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Vol. VI, No. 2 Winter 2003
A publication of Ohio University
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RSAC Offers Internal Review Process Authorized Institutional Signature | |
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This fall marked the debut of Research Day. The purpose of Research Day is to showcase ongoing research at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. On September 27, 2002, thirty-eight posters were presented on the Bricks in Irvine. A large crowd perused the presentations and participated in lively discussions, while enjoying cider and doughnuts, compliments of Dean Brose. The projects, presented by teams of OU-COM faculty, medical students, graduate students, and undergraduates, all received financial supported from the Office of Research and Grants (ORG). Some medical students were supported through the Research and Scholarly Advancement Fellowship Program, while many faculty received research seed money through a competitive process administered by the Research and Scholarly Affairs Committee (RSAC). ORG and RSAC jointly sponsored Research Day. Special thanks to Bonita Biegalke and Judi Rioch for their leadership in organizing and carrying out this successful event. Research Day will be an annual affair to promote research activities at OU-COM. Click here for a pictorial view of Research Day.
A major goal of the Office of Research and Grants and the Research and Scholarly Affairs Committee (RSAC) is to increase the funding rate of proposals submitted to agencies outside of OU-COM. Internal review of proposals, both by experts in the field and non-experts, can demonstrably increase the success rate of a given proposal. RSAC offers to grant proposal writers an opportunity for internal reviews and comments on the proposal
For internal review, proposals should be submitted a minimum of one month prior to the grant deadline date. The Chair of RSAC and the Associate Dean for Research and Grants will forward the proposal to members of the committee, selecting a “non”-expert in the area, as well as experts in the area. The proposals and comments will be treated confidentially within the designated review committee. To facilitate the review process, reviewers will be given any available information regarding the agency’s criteria for awards. Reviewers will be asked to make their comments in writing. The grant writer is requested to provide feedback to the Chair of RSAC and the Associate Dean concerning the value of the internal review in preparing a competitive proposal. Full details of the internal grant review process can be obtained from the Office of Research and Grants web site. Contact Bonita Biegalke, Chair of RSAC, if you have any questions.
Peter
Coschigano, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical
Sciences, received his Ph.D. in microbiology from MIT. He came to OU-COM in
December 1995 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Rutgers University
under the direction of Dr. Lily Young.
The focus of his research, then and now, is on bacteria that degrade toluene. A five-year CAREER grant from National Science Foundation funds his research on this toxic compound that is an industrial solvent and is found paint thinners, glue, and gasoline. Human exposure to toluene can impact color vision, hearing, memory, learning, concentrating, and abstracting, to name a few. It is not a carcinogen, but it does make carcinogens more potent. A common carcinogen connected with toluene is benzene, which is found in gasoline. The EPA ranks toluene as a priority pollutant.
Dr. Coschigano is investigating the degradation of toluene under denitrifying conditions by studying genes and enzymes involved in the early steps of toluene metabolism. The first step is to identify and clone the genes, then to understand their regulation. This knowledge can then help determine ways to enhance the normal bacteria in the environment for use in environmental cleanups. The potential applications of such studies include the cleanup of spills that contaminate ground water, and the use of bioengineered microorganisms to treat contained wastes at chemical plants.
The initial research has produced some unexpected results for Dr. Coschigano that are the basis of his July 2002 renewal grant application to NSF. He has also written several papers and done many poster presentations on his work in this area. His latest abstract submission is to the annual meeting of the American Society of Microbiology in May 2003.
The Office of Research & Sponsored Programs (ORSP) is the designated negotiator for all administrative matters, which includes contracts and agreements. All contractual obligations related to research activities or other sponsored programs must be executed by a designated institutional official. Those people are Shane L. Gilkey, Director, Budget, Planning and Research & Sponsored Programs, or John A. Bantle, Vice President for Research.
The Office of the VP for Research provides two subscription services to assist in the identification of funding sources. The subscriptions are open to anyone who accesses the internet through an Ohio University server. This includes at least one computer at each of the CORE sites according to Dan Smith, Coordinator of Distance Learning, COM-Office of Information Systems and Instructional Technology, phone: (740)593-2460, email: smithd6@ohio.edu.
The first service, The Grant Advisor, Plus is located at http://www.grantadvisor.com/tgaplus/. It is published every month except July and provides a monthly grant information newsletter which is downloadable in a number of formats. In addition, it provides Deadline Memo Hyperlinks for a three month period which are organized by ten categories: Education; Federal Register; Fine Arts; Health Related; Humanities; International; Minorities/Women; Sciences; Social Sciences; and Unrestricted & Other. The Deadline Memo Hyperlinks provide a link to the sponsor website.
The second service, Sponsored Programs Information Network (SPIN) is a computerized database of funding opportunities (federal, non-federal, and corporate) designed to assist faculty, physicians, and administrators in the identification of external support for research, education, and development projects. The SPIN Keyword Thesaurus is available as a Adobe Acrobat PDF file at http://www.ohiou.edu/orsp/spint.pdf. Other guides to using the database are available at http://www.ohiou.edu/orsp/spin.htm.
For help in using either resource contact Susan Loughridge, Grants Information Manager, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, 105 Research and Technology Center, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701-2979, Phone: 740-593-0374, fax: 740-593-0379, email: loughrid@ohio.edu.
Investigators at a major research institute have discovered the heaviest element known to science. This startling new discovery has been tentatively named “ADMINISTRATIUM.”
This new element has no protons or electrons, thus having an atomic number of ZERO. It does, however, have one neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice neutrons, and 111 assistant vice neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by a force created by surrounding particles called morons, which are then surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.
Since it has no electrons, Administratium is inert. However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. According to the discoverers, a minute amount of Administratium causes one reaction to take more than four days to complete when it would normally take less that one minute.
Administratium has a normal half-life of approximately three years. It does not decay but, instead, undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons, vice neutrons and assistant vice neutrons exchange places. In fact, an Administratium sample’s mass will actually increase over time since, with each reorganization, some of the morons inevitably become neutrons, forming new isotopes.
This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to speculate that Administratium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as “the critical morass.”
You will know it when you see it.
by Chris Knisely
On December 9, 2002, the Office of Research and Grants offered its first workshop, in a series of four, for OU-COM faculty and staff. The presentation highlighted how an application is processed at OU-COM and how our office can provide assistance. Staff from the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs also participated in the workshop, with information on how they can assist with locating funding sources and processing the proposal itself.
Key to the Office of Research and Grants assisting with your proposal is allowing enough time for us to help. The list below provides an overview of the time it takes to review budgets, negotiate indirect rates and submit the proposal for internal review. If your project is collaborative the time required to complete a proposal expands exponentially. The approval process time that it takes for one organization multiplies by the variable of all the other collaborators! The most recent collaborative project in which OU-COM is involved has seven consortium members. It will be seven months from the time of the first discussions among consortium members to when the proposal is submitted to the funding agency this February.
Plan Your Project Times Frames
A. Develop project idea -- as much time as necessary!
Collaborative projects can take 6 months!
B. Project Components
1. Proposal Development (budget to ORSP) -- 4 weeks
2. Proposal Development (COM RSAC review) -- 4 weeks
3. Reduce Indirect Request (VP Research) -- 4 weeks
4. COM Budget Review -- 1 week
Watch for announcements from the Office of Research and Grants. The remaining workshops will feature:
Post-award information on what happens once a grant is awarded
University Compliance regulations that affect an application and grant
Resources offered by the Health Science Library in Alden
Contact Judi Rioch at 740-593-2336 or rioch@ohio.edu for details
National Institutes of Health
Research Project Grants (R01)
Research project grants are awarded to institutions on behalf of a principal investigator to facilitate pursuit of a scientific focus or objective in the area of the investigator's interest and competence. Institutional sponsorship assures the NIH that the institution will provide facilities necessary to accomplish the research and will be accountable for the grant funds. Applications are accepted for health-related research and development in all areas within the scope of NIH's mission.
Deadline: Febraury 1, 2003
Awarded: December 1, 2003
Amount: Up to $500,000 direct costs per year for up to 5 years
AREA -- Academic Research Enhancement Award (R15)
The Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) is designed to enhance the research environment of educational institutions that have not been traditional recipients of NIH research funds. This award provides limited funds for faculty members of these institutions to develop new research projects or expand ongoing research activities in areas related to the health sciences and to encourage students to participate in the research activity.
Deadline: January 25, 2003
Award: December 1, 2003
Amount: Up to $100,000 total direct costs over 1 to 3 years
American Diabetes Association
Support innovative research
Deadlines:
Amount
: up to $50,000 for up to 2 years
http://www.diabetes.org/main/professional.research/forms.jsp
Medical Student Achievement Award
Medical Student Research Preceptorship Program
Medical Student Clinical
Preceptorship Program
http://www.ref@rheumatology.org
Supports research, scholarly and creative activities at Ohio University for
projects that are near completion and can hopefully be brought to full
completion
Deadline: January 15, 2003
Amount: up to $12,000
http://www.ohiou.edu/research/baker.htm
Supports research, scholarly and creative activities at Ohio University with funds to initiate projects
Deadline: January 30, 2003
Amount: up to $8,000
http://www.ohiou.edu/research/ourc.htm
Research Grants
PI: Don Spaeth, D.O., Ph.D.
Agency: Ohio Medical Quality Foundation
Title: Partners in technology to improve patient safety
Amount: $74,458
PI: Xiao Chen, Ph.D.
Agency: MetaCor Pharmaceuticals
Title: Therapeutic compounds
Amount: $287,922
Program Grants
PI: John Brose, D.O.
Agency: OOA
Title: Government relations liaison agreement
Amount: $50,376
PI: Wayne Carlsen, D.O.
Agency: Case Western Reserve University
Title: CWRU geriatric education
Amount: $38,000
PI: Deborah Meyer
Agency: HHS/HRSA
Title: Interdisciplinary health care in SE Ohio
Amount: $114,261
PI: Brian Phillips
Agency: Southern Consortium for Children
Title: SCC videoconferencing support agrement
Amount: $96,564
PI: Kathy Trace
Agency: Ohio Community Service Council
Title: ComCorps
Amount: $162,532
