The USC Office for Research has announced the following institutionally-limited funding opportunities:

• National Science Foundation Scalable Nanomanufacturing Program. USC has one slot for this program; the NSF deadline is January 10.  Please provide one candidate, with CVs and research summary, by October 27.
• Doris Duke Foundation Clinical Scientist Development Award – this opportunity provides support to junior physician-scientists to facilitate their transition to independent clinical research careers. USC has two slots; the external deadline is Nov. 17. Please provide a CV and 1-page research summary of up to two no later than October 22.
• Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program – this opportunity supports the research and teaching careers of talented young faculty in the chemical sciences, including biochemistry, materials chemistry, and chemical engineering. USC has one slot for this program.  Schools with nominees should provide one candidate, with CV & summary statement, by October 27
• NIH Director’s Early Independence Awards (DP5) – The NIH Common Fund is establishing the new NIH Director’s Early Independence Award  to provide a mechanism for exceptional, early career scientists to omit traditional post-doctoral training, and move into temporary, independent academic positions at U.S. institutions directly upon completion of their graduate degrees (Ph.D, M.D. or equivalent).  USC has two slots for this program; the NIH deadline for LoIs is December 21.  Please provide CVs and research summary by November 23.  

Please Note: Institutionally-limited funding opportunities are competitions for awards by outside agencies for which USC can nominate a limited number of candidates. Please contact Gigi Petrovich if you wish to be considered for an application. Please click here to learn about the internal selection process.

The Progeria Research Foundation awards grants for research to find the cause, treatment, or cure for Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, a rare, fatal genetic condition characterized by an appearance of accelerated aging in children. Funding of up to $50,000 per year for up to two years may be requested. Principal investigators must hold postdoctoral positions or beyond. Proposals are due October 20th.  For application and guidelines, click here.

The A. P. Giannini Foundation invites promising young postdoctoral investigators in the early stages of their careers to apply to their Medical Research Fellowship Program. This prestigious and highly competitive program supports innovative medical research in the basic sciences and applied fields, with an emphasis on translation. The fellowship comes with a substantial stipend for up to three years to support work with mentors based at California medical schools.  Postdocs (MD or PhD) with no more than 3 years of postdoctoral experience are eligible to apply. Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents. Please submit your complete application and CV to gpetrov@usc.edu  in the Office of Research Advancement by October 28, 2010.  All interested applicants will be forwarded to the Foundation through the Office of Research Advancement.  Click here for additional information.

The FY 2011 NSF STTR solicitation seeks to support university-small business partnerships in the area of "Digital Gaming in Education."  STTR awards fund university-small business partnerships, with the university receiving 30 to 60 percent of the funding.  The principal investigator must be employed by the small business.  NSF expects to make approximately 35 awards, each for $150,000 over one year.  Proposals are due Nov 17.  Click here for more information.

The LCRP Early Detection Clinical Consortium Award mechanism is being offered for the first time in FY10. The intent of the award is to fund clinical studies focused on characterizing, developing, and/or improving early detection modalities for lung cancer. All projects shall be limited to clinical research and clinical trials. Animal studies are excluded from consideration. Click here for more information.

The International Clinical Research Fellows (ICRF) Program is a post-doctoral program for medical residents and fellows, as well as scientists with PhDs engaged in health-related post-doctoral programs. The Program is based on mentored clinical research and orientation towards global health and supports one-year of mentored clinical research only in a developing country setting. Both US and non-US candidates are eligible to apply, provided the non-US candidates propose to work with an pre approved site. The ICRF program is sponsored by the Fogarty International Center at the NIH and several collaborating NIH institutes and centers. For the first time, the application is now online, with a deadline of December 1, 2010 for fellowships to be conducted from July 2011 to June 2012. Please click here for more information.

The Center for Mental Health Services Research (CMHSR) at Washington University in St. Louis invites applications to the Implementation Research Institute (IRI). This week-long training institute is specially designed for MD/PHD graduate researchers who want to understand and pursue clinical translational research. Funded by a five-year R25 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) through the Department of Veterans Affairs, this unique interdisciplinary training program will help launch a research career in implementation science. Click here for more information.

NIH on Friday announced that proposal preparation costs will now be allowable as a direct charge for Mentored Career Development Awards. Read the new policy.

NIH on Friday also announced the publication of the revised NIH Grants Policy Statement (NIHGPS, rev. 10/1/2010). This revision is applicable to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements with budget periods beginning on or after October 1, 2010. This revision supersedes, in its entirety, the NIH Grants Policy Statement (12/03) as a standard term and condition of award. However, the December 2003 NIHGPS continues to be the standard term and condition for all NIH grants and cooperative agreements with budget periods that began between December 1, 2003 and September 30, 2010. This revision incorporates NIH policy changes since the December 2003 version, policy clarifications, public policy changes, terminology changes, new chapters, chapter revisions, reorganization of the document, as well as other document enhancements such as a new chapter numbering schema. A document summarizing significant changes is also being made available. Read the new statement.

The new issue of NIH Extramural Nexus has been posted. The monthly newsletter from the NIH Office of Extramural Research discusses, among other topics, the final Recovery Act funding allocations, the process researchers must undertake to save their citation listings in the NIH Commons, and new application form packages coming on-line. Extramural Nexus

Starting January 25, 2011, NIH, AHRQ and NIOSH will be eliminating the correction window from the application process.  This means that any application submitted after 5pm local time of the applicant organization will be subject to late policies.  View NOT-OD-10-123.

Starting January 25, 2011, NIH will implement a new time limit between the submission of a New, Renewal, or Revision¹ application and a Resubmission (A1 version) of that application.  The NIH will not accept a Resubmission that is submitted later than thirty-seven months after the receipt date of the initial New, Renewal, or Revision application. Applications must be submitted for the dates listed in the appropriate Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). For more information, please click here.

Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend the Dean's Translational Medicine Seminar Series on October 19that 4:00-5:00pm in Aresty Aud., NRT-LG. Dr. Antonio Scarpa, Director of the Center for Scientific Review at NIH, will present "Challenges and Opportunities of NIH Peer-Review: A Vision for Ensuring Its Strategic National Value”.  A reception will be held after the seminar in the Aresty Foyer at 5:00pm.  Reserve your space at http://keckapps.usc.edu/esvp/ Code:  Scarpa or watch the live webcast: http://keckapps.usc.edu/esvp/webcast.php. For more information, contact (323) 442-1144 or ResAdv@keck.usc.edu

This week, the USC Center for Excellence in Research hosts two workshops for faculty members. “Responsible Conduct in Research: Human Subjects” will be held on Wednesday Oct 20, from 4 - 6 pm, Norris Medical Library, East Conference Room, HSC.  Lunch will be provided. “Writing Persuasive Proposals” will be held on Thursday Oct 21, from noon to 2 pm, Credit Union Building, Room 329, UPC.  Read more.  Both workshops are sponsored by the Office of the Provost.  Due to limited space, a reservation email most be sent to usccer@usc.edu in order to reserve a place.

The 3rd Annual USC Stem Cell and Developmental Biology (SCDB) Retreat will be held at Lake Arrowhead from Sunday October 24 through Monday October 25. The retreat provides an opportunity for faculty and lab members from many parts of USC to meet together in a casual and focused setting to interact and discuss their current work. There will be a mixture of talks from faculty, post-docs, and students, and a poster session and party on Sunday night. In addition, a prominent keynote speaker will be announced shortly. The meeting is open to faculty, students, and postdocs from CSCRM, CCMB, and other stem cell and developmental biology labs at USC or associated campuses (such as CHLA and House Ear Institute) as well as first-year PIBBS students (free of charge). Click here to view the program announcement.

Open House and Tour of the new Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine for Stem Cell Research at USC for all faculty, Staff and Students.  Please join us on Friday October 29, 2010, 3:30 to 5:00, Health Sciences Campus, 1425 North San Pablo Street.

• 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.

Mon Oct 18
12:00-1:00 pm – KSOM Research Seminar – Dr. Gage DeKoeyer Crump, Assistant Professor, Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, ZNI, KSOM, USC, will present “Origin and Patterning of the Vertebrate Facial Skeleton”.  Hosted by Keck Research Advancement.  Aresty Auditorium, NRT-LG, HSC.  Pizza at 11:40 am.  Info:  (323) 442-1144 or ResAdv@keck.usc.edu

12:00-1:00 pm – The Medical Humanities, Arts, & Ethics – Dr. Jay Baruch, Professor, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, will present “Writing about Patients Truth & Consequences”.  Mayer Auditorium, KAM, HSC.  www.usc.edu/visionsandvoices

Tue Oct 19
4:00-5:00 pm – Dean's Translational Medicine Seminar Series – Dr. Antonio Scarpa, Director, Center for Scientific Review, NIH will present "Challenges and Opportunities Facing Peer-Review: A Vision for Ensuring Its Strategic National Value”.   Host: Vito Campese.  Aresty Auditorium, NRT-LG, HSC.  Refreshments will be served after the seminar.  Reserve your space online at:   http://keckapps.usc.edu/esvp  Code: Scarpa.  Watch the live webcast: http://keckapps.usc.edu/esvp/webcast.php. Info:  (323) 442-1144 or ResAdv@keck.usc.edu

Wed Oct 20
12:00-2:00 pm – CER Advancement Faculty Workshop – Responsible Conduct of Research: Human Subjects – The Center for Excellence in Research hosts a workshop by Susan Rose, executive director of the Office for the Protection of Research Subjects.  Regulations, funding and best practices are clearly headed in the direction of requiring Responsible Conduct of Research education and training for all graduate and undergraduate students doing research in all disciplines. This session will highlight current requirements and expectations, as well as describe options, resources and expectations for faculty, students and grant applications.  Sponsored By: Office of the Provost.  Due to limited space, RSVP is required at usccer@usc.edu.  Credit Union Building, Room 329, UPC.  Lunch will be provided.

Thur Oct 21
12:30-1:30 pm – Massry Prize Lecture – Dr. Jim Rothman, Wallace Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Professor and Chairman of Cell Biology, Professor of Chemistry, Executive Director, Yale Center for High Throughput Cell Biology, will present “Mechanism and Regulation of Membrane Fusion”.  Dr. Randy Schekman, Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology, HHMI Investigator, University of California, Berkeley, will present “Membrane Transport Vesicles and Human Disease”.  Refreshments will be served at noon in the KAM Hoytt Gallery, HSC.  30 minute lectures begining at 12:30pm in Mayer Auditorium, KAM, HSC.  Reserve your space online at www.keckapps.usc.edu/esvp  Code: Massry.  Watch the live webcast: http://keckapps.usc.edu/esvp/webcast.php. Info:  (323) 442-1144 or ResAdv@keck.usc.edu

4:00-6:00 pm – CER Advancement Faculty Workshop – Writing Persuasive Proposals – A hands-on workshop (consisting of three sessions on Oct. 14, 21, 28) on directly and effectively meeting the requirements of RFPs and grant program applications.  The three-session workshop will be led by Bonnie Kilgore Lund, professional grant writer and director, The Writing Company. It is targeted to faculty who are currently writing or resubmitting a proposal. Sponsored By: Office of the Provost.  Read more. Due to limited space, RSVP is required at usccer@usc.edu.  NML, East Conference Room, HSC.

Fri Oct 22
12:00-1:00 pm – Dept. of Pharmacology & Pharmaceutical Sciences – Dr. Xuan Liu, Professor, Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside, will present “The Ups and Downs of p53 Regulation:  Implications in Cancer and Metabolism”.  Host: Dr. Bangyan Stiles, (323) 442-2184 or bstiles@usc.edu.  PSC 104.  Refreshments will be served. 

12:00-1:00 pm – USC Physical Sciences in Oncology Center – Dr. Joel S. Brown, Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, will present “Game Theory and the Evolutionary Ecology of Cancer”.  Host: Parag Mallick: mallick@usc.edu.  Harkness Aud, CSC 250, HSC.  Pizza at 11:40 am.  Info:  yvonne.suarez@usc.edu  

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