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Dear Colleagues,
Our DOM research newsletter is back and packed after a brief summer pause. We hope the fall quarter is off to a great start for your research programs. This month, you'll find a listing of the career development awards granted since the summer, Congratulations to the awardees. In addition, we have updates about DOM research support programs, including a brand-new program, CRC Connect, and other programs designed to help investigators at all career stages involved in the full spectrum of basic, translational, clinical, and population health research.
We are wishing you a successful and fulfilling start to the academic year.
All the best,
Diane Havlir, MD, Associate Chair for Clinical Research
David Erle, MD, Associate Chair for Biomedical Research
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National Research Administrator Day | |
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National Research Administrator Day is observed annually on September 25. If you haven't already done so, please take a moment to join us in thanking our research administrators. We value every member of the research administration teams and would like to recognize the contributions made by administrators to the department’s research enterprise every day. We thank them for their invaluable work and their crucial role in supporting research.
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Career Development Awards | |
DOM Research Support Program Updates | |
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NEW! CRC Connect: Centralized CRC Sharing & Sourcing Dashboard
The CRC Connect Dashboard is a web-based Smartsheet dashboard designed to address the critical need for part-time Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) support across the DOM. This user-friendly platform allows research Principal Investigators (PIs) to either request additional CRC effort or offer underutilized CRC resources. By facilitating early direct contact between PIs, this tool provides a streamlined process for PIs to connect and collaborate.
To submit a CRC Connect Request, please fill out the Smartsheet form.
For questions, please contact Danielle Mizuiri.
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Physician-Scientist Career Development Program
The Physician-Scientist Career Development Program (PSCDP) is a collaboration between the Departments of Medicine, Neurology, and Pediatrics. Established in 2021, the program is designed to support and promote laboratory-based physician-scientist trainees in the residency, fellowship, and junior faculty stages. It is led by Alexandra Nelson, MD, PhD, Cathy Smith, MD, and Sanjeev Datar, MD, PhD. PSCDP’s areas of focus are: (1) building a diverse and successful physician-scientist community, (2) providing training and mentorship specific to the laboratory-based physician-scientist career path, and (3) opportunities for career growth. The program has a centralized set of resources for physician-scientist trainees and holds regular career development, networking, and other mentoring events for the laboratory-based physician-scientist community. They aim to increase visibility, transparency, and support for this challenging but incredibly rewarding career path.
PSCDP sponsors "Mentoring Committees" for interested lab-based physician-scientists. These committees are structured like a thesis committee and have a strong emphasis on career planning for the transition to independence. The committee meetings are scheduled annually by Camille Perez, and they are composed of:
- Your Principal Investigator
- A co-mentor of your choice
- A research leader in your department/division
- A PSCDP Council member outside your department (who also chairs)
These committees have been popular with both trainees and senior faculty members. Trainees have received guidance on (and advocacy for) planning key career moves, while faculty learn about trainees who are ready to be recruited into independent positions!
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PRE-Proposal Application REview (PREPARE) Program
Ongoing
The PREPARE program is dedicated to assisting you in achieving your funding objectives by providing application review services at no cost! Hear about the positive experience of one of our recent PREPARE reviewees:
"Thank you for this program - the review was extremely helpful. I was impressed by the amount of time and thought the reviewers put into it." – Jennifer Price, MD, PhD, a professor in the division of Gastroenterology at UCSF Health
For more information, click here. For questions, please contact Ilona Paredes.
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Writing Workshop and Retreat
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Struggling to write? Come tackle your writer's block with dedicated writing blocks!
Join us for coffee and snacks at the very first ImmunoX writing retreat! The workshop is open to all.
The retreat will feature:
- Short skills workshops from UCSF Research Development Strategist and grant writer Dr. Gabe Murphy
- Information on UCSF writing resources
Date: Tuesday, September 17
Time: 9 AM-12 PM, (Feel free to join for any portion of the time)
Location: Parnassus Clinical Sciences 0101
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NIH Simplified Review Framework: An Informational Townhall
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Join us for an informational session to discuss upcoming changes to the NIH Review Framework for Research Project Grants and their implications for UCSF investigators. This event will highlight the changes, including their impact on most R and U awards. Hosted by UCSF's Bakar ImmunoX, the Benioff Center for Microbiome Medicine (BCMM), and the Research Development Office (RDO), the session aims to increase awareness and understanding of these developments.
Registration for both in-person and Zoom attendance will be required.
Date: Wednesday, September 25
Time: 12 PM-1:30 PM
Location: Parnassus (HSW-302) and streamed (Zoom link will be sent to those who register).
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College of Bench Scientists Annual Dinner
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
The Department of Medicine’s College of Bench Scientists is a community for researchers that helps promote career development and collaboration. It includes students, residents, and fellows who are interested in a career in bench science, and faculty members at all career levels. Membership is free and automatic.
The College of Bench Scientists Annual Dinner will take place on Wednesday, October 9. The dinner is co-hosted by David Erle, Associate Chair for Biomedical Research, Aparna Sundaram, Associate Director of the Molecular Medicine training program, and Cathy Smith, Associate Director of the Physician-Scientist Career Development Program. This event provides a great opportunity for lab-based faculty and trainees from across the department to connect in person. If you received a Paperless Post invitation to the event and have not yet responded, please take a moment to do so now. If you have not received an invitation and would like to attend, please contact Danielle Mizuiri.
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Clinical Trials Operations (CTO) Principal Investigators (PI) Bootcamp
Monday, October 14, and Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Registration for the next Clinical Trials PI Bootcamp is now open. The purpose of this training series, hosted by the Clinical Trials Operations unit from the Office of Research, is to provide PIs with fundamental information and resources on research operations and the process of conducting clinical trials at UCSF. The zoom-based course runs over two days on October 14 and 15. Attending all sessions over the two days is recommended, but not required. For instructions on how to register and to see a detailed agenda, check the website.
For questions, please contact CTO@ucsf.edu.
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UCSF Center for Reproductive Sciences Request for Pilot Project Proposal
Application is due Tuesday, October 15, 2024
The UCSF Center for Reproductive Sciences and the UCSF National Center for Translational Research in Reproduction and Infertility (NCTRI), request proposals for a pilot project award of up to $50,000.
The NCTRI program at UCSF is dedicated to stimulating, funding, and guiding promising projects related to the immunological, epigenetic, and developmental determinants of fertility and infertility. The goal of this pilot funding is to encourage innovative proposals related to this research area from faculty in a variety of disciplines and perspectives.
All faculty ranks, new/early career investigators, professional research series, research specialist series, senior postdoctoral fellows, and senior clinical fellows are eligible to apply. Individuals in non-faculty positions are eligible with a faculty member as a mentor and Co-PI.
The proposal should be submitted via e-mail, as a PDF attachment, to Vivian Siu by
October 15, 2024, by 5 PM. For questions, please contact Vivian Siu.
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Career Development Resource | |
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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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Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Update | |
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NIH requires training in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) for all individuals funded on training grants at least every four years and once per training stage. To better serve the UCSF community, the UCSF Bioethics and the Graduate Division have reorganized the RCR offerings at UCSF. Courses above the graduate level are now organized by topic area rather than title codes.
Enrollment is now open for Human Subjects RCR course for Fall 2024. This course is free and open to all postdocs, fellows, residents, and faculty who conduct research with human subjects or data derived from human subjects. Fifth-year graduate students who need a refresher course in RCR are also eligible to enroll. More information is available on the Human Subjects RCR website.
The Basic Science RCR course will be offered in Winter Quarter of 2025, and a course for first-to-fourth year graduate students will be available from Fall 2024 through Spring 2025.
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Federal Funded Purchase Threshold for Grants | |
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UCSF Implementing Higher Threshold for Federally Funded Purchases
To streamline purchasing and improve efficiency at UCSF, the SCM Strategic Procurement Team is raising our Federal Funded purchase threshold for grants and cooperative agreements from $10,000 to $50,000. Previously, any federally funded order exceeding $10,000 required documentation of how the supplier was chosen and proof that the price was reasonable. With the new threshold of $50,000, we will be able to skip these justifications, expediting the purchasing process. However, please note: Federal law does not permit UCSF to implement this change for federally funded contracts. Federally funded contracts will continue to require justifications when the requisition exceeds $10,000 and non-federally funded orders will require justifications when above $100,000.
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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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Important Update on NIH Other Support Documents
As Investigators, we routinely apply for grants and are aware that we need to make sure that there is no overlap. There are three types of overlap—scientific, budgetary, and commitment. These must be disclosed when present. Not complying can result in loss of funding and repayment of grant dollars.
As a reminder, it is not allowable to have duplicate applications under review simultaneously by any Public Health Service agency (e.g., NIH, AHRQ, FDA, CDC), but duplicate applications to a PHS agency and a non-federal agency are allowed if disclosed. This disclosure must be made in the Overlap section of the Other Support document, required on all submissions, even when there is no overlap.
Because of recent cases at UCSF of overlap not in compliance with these rules, UCSF has revised its process for managing NIH Other Support documents. To reduce the chance of this happening in the future, UCSF leadership has implemented a new process for PIs and senior key personnel to review and sign attestation statements about their Other Support documents.
The updated workflow ensures attestations are captured during the signature routing process, requiring no extra steps for PIs but emphasizing the importance of their review.
Please feel free to reach out to your RFA and pre-award analyst if you have questions on guidelines or process. In next month’s research newsletter, we will provide some additional examples of disclosing conflicts and wording investigators have used.
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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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