What's New:
Past Bulletins:
|
|
|
 |
 |
Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
January 27, 2006 |
EGRP BULLETIN
From the Office of
Edward Trapido, Sc.D., Associate Director
Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
National Cancer Institute
This Bulletin brings you news about:
NIH Starts Online Newsletter for Grantees, Prepare for Electronic
Submission of Grant Applications
 NIH’s
Office of Extramural Research (OER) began this month publishing a bimonthly
online newsletter – the NIH Extramural Nexus. OER
is responsible for coordination of NIH’s extramural programs and activities
including grants policy and operations and grants administration. The
January issue includes an article on the new requirement for online submission
of grant applications and use of the new SF424 (R&D) application form.
The article explains the 2-step requirement to preregister with the eRA
Commons and Grants.gov. Completing the registration processes
can take several weeks. NIH recommends starting the registration process
now, or at a minimum 2 - 4 weeks ahead of your target submission
date.
We can’t emphasize enough the importance of preparing for this
transition. Deadlines for use of the new application procedure are according
to grant mechanism. The
2006 deadlines are:
- Academic Research Enhancement Awards (AREA) (R15) – February
25, 2006,
- Small Grant Programs (R03) and Exploratory/Development Research Grant
Awards (R21, R23) – June 1, 2006, and
- Research Project Grant Program (R01) – October 1, 2006.
View
complete timeline.
The transition has already taken place for applications for Conferences
and Scientific Meetings Support (R13, U13) and the Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR)
Programs (R41, R42, R43, R44).
Resources:
To subscribe to the NIH
Extramural Nexus, send a plain text e-mail
message to Listserv@list.nih.gov including
in the body of the message only the words: Subscribe EXTRAMURALNEXUS
A. R. (Joe) Patel Retires from EGRP
 A.R.
(Joe) Patel, Ph.D., retired in January with 28 years of service at the
National Cancer Institute (NCI). Most of his career was
spent working in the extramural epidemiology research program where he
is known especially for his early stewardship of research on diet, nutrition,
and cancer, and on minorities and cancer.
In 1977 with a doctorate in pharmaceutical chemistry, Dr. Patel joined
NCI to manage contracts for testing chemical agents for carcinogenicity
and a carcinogen standards repository. Soon thereafter, he became
responsible for developing the extramural diet, nutrition, and cancer
research program, including animal and human studies. He wrote
the Institute’s first Request for Proposals (RFP) for contracts
to study natural inhibitors of carcinogenesis, predating the establishment
of NCI’s large-scale cancer chemoprevention research program.
In the early 1980s, Dr. Patel jump-started investigation of diet and
cancer by writing a Request for Applications (RFA) to encourage research
grants in dietary assessment methods. “At this time, diet
and nutrition were only starting to be appreciated as possible determinants
of cancer. The RFA was central to the advancements that have been
made in the field of nutritional epidemiology,” said Walter Willett,
M.D., Dr.P.H., of Harvard University, who is internationally renowned
for his research on diet and nutrition and was one of Dr. Patel’s
grantees for more than 20 years.
“The development of validated dietary assessment methods
through the NCI funding had a major benefit not only for cancer research
but many other fields as well,” said Dr. Willett. “For
example, as a result of leads provided by dietary assessments, vitamin
A supplementation is now part of standard care for patients with visual
impairment due to retinitis. Trans fatty acids have been identified
as an important contributor to coronary heart disease and are rapidly
being removed from the food supply. B-vitamin supplements are part
of standard care for pregnant women in Africa infected with HIV. None
of this would have happened without the methodological developments
encouraged by Dr. Patel.”
Dr. Patel followed the initial RFA by writing two others to stimulate
development of biochemical markers of human exposure to carcinogens and
of cancer susceptibility to use in epidemiologic studies.
In the early 1990s, his focus turned to encouraging and helping extramural
investigators launch epidemiologic studies on U.S. ethnic and minority
populations and cancer, an achievement which Dr. Patel views as his most
important contribution. With expansion of this research portfolio,
he began promoting the establishment of cohort studies so that long-term
prospective studies, particularly on diet and cancer causation in diverse
populations, would be possible.
He leaves an impressive list of cohort studies for which he was Program
Director that includes populations of U.S. African Americans, Latinos,
Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Japanese, Filipinos, Chinese, and
Caucasians. Some cohort studies have wide name recognition, such
as the Nurses’ Health Study, Health Professionals Follow-up Study,
Black Women’s Health Study, and California Teachers Study.
Dr. Patel also is pleased to have written an RFA in the early 1980s
on study of involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke and cancer risk. The
findings from these studies indicated an association, caught the attention
of regulatory agencies, and paved the way for measures to curb smoking
in public places and educate the public about the dangers of second-hand
smoke, he said.
With his newfound time, Dr. Patel will work part-time as a tax consultant
and financial advisor – and no longer commute from Virginia to
Maryland, especially during snowstorms.
New EGRP Staff Appointments
 Naoko Ishibe, Sc.D., has
joined EGRP’s Analytic
Epidemiology Research Branch (AERB) as a Program Director. She
had been working in NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics
(DCEG), the intramural epidemiology research component of NCI, first
as a post-doctoral fellow and then as a tenure-track investigator.
Dr. Ishibe’s research focused on familial chronic lymphocytic leukemia,
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and von Hippel-Lindau disease. She received
her Sc.D. in epidemiology and environmental sciences from Harvard School
of Public Health where she investigated gene-environment interactions
in relation to lung, breast, and colorectal cancer risk. E-mail: ishiben@mail.nih.gov;
tel.: 301-435-4911.
 Chinonye
(Nonye) Harvey, M.P.H., joins AERB as a Program
Analyst. She had been a Program Analyst in NCI’s Office of
Cancer Survivorship (OCS), Division of Cancer Control and Population
Sciences (DCCPS), before taking a leave of absence to have a child.
Ms. Harvey returns to our Division bringing a wealth of knowledge,
skills, and experience. While at OCS, she did portfolio analyses
of grants, assisted with meeting and conference planning, and much
more. Among
her AERB duties, Ms. Harvey will work with the Breast and Prostate
Cancer and Hormone-Related Gene Variants Cohort Consortium (BPC3 Study). She
received her M.P.H. in maternal and child health and international
health from George Washington University School of Public Health and
Health Services. She also managed a federally funded grant on children’s
environmental health while at the university. E-mail: harveyn@mail.nih.gov;
tel.: 301-594-3667.
 Sheri
Dixon Schully, Ph.D., is doing a 6-month rotation
in EGRP as a Presidential Management Fellow. She will work with
the Cancer Family Registries, a research resource overseen through
the Clinical and Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch (CGERB), and
will be coordinating a mitochondrial DNA workshop for AERB. Dr.
Shully recently completed a rotation in DCEG where one of her responsibilities
was organizing activities for the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility
Initiative. She received her Ph.D. in biological sciences from
Louisiana State University. While at the university, she also
was a Teaching Assistant instructing science majors on basic biology
principles, themes, and laboratory skills, and a Graduate Assistant
evaluating equipment and curricula for the Department of Biological
Science’s “Scope-On-A-Rope” science
outreach program; preparing and executing teacher training, activities,
and workshops; and developing techniques, applications, and lesson
plans. E-mail: schullys@mail.nih.gov;
tel.: 301-435-4910.
 John Fox, M.P.H., joins
EGRP’s Office of the
Associate Director (OAD) as a Program Analyst. He received his
B.S. in biology and M.P.H. in occupational and environmental epidemiology
and in public health genetics from the University of Michigan. Mr.
Fox’s experience includes an internship at a Michigan county health
department studying the long-term sequelae of individuals who developed
meningoencephalitis from the 2002 West Nile Virus epidemic. He
also was a graduate student instructor for two years and taught physiology
lab class. Mr. Fox moved to the Washington, D.C., area last year
and took a position with our Division’s Behavioral Research Program
(BRP) providing grants administration support. E-mail: foxjoh@mail.nih.gov;
tel.: 301-594-7348.
UCI's Anton-Culver Is IPA With NCI Division of Cancer Biology
 Hoda
Anton-Culver, Ph.D., of the University of California, Irvine,
is working part time in NCI’s Division of Cancer Biology (DCB) under the Intergovernmental
Personnel Act (IPA). DCB manages NCI’s grants, cooperative agreements,
and contracts relevant to cancer biology. She will be advising on
the state of the science and research opportunities for new collaborations
between DCB and other NCI Divisions, particularly DCCPS. For example,
the areas of cancer susceptibility genes and gene/environment interactions
are ripe for interdisciplinary investigations, Dr. Anton-Culver says, but
they need a catalyst to accelerate discussions and initiatives across NCI
Divisions. She is Chief of the Epidemiology Division and Director
of the Genetic Epidemiology Research Institute (GERI) at UC-Irvine. Dr.
Anton-Culver also is a long-time EGRP grantee and a member of NCI’s
Board of Scientific Advisors (BSA), which provides scientific advice on
matters concerning scientific program policy, progress, and future direction
of the Institute’s extramural research programs, and concept review
of extramural program initiatives.
Funding Opportunities
RFA Issued for Training a New Interdisciplinary Research
Workforce
NIH has reissued a Request for Applications
(RFA)
inviting applications for developing and implementing novel training
programs focused on interdisciplinary science. This RFA is an NIH
Roadmap Initiative and all NIH Institutes are participating. Letters
of intent are due February 14, 2006, and the deadline for receipt of
applications is April 7.
These interdisciplinary programs will support a variety of new and innovative
didactic and research experiences designed to provide students with the
knowledge and research experiences necessary to develop interdisciplinary
solutions to complex health problems and to increase quality and years
of healthy life and eliminate health disparities. Programs will be
supported that enable the development of novel research training and
education programs that provide integrated interdisciplinary training for
undergraduates, predoctoral and/or postdoctoral trainees, or independent
faculty-level investigators. The funding opportunity also will support basic
and clinical research to develop an interdisciplinary knowledge base for
care across the life span, across disciplines, and across settings during
states of illness and health.
The RFA uses the T90 mechanism which includes linked research training
and education programs. Applicants are to submit a single unified
grant application and, if selected for funding, two separate awards
may be issued, an R90 (Research Education award) and a T90 (Research Training
award), based on distinct research training- and education-related
funding authorities.
NIH is committing about $2.6 million to support this RFA in FY 2006. However,
the total amount awarded and the number of awards made will depend upon
the number, quality, and cost of the applications received. It is
anticipated that 8-10 awards will be made. An applicant may request
a project period of up to four years with annual direct costs of new funds
not to exceed $325,000.
The RFA is coordinated by the National Institute on Drug Administration
(NIDA). Scientific questions may be directed to Allison Chausmer, Ph.D.,
NIDA, tel.: 301-402-5088; e-mail: achausme@nida.nih.gov.
Omnibus Solicitation for Small Business Grants Issued for 2006
The Omnibus Solicitation for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Grant Programs
for 2006 was announced in the NIH Guide on January 27, 2006.
Refer to EGRP’s topics of specific interest in the solicitation
or view them at epi.grants.cancer.gov/ResPort/sbir.html.
Only electronic applications will be accepted, and they must be submitted
through the Federal-wide portal Grants.gov.
The EGRP Program Director is Jay Choudhry, M.S., tel.: 301-435-6613;
e-mail: choudhj@mail.nih.gov.
Two NIH Regional Seminars Scheduled on Grant Application and Review
Process
NIH will hold Regional Seminars on Program Funding and
Grants in Boston in March and in California in May-June 2006. These
annual seminars help demystify the grant application and review process,
clarify federal regulations and policies, and highlight current areas
of special interest or concern. NIH policy, grants management, review,
and program staff provide expertise and encourage personal interaction
between themselves and seminar participants. The seminars are appropriate
for grants administrators, researchers new to NIH, and graduate students. Registration
is limited.
- March 30-31, Boston, Mass., co-hosted by Harvard
University and Massachusetts General Hospital, and
- May 31-June 1, Riverside, Calif., co-hosted by University of California,
Riverside.
Programmatic and logistical
information
Presentations
from earlier seminar
Humane Epigenome Project Workshop Report Published,
EGRP’s Verma
Available To Discuss Cancer Epigenetic Research Proposals
The
report from the workshop to develop a blueprint for a Human Epigenome Project,
which was sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
last year, is published in the December 15, 2005, issue of Cancer
Research. The goal of the Human Epigenome Project “is
to identify all the chemical changes and relationships among chromatin
constituents that provide function to the DNA code, which will allow
a fuller understanding of normal development, aging, abnormal gene
control in cancer, and other diseases as well as the role of the environment
in human health.” Mukesh Verma, Ph.D., Acting Chief of
AERB, represented DCCPS at the June 2005 workshop and is available
to discuss research ideas related to cancer with investigators.
Nature Reviews Cancer: Identifying the Causes and Preventability of Cancer?
“Epidemiology – identifying the causes and preventability of cancer?” is
published as a perspectives paper in the January 2006 issue of Nature Reviews
Cancer. The authors review studies of cancer incidence using different
epidemiologic techniques that have been conducted in the 25 years since
Professor Sir Richard Doll and Professor Sir Richard Peto published
their landmark comprehensive analysis of evidence on the risk and preventability
of cancer. They make some suggestions for future directions in research.
The review was written by Graham Colditz, M.D., Dr.P.H., of Brigham
and Women’s Hospital and
Harvard School of Public Health; Thomas Sellers, Ph.D., H. Lee Moffitt
Cancer Center & Research Institute; and Edward Trapido, Sc.D., of
EGRP.
NCI Publishes Cancer Trends Progress Report: 2005 Update
 NCI’s
new Cancer Trends Progress Report: 2005 Update summarizes
our nation's progress against cancer in relation to the Healthy People 2010
targets developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
This online report, first issued in 2001 as the Cancer Progress
Report, is released every other year. The revised and expanded
report is intended for policy makers, researchers, clinicians, and public
health service providers, offering updated national trends data and a variety
of new features.
New additions to this year's report include:
- Quick tutorial to make navigation and downloading of materials within
the report as simple as possible
- Prevention measures: e.g., "Doctors' and Dentists' Advice to Quit
Smoking"; "Pesticides"; and "Dioxins"
- Treatment measures: "Breast Cancer Treatment" and "Colorectal Cancer
Treatment"
- Updated "Trends-at-a-Glance" snapshot
- Links to state- and county-level data
- Data, graphs, and slides that are easy to download
- Links to Healthy People 2010 materials
- Custom report features
- Open text search capability
- Fully accessible to persons with disabilities.
View Cancer Trends Progress Report: 2005 Update
Subscribe to EGRP Bulletins and News Flashes
You are welcome to invite
others to subscribe to receive occasional Bulletins and News
Flashes from the Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program (EGRP).
|
|
|
