In this edition:

(Scroll down for more info and click on the links for additional details)

Funding Opportunities:

• Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award
• NIH Director’s Early Independence Awards
• Home Base FY 2024 Innovation Award
• Gene and Cell Therapy Institute “Spark” Grant Program
• The 2023 Raynor Cerebellum Project Research RFA
• MGH Screening Technologies in Primary Care Innovation Fund (PCIF)
• K12/Catalyst Medical Research Investigator Training Award
• ISCCCE Pilot Funding RFA
• Limited Submission Funding Opportunities
• Foundation Funding Opportunities

Announcements:

• BWH BRIght Futures Prize
• Call For Applications! Anne Klibanski Visiting Scholars Award
• New TEDxMGH Talk for April
• MGB Research Core NVivo Software
• MathWorks Training
• Pathways to Science and Medicine: Seeking Mentors

Events:

• MGB World Medical Innovation Forum
• MIT Hacking Medicine - Grand Hackathon
• Fun Fridays
• Metabolic biomarker profiling of MGB Biobank participants
• ERIS Virtual Office Hours
• 2023 Anne Klibanski Visiting Lecture Series 06
• Research Tech Talk
• 1st Annual Northeast Regional Clinical Research Nurse Symposium
• 8th Annual Skeletal Research Symposium
• MGH Midlife Women's Health Conference
• MGH Nursing Research Day Events
• Lab Managers’ Discussion Group Meeting
• The 24th Annual Harvard Nutrition Obesity Symposium
• Meditation Sessions available every week

HARRINGTON SCHOLAR-INNOVATOR AWARD

What are they?

Harrington Discovery Institute (HDI) invites you to submit an LOI for the 2024 Harrington Scholar-Innovator Award. The award offers successful applicants multiple opportunities for funding in addition to expertise from pharma-experienced leaders with a track record of bringing drugs to market. Intellectual property rights are retained by the award recipient or their institution.

Up to 12 Scholar-Innovators will be selected to receive:

• $100,000 guaranteed grant award;
• Drug and business development support from Harrington’s Therapeutics Development Center advisors; 
• Opportunity to compete for acceleration funds up to $300,000;
• Opportunity to qualify for investment funds typically up to $2MM;

Selection criteria include innovation, creativity and potential for impact on human health. Applicants must have a doctorate in medicine. Award recipients will be selected by Harrington Discovery Institute’s Scientific Advisory Board and announced in the second quarter of 2024.

**MD or MD/PhD required for eligibility. Open to physician-scientists in the U.S. and Canada.

Call Opens: April 10, 2023

Letters of Intent (LOI) Due: June 5, 2023

NIH Director’s Early Independence Awards

What are they?

“The NIH Director’s Early Independence Award Program supports exceptional investigators who wish to pursue independent research directly after completion of their terminal doctoral/research degree or clinical residency, thereby forgoing the traditional post-doctoral training period and accelerating their entry into an independent research career. The Early Independence Award is intended for these select junior investigators who have already established a record of scientific innovation and research productivity and have demonstrated unusual scientific vision and maturity; typical post-doctoral training would unnecessarily delay their entry into independent research.”

MGH is eligible to nominate two candidates for the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award.

When is the deadline?  

MGH internal pre-proposal: Tuesday, June 20, 2023 – 5:00 PM

Home Base FY 2024 Innovation Award to Catalyze Military-Connected Research

Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and MGH Program, is providing catalyst funding to be used toward innovative and novel military-focused research. The purpose of this grant funding is to stimulate the entry of new ideas and exciting approaches to research designed to yield meaningful impact for Veterans, Active-Duty Service Members, and Military-Connected Families. 

Proposals should relate to advancing one or more of the following areas of clinical or translational research: 

• Post-traumatic stress and its most common comorbidities including but not limited to depressive, anxiety, and substance use disorders. 
• TBI and its most common comorbidities including but not limited to depressive, anxiety, and sleep disorders. 
• The impact of invisible wounds on the service member’s or veteran’s family relationships, as well as interventions to improve these relationships. 
• Interventions to improve wellness among service members and veterans, irrespective of specific clinical diagnoses. 

We plan to provide $150,000 in total funding, distributed according to project merit, timeframe and number of awards. 

The application deadline is Friday, June 2, 2023 at 5:00 pm

Gene and Cell Therapy Institute “Spark” Grant Program

The GCTI Spark grants will fund projects that can demonstrate tangible advancements towards clinical applications as well as commercialization outcomes including licensing, commercial partnerships, or new spinoff companies. The program will enhance the innovative potential of the Mass General Brigham gene and cell therapy research community, stimulate new inventive concepts, identify areas of commercially significant scientific strength, and accelerate commercialization of Mass General Brigham intellectual assets. Individual grants up to $250,000 total cost will be funded (inclusive of 20% IDC).

For FY23, the GCTI funding opportunity is open to all clinical areas and technology types that include cell or gene therapies, with a focus on research and preclinical stage programs. Multi-investigator collaborations are encouraged.

Pre-proposals will be accepted until May 10, 2023.

The 2023 Raynor Cerebellum Project Research RFA

The Raynor Cerebellum Project is a new initiative that invites applications from collaborative teams in order to bring together research teams and clinicians with the goal of treating individuals with cerebellar disorders.

The following four projects are the programmatic focus of the current 2023 RFA and are intended to be the logical continuation of the work started at the RCP’s Fall 2022 Big Ideas Summit in New Mexico.

1. Cerebellar circuit-targeted interventions.
2. Understanding longitudinal anatomical changes in developmental cerebellar disorders.
3. Cerebellar “Prosthesis”.
4. Circuit network changes in cerebellar disorders.

Letters of Interest (LOIs) for each RFA will be due by June 23, 2023 and should be submitted to submissions@raynorcerebellumproject.org.

MGH Screening Technologies in Primary Care Innovation Fund (PCIF)

There is great promise for the development of new technologies to detect disease or disease risk factors at an earlier stage in the primary care setting. However, innovative screening technologies are frequently difficult to get off the ground due to challenges conducting research in the primary care setting and difficulties translating and commercializing technologies that need to be implemented in a cost-effective manner and on a large scale.

Due date for proposals is May 31, 2023

Proposals will be reviewed by an internal committee with expertise on primary care screening technology development, clinical translation, and commercialization.

Funding will begin on July 1, 2023

K12/Catalyst Medical Research Investigator Training Award

The K12/CMeRIT program offers advanced training through educational activities and mentored research for senior fellows and junior faculty in clinical and translational research. The award provides two years of salary support at 50-75% of the awardee’s institutional salary base within NIH guidelines. Please see the website for application instructions and detailed eligibility requirements.

The application opens March 9 and is due May 26.

Contact us is you have questions. 

Limited Submission Funding Opportunities

We ask that all MGH Investigators interested in applying for any limited submission award submit a Letter of Intent (see detailed instructions below) to the MGH Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) by the deadline indicated for each award to be considered to receive an institutional nomination. 

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES:

See full details for all awards on our website.

Jointly Sponsored Rith L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Institutional Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences (T32 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The Coordination Center for the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) program will advance infectious disease modeling science by serving as a hub for collaboration and dissemination of research products from the MIDAS investigator network.

Learn more

Coordination Center for the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) Program (R24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The Coordination Center for the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) program will advance infectious disease modeling science by serving as a hub for collaboration and dissemination of research products from the MIDAS investigator network. 

Learn more

Population Dynamics Centers Research Infrastructure Program FY 2024 (P2C Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The overarching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, to pursue further studies or careers in research.

Learn more

Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program in Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases (R25 – Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The overarching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, to pursue further studies or careers in research. 

Learn more

Foundation Funding Opportunities

Please contact Corporate & Foundation Relations in the Office of Development at devcfr@mgh.harvard.edu if you wish to submit a proposal in response to any of these opportunities. Note that proposals are still routed through the standard InfoEd/Research Management process.



CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES:

See full details for all awards on our website.

ADDF-Harrington Scholar Program, Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation. $600,000. LOI Deadline: May 29

Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers Career Development Award, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). $206,000. Application Deadline: June 7

AATS Foundation/WTS Mid-Career Investigator Award, AATS Graham Foundation/American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS). $100,000. Application Deadline: July 2

Sir Magdi Yacoub International Mentored Career Development Award, AATS Graham Foundation/American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS). $75,000. Application Deadline: July 2

Research Grant, Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation, Inc. (AA&MDSIF). $60,000. LOI Deadline: June 30

Quality of Life Research Grants, Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson's. ≈$50,000. LOI Deadline: June 16

Clinical Trial and Clinical Trial Readiness Research Grants, European Leukodystrophy Association. ≈$217,000. Application Deadline: June 1

Michelson Prizes: Next Generation Grants, Human Immunome Project. $150,000. Application Deadline: June 11

Research Grants, Kennedy's Disease Association (KDA). $100,000. Proposal Deadline: July 3

Waite-Griffen SBMA Fellowship, Kennedy's Disease Association (KDA). $77,000. Proposal Deadline: July 3

Stryker/ORS Women's Research Fellowship, Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS). $50,000. LOI Deadline: June 15

SCI/D Research Grants and Fellowships, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) Research Foundation. $200,000. Application Deadline: July 5

Advanced Research Grants, Radala Foundation for ALS Research. ≈$223, 000. Application Deadline: June 30

Clinician Scholar Educator Award, Rheumatology Research Foundation/American College of Rheumatology (ACR). $180,000. Application Deadline: June 1

Cross-Species Studies of ASD, Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI). $400,000. Application Deadline: June 15

Stem Cell Spaceshot Grant, TreeFrog Therapeutics. $100,000. Application Deadline: June 30

Do you want to learn more about identifying external funding opportunities? Please click here to request a research consultation with Amy Robb or see ECOR’s website for information on the Pivot database.

BWH BRIght Futures Prize

Since 2012, we have awarded ten research projects with $100,000 BRIght Futures Prizes, supported by the philanthropic contributions to the BRIght Futures Fund. These are just some of the exciting ideas and projects that have been transformed in large part due to donor support.

The voting period is from Wednesday, April 12 (9AM) – April 26 (~5PM). On Wednesday at 9AM, anyone can go to www.brightfuturesprize.org to cast their vote for the project they think should win the $100,000 prize. If you click the link now, it will show you the Q&As from the finalists about their projects (this information will stay on the site during the voting period).

On Wednesday, April 26, from 4:00 -5:00 PM, the Brigham Research Institute will host the virtual BRIght Futures Prize Showcase, where the finalists will explain their projects and answer questions from the audience. At the end, the votes will be tallied and the 2023 BRIght Futures Prize winner will be announced! 

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS! Anne Klibanski Visiting Scholars Award

Applications are now being accepted by the Center for Faculty Development for the Anne Klibanski Visiting Scholars Award 2023-2024.

Despite extensive work to improve gender equity in academic medicine, women continue to lag behind men in promotions and leadership positions. This inequity was intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionately affected women who were tasked with taking on increased childcare and household responsibilities and/or the care of ailing relatives. However, due to COVID-19-related restrictions, many Grand Rounds and Visiting Professorships were conducted virtually, a change that provided an opportunity to promote the participation of more women in Visiting Professorships by removing the barriers that often prevent women from traveling.

The Center for Faculty Development’s Anne Klibanski Visiting Scholars Award will be presented to women faculty clinicians, educators, researchers and senior women postdocs at MGH, who have shown exceptional promise as leaders in their field and whose careers would specifically benefit from speaking, mentoring and networking opportunities at the national or international level. This award will provide an opportunity to serve as a “virtual” Visiting Professor to give Grand Rounds at a national or international institution, organized by the Center for Faculty Development.

The application deadline is Monday, May 15, at 11:59 pm. To learn more and apply, click here.

New TEDxMGH Talk for April! “Finding my Voice during COVID through the History of the Mask” 

Shan W. Liu, MD, Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine Physician, Mother and Children’s Book Author, shares how the COVID pandemic led her to bridge a four-generation distance between her great-grandfather and her young daughter thanks to a creative project. In so doing, she came to recognize that the mask, one symbol of the pandemic and the subject of that creative project, gave her a voice she didn’t know she had. View video here.

The TEDxMGH videos present inspirational stories from the MGH community, including how people have handled challenges through innovation, resilience, vulnerability, and connection. These monthly 10-12 min. stories by your colleagues cover far-reaching topics – from antiracism and social justice to climate change, laughter, coping with loss, COVID-19, and living and working with depression. View previous videos on the TEDxMGH Apollo page. If you are interested in contributing to this series, please click here to apply.

MGB Research Core NVivo Software

Time to renew your NVivo portal license through the ERIS Research Computing Core. Annual NVivo licenses expire each year on February 28th. Your license will automatically cancel, and you will need to order again at rcservices.partners.org (MGB login required). Nvivo licenses are $350/year per User and new licenses can be ordered and accessed today.



NVivo is software that can be used for qualitative analysis of textual and audiovisual data sources. NVivo portal licenses require no installation and you may log into your account on any computer, to access the NVivo portal. For more information on NVivo go to the Research Computing Core's software page or order now at rcservices.partners.org (MGB login required). All questions may be directed to rcc@partners.org.

MathWorks Training

Online training is available offered by MathWorks.

MGB World Medical Innovation Forum

June 12-14, 2023

Boston's Top Healthcare Innovation Gathering

Join leading healthcare and financial experts at the World Medical Innovation Forum as they assess the impact of the latest innovations in three of today’s fastest breakthrough areas.

Network with industry disruptors and executives, including top Harvard clinicians and scientists from Mass General Brigham, the premier academic research organization and medical system in the U.S., and financial experts from Bank of America, manager of one of the largest healthcare portfolios in the industry.

MIT Hacking Medicine - Grand Hackathon



Tackle healthcare’s toughest pain points alongside healthcare professionals, designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs. Participants of any background with a passion for healthcare are welcome! With 400+ participants and multiple healthcare tracks, there’s a challenge for everyone.

Where is MIT Grand Hack?

MIT Hacking Medicine is excited to bring you the 2023 MIT Grand Hack on April 20-23rd, in Cambridge, MA.

Fun Fridays- Eight Active Ingredients of Tai Chi^©

Friday, April 21, 2023, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Zoom

Sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development’s Office for Well-Being

Fun Fridays offer a refreshing mid-day break from work to indulge in physical, mental, or creative activity.

Join Eight Active Ingredients of Tai Chi^© certified teacher Barry Friedman in exploring the traditional principles of Tai Chi in a relaxed, informal and experiential session. Regular practice of this gentle “meditation in motion” leads to more vigor and flexibility, better balance and mobility, and an overall sense of well-being.

Presenter: Barry Friedman is a long-term committed practitioner of tai chi, teaches regularly to his own classes as well as at the Tree of Life tai chi studios in Watertown, and brings his experience as a life-long soccer goalkeeper coach to bear in providing a welcoming environment for the cultivation of fitness, health and mental well-being.

Click to register

Metabolic biomarker profiling of MGB Biobank participants



The Mass General Brigham Biobank is hosting a seminar on Nightingale Health’s multi-biomarker metabolic profiling panel. The purpose of the seminar is to gauge interest within the MGB research community in a proposal to generate biomarker data for 65,000 Biobank participants using Nightingale Health’s technology.

Nightingale Health has developed a platform for multi-biomarker metabolic profiling. The platform is based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and enables comprehensive profiling of metabolic biomarkers in blood samples with high throughput and accuracy. The Nightingale platform covers 249 measures of lipoprotein lipids, fatty acids, and small molecules such as amino acids, ketones, and glycolysis metabolites.

Seminar: The seminar is scheduled for Monday April 24 at noon, and will feature Jeff Barrett, the Chief Scientific Officer of Nightingale Health.

To participate in the Seminar, please register on Zoom at: https://partners.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtdOmupzgpEtPbbQtJbn_DAnXVbxKbhT-3

For more information, you can contact the Biobank at biobank@mgb.org.

More information about Nightingale Health: The Preventative Health Company | Nightingale Health

More information about the Biobank: Biobank | Mass General Brigham

Plan ahead for April ERIS Virtual Office Hours

At virtual ERIS office hours, subject matter experts will be online to help you troubleshoot and get started with ERISOne/Two Linux Clusters, ERISXdl GPU platform and can assist with questions about other ERIS related services.

NEXT: April 24th, 2023, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

2023 Anne Klibanski Visiting Lecture Series 06

Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 12:00 - 1:00 pm, Zoom

Provided by: MGH Center for Faculty Development & Mass General Brigham

"Continuum of trauma-related assessment and treatment in service members and veterans"

The Anne Klibanski Visiting Lecture Series was created to support and advance the careers of women. These lectures bring together faculty from institutions that have hosted Anne Klibanski Scholars with MGH scholars, on topics that overlap both research areas.

Dr. Brenner will present on “Behavioral Health Approaches to Transdiagnostic Care with the Special Operations Forces Community.”

Dr. Thompson-Hollands will present on “Family-inclusive PTSD treatment for Veterans: Rationale and Recommendations for Clinicians.”

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

·       Provide overview of common presenting concerns and psychiatric diagnoses in Special Operations Forces service members and veterans presenting for comprehensive brain health and trauma evaluation

·       Describe recommendations for providers working with SOF and embedded support patients

·       Describe the potential advantages of family-inclusive treatment for Veterans with PTSD

·       Assess the evidence for Veterans’ willingness to involve family members in their PTSD treatment

Target Audience: This activity is intended for faculty and faculty trainees.

Course Director: Miriam A. Bredella, MD, Director, Center for Faculty Development; Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School

Presenters:

Lauren Brenner, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, Certified Brain Injury Specialist, Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation & MGH Program; and Instructor, HMS

Johanna Thompson-Hollands, PhD, Staff Psychologist, National Center for PTSD (Behavioral Science Division); Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Medicine

ACCREDITATION

In support of improving patient care, Mass General Brigham is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Mass General Brigham designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Click to register

The next virtual Research Tech Talk is Thursday April 27th, 2023 - 12:00pm to 2:00pm. 

• Lynn Volk, Senior Manager of MGB Clinical Quality and IS Analysis will discuss their evaluation of the impact of information systems on the quality of patient care.
• Shawn Donahue, Senior Manager of MGB Digital Telecommunications will give a comprehensive update on the services and resources Telecom offers.

8th Annual Skeletal Research Symposium

Monday, May 8, 2023 •  9:00am – 5:00pm ET

Keynote Speakers

“Mouse models of osteoarthritis”

by Frank Beier, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology

Canada Research Chair in Musculoskeletal Research

Western Bone and Joint Institute

University of Western Ontario

Talk Title TBD

Anne-Marie Malfait, MD PhD

The George W. Stuppy, MD, Chair of Arthritis at Rush

Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology

Rush University Medical Center, Chicago IL

PI Chicago Center on MSK Pain: https://mskpain.center

Co- Editor-in-Chief, Osteoarthritis and Cartilage

MGH Midlife Women's Health Conference

May 12, 2023

Midlife Women’s Health 2023 provides a multi-disciplinary approach to the care of menopausal women. Advances in research, technology, and pharmacology increase options available for midlife women, but this rapidly changing knowledge-base presents a challenge for clinicians. Care for women at this stage of life is optimized by education on a range of medical concerns provided by experts from a wide variety of medical specialties. Given demographic changes in the US population, midlife women are becoming an increasingly important group served by health care professionals, with needs that cross many areas of medical expertise. CME will be offered for this conference.

MGH Nursing Research Day Events

Calling ALL Nurses! A Celebration of Practice Nurse’s Scholarship: MGH Nursing Research Day Poster Award Winner Presentations

Tuesday May 16^th 1:30-2:30-Virtual Presentation

Support and cheer on your colleagues as they present their award winning projects! Learn how to access and review over 40 virtual EBP, QI and research projects conducted by YOUR fellow nurse colleagues from MGH and affiliates! 

MGH Nursing Research Day: Learn How Our Nurses Transform Cutting Edge Practice into Scholarship to Improve Outcomes

Thursday May 18^th 1:30-3:00-Hybrid Presentation

Come in person to the O’Keeffe Auditorium to celebrate and hear updates from the MGH Munn Center, the announcement of the 2023 Nursing Grant Award Recipients,

and learn about fun initiatives for ALL Nurses!

Featured Invited Presenter: 

Angelleen Peters-Lewis, PhD, RN, FAAN

Vice President, Chief Operating Officer

Barnes-Jewish Hospital

Presentation title: “The Power of Nursing: Pathways and Possibilities.”

Program details and registration information are forthcoming. We hope to see everyone!

The Munn Center munncenter@partners.org

Lab Managers’ Discussion Group Meeting

Tuesday, May 23, 2023, 4:00 – 5:00 pm, Zoom 

The next Lab Managers’ Discussion Group meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 23, from 4:00 – 5:00 pm.

If you have any questions or comments you would like to submit in advance of the next meeting, please fill out the form.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://partners.zoom.us/j/89339890422

Meeting ID: 893 3989 0422

The 24^th Annual Harvard Nutrition Obesity Symposium – Adiposity, Immunity, and Inflammation: Interrelationships in Health and Disease

Date: June 7, 2023

Time: 8:30am to 4:30pm EST 

The Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORCH) invites you to attend our 24th Annual Symposium, featuring the latest research on a wide range of topics including nutritional regulation of immunity, immunometabolic drivers of heart failure, and immunological landscape of adipose tissue. The George L. Blackburn Keynote Lecture, "Obesity and Immunometabolism," will be given by Dr. Lydia Lynch of Harvard University School of Medicine.

Additional event info and speaker information can be found here.

This event will be held virtually. All are welcome!

Registration is free for all attendees. Register now

Two Meditation Sessions available every week



SESSION 1: Meditation Mondays with Dr. Darshan Mehta 

Every Monday, 8:00 – 8:30 am, Zoom à next session, Monday, April 10!

Co-sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development’s Office for Well-Being and the MGPO Frigoletto Committee

Join Darshan Mehta, MD, MPH, Director, Office for Well-Being, for a guided meditation session on Monday morning. 

Register and add to calendar

SESSION 2: Midweek Meditation with Guest Leader 

Every Wednesday, 8:00 – 8:30 am, Zoom à next session, Wednesday, April 12!

Sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development’s Office for Well-Being

Join guest leader, Alyssa Adreani, Newton-Wellesley Hospital Spiritual Care Department, for next Wednesday’s guided meditation session on April 12^th!

Register and add to calendar