and minority populations in Monterey County and shared preliminary results. During their talk entitled, “Triple Negative Celsus Project: Components, Resources, and Activities,” Drs. Kim and Tamayo discussed how their team developed, tested, and refined a computational model that finds therapies that best match a given tumor sample and engaged with community stakeholders for optimal study implementation. During his talk entitled, “Addressing Disparities in Breast Cancer in Latinas: A Multi-Tiered Approach,” Dr. Ziv discussed how his team determined which genetic variants are associated with breast cancer in Latinas and increased community awareness of hereditary cancer and genetic testing.
CIAPM is grateful for the Lead Principal Investigators, project teams (displayed below), community partners, participants, patients, families, and collaborators who made these projects possible. A recording of the presentations will soon be uploaded to the CIAPM website.
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An Interview with UCSD ACEs Research Team Leads: Dr. Gary Firestein, Dr. Kyung “Kay” Rhee, Dr. Eric Heckler, and Ms. Blanca Meléndrez |
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Dr. Gary Firestein serves UC San Diego as the Senior Associate Vice Chancellor of Health Sciences, the founding director of the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, and Distinguished Professor of Medicine. |
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Dr. Kay Rhee serves UC San Diego as Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Vice Chair of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. She also is the Medical Director of the Medical Behavioral Unit/Eating Disorder Unit at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, Research Director of Pediatric Hospital Medicine, and Medical Director of the Center for Healthy Eating and Activity Research. |
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Dr. Eric Heckler serves UC San Diego as Associate Dean of Community Partnerships, Director of the Center for Wireless & Population Health Systems within the Qualcomm Institute, and Director of the Design Specialization within the Design Lab, and Professor of the Social and Behavioral Science in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. |
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Blanca Meléndrez serves UC San Diego as the Executive Director of the Center for Community Health, Co-Chair for the Health Antiracism Taskforce, the Health Disparities and Inequities Workstream, and the Healthy Campus Network. |
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Project: Advancing a Precision Population Health Approach to ACEs to Reduce Health Disparities (HEALlthy4You)
How does your project address the health impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and advance equity?
The HEALthy4You Study addresses the impact of ACEs on Latino youth experiencing obesity. We do this by addressing the issue from multiple angles. ACEs do not occur in a vacuum. Therefore, we are exploring unique ways to unpack and address the underlying issues that cause both obesity and high ACEs scores. Some participants will receive only the Healthy Together curriculum, a health and nutrition curriculum from our partner Family Health Center’s clinic, while others might receive support for mental health and case management through a Promotora or community health worker. Additionally, we’re studying the surrounding environmental factors that might impact individual ACEs scores and obesity rates by looking at the “exposome,” which refers to environmental factors that may affect health. We study a participant’s “exposome” through a platform called Streetwyze – Participants use Streetwyze to “check in” to areas around their community and report out what they like, what needs work and what they don’t like about their communities. We believe that our approach advances healthy equity in California by addressing ACEs and obesity from a holistic perspective.
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CIAPM Network in the News |
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Advisor Ysabel Duron on Cancer Care Equity |
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This summer, Ysabel Duron, President & Executive Director of The Latino Cancer Institute and Member of the National Cancer Advisory Board, served on an expert panel the Hill hosted on Cancer Care Access & Equity: Breaking Barriers to Innovation. |
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CIAPM Featured in an Oncology Research Summit |
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The Association of Northern California Oncologists showcased Dr. Manali Patel, Dr. Laura Fejerman, Ms. Emily Wood, and Dr. Julianne McCall at the inaugural Health Equity Research Summit in San Francisco on September 9. |
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Advisor Keith Yamamoto Co-Chairs the National Academies' Report on Equitable Innovation |
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The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently released the report Toward Equitable Innovation in Health and Medicine: A Framework. California Precision Medicine Advisor Dr. Keith Yamamoto co-chairs the Academies' Committee on Creating a Framework for Emerging Science, Technology, and Innovation in Health and Medicine, which authored the report. During the release webinar on August 22, Dr. Yamamoto discussed key recommendations, including the value of public-private collaboration.
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California Precision Medicine Advisory Council |
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The Council will hold its next meeting on Monday, September 25, at 11:00 a.m. The meeting is open to the public for virtual participation. To register, visit the CIAPM Meetings webpage. The agenda includes updates to the Representative Research Collaborative and the Depression Research Program.
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This Notice of Funding Opportunity invites applications for a Data Coordinating Center in support of a series of R01 foundational research projects that will aim to refine and test valid methods for characterizing preteen suicide risk and protective factors across multiple domains, and for operationalizing suicidal thoughts and behavior and non-suicidal self-injury among preteen youth.
Deadline: November 10, 2023
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The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity is to invite applications from eligible organizations that can serve as Health Equity Research Hubs for awarded community-led health equity structural intervention (CHESI) projects within the Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS) Program. The Hubs will serve as a centralized research resource, providing tailored scientific, technical, and collaborative support for sustainable community engagement, research capacity building, and training to assigned CHESI projects that address social determinants of health and structural factors to improve health outcomes.
Deadline: November 1, 2023
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Other state funding opportunities are listed on the California Grants Portal |
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Utilizing the All of Us Research Program
for Substance Use and Mental Health Research
September 29 11:00 a.m. | Virtual
The webinar will provide tools to learn how to become an All of Us Research Program User, demonstrate capabilities of the All of Us Researcher Workbench, and showcase research on addiction and mental health using data from the All of Us Research Program.
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2023 Precision Oncology Summit: Personalizing
Treatment to Improve Patient Outcomes
October 7-8 | International Hotel San Francisco
This conference will feature oncology experts who will provide a comprehensive overview of the implications of actionable molecular alterations across common malignancies.
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Find more external events on CIAPM's website. |
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P.O. Box 3022
Sacramento, CA 95814-3022
(916) 322-2318
info@opr.ca.gov
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