President Coleman to Speak at the 7th Annual Raymond W. Waggoner Lectureship

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman, Ph.D., will present “Care Without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late” at the 7th Annual Raymond W. Waggoner Lectureship on Ethics and Values in Medicine on October 9, 2002, 4:00 p.m., in the Ford Amphitheater. President Coleman is Professor of Biological Chemistry, UM Medical School, and Co-Chair of the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance.
The Waggoner Lectureship is an annual event sponsored by the Department of Psychiatry and the Medical School. It is in honor of Raymond W. Waggoner, M.D., Emeritus Professor and Past Chair, to recognize his enormous contributions to the UM, to the profession, and to promulgate his interest in medical ethics. Each year the lectureship brings a national/international expert to explore cutting-edge issues related to ethics and values in medicine.

Paul Hollenberg Elected President of ASPET

The Office of Research and Graduate Studies is please to recognize that Paul F. Hollenberg, Ph.D., Maurice H. Seevers Collegiate Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology, has been elected as the President of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). He is serving in the office for 2002-03. Congratulations Dr. Hollenberg!

Welcome New Students

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) and the Medical School will host their 7th Annual Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Fall Gathering on Thursday, September 12, 2002, from 12:00-2:00 p.m. For complete details visit http://www.med.umich.edu/pibs/.

Responsible Conduct of Research—What You Need to Know

The Office of the Vice President for Research invites you to its 8th annual Research Responsibility Program, a series of information and discussion sessions on responsibility in research. Sessions are free and open to all faculty, students, and staff. The Medical School strongly encourages its members to take advantage of this program. For more information, session topics, and the 2002-03 schedule, visit http://www.responsibility.research.umich.edu. Contact: OVPR, research.responsibility@umich.edu or 647-9085. All sessions are 5:00-7:00 p.m. on the days indicated, except for the “Wrap-up” session: 4:30-7:30 p.m.

Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Seeks Faculty Research Partners
Deadline: September 12, 2002

The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program is currently recruiting faculty researchers for the 2002/03 academic year. UROP students can provide you with invaluable assistance in your research. UROP targets first and second year students, engaging them as research assistants on faculty research projects. Last year, approximately 55% of UROP research partnerships were from the medical campus.
UROP is open to all first and second year students on campus with a special interest in engaging women in science and historically underrepresented minority students in research. Students participate in UROP for academic credit or work-study funds. All work-study costs are covered by UROP. Limited supplementary research funds are also available. For the on-line application, go to http://www.umich.edu/~urop. Once on the page, click on the Faculty Resources button, then click on Faculty Application. Contact: sgreger@umich.edu or 998-9381.

BMRC Sets Dates for 2003 Funding Programs

The Biomedical Research Council is pleased to announce the continuation of several funding programs. Please note that there are new deadlines for the Equipment Competition and the New Initiatives for Basic Science Research Program.

Equipment Competition: (maximum $100,000) Deadline: March 3, 2003.
New Initiatives for Basic Science Research Program: (maximum $40,000) Deadline: February 17, 2003.
Interim Support for Basic Science Research: (maximum $15,000 for one year), no deadline.
Postdoctoral Fellowships: (one year of salary and fringe benefits at the current NIH level), no deadline.

More information about the Biomedical Research Council and these programs is available on the web at: http://www.med.umich.edu/medschool/bmrc/.

Funding Opportunities

Michigan Life Science Corridor Grants
Deadline: September 4, 2002

The FY 2003 Michigan Life Science Corridor (MLSC) competition has commenced. A complete description of the MLSC, instructions for submitting an application and useful information pertinent to the life science community in Michigan may all be accessed at: http://medc.michigan.org/lifescience. Applicants interested in submitting a pre-proposal must utilize the web enabled application system found at the above URL. Pre-proposals must be received on or before 5:00pm September 4, 2002. The FY 2003 competition is contingent upon final approval and adoption of the FY 2003 appropriation for the life science corridor initiative. Questions regarding the MLSC can be sent to MLSCinfo@michigan.org.

W. M. Keck Foundation to Award Distinguished Young Scholars in Medical Research
Internal Deadline: October 21, 2002

The W. M. Keck Foundation established this Distinguished Young Scholars in Medical Research award program to promote the early career development of a select group of young investigators in cooperation with leading research institutions across the United States. The program emphasis is on the fundamental mechanisms of human disease. A total of 30 institutions are invited to nominate one candidate. The Foundation will award a maximum of one million dollars to the sponsoring institution to support the research activities of a selected candidate for a period of five years in accordance with the candidate’s own research plan and budget.
On the Foundation’s December 1st deadline for submissions, the institution’s nominee must be holding his or her first full-time, tenure-track faculty appointment for at least one year and for no more than four years. U.S. citizenship or permanent residency status is required. A Keck Scholar is encouraged to seek additional, outside competitive research funding. For consideration as the institutional nominee, submit the following by October 21, 2002: a 2 page research summary, a CV, and a nominating letter from the department chair. Submit all internal applications to the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, 4107 Med Sci I, Box 0624. Contact: Denise Swayze, 763-4086 or dswayze@umich.edu.

Wilson Medical Research Foundation Grant for Discovery in the Biomedical Sciences
Internal Deadline: Sept. 13, 2002

The Ralph C. Wilson, Sr. and Ralph C. Wil son, Jr. Medical Research Foundation’s 2002 research grant program is designed to foster novel and innovative research in cardiovascular diseases, cancer, neurosciences, and musculoskeletal disorders. Projects may employ multidisciplinary methods involving basic and clinical research, as well as populations sciences. Development or use of new technologies is encouraged, including technologies such as MEMs. The program encourages expansive thinking resulting in proposals that may be difficult to fund in traditional ways due to the high-risk nature of the proposed research.
The University of Michigan is one of only six institutions permitted to submit proposals.* The University of Michigan may submit up to two proposals, one of which will be selected (provided one of the two satisfies the Foundation’s criteria). The recipient of the 2000 Award (first year of the program) was Daniel Goldman, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Chemistry and Sr. Research Scientist, MHRI, for his research project “Identification of genes essential to central nervous system development and regeneration.” The 2001 recipients were Miriam Meisler, Ph.D., Professor of Human Genetics, “Ion Channels and Neuropsychiatric Disease“ and David Fox, M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine, “A Novel Strategy for the Treatment of Autoimmune Arthritis Using Genetically-Modified Dendritic Cells.”
The principal investigator must be a full-time UM faculty member (Assist. to Full Professor or Assist. to Senior Research Scientist). Each grant provides up to $50,000 per year for up to two years. Junior faculty are particularly encouraged to apply. The Biomedical Research Council will review pre-proposals to select two institutional nominees. The Foundation deadline is October 25, 2002. UM Internal Deadline is, Friday, September 13, 2002.

Required pre-proposal materials are:

One page summary in lay language.
Four pages maximum description of research design and methods, including significance and impact of research.
Two pages maximum proposed budget (including justification) (Indirect cost rate=10%).
Standard NIH-style, two-page biographical sketch for the principal investigator.

Send 22 sets of nomination materials to the Office of Research & Graduate Studies, 4107 Med Sci I, Box 0624. Contact: Camille Mrozowski, 615-8802 or cmrozow@umich.edu.

*The other institutions invited to participate in the Wilson Medical Research Foundation funding program are The Cleveland Clinic, The Mayo Clinic, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami, The Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and Wayne State University.

Geriatric Oncology Research Project Pilot Grant Program to Give Awards
Internal Deadline: September 20, 2002

The discipline of Geriatric Oncology focuses on the effects of aging on the biology, diagnosis, treatment, and associated co-morbidities of malignancies. Three research grants of up to $25,000 each are available to junior faculty who wish to pursue a new research project that is relevant to the discipline of Geriatric Oncology. The grants are funded by an initiative of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the John A. Hartford Foundation. Acceptable research projects can range from basic laboratory investigations, epidemiological studies, health care systems studies, development of new clinical delivery models to clinical investigations, and others. Awards will be made around November 1, 2002. For complete details, contact Scott D. Gitlin, M.D. at (734) 615-1623 or see the August Biomedical News online at: http://www.med.umich.edu/medschool/orgs/biomednews/Vol20/August2002.html.

The Greenwall Foundation Offers Career Development Award
Internal Deadline October 25, 2002

The Greenwall Faculty Scholars Program in Bioethics is a career development award provided to junior faculty members (below the rank of Associate Professor) to carry out research that will help resolve policy and clinical dilemmas regarding ethics and the life sciences. The award will provide 50% salary support for 3 years. See the Foundation website for details and eligibility information: http://medicine.ucsf.edu/greenwall/home.html#board. One applicant from an institution will be allowed (this includes the law school, medical school and college of arts and sciences). Deadline for a preliminary application to the Foundation is December 6, 2002. For consideration as the institutional nominee, submit the following by October 25, 2002: 1-3 page research summary and a CV on the nominee. Submit all internal applications to the Office of the Vice President for Research, 4080 Fleming, Box 1340. Contact: Anthony Francis, 764-1185 or afrancis@umich.edu.

Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research Scholar Award
Deadline: December 6, 2002

The Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research announces its 2003 Kimmel Scholar Award. The Foundation is dedicated to improving basic understanding of cancer biology and developing new methods for the prevention and treatment of cancer. The Foundation supports the research of accomplished young cancer investigators that emphasize basic cancer research; the rapid translation of basic science concepts into potential therapeutic applications; and clinical research with novel or innovative treatment strategies.
The Foundation selects up to ten grant recipients who will receive $100,000 per year for two years. Qualified applicants must hold a M.D., Ph.D., or equivalent graduate degree and perform research in a U.S. nonprofit institution. Eligible applicants include those who have achieved the rank of Assistant Professor on or after July 1999. The Foundation also provides five additional awards for physicians engaged in translational science. Eligibility includes those with M.D. or equivalent degrees who have achieved the rank of assistant professor on or after July 1998. Applicants must demonstrate a significant personal involvement in the laboratory component of the translational project described. For complete guidelines and application information, see the Foundation’s website at http://www.kimmel.org/.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Announces New Program
Deadline: September 16, 2002

Advancing Diabetes Self-Management is a new program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) designed to demonstrate that comprehensive models for diabetes self-management can be delivered in primary-care settings and can significantly improve patient outcomes. Direction and technical assistance for the program are provided by Washington University in St. Louis, which serves as the National Program Office (NPO). Six sites will be awarded up to $300,000 each for fifteen months. Under the program, grantee sites will work for nine months in a learning network that designs the interventions and develops the appropriate tools, training, and systems needed to conduct a pilot. Grantees will then have another six months to pilot-test these products. Grant funds may be used for project staff salaries, consultant fees, data collection and analysis, meeting costs, supplies, project-related travel, and other direct project expenses, including a limited amount of essential equipment. Proposals will be accepted from healthcare clinics and other primary care settings.
Eligible applicants include sites that have had previous experience in chronic disease collaboratives, evidenced by participation in breakthrough series and/or participation in practice-based research networks. Complete details and application guidelines with complete instructions can be downloaded from: http://www.rwjf.org/applyForGrant/openAbstract.jsp?cfpCode=IDC.

The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience Announces Three Annual Awards

These awards support research on new and unusual approaches to understanding brain function.

McKnight Scholar Awards–Deadline: January 2, 2003. Each year up to six Scholars are awarded $75,000 per year over three years. “The Endowment Fund especially seeks applicants working on problems that, if solved at the basic level, would have immediate and significant impact on clinically relevant issues.”
McKnight Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Awards–Deadline: December 1, 2003 (letters of intent). “The program seeks to advance and enlarge the range of technologies available to the neurosciences.” Each year, up to four awards are given. Each provides $100,000 per year for two years.
McKnight Neuroscience of Brain Disorders Awards–Deadline: May 2003. These awards support neuroscientists whose research involves solving the problems of neurological and psychiatric diseases. Each award provides $100,000 per year for three years.

Visit the Fund’s website for complete details, eligibility and application procedures: http://www.mcknight.org/neuroscience/.

Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award Supports Young Faculty Members in Chemical and Life Sciences—Deadline: October 1, 2002

The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Young Investigator (BYI) program is intended to provide research support to the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of academic careers in the chemical and life sciences. The BYI program is open to persons with tenure-track appointments in academic and nonprofit institutions that conduct fundamental research in the chemical and life sciences. Candidates must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States at the time of application.
To be eligible, an applicant should not have completed more than three full years in his or her tenure-track or other comparable independent research appointment. Projects should show promise for contributing to significant advances in the research fields of interest to the foundation. They should represent innovative departures in research rather than extensions or expansions of existing programs. Proposed research that cuts across traditional boundaries of scientific disciplines is encouraged. Projects are normally funded for a period of three years, and grants are normally in the range of $240,000 over the term of the project. See the Beckman Foundation website for complete program guidelines: http://www.beckman-foundation.com/byiguide.html.

Community Health Scholars Program Accepting Applications for postdoctoral Fellowships
Deadline: December 2, 2002

The Community Health Scholars Program (CHSP) is a postdoctoral fellowship program designed to meet the growing needs of schools of public health and other health professions for faculty with community competency. The CHSP postdoctoral program enables scholars to develop and enhance skills in working with communities and engaging in participatory community-based research at three institutions: Johns Hopkins, University of Michigan, or University of North Carolina.
The fellowship includes a twelve-month fellowship award of $40,000, including fringe benefits, and a research fund of $10,000 per scholar. Applicant must be U.S. citizens located at one of the three training sites or willing to move to one of these training sites. Applicant must have completed all formal requirements for professional and post-professional training at the doctoral level by the date of entry into the program. Scholars may not hold other training fellowships or be enrolled full time in another degree program during their tenure in the program. Women and other underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. See the program's website for complete guidelines and application information: http://www.sph.umich.edu/chsp.

The William & Ella Owens Medical Research Foundation to Award Grants

The Foundation's mission is to make grants for support (or partial support) of specific, promising, medical research investigations currently under way or planned for the future. In 2002, the Foundation is considering awarding grants in amounts up to $50,000 for a single year. If the project has particular merit or is a "start-up investigation", the Foundation might consider to renew grants yearly for a period of several years. The William & Ella Owens Medical Research Foundation is currently accepting proposals for specific medical research projects. For more information, contact William C. Ownes, M.D., Trustee at 8452 Fredericksburg Rd., San Antonio, TX 78229-3317.

Seminars

Cancer Center Requests Abstracts

As part of the Annual Cancer Center Fall Research Symposium, the Cancer Center will be presenting abstracts from postdoctoral and predoctoral fellows. These abstracts will be part of a poster session and platform presentation session at the October 31st Symposium. Prize money will be awarded for the top three abstracts. If interested, please email Ginny Schneider at ginnysch@umich.edu for an abstract submission form. Deadline for submission is 4 p.m., September 3, 2002.

Vision-Lunch Seminar

September 12, 2002, 12:00 noon in the KEC Auditorium
"Stuart Mangel, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of Neurobiology, University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL will be speaking on "Circadian Rhythmicity and Direction Selectivity in the Retina". Contact: Dept. of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at eadie@umich.edu or 3-6903. URL: http://www.kellogg.umich.edu.

Cellular & Molecular Biology Symposium

Dr. Stanley McKnight from the University of Washington will be speaking at the "Cellular & Molecular Biology 22nd Annual Symposium" on Tuesday, September 3, 2002 from 1:00 p.m.- 2:00 p.m. at the "Mendelssohn Theatre, Michigan League". Dr. McKnight will be speaking on: "Protein Kinase A: Physiological Functions Deduced from Knockout Mice".

22nd Annual Symposium and Poster Session

The Cellular and Molecular Biology Program invite you to attend our 22nd Annual Symposium and Poster Session. The Symposium will be from 1:00 - 2:00 at the Mendelssohn Theatre, Michigan League on September 3, 2002. The Poster Session will be from 2:00 - 4:00 in the Michigan League Ballroom. Refreshments will be served.

Graduate Program in Immunology Seminar

The Graduate Program in Immunology will sponsor a seminar to be held on Wednesday, September 25, 2002. The speaker will be Ted H. Hansen, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics, Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine. The topic will be "Immune evasion by herpesvirus."

September 2002, Vol. 20 No. 9