In this Issue

Vice President's Message
• Washington, D.C. In Winter
• Signatures Part 1
• Newsday Wants You
Good News and Coming Events
• News
• Recent Results
• Events
Opportunities and Sponsor Information
• NIH Pathway to Independence (PI) Award
• Post-doc Recruitment Ad
• Upcoming Funding Opportunities
• Interdisciplinary Seminars
• Music for Meetings
• NIH and Grants.gov
• Grants.gov and Mac Users
• Peer Review at NIH
Essential Policies, Procedures and Resources
• New Rates and Guidelines
• SUNY Policies on the Web
• Van Service to Brookhaven Lab
• Space Inventory
For More Information

Vice President's Message

Washington, D.C. In Winter:

It is the time of year for research administrators to meet in Washington, D.C. Some trips are more useful than others. I attempted to attend the Federal Demonstration Partnership meeting in January. My flight left LaGuardia on time, arrived at Washington Reagan Airport, circled for two hours waiting for the fog to lift and then proceeded to Boston. By then it was too late so I returned to Stony Brook eight hours after I left.

Last week brought me to the Council on Governmental Relations meeting where the topic of greatest concern was the NIH implementation of mandatory electronic submission of proposals through Grants.gov. Of special unease is the upcoming October 1 submission date for which all RO1 grants will have to be submitted via Grants.gov. This will be the topic of several VP messages over the coming months in which we will explore the steps, the deadlines and where you can go for help. This is just a "heads up" to keep you eye on this space for further information.

Signatures

What your signature means: This office asks for signatures from PIs, Chairs and Deans on a wide variety of forms ranging from requisitions to conflict of interest declarations to the infamous "four page form." All these signatures have meaning and most of the time that meaning is obvious and taken for granted. From time to time this year we are going to publish articles on what you signature means on a particular form. The first in this series is by Judy Matuk, Director of the Office of Research Compliance, and will describe the meaning of the PI's signature on an IRB application.

Signatures Part 1:
I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss a very important activity that is conducted on this campus every day, sometimes several times a day, by nearly every one of you. It is an activity that is so important, with implications so far-reaching, that I decided to dedicate a series of articles in this and subsequent Monday Memo VP messages to it.

The activity is simply that of signing a document, specifically, your attestation that you have reviewed, read and accept responsibility for abiding by the terms of whatever document to which you are affixing your signature. The significance of what your signature implies becomes most readily apparent, unfortunately, when something goes wrong.

Take, for instance, the incredible responsibility that the Principal Investigator of a research study involving human subjects takes on with just a single signature on the IRB application:

My signature below certifies that the research described in this application and supporting materials will be conducted in full compliance with Stony Brook University's Policies and Federal regulations governing human subject research. Furthermore, I will:

Conduct all aspects of the project as approved by CORIHS,

Promptly report any revisions or amendments to the research activity for review and approval by CORIHS prior to commencement of the revised protocols, with the only exception to this policy being those situations where changes in protocol are required to eliminate apparent, immediate hazards to the subject,

Promptly report any unanticipated problems or serious adverse events affecting risk to subjects,

Assume full responsibility for selecting subjects in strict accordance with the inclusion/exclusion criteria outlined in the application materials,

Use only CORIHS-approved, stamped consent forms for studies in which consent form(s) have been approved for the research activity, and

Ensure that all personnel involved with human subjects, or human data and/or biological specimens during the course of this research activity are trained in the Protection of Human Subjects and HIPAA in Research, in full accordance with SBU policy on this matter.

It is the PI who must take full responsibility to ensure that the study is being conducted ethically and safely, and in compliance with all policies and procedures associated with research involving human subjects. If the person serving as PI does not know those policies and procedures, s/he should not sign the IRB application until s/he does know them. If non-compliance is subsequently discovered relative to that study, the PI cannot claim ignorance of those policies and procedures if his or her signature is affixed to the applicable IRB application.

If you are signing as chair of the department from which the protocol is coming, it means that you have reviewed and endorsed the proposed study as scientifically meritorious consistent with the University's (and the particular department's) mission. You have reviewed the study personnel and confirm their competency to conduct the study in a safe and ethical manner.

Similar, equally important attestations are required on applications for conducting research or educational activities involving animal subjects, and for conducting recombinant DNA research.

Subsequent articles in this series will discuss the importance of your signature on Conflict of Interest Declarations, and the myriad internal and external forms (including grant applications) that are required through the Office of Sponsored Programs, Office of Grants Management and the Office of Technology Transfer and Licensing.

--Submitted by Judy Matuk, Director, Office of Research Compliance

Newsday Wants You

University Media Relations Officer Pat Calabria has transmitted a request from Newsday Sunday Opinion Editor Leslie Seifert for short essays (no more than 800 words) on issues and topics that might not otherwise receive general notice. The net is cast widely: her communication reads in part, "Essays might take various forms. There might be a memoir of a researcher’s experience wrestling with a particular problem, and what he or she learned from finding a solution. Or maybe a description of the beauty of a mathematical theorem; sharing the joy of it with people who only ever learned Regents exam math. A historian working on the life of an obscure figure might share with us the story of that life, and show us why this is a story worth knowing and preserving. People might share results of particular research studies. We are interested primarily in getting ideas into circulation. These essays need not have any consumer or public policy orientation, though they can. They need not connect to items in the news, but they can." A sample of previously published essays may be found here.

Interested writers are asked to contact Ms. Seifert directly at seifert@newsday.com and to put in the subject field: Ideas Essays. If you have not yet had your fifteen minutes of fame, you may wish to seize this opportunity.

 

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Good News and Coming Events

News

Please join us in rejoicing with colleagues for achievements that have become known since last issue.

Philosophy

Two weeks ago the Chronicle of Higher Education's "Arts and Letters Daily" Webpage cited a column by Prof. Robert Crease on the Pythagorean theorem (Surely we all remember that: the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle = the sum of the squares of the other two sides) as "far more than a means to compute the length of hypotenuses. It shows something more, the idea of proof itself. It provides what philosophers call categorical intuition; it reveals more than a bare content but a structure of reasoning. . . . It is a proof that demonstrates Proof." The media attention was not unusual; "Critical Point," the monthly column he has been contributing for the past five years to the international magazine Physics World has been mentioned in outlets including The New York Times, the London Times, the Times of India, and the Toronto Globe and Mail, and he has been interviewed on the BBC as well as U.S. radio stations. Are any other philosophers in the world columnists for physics journals?

Physics and Astronomy

We recently learned that Prof. Michael Marx serves as Co-PI for the NSF Cyberinfrastructure (CI)-TEAM program award, on which we reported last fall, to engage high-school and community college teachers and students at 13 detector sites in the New York region to learn about leading-edge energy physics and cyberinfrastructure while searching for rarely occurring ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs -- with energies 10 million times stronger than the highest energy man-made particles, learning more about them has been identified as a national priority) by simultaneously acquiring and analyzing real-time detection and GPS data over multiple sites. The PI is Adjunct Professor of Physics and Astronomy Helio Takai, a member of the Physics Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory. We regret the earlier omission and wish both project leaders great success.

10% of Intel Finalists

Four high school students who worked with Stony Brook University faculty and in Stony Brook laboratories were among 40 students nationwide selected as finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search, the prestigious nationwide research competition. Jerrold Lieblich, from Ward Melville High School, worked with Prof. Arthur Samuel, Psychology, on a cognitive psychology experiment for his Intel Science Talent Search Project. Eric Meyerowitz, from Northport High School, worked with Prof. Smita Mohanty, Biochemistry & Cell Biology, analyzing the structure of two neuropeptides using nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. Irina Zaitseva, from Centereach High School, worked with Prof. Miriam Rafailovich, Materials Science & Engineering, on developing what may be the next generation of sunscreens using nanotechnology. Harley Zhang, from Ward Melville High School, worked with Prof. Douglas Swesty, Physics & Astronomy, exploring how general relativity plays its part in explosions of certain supernovae. A list of all SBU mentored finalists and semi-finalists may be found here.

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Prof. Gregory Belenky and Prof. Dmitri Donetski have won funding from the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research for their proposal for the development of high power lasers. This is the second year in a row that they have won a DURIP award, a virtually unprecedented achievement.

Profs. Wendy Tang and Serge Luryi have been selected to share this year's IEEE Long Island Section Papoulis Award for Excellence in Engineering and Technology Education, "For their pioneering contributions to include entrepreneurial skills in engineering education on Long Island."

University Hospital

Stony Brook University Hospital has received the highest approval rating for a teaching hospital cancer program by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Commission on Cancer, earning a rating of Three-Year Approval with Commendation. "Providing the highest quality of Cancer Services to the citizens of Long Island is one of the highest priorities for the Medical Center," said Richard Fine, M.D., Dean, School of Medicine. "The ACS Commission on Cancer's three-year approval with commendation is testament to the Medical Center's commitment to this objective."

Established in 1922 by the American College of Surgeons, the Commission on Cancer sets standards for cancer programs. It is a consortium of some 40 national organizations dedicated to improving survival rates and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education, and the monitoring of comprehensive, quality care

Recent Results

Study by Chief of Cardiology at SB Shows Sexes Respond Differently to Aspirin Use

Taking aspirin can significantly reduce the risk of a woman having her first stroke, but it does not reduce the risk of stroke in men whatsoever, according to a study by David L. Brown, M.D., Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine and Co-Director of the Heart Center at Stony Brook University Hospital. The research findings, published in the January 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), also reveals that the risk of first time myocardial infarction (MI) is significantly reduced in men taking aspirin, but not in women. In a new sex-specific meta-analysis of six different studies, Dr. Brown writes that depending on sex, aspirin therapy decreases the risk of a composite of cardiovascular events due to its effect on reducing the risk of MI in men and ischemic stroke in women. Dr. Brown joined Stony Brook University Hospital in November, 2004. He brings a national reputation as a clinician, an innovator, a researcher and an educator. He formerly held leadership posts with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.

Events

 

Provost's Lecture Series

 

"Rethinking the Black Panther Party: Race, Class, and American Democracy in the 21st Century"

 

Yohuru Williams is Director of Black Studies and Associate Professor of History at Fairfield University, Dr. Williams is author of Black Politics/White Power: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Black Panther Party in New Haven (2000) and is co-editor of two forthcoming anthologies on the Black Panthers

 

When: Wednesday, February 8, 2006, 5:00 p.m.

Where:  Wang Center, Lecture Hall 2

"Africa Speaks, America Answers: The Drum Wars of Guy Warren"

Robin D. G. Kelley is the William B. Ransford Professor of Cultural and Historical Studies at Columbia University and an award-winning author and leading United States African-American studies scholar. His teaching and research interests have focused on African diaspora, urban studies, working class radicalism, and cultural history with an emphasis on music.

When: Thursday, February 9, 2006, 4:00 p.m.         
Where: Humanities Lecture Hall, Room 1006

"Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus." Commemorating the 197th Birthday of Charles Darwin

Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Southern California, Randy Olson specializes in the ecology of marine invertebrate larvae of such species as starfish, corals, and sea squirts. He has written and directed a number of films and videos, ranging from a documentary to a music video about the sex life of barnacles. The lecture, with is co-sponsored by the Department of Ecology & Evolution and the Undergraduate Colleges of Arts, Culture and Humanities, and Science and Society.

When: Friday, February 10, 2006, 7:30 p.m.
Where: SAC Auditorium

Wine Center

 

"Smells Like Chocolate? Tastes Like Cherries?"

 

John Micieli, a production winemaker at Pellegrini Vineyards, Cutchogue, invites you to become a more confident wine taster. He will guide you through a tasting of several wines, accompanied by foods that reflect the wines' sensory elements. Build your tasting vocabulary with this exciting, delicious exercise in sensory evaluation.

 

When: Thursday, February 9, 2006, 6:30–8:00 p.m.

Where:  Wang Center.
Charge:  $55
To Register: Call Ginny Clancy at (631) 632-9404.
Note: You must be 21 or over to participate in wine tasting events.

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Opportunities and Sponsor Information

NIH Pathway to Independence (PI) Award

The NIH Pathway to Independence Award is an innovative, new program that will provide an opportunity for promising postdoctoral scientists to receive both mentored and independent research support from the same award.

NIH plans to issue between 150 and 200 awards for this program in the first year, and for the each of the next five years, amounting to approximately $390 million. The actual number and distribution of awards made by the NIH Institutes and Centers will depend upon the quality of the applications received and the results of the scientific peer review process.

The Pathway to Independence Award will provide up to five years of support consisting of two phases. The initial phase will provide 1-2 years of mentored support for highly promising, postdoctoral research scientists. This phase will be followed by up to 3 years of independent support contingent on securing an independent research position. Award recipients will be expected to compete successfully for independent R01 support from the NIH during the career transition award period. The PI Award is limited to postdoctoral trainees who propose research relevant to the mission of one or more of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers.

The subsequent application for the independent phase may be submitted on behalf of the awardee (principal investigator) by any domestic for-profit or non-profit institution/organization such as universities, colleges, hospitals and laboratories at which the awardee has been recruited. Agencies of the Federal government (including NIH intramural laboratories) and foreign institutions are not eligible to apply for the independent phase of the PI award.

Eligible Principal Investigators include outstanding postdoctoral candidates who have terminal clinical or research doctorates (including Ph.D., M.D., D.O., D.C., N.D., D.D.S., D.V.M., Sc.D., D.N.S. or equivalent doctoral degrees) who have no more than 5 years of postdoctoral research training at the time of initial application or resubmission(s).

Application Receipt Dates(s): April 7, 2006 then standard dates, please see
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm for details.
The complete text of the announcement can be found at:

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-06-133.html

Post-doc Recruitment Ad in Science

All principal investigators and department chairs were recently sent a notification that the University will be placing an advertisement in Science magazine’s April 14 issue, with concurrent web listing, for campus post-doctoral positions.  If you would like your opening to be listed in these ads, all postings for post-doctoral positions must be received and reviewed by Human Resources Services no later than February 24, 2006.  HRS staff must approve all Post-doctoral Personnel Requisition forms (HRSF0064’s) and advertising text before inclusion in the journal advertisement.   

For your convenience, the advertised positions will automatically be listed on the Campus Job Opportunities website at www.stonybrook.edu/cjo, and all applicants will go through the University’s Online Resume system.  A step-by-step description of the new process may be found in the notice. IF YOU DID NOT RECEIVE THIS NOTICE PLEASE LET THIS OFFICE KNOW AND A COPY WILL BE SENT TO YOU.

Upcoming Funding Opportunities

For a complete list of upcoming deadlines, please go to -
http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/fndopp/deadlcal.html

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.

NIH and Grants.gov

On January 11, the NIH presented two live videocast sessions devoted to the electronic submission of grant applications via Grants.gov  We urge faculty and staff who will be submitting applications to the NIH to familiarize themselves with the electronic application process, especially in light of the June 1 transition for RO3, R21 and R33 applications and the October 1 transition for all RO1 applications. The videocast can be found here: http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/training.htm#10
 
A caveat: speakers frequently urge audience members to "register." They are addressing institutions, not individual faculty! Principal Investigators (PIs) do not have to register with Grants.gov  However, the individual designated as the PI on the application must be registered in the eRA Commons.

The registration process can take several weeks, especially when close to submission dates when registration volume peaks. NIH recommends starting four weeks ahead of your target submission date.

PI registration must be done by an Office of Sponsored Programs official at Stony Brook who is already registered in the eRA Commons.

Each funding opportunity announcement (program announcement/request for application (PA/RFA)) includes an application package with an application guide (sample guide). This document is critical to submitting a complete and accurate application to NIH. There are fields within the SF424 (R&R) components that are not marked as mandatory on the federal-wide form but that are required by NIH (e.g., the Credential field of the R&R Senior/Key Person Profile component must contain the PI's assigned eRA Commons User ID). Agency-specific instructions for such fields are clearly identified in the application guide. The funding opportunity announcement to which you are applying also may include guidance on application submission. Taking advantage of these resources will save you time in the long run by avoiding the need to correct errors and resubmit your application.

SF424 (R&R) application guides, sample application packages and related resources at
http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm

Grants.gov and Mac Users

NIH has released the following announcement with regard to Mac users and compatibility with the PureEdge Viewer that is required to download and view applications at Grants.gov

Grants.gov and NIH have partnered to provide free access to Citrix servers for Macintosh Users who are looking for an alternative to using PC emulation software with the PureEdge forms. This service is now available for use.

Grants.gov's website states: Beginning December 20, 2005, non-Windows users will be able to download and complete the PureEdge forms by taking advantage of the free Citrix server. Non-Windows users are also able to submit completed grant applications via the Citrix environment. For details, please visit http://www.grants.gov/MacSupport

A Citrix server connection allows Macintosh users to remotely launch a Windows session on their own machines by using the free Citrix client application. While connected to the server, Mac users can develop their grant application using PureEdge forms. Applicants will need to download and install the free Citrix client application in order to work on the SF424 (R&R) application package with the specific grant for which they are applying.

We have heard that problems persist with this "solution" and will investigate their veracity.

Peer Review at NIH

The NIH Centers for Scientific Review has published a new issue of "Peer Review Notes", always an informative publication for the research community.  This issue provides an update on electronic grant applications and new data on NIH peer reviews of clinical research applications-

http://cms.csr.nih.gov/NewsandReports/PeerReviewNotes/January2006.htm

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Essential Policies, Procedures and Resources

New Rates and Guidelines

In response to new IRS regulations, the Research Foundation Travel Reimbursement Rate for business miles driven for the 2006 calendar year has bee reduced to $0.445 per mile, that is, 44.5 cents per mile, effective 01/01/06 -12/31/06. This rate also applies to State and Stony Brook Foundation travel.

In addition, changes have been made to the Research Foundation Equipment Insurance Guidelines. The current guidelines document may be accessed at -http://www.research.sunysb.edu/gmo/equipins.html

SUNY Policies on the Web

SUNY recently created a section on its Website where all system-wide policies may be accessed. This library contains University-wide policies, procedures and related forms. They are organized here to provide information to all University employees. For policies and procedures specific to a campus, contact that campus directly. The site may be found at–
http://www.suny.info/policies/groups/public/documents/system/pub_source_0009.htm

Van Service to Brookhaven Lab

The van service between the campus and Brookhaven, supported by the Provost, the Vice President for Research and the Dean of the Graduate School, operates three round trips a day. The schedule may be found at-
http://ws.cc.stonybrook.edu/bnl/Van.htm

Space Inventory

Fiscal Year 2006 is the base year for the development of the next campus Facilities and Administrative (F&A) rate previously known as the indirect cost rate.  Every three or four years, depending on the duration of the rate period, a rate proposal must be developed and submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for their review and approval of future F&A rates.  This rate development determines the level at which the campus will get reimbursed for its research support costs.  A campus-wide effort is required for development of an effective proposal.

Since federal mandates have capped the administrative portion of the F&A rate at 26%, the only way to improve the campus reimbursement is through complete and accurate reporting of facilities costs.  The major components of the facilities rate are the costs associated with maintenance, depreciation of buildings and equipment and interest debt associated with new or rehabbed facilities.  The allocation of these costs to the campus rate proposal is based on building square footage and use.

The most critical part of the rate proposal is the sponsored program space survey.  Data are collected from three sources:  the campus Physical Space Inventory (PSI), the written survey to be completed by key academic administrators during the late winter and early spring months and observations made by teams of campus and Research Foundation staff who will visit laboratories and other research spaces.

Your assistance in this important process will be greatly appreciated.

--Submitted by by Aaron Rosenblatt, Assistant Vice President for Research

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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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