Vol. 17 | December 2022 – 4 minute read

First Three Years: Special Grant Incentive

Launched in September 2019, the Special Grant Incentive (SGI) program encourages faculty to further pursue federal research grants to advance scientific discoveries and benefit our patients.

Under the SGI program, faculty members who are awarded a second or third federally funded research grant receive an incentive of $10,000 either as personal compensation or as discretionary academic or laboratory development funds. Eligible grants are two or more years in duration, provide at least $100,000 of direct cost per year, and convey full indirect costs.

In the first three years of the SGI program, the number of eligible federal grants has greatly exceeded historic projection. The number of new awards, in particular, has nearly tripled since FY19 in each of last two years.

Direct and indirect funds associated with the federal grants that have received SGIs since the program's inception have totaled $528 million over the duration of the grants.

A total of 165 faculty from 38 departments and centers have received SGIs. The Department of Internal Medicine has received 45 SGIs, followed by Molecular Biology with 26, and Neuroscience with 16.

The success of the SGI program set the precedent for launching the Collaborative Research Grant Incentive (CRGI) program in FY23 which seeks to stimulate team science and collaborative research such as NIH P and U grants. More details are available online.

Support for Training Grants

To recognize and encourage the effort involved in obtaining and successfully managing federal training grants, faculty members serving as contact principal investigators (PI) of

R-25 or R-38 grants will be eligible to receive $5,000 in annual supplemental administrative compensation (SAC) for the duration of the grant.

The newly approved SAC payment expands institutional support for faculty managing federal training grants, which currently covers PIs of

T-32 grants.

More details are available online.

Faculty Announcements

UT System Medical School Deans’ Meeting

Dr. W. P. Andrew Lee, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Provost, and Dean of UT Southwestern Medical School, hosted the deans of the UT System medical schools and the executive leadership from the UT System Health Affairs and Academic Affairs on Nov. 28-29.

The gathering included presentations by UTSW faculty leaders and tours of William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital, the Cancer Care Outpatient Building, the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute laboratories, the Cryo-Electron Microscopy facility, and BioLabs at Pegasus Park.

Pictured, from left: Dr. Robert A. Hromas, Dean, UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine; Dr. John Hancock, Executive Dean, UT Health Houston McGovern Medical School; Dr. Michael B. Hocker, Dean, UT Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine; Dr. Lee; Dr. John M. Zerwas, UT System Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs; Dr. Jeffrey Susman, Interim Dean, UT Medical Branch at Galveston John Sealy School of Medicine; Dr. Claudia F. Lucchinetti, Dean, UT Austin Dell Medical School; and Dr. Brigham C. Willis, Founding Dean, UT Tyler School of Medicine.

Leadership Emerging in Academic Departments' Capstone Winners

The graduation ceremony for the 2022 class of the Leadership Emerging in Academic Departments (LEAD) program was held last week. During the event, the LEAD 2022 Capstone Dean’s Award Winners were announced (pictured above, from left): Dr. Maria Bano, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics; Dr. Don Gammon, Assistant Professor of Microbiology; Dr. Suntrea Hammer, Associate Professor of Pathology; Dr. Lenette Lu, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Immunology; and Dr. Benjamin Sabari, Assistant Professor in the Cecil H. and Ida Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences and the Department of Molecular Biology.

New Chairs' Reception

The New Chairs' Reception honoring Dr. Jorge Bezerra, Chair of Pediatrics; Dr. Robert Timmerman, Chair of Radiation Oncology; and Dr. William Prinz, Chair of Cell Biology; took place Nov. 14.

Pictured, from left

Dr. W. P. Andrew Lee,

Dr. Bezerra, Dr. Timmerman, Dr. Prinz and Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, President of UT Southwestern.

Thank You for Taking the Faculty Engagement Survey

Thank you to all the faculty members who completed the recent StandPoint Faculty Engagement Survey. The survey closed with a 70% response rate, exceeding the average response rate of 65% in AAMC institutions.

The Association of American Medical Colleges will share results with UT Southwestern in January 2023. The findings will be published in subsequent editions of this newsletter.

We appreciate your feedback and look forward to using this insight to guide efforts to better support you as you support UTSW's missions of clinical, research, and educational excellence.

Open Research and Contributor ID

Multiple federal funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, are strongly encouraging research faculty to obtain an Open Research and Contributor ID (ORCiD).

This persistent digital identifier distinguishes individual investigators and allows them to connect with their contributions to science over time.

The UT Southwestern Health Sciences Digital Library and Learning Center has a dedicated site that explains how to register for an ORCID iD and connect your ORCiD account to UTSW.

Application period opens for Biomedical Prep

Biomedical Preparatory at UT Southwestern is now accepting applications for fall 2023. The school serves children entering prekindergarten through second grade. This partnership between Dallas Independent School District and UT Southwestern provides a positive learning environment and introduces biomedical science to young learners. Additional benefits of this site include engaging after-school programming and options for early drop-off and late pickup. Start an online application for Biomedical Prep and all DISD schools now through January 2023. Read more.

Important Dates and Upcoming Events

School of Health Professions Commencement

UT Southwestern’s School of Health Professions will honor 119 graduates during its commencement ceremony.

Dec. 11 at 2 p.m. in the Tom and Lula Gooch Auditorium

Faculty Coach Certificate Program

Applications are open for the second cohort of the Faculty Coach Certificate Program. The 10-month program is set to start in March 2023.

Apply by Dec. 13.

Call for Abstracts and Emerging Ideas: Simulation Center Forum

The UT Southwestern Simulation Center will hold its annual Quality Improvement and Research Forum on May 17, 2023, bringing together individuals from various backgrounds who share a common interest in health care simulation, quality improvement, and research.

The deadline to submit abstracts and emerging ideas is Dec. 16.

Call for Abstracts: 2023 Celebration of Women in Science and Medicine Poster Session

The Women in Science and Medicine Advisory Committee (WISMAC) is accepting abstracts in basic science, clinical/translational research, and public health/education research for a poster session on April 5, 2023, following the Ida M. Green Visiting Professorship University Lecture.

Abstract submission deadline is Dec. 31.

Successfully Obtaining an R (SOAR) Grant Program

The SOAR grantsmanship program provides junior faculty conducting basic, translational, or clinical research the opportunity to work with a coach to craft a fundable proposal.

Apply by Jan. 17, 2023.

Staying Connected, Informed, and Involved

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