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Dear Colleagues,
Greetings and Happy New Year!
Welcome to the first edition of our newsletter in 2025! We’re excited to share the latest updates with all of you. This issue is packed with valuable information, including a profile of the PIVOT program, important news, upcoming events, resources for grant writing support, and exciting funding opportunities.
A special congratulations to our newest first-time R01 awardee, Lisa Rotenstein!
As we step into 2025, we wish you all a year filled with joy, success, and good health. We look forward to continuing our collaboration and achieving great things together in the year ahead!
Diane Havlir, MD
Associate Chair for Clinical Research
David Erle, MD
Associate Chair for Biomedical Research
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First Time R01 or Equivalent Awards | |
Please let Ilona Paredes know if we inadvertently missed your K award, first R01 or equivalent award in this issue of the newsletter. We will make sure to feature your award in our next issue. | |
DOM Research Support Program Spotlight: PIVOT - Early-Stage Investigators Course | |
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The Principal InVestigator Organizational management Training (PIVOT) for Early-Stage Investigators is an interactive training course that provides foundational guidance for early-stage investigators to successfully launch their independent research programs. The course is led by Gabriel Chamie, MD, MPH, Jennifer Chen, MD, Leonard Telesca, MSOD, and Pat Wirattigowit.
We asked Jennifer Chen to tell us more about the PIVOT course.
Can you describe the format of the course and explain what aspects make it particularly effective for early-stage investigators (ESIs)?
The course consists of four sessions on Research Ecosystem, Organizational Management, Human Resources, and Finance. The instructors include PIs with expertise in basic and clinical research and DOM leaders in research and finance administration.
The sessions are highly interactive and include case studies and break-out rooms. We include examples of challenges faced by PIs and encourage participants to reflect on their own experiences and to learn from each other.
We also include office hours at the end of each session. This time is dedicated for participants to ask questions about the course material or to bring up other topics. We welcome feedback throughout the course, and we have incorporated suggestions into the curriculum.
What are the benefits for ESIs who participate in this course?
When we designed the course, we knew that many ESIs do not receive information on topics such as how to manage a research budget or how to effectively lead a research team. We aim to share practical information on these topics. We also distribute the slide decks so participants can reference the information in the future.
We also aim to build community among ESIs within the DOM. It has been highly rewarding to foster new connections between ESIs across different campuses that lead basic, clinical, and translational research programs.
As an investigator who experienced the K to R transition at UCSF, are there topics or aspects of this course that would have been helpful in establishing your research program?
Absolutely! The K to R transition is challenging and unpredictable. Each of the topics is designed to support ESIs in facilitating a smoother transition. We also include resources on grant preparation, intramural and extramural funding opportunities, and mechanisms to cover the NIH salary gap.
Applications for the course are now open, with sessions scheduled from late April to early June. For more information, please visit our website. Click the link below to apply by February 14, 2025.
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Career Development Resources | |
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PRE-Proposal Application REview (PREPARE) Program
Ongoing
While most requests for the PREPARE program focus on R01 reviews, we also offer expert reviews for a variety of award types, including New Investigator Awards, U01s, and more!
| To request a review, click here. For more information, click here. For questions, please contact Ilona Paredes. | |
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January Writing Café
Friday, January 17, 2025
Do you miss writing or working in the company of others? Do you need some protected time to write that manuscript, draft a grant section, put a presentation together, or get caught up on reading, analyze data, or just want to build community around focused writing or working?
The UCSF CAPS Developmental Core will be hosting a Writing and Focused Work Café, and you are invited! The CAPS Writing Café is open to all researchers, regardless of their area of focus, and is not limited to those conducting research related to AIDS.
Who: Faculty, trainees, and staff from any university
What: Writing and focused work retreat
When: Friday, January 17, 2025, 12 PM-3 PM Pacific time
Where: Online (Zoom link will be provided to those who RSVP)
How: Please bring a work-related project you need to complete. We will briefly share what our goals are for this time and then follow the Pomodoro technique to keep us focused by working in intervals for a total of hours with short and small breaks in between. This is a great way to boost productivity while feeling connected to each other.
Please RSVP to Mireya Avila if you would like to attend or if you have questions. We ask that you only participate if you are able to stay for the entire duration.
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Faculty Community Building 'Writer's Block'
Tuesday, February, 11, 2025
Join us for this in-person event, the first of three in 2025! This Office of Collaborative Research (OCR) event offers faculty the opportunity to write together, joining a writing-focused community of practice that fosters cross-disciplinary relationships, scholarship, and grant funding.
The workshop component of the retreat will consist of a short workshop on new NIH specific aims guidelines led by OCR Research Development Strategist and Grantwriter Dr. Gabe Murphy. The remainder of the retreat will feature dedicated writing time and the opportunity to get 1:1 help from Dr. Murphy and Dr. Françoise Chanut the Senior Scientific Editor at the Gladstone Institutes.
Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Time: 9:30 AM-1:30 PM
Note: The 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM window is for faculty. Faculty are welcome to join from 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM, as are staff, students, and postdocs.
All UCSF faculty are welcome, but space is limited, so registration via QR code is required.
For questions, please email Gabe Murphy.
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UCSF Center for Aging in Diverse Communities Scientist Program
Application is due Thursday, February 27, 2025
The CADC’s research theme focuses on understanding multilevel social and behavioral mechanisms of health disparities impacting older adults and developing interventions to achieve health equity.
A primary goal of the CADC is to mentor early-career researchers from historically underrepresented backgrounds to become successful scientists dedicated to understanding and reducing health disparities and promoting health equity in aging populations. CADC provides pilot study funding, mentoring, and comprehensive training in diverse aging and health disparities research.
CADC is now accepting applications for CADC Scientists who will conduct one-year pilot studies to investigate research questions within the scope of the center's goals, particularly among older Black/African American, Latino/a/x, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native American/American Indian populations, sexual and gender minorities of any race/ethnicity, or the intersection of disability and those populations. CADC will fund at least three Scientists with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2025 (pending IRB approval of the Scientist’s pilot study).
Applicants must be at the level of postdoctoral fellow or assistant professor at UCSF or UC Merced at the time of applying. They must also be from a racial/ethnic minority group, or a member of a sexual and gender minority group (SGM) of any race/ethnicity as defined by self-identification, or from a socioeconomically disadvantaged background of any race/ethnicity (as defined by NIH), or have a disability (as defined by NIH).
Please email Anita Ponce indicating your intent to apply by Friday, February 7, 2025, including your name, position, and a draft title.
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Arc Institute
Application is due Saturday, March 15, 2025
The Arc Institute is seeking outstanding scientists to join the Institute as Innovation Investigators. Successful applicants would be awarded $1 million in unrestricted funding over 5 years to pursue visionary ideas in curiosity-driven science and technology development. Innovation Investigators are current faculty members at three partner universities (Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UCSF) who act as intellectual bridges between the universities and the institute while maintaining their labs, employment, and appointments at their home universities. All faculty ranks (Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor) will be considered.
During the five-year appointment, Innovation Investigators benefit from access to Arc resources and facilities, including the opportunity to collaborate with Technology Centers and to use Arc scientific core facilities.
Candidates with a passion for groundbreaking research in immunology, neurobiology, or machine learning, with an emphasis on application to complex human diseases, are particularly encouraged to apply.
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UCSF Clinical Research Informatics Postdoctoral (CRISP) Fellowship
Application is due Tuesday, April 1, 2025
The Clinical Research Informatics Postdoctoral (CRISP) Fellowship provides one to two years of tailored training for clinician investigators aiming to enhance healthcare through the science of clinical research informatics.
The CRISP program is designed for clinical postdoctoral fellows with strong mentorship who are planning to submit a K award within two to three years. Applicants with backgrounds that are underrepresented in Medicine and candidates from the Schools of Nursing, Pharmacy, and Dentistry are especially encouraged to apply. All applicants must meet the following criteria:
- U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Doctoral degree in a healthcare profession
- Clinical license in a healthcare profession (allopathic or osteopathic medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, psychology, physical therapy, acupuncture, podiatry)
- Fewer than three years of prior funding through (institutional or individual) NRSA training grants
CRISP fellows obtain advanced didactic training in the methods of clinical research informatics and participate in regular work-in-progress and career development sessions. Fellows receive a stipend commensurate with their PGY/postdoctoral fellow status plus tuition assistance for didactic training. Applicant departments are responsible for covering approximately 40% of the total fellowship costs.
We welcome you to join the CRISP Info Session on Thursday, 1/30 from 5:30 PM-7:30 PM. Please contact Christian Leiva for an invitation.
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If you'd like to contribute to future newsletters, please send your items to Ilona Paredes. | |
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ReSearch ReSource Newsletter
The Office of Research delivers a monthly communication of news and resources dedicated to the research enterprise, a helpful companion to DOM Research News! Read the newsletter here.
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Copyright © 2025, University of California, San Francisco, All rights reserved.
Please send comments, suggestions, and questions to:
diane.havlir@ucsf.edu and david.erle@ucsf.edu
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