January 2022
Dear Colleagues,

Greetings to our first newsletter of 2022! We are very excited to start out by congratulating the new cohort of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub investigators from the Department of Medicine. These highly competitive awards will provide a million dollars over a period of 5 years to each of the investigators. These investments in our faculty and faculty at other institutions will certainly catalyze cutting edge and high risk, high reward research. Don’t hold back on congratulating our colleagues.

We will be continuing to highlight in our newsletter the excellent ongoing work taking place in the Department of Medicine in the area of Health Disparities. If we have not yet been able to cover your work in this area, please send a brief summary to Ilona Paredes. We also share with you ongoing programs for grant writing and support, and funding opportunities you may have missed. You have all done amazing work in face of the many challenges in the last two years; we are committed to support you and improve our research enterprise over the coming year. 

All the best, 
Diane and David

Diane Havlir, MD, Associate Chair for Clinical Research
David Erle, MD, Associate Chair for Biomedical Research
New Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigators
Congratulations to the following DOM researchers who have been named to the second cohort of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigators and will receive $1 million apiece in unrestricted funds over the next five years to pursue creative and innovative research.

(Pictured from left to right):


To read more about the investigator program, click on the button below.
Career Development Award
Scott Bauer, MD, MS, Assistant Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the SFVA, received a K76 from the National Institute on Aging for a project entitled, "Age-related changes in skeletal muscle and lower urinary tract symptoms in older adults."
Health Disparities Research
Rosa "Vanessa" Mora, MD candidate at UCSF, is interested in assessing predictors of financial distress among a national, multi-ethnic population of patients with cancer. She is currently working on three projects, two of which are with the DOM. The first is through a non-profit organization (Family Reach) that provides financial assistance and financial advising services, which she is currently working on with Meera Ragavan, MD, MPH, first-year fellow in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at UCSF Health. Rosa is also exploring the role of the gut microbiome in colorectal cancer disparities: A pilot feasibility study which will assess the acceptability of feasibility of a microbiome study that includes recruitment of non-Hispanic Black and Latino patients, at-home stool collection kits, and a diet, exercise, and lifestyle survey with Sorbarikor Piawah, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at UCSF Health.
Career Development Programs
UCSF Physician-Scientist Career Development Program (PSCDP) Town Hall-Style Meetings

Sanjeev Datar MD, PhD (Associate Director, Pediatrics), Alexandra Nelson MD, PhD (Director, Neurology), Cathy Smith MD (Associate Director, Medicine) will be holding several virtual town hall-style meetings to (1) introduce a new program to support laboratory-based UCSF physician-scientist trainees, the Physician-Scientist Career Development Program (PSCDP), (2) seek feedback on prioritizing different currently planned initiatives, and (3) seek input on major needs/desires of trainees in the target period (between completion of clinical training and full independence as tenure-track faculty member with her/his own lab). 
 
Three dates/times will be offered. To register, please fill out this survey by February 8th.

  • Tuesday, February 15th, 4pm-5pm 
  • Thursday, March 3rd, 6pm-7pm 
  • Monday, March 14th, 12pm-1pm 
 
If you are unable to attend any of these town halls but would like to be added to the mailing list, click here. For questions or additional information, please contact [email protected].
SOM Mid-Career Development Program for Research Faculty
Application deadline is February 7th

The UCSF School of Medicine is pleased to announce the second call for applications for the UCSF Mid-Career Development Program for Research Faculty. This program is intended to promote workforce equity at UCSF. The main goal of this program is to provide career mentorship and sponsorship for research faculty who are women or from historically marginalized groups. Up to three faculty members will be awarded for this two-year award.

Maria Chao, DrPH, MPA, Courtney Lyles, PhD, and Jae Sevelius, PhD, are current DOM cohort recipients in the program and would be happy to answer any application-related questions you may have.

Applications are due by February 7th, 2022. To read more on selection criteria, application details and the timeline, click on the button below. For questions or for additional information, please contact Claudine Catledge.
Funding Opportunities
UCSF Faculty Seed Grants in Cancer Research
Letters of intent (LOIs) are due January 25

The Cancer Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC) is pleased to issue a Request for Proposals for the 2022-23 Faculty Seed Grants. The CRCC is a systemwide, faculty-directed cancer research program that provides one-year seed grants for topics in any discipline that address any aspect of cancer, including its origins, prevention and cure. Eligible PIs must be members of the Academic Senate at one of the ten UC campuses. 
 
Currently, the CRCC awards grants to:

  • New UC faculty to initiate cancer research projects

  • Established investigators in other areas of research to initiate cancer research projects

  • Established cancer investigators to initiate cancer studies in new areas
 
Letters of intent are due by 12:00pm PT on January 25th, 2022. For eligibility and submission requirements, click on the button below.

For questions on program scope and priorities, please contact: [email protected]. Administrative questions regarding the application process may be directed to: [email protected]
UCSF Resource Allocation Program (RAP)

The deadline for all RAP grants has been moved to March 14th, 2022 (previously February 28th), to provide more time for those affected by the omicron surge.

For additional information on grant offerings, application rules and eligibility criteria, click on the button below.
UCSF Mentored Scientist Award in Tuberculosis
Application deadline is March 14

The Mentored Scientist Award in Tuberculosis is a mentoring and training grant focused on Early Stage Investigators (ESI) at UCSF and UC Berkeley in the conduct of a TB-focused research project. These awards, granted by the UCSF Center for Tuberculosis, are intended to be used to acquire preliminary data and research skills leading toward a future grant effort. Applicants for this award must indicate a faculty research mentor(s) who will commit to guiding the applicant throughout the duration of the proposed project. Funding for this program is up to $40,000 in total costs for one year. 

Applications are due by March 14th, 2022. For eligibility and submission requirements, click on the button below. For questions or additional information, please contact the TB RAMP Program Coordinator, Mariana Velleca.
UCSF PILOT for Anti-Racism Research Grants
Application deadline is March 14

The UCSF Office of Research has committed to support efforts to guide equitable research conduct, building capacity for research on racism in biomedical research, and for research using anti-racist and racial equity approaches. Toward this goal, the Research Development Office (RDO) has developed and piloted an anti-racism research seed grant program through its Resource Allocation Program (RAP).

The program theme will focus on research projects addressing anti-Black racism and will offer two separate award types:

  • $10,000 for a Pilot for Anti-Racism Research Capacity Building Grant
 
  • $50,000 for a Pilot for Anti-Racism Research Project Grant 

Applications are due by March 14th, 2022. To view the full RFA, click the button below. For additional information, please contact the Resource Allocation Program staff or Gretchen Kiser.
EXTRAMURAL The Mercury Project
LOIs are accepted on a rolling basis

The Social Science Research Council's new initiative, The Mercury Project, is accepting proposals for research projects that address one or more of the following goals:

  • Estimate the causal impacts of mis- and disinformation on online and offline outcomes in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, including health, economic, and/or social outcomes, differential impacts across socio-demographic groups, and quantifying the global costs of those impacts.

  • Estimate the causal impacts of online or offline interventions in the United States, Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean to increase uptake of Covid-19 vaccines and other recommended public health measures by countering mis- and disinformation, including interventions that target the producers or the consumers of mis- and disinformation, or that increase confidence in reliable information.

Proposed budgets should be appropriate to cover project costs, with indirect costs not exceeding 15% of direct costs. There is no maximum award amount. Teams are welcome to apply for funding for multiple projects; individuals may be on multiple teams. 

To read more about LOI requirements, click on the button below. For questions or additional information, please contact [email protected].
Help with Grant Preparation
DOM PREPARE Program
Requests for grant reviews are accepted on an ongoing basis

Get expert peer reviews for your R, K, and U proposals via the PREPARE program! See what reviewees had to say about the program below! 

"This is a terrific program! Before the review meeting, I knew the grant still needed improvement, but was not exactly sure what is the best way to do it. The committee really helped guide through this process and helped me to repackage the whole grant. I cannot thank them enough. Regardless of the result of the application, I learnt a lot through this process."

For more information, click the button below.
If you'd like to contribute to future newsletters, please send your items to Ilona Paredes.
In Case You Missed It
ReSearch ReSource Newsletter

The Office of Research delivers a monthly communication of news and resources dedicated to the research enterprise, a helpful companion to DOM Research News! Read the newsletter here.
Resources for Space Planning Updates

For updates on work space projects, be sure to check out the UCSF Space websites for Parnassus Heights and ZSFG. Also, check out the Parnassus Vision website, maintained by a group of Parnassus-based research faculty.
Copyright © 2022, University of California, San Francisco, All rights reserved.

Please send comments, suggestions and questions to:
Diane Havlir, MD, Associate Chair for Clinical Research ([email protected])
David Erle, MD, Associate Chair for Biomedical Research ([email protected])

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