Research News - June 2008

 In the news

SUNY Board Appoints Four Stony Brook Faculty to Distinguished Service & Teaching Professor Ranks

The Distinguished Service Professorship honors and recognizes extraordinary service.  Candidates must have demonstrated substantial distinguished service not only at the campus and the State University, but also at the community, regional and State levels.  Many candidates for appointment have rendered influential service, contributing at the national and international levels. Service must exceed the work generally considered to be a part of a candidate’s basic professional work (professional committees, etc.) and should include service that exceeds that for which professors are normally compensated.  It must extend over multiple years and, very importantly, must involve the application of intellectual skills drawing from the candidate’s scholarly and research interests to issues of public concern.

To be nominated a faculty member must have held the rank of full professor for five years, have three years of full-time service at the nominating institution, and have completed at least 10 years of full-time service for SUNY. The following two faculty were amongst the 13 who received this appointment: 

• Professor Marie C. Gelato, Medicine
• Professor David M. Hanson, Chemistry

The Distinguished Teaching Professorship recognizes and honors mastery of teaching.  For this prestigious tribute to be conferred, candidates must have demonstrated consistently superior mastery of teaching, outstanding service to students and commitment to their ongoing intellectual growth, scholarship and professional growth, and adherence to rigorous academic standards and requirements. To be eligible for nomination, a faculty member must have attained and held the rank of full professor for five years, have completed at least three years of full-time teaching on the nominating campus, 10 years of full-time teaching in the SUNY System, and must have regularly carried a full-time teaching load as defined by the campus at the undergraduate, graduate, or professional level.  The following two faculty were amongst nine who received this appointment:

• Professor William L. Jungers, Anatomical Sciences
• Professor Frank Myers, Political Science

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Ann-Marie Scheidt Recognized As One of Long Island’s Top 50 Influential Women

Director of Economic Development and Adjunct Assistant Professor of History, Dr. Ann-Marie Scheidt is dedicated to a secure economic future for Long Island and New York and is actively involved in many development business arenas.  She chairs the Business and Economic Development Committee of the Long Island Women’s Agenda, working with women’s business organizations and other regional colleagues on an assessment of the regional environment for entrepreneurs.  She is vice-president and president-elect of WEDLI – Women Economic Developers of Long Island, and is vice-chair of the Business Incubator Association of New York State. 

A director of the Hauppauge Industrial Association, she also co-chairs its Business Development Committee, and is the first full-term woman trustee of the Industrial Development Agency of the Town of Brookhaven.  She serves as vice chair of the Community Development Corporation of Long Island and is acting as the Executive Director for the region’s first publicly visible organization of angel investors, the Long Island Angel Network, which she helped create in collaboration with key regional leaders.  She chairs the Long Island Regional Incubator Council and the Tenant Selection and Review Committee for SBU’s three business incubators.  In 2005 she founded, and continues to oversee, Stony Brook’s DARE student entrepreneurship competition.

An invited speaker at many conferences, she has also taught the history of American technology and technology entrepreneurship. 

Dr. Scheidt received her Ph.D. in American History for Stony Brook University, an M.A.T. from Yale and A.B. from Brown University where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. 

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 Essential Policy and Procedure Updates

Announcing Direct Deposit Option For Employee Advances/ reimbursements Made Through Research Foundation Accounts Payable

As part of its continuing efforts to improve efficiencies and cut costs, the Research Foundation is proud to announce a new secure option for payment of employee travel expenses, advances and/or reimbursements made through Accounts Payable. The Automated Clearing House (ACH) Disbursement Program, otherwise known as direct deposit, will allow enrolled personnel to electronically receive funds into the bank account of their choice for payment of employee advances and/or reimbursements.
 
Any staff person requesting direct deposit for these types of payments must, according to Federal regulations, complete the ACH Payment Enrollment Form.
 
The instructions and ACH Payment Enrollment Form can be found on the following website:
https://portal.rfsuny.org/portal/page/portal/Accounts_Payable/Forms2/Alternate%20Payment%20Methods/ACH%20Payment%20Enrollment%20Form.pdf
 
Disclaimer: Federal Banking regulations require separate enrollment forms for each electronic banking process. Enrollment in Payroll Direct Deposit is not automatic enrollment in the ACH Disbursement Program. ACH Enrollment will begin with the next payment following enrollment form submission.

Benefits of the ACH Program
Stop waiting in line to deposit or cash checks, Virtually eliminate bank hold-time, Receive electronic notification of payments Reduce paper waste.

Please contact Porshia Russell @ 2-6019 should you have any questions.

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NIH Announces Critical Changes to Enhance and Improve Peer Review System

NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., announced  "critical changes to enhance and improve the NIH peer review  system." This marks the end of a year-long effort to determine ways to strengthen NIH peer  review. The Implementation Plan Report consists of four main priorities and highlights  include:

• Priority 1 - Engage the Best Reviewers: Increase flexibility of service, formally  acknowledge reviewer efforts, further compensate time and effort
• Priority 2 - Improve Quality and Transparency of Reviews
• Priority 3 - Ensure Balanced and Fair Reviews Across Scientific Fields
  and Career Stages 
• Priority 4 - Develop a Permanent Process for Continuous Review of Peer
  Review.

Proposals rejected include a mandated minimum effort, restricts on multiple
awards, a bar on  amended applications, and the creation a "not recommended
for resubmission" classification.
 
For more information:
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2008/od-06.htm
http://enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/

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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. 

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NIH/AHRQ Set Transition from PureEdge to Adobe Application Forms for December 2008 and Plan Subsequent Transition of Remaining Mechanisms to Electronic Submission

Notice Number: NOT-OD-08-073
Release Date: May 23, 2008
Issued by: National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov/) and
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), (http://www.ahrq.gov/)

This Notice announces NIH’s and AHRQ’s plans to:

1. move from PureEdge to Adobe versions of the SF424 (R&R) grant application forms; and
2. transition Research Career Development (K), Individual National Research Service Awards (F), and Institutional National Research Service Awards and Other Training Grants (T, D) programs from paper to electronic submission through Grants.gov using the SF424 (R&R).

The new Grants.gov 2007 system supports the use of application forms that can be downloaded and completed using free Adobe Reader software rather than the PureEdge software that is currently required for the SF424 (R&R). To minimize impact of form changes on the applicant community, NIH is carefully timing our move to the new forms to also incorporate the following form changes:

• Recent changes to the PHS 398 form components [NOT-OD-08-028]
• Form changes resulting from the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA)
• Adjustments from the upcoming renewal of the SF424 (R&R)
   

NIH will pilot the use of Adobe forms, without the aforementioned forms changes, with a couple single submission date Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) that will be issued in late summer. Assuming the pilot goes smoothly, and the forms approval and development process go as planned, NIH will begin posting the bulk of our FOAs with Adobe forms in December 2008. Applicants can plan for all receipt dates through December to use PureEdge forms. A detailed plan will be published in the fall.
 
Once NIH completes the move from PureEdge to Adobe application forms, it will transition the K, F, T and D programs to electronic submission through Grants.gov using the SF424 (R&R). As has been our practice, the transition by mechanism will include all active FOAs for that program/mechanism. Applications in response to these announcements will require electronic submission through Grants.gov. Plans/milestones for submission dates and mechanisms are as follows:

• February 12, 2009 - Research Career Development (all Ks except K12)
• April 8, 2009 - Individual National Research Service Awards (F)
• September 25, 2009 - Institutional National Research Service Awards and Other Training Grants (T, D), D43, D71/U2R and K12

Timing of the transition of NIH’s complex, multi-project grant programs have not been set.

Questions about transition plans may be directed to: NIHElectronicSubmiss@mail.nih.gov.

General Information:
http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm
http://www.ahrq.gov/path/egrants.htm
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-073.html for more details.

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New GSA Directive Affects NIH Reimbursement Process for New Reviewers and Reviewers Up for CCR Renewal

Notice Number: NOT-OD-08-075
Release Date: May 23, 2008
Issued by: National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov)

In accordance with a recent General Services Administration (GSA) directive, NIH will discontinue use of the U. S. Treasury Central Contractor Registration (CCR) for electronic disbursement of reviewers’ honoraria and reimbursements for expenses incurred during their participation in NIH peer review meetings.  NIH is diligently seeking a new, efficient reimbursement system. However, effective immediately and through September 30, 2008, the following interim solution will be implemented:

• Reviewers whose CCR registration is active at the time of reimbursement will continue to receive payment via direct deposit.
• Reviewers who are not registered with CCR (or whose registration has expired) will be issued a check from a government contractor, World Travel Services, Inc. (WTS) for this fiscal year only (October 1, 2007, to September 30, 2008).  The check will be sent to the residential mailing address on file in the eRA Commons.
• Reviewers do not need to renew their CCR registration once it expires.  Reviewers should ignore emails from CCR prompting them to renew their registration. 

Reviewers can check the status of their CCR registration at www.ccr.gov, by following these instructions:

• Click on “Search CCR” located on the left side of the page.
• Enter their DUNS number.
• Click on “Search”.
• View the registration status located at the top of the page.

NIH is committed to ensuring that all reviewers receive their disbursements as efficiently as possible, and is working to develop a new system to facilitate this process.  Additional information will be forthcoming.  Thank you for your continued support of the NIH peer review process during this transition.

Inquiries: Questions may be directed to Dr. Sally Amero, NIH Review Policy Officer, Office of Extramural Research, NIH (301-435-1418; ameros@od.nih.gov).

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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

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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

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