Biomedical Research Core Facilities "Partners
in Research"
The
Biomedical Research Core Facilities (BRCF) is an all-campus unit
administered through the Office of research and Graduate Studies. These
outstanding centralized research support laboratories exist to enhance
the research of all investigators who require state-of-the-art biotechnology
resources. The BRCF is now in its 15th year of operation. The BRCF laboratories
are located mainly on the second floor of MSRB II. There you will find
the Protein Structure Core, Transgenic Animal Model and Embryonic Stem
Cell Core, DNA Sequencing Core, Biomedical Research Store, and the Administrative
Offices. The Biosafety Containment Core is on the third floor of MSRB
II, the Flow Cytometry Core is located on the seventh floor of the Cancer
Center and Geriatrics Building and the NMR Core is located in the C.C.
Little Building. Current information about individual core resources
is available on the web and through the listed links at the following
URL: http://www.brcf.med.umich.edu/brcf.html.
Researchers
are encouraged to investigate the resources available in the Cores and
use them as needed. If you do not find what you need on the web sites,
please contact the Core Directors who will be happy to answer your questions.
Feel free to also contact the Manager of the BRCF, Dr. Dennis Martin,
by phone (647-2751) or e-mail (dennism@umich.edu).
The BRCF staff are partners in the research efforts they support. Each
core provides not only the best "product" at a competitive cost and
turn-around time, but just as importantly, strives to provide technical
expertise and support covering areas from assistance in experimental
design to assistance in troubleshooting experiments that do not work
as expected. The wide variety of expertise available is intended to
aid investigators in reaching their goals more efficiently with fewer
false starts and dead ends and is one of the more valuable assets available
to the biomedical research enterprise.
The
goal of the Biomedical Research Core Facilities is to be the best partner
possible in assisting you to achieve your research goals. The BRCF is
your resource and is proven as a valuable addition to research support
at the University of Michigan and aims to ensure that it remains so.
Medical Scientist Training Program Assisting Outstanding Students for
Twenty-Three Years
The
Michigan Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) is in its twenty-third
year of facilitating the combined M.D./Ph.D. education of superior students.
With 80 participants in this academic year, and 91 Graduates, MSTP receives
financial support from many sources including: the Medical School, a
training grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences,
and gifts from Merck Research Laboratories and other foundations. MSTP
fellows typically finish the first two basic science years of medical
school and then choose a research mentor and department for the Ph.D.
Current students are in twelve different disciplines in the Medical
School, College of Engineering, College of Literature, Science and the
Arts, and the School of Public Health. After completing the Ph.D., the
fellows return to the medical school for their clinical training and
then move on to residencies and post-doctoral fellowships. The new MSTP
website provides additional information: http://www.med.umich.edu/medschool/mstp/.
BioMed
Expo 2002 to Feature Nobel Laureate
Paul Berg, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate, a scientific pioneer in the field
of molecular biology will keynote this year's Biomed Expo on October
24, 2002. Dr. Berg is the Cahill Professor of Cancer Research at Stanford
University School of Medicine, Professor Emeritus in the Department
of Biochemistry, and Director of the Beckman Center for Molecular and
Genetic Medicine. BioMed Expo: Road to Success is managed by Biotechnology
Business Consultants, LLC. Registration is available online at http://www.biomedexpo.org.
Contact: BioMed Expo at (734) 930-9741.
Biomedical
Research Council Leadership Update
Daniel Goldman, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Chemistry and Senior
Research Scientist, Mental Health Research Institute, becomes this year's
Chair of the Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) after serving as last
year's Vice Chair. Alvin Schmaier, M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine
and Pathology, will serve as Vice Chair. The Office of Research and
Graduate Studies would also like to thank the departing chair and members
for their outstanding service to the Council and the biomedical research
community. Departing members are: Joel Swanson, Ph.D., (Chair), Professor
of Microbiology and Immunology; James Ferrara, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics
and Communicable Disease and Internal Medicine; Michael Kilboun, Ph.D.,
Professor and Sr. Research Scientist of Radiology; Gabriel Nunez, M.D.,
Professor of Pathology; and Richard Simon, M.D., Professor of Internal
Medicine. Visit http://www.med.umich.edu/medschool/bmrc/
for a list of current BMRC members.
New
Faculty Scholars Announced
The UM Complementary
and Alternative Medicine Research Center announces the selection
of the 2002-2003 Faculty Scholars for the new Faculty Scholars Program
in Integrative Healthcare (FSP). The FSP is a year-long ten day program
that will provide academic faculty participants with a rich array of
resources to develop evidence based curricula in integrative health.
Please congratulate the first interdisciplinary cohort of scholars:
Jane
Dutton, PHD, School of Business
Maya Hammoud,
MD, Obstetrics/Gynecology
Ziad Kronfol, MD, Psychiatry
Amy Saunders, MD, General Medicine
Brett Seabury,PhD,School of Social Work
Leslie Shimp, MD, College of Pharmacy
Alan C.Tsai,PhD, School of Public Health
For more information, visit http://www.med.umich.edu/camrc.
If you have questions, contact Sara Warber, M.D. or Rita Benn, Ph.D.
at 998-7715.
Funding
Opportunities
Brookdale
National Fellowship Program
Internal Deadline:
October 11, 2002
This
program awards competitive fellowships to support investigators in the
developmental stages of their careers, as well as to established researchers
who are changing the focus of their work to the field of aging. Awards
are made for two years: Medical - $60,000 year one; $67,000 year two
and Humanities, Policy, Behavioral and Social Sciences - $50,000 year
one; $55,000 year two. Completed applications (with Proposal Approval
Form) must be received by DRDA no later than Friday, October 11th to
be considered for this year's competition. All applications will be
reviewed by an institutional review panel. Guidelines are on-line at
http://www.brookdalefoundation.org/.
Application forms available from DRDA.
Doris
Duke Charitable Foundation Clinical Interfaces Award Program Deadline:
December 2, 2002
The Doris
Duke Clinical Interfaces Award Program is designed to encourage outstanding
researchers from all clinical and basic science disciplines to collaborate
and undertake innovative and novel clinical research that may contribute
to the prevention, treatment, and cure of human disease. Proposals in
all disease areas will be considered, but priority will be given to
outstanding research proposals in cancer, cardiovascular diseases, AIDS
and blood disorders. Two types of awards will be made to cross-disciplinary
teams of investigators: 18-month planning grants of up to $80,000 and
5-year full grants of up to $2.25 million each. Teams receiving planning
grants will be able to compete for the larger 5-year grants at the end
of their planning grants. Teams of at least three key investigators
with M.D., Ph.D., or M.D./Ph.D., or the equivalent degrees and whose
primary expertise lie in different disciplines are eligible to apply.
One of the key investigators must be a clinical investigator. Visit
http://ddcf.aibs.org/ciap/RFP.pdf
for complete details on the award program.
NIH
Loan Repayment Programs
The Extramural
Loan Repayment Programs may repay up to a maximum of $35,000 a year
towards each participant's outstanding eligible educational loan debt
depending on total eligible repayable debt. In return, participants
must sign a contract agreeing to conduct qualified research activities
for a minimum of 2 years. Participants may apply for additional one-year
renewal contracts and may continue to receive loan repayment benefits,
subject to the approval of the NIH. Actual loan repayments are based
on the proportion of a participant's qualifying educational loan debt
relative to his/her salary or compensation at the time the Loan Repayment
Program contract begins. Loan repayment benefits represent taxable income
for participants and are paid in addition to any salaries and benefits
earned through the employer or host research institution. For complete
details on the Loan Repayment Programs, visit http://www.lrp.nih.gov.
Dennis
W. Jahnigen Career Development Scholars Program
Deadline: December
3, 2002
The Dennis
W. Jahnigen Career Development Scholars Program offers two-year career
development awards to support young faculty in the specialties of anesthesiology,
emergency medicine, general surgery, gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopaedic
surgery, otolaryngology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, thoracic
surgery, and urology. The awards are intended to allow individuals to
initiate and sustain a career in research and education in the geriatrics
aspects of their discipline. Each grant will provide two-year salary
support of $75,000 per year for salary and fringe benefits, plus $25,000
per year to support the costs of doing research. Departmental chairs
should make nominations for the award.
To
be eligible, a candidate must be a physician who is a U.S. citizen or
resident alien; have a primary academic appointment in a U.S. institution
in one of the eligible departments; and be within eight years of completing
his/her training (residency and/or fellowship) at the time of application.
For each Jahnigen Career Development Scholar application, two senior
faculty members at the candidate's institution must be selected to serve
as mentors to help guide the scholar's research and career planning
and provide access to organizations, programs, and colleagues helpful
to the applicant's efforts. For complete guidelines and information
on obtaining an application, see the American Geriatrics Web site: http://www.americangeriatrics.org/hartford/scholars_award.shtml.
Pediatric
Epilepsy Research Investigator-Initiated Studies
Deadline: November 15, 2002 (Letters of Intent)
The Partnership
for Pediatric Epilepsy Research is a consortium of organizations and
individuals working to support innovative research into pediatric epilepsy,
its causes, and potential avenues for new treatments and cures. The
consortium seeks to support novel, investigator initiated studies that
emphasize pediatric epilepsies and specifically focus on increasing
knowledge of causes and promoting innovative treatment approaches and
a cure for epilepsies that begin in infancy and childhood. The award
may be funded up to $100,000. Grant funds may be used for salary support
for personnel directly engaged in the project, consumable supplies and
services, and travel essential to the conduct of the research.
Both
clinical and basic projects using a variety of disciplinary approaches
are of interest. Investigators must hold a relevant advanced degree
(M.D. and/or Ph.D.) and have completed all research training. The program
is open to investigators based at corporations as well as academic/university
settings. United States citizenship is not required; however, research
must be conducted in the U.S. For complete details, visit the Epilepsy
Foundation website at http://www.efa.org/research/grants.html#ped.
Ellison
Medical/AFAR Senior Postdoctoral Fellows Research Program
Deadline: December 13, 2002
The Ellison
Medical Foundation, in partnership with the American Federation for
Aging Research (AFAR), offers this program to help further the careers
of senior postdoctoral fellows in the basic biological and biomedical
sciences relevant to understanding aging processes and age-related diseases
and disabilities. Three two-year grants of up to $100,000 will be awarded.
For each year, up to $45,000 may be requested for salary support and
up to $5,000 for research support (personnel, supplies, equipment).
The applicant must be a postdoctoral fellow (M.D. and/or Ph.D. degree)
and will have at least three and not more than five years of prior postdoctoral
training at the time of the award. For complete details, visit http://www.afar.org/ellison.html.
American
Heart Association National Scientist Development Grant
Deadline: January 13, 2003
The goal
of the National Scientist Development Grant is to support promising
beginning scientists in their progress toward independence by encouraging
and adequately funding research projects that can serve to bridge the
gap between completion of research training and readiness for successful
competition as an independent investigator. The focus is on research
broadly related to cardiovascular function and disease, stroke, or to
related basic science, clinical, bioengineering/biotechnology, and public
health problems. The awards are $65,000 annually maximum for salary,
fringe benefits, indirect costs, and project costs as follows: up to
$30,000 per year for PI salary, fringe benefits, and 10% indirect costs;
at least $35,000 per year for project support. All of the award may
be budgeted for project support and 10% indirect costs, if PI salary
and fringes are not requested. Applicants must have a M.D., Ph.D., D.O.
or equivalent doctoral degree and be faculty/staff member initiating
independent research careers, usually at the rank of Instructor or Assistant
Professor (or their equivalents). See: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2350
for complete details.
AACR-Gertrude
B. Elion Cancer Research Award
Deadline: October 15, 2002
The Elion
Award provides a one-year grant of $50,000 to support salary and benefits,
laboratory supplies, and domestic travel for basic, translational, or
clinical cancer research. For eligibility and selection criteria and
to access the online application, visit: http://services.aacr.org/elion.asp.
AACR Career
Development Awards
Deadline: October 15, 2002
These awards provide
two-year grants of $50,000 per year for direct research expenses in
pancreatic, lung, ovarian, and prostate cancer research. For eligibility
and selection criteria and to access the online application, see http://services.aacr.org/cda.asp.
Ford
Foundation Fellowships for Minorities
Deadlines:
Predoctoral:
November 20, 2002, Dissertation:
December 4, 2002 and
Postdoctoral: January 8, 2003
The Ford
Foundation announces Fellowships for Minorities to be administered by
the National Research Council. The Fellowships are open to U.S. citizens
or nationals who are planning a career in teaching and research at the
college or university level. Applicants must be Native American Indian,
Mexican American/Chicana/Chicano, Alaska Native (Eskimo or Aleut), Native
Pacific Islander (Polynesian or Micronesian), Black/African American,
or Puerto Rican. The following Fellowships are available: Predoctoral
- $16,000 to the fellow, institutional allowance of $7,500 for three
years Dissertation - $21,000 for one year Postdoctoral - $34,000 for
one year, $3,000 travel and relocation allowance, $2,000 cost-of-research
allowance, $2,500 employing institution allowance, to be matched by
employing institution See http://www4.nationalacademies.org/pga/fo.nsf
for complete information and applications.
Workshop
and Seminars
DRDA
Offers Proposal Writing Workshop
The
Division of Research Development and Administration (DRDA) is offering
a Research Proposal Writing Workshop on Thursday October 10th, from
8:30 AM - Noon in the Michigan Union's Pendleton Room. This program
is geared towards proposals in the sciences (physical, social/behavioral,
medical and biological sciences). The workshop will be led by Chris
Black one of the most experienced proposal writers at UM. She will share
her knowledge and experience and provide examples that illustrate how
to write a good narrative and put together an excellent proposal. Persons
writing any type of grant proposal will benefit, although the emphasis
will be on the sciences. For more information, and to register, go to
http://cgi.research.umich.edu/workshops/workshop_descriptions.taf.
There is a $10 fee for this workshop. If you have any questions regarding
the workshop, please contact Steve Brabbs, stewalt@umich.edu
or by phone at 763-2948.
Immunology
Seminar
The Graduate
Program in Immunology and the Experimental Immunology Training Grant
will sponsor a seminar to be held on Friday, October 11, 2002 from 12:00
- 1:00 p.m. in room 2903 LRC. The speaker will be Steven Rosen, Department
of Anatomy, University of California San Francisco. The topic will be
"Sulfation and Leukocyte-Endothelial Interactions." Contact: Ellen Elkin
at eelkin@umich.edu or 615-4846.
The
Center for Organogenesis Seminar Series
Thomas
Glaser, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Human Genetics,
University of Michigan will speak on "Belly Spots, Optic Nerves and
the Minutia of Translational Research". The seminar will take place
on October 10, 2002 at 3:30 PM in room 5915, Buhl Building.
Organogenesis
Seminar Series
Michael
D. Gershon, M.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Anatomy & Cell
Biology, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New
York, NY will speak on "Colonization of the Colon: Development of the
Enteric Nervous System". The seminar will take place on Thursday, October
24, 2002 at 3:30 PM in room 5915, Buhl Building.
4th
Annual Weisbach Lectureship in Prostate Oncology
The Fourth
Annual Weisbach Lectureship in Prostate Oncology is set for Monday,
October 28, 2002 at 12:00 noon in the Sheldon Auditorium (Towsley Center).
Joel B. Nelson, M.D., Frederic N. Schwentker Professor and Chair, University
of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Department of Urology will speak on
"Endothelin and Prostate Cancer".
