In this edition:

Feature

Did You Know?

New Research Ethical Dilemmas and Resources

Ethical dilemmas in clinical or scientific research and professional integrity may arise in varying situations. Some are blatant ethical breaches and others present as an unsettling or nagging feeling of deficiency/error/loss of confidentiality. Multiple resources are available via the Georgia CTSA website to support ethical practice and understanding. Ethical Dilemmas including five new case scenarios describing research conduct are followed with brief, expert opinions, and strategies. A podcast series offers another format to improve recognition and potential resolutions to ethical dilemmas. If you are pondering an ethical dilemma, Ethics Consultation provides confidential discussions and non-binding advice.

Funding (* New Opportunities)

NIH Funding Opportunities Specific to COVID-19

This page contains a listing of active and expired funding opportunities specific to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

NOSI: Availability of Emergency Competitive Revisions for the CTSA Program to Address COVID-19 Public Health Needs – Due Dates Vary

NCATS is issuing this NOSI to highlight the urgent need for projects that address the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. The CTSA Program is uniquely qualified to contribute to these efforts by performing high-priority clinical studies and trials to test therapeutics for COVID-19. NCATS is soliciting applications for Emergency Competitive Revisions to Existing NIH Awards (through PA-20-135) from current CTSA UL1 and U24 award recipients for clinical studies and trials in support of COVID-19 therapeutic interventions (see details in link below).

Investigator-Initiated Seed Grants in Healthcare Innovation – LOI Due March 15

The Emory-Georgia Tech Healthcare Innovation Program, with partners including Georgia CTSA, announce seed grants to fund multi-investigator & multi-disciplinary teams examining healthcare services and clinical effectiveness. The funding priority for this round will be for proposals that address issues in dealing with pandemics such as: coordination of public health and healthcare systems in clinical responses, diagnostic testing, provider-patient safety; improving clinical preparedness and communication; impact on healthcare system physicians, nurses, staff.

New Chemistries for Un-drugged Targets through A Specialized Platform for Innovative Research Exploration (ASPIRE) Collaborative Research Program (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) – Emory Internal Due March 29

The purpose of the ASPIRE Collaborative Research Program is to facilitate translational and clinical research between NCATS intramural scientists and the extramural community to develop approaches that will enhance the ability to discover and develop new chemistries towards previously undrugged biological targets (i.e., biological targets with no known drugs to modulate their function) across many human diseases and conditions. Emory may submit up to one application.

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: Pediatric Networks for the Human Cell Atlas – LOI Due March 30

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative invites applications for three-year collaborative projects for the generation of healthy, single-cell reference data from pediatric tissue samples for the Human Cell Atlas (HCA). The Pediatric Networks should collectively generate new tools, open source analysis methods, and data from a diversity of donors and organs that provide valuable contributions to the HCA community.

Georgia CTSA Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Research Design Grants – Due March 31

Georgia CTSA’s Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Research Design (BERD) program is soliciting proposals to support novel methodological research in biostatistics, epidemiology, or health services research and related areas to advance clinical and translational research (CTR). Review criteria include quantitative methodological research to fill gaps in CTR, innovation, feasibility, and plans for dissemination and translation of results. Awardees are encouraged to disseminate any software developed in their research to relevant publicly available software repositories. Full-time faculty from Emory, Georgia Tech, Morehouse School of Medicine, and UGA may submit proposals. New investigators are encouraged to apply; meritorious applications from new investigators will be prioritized for funding. Two awards up to $20,000 will be awarded.

Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG) Program (S10 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) – Due April 1

This program encourages applications from groups of NIH-supported investigators to purchase or upgrade a single item of expensive, specialized, commercially available instruments or integrated systems.

Administrative Supplements for Submission of Tissue Chip Data to the Microphysiology Systems Database – Due April 3

This NOSI informs current awardees that the NCATS is providing an opportunity for supplemental funding to support deposition of data generated from tissue chips into the NCATS-funded Microphysiology Systems Database (MPS-Db).

* NOSI: Small Business Initiatives for Innovative Diagnostic Technology for Improving Outcomes for Maternal Health – First Due Date April 5

The purpose of this trans-NIH NOSI is to inform potential applicants that NIBIB and participating Institutes and Centers invite SBIR/STTR applications to develop technologies or tools to quantitatively predict or indicate an increased risk for maternal morbidity and mortality. This NOSI is part of the Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative, which supports research to reduce preventable causes of maternal deaths and improve health for women before, during, and after delivery.

* NOSI: Administrative Supplements for Childcare Costs for Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellows – First Date Due April 8

In accordance with NOT-OD-21-069 and ongoing efforts to support family-friendly work environments for the NIH-supported workforce, this NOSI requests applications for administrative supplements to support childcare costs on NRSA-supported Fellowship awards.

Emory Lung Cancer SPORE/Winship Invest$ Development Research Program Due – April 9

This program aims to identify new and innovative research opportunities by supporting meritorious proposals that could expand into full research projects in the future, including those of high risk-high reward projects that might otherwise not be funded; to foster collaborative research between investigators; and to enhance translational research in lung cancer by increasing the number of meritorious investigators working on lung cancer.

The James S. McDonnel Foundation 2021 Opportunity Award – Due April 9

The James S. McDonnel Foundation Opportunity Award provides up to $250,000 in seed funds expendable over a flexible time period (between 2 and 4 years) as needed by researchers to design and carry out new studies motivated by questioning, revisiting, or re-examining the current state of academic knowledge of human cognition and behavior using a dynamic, context-sensitive lens.

Emory SOM I3 Teams Research Awards – April 26

Proposals with a plan to cultivate an interdisciplinary team with an SOM PI and two or more additional departments from across Emory are solicited. Awards will provide seed money to support the infrastructure of building interdisciplinary collaboration with the ultimate goal of submitting a center or program project grant to target a significant problem with an impact at a clinical or basic science level. Potential proposals might include supporting a part-time employee to organize and analyze data, meetings to facilitate team formation, or generating preliminary data.

Russell Sage Foundation and William T. Grant Foundation Educational Opportunity Monitoring Project – Due April 29

Russell Sage Foundation seeks research projects that aim to deepen our understanding of educational opportunity and success in the United States by analyzing data on academic achievement from the Stanford Education Data Archive constructed by Sean Studies that can plausibly identify the effects of policies, practices, and conditions on achievement and achievement inequality, or the effects of achievement and achievement gaps on other outcomes and forms of inequality, will be preferred over descriptive or correlational studies.

* HEAL Initiative NOSI: Administrative Supplements to Support Strategies to Increase Participant Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement in Clinical Studies – Due April 30

This NOSI provides an opportunity for clinical trials and studies funded by the Helping to End Addiction Long-Term (HEAL) initiative to address challenges of recruitment, retention and engagement of populations suffering from pain and opioid use disorder. NIH will support supplements to current HEAL awards that would either 1) enhance their patient, community, and other stakeholder engagement efforts or 2) improve recruitment, retention and inclusion of participants from U.S. racial and ethnic minority populations; or 3) both, as appropriate for a particular study.

High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant Program (S10 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) – Due May 1

This program encourages applications from groups of NIH-supported investigators to purchase or upgrade a single item of expensive, specialized, commercially available instruments or integrated systems.

* Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI): Human Cognitive and Behavioral Science – Due May 3

The Human Cognitive and Behavioral Science RFA prioritizes research that produces foundational knowledge about the neurobehavioral differences associated with autism spectrum disorders, which will directly inform the development or refinement of tools needed for translational efforts, such as biomarkers and outcome measures.

Human Immunology Project Consortium (U19 Clinical Trial Optional) – LOI Due May 4

This FOA for the Human Immunology Project Consortium (HIPC) solicits applications from single institutions, or consortia of institutions, to participate in a network of human immunology profiling research groups in the area of infectious diseases, including HIV. The purpose is to characterize human immune responses/mechanisms elicited by vaccinations, vaccine adjuvants or natural infections by capitalizing on recent advances in immune profiling technologies.

Human Immunology Project Consortium Coordinating Center (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) – LOI Due May 4

The goal of this FOA is to support a Coordinating Center for the Human Immunology Project Consortium program. The HIPC program, supported through a separate FOA, will consist of 5-8 multi-project cooperative agreement (U19) awardees that will measure the diversity and commonalities of human immune responses under a variety of conditions and longitudinally using high-throughput systems immunology approaches coupled with detailed clinical phenotyping in well-characterized human cohorts.

Russell Sage Foundation Research Grants Core Programs and Special Initiatives - Due May 4

The Russell Sage Foundation is especially interested in research at the intersection of behavioral economics and behavioral sciences and its other programs—Future of Work; Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration; Social, Political and Economic Inequality. Priority will be given to field experiments, as opposed to lab experiments.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation RFP: Clinical Quality Measures to Improve Diagnosis – Due May 10

The foundation solicits novel ideas and approaches for developing new clinical quality measures to improve diagnosis, specifically targeting three major categories of disease: acute vascular events (such as stroke and myocardial infarction), infections (such as sepsis and pneumonia) and cancer (such as lung and colorectal).

* Gerber Foundation Research Grants and Novice Grants – Due May 15

Priority is given to projects that improve the nutrition, care, and development of infants and young children from the first year before birth to three years of age. The Foundation funds in three broad program areas: pediatric nutrition, pediatric health, and environmental hazards and is looking for projects that will result in new information, treatments, or tools that will result in a change in practice.

* PCORI Building Capacity for PCOR/CER for Topics Related to COVID-19 – Due May 24

This special funding opportunity will support projects that enable organizations and communities to build their capacity and skills to participate across all phases of the PCOR/CER process on topics that address health outcomes related to COVID-19. Projects will also provide an understanding of the impact of stakeholder engagement strategies within different settings and stakeholder groups focused on this special area of interest.

* PCORI Building Capacity for PCOR/CER in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities – Due May 24

This special funding opportunity will support projects that enable organizations and communities to build their capacity and skills to participate across all phases of the PCOR/CER process on topics that address health outcomes related to intellectual and developmental disabilities. Projects will also provide an understanding of the impact of stakeholder engagement strategies within different settings and stakeholder groups focused on this special area of interest.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Systems for Action Systems and Services Research to Build a Culture of Health – Due June 9

Systems for Action is a signature research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that builds a Culture of Health by rigorously testing new ways of connecting the nation’s fragmented medical, social, and public health systems. RWJF will fund up to 4 awards of up to $500,000 each.

Education

Phlebotomy 101 Introduction to Venipuncture – March 25 & 26

Phlebotomy 101 is a two-day classroom and clinical, hands-on training to venipuncture offered through the Georgia CTSA Clinical Research Centers (GCRCs). The course is offered bi-monthly to research coordinators from Emory, MSM and UGA.

National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) Research Study Cohort 3 – March 25 – 26

NRMN SETH will be offering Grant Writing Coaching and Mock Study Section for Junior Faculty, and Early-Stage Investigators who are actively writing NIH style research proposals. The randomized controlled study is specifically designed to meet the needs of diverse investigators at RCMI, CTSA, IDeA and other NIH funded emerging research institutions committed to workforce diversity. Early-Stage Investigators will learn grant writing techniques developed at Northwestern University while working in small coaching groups with up to 5-6 study participants and 1 coach.

Emory Lung Cancer SPORE/Winship Invest$ Career Enhancement Program – Due April 9

This program promotes the advancement of early career lung cancer investigators through the conduct of a mentored Career Enhancement Program (CEP). The goals of the CEP are to provide mentoring and guidance for early career academic physician-scientists, clinician-investigators, and laboratory-based scientists who wish to dedicate their efforts to translational research in the areas of diagnosis, imaging, prevention, treatment, and improvement in quality of life in lung cancer, and to enhance diversity among the lung cancer research community.

Certificate Program in Translational Research (CPTR) – Due April 30

The Certificate Program in Translational Research (CPTR) is a formal 16-credit Emory Laney Graduate School program for trainees who seek to conduct research at the interface between basic and translational science and clinical medicine. Despite the explosive growth in biomedical knowledge, it has been increasingly difficult to translate this knowledge and discovery into applications for the treatment of disease and to benefit human health by addressing gaps between biology and medicine and promoting multidisciplinary team science. The CPTR enhances and transforms translational research training for predoctoral PhD students, postdoctoral fellows (PhD or MD) and junior faculty at Emory, MSM, Georgia Tech, and UGA.

Free Online Trainings for Clinical Research Professionals

Georgia CTSA and the University of Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI) have created a new Online Course Catalog with free course and program offerings available to clinical research professionals. Participants earn a certificate or badge with contact hours (continuing education – CE) from an accredited provider upon completion of a course or a program (series of courses). Contact hours can be used to meet requirements for CRP certification renewal. The newest program, “Diversity in Clinical Trials in the Time of COVID-19”, is now available online. Select a course/program that interests you and click on the blue “Enroll” button.

Research Resources

N3C - COVID-19 Analytics Platform

Researchers studying COVID-19 are able to access an innovative analytics platform that contains clinical data from the electronic health records of people who were tested for the novel coronavirus or who have had related symptoms. Part of the NCATS National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) Data Enclave, the centralized and secure data platform features powerful analytics capabilities for online discovery, visualization and collaboration.

Video Provides Overview of Georgia CTSA Clinical Research Centers’ Services

Georgia CTSA Clinical Research Centers (GCRCs) offer dedicated space, experienced staff, and resources to support research at a competitive cost. GCRCs assist investigators of all experience levels from Emory, Georgia Tech, Morehouse School of Medicine, UGA, and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. We serve adult and pediatric patient populations in Georgia. Watch this video to learn more about how we can help you with your research.

Georgia CTSA Ethical Dilemma of the Week

Informed Consent: Can a Patient Edit their Consent Form before Signing? (PDF)

Innovation & Translation

Bench2Market Talks: Explaining Quality Management Systems - March 17

Quality Management Systems are an essential process on the path to FDA approval. Learn what design control means for your medical device and how early implementation of CGMP guidelines impact development of pharma and medical products. Join speaker, Brett Rogers, MBID, from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM.

Community

Georgia CTSA Community Engagement Forum – April 1–2

Join Georgia CTSA Community Engagement via Zoom for our 5th Biennial Forum! One Georgia: Advancing Health Equity Amidst a New Normal One celebrates translational research and partnerships among community, academics, policy makers and practitioners. This FREE virtual forum will discuss community-academic exemplars’ research, technology and health, student research, and ways our health agencies, organizations, and researchers are navigating COVID-19 and its challenges.

Participants Needed for COVID-19 Vaccine and Therapeutic Trials

Adults 18 and older, from all races and ethnicities, are needed to participate in COVID-19 trials. Please spread the word to help recruit minorities, especially for vaccine trials.

Events

Marcus Grand Rounds: Child Health Equity – TODAY

Learning Services at Children's will host Marcus Grand Rounds virtually through Q2 2021. Join us via Zoom from 12:00 PM-1:00 PM to learn more about “COVID-19, Child Health Equity and the Path Forward” with Professor Tabia Henry Akintobi, PhD, MPH.

COVID Force Collaborative Seminar – TODAY

Join us via Zoom from 12:00 PM -1:00 PM to learn more about “The Kids Will Be Alright…Right?” with Dr. Rajit K. Basu. This seminar series is designed to highlight COVID research being conducted Emory and Children’s.

AiR Webinar – March 16

Join us via Zoom from 12:30 PM-1:30 PM to learn "Why be one protein when you can be many: the role of YB1 in Medulloblastoma tumor maintenance and therapeutic resistance" with Grad Student Leon McSwain, BS and "The Role of Siglec-15 in Evasion of Immune Response in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia" with Grad Student Claire Pillsbury, BS.

CTID/CIAG Seminar– March 16

Join us via Zoom from 12:00 PM-1:00 PM to learn more about “Computational Characterization of Crohn’s Disease Using Image Analysis and Metabolic Modeling” with Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Sana Syed, MD.

Pediatric Research Grand Rounds – March 17

Join us via Zoom at 8:00 AM to learn more about “Neuroinflammatory Diseases: Predictors of Treatment Response, Outcomes, and Clinical Insights” with Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Grace Gombolay, MD.

HSRC Seminar Series – March 17

Join Health Science Research Center via Zoom from 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM to learn more about “Using Evaluative Frameworks to Assess Implementation Outcomes: Lessons in School Mental Health for Students with Autism" with Assistant Professor Katherine Pickard, MD.

Team Science Skill Workshop Managing, Leveraging, and Mitigating Conflict – March 19

Join Georgia CTSA for an interactive workshop via Zoom from 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM. As conflict is more or less universal and largely inevitable, being able to manage conflict productively is a key skillset when engaged in work that involves interacting with others. After brief round-table of introductions on backgrounds and goals for the workshop, we will review the results of the Conflict Management Styles feedback report, as well as the group’s composite results. A free evidence-based personalized conflict styles report will be available to each attendee after taking the 5-minute assessment at ITPmetrics.com. Discussions will be facilitated on how different conflict styles may be more appropriate in given scenarios, and how to align the right style as the situation calls for it.

Healthcare Innovation Symposium – March 24

COVID Vaccines and Variants: Where Are We Headed? from 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM via Zoom. Panel Discussants include David Stephens, MD.

Emory SCORE V-RIP meeting – March 24

Join Emory SCORE via Zoom at 12:00 PM to learn “The Skinny on Fat: Sex Modifies the Relationship between Adiposity and Mitochondrial Function” with Assistant Professor Jessica Alvarez, PhD, RD and “What’s Sex Got To Do With It?: Benefits of Including Sex as a Biological Variable from an Animal Model Research Perspective” with Professor M. Neale Weizmann, PhD.

Principles of Global Clinical Research for Medical Devices – April 9

The USC International Center for Regulatory Science in partnership with the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the Greater Los Angeles CTSA Consortium is looking forward to welcoming you to the Spring 2021 Regulatory Science Virtual Symposium via Zoom from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM PST. We are excited to host a full-day seminar on regulatory harmonization of clinical research for medical devices!

HIV & Aging: Mitochondria to the Metropolis - Population Determinants of Health – April 14 -16

This multidisciplinary conference will provide a venue for all attendees to build scientific partnership and contribute useful knowledge to the quality of care and life of persons aging with HIV.

7th Annual Health Services Research Day – May 5 (Abstracts Due: March 12 - TODAY)

Health Services Research Day is going virtual! Join us for this symposium and networking opportunity where researchers across Georgia will learn about ongoing quality, effectiveness, and value-based research activities. Oral and poster presentations will be selected from submitted abstracts.

Southeastern Pediatric Research Conference – June 11

Please join us for the 10th anniversary of our annual event to highlight the scope of pediatric research being conducted across the southeast and specifically at Emory, Children’s, Georgia Tech, and MSM. Get ready for an exciting day of presentations, poster sessions, networking and knowledge-sharing, plus a special 10th anniversary reception! Learn more and register .