Announcements

NIH SCIENCE EDUCATION CONVERSATIONS

Basic Cognition for Numbers: Potential Impacts in the Science Classroom

Thursday, October 25, 2012

3:00-4:15 p.m.

Building 50, Room 1328/1334

Justin Halberda, Ph.D. (associate professor, Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University), will present “ Basic Cognition For Numbers: Potential Impacts in the Science Classroom.” He directs two laboratories that often interact and work together: the Vision and Cognition Lab, which studies the organization of attention, working memory, and the connection of mind to world; and the Laboratory for Child Development, which bridges linguistics and psychology using classical psychophysics as a tool to uncover the structures that support word meanings.

This lecture is the second in the NIH Science Education Conversations Series, offered by the Office of Science Education. Topics range from learning about what the future holds for tomorrow’s science classroom to how to implement findings from research about the science of education. All NIH employees interested in science education are encouraged to attend. Each session is intended to be an interactive discussion between the audience and the presenter.

Future sessions, to be held at the same time and same place:

November 29: Shirley Malcom (Head of Education and Human Resources at the American Association for the Advancement of Science), “Bringing Underrepresented Populations into the Sciences: What Difference Does Difference Make?”

December 20: Daniel M. Levin (visiting assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of Maryland), “Attending to Student Thinking in Science: Becoming a Responsive Teacher.”

In 2013, sessions will be held: January 17, February 28, March 28, April 25, and May 23.

For more information visit: http://science.education.nih.gov/sciedconversations or contact Jennifer Gorman Wright at gormanj@od.nih.gov or 301-402-2469.

NIH RESEARCH FESTIVAL: October 9-12, 2012

Tuesday, October 9, 2011 — Opening Plenary Session

“The NIH at 125: Today's Discoveries, Tomorrow’s Cures”

10:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Masur Auditorium, Building 10

Remaining sessions: Natcher Conference Center (Building 45); Building 10, and Parking Lot 10H

Don’t miss this year’s festival featuring scientific symposia, poster sessions, workshops, a scientific equipment tent show, and more. The plenary session will be videocast (http://videocast.nih.gov). For more information, visit the Research Festival Web site at http://researchfestival.nih.gov.

NIH TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH INTEREST GROUP (TRIG)

Lecture Series 2012–2013

Thursdays, 1:00–2:00 p.m. (1:00–3:00, September 13 only)

Lipsett Amphitheater (Building 10)

September 13: Forum on “Discovery and Development of Therapeutic Candidates at NIH.” Speakers: John McKew (NCATS), “Public Private Partnerships to Advance Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases”; Marjan Huizing (NHGRI), “N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) as a Therapy for Disorders of Hyposialylation”; and Nuria Carrillo (NCATS), “Translating ManNAc into a Therapy for Patients with Hereditary Inclusion Body Myopathy (HIBM)”

October 25: Robert A. Star (NIDDK), “Sepsis and Acute Kidney Injury: Kidney as Amplifier and Target”

November 8: George Kunos (NIAAA), “The Peripheral Endocannabinoid/CB1 Receptor System Is a Novel Therapeutic Target for Obesity, Diabetes and Fatty Liver Disease”

For more information, visit http://sigs.nih.gov/trig.

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES EXPO AND CAREER FAIR 2012

Friday, September 28, 2012

12:00–4:30 p.m.

Natcher Conference Center (Building 45)

Postdocs and graduate students considering careers abroad won’t want to miss this event. Informational talks will explore research, funding, and career opportunities. Network and interact with science and technology representatives from multinational research organizations, government, and industry. For more information visit https://www.training.nih.gov/international_expo_2012 or contact Shirley Forehand (forehans@mail.nih.gov or 301-402-2174).

THE NATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE (NGSRC)

October 9–10, 2012

Natcher Conference Center (Building 45); Lister Hill Auditorium (Building 38A)

The NGSRC will be held in conjunction with the NIH Research Festival (October 9–12). More than 100 advanced graduate students—who were chosen from an applicant pool of 500 and who are racially and ethnically diverse—from across the United States will come to the Bethesda campus for this NIH-sponsored scientific meeting. They will share their own research and learn about scientific advances being made in the NIH Intramural Research Program. NIH investigators will have the opportunity to recruit conference participants as postdoctoral fellows. The NGSRC agenda includes career and professional-development workshops, a panel of former NIH trainees discussing their career trajectories, and NIH Research Festival poster sessions that give conference participants the opportunity to present and discuss their graduate research. NIH investigators and current postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to visit the posters to discuss potential collaborations and new research directions and learn firsthand about novel techniques and approaches that could enhance their investigations. For more information, visit https://www.training.nih.gov/events/recurring/nih_national_graduate_student_research_festival or contact Shirley Forehand (forehans@mail.nih.gov or 301-402-2174).

INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF CLINICAL RESEARCH

October 16, 2012, through March 26, 2013

Monday and Tuesday evenings, 5:00–6:30 p.m.

NIH campus

Registration: free; deadline October 9, 2012

This course will be of interest to physicians and other health professionals planning a career in clinical research. The textbook, John I. Gallin’s Principles and Practice of Clinical Research, Third Edition, is optional but it may be helpful. (You can buy it in the FAES Bookstore, near the B1 cafeteria in Building 10). The enhanced curriculum will help students become familiar with the basic epidemiologic methods involved in clinical research; ethical principles, legal issues, and regulations, including the role of institutional review boards in clinical research; principles and issues involved in monitoring patient-oriented research; the infrastructure required to perform clinical research; and the steps involved in developing and funding research studies. A certificate will be awarded to those who complete the course and take a final exam. A course in biostatistics, such as STAT 200 or STAT 500, currently offered by the FAES, may be helpful too. For more information or to register, visit the course Web site at http://www.cc.nih.gov/training/training/ippcr/application.html or call 301-496-9425.

2012 NIH COMMUNITY COLLEGE DAY

Friday, October 19, 2012

8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Natcher Conference Center (Building 45)

Lister Hill Auditorium (Building 38A)

This event, sponsored by the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education, will provide community college students and faculty an opportunity to visit the NIH campus and to learn about careers and training opportunities in the biomedical and health-care fields. To register and for more information, visit http://www.training.nih.gov or contact Shirley Forehand (forehans@mail.nih.gov or 301-402-2174).

NCI’s Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis

Call for Applications for the Clinical Assay Development Program

Applications Due: October 15, 2012

The NCI Clinical Assay Development Program (CADP) is requesting project applications from investigators seeking clinical assay-validation resources. These resources are designed to assist with the development of assays that may predict therapeutic response or prognostic behavior of a diagnosed cancer, primarily for use in clinical trials. Approved projects for the NCI CADP will be provided access to the institute’s assay-development and -validation resources, including project-management support. When applying to the CADP, investigators should define the intended clinical use for the assay for which support is requested. Assays submitted for CADP development services should have been tested on human tissue. As part of the application, investigators are required to provide basic assay protocol(s). Proposals will be reviewed for scientific merit, feasibility, and clinical importance. To learn more about CADP or to submit an application, go to http://cadp.cancer.gov. For other questions, contact Melissa Glim, MPH (melissa.glim@nih.gov or 301-435-1650). Please note, this call for applications is not a solicitation for biomarker discovery and is not a grants program.

BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES RESEARCH RETREAT

Monday, October 22, 2012 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Natcher Conference Center (Building 45)

Registration deadline: October 12, 2012

The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research will host this event featuring scientific discussions on behavioral and social sciences research. For more information, contact Dana Sampson (dana.sampson@nih.gov). To register, visit http://conferences.thehillgroup.com/obssr/2012BSSRretreat/index.html.

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR COLLECTION OF NORMAL HUMAN BIOSPECIMENS

NCI released a compendium of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to guide the successful collection, processing, storage, and distribution of normal human biospecimens for the NIH Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project. These SOPs can serve as a model for collecting tissue for experimental purposes from autopsies and organ donors. For more information, visit http://biospecimens.cancer.gov/resources/sops or contact nciobbr@mail.nih.gov.

SCIFINDER

The NIH Library, in collaboration with many of the NIH institutes and centers, has made site-wide access to the SciFinder database available (http://www.cas.org/products/scifinder). SciFinder is a research discovery tool that gives users access to the world’s largest curated collection of scientific information from the Chemical Abstracts Service. To request a SciFinder password, complete the request form at http://moss.nihlibrary.nih.gov/_layouts/FormServer.aspx?XsnLocation=/nihformtemplates/nihscifindersignupform.xsn. Current SciFinder account holders do not need to apply for new login IDs. For assistance, contact Barbara Brandys (brandysb@mail.nih.gov).

NEW PROCESS TO ACCESS COMPILATION OF AGGREGATE-LEVEL GENOMIC DATA

NIH has implemented a new controlled-access process to enable intramural and extramural investigators to make a single request to access multiple aggregate data sets from the database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP). The aggregate data sets, which are all for general research use, have been combined into the Compilation of Aggregate Genomic Data study, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/gap/cgi-bin/study.cgi?study_id=phs000501.v1.p1.

For more information, go to http://gwas.nih.gov/pdf/Compilation_of_Aggregate_Genomic_Data.pdf or contact Erin Luetkemeier (gwas@mail.nih.gov).

TRANSFER AGREEMENTS MADE EASY!

The NIH Transfer Agreement Dashboard (TAD) takes the stress out of the Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) experience by helping users track and manage all their MTAs in one easy-to-use application. Users can scan a dashboard to see all their current MTAs, determine where new MTAs are in the approval process, and identify all parties involved in each agreement. The e-signature option and preloaded customizable templates take the guesswork out of MTA creation, freeing the filer from having to file or scan paper forms. TAD is available for free to all NIH institutes and centers; all PIs and technology-transfer staff are encouraged to take advantage of this IRP resource to facilitate all aspects of the MTA filing process. To obtain a TAD account, contact the TAD support team at NIHTADSupport@mail.nih.gov or visit the TAD Web site at http://techtransferagreements.nih.gov.