The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today it is making $27.2 million available to state, local, tribal and territorial governments; national associations, non-profits, higher education institutions and the private sector as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Competitive Training Grant Program (CTGP). This program awards funds to competitively selected applicants to develop and deliver innovative training programs addressing high priority national homeland security training needs. http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=43578 [posted on the Medical Reserve Corps listserv] scb

If you were unable to attend the Medical Library Association Conference in Chicago this year, or missed the National Library of Medicine “Theater Presentations” in the Exhibit Hall, watch them now - FREE!

• DailyMed https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p81829566/ (19 min.)
• Health Services Research & Public Health: What’s Happening? https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p88051189 (27 min.)
• LinkOut Update https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p75708954/ (23 min.)
• NIH Manuscript Submission System https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p29108561/ (24 min.)
• NLM Drug Information Portal https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p48476231/ (19 min.)
• NLM Gateway Redesign https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p20517702/ (22 min.)
• PubMed Central Update https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p71158499/ (21 min.)
• PubMed Review https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p46566040/ (25 min.)
• The New “Images in the History of Medicine” Software https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p22787929/ (18 min)
• What’s New with Environmental Health & Toxicology Resources? https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p96532037/ (13 min.)
• What’s New with MedlinePlus & GoLocal https://webmeeting.nih.gov/p29104294/ (20 min.)

After many years CRISP is undergoing a series of improvements. During the next year, there will be several releases of an enhanced version of CRISP. The new system will continue to provide the same ability to search NIH-funded research but eventually will include more information associated with funded projects, including budget information and links to publications and patents resulting from NIH-funded research. In addition, the new version of CRISP will offer a new way of searching for grants and contract portfolios that reflects current research investments in specific diseases and other conditions. http://report.nih.gov/crisp_report.html

NIH requires applicants to submit public health relevance statements in grant applications to ensure the description of the projects’ potential to improve public health is clearly articulated. The public health relevance statement should be written in plain language that can be understood by a general, lay audience, as well as your reviewers and colleagues. NIH uses these public health relevance statements for portfolio analyses, to identify research highlights to Congress and to make the importance of the research clear to the public. Statements of public health relevance are highlighted in a new field, separate from the project abstract, on the CRISP (Computer Retrieval of Information Scientific Projects) http://report.nih.gov/crisp.aspx tool found on the new NIH Report Web site. http://report.nih.gov/ [scb]

CDC has developed an Environmental Health Shelter Assessment Tool to assist environmental health practitioners in conducting a rapid assessment of shelter conditions during emergencies and disasters. The tool is an assessment form that covers 14 general areas of environmental health, ranging from basic food safety and water quality to pet (companion animal) wellness, and allows for the documentation of immediate needs in shelters. It can be easily modified to meet local needs. http://www.bt.cdc.gov/shelterassessment/ [posted on the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) email discussion group http://www.medicalreservecorps.gov/ListservRulesRegulations ] scb

The change to Automatic Term Mapping (ATM) that has been available for the last couple of weeks to a limited number of users is now effective for all PubMed users (you may have to delete cookies on your browser to see the new ATM). Citation Sensor, another upcoming enhancement, will be available later this week. For more information on both visit the technical bulletin page at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/mj08/mj08_pubmed_atm_cite_sensor.html [da]

NLM is working on the development of a clinical trials summary results database to implement provisions of the FDA Amendments Act of 2007 (FDAAA). A preliminary mockup of the results data entry system is available for review and comment at http://prsinfo.clinicaltrials.gov/rrs-mockup-intro.html Information about how to comment (by June 18, 2008) is on the website - as is a way to sign up to receive notification when subsequent drafts and other information about FDAAA registration and results reporting requirements are posted.

These requirements are likely to apply to many drug and device trials carried out in NN/LM institutions. In addition, the approach taken in ClinicalTrials.gov is likely to influence requirements for summary reporting from clinical research information systems. [scb]

Did you know that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) invests over $28 billion annually in medical research? More than 80% of the NIH’s funding is awarded through almost 50,000 competitive grants to more than 325,000 researchers at over 3,000 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions in every state and around the world. About 10% of the NIH’s budget supports projects conducted by nearly 6,000 scientists in its own laboratories, most of which are on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.

For more information on the allocation of these funds, visit http://www.nih.gov/about/budget.htm. [da]

A popular series of curriculum supplements from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) aimed at promoting science education achievement is now aligned to individual state education standards in science, math, health and English language arts for kindergarten through the 12^th grade. This cross-curricular alignment, unique to each state, shows educators how the NIH curriculum supplements will help them meet specific learning goals for students and spells out the usefulness of the series nationwide.

This series is FREE to educators upon request. The alignment of a supplement to state standards can be downloaded by visiting http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements. [da]

A new calculator has been added to the online tools available through the MCR website. Check the Evaluation section for a link to the CBA/ROI calculator. This tool helps you discover the dollar value your book and journal collections return to your organization. Click on http://nnlm.gov/mcr/evaluation/roi.html to give it a try. Contact Betsy Kelly with any questions and please do send comments. Your input will help make this tool useful for you! [bk]

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a new clinical research program to help aid patients with mysterious conditions that have long eluded diagnosis. Called the Undiagnosed Diseases Program, the trans-NIH initiative will focus on the most puzzling medical cases referred to the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by physicians across the nation. With the program infrastructure now in place, the program is ready to accept patients, the first of which is expected to be seen in July 2008.

For more information about the Undiagnosed Diseases Program, go to: http://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/Undiagnosed. Physicians and patients with specific inquiries may call the NIH Clinical Center clinical information research line, at 1-866-444-8806. [da]