JUNE 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.

Now Accepting Applications!

Clinical/Translational and Public Health Research Training Track Program

Application Deadline: Monday, July 24 by 5:00pm EDT

CARTI is accepting applications for the Clinical/Translational and Public Health Research Training Track. This program provides training to UMSOM senior fellows and early-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. Visit the website to learn more about this program and to download the application.

Information Session:

On Thursday, June 22 from 9:00 – 10:00am, CARTI will be holding an information session via Zoom to discuss and answer questions re: the Clinical/Translational and Public Health Research Training Track Program and application process. Click HERE to register.

Information Session:

Passano Foundation Clinician-Investigator Award for

Career Development

Thursday, July 20

9:00 – 10:00am

Zoom

This information session will provide potential candidates with an overview of the Passano Foundation Clinician-Investigator Award for Career Development at the UMSOM, including tips for applying. This award was created to provide partial salary and fringe benefits for clinician-investigators in the early stages of their faculty appointment (full-time appointment as instructor or assistant professor in a clinical department). The purpose of this award is to help protect the research time and thereby further the acquisition of expertise and preliminary results for qualified young UMSOM faculty clinician-investigators while they apply for external career development grant support. The deadline for Internal submission of applications for this award is October 2, 2023. Read the guidelines for more information on this award.

Speaker: Curt Civin, MD, Philip A. Zaffere Distinguished Professor in Regenerative Medicine

Professor of Pediatrics and Physiology; Director, Center for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine; Scientist, UM Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, UMSOM

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

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 of Surgery, UMSOM

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

Scholarly Writing Accountability Group (SWAG) Program

Virtual Program to Help Faculty Increase Their Scholarly Writing Productivity

Are you struggling to find time to dedicate to your scholarly writing projects? Making time to write papers can be a challenging task as it competes with other faculty demands. To help UMB junior faculty meet this challenge, the Center for Advanced Research Training & Innovation (CARTI) provides a peer accountability/support program designed to increase writing productivity. This program is called Scholarly Writing Accountability Group (SWAG).

New 5-week option this summer

Due to busy summer schedules, CARTI is now offering a 5-week SWAG Program to our faculty this summer.

What is a SWAG?

A SWAG is an active peer-led writing group for UMB junior faculty who meet virtually for 1-hour, once a week. 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 4 out of the 5 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 each week.

What are the Benefits of Joining a SWAG? 

Faculty who join SWAG will:

• Develop new writing habits to achieve writing goals
• Improve time management skills
• Gain a greater sense of control over the writing process
• Build a small community of support/social network

Summer SWAG opportunities:

• Thursdays 9-10am (June 8 – July 6)
• Wednesdays 3-4pm (July 12 – Aug 9)

To join any of these groups, please complete the following request form online: https://umbforms.wufoo.com/forms/request-to-join-swag

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 Data Retention and Destruction

Thursday, June 15

12:00 - 1:00pm

Webex

Please join the UMSON's Office of Research and Scholarship as they host a research seminar on the topic of research data retention and destruction, presented by Casey Jackson, MS, CCRP​, research quality manager ​at the UMSON ​and Gyasi Moscou-Jackson, PhD, MHS, RN​, nurse scientist​ at the UMMC.

Office of Postdoctoral Scholars, UMSOM

NIH Basics for Postdoctoral Fellows

Wednesday, June 21

12:00 - 1:00pm

HSRF 3, Room, Room 6020

Understanding the NIH organizational structure, how to identify the right funding mechanism and funding announcement is an essential first step before applying for NIH funding. This session will provide an overview of the NIH grants process, as well as, helpful resources for first time grant writers not familiar with NIH funding. This workshop will cover topics including: an overview of the different NIH funding mechanisms (T, F, K, R); identifying Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs); using NIH RePORTER.

Speaker: Marey Shriver, PhD, Executive Director for Faculty Development, CARTI, UMSOM

UMB Graduate School

Clinical Informatics Certificate & Clinical Informatics (MS)

Enhance your professional skills in Clinical Informatics with an online 12-credit graduate certificate or the hybrid 34-credit Clinical Informatics MS. These programs are designed for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, other healthcare professionals, biologists, and computer scientists who are committed to improving the quality of patient care by analyzing information collected by healthcare organizations. Learn how to apply biomedical data, computational systems, and clinical process improvement to the practice of medicine, in order to enhance health outcomes, improve patient care, and strengthen the clinician-patient relationship. Applications are now open. The deadline is July 1.

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

National Cancer Institute,

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Professional Advancement Virtual Engagement Seminar (PAVES) 

How to Identify and Apply for the Right R01

Wednesday, June 28

3:00 - 4;00pm

Webex

Speakers: Siddhartha A.K. Datta, PhD, Division of Extramural Activities and Mr. Shane Woodward, Office of Grants Administration

The Learning Objectives are:

1. Familiarize yourself with the NIH/NCI research funding mechanisms and announcement types
2. Identify ways in which to select the right funding mechanism to support your scientific research
3. Learn how to connect with NIH, apply and track your application, the research and review process, and resources available through NCI.

Professional Advancement Virtual Engagement Seminar (PAVES) was developed by the Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities to provide meaningful career development and resources to support diverse biomedical and social scientists to achieve research independence.

To access previously recorded PAVES sessions, visit PAVES website.

Session topics include but not limited to:

• Interviewing in a Virtual World
• Navigate the Grant Application Process
• Establishing Your Research Group
• Transition to Faculty Position
• Life of a Grant
• Thriving as a Biomedical Researcher  

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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