Vice President's Message
Good News and Coming Events
• News
• Provost's Lecture Series
• OVPR Workshop Series
• Van
Service Between SBU and BNL
Opportunities and Sponsor Information
• 12 Grants Available Under the ACT Program
• Sponsor Deadlines
• NIH Commons
• Updating COS Profile
Essential Policies, Procedures
and Resources
• Information Guide for RF Recruitment for the Summer
• Employee Occupational Safety Training Calendar
• Employees with Terminating Appointments
• RF Business System Security Administration
• RF Central Training Sessions
• Foreign Travel Information
• Continuing Education in Human Subject Protections
• Interdisciplinary Seminars
• Music for Meetings
For More Information
Vice President's Message
Conflict of Interest. There is probably no hotter topic in the field of research today than that of conflict of interest. It has been implicated as a factor affecting not only the impartiality of scientific merit reviews of proposals, but also the process associated with a journal’s decision to publish results. As an example of perhaps its most dangerous consequence, conflict of interest has been implicated as a contributing factor in the death of Jesse Gelsinger, a research subject who was enrolled in a study at the University of Pennsylvania. It has negatively impacted the public’s trust of the research enterprise. As such, there is continuous pressure on Universities from the federal sector and national organizations (e.g., AAMC) to promulgate effective procedures for not only identifying actual and potential conflicts of interest in our research activities, but to also have in place a mechanism allowing for impartial review of those conflicts to determine if and how they can be managed and monitored to eliminate the conflict or reduce it to manageable proportions. It is the common conclusion among our peer research universities that the multiplicity of roles faculty are asked to fulfill, in the era of the knowledge-based economy -- as instructors, mentors, researchers, inventors, entrepreneurs, clinicians, policy-makers, and more -- makes the emergence of conflicts almost inevitable. The challenge for both institutions and faculty members is to arrive at management strategies that permit research projects to go forward (although not necessarily in the form originally conceived) while at the same time maintaining a research environment that fulfills the public need for the sine qua non of trust in the research process and its outcomes.
Our University has always regarded the integrity of research, from the inception of original ideas to the publication of valid findings, to be paramount to our mission. Handling the process associated with conflict of interest is no different. Over the past several months, a working committee of faculty members representing all schools, in consultation with members of my staff and University Counsel's office, has reviewed the implementation of the campus conflict of interest policy and developed a process whereby necessary financial information can be collected from investigators submitting grants or contracts and reviewed for apparent or potential conflicts of interest. Critical to the process will be the involvement of a formal COI committee made up of faculty representatives who will assess COI, and develop management plans whenever possible whose twin goals will be to permit research projects to go forward under conditions that preserve the public trust.
One of the first issues for the working committee to tackle was the determination of the threshold of a financial ‘interest’ an investigator could have with a sponsoring entity, above which the interest would be considered “significant”, and therefore in conflict with a potential research relationship with that sponsoring entity. The committee surveyed several Universities, and reviewed financial thresholds required from federal and commercial sponsors. The committee ultimately chose a conservative threshold to preserve the integrity of research activities conducted at our Institution. It has selected the NIH’s definition of ‘significant financial interest’, that is, “financial interests in business enterprises or entities if the value of such interests exceed $10,000 or represent more than a 5% ownership interest for any one enterprise or entity when aggregated for the Investigator and the Investigator's spouse and all dependent children.”
This threshold for significant financial interest is extremely important for investigators to note. As a common example, if an investigator earns over the threshold of $10,000 through consulting or by providing other services for a particular company, and a determination is made that such a conflict is manageable, the probable management strategy would be to require that s/he would not be permitted to serve as the Principal Investigator for any study sponsored by that company. Further, if the study involves human subjects, the investigator would not be permitted to be involved in recruitment or consenting of any subjects. Such a strategy has already been implemented in at least one case involving a potential clinical research project on campus.
On June 2, 2004, the working committee’s new “Investigator Disclosure Form” (‘IDF’) will replace the current ‘SUNY2’ form as the tool we will use to capture financial information from investigators necessary to assess the presence of an apparent or potential conflict of interest. I will be addressing other aspects of this critical policy issue over the next several weeks, as the committee completes other aspects of its work and prepares its final report, to ensure full advance communication about any procedural changes and minimize transitional distractions.
And Don’t Forget the New IRB Option for Pharmaceutical Sponsored Clinical Trials. On April 26th, 11:30a.m.-2:30p.m., HSC Lecture Hall 1, Level 2: You are invited to come and meet with the staff of Chesapeake Research Review Inc., as well as members of the Office of Research Compliance, to become acquainted with this important new vehicle for the conduct of clinical trial research. Please let us know if you are interested in attending by e-mailing jmatuk@notes.cc.sunysb.edu. We need to know how many are coming so that we may serve you a light lunch.
Important Alert Re: OVPR Office Changes . We are not closed!!!
The approach to the OVPR, secreted away on the fifth floor of the library, has never been attractive. But at least it welcomed you with open doors. No longer. The newly enforced regulations of the State Fire Marshall require that all fire safety doors be closed at all times. As a result you now have to go through four (4)! sets of closed fire doors in order to reach the Office of Sponsored Programs starting from the Southeast corner elevators. Please persevere--we do want to see you and to help you if we can. The approach from the North is less onerous--only one set of fire safety doors starting from the stairway in the Northwest corner.
Please be careful--someone on the other side of the door may be pushing it into your face!
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Good News and Coming Events
News
Please join in rejoicing with colleagues for achievements that have become known since the last issue.
Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. Dafna Bar-Sagi, Professor and Chair, has been awarded a $100,000 grant from The Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, the nation’s largest private supporter of pancreatic research. The one-year award was one of 15 grants announced by the foundation, whose funding total has now surpassed $12 million.
Electrical and Computer Engineering. Andrea Pacelli has received a $100,000 Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education award from the National Science Foundation to introduce basic concepts in nanoscale circuit and systems design into the undergraduate electrical and computer engineering curriculum, presenting nanoelectronics concepts from a designer's point of view, stressing the impact on information technologies -- computational throughput, power consumption, reliability, and cost -- exploring both in the classroom and in projects the design potentials of current and future nanoelectronic approaches and comparing them to the dominant silicon technologies.
Gynecologic Oncology. The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) named Eva Chalas, gynecologic oncology surgeon and coordinator of Cancer Services, a “Local Legend.” In 2004, 140 women nationwide received the honor, given to physicians who demonstrate commitment, originality, innovation or creativity in their field of medicine. Dr. Chalas, one of three “Legends” from Long Island and 15 from New York , was nominated by Congressman Tim Bishop. The recognition is part of an exhibition created by the National Library of Medicine titled, “Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians,” which will run at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda , Maryland through April 2005. A list of the 140 Local Legends will be included in a special section of the website www.locallegends.org later this spring. Stony Brook Wine Institute. NYSTAR has awarded Stony Brook $187,500 to establish the Institute for Wine Culture to broaden the University's educational mission and outreach programs to include this area of study and this industry, so important to the growth of the Long Island regional economy and the State. The overall aim of the project is to create employment and training opportunities for the industry and to increase the general public's understanding, knowledge and appreciation of the industry. President Shirley Strum Kenny will serve as project director.
Brookhaven National Laboratory. A supercomputer at Brookhaven, originally developed to simulate elementary particles in high-energy physics, will be used to help determine the structures and functions of proteins, to improve understanding of proteins' role in disease and health and potentially lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic agents. To achieve analysis of “protein folding on a chip,” the 10,000 processors in this supercomputer, QCDOC, or Quantum Chromodynamics on a Chip, break down the task of deciphering the three-dimensional arrangement of a protein's atoms into smaller chunks of 10 atoms per processor, analyzing the forces of attraction and repulsion between atoms, depending on their positions, distances, and angles. James Davenport, of the Laboratory’s Physics Department, projects this could cut the computing time needed to solve a protein's structure by a factor of 1000, reducing the time for a simulation from approximately 20 years to 1 week. As reported at last month’s meeting of the American Physical Society, Davenport and colleagues at Stony Brook will soon be testing their application.
Research Results. Anthony M. Szema, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and colleagues, conducted the first study to assess the impact of the World Trade Center collapse on the asthma severity of pediatric patients living within and beyond a five-mile radius of Ground Zero. In the March issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, they report an increase in the number of asthma clinic visits and asthma medications for the entire study population after September 11, 2001, with a greater increase in the number of clinic visits in the following year for children within five miles of the collapse, residing in, or living near, Chinatown. In addition, peak flow values (a measure of lung function) fell below normal for six months following the disaster for patients living within five miles of the collapse. “This study suggests that the collapse had clinical consequences for children with asthma, and that we have reason to be concerned about chronic respiratory consequences for these asthmatic children,” Dr. Szema said. The study included collaboration with the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center-Manhattan and the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh ’s Department of Health.
Events: Provost's Lecture Series
Provost’s Lecture Series. April 16, 2:30 pm , Lecture Hall 2, Wang Center . "Can Global Warming Trigger a Big Chill?" Robert B. Gagosian, President and Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and an accomplished marine organic geochemist. Co-sponsored by the Marine Sciences Research Center .
OVPR
Workshop Series
The devil is in the details, and the OVPR Workshop Series seeks to help both new and experienced researchers and their colleagues defang some of those most closely involved with the conduct of research on campus. The topics and schedule information for the next workshop being offered in the spring semester is shown below. Please preregister by contacting Linda Goodman, OVPR, Tel. 632-9961, email lgoodman@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.
EUREKA! I’VE MADE A DISCOVERY
Disclosing your invention; Common mistakes; Patents; Royalties
Presented by: Office of Licensing and Technology
Session DI02: Thursday, 3-4 p.m., April 22, HSC Room 152. Refreshments served.
Van Service Between
SBU and BNL
The van is limited to 12 passengers on a first come, first served
basis. All passengers on the van must hold a current BNL Badge, persons without a current badge will not be permitted to ride the van. If you have further questions or suggestions regarding the van, please contact 632-4360.
The schedule may be viewed at:
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/new/bus.html
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Opportunities and Sponsor Information
12 Grants Available under the ACT Program
The Office of the Dean, School of Medicine, SUNY at Stony Brook is happy to announce the availability of 12 grants under the new ACT program scheduled to start the fall of 2004. ACT was established in response to the AAMC "Enhancing Education for the Clinical Transaction" grant awarded to Stony Brook School of Medicine. The ACT program is designed to enhance student abilities in three areas.
1. To take a comprehensive and accurate history
2. To perform a thorough, accurate and nuanced physical examination
3. To engage in clinical reasoning during patient care encounters
Questions regarding the grant/application process must be addressed to Frederick M Schiavone MD, Associate Dean for Medical Education. 444-1030.
Deadline for application: May 1, 2004.
Sponsor Deadlines
If you are uncertain about a deadline, current information may be found at- http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/fndopp/deadlcal.html.
NIH Commons
As part of its continuing progress toward electronic research administration, the National Institutes of Health has converted most grants-related communication processes to the internet. A secure web site, the NIH Commons-
https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/index.jsp has been established to enable NIH grantee organizations to interact with grants data, check the status of grant applications, including viewing scores and summary statements (pink sheets) when they are ready, and submit progress reports on line, among a number of other functions. Because paper processes will continue to be reduced, applicants as well as grants administrators should become familiar with the Commons.
The NCI Cancer Imaging Program recently announced that it will no longer routinely retrieve, prepare and mail paper copies of summary statements. Instead, a copy of the summary statement prepared by the Scientific Review Administrator of the Initial Review Group (study section) that evaluated an application will be posted on the NIH Commons web site as soon as it is completed, approved, and released. Registered users may access it immediately.
Evaluation of an application for its scientific merit by an Initial Review Group is the first step in a two-step process of peer review. The second step will be carried out by the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) at a meeting following summary statement release.
Funding decisions are based on the scientific merit of an application as determined by peer review, availability of funds, and program priorities. If an application is selected for funding, the principal investigator will be notified and asked to supply just-in-time information necessary to complete the funding process.
The NIH Commons site has an FAQ section, a support page and other forms of online assistance. If you have difficulty using the NIH Commons or questions about registration or other aspects of using the Website, for which you are unable to obtain answers online, or need elaboration, please contact your Sponsored Programs Coordinator at 632-9949.
Updating COS Profile
SUNY Stony Brook has a Community Of Science membership which may be of
interest to faculty and staff. Our success in this endeavor depends
upon having current profiles for all faculty and staff.
To create a profile, go to
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/cosusb.html and click on "COS Expertise" and then "Add Your Profile" on the
following page.
To update your profile, go to www.cos.com and enter your username and
password. Once logged in, click on ‘my profile’ at the top right of your
screen. If you’ve forgotten your password and it will be e-mailed to you)
Creating or updating your profile only takes a few minutes and will:
- Give you a professional homepage.
- Promote your work to the 1000 sponsors, universities, and research
corporations using COS Expertise - to find collaborators, assessors, and
consultants.
- Provide one place online for managing your CV.
Your Profile allows you to list key words associated with your research interests,
which in turn will generate a weekly e-mail from COS's "Funding Opportunities"
database. This database is one of the most comprehensive sources of funding information available on the Web, with more than 23,000 records, representing over 400,000 funding opportunities.
If you have any questions, please contact Peter Saal, Director, Research Resource Center, Tel. 631-632-9033 or psaal@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.
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Essential Policies, Procedures and Resources
Information Guide for RF Recruitment for the Summer
Please use the following links as your guide for information about hiring on RF for the summer:
Guidelines for Hiring Temporary Summer Research Foundation Project Aides
At-a-Glance Grid
Project Aide Position Standard
Summer Project Aide Request to Hire Form
Summer Job Ad
Summer Project Aide Reminder
Summer Appointments on Research Foundation Payroll
Summer Jobs at Stony Brook University
The information contained in this section is also available on the Human Resources web site located at http://www.stonybrook.edu/hr. Click on the yellow "Summer Employment Information" ad to access the documents.
--Contributed by Rick Sadetsky, Assistant Director, Human Resource Services, Tel: 631-632-6180, Email: Richard.Sadetsky@stonybrook.edu.
Employee Occupational Safety Training Calendar
Environmental Health and Safety has announced its new Employee Occupational Safety Training Calendar. Training classes began last Monday, April 5, 2004 . Additional information regarding who should attend, regulatory training requirements, and course descriptions is also available in the calendar, which may be accessed from the EH&S Website at-http://www.stonybrook.edu/facilities/ehs/training/
Topics include but are not limited to: Bloodborne Pathogens, Hazardous Waste Management, Laboratory Safety - Biological Hazards, Laboratory Safety - Chemical Hazards, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Shipping of Dangerous Goods
- Employee safety training will be offered in three main locations:
(HSC, Level 2 Lecture Hall 2 - Student Activities Center Rm. 302 - Charles B. Wang Center Rm. 303)
- Morning classes will begin at 8:30 AM and afternoon classes will begin at 1:00 PM .
All classes will begin promptly!
- Evening classes can be arranged by contacting Lou Mancuso, Manager of Occupational Safety & Training at 632-3105.
Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that each new employee, whether temporary or permanent, receives appropriate safety training at the start of employment and supervisors are also responsible for ensuring that ALL of their employees receive the necessary safety training based on the work that their employees perform.
-Contributed by Lou Mancuso, Manager, Occupational Safety and Training, Environmental Health and Safety, Tel. 631-632-3105, Fax 631-632-9683, Email: lmancuso@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.
Employees with Terminating Appointments
We are pleased to announce a new on-line web application to assist those responsible for their RF funded personnel. This link-
http://www.asa.stonybrook.edu/rsac/
brings users to the "RF Labor Schedule End Dates" database where you can query the system to get a list of your employees that have End Dates. We recommend that about a month prior to an employee end date that an RF Change Form be filled out and submitted to RF Payroll to extend the appointment, change the Labor Schedule, or end employment. This development work was a result of recommendations made at the January RSAC (Research Services Advisory Committee) meeting. If you have any questions on using this database, please contact Victoria McLaughlin in Human Resource Services, Tel. 632-6147, email Victoria.McLaughlin@stonybrook.edu.
--Contributed by Rick Sadetsky, Assistant Director, Human Resource Services, Tel: 631-632-6180, Email: Richard.Sadetsky@stonybrook.edu.
RF Business System Security Administration
The Office of Grants Management has successfully pioneered the conversion of the security administration for the RF Business System (i.e., Oracle, PIAI and Discoverer) for the Stony Brook campus.
Instead of contacting Customer Services at RF Central when you're experiencing difficulty with a password, or if you need a password reset, please contact Tony DeVietro directly (632-9840) for assistance . In the event Tony is out of the office, the back-up security team is Manny Cordero (632-1812), Sheila Routh (632-9107)and me respectively. Of course, RF Central will continue to lend support as needed.
The revised RF Business System User forms (one for Administrative Offices and one for Academic Departments), as well as other helpful information, can be found on the RF PIAI Access web page at this URL: http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/oasis/access.html.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Contributed by Aaron Rosenblatt, Director of Grants Management, Tel: 2-1953 Email: arosenblatt@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.
RF Central Training Sessions
The Research Foundation of SUNY's Central Office will be conducting training sessions utilizing WebEx, a web conferencing tool that combines a slide presentation with audio. The schedule is as follows:
Thursday, April 15, 2004, Sponsored Programs Fundamentals: Accounts Receivable and Financial Management, 9:30-11:30, Room 231 Engineering
Thursday, April 29, 2004 Sponsored Programs Fundamentals: Service Centers and Service and Facility Accounts, 9:30-10:30, Room 231 Engineering
Thursday, April 29, 2004 Sponsored Programs Fundamentals: Audits 10:30-11:30 Room 231 Engineering
For a more detailed description of the courses' contents and objectives please see the Human Resource Services Training Page by clicking on these links:
April 15, 2004 - Accounts Receivable and Financial Management
April 29, 2004 - Service Centers, S & F Accounts and Other Campus Services
April 29, 2004 - Audits
You can register by using the registration form at the above links or please call Patricia Lore in Human Resources at 2-4501 (via e-mail at PLore@notes.cc.sunysb.edu). All registrants will receive a confirmation of their registration one week prior to the sessions.
Light refreshments will be served compliments of the Office of Sponsored Programs.
Foreign Travel Information
For those on travel outside the U.S. on official RF business, such as conducting sponsored research, for 14 days or more, please forward your location, number of people working on your Research Foundation activity and the time period of your travel to Kathryn Belmonte, OVPR, Tel. 632-4402, email kbelmonte@notes.cc.sunysb.edu. Your information will be forwarded and kept on file with RF Central, where MaryEllen Friedberg (Tel. 518-434-7090, email maryellen.frieberg@rfsuny.org ) can assist you with this benefit. Medical, safety and travel information is available on the Research Foundation public Web site ( http://www.rfsuny.org/ ) through the Assistance Abroad portal. Membership is sponsored by the RF and is free to RF and state employees who are on official RF business.
Continuing Education in Human Subject Protections
Those of you who satisfied the education requirement in human subject protections three years ago must now renew your certification. At this institution, the continuing education requirement is satisfied via the Web-based CITI program (regardless of whether or not you obtained your initial certification via the live lecture, or on-line via the CITI 'Core' Course). To register for the continuing ed program: Proceed to www.miami.edu/citireg then click on the link for the CITI Continuing Education Course then click on the link for SUNY CE Course Site.
This will take you to the registration page. Follow directions to register. Once you receive your user name and password, complete the continuing education modules #1 - #12. (Modules #13 and #14 are NOT required.)
Questions regarding this process may be sent to Ms. Laura Wessels, Office of Research Compliance, Tel. 632-9036, email lwessels@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.
Interdisciplinary Seminars
Please remember that, in an effort to encourage interdisciplinary research on campus, this office will supply $100 toward a speaker's luncheon when your department invites a Stony Brook colleague from an unrelated discipline to give a seminar. Please contact Ann-Marie Scheidt (amscheidt@notes.cc.sunysb.edu ) to determine eligibility. You will be asked to provide a copy of the seminar notice annotated with the number of attendees and a brief description of any anticipated collaborations with the speaker's department.
Music for Meetings
Please remember that the OVPR would like to assist those of you who are planning a research meeting on campus by providing musical interludes. If you would like to have Stony Brook student musicians play at the reception for your meeting it can be arranged by contacting Ann-Marie Scheidt (amscheidt@notes.cc.sunysb.edu ). OVPR will make a payment to the Department of Music and the Department in turn pays the students. You get to listen to some nice music.
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For More Information
An abundance of specific information for the research community
is available on our Website, where past issues of this bulletin
can also be found.
Office of the Vice President for Research- http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/
Monday Memo archive- http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/monmemo/mmarchive.html
All past issues of Monday Memo are keyword searchable.
And if you are challenged by the embarrassment
of riches in the over 2,000 individual Web pages that comprise
the Website, you may find the alphabetical site index helpful.
The index can be accessed at
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/sitemap.html.
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