Dear Colleagues,

As we prepare for summer, many of you are working on writing grants for the upcoming cycle. Good luck! There are a few things to note in this newsletter, which will pause in July and August. First, our PREPARE grant review program is now offering summary sheet reviews for applicants who were not funded in a previous round, and who want additional feedback for resubmission.

Second, does your research require approval of UCSF human subjects committee (IRB)? Please consider serving on this critical committee. Below, you can hear first-hand from one of its faculty members, Dr. Megumi Okumura, on why she serves. 

And finally, congratulations to our DOM faculty who were inducted into the Association of American Physicians (AAP), to Dr. Steven Deeks, who received the 2022 Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award, and to our colleagues on their Career Development Awards. 

All the best, 

Diane and David

Diane Havlir, MD, Associate Chair for Clinical Research

David Erle, MD, Associate Chair for Biomedical Research

Congratulations to Dr. Esteban González Burchard, Dr. Alexander Marson, Dr. Phil Rosenthal, and Dr. Prescott Woodruff who were inducted into the Association of American Physicians (AAP), a society founded to advance scientific medical practice.

To read more about their research, see below. 

Esteban González Burchard, MD, MPH, Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep Medicine at UCSF Health, and his colleagues built one of the largest gene-environment studies of asthma in minority children in the U.S. From this cohort he was the first to demonstrate that genetic ancestry is strongly correlated with lung function in African Americans and Mexicans, even after accounting for social determinants of health, including socioeconomic status, experiences of perceived discrimination, and environmental factors. His work provides the strongest evidence to date that clinical algorithms, such as those used in pulmonary function testing, should adjust for genetic ancestry.

Alexander Marson, MD, PhD, Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UCSF Health decodes how DNA sequences in the genome control functions of T cells and other immune cells with a suite of CRISPR tools that he and his team helped to develop. These studies are informing their translational efforts to reprogram the next generation of genome-modified cellular immunotherapies for cancer, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and other common human diseases.

Phil Rosenthal, MD, Professor in the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases & Global Medicine at ZSFG performs translational research on malaria. He studies a number of aspects of this disease, with a particular focus on antimalarial drugs, including laboratory studies at UCSF and translational research ongoing in Uganda and Burkina Faso. 

Prescott Woodruff, MD, MPH, Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep Medicine at UCSF Health studies mechanisms of inflammation and pathological mucus production, disease heterogeneity and new therapies in asthma and COPD. The approaches that he uses range from bench to bedside (longitudinal cohort studies and randomized controlled trials).

Steve Schroeder, MD and the DOM awards committee are available to assist with nominations for AAP and other honors. For questions, please contact Steve Schroeder or Ilona Paredes. 

"As exemplified by 28 testimonials as well as four letters in support of this nomination, Dr. Steven Deeks, MD is a beloved person in the global HIV research community who has trained scores of mentees and inspired countless others around the world. He identifies the strengths in every single one of his mentees and helps guide them toward a career path that is most gratifying for them. A recurring theme in the testimonials is Steve’s limitless generosity and humility; his example is carried forward by his mentees who have become leaders and mentors themselves. The collaborative, supportive, and dynamic environment Steve has been so instrumental in creating at UCSF is the “special sauce” that makes UCSF the best place in the world for translational HIV research. He is one of the main reasons why the superstars that are submitting supportive letters on his behalf are here, and why their mentees, and those they attract to UCSF in the future will follow the same example. Ultimately, this is the embodiment of a lifetime achievement in mentoring. A deep congratulations to a most extraordinary mentor, friend, and colleague for this well-deserved honor." — Diane Havlir, MD

Ian McCoy, MD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Nephrology at UCSF Health received a K23 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for a project entitled, "Towards improving recovery from dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury." 

Gabriela Schmajuk, MD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Rheumatology at UCSF Health was awarded the UCSF Mid-Career Development Program grant.

Priya Shete, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at ZSFG received the ZSFG Department of Medicine Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award. 

Beth Zha, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep Medicine at UCSF Health received a K08 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for a project entitled, "Diversity and function of mononuclear phagocytes in the lung driven by mycobacterium tuberculosis infection." 

The clinical research enterprise depends on a strong human subjects review (IRB) system. Faculty play an important role in this process; we want to make sure that we have the needed participation of faculty for timely and expert reviews.

To provide insight to our readers on why persons serve on the committee, and what they can expect, we interviewed Megumi, J. Okumura, MD, MAS, Professor of Pediatrics, Internal Medicine and Health Policy about her service on the UCSF Human Subject Committee (IRB).

Reviewers are needed in all areas, and in heme/oncology in particular. Please consider serving and contact Ed Kuczynski, Director, Human Research Protection Program, Office of Research, UCSF for questions or to express your interest.

When did you join the IRB and on what committee do you serve?

I joined the Mt. Zion IRB committee in 2017.

Why did you join?

I wanted to do service to the University. There are many ways people can serve, for example, being on one of the Academic Senate Committees. As a researcher, it seemed more appropriate to use my research background to assist the IRB. Also, I worked with the IRB as an investigator for a while. My office was at Laurel Heights, so I would make frequent stops to the office for clarification and help, so I thought it would be interesting to see it from the "other side."  

There was also one personal driver. When I was an assistant professor, I submitted a poorly edited informed consent form (ICF) and was told in my letter that I should have a native English speaker review my ICF, rather than simply state, please edit for grammar. Given that I was born and raised in the United States, but had an Asian name and surname, I was rather upset by the comment. I ended up confronting the IRB to address cultural sensitivity. I just wanted to ensure that experiences like this one never made it to other investigators or patients. That said, the members of the committee have been very supportive in addressing any potential biases or cultural issues during our reviews. No one is perfect, we all have our own intrinsic biases we need to work on, and thus, having a diverse committee is critical for equity and inclusion. It just makes us better. 

What have you appreciated during the experience?

Learning about the IRB process, and also the time it really takes for an IRB review and how many people are involved. Being on the “other side” makes me really appreciate the amount of effort that the university takes in ensuring that research protocols are reviewed for the safety of our patients. It also makes me very aware of how important it is to take the time to ensure that my submission is complete and well written.

Why should faculty consider joining?

The committee’s work is a peer review process; we really focus on making the application better, as part of ensuring the safety and welfare of our patients and research subjects. We also have a role for equity, inclusion and justice.  It’s also a learning experience as the committee is quite diverse and has significant expertise across all fields.  I sit on the Mt. Zion IRB (cancer section), as the “non-oncologist” health services researcher, I bring something different to the review as compared to a basic sciences oncologist or the two lawyers on the committee. Btw, having two lawyers in the room has brought in very interesting perspectives as well as knowledge about legal ramifications of studies and contracts. Given the array of expertise, it’s actually a very enjoyable, educational and fun meeting. Pre-COVID, the breakfast food and coffee was pretty good too.

As a reviewer what is your opinion on ways investigators can contribute to reduce “time to activation” for their projects when they submit their IRB application?

It’s a peer review process, so treat your application like it’s a peer reviewed grant application. Fill out your submission templates as accurately as possible, as the analysts are spending a lot of time reviewing all the content.  Be mindful of the content you submit. Be sure that it’s accurate and consistent and parsimonious. Please proof your forms. Many people use research assistants for their submissions, so PI’s need to review carefully to ensure the content is accurate.  Write to your audience (informed consent to your families/patients/participants, scientific justification to your reviewers).  

On behalf of the UCSF DOM research community, we would like to thank you - Dr. Okumura, for your service to the IRB. 

DOM PREPARE Program

Requests for grant reviews are accepted on an ongoing basis

NEW! The PREPARE program is now offering Summary Sheet reviews as part of their program. PREPARE reviewers will review the summary sheets together with the corresponding application and strategize with you about ways to respond and resubmit. Suggested lead time for these requests is at least two months before the submission deadline; the review will occur approximately one month before the submission deadline. Materials will be due to reviewers one week before the scheduled review.

For more information about the program and the types of reviews it offers, click here.

UCSF Multiethnic Health Equity Research Center (MERC) Annual Research Symposium 

The mission of MERC is to promote equity in health and healthcare for ethnically and linguistically diverse groups through applied multidisciplinary research and by training the next generation of investigators committed to achieving health equity. MERC seeks to discover the mechanisms that explain health disparities and to develop, evaluate, and implement interventions that prevent and treat disease and advance health equity within healthcare systems and communities. 

The MERC Annual Research Symposium and Emerging Health Equity Scholar Award will be held virtually on June 3 from 1-3pm. The keynote speaker is Dr. Eliseo Pérez-Stable, Director, National Institution on Minority Health and Health Disparities. For more information about the symposium and MERC, click here. 

To register, click the button below. If you experience problems with registering, please contact Giselle Aguayoramirez or Anita Ponce.