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Upcoming Events

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Belonging, Equity and Empowerment (BEE) Scene

Accepting Nominations! Learning about each other cultivates an inclusive environment where everyone feels empowered to contribute and succeed. Nominate a colleague for a spotlight showcasing their unique stories beyond their roles at the CFCCC. Faculty, staff, and self-nominations are encouraged.

Announcements

PIN! UCI Office of Research New Web Resource for Updates on Federal Research Agency Changes! For more information >>

Questions? Contact Nancy Lewis (nrlewis@uci.edu) or Jeff Warner (warnerj@uci.edu)

PIN! From the Office of Research: Federal Certifications and Acknowledgments

Due to shifts in the federal agency funding landscape, do not sign any certifications or acknowledgments regarding grant compliance or project activities. Instead, forward such communications to Jeff Warner, Senior Director, Sponsored Projects Administration. Authorized Organizational Representatives (AORs) in the Office of Research will handle these matters. If you have trouble getting in touch with your Sponsored Programs offices/Contracts and grants office, contact Nancy Lewis, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Administration. Learn more about the impact of federal executive orders and directives on federal grants and contracts.   

For other questions or concerns, contact Paul Lekutai, Director, Federal and Non-Federal Sponsored Projects, or Jeff Warner.

NEW! Big Data Training for Cancer Research Workshop: July 7-18, 2025

The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (CFCCC) of the University of California, Irvine is pleased to announce the annual NCI funded workshop on Big Data Training for Cancer Research (BigCARE). This intensive workshop will help cancer researchers develop skills for managing, visualizing, analyzing, and integrating various types of omics data in cancer studies. The workshop is open to oncologists, faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students.

There is no cost for registration, tuition, food, and lodging! For questions please contact bigcare@uci.edu.

Apply Now! Applications will be reviewed until all 30 spots are taken.

Attention Researchers! Our Contract with DNASTAR for Lasergene Software is Expiring Soon – Respond to Survey by March 25

The School of Medicine’s subscription for Lasergene software is expiring soon and will be canceled if we do not have evidence that it is being used. Our subscription is shared with the UC Irvine Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences. 

We are in the process of determining usage and whether we should renew the contract. The usage data is not definitive though there is indication that there is very limited usage of this software among School of Medicine researchers. Is this software a necessity for your work or is there software that is better suited to current needs? The subscription will be canceled if we do not get sufficient response to this survey by March 25. Respond to the survey here >>

Master Your Proposal: Strategies for Success

Unlock the secrets to crafting a winning proposal with this two-part informational seminar series!

Presenter: Caron Miller, Director of Contracts & Grants, UC Irvine School of Medicine

Why You Should Attend: Gain vital insights for your next successful proposal submission and learn directly from an expert in grant submissions.

Who Should Attend: All researchers at the School of Medicine looking to boost their proposal success rate. Register Now!

• Part 1: Best Practices for Building Strong and Convincing Budgets | Wednesday, March 19, Noon to 1 p.m. 
• Part 2: What Can Strengthen or Weaken Your Proposal Submission? | Wednesday, April 9, Noon to 1 p.m. 

UCI UROP Research Symposium, Call for Judges!

UROP is hosting the 2025 UC Irvine Undergraduate Research Symposium, and we would like your support in celebrating undergraduate research and creative activities. We are seeking judges to score a variety of student presentations. Your contribution will give undergraduate students the opportunity to win prizes such as the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research, a $100 gift card, and a medal. We are asking all UC Irvine faculty, graduate students, postdocs, staff, and alumni to participate as judges! Learn More about the UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Register to be a Judge by March 24!

MS-BATS Program Now Open: Excel as an Effective Clinical Researcher with a Degree in Biomedical and Translational Science



The Master of Science in Biomedical and Translational Science (MS-BATS) program trains students to conduct high-quality multidisciplinary clinical research at the intersection of basic science and clinical medicine. Learn more and apply.

Deadline: May 30, 2025

SOM Announcement: Call for Applications: Center for Clinical Research Medical Director

We are seeking applications for the medical director of the Center for Clinical Research (CCR), our multispecialty centralized clinical trial administration in the School of Medicine. We would like to thank Magi Senthil, MD, for her leadership over the past three years. She will be stepping down from this role as of June 30, 2025, to devote more time to her own research projects. To learn more about the position and to apply, please refer to this call for applications. 

NIH Career Development Grant Writing Workshop K-Club

The Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (ICTS) has coordinated a K-Club grant writing series intended for early-career faculty and postdoctoral scholars preparing to submit applications for NIH Mentored Career Development awards (i.e., K grants). These awards are designed to promote the career development of scholars looking to transition to research independence. This structured workshop series is intended for scholars preparing competitive grant applications for the June or October 2025 NIH K deadlines, but all interested applicants are welcome to register. Scholars looking for informational insight to determine if the K award mechanism is right for them are also encouraged to attend. The workshop series is broken up into four informational sessions.

Register Now!

Thursdays, April 3, 10, 17 & 24, 9 to 10:30 a.m.

Location: UCI Campus, Hewitt Hall, Large Conference Room, Room 1042

UCI Division of Continuing Education Healthcare and Public Health Analytics Online Program

The Healthcare and Public Health Analytics specialized studies program is ideal for individuals who want to pursue or advance their career in the healthcare, public health, and information and digital technology fields. The program is designed for those looking to gain analytical skills to transform data into valuable insights to support evidence-based decision making. Using data analytics in healthcare and public health settings can improve patient and population health outcomes, lower costs, improve the quality, safety, and equity of care, enhance system performance for healthcare delivery and population health management, and optimize business operations.

Learn health informatics and advanced analytics while discovering data sources and assets, digital health strategy, and data acquisition and management. Develop data mining applications for healthcare and public health to visualize, analyze, and implement informatics solutions for healthcare delivery and population health management. Study and deploy artificial intelligence and machine-learning solutions to improve patient care, population health, and business outcomes. Additional topics include clinical decision support systems, security and privacy, data governance, digital health, telehealth, and wearable devices.

Learn More and Register >>

Call for Nominations: 2025 UCI School of Medicine Research Awards

The School of Medicine Office of Research is pleased to announce our 2025 call for nominations for our fifth annual research awards to recognize research excellence and outstanding academic achievement in the UCI School of Medicine. Each awardee will receive a monetary award and an individual plaque of recognition, and their names will be added to an enduring plaque on display in Irvine Hall.

This year, we are happy to announce a new annual research award category. The new award category will recognize faculty for excellence in mentoring research trainees. There will be two awards: one for faculty in basic science research and one for faculty in clinical/translational research. In honor of our late colleague Gina Lee, PhD, we have named the award for faculty excellence in mentoring basic science research trainees “The Gina Lee Award for Excellence in Mentoring Basic Science Research Trainees.” Click here for more information.

Submit your nominations to Emily Dawidoff, edawidof@hs.uci.edu.

Deadline for Nominations: Monday, March 24, 2025

Call for Nominations: 2025 UCI School of Medicine Faculty Mentoring Awards

The Office of Academic Affairs is pleased to announce the 2025 call for nominations for our fifth annual faculty mentoring awards to recognize excellence and innovation in mentoring at UCI School of Medicine — specifically in the domain of faculty mentoring other faculty (not students). Each awardee will receive $1,500 and a plaque. Winners’ names will be added to enduring plaques displayed in Irvine Hall.

Department chair and/or mentee nominations for each award category are due by Monday, March 24, to Associate Dean Brian Cummings, cummings@hs.uci.edu, and Sophie Wong, snwong1@hs.uci.edu. Click here for more information. 

Deadline for Nominations: Monday, March 24, 2025

Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials: Career Development Award (Winn CDA)

The Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials: Career Development Award (Winn CDA)* for Early-Stage Investigator Physicians is now accepting applications for its fifth cohort of scholars. Please visit the website for more details on eligibility and the program. 

*Formerly known as the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials: Career Development Award.

Deadline: May 12, 2025

Trainee Membership & Travel Awards

Cancer Research Training & Education Coordination (CRTEC) is excited to introduce Trainee Membership - a trainee community for those involved in oncology-focused clinical training or cancer research (basic, population science, and clinical). Learn More >>

Please encourage your trainees to complete the application to unlock benefits that enhance their education and training, including eligibility for Travel Awards.

Travel Awards application deadlines: 

• January 21: For conferences between February 1 and April 30
• April 1: For conferences between May 1 and July 31
• July 1: For conferences between August 1 and October 31
• October 1: For conferences between November 1 and January 31

*Only one trainee per CFCCC member per conference may receive an award; a Letter of Support must be included in the application. 

Questions? Contact cfcccadmin@hs.uci.edu

NIH Biosketch Changes!

Starting May 25, 2025, there will be the following changes:

•Mandatory Use of SciENcv: NIH will require SciENcv for completing and certifying Common Forms (Biosketch, Current & Pending Other Support, etc.) to produce digitally certified PDFs for submissions.

•New Biographical Sketch Supplement: NIH will release a Biographical Sketch Supplement but has not published information for this supplement yet.

•ORCID Requirement: All Senior/Key Personnel must use an ORCID ID to access SciENcv and eRA Commons. For more details, visit the eRA ORCID ID FAQ page.

What you can do now to prepare:

•Log in to SciENcv: Use your eRA Commons profile from the SciENcv portal page or log into MyNCBI via PubMed. 

•Obtain an ORCID ID: Sign up at ORCID and create your profile. If you already have an ORCID ID, remember or recover your ORCID password, log into your account, update your profile, and check your publications. You can use your ORCID profile to populate your biosketch in SciENcv.

•Link ORCID ID & Add Delegates: In MyNCBI, go to Account Settings. Here you can Link Accounts: Connect your ORCID and other accounts & Add Delegates: Assign delegates to help manage your bibliography and SciENcv profiles.

•Add Publications: Import publications into your biosketch in SciENcv via MyBibliography (for PubMed publications) or ORCID (for non-PubMed publications). Learn about My Bibliography and how to add publications to your ORCID record.

•Start Early: Use the NSF format in SciENcv to create a biosketch now. You can import it into SciENcv as an existing document once the new NIH template is available.

Stay tuned — additional details to come! If you have any questions, contact the School of Medicine Research Development Unit (somrd@hs.uci.edu).

Resources: UCI Libraries page on SciENcv and ORCID | NIH’s page on the May 25, 2025 changes

Experimental Tissue Shared Resource (ETR) Offers Custom Tissue Microarray and Brightfield Whole Slides Scanning

The ETR is excited to discuss your project’s study design and tissue needs. We can now create custom tissue microarrays (TMA) with tissue you provide or human tissue remnants and scan whole histology slides at 40X. Selection of optimal representative tissue regions can be performed by our pathologist. 

We can provide histology support for special transcriptomics platforms supported by GTH Share Resource

Questions? Contact Delia Tifrea, ETR Core Manager, 714-872-1093

Biobehavioral Shared Resource (BBSR) Consultation & Comprehensive Project Request

The BBSR is excited to discuss your project’s study design and needs, as well as see how our new menu of services can best support your project goals.

During our “Consultation Meeting” we’ll learn more about your project and how the BBSR can support your team. Ready to schedule? Complete the "Consultation Request" on iLab.

Questions? Contact Jose Lechuga, BBSR Core Manager

Biostatistics Shared Resource (BSR) - In-person Walk-in or Zoom Consultations Available

Informal statistical in-person walk-in or via Zoom consultations are available to discuss your study design and statistical needs. 

With Wen-pin Chen, MS, Senior Statistician & Manager for BSR:

• Every Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday from 2:00 - 4:00 PM | Book your meeting here
• Location: 200 S Manchester Ave, Orange, CA 92868, Suite 400, Room 433 OR Zoom

New Staff & Promotions

Cynthia Dieudonne

Manager for Communications and Branded Content

cdieudon@hs.uci.edu

Cynthia brings a wealth of experience in graphic design, digital media, and strategic communications from her work at both UC Irvine and UCLA, making her a key addition to our team. Most recently she led multimedia content creation, website redesign across six engineering departments, user experience optimization, and more, at the UCI Samueli School of Engineering Dean’s Office. She is an expert in developing engaging print and digital content and will be instrumental in overseeing our website and digital presence to engage internally and externally, standardizing branded materials across the cancer center, and leading the visual and branded content design for our upcoming renewal. 

Funding Opportunities

For a curated list of internal, federal and foundation funding opportunities, please refer to CFCCC's Funding Opportunities webpage. Highlighted funding opportunities are listed below.

UCI & UC FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

DUE SOON! UCI Beall Applied Innovation Proof of Product (PoP) Spring 2025 Request for Proposals

UCI Beall Applied Innovation (BAI) has launched the Spring 2025 round of its Proof of Product program. Through this program, BAI competitively awards up to $100K for faculty researchers to advance their discoveries towards market to measurably improve lives.

Questions? Contact Matt Li, Manager, BAI Scalable Ventures (matt.li@uci.edu).

Letter of Intent: March 21, 2025

Learn More >> | Submit LOI >> | Download RFP >>

DUE SOON! School of Medicine Applications for Bridge Funding Due March 25

Please note that the next UCI Office of Research deadline for Bridge Funding is Tuesday, April 1, 2025. Complete applications must include a signed letter of support by your department chair showing financial commitment. Bridge Funding applications are due to the School of Medicine Office of Research by Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute (SSIHI) Pilot Studies Program

Eligible Projects: Integrative health research projects currently not funded and aimed at obtaining preliminary results for a full application for extramural funds will be given priority. Emphasis will be placed on innovation and transformative potential of submitted proposals. The content of proposals, while linked to applicants’ current research, should demonstrate a clear evolution towards novel, relevant, and untested research areas. An integrative health research project is defined as any project aimed at gathering evidence related to integrative approaches or therapies.

Eligibility: Principal Investigators (PIs) must be full-time UCI faculty from any school or discipline. Junior and mid-career faculty, as well as established investigators, pursuing novel research lines are encouraged to apply. Investigators must be eligible to be a Principal Investigator (PI) on a UCI IRB-approved protocol, as defined by the UCI Office of Research (Lead researchers with sponsor PIs will not be accepted). For more information on eligibility, please refer to this site.  Learn More about Eligibility >>

Deadline: May 1, 2025

Learn More and Apply >>

UCI CFCCC: A1 Bridge

Up to $20k in bridge funding to investigators who have received scores on NIH grant applications (i.e., not triaged) that have missed the funding pay line and will be resubmitted.

Applications: Due on a rolling basis

Learn More and Apply >>

FOUNDATION FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

2026-2027 Tina's Wish Team Science Grant 

The Honorable Tina Brozman Foundation (“Tina’s Wish”) is requesting Letters of Intent (LOI) for the Tina’s Wish Team Science awards for 2026-27. Tina’s Wish awards grants to researchers proposing new ideas and concepts specifically for the early detection or interception of ovarian cancer. The 2026-27 Team Science Grants are now funded at $250,000/year for two (2) years, total grant award: $500,000.

Letter of Intent: March 31, 2025

Applications: June 30, 2025

Learn More and Apply >>

2026-2027 Tina's Wish Rising Star Grant

The Honorable Tina Brozman Foundation (“Tina’s Wish”) is requesting Proposals for the Tina’s Wish Rising Star Grants for 2026-27. Tina’s Wish is committed to supporting early career researchers who bring fresh approaches to the study of the early detection or interception of ovarian cancer. The goal is to assist and support promising researchers in the ovarian cancer field and to encourage them to take risks and develop innovative projects. The 2026-27 Rising Star Grants are now funded at $100,000/year for two (2) years, total grant award: $200,000.

Applications: June 2, 2025

Learn More and Apply >>

FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

The Metastasis Research Network (MetNet): MetNet Research Projects (U01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Purpose: to provide support to promote research efforts on the use of integrative systems-level approaches to address a defined gap in metastasis research.

Letter of Intent: May 20, 2025

Applications: June 20, 2025

Learn More and Apply >>

Newsroom

Graduating medical students await Match Day

Match Day is a nationwide event held each March that celebrates the moment future physicians learn the residency programs to which they’ve been “matched” – and where they’ll first practice as doctors. While graduating medical students at UC Irvine won’t earn their M.D.s till May, this year’s participants, will gather outside the Medical Education Building at 8 a.m. on March 21, waiting for their names to be called and the envelopes containing the fateful information to be opened. Read More >>

Federal funding update



Last week, University of California President Michael Drake traveled to Washington, D.C., to advocate for UC priorities with federal policymakers – including Democrats and Republicans across the California congressional delegation – and other key partners. Drake’s meetings focused on the importance of federally funded research, educational access and affordability, and the healthcare enterprise. The visit coincided with a Tuesday announcement of layoffs by the U.S. Department of Education. These job cuts may have a significant impact on the University of California system, our K-12 partners and the individuals we serve, and we are continuing to evaluate and plan for how we will mitigate these impacts. Read More >>

Rémi Buisson, PhD (Biological Chemistry, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center member), received an NIH R21 titled, “NF-KB regulation by the DNA damage response.” Innate immunity activation in response to DNA damage is critical to recruiting immune cells and eliminating cells that are too damaged to be repaired. This proposal’s goal is to explain how cells can trigger an innate immune response in the context of DNA damage-induced transcription blockage. We propose that cells utilize an alternative signaling pathway without relying solely on gene expression to trigger an innate immune response that alerts neighboring cells of potential dangers and recruits immune cells.

More Upcoming Events

Questions? Contact us at cfcccadmin@hs.uci.edu