MGH Research News for August 2, 2024

August 2, 2024

Announcements, events, funding opportunities and more news for the Mass General Research Institute community.

In this edition:

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

Funding Opportunities

NEW CORT Pilot & Feasibility Award
NEW Center for Musculoskeletal Research Requests Proposal for Pilot and Feasibility Studies
NEW NIMH Instrumentation Program
Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine
Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Pilot Study Grants
Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards
Limited Submission Funding
Foundation Funding Opportunities

Announcements:

NEW Mass General Brigham Research Hub Website
Call for Posters, Clinical Research Day

Events:

NEW Learn Something New: Training a New Hire
Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research: Conducting Dyadic Qualitative Research
Reading a Clinical Research Protocol: Where to Begin?
Study Monitoring- Preparing for a Visit and Working with Monitors
NEW Conquering the K Workshop
NEW MGB Cancer Forum
NEW The Center for Suicide Research and Prevention Annual Conference
4th Annual Conference on Precision Psychiatry
NEW The Lowdown on the HMS Teaching Requirement and Fulfilling Ways to Fulfill It
NEW MGRI & Chen Research Symposium
2024 Virtual Tumor Course
Mentoring the Mentors Workshop
Two Meditation Sessions available every week

NEW CORT Pilot & Feasibility Award

The Center of Research Translation on Osteoporosis Bone Anabolic Therapies (CORT), based in the Endocrine Unit at MGH, and funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (NIAMS) P50 mechanism is announcing a request for Pilot and Feasibility Research proposals ($30,000/year direct costs plus 15% indirect costs). This announcement is directed to faculty proposing highly focused research projects that address mechanisms of action of osteoporosis bone anabolic therapies using preclinical or clinical models. Specifically, pilot and feasibility funding is encouraged to be used to support development of novel technologies that contribute to this goal. Awardees will be expected to present progress to CORT members biannually and provide a written annual report.

LETTER OF INTENT DUE: FRIDAY, SEPT 13th at 5PM EST

Learn more

NEW Center for Musculoskeletal Research Requests Proposal for Pilot and Feasibility Studies

The Center for Musculoskeletal Research (CSR), based in the Endocrine Unit at MGH, and funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (NIAMS) is announcing a request for Pilot and Feasibility Research proposals ($35,000/year), NO RENEWALS ARE ALLOWED. The Awardees will be expected to present progress to CSR members biannually and provide a written annual report.

LETTER OF INTENT DUE: MONDAY AUGUST 19, 2024, 5PM EST

Learn more

NEW NIMH Instrumentation Program

The NIMH Instrumentation Program (S10) encourages applications from NIH funded investigators that conduct mental health-related research to purchase or upgrade a single commercially available instrument or a group of components to create an instrument that is not commercially available. There is no maximum limit on the cost of the instrument, though the amount awarded by the NIH will be between $200,000 and $600,000. Examples of instruments that might be submitted under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) include light microscopes, electron microscopes, spectrophotometers, and biomedical imagers.

If you are interested in applying for this grant, please fill out this NIMH S10 application and confirmation of endorsement form and return it to ecor@mgh.harvard.edu by Wednesday, September 4, 2024. We encourage applicants to continue working on their NIH application while ECOR reviews your internal LOI.

The MGH Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) will commit funding to provide institutional support for NIMH S10 proposals. ECOR has made this commitment because it recognizes that institutional support greatly increases the likelihood that a S10 will be funded.

The NIH deadline for applications is October 9, 2024, so we would greatly appreciate your notification of interest as soon as possible.

Learn more

Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine

The Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine, presented by the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals – part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development – honors a physician-scientist who has moved science forward with notable achievements in innovation, creativity and potential for clinical application.

This annual prize includes:

An unrestricted $20,000 honorarium
The Harrington Prize Lecture, delivered at the 2025 AAP/ASCI/APSA Joint Meeting
Lecture at the 2025 Harrington Discovery Institute Symposium
A personal essay, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation

This prize requires an institutional nomination; however, MGH is not limited in the number of nominees we can submit. If you are interested, please contact MGH ECOR at ecor@mg.harvard.edu by August 14, 2024 to be considered.

Learn more

Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Pilot/feasibility Study Grants

FUNDING POLICIES: Awards will be between $35,000-50,000 Direct Costs plus Indirect Costs. Recipients of PFS grants will be expected to utilize at least one CSIBD Biomedical Core CSIBD Cores (massgeneral.org), present the progress of their PFS during the CSIBD Annual Workshop and Symposium held in November, provide a written interim progress report during the first year of the project and a final progress report after the completion of the project, and acknowledge support from the CSIBD (P30DK043351) on presentations and manuscripts resulting from the PFS project.

DEADLINE: September 30th 2024

FUNDING PERIOD: Rolling. 12 month period.

Learn more

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship program provides funding to the very best postdoctoral applicants, both nationally and internationally, who will positively contribute to the country's economic, social and research-based growth. The award is designed for Canadian Citizens, permanent residents of Canada and foreign citizens of Canada.

The objective of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship program is to:

attract and retain top-tier postdoctoral talent, both nationally and internationally
develop their leadership potential
position them for success as research leaders of tomorrow

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship is a stipend of $70,000 (taxable) per year for 2 years and does not support indirect costs (IDC).

MGH Internal Application Deadline: Friday, August 9, 2024 at 5pm

Learn more

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.

Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Organizational Research Education Award to Promote Diversity (UE5 – Clinical Trial Not Allowed) – NEW!

MGH LOI Deadline: 8/09/24

Learn more

G. Harold & Leila Y. Mathers Foundation Grants

MGH LOI Deadline: 8/12/24

Learn more

Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) (T32)

MGH LOI Deadline: 8/14/24

Learn more

Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers (P30 Clinical Trial Optional)

MGH LOI Deadline: 8/15/24

Learn more

Foundation Funding Opportunities

Please contact Corporate & Foundation Relations in the Office of Development at devcfr@mgh.harvard.edu if you wish to submit a proposal in response to any of these opportunities. Note that proposals are still routed through the standard InfoEd/Research Management process.

For all open foundation funding announcements, see the MGB Innovation External Funding Database

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES:

See this week’s full foundation funding announcements (including eligibility, RM deadlines, and IDC) on our website.

NEW! Research to Enhance the Impact and Diversification of Psychology and Law Research (multiple funding levels), American Psychological Association (APA). $50,000 (No IDC). LOI Deadline: October 15
Strategic Research Award (multiple funding levels), American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM)/American Sleep Medicine Foundation (ASMF). $250,000 (8% IDC). LOI Deadline: October 21
Joel J. Roslyn Faculty Research Award, Association for Academic Surgery (AAS). $50,000 (No IDC). Application Deadline: August 30
NEW! Development Of Devices And Drugs For Fully Automated Insulin Delivery At Meals (multiple funding levels), Breakthrough T1D. $2 million (10% IDC). LOI Deadline: September 17
Parker B. Francis Fellowship Programme in Pulmonary Research, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. $225,000 (No IDC). Application Deadline: October 10
Edward N. and Della L. Thome Memorial Foundation Awards Program in Age-Related Macular Degeneration Research, Health Resources in Action (HRiA). $500,000 (No IDC). Preliminary Proposal Deadline: August 22
Research Grant and Award Programs (multiple opps), Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF). $300,000 (No IDC). LOI Deadline: August 12
Collaborative Pediatric Cancer Research Awards Program (multiple opps), Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. $200,000 (No IDC). LOI Deadline: September 13
NEW! Mental Health Award: Accelerating scalable digital mental health interventions, Wellcome Trust. £7 million (≈$9 million) (15% IDC). Application Deadline: December 2
NEW! Advancing Disability Justice in Public Health (research and programmatic), Working for Inclusive and Transformative Healthcare (WITH) Foundation. $100,000 (28% IDC). Application Deadline: August 15

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.

NEW Mass General Brigham Research Hub Website

We are pleased to announce that the Mass General Brigham Research Hub website is now live at https://researchhub.mgb.org /! The Research Hub is the new home for Mass General Brigham Research Compliance and Mass General Brigham Research Education and Training. Our offices have worked with Mass General Brigham Digital to create this site to serve as the single source of truth for our research compliance and research education offices for all of Mass General Brigham. We are in the process of updating individual websites across the system to redirect users to this new single source. Please visit the Research Hub and let us know what you think!

Please Note: Research Hub is NOT replacing the Research Navigator site. All other research oversight and support offices will remain on the Navigator site.

Call for Posters, Clinical Research Day

The Division of Clinical Research would like to thank you for participating in this year’s Clinical Research Day (CRD). Abstract submission is now closed. We have begun accepting poster submissions. The abstract book will be compiled and available at CRD on October 10, 2024.

Poster Submission is due by Sunday, September 15, 2024.

An astounding 218 submissions have expressed interest in presenting a poster this year. This is a truly heartening level of interest that aptly exemplifies the strength of the research community here at MGH.

See these events and more on the calendar of events

NEW Learn Something New: Training a New Hire

August 1, 2024, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm, Virtual

Speaker: Preeti Paul, Quality Assurance Manager, Neurology, MGH

This talk will walk you through the strategic use of a structured onboarding process and share some key techniques that you can use for helping new hires adjust to the workplace and performance aspects of their new jobs quickly and smoothly.

Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research: Conducting Dyadic Qualitative Research

August 5, 2024, 9:00 am - 10:00 am, Virtual

Speaker: Lara Traeger, PhD

This one-session course will assist clinical researchers in conducting qualitative research involving participant dyads (such as patient/family caregiver or parent/child). We will 1) discuss the unique benefits of conducting research with dyads in the healthcare context; 2) review study designs and procedures for collecting individual and dyadic data per dyad; and 3) address methods for managing, coding, and analyzing dyadic data. A working knowledge of qualitative research methods is recommended for attendees.

Learn Something New: Reading a Clinical Research Protocol: Where to Begin?

August 7, 2024, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm, Virtual

Speaker: Stacey Ellender, PhD, Senior Clinical Research Regulatory Compliance and Education Manager, Mass Eye and Ear

One of the very first things a new clinical research coordinator is asked to do is read a study protocol. Depending on the complexity and number of protocols, along with a limited time for review, this can seem daunting. However, there are useful strategies one can employ to become a more efficient reader. The goal of this session is to present strategies for reading research protocols both critically and efficiently.

Learn Something New: Study Monitoring- Preparing for a Visit and Working with Monitors

August 8, 2024, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm, Virtual

Speaker: Preeti Paul, Quality Assurance Manager, Neurology, MGH

Attend this talk to know what to expect when you are expecting a monitoring visit! The presentation will provide an overview of the types of monitoring visits, what takes place during these visits, as well as practical approaches to meet the complex monitoring requirements.

NEW Conquering the K Workshop

August 12, 2024, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm, Virtual

Speaker: Karen Miller, MD, Chief, Neuroendocrine Unit, MGH

This is a workshop for NIH Career Development Grants or K Grants applicants. Bring one section of your upcoming K grant to review and discuss with fellow applicants and one of our experienced faculty! Please sign up for the Conquering the K Course to review basic information on K grants and specific pieces. It is highly recommended that you take this course before attending the workshops.

NEW MGB Cancer Forum

September 9, 2024, 12:00 -1:00 pm, Virtual

We are delighted to launch the MGB Cancer Forum “snap-talk” series, which will be held virtually, starting September 9, 2024, and then on the first and third Monday of each month from 12:00-1pm (with alternative dates for holidays).

This new series builds on the past three years of success with the popular MGH Cancer Forum, which we are now expanding as an introductory, community-building zoom seminar series across MGB Cancer. Our format involves three 12-minute talks, each followed by a moderated Q/A. Speakers for the MGB Cancer Forum are drawn from lab-based cancer research faculty at MGH and BWH, with the goal of including all investigators at our institutions within a two-to-three-year rotation.

NEW The Center for Suicide Research and Prevention (CSRP) Annual Conference

September 18, 2024, 9:00 – 2:00 PM, Virtual

The Center for Suicide Research and Prevention (CSRP) at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University is the NIH’s newest practice-based center for suicide research. We are a multidisciplinary center aimed at advancing and implementing innovative research. The CSRP is hosting a free, virtual conference that aims to share the expertise of scientists, clinicians, and community leaders shaping the future of suicide prevention. The event will be held virtually on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 from 9 AM – 2 PM EST via Zoom.

10th Annual World Medical Innovation Forum

September 23-25, 2024

Presented by Mass General Brigham and Bank of America, the 2024 World Medical Innovation Forum will focus on three major investment and scientific growth areas—oncology, rare disease, and immunology and inflammation. At the Forum, you’ll have direct access to speakers and peers including dozens of leading CEOs, senior investors, entrepreneurs, government officials, and prominent Harvard clinicians and scientists.

We look forward to welcoming you to Boston—the hub of biotech—and the state-of-the-art meeting center at the top-rated Encore Boston Harbor September 23–25.

NEW The Lowdown on the HMS Teaching Requirement and Fulfilling Ways to Fulfill It

Tuesday, September 24, 2024, 12:00 – 1:00 pm, Zoom

Attend this panel discussion to gain clarity on what constitutes teaching and awareness of existing opportunities and ways to grow as a teacher. The goal of this session is for faculty to develop meaningful and fulfilling teaching responsibilities.

Panelists:

Bernard S. Chang, MD, Dean for Medical Education

Grace C. Huang, MD, Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Medicine, HMS

Alberto Puig, MD, PhD, FACP, SFHM, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education and the Morton Swartz MD Academy Associate Professor of Medicine, HMS

Rosalind Segal, MD, PhD, Dean for Graduate Education and Professor of Neurobiology, HMS

4th Annual Conference on Precision Psychiatry

Innovation to Implementation

September 26-27, 2024

The Annual Conference on Precision Psychiatry, hosted by the MGH Center for Precision Psychiatry, is becoming a leading venue for showcasing advances in the application of precision medicine approaches to psychiatric research and clinical practice. The Conference will be held virtually over the course of two days: Thursday, September 26th and Friday, September 27th, 2024.

Earn 7 continued education credits for participating this year!

NEW MGRI & Chen Research Symposium

October 16, 2024, 9:00 - 12:00 PM, Simches Research Center

Learn how researchers and clinicians are using the latest in artificial intelligence technology to advance our understanding of disease, improve patient care and streamline healthcare delivery at Massachusetts General Hospital, in the communities we serve and across the globe.

2024 Virtual Tumor Course

Monday, October 28, 2024 – Thursday, October 31, 2024

39th Critical Issues in Tumor Microenvironment: Angiogenesis, Metastasis and Immunology

For comprehensive information about this course, including faculty, schedule, and pricing, please visit the 39th Critical Issues in Tumor Microenvironment: Angiogenesis, Metastasis and Immunology website

The “39th Annual Critical Issues in Tumor Microenvironment: Angiogenesis, Metastasis and Immunology” course will continue to offer the best in critical analysis of what is currently known about the tumor microenvironment, angiogenesis, metastasis, immunology. This will include chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies, tumor metabolism, and the role of microbiome.

Mentoring the Mentors Workshop

October 28-29, 2024

The 2-day in person workshop features didactic and interactive sessions on practical tips for mentoring including sessions on the meaning of mentorship, leadership styles, emotional intelligence, distance mentoring, team-based mentoring, individual development plans, funding sources for mentoring efforts, time managemenet and teaching work-life balance to mentees.