Dear Colleagues,

With fall already in the air along with grant deadlines, we know you are all very busy. We wanted to remind you of the PREPARE program that provides a rigorous internal peer review before the "official" peer review. In this edition you’ll find our usual listing of career development awardees and funding opportunities, with notable ones like the Doris Duke Foundation award for clinical scientists. For our early stage investigators, you might be interested to note the new timing of the upcoming PIVOT (Principal InVestigator Organizational management Training) cohort and applications, which was very successful in its inaugural year. Both the PREPARE and PIVOT programs were inspired by feedback from our faculty members, so your input and ideas are always welcomed and appreciated. 

All the best, 

Diane and David

Diane Havlir, MD, Associate Chair for Clinical Research

David Erle, MD, Associate Chair for Biomedical Research

Diana Alba, MD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at ZSFG, received a K08 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for a project entitled, "Dissecting the Cellular Interplays of Adipose Tissue Remodeling in the Regulation of Insulin Sensitivity."

Will Brown, PhD, DrPH, MA, Associate Professor in the Division of Prevention Science at UCSF Health, received a K01 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for a project entitled, "Developing a Clinical Decision Support Tool that Assesses Risk of Opioid Use Disorder Using Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and Social Determinants of Health from Clinical Notes."

Jonathan Chou, MD, PhD, Instructor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at UCSF Health, received a K08 from the National Cancer Institute for a project entitled, "Defining the Roles of PPARgamma and TGFbeta in Regulating NECTIN4 and Resistance to NECTIN4-targeting Therapies."

Katerina Christopoulos, MD, Professor in the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine at ZSFG, received a K24 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for a project entitled, "Mentoring Patient-Oriented Research on Advances to Optimize Engagement in HIV Care."

Liz Dzeng, PhD, MD, MPH, Associate Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine at UCSF Health, received a K76 from the National Institute on Aging for a project entitled, "Understanding and Addressing Structural Racism and its Impact on the Quality of End-of-Life Care in Older Black Adults."

Matt Hickey, MD, Assistant Professor in the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at ZSFG, received a K23 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for a project entitled, "Implementation Strategies to Improve Hypertension Treatment in Kenya." 

Seth Blumberg, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine at UCSF Health, received an R35 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, for a project entitled, "Modeling the dynamics of disease elimination."

Maria Chao, DrPH, MPA, Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at ZSFG, received an R61 from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities for a project entitled, "Group-based Integrative Pain Management: A multi-level approach to address intersectional stigma and social isolation in diverse primary care safety net patients with chronic pain."

Koh Fujinaga, PhD, Associate Professor in the Division of Rheumatology at UCSF Health, received an R01 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for a project entitled, "Controlling HIV Latency by Manipulating CycT1 Turnover."

Matthew Growdon, MD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Geriatrics at UCSF Health, received an R03 from the National Institute on Aging for a project entitled, "Medication risks and challenges among people with dementia who live alone."

Kenneth Lam, MD, MAS, Assistant Professor in the Division of Geriatrics at UCSF Health, received an R03 from the National Institute on Aging for a project entitled, "Function, caregiving and adequacy of support before and after the transition to institutional settings."

**If we missed your award, please email Ilona.Paredes@ucsf.edu and we will make sure to include it in next month's issue of the research newsletter.**

DOM PIVOT

In case you were wondering, yes, PIVOT (Principal InVestigator Organizational management Training) will indeed be coming back! The interactive training course provides foundational guidance for early stage investigators to successfully launch their independent research programs. Some key topics include building your team, interacting with NIH program officers and navigating the HR landscape at UCSF.

The application process will kick off soon. Please be on the lookout for the call for applications in early 2023 with sessions taking place between late April and early June.

For more information, click the button below. 

DOM PREPARE Program

Requests for grant reviews are accepted on an ongoing basis

"I have only the best things to say about the PREPARE program that made a huge impact in helping get my application go from "not discussed" during initial submission to a score of 20 on resubmission. The PREPARE reviewers were very knowledgeable about the NIH review process and took the time to review every aspect of my proposal in depth. Not only did they provide critical feedback on the weaknesses in my proposal, but they also provided suggestions on how I could tackle those weaknesses - which was most valuable to me. Also, they welcomed my proposal three separate times with a different mix of reviewers. My sincere thanks to all the reviewers and the PREPARE committee for their time and commitment- they are critical to my success in receiving this award." - Anushree Agarwal, MD, MBBS

See how you can benefit from this program too. For more information, click here.

Extramural Cystic Fibrosis Foundation 

The Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Foundation is offering several types of awards:

• New! The Medical Resident Research Award is designed to introduce residents to research through participation in a CF-relevant research project with the goal of developing and maintaining interest in a career in CF research or as a CF care provider. Awards support up to $10,000 in salary or research-related costs for one year. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis at awards.cff.org. For questions, please contact Liz Yu.

• New! The Spring 2023 Idea Development Award (IDA) is intended to support work that leads to sufficient project development to enable an application for future research funding from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation or the National Institutes of Health. For more information, visit the IDA webpage. Applications must be submitted online at awards.cff.org by February 2, 2023. For questions, please contact Dara Riva.

• The NIH K-Unfunded Award mechanism is now receiving applications (rolling deadline through November 3, 2022). The objective of the NIH K-Unfunded Award is to support excellent CF-focused researchers whose projects have been submitted to and approved by the NIH but cannot be supported by available funds. For questions, please contact Liz Yu.

For general questions about any program, please contact the CF Foundation Grants and Contracts Office at grants@cff.org or call 301-841-2614. 

Extramural A.P. GIANNINI FOUNDATION

Application is due by November 3

A.P. Giannini, the founder of Bank of America, established the A.P. Giannini Foundation in 1945 to bring to fruition his long-held dream to promote the study and treatment of human diseases. The Foundation awards new fellowships each year on a competitive, peer-reviewed basis.

Postdoctoral researchers are eligible to apply to the 2023 program if they have completed no less than three months and no more than three years in their mentor’s laboratory as of December 31, 2022. The starting date of postdoctoral studies should be well documented. Applicants with tenure-track research positions or faculty appointments will not be considered.

Fellows receive a competitive stipend during their research training and are required to participate in training to foster their communication and leadership skills. Stipend payments are sent directly to the sponsoring medical school and can only be used for salary support. The current fellowship stipends are $56,000 in Year 1, $58,000 in Year 2 and $60,000 in Year 3. 

For more information, click the button below. To apply, click here. 

Extramural Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Clinical Scientist Development Award 

Pre-proposal application is due by November 17

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Clinical Scientist Development Award (CSDA), supports physician scientists at the Assistant Professor rank, who are conducting clinical research, including research on any disease area, health outcomes, or health services. They recognize that clinical research conducted by people who represent the diversity of the United States population is best positioned to improve the health of all communities, and are working to continue to increase participation of researchers from groups underrepresented in biomedical research. All eligible physician scientists are welcomed to apply.

Approximately 16 grants of up to $495,000 each over 3 years ($150,000 direct cost and $15,000 indirect costs per year) will be awarded to early-career physician scientists (MD, MD/PhD, DO or foreign equivalent degree). Applicants must have been initially appointed as an Assistant Professor in the In Residence, HS Clinical, or Clin X series between Dec. 1, 2018 and Dec. 1, 2021. Fellows, instructors, and adjunct series faculty are not eligible for this award. 

Extramural The Marcus Program in Precision Medicine Innovation (MPPMI)

Application is due by November 29

MPPMI seeks to fuel innovation in precision medicine by fostering creative, high risk, high impact team science projects supporting the precision medicine continuum. The MPPMI invites proposals in four award categories ranging from $75K to $300K for Seeding Bold Ideas, Transformative Integrated Research, ELSI in Precision Medicine, and IDEA in Precision Medicine Research.

UCSF faculty, as well as UCSF Sandler Fellows and Physician Scientist Scholars Program awardees are eligible. At least one of the multi-PIs on the team must have an Academic Senate appointment.

Administrative Supplements to Promote Research Continuity and Retention of NIH Mentored Career Development (K) Award Recipients and Scholars

The overarching goal of this program is to support the transition and retention of investigators from mentored career development to research independence and to minimize departures from biomedical research workforce at this critical juncture. This supplement program is intended to ensure continuity of research among recipients of mentored career development (K) awards by providing supplemental research support to help sustain the investigator’s research during critical life events. Read more here. 

Administrative Supplements for Continuity of Biomedical and Behavioral Research Among First-Time Recipients of NIH Research Project Grant Awards

The overarching goal of this pilot program is to enhance the retention of investigators facing critical life events who are transitioning to the first renewal of their first independent research project grant award or to a second new NIH research project grant award. Retention at the first renewal or continuous NIH research project grant support is crucial for sustaining both the ongoing research NIH has made an investment in and for retaining diversity in the biomedical research workforce. This program supports “at-risk” investigators as identified in the NIH Next Generation Researchers Initiative (see https://grants.nih.gov/ngri.htm). Read more here.

UCSF Clinical Science Faculty Research Lecture

The UCSF Academic Senate is hosting a faculty research lecture. Diane Havlir, MD, Professor and Chief in the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine at ZSFG will present on Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Journey of a Thousand Miles on November 16th at 3:30pm. It will take place in-person at the Parnassus Campus in room HSW-300 and via Zoom, Passcode: 028558.

UCSF Diversity Supplement Matchmaking Event

UCSF is holding the third annual NIH Diversity Supplement Matchmaking Event on February 1st, 2023 from 9am-1pm. The event will be virtual (by Zoom) and will provide you with an opportunity to have short, 15-minute interviews with trainees at the postbaccalaureate stage who are interested in pursuing a career in research and qualify for funding through the NIH Diversity Supplement mechanism. This NIH grant mechanism typically provides salary support for the trainee to work in your lab as a Junior Specialist for one to two years. You must have an eligible NIH grant to apply for the funds and the applications are submitted directly to the NIH through the institute that is funding your grant. 

If you make a match with a trainee, the Research Development Office has several resources to help you write for the supplement, including a collection of successful Diversity Supplement applications from UCSF PIs and additional resources. In addition, trainees who come to UCSF through this mechanism will have the opportunity to participate in PROPEL, a UCSF postbaccalaureate program that provides historically underrepresented trainees with research experience, scientific and career training to become competitive and successful applicants to top-tier research-based PhD programs.  

If you are interested in attending the Matchmaking Event, please register by clicking the button below. This event is very popular and can fill up, so register early to ensure you get a spot! If you have any questions about the Matchmaking Event and applying for Diversity Supplements, see here and here for FAQs. 

NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs)

Application is due by November 17

The NIH Loan Repayment Program Application Cycle will open on September 1st and close on November 17th. As a reminder, awardees can receive up to $100,000 of qualified educational debt repayment with a two-year contract. The NIH LRPs are unique programs, with tremendous benefit to early stage researchers, so we strongly encourage those that were not successful in getting their applications funded to apply again.

For those intending to apply, please note the NIH LRP Institutional Business Official for the Department of Medicine is Jon.Rueter@ucsf.edu (NIH Commons ID: JONRUETER). For additional resources, eligibility requirements, applications dates, and all of the benefits of the NIH LRPs, click on the button below.