The Medical School Office of Research has shifted from the monthly publication of “Research News” to a weekly edition. Please bookmark the important links below and consider setting up email alerts to stay abreast of the latest information not only from our organization, but from UMOR.

Events around us are continuously evolving, and our team is committed to keeping you informed and supporting our research community to the utmost of our ability.

As the "ramp down" of biomedical and clinical research operations has progressed, research faculty and staff have been seeking clarity regarding how work performed relates to salary charges to grants, faculty discretionary accounts, or how projects ultimately relate to the hours in the COVID-19 benefits bank or regular exception time.

Medical School research leadership has compiled the information disseminated by campus offices into guidelines, an example, and additional information. This resource will be continuously updated as institutional policies may change to reflect our work environment during the COVID-19 ramp down.

Questions? Contact [email protected].

Many faculty and staff have expressed concern over the identification of productive remote work during the ramp down of research labs, clinical studies, and the displacement of employees from campus.  

The Medical School Office of Research and Associate Chairs for Research have compiled a list of activities that investigators may consider completing or deploying to staff that are in remote work situations. Completing any of these activities could be done without use of the established 80-hour campus bank.

Questions? Contact [email protected].

All investigators who wish to carry out new or modified research projects related to COVID-19 that involve human subjects, basic laboratory or animal research, or require significant university resources to stand up, must submit a COVID-related Research Prioritization Form to UMOR’s COVID-19 committee.

Questions? Contact [email protected].

IRBMED has shared that on March 18, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued guidance for industry, investigators, and institutional review boards conducting clinical trials during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Questions? Contact [email protected].

Due to COVID-19, the Clinical Trials Support Office has worked across business partners to ensure uninterrupted support to research study work conducted at the University of Michigan. Resources have been developed for topics such as:

Questions? Contact [email protected].

In their most recent update, the Central Biorepsotitory (CBR) announced that until further notice, they are no longer receiving regular shipments of biospecimens. However, certain projects are operating with critical status, and the CBR has made arrangements with those teams to continue to receive shipments from them.

CBR critical staff will continue to manage all controlled temperature units. Activities include ensuring delivery of liquid nitrogen to cryogenic freezers, supply of compressed gas as backups to mechanical freezers, and local and remote monitoring of temperatures. As a reminder, all critical systems in CBR are connected to the emergency power grid at NCRC, should we experience a power failure in primary systems.

Questions? Contact [email protected].

Team members from the Taubman Health Sciences Library are available to help with NIH Public Access Policy compliance. They offer web-based consultations and workshops, and email assistance to help with manuscript deposit, and managing My Bibliography accounts, or RPPR publication compliance issues.

Questions? Contact Merle Resenzweig at [email protected].

While labs have ramped down operations for the time being due to COVID-19, working on grant submissions, progress reports, manuscripts, or financial reviews will be activities you can work through while being hunkered down at home. There are several resources available to support you through the Grant Services & Analysis and UMOR websites.

IHPI has a new web page that serves as a compilation of information and updates from institute experts. The web page also houses a quick directory of health services research experts who can provide expertise in and around COVID-19 and pandemics.

Just a reminder that Health IT Services created a resource to make remote life simpler with the Tech Guide to Working Remotely . It summarizes the tools available to faculty and staff, including how to access Michigan Medicine email and files remotely, get remote desktop access, videoconferencing options, online learning tools, and much more .

Michigan Medicine Department of Communications team members are looking for photos and stories about researchers and staff who have pivoted their work during the COVID-19 ramp down.

Can you talk about a COVID-related project you're working on? Did your lab donate masks and materials to the hospital? Or perhaps you're finding new, creative ways to collaborate remotely with colleagues on campus and across the country? Your stories can offer our community, in Michigan and beyond, a behind-the-scenes perspective on how biomedical researchers at U-M are meeting the challenge of COVID-19.

Contact Kara Gavin at [email protected] with your stories and photos. The communications team may select your story to tell on various Michigan Medicine channels, now or in the future.  

To better navigate the complexities of the U-M biomedical research enterprise, visit the Research Project Lifecycle . This interactive tool provides an overview of the resources available to you, not only within the Medical School Office of Research but also across the University. The "stops" along this lifecycle are highlighted above, and more information is available online .