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Dear Colleagues,
This month's edition is packed with information for our research community. We hope you scroll through it all to learn about recent K awardees, the Diversity in Bench Science (DiBS) program, upcoming events, funding opportunities, and more. As explained below, we are also reaching out to you for your recommendations of professional grant writing services that could be useful to DOM investigators. Congratulations, as usual, to our award recipients!
Alyssa Tecklenburg recently left DOM after working closely with us for five years in her role as Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives. We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for the many contributions that she made in this role. Her dedication and passion for advancing our research initiatives have truly been inspiring. She’s not only spearheaded projects such as PIVOT and supported PREPARE with remarkable expertise, but also fostered a collaborative spirit within our team. We want to thank Alyssa for her unwavering support, innovative ideas, and countless hours dedicated to our mission as she embarks on her next adventure as a member of the Information Technology Academic Research Services group. We wish Alyssa all the best in her future endeavors, and we are delighted that Danielle Mizuiri has joined our team and will be working closely with us to support DOM research.
All the best,
Diane Havlir, MD, Associate Chair for Clinical Research
David Erle, MD, Associate Chair for Biomedical Research
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Career Development 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 | |
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DOM Diversity in Bench Science (DiBS) program
This month, we highlight the DiBS Program, an award administered by the Department of Medicine to DOM PIs based upon their potential to enhance the DOM’s commitment to a diverse faculty, other qualifications and accomplishments, and commitment to a career in bench research. Scholars are guaranteed a salary plus up to $70,000 additional funding for four years of bench research training conducted during and immediately following completion of a UCSF DOM ACGME fellowship. Molecular Medicine Residency and Fellowship applicants can be nominated by program directors and those selected by the DiBS selection committee are notified about the program prior to the match. A total of 24 scholars have been accepted into the program since its inception seven years ago.
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Neil Pravin Shah, MD, PhD, a DiBS director, explains that “The DiBS program plays a vital role in attracting lab-based physician-scientist trainees who share UCSF’s commitment to diversity. We are very excited to see these scholars thriving in our robust scientific environment and to welcome some of them to our faculty. We are hopeful that they will inspire more diverse representation in the future amongst individuals pursuing physician-scientist careers in the bench sciences.”
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Commitment to Diversity and Mentorship
DiBS Scholar Arielle Klepper, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Division of Gastroenterology at UCSF Health, found the DiBS program to be pivotal in her career development. “Being selected to participate in the DiBS program was a signal that the Department of Medicine was making an investment in me as a trainee,” she said. This support was impactful in her decision to remain at UCSF for a gastroenterology fellowship. “The network continues to be invaluable for career guidance as a junior faculty member at UCSF,” she added.
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Another DiBS scholar, John Huizar, MD, assistant professor in the Division of Rheumatology at ZSFG, shared a similar experience, noting, “Because of the investment the DiBS program made in my development, it was clear from my first days as an intern that faculty members were committed to helping me launch my career.” This support enabled him to take an unconventional path, joining Greg Barton’s lab at UC Berkeley. “Two years into my postdoc, I couldn’t be happier with the choice I made,” he said.
Essential Resources and Support
Klepper emphasized the importance of DiBS funding in her research. “This support has been instrumental in helping me develop a novel cohort and biological sample set, which would have been immensely challenging without this support,” she explained.
Huizar highlighted the DiBS mentoring network’s role in his success. “The DiBS mentoring network was invaluable for me in terms of landing in the right lab,” he said. He also noted the benefits of using his DiBS award to support his salary. “As an independently funded postdoc, I believe this has afforded me a wider scope of experimental freedom,” he explained.
Broader Impact of DiBS
Both Klepper and Huizar underscored the program’s importance in fostering diversity in biomedical sciences. “This program is innovative and helps to mentor and foster creativity in the bench sciences,” Klepper said. She also acknowledged the leadership of Drs. Shah and Erle, stating, “The commitment of the Department of Medicine to this program, and the leadership of Drs. Shah and Erle, are part of what makes UCSF such an exciting place to work.”
Huizar emphasized the need for a diverse physician-scientist workforce. “The DiBS program is making a meaningful dent in the pipeline problem, and I hope other institutions offer similar opportunities,” he stated.
The DiBS program at UCSF is more than a support system; it’s a catalyst for empowering underrepresented physician-scientists and fostering a diverse research community.
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Career Development Resources | |
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PRE-Proposal Application REview (PREPARE) Program
Ongoing
The PREPARE grant review program, co-directed by Judy Hahn and Joanne Engel, is actively seeking reviewers and applicants. Judy and Joanne have been reaching out to each division to promote this valuable opportunity, where both parties benefit: reviewers receive compensation for their efforts, and applicants have the chance to get their proposals reviewed by experienced peers. If you are interested in having Judy or Joanne present at your division meeting, please contact Ilona Paredes.
For more information, click here. For questions, please contact Ilona Paredes.
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Reminder: UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Office of Education and Training
Application is due Friday, January 3, 2025
The UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC) Office of Education and Training (OET) is now accepting applications for the K12 Physician Scientist Program in Clinical Oncology.
The program provides 75% protected time (50% for surgeons) plus a curriculum and career development for physician-scientists conducting patient-facing research. This includes biomarker studies that use human clinical samples and all kinds of clinical research such as quality of life, supportive care, survivorship, palliative care trials, medical decision-making, patient-provider communication, navigation and support services for patients, and treatment, prevention, and screening trials.
For questions, please contact Jennifer Seuferer.
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Department of Medicine College of Bench Scientists Dinner | |
The Department of Medicine College of Bench Scientists annual dinner took place on October 9, 2024, at the Presidio Golf Course in San Francisco. Host Committee members David Erle, Cathy Smith, and Aparna Sundaram welcomed 88 attendees from nearly every division to connect with junior and senior faculty, trainees in bench science, and MSTP students. | |
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Office of Research Town Hall
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Vice Chancellor for Research Hal Collard is hosting a special online Town Hall for the research community next Tuesday, October 22nd at 1pm. We recommend that you attend, especially if your lab is at the Parnassus campus or plans to move to the Parnassus campus. Expect some exciting announcements and updates about the Comprehensive Parnassus Heights Plan. This should be a good opportunity for us to get together (virtually), discuss the future of our research environment, and ask questions of those who are tasked with helping to get us there from here. Register via the button below to receive the Zoom link.
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CAPS Writing Cafe
Monday, October 28, 2024
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, get caught up on reading, analyze data, or just want to build community around focused writing nonworking?
The UCSF CAPS Developmental Core will be hosting a Writing and Focused Work Café and you are invited!
- Who: Faculty, trainees, and staff from any university
- What: Writing and focused work retreat
- When: Monday, October 28, 2024, 9 AM-12 PM PT
- 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 3 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. Only RSVP if you are able to stay for the entire duration.
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Call for Grant Writing Services | |
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Grant Writing Resources: Let us know if you have used a helpful service in the past
Many DOM researchers have expressed an interest in learning about professional grant writing services. We plan to assemble a resource page that lists grant writing services and contains key information about services offered, costs, and turnaround times. Please help us by sharing any relevant resources or contacts with Danielle Mizuiri. Thank you for your support and collaboration!
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Faculty Director, CRO, AVC-CR, CTSI
Applications are sought from current UCSF Faculty (All Schools) for the position of Faculty Director, Clinical Research Operations for the Office of the AVC-CR and the CTSI. The Faculty Director, CRO will serve as a key partner to assist the AVC-CR, Office of Research leadership, and relevant campus administrative units (e.g. Office of Sponsored Research and IRB) in identifying and addressing priority areas to ensure efficient and effective research operations for studies with human participants, including clinical research and clinical trials. The position requires regular interaction and engagement with UCSF research faculty and staff across all schools, units, and campuses. There is a 10/29 deadline for candidates to apply.
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Extramural Doris Duke Foundation
Application is due Friday, November 8, 2024
The Collective to Strengthen Pathways for Health Research, led by the Doris Duke Foundation, has issued a request for applications for Preventing and Improving Clinical Encounters: Sparking National Discussion to Strengthen Health Research. The ultimate goal of the Collective is to improve the health of the U.S. population, prevent disease, and improve health outcomes from clinical encounters, by prioritizing research on how to effectively intervene on modifiable risk factors and to deliver unbiased, safe, and current primary and specialized care to all patients. This program will fund a set of symposia on topics related to this goal, to be held in Spring 2025.
The Collective’s goals for the symposia in aggregate are:
- To identify opportunities of societal priority to build, strengthen, reimagine, or accelerate pathways to fund, carry out, and apply research toward prevention of disease or improvement in health outcomes from clinical encounters.
- To heighten participant appreciation of and support for innovations to prevent or improve clinical encounters as areas of necessary investment to improve health.
- To heighten understanding of and engagement with the health research workforce leading the charge to prevent disease or improve clinical encounters.
- To seed a cross-sectoral community with aspirations for national change in conditions to stimulate innovations to prevent or improve clinical encounters with the aim of delivering equitable gains in health.
Grant amounts will be commensurate with the scope and scale of the proposed symposium and are expected not to exceed $125,000, including a maximum indirect cost rate of 10%.
Follow application instructions in RFP, conferring with your Grants Officer as needed.
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Extramural Chan Zuckerberg Sciences Diversity Leadership Award
Application is due Tuesday, December 3, 2024
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative invites applications for a five-year funding grant (2025–2030) that supports excellent biomedical researchers with a record of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in their scientific field.
Read more about their previous grantees here. All applicants must hold an MD, PhD, ScD, MD/PhD, DDM, DVM, or equivalent degree and have a faculty position or equivalent independent investigator status at a college, university, medical school, or other research facility. Note that non-tenured and tenured faculty are eligible to apply. All applications must be completed and submitted through CZI’s online grants management portal.
Award period and start date: Awards will be five years in duration with an expected start date of September 1, 2025.
Budget: $230,000 USD total costs per year (inclusive of up to 15% indirect costs) for five years for a total of $1,150,000 USD total costs. Indirect costs cannot exceed 15 percent of direct costs.
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Studies Subject to IRB Review Fees | |
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The IRB charges for the review of the following types of human research studies:
- All studies funded by private industry
- All studies submitted on behalf of UCSF-affiliated institutions. This includes the following entities: NCIRE, Gladstone Institutes, Institute on Aging, SF Coordinating Center, Vitalant and the Vitalant Research Institute, SFDPH, ZSFG, and SFVAHCS.
- Multisite studies for which UCSF is the sIRB
The rates are in effect as of July 1, 2024. These rates reflect current operating costs and are in line with national standards. UCSF departments (not including “UCSF affiliated institutions”) pay the IRB fees through the recharge process.
If you are unsure how to complete the Funding section of the IRB application, please call the IRB office at (415) 476-1814 and ask to speak with the Analyst of the Day.
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NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs)
Application is due Thursday, November 21, 2024
The NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) are a set of programs established by Congress and designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. The extramural LRP is for researchers not employed by NIH, and funding from NIH is not required to participate. Although organized around broad research areas, the LRP is not intended to fund research projects. Rather, LRP awards are based on an applicant's potential to build and sustain a research career.
LRP awardees can receive up to $100,000 of qualified educational debt repayment with a two-year LRP award. To learn more about eligibility requirements, application dates, and benefits of receiving an LRP award, please visit the LRP website, and check out the overview video. Applicants should note that the Department of Medicine Institutional Business Officer (IBO) is Jon Rueter, and his eCommons ID is JONRUETER.
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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 © 2024, University of California, San Francisco, All rights reserved.
Please send comments, suggestions and questions to:
Diane Havlir, MD, Associate Chair for Clinical Research (diane.havlir@ucsf.edu)
David Erle, MD, Associate Chair for Biomedical Research (david.erle@ucsf.edu)
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