Open MIC Night Sponsored by the Tulane Innovation Institute

APPLY TO PARTICIPATE BY APRIL 5

Do you have an idea for solving a medical or wellness problem? Participate in Open MIC (Medical Innovation Challenge) Night. This event encourages participants to innovate and think of creative solutions to complex problems. Click here to learn more about pitching or attending as a spectator.

School of Medicine Picture Day

Friday, April 12, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Hutchinson, Room 1551

Free to all Tulane School of Medicine faculty, staff, residents, fellows and students.

Sign up for a time here.

Tulane Survey Request: 

Research Interests & Potential Funding Sources

COMPLETION DEADLINE: APRIL 15

The Office of Research, in partnership with the Tulane IT Department, is requesting your assistance to complete a survey regarding your current and potential future research activities. They are seeking information about the area(s) of research on which you currently focus, areas you may have interest in focusing, and current and potential research funding sources. This survey is also seeking to assess current and future potential for multi-disciplinary collaboration and synergies.

Click here to take the survey.

Guidance for Videos Submitted as NIH Application Materials

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) expects grant applications to generally describe all proposed methods and present all preliminary data within the scientific narrative in the form of text, tables, and figures. However, NIH understands that, in certain situations, the use of video technology can be critical in conveying key aspects of a grant application. The purpose of this Notice is to provide policy and guidelines for investigators submitting videos to accompany their NIH applications.

U.S. Government Updated Rules Restricting Exports to Nicaragua

Due to foreign policy concerns, the U.S. government has published revisions to both the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) applying more restrictive treatment to all exports, re-exports, and other transactions involving the country of Nicaragua and parties in Nicaragua.

Per the revisions, the amendments to the regulations address concerns the U.S. government has about Nicaragua. More information can be found at:

Bureau of Industry and Security Press Release

Department of State Public Notice

If you have any projects that involve work with any parties inside of Nicaragua or are planning on shipping anything to/from Nicaragua, you are encouraged to contact Christopher Dressler, Export Control - Foreign Influence/Research Security Compliance Officer, at 504-988-7919 or exportcontrols@tulane.edu to evaluate the transaction/research to determine if any additional authorization from the government is required.

Tech Day 2024: Our Future with AI

Empower the Present, Enable the Future

Thursday, April 4, 10 AM - 3 PM

Lavin-Bernick Center & Zoom

Open to the Tulane community, this event will incorporate both virtual and in-person sessions, exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on our future in education, the tech industry, and, in general our world. Tech Day is an opportunity to highlight products and services currently available within Tulane's digital ecosystem and emerging and/or enhanced higher education technology.

Sponsored by Information Technology and the Innovative Learning Center. For details, visit techday.tulane.edu.

Tulane Library Workshop

Introduction to Data Management and Sharing Plans

Thursday, April 4, 11am. RSVP

Instructor: Kay P Maye, Social Sciences and Data Librarian 

This workshop is designed to equip researchers with essential skills for effective data management. Discover the best practices for handling research data and learn how to create comprehensive data management plans using templates from popular funding agencies like NSF and NIH. Whether you are starting a new project or seeking funding support, this workshop will provide you with invaluable insights to ensure your data is organized, preserved, and compliant with funding requirements.

Louisiana Cancer Research Center Seminar

Proximity Proteomics of the Kinome and NRF2 Signal Transduction in Human Disease

M. Ben Major, PhD - Washington University, St. Louis

Thursday, April 4, Noon (Lunch Available at 11:45 AM)

Louisiana Cancer Research Center

1st Floor Conference Room - 1700 Tulane Ave., New Orleans

Zoom Meeting ID: 980 3657 6143

Passcode: 966673

https://tulane.zoom.us/j/98036576143?pwd=MjVRaEphaVBjNEVtN29ZclVsSDBidz09

The Department of Structural and Cellular Biology presents 

The Harold Cummins Memorial Lectureship

30 Years of Translational Research in Anatomy: UBI Sumus?

R. Shane Tubbs, PhD, MS, PA-C

Thursday, April 4, 2024, 2:30 PM

School of Medicine Main Auditorium ~ 1st Floor

Reception to follow in lobby.

For any questions, please contact Pam Sigur at psigur@tulane.edu

9th Annual LA CaTS Level II Coordinator Training

Friday, April 5, 2024 - 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM 

Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine 

1440 Canal St., New Orleans - 1st Floor, Room 106

The Tulane Center for Clinical Research (TCCR) invites you to the 9th Annual LA CaTS Level II Coordinator Training. The goal of this training is to provide live, interactive group discussion in-person and on Zoom of '"Research Ethics" with PI mentors and experts from IRB and clinical research who will offer guidance to the groups. Challenging research cases will be dissected to discuss ethical dilemmas that happened in real life research studies and how to address those dilemmas appropriately.

Attendance is free and open to anyone interested in clinical research regardless of their background, position or country! Click the link below to register:

https://redcap-training.sph.tulane.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=C8PNY4ARCMR8HC8D

If you have any questions, please email Wesal Abualkhair (wabualkh@tulane.edu or TCCRtraining@tulane.edu or dr.wesalabualkhair@gmail.com) or call 504-988-6200.

Family Medicine in Humanitarian Action:

The Work of Doctors Without Borders in Areas of Conflict

Dr. Marc Levin

Tuesday, April 9, 6:30 - 9:00 PM

Hutchinson - Room 7062

Marc Levin, MD, is an Owl Club award-winning Family Medicine preceptor and outstanding, full-spectrum/full-scope physician who teaches at Mount Sinai in New York City; in Nome, Alaska, and some of the surrounding villages -- where he directs the student and resident rotations through Norton Sound Health Corporation, a tribally owned non-profit entity which has hosted many Tulane students for their 3rd year family medicine clerkship and 4th year electives and acting internships; and since 2007, with Doctors Without Borders, most recently having traveled to Malawi as part of his work.

Tulane Innovation Institute presents

Copyright Unveiled - A Free Webinar with Chuck Valauskas

Wednesday, April 10, 11 AM - Noon

Learn about the nuances of copyright law and discover essential principles for protecting original works, understanding fair use, and navigating copyright infringement issues. Whether you're an artist, content creator, or legal professional, this session offers invaluable insights into preserving and managing intellectual property rights. Click here to register for the event.  

Office of Graduate Medical Education School-Wide Grand Rounds

Gen Z in Medical Education: How Generational Reference Points Have Shaped Expectations for Professionalism, Teaching, Training & Learning

Tuesday, April 16, Noon

Hutchinson Auditorium

Boomers. Gen X. Millennials. Gen Z. Who are they? How are current Gen Z learners experiencing our medical education paradigms? And what strategies can we utilize to engage, teach, train and learn alongside them? Light refreshments provided.

Louisiana Healthy Communities Coalition 2024 Annual Summit

Community Unmute: Finding Your Voice

Thursday, April 18, 1:00 - 4:00 PM

Register and Participate by ZOOM Here

Louisiana Cancer Research Center's community partner Louisiana Healthy Communities Coalition (LHCC) is holding its Annual Summit on April 18. This year's theme is "Community Unmute: Finding Your Voice!" Hear from experts in the field of public health, community development, advocacy, entrepreneurship, local governments and more. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with fellow participants, make connections, and form new collaborations.

Tulane Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations Hosts

Russell Sage Foundation Program Officer Stephen Glauser

Thursday, April 18, 1:00 - 4:00 PM

Albert & Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design

1725 Baronne St., New Orleans

There are two sessions available for faculty participation:

1:00 PM          General Information Q&A – Open to all faculty

This is a rare opportunity to have a face-to-face Q&A with a program officer. Review the RSF grant programs in advance of the meeting and prepare questions to promote a candid discussion. We encourage you to submit questions in advance of the meeting to offer the program officer the opportunity to prepare. 

2:00-4:00 PM          Project Pitch Session – Advance registration is required

An opportunity for a brief (10 min) review and discussion of proposals under development. Please email an executive summary about the project to your CFR school representative (listed below) no later than April 12.

Convenient free parking is available at adjacent lot, as well as non-metered street parking.

To register for the visit, please complete the online form. We request that you do not contact the program officer independently. If you have additional questions, please contact your school/unit CFR representative:

Chritina Carr: SLA/Cowen Institute/Law – ccarr4@tulane.edu

Howard Davis: SPHTM/SSE/Law/Bywater– hdavis5@tulane.edu

Laura Decuir: SSW – ldecuir@tulane.edu

Anthony Enterante: SoM - aenteranteiii@tulane.edu

Save The Date: Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology's 22nd Annual George Adrouny Memorial Lecture  

Tuesday, April 23 - 10:00 AM - Hutchinson Auditorium

This year's featured speaker is Lila M. Gierasch, PhD, Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Chemistry at University of Massachusetts Amherst. For more information on this event, contact Kelly Boyd at kraglan@tulane.edu. 

Tulane Innovation Institute Faculty Innovation Research Mixer

Tuesday, April 23, 5:00 - 7:30 PM

Qatar Ballroom (Room 212) at the Lavin-Bernick Center - Uptown Campus

Attendees will enjoy a lively cross-learning opportunity to hear about the innovative research and initiatives Tulane faculty peers are leading in their respective fields and identify connections for potential partnership. All schools and disciplines welcome! Refreshments will be provided. If you would like to sign up to present, please contact Jillian Delos Reyes at JDelosreyes@tulane.edu. For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Tulane Research, Innovation & Creativity Summit (TRICS)

April 24 - 25

Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life - Uptown

Distinguished Lecturer is Aron Culotta, PhD, Director of Tulane University Center for Community Engaged Artificial Intelligence, Associate Professor of Computer Science, School of Science & Engineering. The Summit showcases hundreds of poster presentations and displays, which include research presentations by faculty, trainees, graduates, and undergraduates from the schools of Medicine, Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Science and Engineering, Social Work, and the Tulane National Primate Research Center. Scholarly and creative work, lectures, and other formats of presentation from the schools of Architecture, Law, Business, Liberal Arts, and Professional Advancement are also highlighted.

More Information

Save the Date: Louisiana Cancer Research Center Scientific Retreat

Friday, May 17, 2024 Xavier University of Louisiana

Additional details and registration information coming soon!

Request for Solutions: ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health

Solicitation # ARPA-H-ICHUB-24-101

Solution Summary (3-Page Template Form) Deadline: April 15, 12:00 p.m. ET.

Instructions for the BID submission platform

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) launched the Sprint for Women’s Health on February 21, 2024, which commits $100 million towards transformative research and development in women’s health. The Sprint for Women’s Health’s new request for solutions (RFS) funding opportunity seeks unconventional approaches and innovative new avenues to push high-impact biomedical research forward to improve women’s health outcomes.

ARPA-H is seeking proposals across six women’s health topic areas, including:

• Women’s Health at Home

• Preserving Ovarian Health Through Mid-Life to Prevent Disease

• ARTEMIS – Advancing Research Through Enhanced Models for Investigating the Influence of Sex Differences on Health Outcomes

• Modulating Women’s Brain Health Via Lymphatic Targeting

• Objective and Quantitative Measurement of Chronic Pain in Women

• Wild Card: Revolutionary Breakthroughs in Women’s Health

For more information about ARPA-H see https://arpa-h.gov/about

NCI Cancer Control and Population Sciences

New Notices of Special Interest

The Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program in NCI's Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences is sharing information about new Notices of Special Interest, listed below. The NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts notices provide more details and contact information for inquiries.

NOT-CA-24-030: Administrative Supplements for Contemporary Modifiable Exposures and Cancer Across the Life Course and Cancer Control Continuum

EXPIRATION DATE: APRIL 23

NOT-CA-24-032: Administrative Supplements to Understand Effects of Within-group Heterogeneity on Cancer Control Outcomes in Underrepresented Populations EXPIRATION DATE: APRIL 30

NOT-CA-24-031: Validation of Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Tools for Improved Assessment in Biomedical and Behavioral Research EXPIRATION DATE: JULY 6, 2025

2024 Hevolution Foundation Geroscience Research Opportunities (HF-GRO)

LETTER OF INTENT DEADLINE: APRIL 26

The Hevolution Foundation Geroscience Research Opportunities (HF-GRO) will provide up to $25 million USD in 2024 (the total budget planned over 5 years is $115M USD) to fund projects in Aging Biology or Geroscience (no clinical trials). Hevolution envisions funding approximately 40-60 projects in Aging Biology or Geroscience in 2024. Projects are 4 to 5 years in length, and with a budget range of $300-500k USD direct costs/year. Funding will be made available to independent investigators with labs in the USA, Canada, Europe and the UK. Applications for HF-GRO will be submitted to Hevolution Foundation as described in the Grant Guidelines. Questions about HF-GRO may be directed to hevolutiongrants@afar.org.

NIAID Notice of Special Interest: Inborn Errors of Immunity / Primary Immunodeficiencies (R03, R21, R01 mechanisms)

NOT-AI-24-024

This notice applies to due dates on or after June 5, 2024, and subsequent receipt dates through March 16, 2027.

The purpose of this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) is to support research on the discovery and characterization of Inborn Errors of Immunity (IEIs), also referred to as Primary Immunodeficiencies, to understand the causes and mechanisms of disease, enable early detection and molecular diagnosis, and support the development of strategies to treat and eventually cure these disorders.

More Information

NIH: New Approaches for Measuring Brain Changes Across Longer Timespans (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

PAR-24-160

STANDARD DUE DATES: 6/5, 10/5, 2/5

Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards: The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.

Award Budget:  Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.

The brain is a highly dynamic and consequential organ that undergoes dramatic shifts in cellular composition, connectivity, and activity patterns across the lifespan. A key factor limiting our understanding of these changes, particularly over longer time periods, is the paucity of methods to study longer-term trajectories. Better approaches are needed to link nervous system structure and function, as well as genetic and environmental influences, across time periods and levels of temporal and spatial resolution. This notice of funding opportunity encourages multidisciplinary collaborations to develop novel approaches or improve existing ones for longitudinal or cross-sectional brain measures across the lifespan. The ultimate goal of this funding opportunity is to improve our understanding of how each stage in brain development, starting from prenatal origins, leads to the next one, and how the parameters that are set at each stage predict later brain health or disease.  

More Information

Center of Excellence for Systems Modeling of Infection and Immunity Across Biological Scales (U54 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

RFA-AI-23-077

Deadline:  July 30, 2024

Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards: NIAID intends to commit $3.125 M in FY 2025 to fund 1 award and includes total cost of $0.3M to support an Infrastructure and Opportunities fund.

Award Budget: Application budgets are not expected to exceed $3.125 million in direct costs per year, which includes an expectation that the budget for the Opportunity Fund will not exceed $0.3 million in direct costs per year. Application budgets need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.

Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.

This initiative will support the establishment of one Center of Excellence (CoE) for Systems Modeling of Infection and Immunity across Biological Scales to coordinate the community of IID modelers and advance and integrate models across scales for infectious diseases. The CoE must include at least two (2) and no more than three (3) Research Projects. The Research Projects must model at least one pathogen, HIV and/or AIDS (HIV/AIDS), the immune response to infection, and/or allergic or immune-mediated diseases. The CoE will perform activities to coordinate the modeling community through Coordinating Cores and conduct Research Projects to advance modeling across and between scales of IID. The CoE should be prepared to rapidly pivot research and coordinating activities to respond to community needs during infectious disease outbreaks, epidemics, or pandemics.

More Information

1R01DK135664-01A1  

TET1 in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Development 

Chiung-Kuei Huang, PhD - PI

Five Years, $2.1 million

1R01GM151326-01 

Structure and Function of Direct Delivery Peptides 

William Wimley, PhD - PI

Four Years, $1.6 million

Obesity-associated epigenetic alterations and the obesity-breast cancer axis. Lagarde CB, Kavalakatt J, Benz MC, Hawes ML, Arbogast CA, Cullen NM, McConnell EC, Rinderle C, Hebert KL, Khosla M, Belgodere JA, Hoang VT, Collins-Burow BM, Bunnell BA, Burow ME, Alahari SK. Oncogene. 2024 Mar;43(11):763-775. doi: 10.1038/s41388-024-02954-0. Epub 2024 Feb 3. PMID: 38310162 Review.

FOXO3: at the crossroads of metabolic, inflammatory, and tumorigenic remodeling in the colon. Snarski P, Ghimire J, Savkovic SD. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2024 Mar 1;326(3):G247-G251. doi: 10.1152/ajpgi.00201.2023. Epub 2024 Jan 9. PMID: 38193202 

Loss of feedback regulation between FAM3B and androgen receptor driving prostate cancer progression. Ma T, Jin L, Bai S, Liu Z, Wang S, Shen B, Cho Y, Cao S, Sun MJS, Fazli L, Zhang D, Wedderburn C, Zhang DY, Mugon G, Ungerleider N, Baddoo M, Zhang K, Schiavone LH, Burkhardt BR, Fan J, You Z, Flemington EK, Dong X, Dong Y. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2024 Mar 7;116(3):421-433. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djad215.

PMID: 37847647

Embigin Is Highly Expressed on CD4+ and CD8+ T Cells but Is Dispensable for Several T Cell Effector Responses. Yang H, Iwanaga N, Katz AR, Ridley AR, Miller HD, Allen MJ, Pociask D, Kolls JK. Immunohorizons. 2024 Mar 1;8(3):242-253. doi: 10.4049/immunohorizons.2300083. PMID: 38446446

Survival benefits of extensive surgery in patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma. Herrera M, Hussein MH, Persons E, Alias MR, Rabee A, Sayed A, Toraih E, Kandil E. Am J Surg. 2024 Mar;229:99-105. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2023.11.001. Epub 2023 Nov 8. PMID: 37989608

Viral reprogramming of host transcription initiation. Ungerleider NA, Roberts C, O'Grady TM, Nguyen TT, Baddoo M, Wang J, Ishaq E, Concha M, Lam M, Bass J, Nguyen TD, Van Otterloo N, Wickramarachchige-Dona N, Wyczechowska D, Morales M, Ma T, Dong Y, Flemington EK. Nucleic Acids Res. 2024 Mar 12:gkae175. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkae175. Online ahead of print.

PMID: 38471819

Recommendations for measuring and standardizing light for laboratory mammals to improve welfare and reproducibility in animal research. Lucas RJ, Allen AE, Brainard GC, Brown TM, Dauchy RT, Didikoglu A, Do MTH, Gaskill BN, Hattar S, Hawkins P, Hut RA, McDowell RJ, Nelson RJ, Prins JB, Schmidt TM, Takahashi JS, Verma V, Voikar V, Wells S, Peirson SN. PLoS Biol. 2024 Mar 12;22(3):e3002535. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002535. eCollection 2024 Mar.

PMID: 38470868

A Panorama of Extracellular Vesicle Applications: From Biomarker Detection to Therapeutics. Das S, Lyon CJ, Hu T. ACS Nano. 2024 Mar 12. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.4c00666. Online ahead of print. PMID: 38471757 Review.

Joint effects of Medicaid eligibility and fees on recession-linked declines in healthcare access and health status. Benitez J, Callison K, Adams EK.

Health Econ. 2024 Mar 11. doi: 10.1002/hec.4823. Online ahead of print.

PMID: 38466653

Tulane Cancer Center eNewsletter - Inroads

Tulane Cancer Center Faculty In The News

Cancer Crusaders 17th Annual Golf Tournament  

Monday, April 8 

Chateau Golf & Country Club, Kenner

This premiere event was started 17 years ago by cancer survivor Mark Mitchell, who wanted to do something to provide more treatment options for cancer patients here in New Orleans. All funds raised through the golf tournament -- as with all Cancer Crusaders fundraisers -- are divided equally between the cancer research programs at Tulane Cancer Center and LSUHSC's Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center. 

More Information

Krewe de Pink's Pink Bra 5K Walk / Run & 8-Mile Bike Ride  

Saturday, April 20 Mississippi River Levee in Old Gretna near Rivershack, 714 1st St., Gretna

Krewe de Pink's Annual Pink Bra 5K Walk/Run & 8-Mile Bike Ride benefits Tulane Cancer Center's Breast Cancer Research Fund. The event takes place atop the Mississippi River levee in Old Gretna and offers participants some of the most picturesque views of the New Orleans skyline in the area. Show up in running gear or show up in costume! Remember, this is a PINK BRA Walk/Run/Ride….so go ahead and bedazzle that bra and come out and enjoy. Even the dogs wear bras!  

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Next Generation Sequence Analysis Core

The Tulane Cancer Center NGS Analysis Core team assists investigators with furthering their research through comprehensive processing and analysis of data obtained from widely used high-throughput sequencing applications.

More Information 

Cell Analysis Core

The Cell Analysis Core Facility is designed to collaborate with investigators and contribute to all aspects of the research process, including consultation in experimental design, data analysis and storage, troubleshooting, interpretation of results, and the preparation and production of presentation graphics.

More Information

Tulane Cancer Center Membership

If you know a colleague who is interested in becoming a member of the Tulane Cancer Center, please direct them to the Faculty Membership Application page on our website here.

Tulane Cancer Center's Website & Facebook Page

Subscribe to Nexus

If you know someone who is interested in subsribing to Nexus, a weekly round-up of news and information for Tulane Cancer Center members and others interested in cancer-relevant research at Tulane, please have them contact Melanie Cross at mcross@tulane.edu.

Please share your feedback. Is this newsletter helpful? What other information should we include? And send us your news and announcements regarding seminars, workshops, funding opportunities, new grants, recent publications or events by emailing Melanie Cross at mcross@tulane.edu.