In this Issue:
1. NIDCR News
2. Funding Opportunity News
4. NIH News
5. Science Advances
NIDCR NEWS
Dr. Lawrence Tabak Named Principal Deputy Director, NIH; Dr. Isabel Garcia Appointed NIDCR Acting Director
On August 19, NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., announced the appointment of Dr. Lawrence Tabak as principal deputy director of the National Institutes of Health. Citing his gratitude for "the extraordinary experience and privilege of leading the NIDCR over the past decade," Dr. Tabak stepped down as NIDCR director on August 23 to begin his new position. He succeeds former NIH deputy director Raynard Kington, who left NIH to become president of Grinnell College in Iowa. See Dr. Collins' announcement:
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/aug2010/od-19.htm
At the same time he announced Dr. Tabak's new position, Dr. Collins also named NIDCR deputy director Isabel Garcia, D.D.S., M.P.H., to be the NIDCR acting director. She will guide the Institute while a search for a permanent director is under way. Dr. Garcia, who holds the rank of Rear Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service, joined NIDCR in 1995 as a special assistant for science transfer. She later directed NIDCR's Office of Science Policy and Analysis before being appointed deputy director of the Institute in 2007. Read more about Dr. Garcia's appointment:
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/NewsAndFeatures/Announcements/Garcia.htm
FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NEWS
2011 NIH Director’s Award Programs
Funding is available for the following NIH Director’s Award Programs:
NIH Director’s Transformative Research Projects (T-R01) Award Program
NIH welcomes proposals for the 2011 NIH Director's Transformative Research Project Awards.
--Exceptionally innovative, high risk, original and/or unconventional research
--Clinical, basic, and/or behavioral/social science research projects
--Up to $25 million total costs per year for a single project
--One-third of total funding budget geared to projects with more than $1 million in direct costs.
The deadline for submitting Transformative Research Project applications is October 27, 2010 with Letters of Intent due by September 27, 2010. See the instructions in the RFA:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-10-010.html
Additional information about the Transformative Research Projects Program is available at:
http://commonfund.nih.gov/T-R01/
NIH Director’s Pioneer and New Innovator Awards Program
NIH also welcomes proposals for the 2011 NIH Director's Pioneer Awards and New Innovator Awards for innovative approaches to major challenges in biomedical or behavioral research.
Pioneer Awards:
--Up to $2.5 million in direct costs over 5 years
--Open to scientists at any career stage.
New Innovator Awards:
--Up to $1.5 million in direct costs over 5 years
--For early stage investigators (ESI), defined as those who have not received an NIH R01 or similar grant and are within 10 years of completing their terminal research degree or medical residency.
NIH expects to make at least 7 Pioneer Awards and at least 33 New Innovator Awards in summer 2011. To continue its strong record of diversity in these programs, NIH especially encourages women and members of groups that are underrepresented in NIH research to apply. The deadline for submitting Pioneer Award applications is September 13, 2010. See the instructions in the RFA:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-10-008.html
Additional information about the Pioneer Awards is found at:
http://commonfund.nih.gov/pioneer/
The deadline for submitting New Innovator Award applications is September 20, 2010. See the instructions in the RFA:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-10-009.html
Additional information about the New Innovator Awards is available at:
http://commonfund.nih.gov/newinnovator/
NIH Loan Repayment Programs Now Accepting Applications
NIH has announced the continuation of educational loan repayment through its extramural Loan Repayment Programs (LRP). The LRPs encourage promising researchers and scientists to pursue careers in biomedical, behavioral, social and clinical research by repaying up to $35,000 of their qualified student loan debt each year. Loan repayment benefits are in addition to the institutional salary received by recipients for their research. Applications will be accepted from September 1-November 15 at:
http://www.lrp.nih.gov/
For additional information, see the general notice about the NIH Extramural Loan Repayment Programs:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-105.html
Specific program objectives and eligibility criteria are contained in each of the five LRP notices:
--Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Clinical Researchers (LRP-CR)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-106.html
--Extramural Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Program (LRP-PR)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-107.html
--Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Health Disparities Research (LRP-HDR)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-108.html
--Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Contraception and Infertility Researchers (LRP-CIR)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-109.html
--Extramural Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (LRP-IDB)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-110.html
PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENTS
Biotechnology/Regenerative Medicine/Biomaterials
Neurobiology/Pain
Research Mechanisms
Women's Health
REQUESTS FOR APPLICATIONS
All Dental and Craniofacial Research
Behavioral/Social Science Research
NIH Roadmap
NOTICES
NIH NEWS
New NIH Website Offers Easy Access to Bone Health Information
A new website providing people with the latest science-based information on bone health and bone disease is available through the NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases - National Resource Center (NRC):
http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Bone/default.asp
The NRC is supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases with contributions from the NIDCR, the National Institute on Aging, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office on Women's Health. Visitors to the NRC site will learn about strategies for bone health, such as the prevention and management of osteoporosis. The NRC also provides information on the rarer Paget's disease of bone and osteogenesis imperfecta. Materials on other rare bone diseases are planned for the coming year.
Dr. James Anderson Appointed Director, NIH Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives
NIH Director Francis Collins announced the appointment of James M. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D. as director of the NIH Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI). Dr. Anderson is expected to begin his new appointment in September. He comes from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was professor and chair of the Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology in the School of Medicine, a position he has held since 2002. Before joining Chapel Hill, he was professor of medicine and cell biology and chief, Section of Digestive Diseases, at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Anderson also has been a principal investigator on NIH grants for almost 20 years.
The mission of the DPCPSI is to identify emerging scientific opportunities, rising public health challenges, and scientific knowledge gaps that merit further research. The division plans and implements trans-NIH initiatives supported by the Common Fund and coordinates research related to AIDS, behavioral and social sciences, women’s health, and disease prevention. Dr. Tabak had been acting director of the DPCPSI while a search was conducted for the new DPCPSI Director.
Dr. Alan Guttmacher Named Director of NICHD
Dr. Collins announced the appointment of Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., as director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) on July 22. A pediatrician and medical geneticist, Dr. Guttmacher served in a number of roles at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) since joining the NIH in 1999. He became NHGRI’s deputy director in 2002 and acting director in 2008. In 2009 he was named NICHD acting director.
Dr. Robert Kaplan Named Associate Director for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
Dr. Collins named Robert M. Kaplan, Ph.D., to be director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) and NIH Associate Director for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. Dr. Kaplan is expected to join the NIH in early 2011. He comes from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he is a distinguished professor in the Department of Health Services at the School of Public Health and Department of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine. He also served as the principal investigator of the UCLA/RAND CDC Prevention Research Center and director of the UCLA/RAND Health Services Research training program.
SCIENCE ADVANCES
A Comprehensive Look at Methylation Patterns in Salivary Gland Tumors
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Research/ResearchResults/ScienceBriefs/CurrentSNIB/
Methylation profiling is quickly becoming a powerful diagnostic tool in oncology. Researchers recently took the first comprehensive look at methylation patterns among the various salivary gland tumors. The results, like salivary glands, are unique.
Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Head and Neck Cancer
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/Research/ResearchResults/ScienceBriefs/CurrentSNIB/
Scientists report early success combining two drugs to treat head and neck cancer.
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