NOVEMBER 2022

NEWSLETTER

The Center for Advanced Research Training & Innovation (CARTI) newsletter lists upcoming events, resources, services and grant deadlines for UMB research faculty and fellows. To register for CARTI's upcoming events, click HERE.

NIH High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program

Thursday, November 3

9:00 – 10:30am

Zoom

 Guest Speakers:

Becky Miller, PhD

Program Officer, Office of Strategic Coordination – The Common Fund, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Director, NIH 

Patricia Labosky, PhD

Program Leader, Office of Strategic Coordination – The Common Fund, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Director, NIH 

The High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program supports “exceptionally creative scientists pursuing highly innovative research with the potential for broad impact in biomedical or behavioral science”. This session will cover the following topics:

• Elements of a competitive proposal
• Determining whether these awards are an appropriate match
• Funding requirements
• Advice on how to apply
• Overview of the review process 

This program consists of the following four constituent NIH Director's awards:

• NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (DP1 Clinical Trial Optional)
• NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (DP2 Clinical Trial Optional) 
• NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
• NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (DP5 Clinical Trial Optional)

More information about this program can be found at: https://commonfund.nih.gov/highrisk

Financing Your Research

Tuesday, November 29

9:00 – 10:00am

Zoom

A challenging and crucial aspect of leading a research lab or program is the need to fund your research/program. Given the current competitive funding rates, this responsibility can be even more challenging.  During this session, participants will hear from two academic research scientists who have learned how to finance their programs by applying for funding from diverse sources, including the NIH, foundations and corporate funding. This session will begin by helping faculty understand how to develop a budget for their research lab or program, and will then address how to diversify your sources of funding. This session will include tips for dealing successfully with some of the current challenges in funding.

Speakers:

Michal Zalzman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UMSOM

Satoru Otsuru, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, UMSOM

Tips for Developing the Budget and Justification for an

NIH Grant Application

Tuesday, December 13

9:00 – 10:00am

Zoom

This seminar is targeted to faculty and postdoctoral fellows who plan on submitting an NIH grant application and want to understand the basics of developing a budget. This seminar will address both the strategic questions involved in budgeting, as well as the basic components of a budget. Topics include the following: personnel issues, including differences between collaborators and consultants, as well as how to determine percent effort; direct vs indirect costs; budget categories, and what items to include, etc.

Speaker: Robert Mitchell, Associate Director for administration of the Marlene & Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, UMSOM

Developing Tables, Figures and Graphs for

Your Research Paper

Thursday, November 10

9:00 – 10:00am

Zoom

Tables, figures and graphs play a significant role in presenting and enhancing the writer’s message in a scientific paper. Deciding when and how to use these visual aids -- and developing the most appropriate -- can be challenging. This session will provide tips to consider when producing effective tables, figures and graphs.

Speaker: Jessica Brown, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, UMSOM

Writing Effective Titles and Abstracts

Thursday, December 8

9:00 – 10:00am

Zoom

Effective titles and abstracts are key components of a scientific paper, as these two parts of the paper are read most often and are also the basis for searches. This session focuses on how to write an interesting and informative title and abstract, including tips on writing style.  This session begins with a didactic session (20 minutes), followed by an examples-driven discussion (40 minutes).

Speaker: Marey Shriver, PhD, Executive Director for Faculty Development, Center for Advanced Research Training & Innovation (CARTI), UMSOM

Maximizing the Design of Your Scientific Illustrations

Tuesday, November 29

1:00 – 1:30pm

Zoom

Well-designed figures in a grant application supplement the text and present key information to the reader. This session will include tips on improving figure layout and color usage to create visually appealing illustrations that quickly and effectively deliver your message.   

Speaker: Karen Scanlon, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, UMSOM

Creating a Lab Website

Wednesday, December 7

1:00 – 1:30pm

Zoom

A lab website is a platform to share your research, recruit future lab members, and create an online presence to display your scientific expertise. This session will provide participants with best practices for developing a lab website, including platforms for creating a website, information to include, pitfalls to avoid, and tips for managing your website in the long term.

Speaker: Steffen Wolff, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, UMSOM

Scholarly Writing Accountability Group (SWAG) Program

Virtual Program to Help Faculty Increase Their Scholarly Writing Productivity

The Center for Advanced Research Training & Innovation (CARTI) provides a virtual peer accountability/support program designed to increase writing productivity among UMB early stage faculty called Scholarly Writing Accountability Group (SWAG). A description of our virtual SWAG program follows, including details on how to participate.

What is a VIRTUAL SWAG?

A virtual SWAG is an active peer-led writing group for UMB junior faculty that meets for 1-hour, once a week over a 10-week period using Microsoft Teams. Groups follow a structured agenda including 15 minutes of updates and goal-setting followed by 30 minutes of individual writing and then 15 minutes of reporting and wrap-up. Each group is limited to 4-8 members who must commit to attending at least 8 out of the 10 weekly sessions. In a SWAG, there is no peer review of writing; SWAGs focus on the process of writing, not the content. The purpose of SWAG is to help junior faculty get in the habit of 1) writing in short blocks of time daily or almost every day and 2) identifying and prioritizing feasible writing goals.

Writing accountability groups are being used at multiple major medical schools. The data which have been reported on the results of this program are very favorable, reflecting marked increases in the quantity and quality of writing by junior faculty participants.

What are the Benefits of Joining a SWAG?

Faculty who join SWAG will:

• Develop new writing habits to achieve writing goals
• Improved time management skills
• Gain a greater sense of control over the writing process
•  Build a small community of support/social network

Registration

New SWAGs at UMB are being formed on a rolling basis. If you’re interested in participating, please submit the following REQUEST FORM.

Questions? Email Stacie Mendoza

CARTI'S Seminar Slides & Recordings

CARTI'S Individual Consultations

CARTI'S Mini LIbrary

UMB School of Nursing

Research Seminar Series

Smart IRB Process and External IRB Reliance at UMB

Thursday, November 17

12:00 – 1:00pm

Webex

Speaker: Julie Doherty, DM, MSN, RN Assistant Vice President, UMB Research Compliance

UMB Health Sciences and Human Services Library

Virtual Discussion of the Film Coded Bias

Join the Health Sciences and Human Services Library for a virtual discussion of the film Coded Bias. Coded Bias, directed by Shalini Kantayya, explores the fallout of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini´s startling discovery that facial recognition does not see dark-skinned faces and women accurately, and her journey to push for the first-ever legislation in the U.S. to govern against bias in the algorithms that impact us all.  

Register below for one of two facilitated 90-minute discussion sessions. We’ll discuss what it means to create artificial intelligence technologies and algorithms that do not encroach upon the civil liberties of people of color, and how this question ties into broader conversations around health equity and social justice. What has the field of Artificial Intelligence gotten right so far and in what direction(s) should it head in the future? Registered participants will receive a link to view the film between November 9^th and 16^th.

Space for this event is limited – sign up now!

Click HERE to Register for Discussion Session 1:  Tues. Nov. 15 from 12:00-1:30 PM

Click HERE to Register for Discussion Session 2:  Fri. Nov. 18 from 12:00-1:30 PM

NIH, Office of Intramural Training & Education (NIH OITE)

Workshops and Trainings for Extramural Faculty

The NIH OITE is pleased to offer the RAISING A RESILIENT SCIENTIST series for faculty, staff scientists, and administrators who mentor students and postdoctoral fellows in the biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences. A variety of topics will be covered with a specific focus on communication and shared problem-solving to help trainees deal with the inevitable setbacks experienced in high knowledge environments.

The goal of the Raising a Resilient Scientist series is to promote the mental health and well-being of the academic research community by supporting faculty and administrators to develop self-management, relationship-management, and mentoring skills. 

There will be five units in the series and start on November 9, 2022; each unit will consist of a 75-minute lecture followed by a 1-hour facilitated discussion with peers.

There is no charge for participation, but advanced registration is required. For more information, and to register, please visit webpage. Participation in the entire series is recommended but is not required.

UMB Graduate School

Applications are now being accepted by the UMB Graduate School for the following:

• Master of Science in Epidemiology and Clinical Research –Clinical Research Track
• Certificate Program in Clinical Research

 Both are designed specifically to meet the needs of clinicians and scientists who want further education and training to develop a successful career as a clinical and translational investigator. Graduates will gain the ability to identify important clinical research questions, develop research protocols, generate pilot data, conduct clinical research, analyze and write the results in a publishable form and develop and submit grant proposals. Former students include faculty members (particularly those on or applying for career development awards), fellows, residents and medical and dental students.

Please see the details and application deadline for each below:

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CLINICAL RESEARCH –CLINICAL RESEARCH TRACK

• 30 credits
• Eligible for tuition remission
• Designed for clinicians and clinicians-in-training wanting to develop a successful clinical research career

Early Admission Deadline: March 1, 2023

Final Application Deadline: May 15, 2023

For more information, visit the WEBSITE

In particular, read the "Frequently asked questions" for each.

CERTIFICATE PROGRAM IN CLINICAL RESEARCH

• 12 credits
• Eligible for tuition remission
• For clinicians and scientists who do not have time to do a full MS but need to gain skills not covered in their health profession or graduate education

Early Admission Deadline: March 1, 2023

Final Application Deadline: May 15, 2023

For more information, visit the WEBSITE

In particular, read the "Frequently asked questions" for each.

For an individual consultation on whether this training is appropriate for you, please contact Jennifer Albrecht, PhD at jalbrecht@som.umaryland.edu

NIH COVID-19 Related Updates & Funding

Funding Opportunities

Seeking Foundation Funding for your Research?

The SOM’s Office of Development, Corporate and Foundation Relations, provides services and resources to assist UMSOM faculty with identifying private foundation funding for research, programs, educational initiative, and community outreach at the local, regional, and national level. Visit their website for more information and to schedule an appointment. 

Additional funding opportunities can be found at:

 UMSOM Internal Funding Opportunities & External Funding Databases

UMGCCC Funding Database

(Cancer related research)

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