In this edition:

(Scroll down for more info and click on the links for additional details)

Funding Opportunities:

• COURAGE Program
• Blavatnik Therapeutics Challenge Awards
• Limited Submission Funding Opportunities
• Foundation Funding Opportunities

Announcements:

• Annual ECOR Elections
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Competition to Select HHMI Investigators
• Transportation of Biological Samples
• Machine Learning Foundational Curriculum 
• Research Tech Talk
• All of Us Research Program
• MGB GitLab: Upcoming Scheduled Downtime



Events:

• December Research Council
• Fun Fridays
• Meditation Sessions available every week
• Fava Well-Being Lecture Series
• Grant Writing Course
• CFD Excellence in Mentoring Awards
• AVADE Training

COURAGE Program

What is the program?

The COURAGE Program provides resources to advance the careers of 20 early career investigators (post-docs or early faculty) working in obesity, nutrition, or diabetes. This 3+ year program is open to individuals who identify as being from one or more of the following racial/ethnic groups: Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders.

Who should apply?

Eligible applicants must be at a postdoctoral level or above. They must be from an underrepresented background, defined as individuals from racial and ethnic groups that have been shown by the National Science Foundation to be underrepresented in health-related sciences on a national basis (Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders). The research topic must be in nutrition, metabolism, obesity, or diabetes. There is no restriction on the institution from which the applicant applies, i.e., awards can be made to any institution, including our partner institutions in the application, Morehouse School of Medicine, and the University of Puerto Rico. Preference will be given to early-career investigators.

How much is the award?

Please submit a budget for up to $50,000 in direct costs. Indirect costs are not supported. The period of funding is for one year, beginning June 1, 2023.

When is the deadline?  

The application must be submitted by 8:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, February 1st, 2023. We expect to announce awards by April 3, 2023. The funding period will begin on June 1, 2023 and it will support 1 year of research.

How do I learn more about the opportunity?

For information about the COURAGE program visit www.courageprogram.com

For non-science-related questions, please contact our team at MGHCOURAGEprogram@mgh.harvard.edu.

For science-related questions, please contact Dr. Takara Stanley at 617-724-9109 or tstanley@partners.org.

Blavatnik Therapeutics Challenge Awards

What are they?

The intent of these awards is to accelerate the development of therapeutics throughout HMS and its affiliated hospitals, with the goal of achieving licensable intellectual property and potentially creating new companies within a two-year time frame.

Who should apply?

All faculty at the rank of assistant, associate, or full professor in the Harvard Faculty of Medicine (i.e., faculty at HMS, HMS-affiliated institutions, and HSDM) are eligible to apply for funding as lead PI.

How much is each award?

The Blavatnik Family Foundation will provide the funds for the awards, which will be administered by Harvard via a grant to the PI’s institution and funded at a level of up to $1 million (total costs) over a period of two years.

When is the deadline?  

December 7, 2022 at 5 p.m. ET

How do I learn more about the opportunity?

More details on the RFP and submission process can be found on the program website: https://btca.hms.harvard.edu. For questions about the submission, review, and selection process for pre-proposals, contact Ifat Rubin-Bejerano, HMS senior director, translational research.

Limited Submission Funding Opportunities

We ask that all MGH Investigators interested in applying for any limited submission award submit a Letter of Intent (see detailed instructions below) to the MGH Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) by the deadline indicated for each award to be considered to receive an institutional nomination. 

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES:

See full details for all awards on our website.

NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00 – Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The purpose of the NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00) program is to increase and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented, NCI-supported, independent investigators. 

Learn more

NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00 – Independent Clinical Trial Required)

The purpose of the NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00) program is to increase and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented, NCI-supported, independent investigators.

Learn more

NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00 – Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required)

The purpose of the NCI Pathway to Independence Award for Outstanding Early Stage Postdoctoral Researchers (K99/R00) program is to increase and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented, NCI-supported, independent investigators. 

Learn more

Pediatric Critical Care and Trauma Scientist Development Program (K12 Clinical Trial Optional)

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) invites applications to support a national program of mentored career development and training in research for junior faculty in pediatric critical care medicine and pediatric trauma surgery.

Learn more                                                     

Treat FTD (Frontotemporal Degeneration) Fund, Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation. $2 million. LOI Deadline: 1/27/23

Basic Research Fellowships, American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA). $100,000. LOI Deadline: 12/13/22

Discovery Grant, American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA). $50,000. LOI Deadline: 12/13/22

Research Collaboration Grants, American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA). $200,000. LOI Deadline: 12/13/22

ASH Minority Hematology Fellow Award, American Society of Hematology (ASH). $100,000. Application Deadline: 1/17/23

CURE Epilepsy Award, CURE, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy. $250,000. LOI Deadline: 1/10/23

CURE Taking Flight Award, CURE, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy. $100,000. LOI Deadline: 1/10/23

Clinical Trials in Thalassemia Cell and Gene Therapy, Cooley's Anemia Foundation. $150,000. LOI Deadline: 12/20/22

Research Fellowships, Cooley's Anemia Foundation. $100,000. Application Deadline: 2/6/23

Support for Ongoing Clinical Research in Thalassemia, Cooley's Anemia Foundation. $50,000. LOI Deadline: 12/20/22

Influential Medicine Providing Access to Clinical Trials (IMPACT), Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). $1.4 million. LOI Deadline: 1/6/23

NEW! Mantle Cell Lymphoma Research Initiative II (MCL2) (multiple opps), Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). $3 million

OutSmarting Osteosarcoma Grant (multiple opps), MIB Agents. $100,000

Nontraditional, Nonsurgical Treatment Grants, North American Spine Society (NASS). $50,000. Preliminary Proposal Deadline: 2/6/23

Research Grants, North American Spine Society (NASS). $50,000. Preliminary Proposal Deadline: 2/6/23

Young Investigator Grants, North American Spine Society (NASS). $50,000. Preliminary Proposal Deadline: 2/6/23

Antivirals for Pandemic Influenza (multiple opps), Pandemic Antiviral Discovery (PAD). $10 million. Application Deadline: 12/14/22

Value Assessment & Health Outcomes Research (multiple opps), PhRMA Foundation. $120,000. Application Deadline: 2/1/23

Misophonia Research Fund (MRF) (multiple opps), REAM Foundation. $500,000. LOI Deadline: 12/9/22

Early Career Award for Chronic Pain Research, Rita Allen Foundation. $150,000. Application Deadline: 12/15/22

Do you want to learn more about identifying external funding opportunities? Please click here to request a research consultation with Amy Robb or see ECOR’s website for information on the Pivot database.

Annual ECOR Elections

Annual ECOR Elections for Representatives from the MGH Research Community

Elected representatives serve a 3-year term and will represent faculty concerns and issues. ECOR representatives should be able to speak to your interests and concerns in discussions and planning for research at MGH.

Please cast your vote for one candidate from each category.

Please note: In order to vote you must be a Principal Investigator at the level of Assistant, Associate or Full Professor.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Competition to Select HHMI Investigators

The HHMI Investigator competition is open to basic researchers and physician scientists from more than 300 eligible institutions who catalyze research in basic and biomedical sciences, plant biology, evolutionary biology, biophysics, chemical biology, biomedical engineering, and computational biology.

Candidates apply directly to HHMI. Applications must be received by March 21, 2023. Information about this program and competition, including benefits of becoming an HHMI Investigator and eligibility requirements for this competition may be found at hhmi.org/investigators.

We seek a broad applicant pool and welcome applications from individuals with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. We anticipate appointing approximately 25 scientists who will push the bounds of biomedical research and train and mentor the next generation of scientists.

If you have a question about the 2024 competition, please email sciencecomp@hhmi.org. 

Transportation of Biological Samples (BioLift)

To transfer biological samples we encourage faculty to use BioLift.

BioLift is an online application and solution for transporting biological samples between the Charlestown Navy Yard, MGH Main Campus and the Ragon Institute. 

If you have any questions, please login and click on the help button.

You can also reach out to Kelé Piper, Research Compliance Director, at kkpiper@mgh.harvard.edu.

Machine Learning Foundational Curriculum 

Mass General Brigham's Data Science Office is pleased to announce the Machine Learning Foundational Curriculum course is now available to take online for MGB employees!

Presented by Dr. Kathy Andriole, this training program will introduce you to the fundamentals of Machine Learning (ML) in healthcare, with an emphasis on practical concepts and knowledge. The curriculum consists of recorded lectures, self-directed exercises, and hands-on interactive demonstrations that expose learners to the tools and techniques involved in developing, validating, and translating AI/ML into clinical practice.

Click here: https://datascience.massgeneralbrigham.org/machine-learning-foundational-curriculum to request access (MGB username and password required). 

Research Tech Talk

Next Research Tech Talk is Thursday December 8th, 12:10pm-2:00pm, there is no November Tech Talk. December 8th presentations to be announced.

Ken Heckman, Senior Technical Project Manager, MGB Digital for the EMI/CCDS, will present a detailed update on radiological imaging of interest to researchers.

Herb Harrison, Director and Shawn Martineau, Manager of MGB's Digital ITS Enterprise Technology Platform team will provide updates on their systems, e.g. the Citrix platform and will discuss ongoing initiatives.

All of Us Research Program During National Family Health History Month

The All of Us Research Program team is reaching with a special message to our colleagues as we gear up for the return of DNA results to program participants and hope you will consider joining this landmark research program, too.

This November, celebrate National Family Health History Month by joining the All of Us Research Program. All of Us is committed to giving information back to participants. When you join this research program, you will be able to see your own health information. This may include DNA results and health records. Knowing this information can help you make important decisions about your own health, like taking medications or getting treatments to help prevent disease in the future. This information may also help to improve health research for future generations. You can learn more about getting your DNA results and other benefits of participating in All of Us by visiting https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive

To join today, please visit JoinAllofUs.org/mgb, or to learn more, please visit the All of Us Research Program on the Pulse https://pulse.massgeneralbrigham.org/hub/initiatives/all_of_us

MGB GitLab: Upcoming Scheduled Downtime 11/21/2022

The GitLab service (https://gitlab.partners.org/) will be upgraded from version v15.3.4 to v15.4.4 - The upgrade is schedule to take up to 1 hour. The service will be unavailable between 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM on Monday, Nov 21, 2022. This upgrade will include:



• Critical security patches
• Bug Fixes
• For a complete list of changes, please refer to the GitLab project release notes: v15.4.4 - https://about.gitlab.com/releases/2022/11/02/security-release-gitlab
• Additionally, we want to reach out to the users of GitLab, to complete any necessary testing before the upgrade on Monday, Nov 21st at 9:00 PM. Please complete all your testing at this link: http://gitlab-dev.dipr.partners.org (** To login, just use your MGB ID and Password. The Development server is currently on v15.4.4).
• Note: no projects or data have been copied over from the production server. You can create new projects in the development environment and conduct tests as necessary. Projects created in the development environment may be removed without notice (as we conduct future GitLab version testing).

If you any questions or concerns relating to this scheduled downtime, please email: gitlab@mgb.org

December Research Council

Monday, December 5, 2022, 12:00 - 1:00 PM

Hybrid, Simches Auditorium 3.110

Center for Diversity and Inclusion

Dr Julie Cesar and Dr Cesar Castro will be discussing the future of the Center for the Diversity and Inclusion at Massachusetts General Hospital. The presentations will cover future initiatives and roles in The Center for Diversity and Inclusion that will help continue to achieve the mission of the center.

NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy

Martha Jones and Chris Colburn will be joining us to discuss the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy changes that go into effect on January 25, 2023. They will be discussing the main components of the new policy changes to best help all the members of the Mass General Research Institute best prepare for these new changes.

Fun Fridays- An Ear-Training Session with Professor Joo Park

Friday, November 18, 2022, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Zoom

Sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development’s Office for Well-Being

Fun Fridays offer a refreshing mid-day break from work to indulge in physical, mental, or creative activity.

Are you interested in checking your ear skills in rhythm and pitch? Can you pick the notation of the melody you hear? Joo will give a fun activity filled with many rhythmic and melodic exercises. After Joo’s short demo, the participants will listen to the exercises and choose the correct notation from multiple choices. A great chance to develop your ear skills!

Facilitator: Joo Park, PhD, is a composer and pianist. She seeks to write music that explores the dual nature of existence: simple and complex, obsessive and impulsive, serious and humorous, and tonal and atonal. She wants to create music that combines fascinating musical traditions, such as tonality and counterpoint, with her approach to timbre, chords, fast-changing meters, and texture. She intends to create music that is positive and easy to listen to, and yet intellectual.

Joo is the author of the book Musical Creativity in Composition and Improvisation, published by Springer. Her CD, Passionate Message, published by Silkheart, contains six of her compositions and piano performances. She received a Ph.D in Composition at the University of Minnesota. She is assistant professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music.

Click to register

Two Meditation Sessions available every week

SESSION 1: Meditation Mondays with Dr. Darshan Mehta 

Every Monday, 8:00 – 8:30 am, Zoom à next session, Monday, August 29!

Co-sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development’s Office for Well-Being and the MGPO Frigoletto Committee

Join Darshan Mehta, MD, MPH, Director, Office for Well-Being for a guided meditation session on Monday morning. 

Register and add to calendar

SESSION 2: Midweek Meditation with Guest Leader 

Every Wednesday, 8:00 – 8:30 am, Zoom à next session, Wednesday, August 31!

Sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development’s Office for Well-Being

Join guest leader, Jonathan Greenberg, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, for next Wednesday’s guided meditation session on August 31^th!

Register and add to calendar

Fava Well-Being Lecture Series: “Combatting Clinician Burnout and Uniting the Health Workforce to Optimize Well-Being”

Tuesday, November 29, 2022, 4:00 – 5:00 pm, Zoom 

Provided by: Mass General Brigham and MGH Center for Faculty Development

The Maurizio Fava Lecture Series on Well-Being was created to honor Dr. Fava’s vision and advocacy for the well-being of the MGH community.

The capacity and well-being of the U.S. health workforce have been under threat for years due to an epidemic of burnout, and more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated this issue. Now at least 40% of nurses, 20% of physicians, and more than 25% of state and local public health department employees are considering leaving their professions. The U.S. health system is at stake due to this healthcare workforce crisis. It is critical to address burnout not as an individual issue, but rather as a systems issue that emanates from workplace culture, healthcare policies and regulations, and societal expectations.

This talk will build on the work of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience to focus on the changes that are needed to support the mental health and well-being of clinicians, and address retention and burnout prevention and intervention programs. The NAM recently released a National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being, which provides a roadmap for actions by multiple actors together to drive policy and systems change, in order to better support the health workforce and the health of all communities. 

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to: 

• Summarize the root causes behind the clinician well-being crisis in the United States.
• Understand why supporting clinician well-being at a systems level is crucial to maintaining high quality of care and reducing strain on our health care system.
• Discuss the recommendations of the NAM National Plan for helping healthcare providers recover from the pandemic and to mitigate pre-existing drivers of burnout.

Target Audience: This activity is intended for faculty and faculty trainees.

Course Director: Miriam A. Bredella, MD, Director, Center for Faculty Development; Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School

Presenter: Victor J. Dzau, MD, President of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in the United States. In addition, he serves as Vice Chair of the National Research Council. Dr. Dzau is also James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Chancellor Emeritus at Duke University and the past President and CEO of the Duke University Health System. Previously he was the Hersey Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

ACCREDITATION

In support of improving patient care, Mass General Brigham is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Mass General Brigham designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Click to register

Grant Writing Course

Thursday, December 1, 2022, 12-1pm, Zoom

Sponsored by the Office for Research Careers

Created by the MGH Science Writing Group led by Becca Ward, PhD, this series returns for the second year. It is open to all MGH trainees and faculty. There is no requirement to attend every session, but you are highly encouraged to do so. More specific information on various sessions will follow.

Session 6 - (Dec 1): Human Subjects

facilitated by Kamryn Eddy, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry

Session 7 - (Dec 8): Budget & Personnel Documents

facilitated by Kelsey Laning, Senior Administrative Manager, Research Grants, and Strategic Alliances & Stephanie Weldon, Ph.D., Program Manager, Batista Lab at the Ragon Institute

Session 8 - (Dec 15): Documents for Unique Situations: Introduction & Multi-PI Plans

facilitated by Trisha Berger, Ph.D., Director of Scientific and Medical Communication for the Cellular Immunotherapy Program & Becca Ward, Ph.D., Medical Writer and Program Manager

Click to register 

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS! CFD EXCELLENCE IN MENTORING AWARDS

Nominations due: Wednesday, November 23

Sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development

Do you have or know an outstanding mentor?

In acknowledgment of the excellent mentoring culture at MGH, the Center for Faculty Development is sending out a call for nominations for the CFD Excellence in Mentoring Awards.

The CFD Excellence in Mentoring Awards recognize faculty and postdoctoral fellows whose mentoring has contributed to the success of other faculty and/or trainees during their careers. If you have or know an outstanding mentor who meets the criteria for one of the six awards listed below, we encourage you to nominate that person now! Nominations are due Wednesday, November 23, and the winners will be announced at the MGH Celebration of Mentoring on January 25, 2023. 

Click here for details

AVADE Training

Awareness, Vigilance, Avoidance, Defense, Escape

Charlestown Navy Yard

• November 21st 10am-1pm
• Conference Room A 1st floor

For more information: https://apollo.massgeneral.org/policeandsecurity/