New Appointments

Anil Dhundale, Ph.D., Appointed Executive Director for Stony Brook Incubators

Dr. Anil Dhundale, who has served for ten years as Scientific Director of the NYS Center for Advanced Technology in Medical Biotechnology, has been appointed Executive Director of the Stony Brook Incubators.  In this role, Anil will be responsible for Stony Brook’s Long Island High Technology Incubator (LIHTI), the incubator at Calverton and the Software Incubator.  His broad based experience with early stage technology commercialization, including ten years at the firm now known as OSI Pharmaceuticals,  will facilitate mentoring of start-up companies to maximize growth. 

Dr. Dhundale earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at Stony Brook in 1987.

OTLIR Adds Two New Licensing Associates

Adam DeRosa and Sean Boykevisch are Licensing Associates who will focus on assessing, marketing and licensing technologies disclosed by life sciences faculty.
 
OTLIR is very fortunate to have Stony Brook graduates and professionals join the office. Adam comes to us from the Department of Physiology and Biophysics where he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Research Assistant while pursuing and completing his Ph.D. in Genetics. Sean, with a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology, comes to us from the NY State Center for Advanced Technology in Medical Biotechnology where he was the Business Development Manager.

{Top}

Essential Policy and Procedure Updates

NSF Explains The Broader Impact Review Criteria

On April 7, 2008, the National Science Foundation issued a Dear Colleague letter addressing the broader impacts review criteria used to evaluate all proposals submitted to NSF.  The letter (NSF 08-044) is available on NSF’s website at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08044/nsf08044.jsp

This April 7 letter reminds the research community of the requirements and identifies the specific sections of the application that require the broader impacts criterion be addressed: project summary and description and, if appropriate, in the results of prior support.  The letter includes the language from the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and provides links to resources and examples of broader impacts on the NSF website and at the American Chemical Societies “showcase.”   As the GPG states, proposals that do not separately address both criteria (in the project summary) will be returned without review.

It is timely to note that the America COMPETES Act calls for a report from NSF on the Broader Impacts Criterion; the report is due in September 2008.  NSF is asked to report on how the criterion is used by directorates to evaluate broader impacts; the types of activities awardees propose; any evaluations conducted by NSF to determine how the activities directed to broader impacts are carried out and the activities’ effectiveness.  Congress has asked NSF to identify what national goals the broader impacts activities are best suited to meet and, specifically, steps taken by NSF to use this criterion to improve undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.   Section 7022(a) of the America COMPETES Act directs NSF to consider as meeting the broader impacts criterion research any partnerships between the academy and industry in high importance areas for future national economic competitiveness such as nanotechnology.

The research community can assist in this assessment by thoughtfully addressing the criterion in all applications, particularly in the description of results of prior support, and seeking innovative ways and activities that add to broader impacts. 

{Top}

NIH Updates FAQs on Financial Conflict Of Interest requirements For All NIH-supported Institutions

Notice Number: NOT-OD-08-063, Issued by National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Extramural Research (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm)

Release Date: April 10, 2008 

This Notice announces the availability of updated and expanded FAQs related to the Responsibility of Applicants for Promoting Objectivity in Research for which PHS Funding is Sought as described in Title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 50, Subpart F (for grants and cooperative agreements) and Responsible Prospective Contractors as described in Title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 94 (for contracts).

Given the increasing complexity of the financial interests held by biomedical researchers, the Public Health Service (PHS) and the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) published two regulations in 1995 establishing standards and procedures to be followed by institutions that apply for research funding from PHS agencies, including the NIH. The regulation is aimed at ensuring that the design, conduct, or reporting of research funded under grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts will not be biased by any conflicting financial interest of the investigators responsible for the research. 

As part of NIH’s continuing educational efforts to improve and enhance compliance with FCOI requirements, we compiled answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding the implementation of these regulations.  We hope these will clarify issues that may arise. The FAQs may be accessed on the Office of Extramural Research, Conflict of Interest Page at:  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/coi/index.htm. 

Inquiries

Grants: Division of Grants Compliance and Oversight,
Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration,
OER National Institutes of Health
Telephone: 301-435-0949
Email: FCOICompliance@od.nih.gov

Contracts: Darryl S. Grant Procurement Analyst,
Division of Acquisition Policy and Evaluation,
Office of Acquisition Management and Policy
Telephone: (301) 496-2874
Email: grantda@od.nih.gov

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-063.html

{Top}

NIH Renews Focus on Protecting Sensitive Data and Information Used in Research

Notice Number: NOT-OD-08-066, Issued by National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov)

Release Date: April 11, 2008

The recent theft of an NIH employee’s laptop computer with sensitive data on human subjects has placed renewed focus on data security at NIH. This notice serves to reconfirm the National Institutes of Health’s commitment to protect sensitive personal data and information generated by NIH-supported extramural institutions that conduct research to advance the health and well being of all Americans. (NOT-OD-07-054)  

All information systems, electronic or hard copy, which contain federal data, must be protected from unauthorized access. Congress and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have instituted laws, policies and directives that govern the creation and implementation of federal information security practices that pertain specifically to grants and contracts. The current regulations are pursuant to the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Title III of the E-Government Act of 2002 Pub. L. No. 107-347 (beginning on page 48) (NOT-OD-08-032)

Although FISMA applies to grantees only when they collect, store, process, transmit or use information on behalf of HHS or any of its component organizations, recipients of NIH funds are reminded of their vital responsibility to protect sensitive and confidential data as part of proper stewardship of federally funded research, and take all reasonable and appropriate actions to prevent the inadvertent disclosure, release or loss of sensitive personal information. 

For additional information, please contact Dr. Sally Rockey, Deputy Director, Office of Extramural Research, National Institutes of Health.  301-496-1096 or rockeysa@od.nih.gov

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-066.html

{Top}

NIH Public Access Mandate

For several years, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has requested that you voluntarily make publications resulting from NIH-funded research available to the public by posting them electronically to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central at http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/.

Effective April 7th, the NIH is making the dissemination of NIH-funded research results mandatory (NIH Public Access Policy, PL 110-161). Any peer-reviewed article or manuscript accepted for publication that results in whole or in part from research funded by an NIH grant or cooperative agreement active in FY ’08 (October 1, 2007-September 30, 2008) or funded by a contract signed on or after April 7, 2008 must be submitted to PubMed central within twelve months of the publication date. 
 
The following scenarios provide guidance on meeting this NIH compliance requirement:

  1. When publishing in a journal that automatically posts the final published version of the article to PubMed Central, no further action is necessary. The following link (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/submit_process_journals.htm) provides you with a list of the journals that submit articles directly to PubMed Central on behalf of authors.
  2. For those journals that do not submit published manuscripts to PubMed Central automatically, you can request that the journal deposit a copy to PubMed Central on your behalf.  Note, that in the case of publishers that post only the accepted manuscript rather than the final published version of the article, you will receive a notice and will have to log on to the NIH Manuscript Submission System (http://www.nihms.nih.gov) to review the final version and approve release of the article to PubMed Central.
  3. In those instances where the journal does nothing, you or your designee must submit the final, peer-reviewed manuscript that has been accepted for publication via the NIH Manuscript Submission System (http://www.nihms.nih.gov).

Regarding copyright, with the exception of the journals that automatically submit publications to PubMed Central (see #1 above), you need to ensure that you retain the right to post publications to PubMed Central in accordance with the NIH Public Access Policy. This can be accomplished by amending agreements with publishers to including the following language (best set forth as a separate addendum to the publisher’s copyright agreement):

"Journal acknowledges that Author retains the right to provide a copy of the final manuscript to the NIH upon acceptance for Journal publication, for public archiving in PubMed Central as soon as possible but no later than 12 months after publication by Journal.”

{Top}

NIH Application Announcements

NIH has made several announcements in the NIH Guide regarding PHS application kits. Please see the items below for more details.

NOTE:  The New forms will be REQUIRED starting in May (applications not using the new forms will be returned without review!). For more information see: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-028.html

Modified Application Submission, Referral and Review for Appointed NIH Study Section Members (NOT-OD-08-026)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-026.html

NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications (NOT-OD-08-027)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-027.html

Revised PHS 398 (DHHS Public Health Service Grant Application) Now Available (NOT-OD-08-028)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-028.html

Revised PHS 2271, PHS 3734, and HHS 568 Forms Now Available (NOT-OD-08-029)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-029.html

Revised PHS 2590 (DHHS Public Health Service Noncompeting Continuation Progress Report) Now Available (NOT-OD-08-030)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-030.html

Appendices to Paper PHS 398 (DHHS Public Health Service Grant Application) to be Submitted on CD (NOT-OD-08-031)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-031.html

{Top}

The Scientific Council of the European Research Council Guidelines For Open Access

The guidelines require that all peer-reviewed publications from ERC-funded research projects be deposited when published into an appropriate research repository where available, such as PubMed Central, ArXiv or an institutional repository, and subsequently made Open Access within 6 months of publication.

Related Link: http://tinyurl.com/35o6ch 

{Top}

NIMH ENCOURAGES COLLECTION OF BIO-SPECIMENS FROM NIMH-SUPPORTED CLINICAL RESEARCH STUDIES

Notice Number: NOT-MH-08-007
 
Release Date: March 27, 2008
 
Issued by: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/)
 
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) issues this notice to announce its support of and encouragement to grantees of NIMH-supported clinical research studies to collect and bank bio-specimens (e.g., DNA, RNA, whole blood, and/or serum) and phenotypic information from all consenting subjects.  An example of a current banking resource that might be utilized, may be found at the Center for Collaborative Genetic Studies on Mental Disorders, http://nimhgenetics.org.
 
NIH considers the sharing of unique research resources that are developed through NIH-sponsored research to be an important means to enhance the value and further the advancement of the research. When resources have been developed with NIH funds and the associated research findings published or provided to NIH, it is important that they be made readily available for research purposes to qualified individuals within the scientific community.  (For example: see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/gwas/)
 
The collection and banking of bio-specimens from consenting subjects will provide a cost effective approach to building the infrastructure for genetic and other molecular analyses of mental illnesses and will provide a significant opportunity for scientific discovery, paving the way to more effective treatments and ultimately personalized cures for mental disorders.
 
For the NIH definition of clinical research see: NIMH Notice
 
Inquiries may be directed to:
 
Thomas Lehner, Ph.D.
Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science
National Institute of Mental Health
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 7190, MSC 9643
Bethesda, MD 20892-9643
Telephone: (301) 443-9869
FAX: (301) 402-4740
Email:  tlehner@mail.nih.gov

{Top}

ADMINISTRATIVE HELP FOR MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR GRANT PROPOSALS

Strengthening multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research at Stony Brook University is the primary responsibility of the Office of the Associate Vice President for Research. Specifically, the main objective of this office is to encourage, orchestrate and support the creative research activities of our faculty, especially in the context of facilitating greater collaboration across different disciplines and to help those teams develop and successfully submit large multidisciplinary proposals. 

Multidisciplinary proposals are often more complex and difficult to compile.  If you are contemplating writing a multi-million dollar (at least $1M per year) multidisciplinary grant proposal but lack the administrative support to pull it together, our office can provide administrative staff assistance. We can help you coordinate proposal meetings, enlist collaborators, manage and prepare proposal documents and applications, etc. 

Please review our website at http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/workgroups.html and contact Michael Hadjiargyrou, Associate VP for Research (Michael.Hadjiargyrou@stonybrook.edu), or Stefanie Massucci, Multidisciplinary Project Associate (smassucci@notes.cc.sunysb.edu) for more details.

{Top}

Funding Opportunities

4th ANNUAL DR. MOW SHIAH LIN SCHOLARSHIP CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

Applications are now being accepted by BERA’S Asian pacific American Association (APAA) for the 4th Annual Dr. Mow Shiah Lin Scholarship, honoring the late Lin, a distinguished scientist in BNL’s Energy Sciences & Technology Department. 

In honor of Lin’s research, remarkable achievements and inventions, a one-time award of $1,000.00 is granted each year to an Asian immigrant with a student visa who is matriculating toward a doctorate at an accredited institution of higher education on Long Island (including Queens and Brooklyn) in environmental & energy technology, biology or chemistry.  Applications will be accepted through May 31, 2008.

For more information contact the BNL Diversity Office via phone at (631-344-6253) or email sge@bnl.gov, or visit APAA web site at www.bnl.gov/bera/activities/apaa/.

Upcoming Funding Opportunities

You can now access our new weekly Funding Opportunities Bulletin at http://www.stonybrook.edu/fundingopportunities. Here, you can search for Funding Opportunities by discipline, deadlines and keywords.

{Top}

News and Events

News

ROADMAP FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Science has reported the development of a multidisciplinary international team of researchers, including Patricia Wright, Anthropology, of a remarkable new road map for finding and protecting the best examples of the more than 2,300 unique species found only in biodiversity hot spot of Madagascar.

Computer scientists developed new software tools to manage and analyze huge amounts of descriptive and locational data collected by field biologists to identify which regions are most vital for saving the greatest number of species.  Such a large geographic area analysis of such a broad range of species at this level of detail is a landmark for conservation policy making.

CHEWABLE MINT TO PREVENT CAVITIES IN CHILDREN

Data published in the March 2008 Issue of the Journal of Clinical Dentistry shows that children who were administered BasicMints, a new chewable mint made by Ortek Therapeutics, Inc., had 62 percent fewer cavities in their molars after one year compared to children in the placebo group. 

CaviStat was developed, clinically tested and patented by Dr. Israel Kleinberg, in the Department of Oral Biology and Pathology and exclusively licensed to Ortek.  Ortek plans to submit an Investigational New Drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later this year. All of the components of Cavistat are naturally present in the human body.  Cavities are the most prevalent disease in children, with almost half of all children having a cavity by second grade and 80 percent having a cavity by the time they graduate from high school.

ANCIENT “NUTCRACKER MAN" CHALLENGES IDEAS ON EVOLUTION OF HUMAN DIET

Tiny marks on the teeth of an ancient human ancestor known as the "Nutcracker Man" may upset current evolutionary understanding of early hominid diet.  Using high-powered microscopes, researchers looked at rough geometric shapes on the teeth of several Nutcracker Man specimens and determined that their structure alone was not enough to predict diet.

Frederick E. Grine, Anthropology, and colleagues argue that the finding shows evolutionary adaptation for eating may have been based on scarcity rather than on an animal's regular diet."These findings totally run counter to what people have been saying for the last half a century," says Ungar. "We have to sit back and re-evaluate what we once thought."

Their findings were written in the Public Library of Science One, a peer-reviewed/international/online journal and the research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation.

HEARTBEAT GENES COULD PROVIDE ALTERNATIVE TO PACEMAKERS

Wall Street Journal’s Lab Journal column reported on a collaboration involving Ira Cohen, Cardiology, and Columbia heart researcher, Michael Rosen, to insert pacemaker genes into parts of the heart that aren’t beating properly. 

Thus far, the collaborators have inserted genes into rat heart cells in vitro creating a beating pattern that was faster and more regular than had been seen before.  Animal trials are proceeding. An alternative pacemaker solution is particularly needed by patients with slow or irregular heartbeats. 

CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM

The state budget will include funds for a Children's Environmental Health Program, with one Center for Children's Environmental Health to be established at Stony Brook within the Graduate Program in Public Health.  The Center's clinical and research activities are expected to be conducted in collaboration with the Departments of Preventive Medicine, Pediatrics, OB-GYN and others.

RESEARCH FOUNDATION RECOGNIZES FOUR STONY BROOK FACULTY

The Research Foundation held a recognition dinner on April 14, 2008 to acknowledge SUNY faculty members who extend the boundaries of human knowledge and drive economic development in New York. Only 20 people were recognized and of that 20, four were Stony Brook faculty!

Dr. Elizabeth Boon, Rising Star
Dr. Boon recently received her first grant as one of just three researchers awarded a 2007 James D. Watson Investigator Program grant from NYSTAR.  Dr. Boon has discovered bacterial proteins similar to the mammalian nitric oxide senor.  Some of these proteins also bind oxygen.  Dr. Boon’s research will target the fundamentals of bacterial NO and O2 binding proteins that act as biological signalers and their applications for creating blood substitutes and fighting bacterial bio-films that are resistant to many available antibiotics. In addition, she has identified a new pathway that appears important in bio-film formation. The research team led by Dr. Boon will assess the best place in the pathway to intervene and target this mechanism for drug discovery.

Dr. Marie Gelato, Outstanding Researcher/Scholar
During the course of her career Dr. Gelato’s research has focused on clinical/translational science.  Initially, her group demonstrated that insulin and cytokines were important regulators of the IGFs and their BPs in several different clinical paradigms.  The group was one of the first to demonstrate GH resistance in patients with HIV disease and the associated wasting syndrome.  Recently her team’s work has addressed the underlying pathophysiology of the metabolic complications of HIV disease with the advent of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART).  Among other accomplishments, Dr. Gelato was the driving force behind the establishment of SBU’s NIH-funded General Clinical Research Center (GCRC). 

Dr. William Lennarz, Outstanding Researcher/Scholar
The year that Bill was recruited as Chair and Leading Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology here at SBU, he was also inducted into the National Academy of Sciences for his seminal contributions to our understanding of how carbohydrates are added to proteins, how proteins fold in the endoplasmic reticulum and how glycoproteins are degraded in cells.  Since then, Bill has had a profound impact on both the Department and the University.  His ability to recruit excellent scientists who work together well is reflected in his efforts to bring graduate programs together by forming the umbrella program, Molecular and Cell Biology.  In addition, Bill’s leadership was vital in the planning and building of both the Center for Molecular Medicine and the Biological Learning Laboratories. 

Dr. Eckard Wimmer, Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Wimmer’s seminal work involved polio virus research. His research has had a major impact in virology and cell biology and includes the following major accomplishments: elucidation of the chemical structure of poliovirus, discovery of a novel mechanism of translation regulation in virus mRNAs, co-discovery of the human poliovirus receptor and landmark discoveries that ultimately led to the de novo synthesis of poliovirus.   His work has contributed to the societal debate on bioterrorism. 

GAIL MANDEL ELECTED TO THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

Gail Mandel has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences based on the work that she carried out here at Stony Brook, and in particular, within the Department of Neurobiology & Behavior and the Center for Molecular Medicine. 

http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=04292008

NATIONAL POLICY COMMENTS AT GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE PANEL

Edmund Chang, Robert Cess and Minghua Zhang joined with oceanographer Hans-Peter Plag, University of Nevada, and moderator, Howard Schneider, Stony Brook journalism dean and former Newsday editor Howard Schneider, on April 17 in a panel at the University to discuss global climate change.

President Bush’s policy redirection on April 16, setting the year 2025 as the target date for halting growth in greenhouse gases, afforded participants a timely opportunity to comment.

Chang and his colleagues underscored strong measures are needed because the world's temperatures may increase by 3.2 to 7.2 degrees by the year 2100, which means sea levels will rise by seven to 23 inches. The past decade, he emphasized, already has been warmer than the previous 100 years. "There is an overall trend. The world is getting warmer and warmer," Chang said.

Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, said the administration felt pressure to propose a reduction in greenhouse gases. "The White House sees the handwriting on the wall and knows that regulations are coming one way or another."

{Top}

Events

Provost Lecture Series

CLAUDIA FEGAN, M.D.                                      Thursday, June 5, 2008, 7:30 p.m. Student Activities Center Auditorium 

Putting Single-Payer Health Care into the Mix Claudia Fegan, M.D. has spent her career tending to poor and elderly patients, and is an outspoken advocate for single payer health care and against for-profit managed care. She is immediate past president of Physicians for a National Health Program, which advocates a universal, comprehensive Single-Payer National Health Program and has more than 10,000 members and chapters across the U.S. Dr. Fegan is the Medical Director of Outpatient Care at Provident Hospital on the South Side of Chicago. She has lectured extensively on health care reform in the U.S. and Canada and is co-author of Universal Healthcare: What the United States Can Learn from Canada. Part of the How Class Works 2008 Conference.

{Top}

For More Information

Gail S. Habicht is Vice President for Research. She can be reached at (631) 632-7932. 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/

Research News and Monday Memo archive - http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/monmemo/mmarchive.html

All Past issue of Research News and Monday Memo are keyword searchable. The index can be accessed at - http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/sitemap.html.

If you have information you would like to contribute to Research News please email it to the editor, Ann-Marie Scheidt, at amscheidt@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

{Top}