The list includes new grants, competitive renewals, transferred grants to KSOM, supplements, and non-competing continuations. The data for this list was obtained via the USC SCera portal and the Contracts and Grants database.  Congratulations to all the principal investigators on their awards! Click here to view the awards.

Photograph by Andrea Robles

Valter Longo Ph.D, Professor of Gerontology, from the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at USC kicked off the seminar season on Monday, September 12th with his presentation of “Starvation and Nutrient Signaling Genes in Cancer Treatment: From Yeast to Humans,” as part of the Keck School of Medicine Research Seminar Series. Dr. Longo discussed his labs basic as well as clinical studies on fasting, cellular protection and chemotherapy. “Although additional pre-clinical and clinical studies are necessary, fasting has the potential to be translated into effective clinical interventions for the protection of patients and the improvement of therapeutic index”, says Dr. Longo. Dr. Michael Lieber presented the introduction. The KSOM Research Seminar Series is held on Monday’s at noon in the Aresty Auditorium of the Norris Research Towers, NRT LG. We look forward to having you join us!

Photograph by Andrea Robles

“Skeleton as an Endocrine Organ,” was this season’s first Dean’s Translational Medicine Seminar, presented by visiting professor, Gerard Karsenty, MD, PhD, Paul A. Marks, MD, Professor and Chairman Department of Genetics from Columbia University in New York. Dr. Karsenty’s laboratory has expanded its research interest from development biology to the physiology of the skeleton. In his seminar he discusses the functional dependence between the skeleton and many organs. Specifically his lab hypothesized that there is a common control of bone mass, energy metabolism and reproduction. Click here to view the archived webcast. This seminar was hosted by Baruch Frenkel, DMD, PhD J. Harold and Edna L. LaBriola Professor, Orthopedic Surgery and Biochemistry & Molecular. Thank you to all faculty who participated in the day’s events.

The call for nominations for this year’s Associates Awards in Creativity in Research has been released.  The USC Associates Awards are the highest honors the university faculty can bestow on its members based on their distinguished career of creativity, research and scholarship.  Nominations in all fields and disciplines, including areas of artistic expression, are invited.  Two awards of $7,500 are presented each year at the Academic Honors Convocation in April. 

The Center for Excellence in Teaching invites every department across the University to
nominate one teaching assistant or assistant lecturer for USC’s highest teaching award
presented to graduate students. The University Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
emphasizes the critical role of teaching in USC’s mission. Three awards will be presented
at the 2012 Academic Honors Convocation to graduate students who have exhibited
exceptional excellence in their classroom or laboratory instruction and other guidance of undergraduate students. Each award carries a $1,000 prize.  For further information, click here. Nomination deadline is Oct 14th.

The Associates Award for Excellence in Teaching is the highest honor the University Faculty bestows on its members for outstanding teaching. Up to two awards of $7,500 are presented each year at the Academic Honors Convocation (in April) to emphasize the University's recognition of the significant role that teaching plays in its mission.

The award recognizes the career achievements of outstanding full-time tenure track and full-time non-tenure track faculty with a proven track record as exceptional teachers with a positive, inspiring, and long-lasting effect on students and their learning, along with extraordinary, unique, or pioneering contributions to excellence in teaching. It is not intended as a "Teacher of the Year" award. Nominees should thus have spent a significant period of time at the University of Southern California.  For further information visit their website. Nominations due Nov 1.

The NIH Bench-to-Bedside Program is soliciting proposals for the next funding cycle.
 
Once again, CTSAs, AIAMC (Alliance for Independent Academic Medical Centers) and NIH investigators will be able to initiate applications jointly for Bench-to-Bedside research projects. Up to $135K per year for two years is available to support these intramural/extramural partnerships in clinical research. As in prior years, intramural investigators in all Institutes/Centers are eligible to serve as project leaders on proposals.
 
Extramural principal investigators (PIs) with an existing NIH grant are invited to initiate proposals in one of two ways:

• Extramural investigators may seek an intramural partner at NIH who would function as the project leader and serve as the point of contact. To identify an intramural collaborator, extramural investigators can consult the NIH’s intramural research database. Extramural investigators also may contact the Bench-to-Bedside Program Office for assistance in identifying an intramural partner.
• Extramural investigators may initiate proposals and serve as project leaders. In this role, extramural principal investigators will develop letters of intent and, if approved, may develop full proposals. In this scenario, extramural investigators are required to identify an intramural collaborator on the project. On behalf of the lead extramural PI, the intramural investigator will be responsible for submitting both the letter of intent and full proposal electronically using proposalCentral.

For the 2012 awards, a letter of intent must be submitted by September 28, 2011.
 
The NIH Bench-to-Bedside program was originally established in 1999 to integrate the work of basic and clinical intramural scientists. Since 2006, it has been open to partnerships between intramural and extramural programs.
 For additional information, visit the Bench-to-Bedside Program website or contact BenchtoBedside@mail.nih.gov.

The Pioneer Program seeks to fund individual investigators who propose creative and transformative approaches to addressing challenges in the fields of biomedical and behavioral research.  Applications are due October 7, 2011.

The California HIV/AIDS Research Program at the University of California is pleased to announce the release of our 2011 Call for Applications in two targeted research areas:

Epidemic Interventions Demonstration Project Research Awards: 
Grants from this Call for Applications will support the testing and evaluation of innovative approaches toward the combined implementation of two interventions (PrEP and TLC+) intended to improve health outcomes and curb the HIV epidemic in California.  Awards are for up to $1.2 million per year in direct costs for up to four years.
Webinar: Sep 27
LOI: Oct 11

Collaborative HIV/AIDS Policy Research Center Awards:
Grants from this Call for Applications will support multi-disciplinary teams of investigators working in partnership with providers, consumers, advocates, and policymakers to conduct policy-relevant research.  Awards are for up to $500,000 per year in direct costs for up to four years.
Webinar: Sep 27
LOI: Oct 11

The New Innovator Award seeks to fund a small number of early-stage investigators who propose bold and highly-innovative research with the potential for unusually high impact.  The New Innovator Award seeks to address two goals: stimulating highly-innovative research and supporting promising new investigators. Applications are due October 14, 2011.

Similar to the Pioneer Award, the New Innovator Award is a High-Risk Research Initiative of the NIH Common Fund, which supports exceptionally innovative programs that are inherently high-risk but have the potential for high-payoff by catalyzing research across all of NIH’s institutes and centers (ICs).  The NIH Director's New Innovator Award program is different from traditional NIH grants in several ways. It is designed specifically to support unusually creative new investigators with highly innovative research ideas at an early stage of their career when they may lack the preliminary data required for an R01 grant. The emphasis is on innovation and creativity; preliminary data are not required, but may be included. The procedure for evaluating applicants' qualifications is distinct from the traditional NIH peer review “study section” process and will emphasize the individual’s creativity, the innovativeness of the research approaches, and the potential of the project, if successful, to have a significant impact on an important biomedical or behavioral research problem.  Click here for more information about the New Innovator Award.

The A.P. Giannini Foundation provides fellowships to postdocs who have completed no more than 3 years of postdoctoral research experience and are US citizens or permanent alien residents and hold or will complete a PhD, MD or equivalent degree before they activate the fellowship. If you are interested in this funding opportunity, kindly contact Gigi Petrovich in the KSOM Office of Research Advancement. Note: all applications will be forwarded to the Foundation through our office.  Please submit your applications to Gigi Petrovich by the internal deadline of November 1, 2011. Interested applicants should work closely with their mentors in preparing their applications. Questions can be directed to Gigi Petrovich or to Dr. Cheryl Craft, director, Postdoctoral Scholars Program. For COMPLETE APPLICATION INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES, click here.

A new Medical Research Scholars Program for medical and dental students will begin in September 2012 at the National Institutes of Health. The program will offer research experiences with intramural investigators from across NIH in basic science laboratories, and in clinical and translational research conducted at the NIH Clinical Center. According to NIH, the Program "builds upon the long history that the NIH intramural program has had in preparing clinician-scientists for leadership roles in biomedical research and incorporates the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)-NIH Research Scholars Program and the NIH Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP)." NIH also said, "Program applications will be accepted Oct. 1, 2011 through mid-January 2012. About 40 students are expected to be admitted during the program's first year. The goal is to accept up to 70 students as the program grows."  For more information, click here.

In order to encourage more medical students to pursue academic and research careers, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) offers several "year-out" and summer research training programs for students enrolled in schools in the U.S. Women and under-represented minorities are particularly encouraged to apply. Students enrolled in MD/PhD programs are not eligible to apply.  HHMI Medical Research Fellows Program enables medical, dental, and veterinary students at schools in the U.S. to spend a year conducting basic, translational, or applied biomedical research at any school or nonprofit research institution in the United States, except at the NIH. The Medical Research Fellows Program at Janelia Farm offers students with an interest in neuronal networking and/or imaging at the cellular and molecular level an intense year-long research training experience, living and working at the HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus. The HHMI Summer Medical Fellows Program will support up to 20 students working in HHMI laboratories (with HHMI investigators or at the Janelia Farm Research Campus), for a minimum of 8 consecutive weeks (10 weeks preferred). Students must be in good standing at a medical, dental, or veterinary school located in the U.S. Those who are enrolled in a combined professional degree/Ph.D. program or who have already received a one-year award from any year-out research training program are not eligible to apply. The program is primarily aimed at those students who wish to explore the summer research experience with the intent of applying for the year-long program. For further information, including application deadlines and stipend information, click here or e-mail medfellows@hhmi.org.

NSF has announced their call for the Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections (ADBC) program.  USC has one slot.   If you are interested in being considered for application to this funding opportunity, contact Gigi Petrovich in the Office of Research Advancement as soon as possible. 

The objective of this program seeks to enhance and expand the national resource of digital data documenting existing vouchered biological and paleontological collections and to advance scientific knowledge by improving access to digitized information (including images) residing in vouchered scientific collections across the United States.

Please note:  Proposals that address the goals of specimen digitization through innovative plans, strong collaborations among large and small institutions, and mechanisms to build up existing digitization projects are strongly encouraged.  Proposals that increase the efficiency of the digitization effort (e.g. by reducing the time and sot per specimen, or by developing new workflows) will have a stronger priority for funding.

Anticipated funding amount: 
•TCN (Thematic Collections Networks) proposals “should support the scope of the work proposed” and up to 4 years.
•PEN (Partners to Existing networks) proposals may be for 1 to 3 years with a maximum request of $150,000.

For Program information, click here.

Medical Faculty Women's Association (MFWA) Research Fund is accepting proposals for Seed Money for Pilot Projects  Emergency Interim Funding to Continue Ongoing Projects. Applications require a research plan of no more than 3 pages. Applications are due October 1, 2011.  All proposals must be submitted by email to Dr. Florence M. Hofman.  Funding of $10,000 for one year will be based on scientific merit and need. For further information and proposal guidelines contact Dr. Florence M. Hofman.

The SC CTSI Center for Education, Training and Career Development announces Pre and Post Doctoral Research Training Awards and Information Sessions. Click here for complete details and registration.  For questions contact Amy Zhu. Click here to visit the website.

Valerie Askanas, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology and Pathology, Keck School of Medicine of USC will present, “Inclusion – Body Myositis: Newest Molecular Pathogenic Findings, and Cellular Similarities to the Alzheimer Brain” as part of the KSOM Research Seminar Series. This seminar will be held on Monday, September 19th at 12pm in the Aresty Auditorium, Norris Research Towers, NRT LG. A light lunch will be served at 11:45am in the Atruim of the Auditorium. Dr. Leslie Weiner will be presenting the introduction. Click Here to watch the live webcast! For further information feel free to contact Andrea Robles.

The 10th Moving Targets Symposium will be held on Oct 8th, 2011 at the University Park Campus at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. This Symposium carries the theme of "Aging and Oxidative" stress, and is hosted by the USC – AAPS student chapter and is being co-organized by the NIA. The symposium includes a series of lectures by authorities in the field, round table discussion, poster session and reception at Lucky Strike, in Downtown Los Angeles. The poster session has awards of $1000 each for the top two posters. The reception includes entry to Lucky Strike Bowling’s private party area (food, bowling, pool and drinks included). Click Here to register. The registration deadline is September 25, 2011. Please note: Registration is free but space is limited. If you are not sure of your poster title currently, go ahead and register with a relevant title right now. Email Moving Targets, for further information or to make any changes on poster submissions before the registration deadline.

Visiting Professor Dr. Axel Imhof, Histone Modifications Group, Scientific Coordinator ZfP (Zentrallabor für Proteinanalytik), Adolf-Butenandt Institute from the University of Munich, Germany will presenting a lecture entitled, “Incompatible Chromatin-What Makes the Difference?” This seminar will be held in conjunction with the KSOM Research Seminar Series on Monday, September 26th at 12pm in the Aresty Auditorium, Norris Research Towers, NRT LG. A light lunch will be served at 11:45am in the Atruim of the Auditorium. Dr. Judd Rice will be presenting the introduction. Click Here to watch the live webcast! For further information feel free to contact Andrea Robles.

The Ming Hsieh Institute for Engineering Medicine for Cancer symposium will be held September 29th, in the Aresty Auditorium within the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Harlyne J.Norris Research Tower on the Health Science Campus. The symposium will address opportunities for translation research in nanomedicine, and include both industry and academic participants. President Nikias will deliver the welcoming address at the symposium. For the agenda please go to:  https://research.usc.edu/ming-hsieh-institute-events/. To RSVP, go to:  www.usc.edu/esvp - ESVP Code:  Hsieh

Deborah L. Johnson, Ph.D. ,Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Associate Dean for Ph.D. Graduate Programs at Keck School of Medicine of USC, will be presenting a seminar entitled, “Maf1: A New Molecular Link Between Metabolism and Cancer.” This seminar is presented by the Research Center for Liver Diseases and will be held on Thursday, September 29th from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm in the Hastings Auditorium of the Hoffman Medical Research Building, HSC. Lunch will be served. For more information, please call (323) 442-1283.

The Keck School of Medicine of USC and Children's Hospital Los Angeles are partnering as co-organizers for the upcoming World Stem Cell Summit, to be held Oct. 3–5 at the Pasadena Convention Center.  Now in its seventh year, the Summit is an international gathering of scientists, advocates, government representatives and other stakeholders involved with stem cell research.  More than 170 prominent scientists, business leaders, regulators, policymakers, advocates, economic development officers and experts in law and ethics will discuss the latest scientific discoveries, business models, legal and regulatory solutions, and best practices.  Current USC speakers include Paula Cannon, Tracy Grikscheit, Mark Humayun, Wange Lu, Brent Polk and David Warburton.  Martin Pera, founding director of the Eli & Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cell Research at USC will also be presenting.  Keck School Dean Carmen Puliafito will provide introductory remarks at the opening of the Summit. 

Contact Alan Fernandez for questions at alan@genpol.org.

Discounts on registration are available for anyone associated with USC. These rates are only available to USC faculty, staff, students and postdocs.
The following codes are entered on the 2nd page of the registration process at www.worldstemcellsummit.com

1wsUSCcs1N
USC Non-Profit / Faculty / Staff Rate
$695.00

1wsUSCcs1S
USC Student / Postdoc Rate
$395.00

The 2011 Massry Prize Laureates’ Lectures will be held on Thursday, October 13th from 12 noon until 1:30 pm in the Aresty Auditorium of the Harlyne J. Norris Research Tower, LG. This year’s recipients, F. Ulrich Hartl, MD, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and Arthur Horwich, MD, Yale University, will be presenting their seminars entitled, “Chaperone-Assisted Protein Folding in Health and Disease” and  “Chaperonin-Mediated Protein Folding”.  A reception with a light lunch will be held in the atrium of the Auditorium at 11:30 am. Click here to view the live webcast. Click here to reserve your space online, Code: Massry2011. Click here for further information.

The UC San Diego Clinical and Translational Research Institute (CTRI) and Nature Medicine would like to invite you to attend the 6th Annual Frontiers of Clinical Investigation Symposium on October 13-15, 2011. The theme for the meeting will be "Vascular Disease 2011" which will explore innovative approaches to bridge laboratory investigation and clinical research in disorders affecting the vasculature, including cancer, inflammatory disease and cardiovascular disease.

Multi-disciplinary sessions will include basic, translational, and clinical presentations on cutting edge research to provide an integrated approach to understanding the pathogenesis and treatment of vascular disease, as well as novel clinical trial designs and imaging modalities for development of new therapeutic agents. This symposium will provide unique insights and tools for optimizing and streamlining clinical investigation from discovery to drug approval.  For further information and registration visit their website at http://cme.ucsd.edu/b2b2011/

Piotr Grodzinski, Director of the National Cancer Institute for Nanotechnology in Cancer and the National Cancer Institute will present a seminar on the advances in nanotechnology in cancer on Tuesday, October 18th from 1:30pm to 2:30pm in Aresty Auditorium. Click here for complete details on the seminar.

The 2011 Mobile Health (mHealth) Winter Institute will be held December 5-9, 2011 in Washington DC.  The Institute’s application deadline is August 26. Click here for further details.

The purpose of the Institute is to bring together leaders in mobile technology, behavior sciences, and clinical research to lead a cross-training event for early career investigators with an interest in mHealth.  Applicants should be early career investigators who have not yet received R01 funding and have received a doctoral level degree (PhD, ScD, MD, DDS, DVM, etc.) within the last five years in any of the following: Social and Behavioral sciences, Medical Health and Dental sciences, Biological, Physical or Earth sciences, Computational sciences and Mathematics, Engineering. 

The Center for Excellence in Research Workshops provide training and forums for dialogue on research topics spanning all academic disciplines, covering proposal development, book preparation, funding strategies and academic scholarship. Inquires  and registration can be directed to the Office of Research at 213-740-6709 or usccer@usc.edu. RSVP is required. Click here for full fall schedule with speakers and workshop titles.

• Extramural Nexus (NIH Office of Extramural Research)
• National Postdoctoral Association POSTDOCket
• Academic Medicine Online
• Science Translational Medicine
• Science Magazine
  
  

• Weekly NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices
• Weekly Foundation RFP Bulletin
  

To download an event to your Outlook calendar, please click the relevant hyperlink and at the bottom of the new page choose 'export entry to V-calendar'.

For a comprehensive calendar displaying all research activities currently scheduled, please visit the online Calendar of Events.

Monday September 19th
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – KSOM Research Seminar Series – Valerie Askanas, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology and Pathology, Keck School of Medicine of USC will present, “Inclusion – Body Myositis: Newest Molecular Pathogenic Findings, and Cellular Similarities to the Alzheimer Brain.” This seminar will be held in the Aresty Auditorium of the Norris Research Towers, NRT LG. A light lunch will be served at 11:45am in the Atruim of the Auditorium. Dr. Leslie Weiner will be presenting the introduction. Click Here to watch the live webcast! For further information feel free to contact Andrea Robles.

Tuesday September 20th
1:00 pm - Lunch and Learn Cytometry Education Seminars - Robert Balderas, V.P. Biological Sciences, BD Biosciences, will be presenting, “Analysis of Protein Phosphorylation and Intracellular Cell Cycle Expression using Flow Cytometry.” This seminar will be held in the Broad CIRM Center, 1st Floor Seminar Room. Lunch will be provided by BD Biosciences. For further information and to RSVP, contact Lora Baskyat (323) 442-7942 .

Wednesday September 21st
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – The Soul of Medicine – Drs. Jean and Todd Forman, redefine the term “Family Practice” in  this wonderful lecture presented by the USC office of Religious Life and the Levan Institute for the Humanities and Ethics. This event will be held in McKibben Hall, MCH 156.

Thursday September 22nd
8:00 am – 3:30 pm – 15th Annual Max R. Gaspar Vascular Symposium - "All Aorta from the Valve to Bifurcation" , day – long symposium will be presented by Visiting Professor Jack L. Cronenwett , Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. This event is sponsored by USC’s Cardiovascular Thoracic Institute (CVTI) and the Keck School of Medicine, Office of Continuing Education, and will be held in the Millenium Biltmore Hotel. For registration and further information, contact Donna Bowker at (800) 872-1119 or (323) 442-2555 or visit USC’s Cardiovascular Website.

Friday September 23rd
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – Department of Medicine Grand Rounds – “Sleep Disorders in the Elderly.” This lecture will be facilitated by Resident Presenter: Maritza Calonga of USC and held in the Inpatient Tower, (IPT) conference room B. For further information, contact Francis Moreno at (323) 226-7556.

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm – Department of Medicine Grand Rounds – “Infectious Disease Clinical Pathological Conference.” This lecture will be facilitated by Resident Presenter: Maria Ochoa of USC and held in the Inpatient Tower, (IPT) conference room D. For further information, contact at (323) 226-7504.

To keep up-to-date on available research funding opportunities, visit these institutions and organizations:

• The National Institutes of Health
• The National Science Foundation
• The Foundation Center
• California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
• Office of Research, University of Southern California
• Keck Office of Research Advancement
• Los Angeles Basin Clinical & Translational Science Institute
• Programs in Biomedical & Biological Sciences (PIBBS)
• Links to Professional Societies Promoting Biomedical Research