Office for Human Research Protections to hold community forum

The OHRP is teaming up with Hackensack University Medical Center on April 4-5, 2017 for a conference and community forum on "Big Data, Small Data and the Implications for Human Subject Research". The conference will be held at the Hilton Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ. A summary of the event:

Human research increasingly relies on the collection and analysis of data. Big Data uses large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations. Personalized medicine seeks to identify treatment tailored to the individual patient based on their predicted response or risk of disease; medical decision making, interventions and/or treatment modalities are identified through analysis of data sets. Genomics research has relied on the sharing of genome data since its inception. In all these cases, there are legal, regulatory and ethical implications related to the use of data both alone and in combination with bio-specimens. This conference seeks to create a dialogue that addresses the interception of these implications.

More information about the conference, the hotel and registration links can be found here: http://www.cvent.com/d/yvql9b.

A summary of new NIH policy changes

On the award side, the National Institutes of Health have made some changes to their policies on:

• final progress reports
• training for investigators involved in NIH-funded clinical trials, and
• reporting of NIH-funded clinical trials.

On the proposal side, there are changes in policy regarding:

• the items allowed to be included in appendices
• post-submission materials, and
• acceptable fonts/text color.

Finally, starting tomorrow you may submit an interim progress report rather than a final report if you are ending one grant cycle and waiting for the next cycle to begin. See this webpage for complete details and links to the Notices involved.

Increasing your research's impact

Academia is more crowded and competitive than ever, both in terms of research dollars and the multitude of ways people now have to shout about their own research, which could drown out your voice. Learn 8 Tips to increase the reach of your research in 2017 from editage Insights.

Upcoming NIH regional seminars

Registration for two Regional Seminars on Program Funding and Grants Administration will open in January. The first will be held in early May in New Orleans; the second in late October in Baltimore. There will also be pre-seminar workshops available on topics such as using eRA Commons, intellectual property issues, and human subject protocols.

Please see this notice for more information: NOT-OD-17-026.

Need a mentor? Looking for a mentee?

The National Research Mentoring Network helps to match undergrad, graduate and postdoc biomedical researchers with junior or senior faculty, as well as non-faculty researchers and administrators, in mentor/mentee partnerships. It is a priority of the NRMN to increase diversity in the biomedical field. While a NIH program, you do not have to be supported by NIH funding to join the network. More information can be found here: https:/nrmnet.net

NIH announces new appendix policy effective January 25th

The NIH will be updating application instructions by November 25th to reflect changes in their appendix policy for applications due on or after January 25, 2017. The only allowable appendix materials (unless specified in the FOA) will be:
For applications proposing clinical trials

Clinical trial protocols

Investigator's brochure from Investigational New Drug (IND), as appropriate

For all applications

Blank informed consent/assent forms

Blank surveys, questionnaires, data collection instruments

FOA-specified items

Note that the biggest change is the disallowance of any publications.

Defense Innovation Summit, 11/29-12/1 in Austin, TX

Many Federal sponsors, including those from the Department of Defense, and private companies are looking to partner with universities to develop technology solutions to strengthen national security, keep our soldiers safe and help care for veterans. Attending this summit at the JW Marriott in beautiful Austin, Texas, could be a great way to find out what you have to offer these funders.

For more information on the summit, which is being held in tandem with the Defense Energy and SBIR/STTR Innovation Summits, or to register, please visit defenseinnovation.us.