News and Announcements

Hosted by: IPHAM Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research

Join us to hear from Joshua K. Lin, MD, ScD, MPH, Executive Director at Mass General Brigham Center for Integrated Healthcare Data Research as he discusses the multi-center research database his center created that integrates electronic health records (EHR) from over 40 inpatient/ambulatory centers along with multiple insurance claims datasets to support real-world evidence generation.

Thursday, May 8th

10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Register Here

*

Arthritis Care & Research is soliciting manuscripts for a themed issue addressing topics related to pain science and therapy in the context of rheumatic diseases. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Quality of care and models of care related to pain management 
• Understanding and applying pain phenotypes 
• Longitudinal patterns of pain and pain transitions 
• Patient perspectives on pain treatment and outcomes 
• Mechanisms by which social risk factors impact pain outcomes 
• Clinical trials of pharmacological or non-pharmacological therapies focused on pain outcomes
• Heterogeneity in pain outcomes in response to pharmacological or non-pharmacological therapies
• Innovative methods for measuring pain 

Original Articles, Brief Reports, and Reviews will be considered for the themed issue. 

All manuscripts will be peer reviewed per the journal’s usual processes. (Submission in response to this themed issue call for manuscripts does not guarantee acceptance.) The editorial team will select papers for publication based on reviewer ratings and the balance of subject matter with other accepted manuscripts. It is possible that manuscripts submitted for the themed issue may be accepted for publication in a regular issue of Arthritis Care & Research rather than the themed issue.
 
Please follow the formatting requirements found in the Author Guidelines section. Normal page charge policies will apply for manuscripts accepted for the themed issue. 
 
The deadline for submission is March 31, 2025.
 
For further information, contact the Editor of Arthritis Care & Research, Dr. Kelli D. Allen; email: kdallen@email.unc.edu

Dr. Rowland Chang was honored with the Lifetime Champion of Yes Award at the Arthritis Foundation 2024 Freedom of Movement Gala in Chicago.

Read more about this achievement here

This October, NUCATS is launching the Art of Science Communication, an 8-week course designed for researchers at all career stages that provides essential training in effectively communicating scientific research to nonexpert audiences.

Participants will gain the skills and confidence to present their work in various settings, from formal public lectures and presentations to informal outreach events. The course features video lectures, background material, and live weekly discussions focusing on crafting impactful messages, generating interest, and engaging with audiences.

The course is open to all faculty and staff within Feinberg, but registration is limited. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your communication skills.

Interested in registering? Please email Abbey Dahl (abbey.dahl@northwestern.edu) for registration information. 

2024 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The Pat & Shirley Ryan Family Research Acceleration Fund is pleased to announce the 2^nd round of the Seed Grants for Translational Research. These seed grants provide an exciting opportunity for Northwestern University faculty to accelerate the commercialization of innovative and high-potential research in the life sciences.

The Fund aims to advance translational research discoveries in both engineering and medicine that have the potential to create a meaningful and immediate impact on society. Areas of interest include drug discovery, sensing and measurement, rehabilitation, regenerative medicine, surgery and transplantation, artificial intelligence, and computation.

Proposals will be accepted through August 31, 2024. Typical awards will be funded with a one-year budget ranging from $100,000 to $300,000.

Please refer to the 2024 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS for detailed information on the proposed funding mechanism, eligibility criteria, and submission requirements.

The recording of the informational session for the 2nd Round Ryan Acceleration Fund competition can be found here (VPN required).

Questions should be addressed to ryanrafund@northwestern.edu.

The 2024-25 NUCATS Series on Developing and Enhancing Mentoring Relationships, is a set of monthly 90-minute workshops exclusively for faculty. Registration for each session is made available a month prior. This year, all workshops will be held in-person on the second Thursday of the month from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Dates are listed below:

• October 10, 2024
• November 14, 2024
• December 12, 2024
• January 9, 2025
• February 13, 2025
• March 13, 2025
• April 10, 2025
• May 8, 2025
• June 12, 2025

In addition to the annual offerings of "Establishing and Aligning Expectations," "Cultural Awareness to Enhance Mentoring Across Differences," and "Articulating your Mentoring Philosophy and Plan," sessions will explore "Challenging Mentoring Interactions" and "Mentoring Across Generations."

Further details on the upcoming series will be sent in the coming weeks. If you have any questions in the meantime, please email Morgan Barrowman. Interested in enrolling in the Mentor Training Certificate Program? Visit our website to find out more.

Wearable technologies, created to continuously collect personal health data, automatically gather high-frequency information outside clinical settings. Their popularity in research has generated large-scale time-series datasets. In this lecture Margaret Banker, PhD, assistant professor of Preventive Medicine in the Division of Biostatistics, will explore the various methods, ranging from conventional to more novel approaches, for analyzing these datasets. As part of the Statistically Speaking lecture series presented by the NUCATS Institute's Biostatistics Collaboration Center, this talk is intended to be educational, introductory, and appeal to a broad audience.

When: Tuesday, February 13, noon

Please contact Abbey Dahl (abbey.dahl@northwestern.edu) for information regarding the location of this event

Join Galter Health Sciences Library and Learning Center for a two-part interactive workshop. Participants will gain knowledge and actively participate in the multi-step process of crafting a thorough search strategy for systematic and scoping reviews. The workshop will demonstrate effective methods for searching diverse information sources and preparing the necessary documentation for the final manuscript. Faculty, staff, students, and researchers are invited to attend.

Prerequisite Classes and Trainings:

• PubMed
• Conducting a Systematic Review: Part 1 — Planning the Process or Conducting a Scoping Review
• Conducting a Systematic Review: Part 2 — Tools & Resources (also applicable to scoping reviews)
• Topic Searching in PubMed: Using the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Register for the Two-Part Interactive Workshop:

• Conducting Systematic and Scoping Reviews: Search Development and Documentation — Part 1, Wednesday, March 13, 2024, 12-1 p.m. via Zoom. Registration required
• Conducting Systematic and Scoping Reviews: Search Development and Documentation — Part 2, Wednesday, April 12, 2024, 12-1 p.m. via Zoom. Registration required

Kristi Holmes, PhD, professor of Preventive Medicine, director of Northwestern’s Galter Health Sciences Library and chief of knowledge management for the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (I.AIM), has been named the new associate dean for knowledge management and strategy at Feinberg.

In her new role, Holmes will direct the development of new infrastructure and guidelines to support the sharing of knowledge within Feinberg to accelerate research and discovery.

Read More Here

Effective May 8, 2023, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) will withdraw from the NIH Parent R21 Exploratory/Developmental Grant funding opportunities, including:

• PA-20-195: NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• PA-20-194: NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Program (Parent R21 Clinical Trial Required)

Instead, NIAMS has issued the following Notice of Special Interest (NOSI), to support innovative projects that introduce novel scientific ideas, model systems, tools, agents, targets, and technologies that have the potential for significant impact, and to substantially advance research within the NIAMS core mission. 

• NOT-AR-23-006: NOSI: Supporting Exploratory/Developmental Research Focused on NIAMS Core Mission Areas

NIAMS will not accept any applications (new or resubmission) in response to the parent R21 funding opportunities after May 7, 2023, without referencing an appropriate NIAMS NOSI. Applications for non-clinical trial, or mechanistic clinical trial Exploratory/Developmental Research within the NIAMS core mission areas should reference the R21 NOSI NOT-AR-23-006.

Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to consult NIAMS program staff for their specific research area of interest to assess the relevance of their application topic.

View the full list at NIAMS Funding Opportunities.  

The NUCATS Translational Science Pilot Awards program is seeking proposals for highly innovative, multi-disciplinary pilot projects that will advance Translational Science and are aligned with one of two priority areas: Clinical and Translational Research (CTR) or Dissemination and Implementation (D&I). This funding mechanism combines, replaces, and builds on the two prior NUCATS pilot funding mechanisms: Clinical and Translational Pilot Awards and Dissemination and Implementation Pilot Awards. Proposals may request funding for CTR, D&I, or hybrid effectiveness-implementation studies that encompass both CTR and D&I.

• Maximum award amount: $30,000
• Pre-application Letter of Intent deadline: May 12, 2023, by 5 p.m. CST
• View the RFA

If you would like additional information on this or other NUCATS funding mechanisms, please email NUCATS-funding@northwestern.edu.

The NUCATS Voucher Award program is designed to assist investigators in developing resources and/or preliminary data to facilitate hypothesis-driven research initiatives. The fund is intended for projects involving critical steps in the device and drug development pathway and projects that address a critical need in translational science that are too small to be suitable for conventional internal or external funding mechanisms. Proposals that address a specific translational barrier and have a high probability of external federal funding if the barrier is addressed are most likely to receive funding.

• Voucher Award Amount: Up to $2,500
• Submission Deadline: Voucher applications are accepted on a rolling basis

Details about the Voucher Award program — including funding priorities, eligibility criteria, program expectations, and allowable expenses — are available on the NUCATS website. Funding decisions are typically communicated to applicants within five business days.

The Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities (ARCC)/Northwestern University Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS), in partnership with Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) announces the recipients of our 1st cycle of 2023 seed grants that support the development and capacity of community-driven partnerships to improve health equity.  

Requests for Applications for all 3 types of ARCC Seed Grants are now open!

Community Research Capacity-Building Grants ($2500, 6 months) and Partnership Development Seed Grants ($5,000, 12 months) Cycle 2

Research Pilot Seed Grants (Up to $27,500, 24 months)