Put NIAID’s Data Tools in Your “Omics” Toolkit

This is the latest in a series of articles highlighting resources for researchers from NIAID’s Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID).

Did you know NIAID provides powerful tools for data analysis at no charge?

Our Bioinformatics Resource Centers offer integrated “omics” datasets, bioinformatics tools, and services to support your research on NIAID Category A, B, and C Priority Pathogens and Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases.

You can access the centers through a shared Web portal. Go to Bioinformatics Resource Centers to learn more.

Also take a look at our Systems Biology Program, whose data, protocols, and computational and statistical models we make public.

Already, the program has produced a prediction tool for type 3 secretion proteins and experimental protocols for high throughput technologies — with more molecular network analysis tools and data sets to come. Go to Systems Biology for Infectious Diseases Research for details on this program.

Don’t forget about sequence, related data, and open source bioinformatics tools available from our genomic sequencing centers. Visit the Genome Sequencing Centers site for more information on that.

Consider other NIAID-sponsored data and analytic tools that can give your omics research some extra oomph — see Omics Research Tools and Technologies and contact Dr. Malu Polanski to discuss tapping the potential of any of these resources.

May 25, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Waiting for Your Program Officer to Respond? Here’s What to Do

Most of you have no problems communicating with your program officer, but if you do have difficulty getting a response within the timeframe you need, here are some actions to take.

  • If you’ve applied for a grant or have an award, contact your grants management specialist. This person may have the information you need or can help you get an answer.
  • Leave a message at the appropriate general NIAID number.
    • DAIDS: 301-496-0545
    • DAIT: 301-496-1886
    • DMID: 301-496-1884
  • If your inquiry is related to a specific topic or service covered on an NIAID Web site, look for contact information for the people who coordinate the activity in question.
    • As an example, for training and career development awards, you may contact our general help desk at AITrainingHelpDesk@niaid.nih.gov even if you’re already working with your program officer. When you get in touch, reference that person and any related correspondence.
    • All Resources for Researchers and scientific programs have a contact person for general inquiries.

Check that you go through the following steps before you do the actions above:

  • Confirm you have the right person.
    • If you have a grant, check the Commons.
    • If you do not have a grant, go to Finding People or see the contact information in the funding opportunity announcement or Guide notice.
  • Clearly explain why you are getting in touch and describe what you want.
  • Follow up your phone call with an email, or follow up your email with a phone call.
  • Provide additional contact numbers and email addresses if you have them.
  • Convey a sense of urgency or provide a time or date by which you need a response.

Expect to wait longer than normal if you try to contact your program officer immediately after the release of a funding opportunity announcement or Guide notice. We get a spike of inquiries whenever we publish new opportunities or policies, and it takes time to respond to each person who gets in touch.

May 25, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

NIAID’s Structural Genomics Centers Can Move You Forward

This is the latest in a series of articles highlighting resources for researchers from NIAID’s Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID).

Would knowing the 3-D atomic structure of a protein further your research? 

If so, see if the structure of your protein is in a public database such as the Protein Data Bank. If it’s not, NIAID’s Structural Genomics Centers for Infectious Diseases may be able to determine the structure of your protein at no charge to you. Investigators in academia, not-for-profit organizations, industry, and government worldwide are welcome to request services.

Your protein has to play an important biological role, have potential as a target for vaccine and drug development, and relate to NIAID Category A, B, and C Priority Pathogens or Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases.

Go to Structural Genomics Centers for Infectious Diseases for details on assurances to users, data release guidelines, and the application, prioritization, and approval processes.  Contact  Valentina Di Francesco if you need more information about the program.

Visit Omics Research Tools and Technologies for links to other “Omics” resources and get in touch with Dr. Malu Polanski to discuss tapping their potential.

April 27, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Metrics for Team Science — What’s Your Take?

In a feature on PhysOrg.com titled “Is Team Science Productive? Study Measures the Collaborative Nature of Translational Medicine,” researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine studied how to measure productivity in a collaborative environment. They came to the following conclusion:

“…network analysis, which examines a social structure made up of individuals connected by a common interdependency…could help inform decisions about which institutes, centers, or departments are most likely to facilitate collaboration, and learn how they’re doing it. This will point the way to ideas to increase cross-discipline collaborations such as trans-center grants to facilitate collaborations between departments.”

What are your thoughts? Leave us a comment.

Note: the researchers’ published findings are available in the October 13, 2010, Science Translational Medicine article, “Network Dynamics to Evaluate Performance of an Academic Institution” (requires subscription).

April 11, 2011  Tags:   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

On NIAID’s “Omics” Menu: Genomic Sequencing Services

This is another in our series of articles highlighting resources for researchers from NIAID’s Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID).

When you want sequencing or high throughput microbial and human genotyping services, take a look at how NIAID’s genomic sequencing centers can advance your research on any of the following topics:

  • NIAID Category A-C priority pathogens and related organisms
  • Clinical isolates
  • Invertebrate vectors
  • Microorganisms responsible for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and their hosts
  • Human microbiome

Whether you are an investigator in academia, government, industry, or a not-for-profit organization anywhere in the world, you can get services at no charge from an NIAID Genomic Sequencing Center for Infectious Diseases run by the J. Craig Venter Institute, Broad Institute, or Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland.

Investigators at these world-class sequencing centers will help you prepare a White Paper you’ll need to send for NIAID’s approval to participate.

Go to the Genome Sequencing Centers site for details on the application processes, assurances to users, requirements for data and reagent sharing and release plans, and more. Then contact Dr. Maria Giovanni to patch into this opportunity.

For more on NIAID’s other Omics resources, visit Omics Research Tools and Technologies and contact Dr. Malu Polanski to discuss tapping their potential.

March 30, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Summary Statements: Bigger, Better

Ask and you shall receive. Case in point: more informative summary statements, as we announced in our August 18, 2010, article “Meatier Summary Statements in the Works.”

People were hungry for more details about why they got the score they did, so NIH added the Overall Impact paragraph. Assigned reviewers use this section to summarize their reasons for the overall impact score.

This additional feedback can be helpful, especially if your application doesn’t fare well. You may be able to better glean what needs to be improved, emphasized, or downplayed — factors that could sway you on whether to resubmit or submit a new application. For more on making that choice, read Part 11b. Not Funded, Reapply in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

Note that applications reviewed before last fall — like our New Sample R01 Applications and Summary Statements — do not have this paragraph.

To learn more about overall impact and summary statements, go to the following pages in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal:

March 30, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

If You Mean “Business,” Remember to SHIFT

We’d hate for you to miss out on a great opportunity, so here’s a reminder about the SHIFT Award: Small Businesses Helping Investigators to Fuel the Translation of Scientific Discoveries. If your research is product-oriented and you want to work for a business, it’s worth a look.

Introduced about a year ago, SHIFT puts product development into high gear by bringing together companies and academic investigators. For more background, read our March 17, 2010, article “Looking to SHIFT Your Career to Business?”

If you’re interested, learn how to get started at SHIFT Connector: Bringing Business Jobs to Academic Investigators.

March 23, 2011  Tags:   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

New Site Gives Unfunded Applications Another Shot at Funding

Feeling dejected because your research project was rejected (i.e., not funded)? Cheer up, all may not be lost.

A week before Valentine’s Day, the National Health Council (NHC) launched an online “matchmaker” to connect unfunded NIH applications with alternative funding sources.

Through the Health Research Funding Web site, any researcher whose project was scored but not funded can post their abstract and contact information for free. Using these details, registered organizations can search for and find projects that appeal to them.

For now, the site houses profiles of over 40 patient advocacy groups, including the American Cancer Society and the Alzheimer’s Association. It will eventually grow to include companies and private investors.

To learn more about the site, which was created with NIH’s input, read NHC’s Frequently Asked Questions.

March 21, 2011  Tags:   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Ready, Get Set, Submit Your Application

This is the seventeenth article in our New Investigator Series.

Previously, we wrote about how to create an appealing application and what to do once you’ve finished writing. In this article, we look at the ins and outs of submitting your application.

Summary

  • Tackle technical aspects early on.
  • Understand what’s involved with Grants.gov and eRA Commons validations.
  • If your application doesn’t pass validations, carefully consider the options.
  • Withdraw your application only after you’ve weighed several factors.

It’s been a long road up to this juncture, but you should be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel now that you’re ready to send your application on its way to NIH.

Since you’ll likely do this electronically,* you should be aware of the steps your application will go through, decisions you may have to make along the way, and what you can do to ensure smooth sailing.

Submitting your application is not as easy as you may think. That’s why you shouldn’t go it alone if you run up against a roadblock or are confused about how to proceed.

Read the rest of this post »

March 16, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Comment on Dr. Wählby’s Sample Application

This blog post gives you a place to share your own advice and comments on one of four sample R01 applications:

PI and Grantee Institution

Application Resources

Carolina Wählby, Ph.D., of the Broad Institute
“Image analysis for high-throughput C. elegans infection and metabolism assays”		 Summary Statement
Research Plan
Full Application

Learn more at Sample R01 Applications and Summary Statements.

March 15, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment