AUGUST 2023

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.

Extended Deadline!

Clinical/Translational and Public Health Research Training Track Program

Application Deadline: Friday, September 8, 2023 by 5:00pm EDT

CARTI is accepting applications for the Clinical/Translational and Public Health Research Training Track. This program provides training to UMB senior fellows and early-stage to mid-stage faculty who are seeking foundational training in developing and executing a mentored clinical research project, including effectively communicating your research to get published and funded. 

This 7-month training program will include didactic instruction, experiential learning, grant writing training, and a capstone project. Upon completion of the didactic and experiential learning, scholars will have a research protocol for a clinical project that they are executing or will execute under the guidance of a mentor. Lastly, scholars will complete a capstone project which will consist of writing a grant application and participate in a mock study section review. CARTI scholars are required to complete each element of the training schedule. 

Visit the website to learn more about this program and to download the application.

Information Session:

CARTI recently held an information session to discuss and answer questions re: the Clinical/Translational and Public Health Research Training Track Program and application process. Click HERE to view the recording.

Contact Janea Williams with any questions.

Writing Your First NIH R01 Grant Application

Two-Part Seminar Series

PART 1:

Tuesday, September 12

9:00 – 10:00am

Zoom

PART 2:

Tuesday, September 19

9:00 – 10:00am

Zoom

This two-part seminar series is targeted to new/junior faculty members who have not yet applied to the NIH or who are planning to prepare their first R01 application. Please see the details and topics for each session below.

Part 1:  Topics include:  

·      When does NIH consider an investigator ready for R01?  

·      Best ways to structure specific aims  

·      How to demonstrate innovation and feasibility  

·      Avoid known major weakness and common pitfalls  

·      Know your reviewers  

Part 2:  Topics include:  

·      Tips on effective grant writing and formatting 

·      How to make your reviewers your advocates 

·      Preparing a winning mindset for grant writing 

·      Big picture: how to extrapolate NIH statistics to your grant writing 

Speaker: Christy Chang, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine; Director, ICTR KL2 program; Senior Program Advisor, CARTI, UMSOM

Engaging Your Research Team During Grant Writing

Tuesday, October 10

9:00 – 10:00am

Zoom

Engaging your research team during grant writing is a necessary skill for those tasked with drafting a proposal. This session will provide practical strategies for organizing and managing group dynamics and tasks during the phases of the grant writing process. These strategies will increase the efficacy of your research team and the probability of a successfully funded proposal.

Speaker: Owen White, PhD, Director of Bioinformatics, UM School of Medicine; Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, UMSOM

Learn to Easily Analyze Your Clinical Dataset with the

Simple Visual Analytics Tool: POD-Vis

Thursday, October 19

9:00 – 10:00am

Zoom

POD-Vis (Probing Outcomes Data with Visual Analytics) is a web-based visual analytics tool that explores and analyzes all types of clinical data. Developed through a collaboration between Dr. Lisa Shulman (Neurology) and Anup Mahurkar (IGS Informatics Resource Center), POD-Vis is designed for easy data visualization and analysis by non-data scientists. Using the simple clinical language of predictors and outcomes, you will learn to explore interrelationships between study variables, develop preliminary data, and generate hypotheses. This session will provide a comprehensive overview and demonstration of POD-Vis with a special opportunity to upload your dataset into POD-Vis for your personal use.

Speakers: Lisa M. Shulman, MD, Eugenia Brin Endowed Professor of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders, Department of Neurology; Director, University of Maryland Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorders Center; UMSOM and Anup Mahurkar, B.E., MBA, Executive Director of Software Engineering & Information Technology, Institute of Genome Sciences, UMSOM

Intellectual Property Protection, Commercialization,

& Industry Partnerships

Tuesdays, September 12, 19 & 26

1:00 – 2:00pm

Zoom

In collaboration with UM Ventures, Baltimore, the Center for Advanced Research Training and Innovation (CARTI) is sponsoring an updated 3-part seminar series to help UMB investigators navigate through the technology transfer and commercialization process. UM Ventures, Baltimore provides services and resources to investigators to assist with obtaining intellectual property protection, technology commercialization, startup formation, successful industry partnerships, and realizing financial gains with royalty and licensing revenues. Please see the details for each session and how to register below:

September 12: UM Ventures Introduction and Intellectual Property

Topics covered:

• Overview of UM Ventures’ mission
• Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) resources
• Technology transfer process
• Invention disclosure
• Types of IP
• IP Policies, Government Reporting, & Compliance

Presenters:

• Nancy Cowger, PhD, Director, Technology Licensing, OTT, UMB
• Rebecca Bettes, MS, MBA, Senior Licensing Officer, OTT, UMB
• Dustin Lee, JD, Patent Attorney, OTT, UMB
• Gail Knott, IP Compliance Director, OTT, UMB

September 19: Marketing, Agreements, and Revenue

Topics covered:

• Overview of Marketing Intellectual Property (IP)
• IP-related Confidential Disclosure Agreements (CDAs)
• Co-owned IP & inventions with collaborators
• Sponsored Research Agreements (SRAs) and IP
• License Agreements
• Revenue Distribution to Inventors

Presenters:

• Rebecca Bettes, MS, MBA, Senior Licensing Officer, OTT, UMB
• Melissa Blackman, PhD, Senior Licensing Officer, OTT, UMB
• Jeff Purnell, PhD, Senior Licensing Officer, OTT, UMB
• Nancy Woon Schaefer, Assistant Finance Director, ORD, UMB

September 26: Startup Support and Resources

Topics covered:

• Introduction to the New Ventures team
• OTT/campus resources for PIs and startups
• Pathway to Commercialization
• Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) Site Miners & Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIRs)
• Funding Sources & Investments
• Campus Initiatives & Technology Support

Presenters:

• Rana Quraishi, PhD, Director of New Ventures, UMB
• Teodolinda Petrillo, MS, PhD, Research and Alliance Officer, UMB
• Alastair Mackay, PhD, Senior Principal, New Ventures, UMB & TEDCO Site Miner
• Adam Kronk, MS, MBA, Principal, New Ventures, UMB
• Mary Morris, Director of the Baltimore Economic Development Fund, UM Ventures Office, UMB

Please register for the entire series and only attend the session(s) of your choice.

NIH Repays Your Student Loans!

Overview of the NIH's Loan Repayment Programs

Wednesday, September 13

1:00 - 2:00pm

Zoom

Guest Speaker: Matthew R. Lockhart, MBA, Director, Division of Loan Repayment, Office of Extramural Research (OER), National Institutes of Health

The NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) are a set of programs established by Congress designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research centers. The NIH LRPs pay up to $50,000 annually of qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research. Applicants must hold an M.D., Ph.D., Psy.D., Pharm.D, D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D. D.P.M, D.C., N.D., O.D., D.V.M, or equivalent doctoral-level degree (except for the Contraception & Infertility Research LRP). The NIH LRPs will accept applications from September 1-November 16, 2023. Don’t miss your opportunity to learn how you could receive up to $100,000 in educational debt relief!

The following LRPs are available to non-NIH scientists:

1) Clinical Research 

2) Pediatric Research

3) Health Disparities Research

4) Research in Emerging Areas Critical to Human health (REACH)

5) Clinical Research for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds 

6) Contraception & Infertility Research

For more information, visit the NIH LRP website at http://www.lrp.nih.gov  

Tips for Increasing Your Scientific Writing Productivity

Thursday, September 14

9:00 – 10:00am

Zoom

Writing is a fundamental part of a scientist’s “job”, but strategies for writing efficiently are rarely taught. As a result, scientists often struggle with writing, especially with the practical steps of the writing process, such as how to get started. This session begins with tips for increasing writing productivity, with a focus on making writing part of your workday. These tips are designed to make writing easier and to help participants write more quickly and efficiently.

One of the most successful strategies for increasing writing productivity is to join a writing accountability group. Participants will learn about different writing accountability group opportunities available to UMB faculty, fellows and postdocs.

Speakers: Marey Shriver, PhD, Executive Director for Faculty Development, CARTI and Stacie Mendoza, Program Director, CARTI

Strategies for Identifying a Journal and Publishing Your Research Manuscript

Thursday, October 26

9:00 – 10:00am

Zoom

Identifying an appropriate journal to publish your research manuscript can be a challenge for any author. This seminar will explain how to identify potential journals for your manuscript including:

• How to identify potential journals to publish in
• Considerations for publishing in mid-impact journals vs high impact journals
• Brief introduction to the review process, including timeline for review 
• When to resubmit vs. submitting to a different journal

Speaker: Mervyn Monteiro, PhD, Professor, Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology & Departments of Neurobiology, Neurology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, UMSOM

Project Management

Thursday, September 21

1:00 – 2:00pm

Zoom

This session will identify some of the techniques used for managing a research project and your role as a research program/team leader.

Subjects include:

• Strategies for planning, initiating, executing and finishing a project
• Resolving conflicts
• Monitoring and controlling a project
• Management and leadership styles

Speaker: David A. Rasko PhD, Professor, Institute for Genome Sciences, Department of Microbiology & Immunology; Co-Program Director, Systems-Level Research in Microbial Pathogenesis Training Program, UMSOM

Negotiation Skills

Thursday, October 5

1:00 – 2:00pm

Zoom

The ability to negotiate successfully is essential to managing a research program; however, early stage faculty often lack training in negotiations skills. In addition, scientists –especially at the early stages of their careers –feel uncomfortable with the process of negotiating, and are uncertain how to do this effectively. During this session, participants will receive tips for negotiating for protected time, resources, etc. as an early stage faculty member.

Speaker: Christine L. Lau, MD, MBA, Dr. Robert W. Buxton Chair & Professor, Department of Surgery, UMSOM

Strategies for Effective Literature Searches

Thursday, Sept 28

1:00 – 1:30pm

Zoom

Conducting a comprehensive literature search is an important part of any writing project, especially in the early stages of writing a research manuscript. This 30-minute session will provide strategies for effective literature searches including:

• How to select possible search terms, keywords, phrases and subject headings
• An overview of different searchable databases and how to adapt your search strategy for each database
• How to refine your strategies after reviewing the search results
• How to complement your literature search with citation searching/cited reference searching

Speaker: Nicole Shelawala, M.Eng, MLIS, Research and Education Librarian, School of Medicine, Health Sciences & Human Services Library, UMB

Strategies to Maximize Scholarship

Thursday, September 28

3:00 - 4:00pm

Health Sciences Research Facility III Building (HSRF3), Room 1010, 1st floor

670 W. Baltimore Street

(A virtual option is also available)

This seminar is for the clinician-educator on strategies to turn your current clinical work and education efforts into scholarship projects that can be disseminated in multiple formats to maximize your scholarship and enhance your teaching and clinical portfolios for promotion.

Learning objectives:

• To define scholarship in academic medicine
• To reflect on how scholarship fits into your current and future career plans
• To develop a plan for turning your current clinical work and education efforts into scholarship projects that can be disseminated in multiple formats to maximize your work

Speakers: Rose Marie Viscardi, MD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Pediatrics, UMSOM and Erin L. Giudice, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UMSOM

Accreditation and Credit Designation

The University of Maryland School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The University of Maryland School of Medicine designates this Live activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. 

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

University of Maryland School of Nursing

Research Seminar Series

Research Participant Payment Considerations

Thursday August 17

12:00 - 1:00pm

Zoom

Speaker: James D. Campbell, MD, MS, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Pediatrics, UMSOM, Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health; UMB IRB Senior Vice Chair

Please join the UMSON August Monthly Research Seminar as we host Dr. James Campbell, MD MS, as he talks about participant payment considerations from a researcher, participant, and IRB perspective. Determining the appropriate amount of compensation for research participation across social/behavioral, treatment, observational/interventional, local/international, and other studies with varying populations can often be an ambiguous decision to make. Dr. Campbell navigates the discussion around risk not being a factor in payment but rather participant time, resources, and effort.

Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UMSOM

Introduction to Clinical and Translational Research

at UMB & Baltimore VA

August 7-11, 2023

9:00 – 3:15pm (Monday – Thursday)*

9:00 – 1:45pm (Friday)

*ending times vary

NEW LOCATION:

School of Dentistry, Room #G310, Ground Floor, 650 W. Baltimore Street

(A virtual option will be available to those who cannot attend in person)

The Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at UMSOM is pleased to sponsor the 22^nd annual “Introduction to Clinical and Translational Research at UMB & Baltimore VA” course.

This course is open to all UMB and Baltimore VA faculty, fellows, residents, students and staff with an interest in clinical and translational research. This course is designed for anyone interested in improving skills in study design for clinical research, scientific communication, and grant writing.

The course is free of charge and open to those affiliated with the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and Baltimore VA, and investigators at the Baltimore VA Medical Center.

CREDITS: To receive academic/graduate school credit, students already enrolled in a UMB graduate school program should register for PREV 616 in the 2023 fall semester. To register for PREV 616 in the fall, contact your graduate program office. Anyone who is interested in registering for PREV616 in the fall, MUST contact Dr. Kristen Stafford to discuss eligibility prior to registering. Dr. Stafford’s email is kstafford@ihv.umaryland.edu.

CME credits and other continuing medical education credits will not be offered for this course.  

COURSE AGENDA: Click HERE

COURSE DIRECTORS:

• Jennifer Albrecht, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UMSOM 
•  John Sorkin, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Medicine, Chief, Biostatistics and Informatics, UMSOM 

This course is jointly sponsored by:

• University of Maryland Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (UM-OAIC)
• Baltimore VA Medical Center, Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Centers (GRECC)
• Center for Advanced Research Training & Innovation, UMSOM (CARTI)

QUESTIONS: Contact Stacie Mendoza at smendoza@som.umaryland.edu

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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