The CCTS Investigator            
Accelerating Discoveries Toward Better Health
June 2018    
A new collaborative initiative at the OSU CCTS is aiming to improve investigator-initiated trial operations.

Planning a multi-site clinical research trial? The national  Trial Innovation Network  (TIN) provides many resources through the Center for Clinical and Translational Science.

The NIH-funded TIN is a new national collaborative initiative aimed at improving investigator-initiated multi-site trial operations by leveraging resources and the collective expertise of Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) consortium members, which includes the OSU CCTS. The TIN’s mission is to address critical roadblocks in clinical research and accelerate the translation of novel interventions into life-saving therapies. The TIN provides complimentary services for all aspects of proposal development and execution including:

  • Efficacy to Effectiveness (E2E) consultations on clinical trial design
  • Development of robust recruitment plans and materials
  • Serving as a central IRB
  • Serving as a clinical and/or data coordinating center

The TIN has a two-fold functionality: it is a pathway connecting OSU and Nationwide Children’s Hospital investigators to potential collaborators from 63 other CTSA institutions and resources to strengthen their proposals and to execute proposals better, faster, and more cost-effectively. In addition, the TIN facilitates strategic partnerships by assisting investigators from other CTSA institutions to identify collaborators at OSU and Nationwide Children’s Hospital based on targeted feasibility assessments.

If you are developing a multi-site trial grant proposal, please contact  Angela Sow , the TIN Hub Liaison Team Administrator.

The CCTS Open House will be held on Wednesday, August 29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the 2nd floor of the Prior Health Sciences Library (260 Prior Hall, 376 West 10th Avenue) at The Ohio State University. 

All are welcome to attend to learn more about research support available for behavioral outcomes, biostatistics, clinical research, community engagement, genomics, recruitment and retention, regulatory and ethics, research evaluation, research informatics, veterinary clinical studies, and more. 

In addition, the CCTS will be raffling an Apple Watch Series 3 to one lucky attendee.

The Blue Buffalo Veterinary Clinical Trials Office (BBVCTO) at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine is celebrating its second year of partnership, making it possible to support studies of novel therapies that improve the health of both animals and people.  

The BBVCTO is a Shared Resource of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and part of the Comparative Animal Core (CAC), which is a Shared Resource supported by the CCTS. The office provides guidance with respect to clinical trial design, including formulation of a testable hypothesis, determination of patient entry criteria, selection of appropriate toxicity assessments, review of appropriate statistical endpoints, and development of accurate budgets.  

“Our partnership with Blue Buffalo has made it possible for us to provide support for studies that test new diagnostic tests and treatments across a wide spectrum of pet health including cancer, renal failure, heart disease and arthritis,” said Cheryl London , DVM, PhD, director of the Clinical Trials Office and professor of veterinary biosciences. “Clinical trials in veterinary medicine are critical for identifying new approaches to more effectively detect and treat diseases in the pets we love. They also have the added benefit of advancing outcomes for people with similar diseases.”

In the past year, the BBVCTO assisted with the design and management of over 30 clinical trials, enabling 300 client-owned pets to participate in studies which provide hope for extending the lives of dogs and cats through advanced treatments.

StudySearch was created to enhance visibility and participation in research studies conducted throughout OSU and NCH. With approximately 40,000 site visits in the past year, it provides an easy way for potential study participants to find basic, descriptive information about openly recruiting research studies and trials and provides them with contact information to learn more.

Researchers with an IRB approved study that are currently seeking volunteers can  f ollow these directions   to  submit a study  within StudySearch to ensure their study is listed on StudySearch. No additional IRB oversight is necessary to list your study. 

On Saturday, June 2, over 100 researchers, doctors and public health professionals gathered at the Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration’s (CLIC) Un-Meeting to discuss how to best address this crisis through translational science and research. Dr. Kathryn Lancaster represented the OSU CCTS, along with attendees from more than 40 institutions, agencies and companies from across the country, who brought varied expertise in a wide range of topics: non-pharmacological pain management, implementation science, high-risk youth and other populations, quality of care, clinical trials, telemedicine, mobile health, community engagement, health policy, and primary and integrated care.

CLIC is the coordinating center for the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program. The program provides a one-stop-shop for all clinical and translational science needs. On their website, users can find job and collaboration opportunities, training materials, research tools, data sets and more – everything you need for your research is just a CLIC away.

Visit CLIC's website to see presentations from the un-meeting, and a recap of the topics discussed.
The Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science , in conjunction with Nationwide Children’s Hospital , is co-sponsoring an upcoming Team Science Workshop.

Team science is a collaborative effort to address a scientific challenge that leverages the strengths and expertise of professionals trained in different fields. 

The workshops and topics are as follows:

  • Team Science 101
  •  "Preparing Yourself for Collaboration". July 17th, 9 AM - 11:30 AM
  • Team Science 102
  •  "Strengthening Team Dynamics". July 24th, 9 AM - 11:30 AM
  • Team Science 103 and 104
  •  "Understanding Conflict in Teams and A Feedback Model for Teams". July 31st, 8 AM - 2 PM

Enrollment for these workshops is limited to 24 participants.  If you are interested in attending, please RSVP by July 10th. 


The Office of Responsible Research Practices and the Center for Clinical and Translational Science are offering a workshop on current human subjects research “hot” topics. The session will:

·      Present regulatory updates
·      Explain Ohio State’s implementation of recent human subjects research changes
·      Review best practices and available resources

While the session will be tailored to medical researchers, anyone preparing IRB submissions is welcome. The workshop will be held on Tuesday, July 17th, from 8am to 9:30am in James Cancer Hospital, Room L035, 460 West Tenth Avenue. For more information, please contact Sandra Meadows .

Do you dream of opening your own practice? Have an idea for a revolutionary health-related product or service? Turn your ideas into reality at our Healthcare Innovation and Entrepreneurship Workshop, September 13-14 at The Longaberger Alumni House.
 
Our experts will teach you how to:
  • Develop a business plan
  • Create a new, innovative role within an existing organization
  • Lead innovation and entrepreneurship principles in your healthcare organization
  • Successfully manage family and work expenses as an entrepreneur
  • Determine if your business will be profitable
  • Pitch your ideas

In addition, attendees have an opportunity to showcase thier work on improving the health and well-being of the world through health care innovation at the workshop. If you're an excited individual interested in sharing your innovation by presenting a poster and/or product during the reception, please contact Liz McClurg .

Nationwide Children’s Hospital has become home to the most innovative clinical trials in the nation, and oftentimes, globally. In an effort to create an intellectual community to foster compliance and lower institutional risk, NCH is offering an expanded clinical research course series on a variety of topics. Individuals completing all sessions will receive a certificate of Clinical Research Competency.

Courses will be held in the main Clinical Research Conference Room located on the 6 th  floor of the Tower building (T 6220) unless otherwise noted, and are eligible for CE credits with ACRP or SoCRA.

For more information on 2018 courses, dates offered, and registration, please visit  the ANCHOR website (this is a NCH Internal Site) for the Clinical Research Competency Series.
If you are thinking about your next research project, we encourage you to schedule a research funding consult and learn how to use SPIN, an extensive research funding opportunity database. SPIN contains over 40,000 opportunities from more than 10,000 sponsors. With SPIN, you will learn how to:
 
  • Create and save customized searches that generate daily email funding alerts
  • Organize and share funding announcements with colleagues
  • Access an extensive Keyword list, allowing for greater flexibility in your searches
  • Quickly locate Federal or non-Federal programs
  • Locate all types of funding information, e.g., travel grants, fellowships, and other sponsored programs
 
All Ohio State faculty, staff, and students are able to create an account in SPIN. Please visit  http://go.osu.edu/funding  for step-by-step instructions.
For years researchers have used the  Matchmaker   feature in  NIH RePORTER  to identify NIH-funded projects similar to their supplied abstracts, research bios, or other scientific text. Matchmaker was recently enhanced to make it just as easy to identify NIH program officials whose portfolios include projects in your research area.

After entering your scientific text (up to 15,000 characters), Matchmaker will analyze the key terms and concepts to identify up to 500 similar projects. Those projects will continue to show on the Projects tab with handy charts to visualize the results and quickly filter identified projects by Institute/Center, Activity Code, and Study Section. A new Program Official tab identifies the program officials associated with the matched projects and includes its own filters for Institute/Center and Activity Code. From the list of program officials you are one click away from their contact information and matched projects in their portfolios. Never before has it been so easy to answer the question “Who at NIH can I talk to about my research?”

The OSU Office of Research provides a campus-wide subscription to an excellent newsletter on Research Grantwriting News. Writers are experts in research/proposal development and this resource should be required reading for anyone preparing a grant proposal. Recommendations are especially helpful to those who are new to grant writing or want to enhance their grantsmanship skills.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced an  Interim Final Rule That Delays Both the Effective Date and General Compliance Date of the Revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects  (the Common Rule) for a minimum of six months with future delay possible.

The Regulatory Guidance for Academic Research of Drugs and Devices (ReGARDD) Program offers an innovative and organized platform in which regulatory expertise can be shared across academic intuitions. ReGARDD provides academic researchers with the regulatory tools and resources necessary to successfully navigate the pathway from discovery to clinical implementation of new drugs, biologics and medical devices. We use a two-pronged approach:
 
  • A shared CTSA website that is comprised of helpful tools, templates, decision trees, and educational resources to support academic investigators’ regulatory needs,
  • A regional forum of regulatory experts from the four institutions involved in the program. The role of the forum is to strengthen the regulatory affairs workforce at each institution by providing exposure to a broad array of regulatory knowledge and a platform to share best practices, and discuss complex regulatory issues.

The ReGARDD program is a collaboration between the regulatory affairs specialists from North Carolina Institutions that receive funding from the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program. These CTSA hub institutions are the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and partner RTI International, Duke University, and the Wake Forest School of Medicine.
 
Save the Date: ATRN Summit
Save the date for the seventh annual Appalachian Translational Research Network Summit on September 20 and 21, 2018 at the University of Kentucky.

Last year's ATRN Summit, held at Pennsylvania State University, focused on identifying new areas of research and collaboration to help with addressing the significant health challenges and disparities to Appalachia. ATRN institution members had an opportunity to share best practices in the area of community engagement and new and exciting research projects in Appalachia.

If you are interested in becoming an individual member of the ATRN or would like to receive updates and registration information for next year's summit, please contact Jeff Grever.
NCATS seeks scientific investigators from the NIH intramural and extramural communities, as well as those from the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, to collaborate on projects through its Stem Cell Translation Laboratory (SCTL). T he next proposal deadline is July 1, 2018.
 
The SCTL is a state-of-the-art research facility designed to address the scientific and technological challenges in the induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) field. NCATS’ dynamic multidisciplinary staff apply their diverse scientific expertise to iPSC characterization and utilization.

The NIH announces this year’s Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program. This is a competitive opportunity for early-stage physician-scientists to conduct independent clinical and translational research as tenure-track investigators at the NIH and in academia. It was established in 2011 to create career research opportunities for physician-scientists (it also includes dental and nurse scientists) and is targeted to outstanding post-fellowship physicians and other clinicians with strong research interests and credentials.

Funding provides full research and salary support for 5+ years at the NIH followed by three years in academia (up to $500,000/year) or continued appointment in the NIH intramural program. This program also allows for the opportunity for academic institutional affiliation while at the NIH. The deadline for applications is  August 31, 2018 . The general start date for the positions is summer 2019, but this is flexible. More information can be found at our website or by email to Dr. Chuck Dearolf .
The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)  at the National Institutes of Health invites small businesses to apply for funding through the  Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)  2018 Omnibus Grant Solicitations:

 
NCATS encourages applications that address a range of focus areas relevant to any stage of translation, from target validation through pre-clinical and clinical evaluation, to intervention implementation and dissemination, including:

  • Drug Discovery and Development 
  • Biomedical, Clinical and Health Research Informatics 
  • Clinical, Dissemination and Implementation Research 
 
The next deadline to apply is Sept. 5, 2018, 5:00 p.m. local time.

The Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) is committed to advancing infectious diseases and microbiology research. IDI seed grants are intended to foster interdisciplinary collaborative efforts and to enhance competitiveness for defined extramural support.

Funding provided by IDI should be thought of as a “venture capital initiative,” invested for the purposes of growth and return on investment (ROI). Therefore, it is important that requests provide sufficient rationale and evidence for the strong probability of success in near-future extramural funding applications and clearly articulate how funding will benefit the efforts of the IDI. 

The OSU CCTS is excited to announce that The OSU Office of Research’s CarmenWiki listing of all internal funding opportunities has been updated with a new column titled “ Includes Human Health ”. Thanks to Jeff Agnoli and his team, this resource will now help translational scientists to quickly find grants that are applicable to human health.

Funding Opportunities from the NIH.

Read about the latest translational science news, opportunities, and announcements in the latest edition of the NCATS e-Newsletter and the NIH's Weekly Funding Notice.



Learn more about PCORI through their blog, video room, news releases, and other resources.

Discover the latest news in translational science and grant opportunities from the Association for Clinical and Translational Science's monthly newsletter. 

When you sign up as a member of the OSU CCTS, you are entitled to become a member of The Association for Clinical and Translational Science at no cost .

As a member of the ACTS, you have access to a wide variety of benefits and tools to assist you with your research. These benefits include:

  • Discounted registration for the Translational Science Meeting
  • Email updates and web access to relevant translational science topics
  • Access to the ACTS newsletter, the ACTS Connection
  • Access to articles in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, published by Cambridge University Press
  • Opportunities for development and participation in committees and special interest groups