In this week’s issue:
Announcement:
- Please see attached Email from the Office of the Vice-President Research & International regarding External Award Deadlines
- Please see Dr. Graydon Meneilly’s note congratulating Professor Dawn E. DeWitt’s advancement to Mastership by the American College of Physicians at http://www.medicine.ubc.ca/news/dewittacpmaster/.
Funding Opportunities:
- Mitacs – Evaluate: Strategic Fellowships
- Cystic Fibrosis Foundation – Clinical Research Awards LOI
- W. Garfield Weston Foundation – Rapid Response: Neurodegenerative Disease of Aging (reminder)
- ALS Therapy Alliance – ALS Research Projects
- Mitacs – Accelerate
Awards and Honours:
- Gruber Foundation – 2014 Peter and Patricia Gruber International Research Award in Neuroscience
- Confederation of University Faculty Associations of BC – Distinguished Academics Awards
Events:
- Centre for Blood Research Seminar Series – Resurgence of whooping cough? Immune modulation by bordetella pertussis surface structures
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES:
Mitacs – Evaluate: Strategic Fellowships
Deadline: November 18, 2013
The details for this opportunity are as follows:
- For this call only we have Strategic Fellowships: matching funds from the department (25K) may be used for the first year, matched to Mitacs funds. A company partner will be obtained in the first year for matching to Mitacs funds the second year.
- Ineligible for matching Mitacs – Federal monies, Tri-council funds, pretty much most other grants (there may be the odd exception), industry money already matched
- Eligible for matching Mitacs – university overhead monies, any unmatched industry money, foundation funds, donations, university operating funds (provincially sourced, not federal). These funds would be sent to Mitacs to match.
- Strategic fellowships allow a lower industrial funding commitment in the first year, provided that the host university is able to contribute the balance of the industrial contribution from eligible sources, which must be non-federal grants or contracts. Tri-Council funding is not an eligible source for the university contribution.
- Strategic fellowships require one year of combined university and industry contributions, followed by one year of industry-only contributions. Applicants approved for strategic applications receive $57,500 per year for two years for total award of $115,000, including the mandatory professional development workshops, with a $50,000 minimum stipend.
- Applicants for strategic fellowships must secure a minimum of $5,000 of industry funding and the balance of up to $20,000 of eligible university funding (from non-federal sources) in their first year. The ratio of industry to university funds must be clearly outlined in the budget section of the proposal.
- All applicants are required to secure $25,000 of industry funding in their second year. All funds, including the university contribution, must be forwarded to Mitacs prior to the release of the award.
If a company is already able to provide funds for two years, the details are:
- Mitacs Elevate is a two-year fellowship that supports the professional skills development of recent PhD graduates. With a suite of skills development workshops unique to Mitacs Elevate, fellows learn about communication, leadership & management and other critical business skills. These workshops complement fellows’ specialized expertise and ensure they are ready to lead large-scale research projects throughout their careers.
- During the fellowship, fellows apply these skills within a real-world industry environment as they work on a two-year research project with their partner organization and university faculty supervisor, typically spending half of the fellowship with each. Depending on the nature of the research, Mitacs may consider applications where fellows spend less than half of their time with the partner organization, to a minimum of 25% (e.g. the project requires specialized equipment that is only available at the university).
- In addition to their research project, fellows spend an average of two days per month participating in professional development activities. Throughout this time, they will also have multiple opportunities to connect with fellow PhD graduates in their cohort, as well as industry representatives, potential employers and workshop facilitators.
Please visit the Mitacs website for further details.
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation – Clinical Research Awards LOI
LOI Deadline: December 1, 2013
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc., the nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate of the CF Foundation, offers competitive awards to support clinical research projects directly related to cystic fibrosis treatment and care.
The awards program supports projects that address diagnostic or therapeutic methods related to CF or the pathophysiology of CF. Applicants must demonstrate access to a sufficient number of CF patients from CF Foundation-accredited care centers and to appropriate controls.
Up to $100,000 per year (plus 8 percent indirect costs) for a maximum of three years may be requested for single-center clinical research grants. For multicenter clinical research, the potential award is up to $225,000 per year (plus 8 percent indirect costs) for a maximum of three years. For trials exceeding these limitations, please contact Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics before submission.
Letters of Intent must be received no later than December 1, 2013. Upon review, selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals due March 5, 2014.
For complete program guidelines and application procedures, see the CFF Foundation Web site.
W. Garfield Weston Foundation – Rapid Response: Neurodegenerative Disease of Aging
LOI Deadline: January 7, 2014
The W. Garfield Weston Foundation is launching their Rapid Response: Neurodegenerative Diseases of Aging grant program for Canadian researchers and accepting applications starting November 18, 2013.
- The goal of the program is to provide support to novel, high-risk, high-reward translational research that will accelerate the development of therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases of aging.
- The Foundation will commit up to $150,000 per project over 12 to 18 months, up to a maximum of $4.5 million in total for all projects.
- The program is open to researchers at or above the level of postdoctoral fellow or equivalent from registered charitable institutions in Canada.
Application requires a short Letter of Intent due by Tuesday, January 7, 2014, 11 a.m. ET through the Weston Foundation’s online application system. The system will open to accept applications starting Monday, November 18, 2013. Applicants with high potential projects will be invited to submit a proposal early next year.
Learn more at http://www.westonfoundation.org/Pages/neurorapid.aspx or contact info@westonneuroscience.ca or 416-935-4056.
ALS Therapy Alliance – ALS Research Projects
Deadline: March 15, 2014
The ALS Therapy Alliance was established in 2000 to facilitate ALS research projects and collaborations among a diverse group of scientists and clinicians at multiple institutions.
Today, ATA partners with corporations, biotech and pharmaceutical firms, manufacturers, and the media to create awareness and raise funds for ALS research through its annual Breakthrough ALS campaign. To date, more than $30 million has been raised to fund research for finding a cure for this devastating disease.
ATA is accepting applications from investigators for ALS research projects. Grants ranging from $100,000 to $1 million over one to three years will be awarded to projects — including but not limited to basic, clinical, and translational research and clinical trials — related to a better understanding of or treatments for ALS.
National and international nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies are eligible to apply.
See the ALS Therapy Alliance web site for eligibility and application guidelines.
Deadline: Applications accepted at any time
Through Mitacs-Accelerate, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from over 50 universities apply their specialized expertise to business-related research challenges. Armed with the very latest tools, techniques, and innovations, the intern (a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow) brings a new perspective to the problem faced by the industry partner.
- Interns spend approximately half of the time on-site with the industry partner; the remainder is spent at the university advancing the research under the guidance of a faculty supervisor.
- Open to all disciplines and all industry sectors, projects can span a wide range of areas, including: manufacturing, technical innovation, business processes, IT, social sciences, design, and more.
For further information, please visit http://www.mitacs.ca/accelerate/program-guide.
AWARDS AND HONOURS:
Gruber Foundation – 2014 Peter and Patricia Gruber International Research Award in Neuroscience
Nomination Deadline: December 15, 2013
The Gruber Foundation is seeking nominations for the 2014 Peter and Patricia Gruber International Research Award in Neuroscience, which honors scientists for major discoveries that have advanced the understanding of the nervous system.
Established in 2004, the Neuroscience Prize provides an unrestricted cash award of $500,000, a gold medal inscribed with the recipient’s name, and a citation describing the achievement for which the recipient is being honored.
Nominations for the Neuroscience Prize are invited annually and may be submitted by individuals, organizations, and institutions that are active in or have an appreciation for contemporary neuroscience research and study.
Individuals from anywhere in the world who have conducted highly distinguished research in the field of the brain, spinal cord, or peripheral nervous system can be nominated.
For complete program guidelines and nomination instructions, see the Gruber Foundation Web site.
Confederation of University Faculty Associations of BC – Distinguished Academics Awards
Nomination Deadline: February 3, 2014
The CUFA BC Distinguished Academics Awards are the brainchild of former CUFA BC President Ehor Boyanowsky (1994-95), who wanted to create a means to demonstrate to the public the importance of the research and scholarly activity carried out by public university professors. As a result, in 1995 CUFA BC Council established the Academic of the Year Award to recognise a faculty member at a BC university who had distinguished themselves through their academic research or scholarly activity.
In 1998, CUFA BC Council adopted the proposal from President Jim Gaskell (1998-2000) to refine the awards by focussing on university research and scholarly activity that contributed to the non-academic community. Council also decided to add the Career Achievement Award to recognise sustained contributions over the course of a career to the non-academic community through research and scholarly activity. The Career Achievement Award was first awarded in 1999, at which point the two awards became known collectively as the CUFA BC Distinguished Academics Awards.
In 2009, CUFA BC council added a new award to the Distinguished Academics Awards roster in order to recognize the contributions to the non-academic community made by faculty members who are at an early point in their careers. Established with financial assistance from Scotiabank, the Early in Career Award recognizes outstanding contributions made by scholars at relatively early stages in their careers and was first awarded in 2010.
More information about the awards can be found at http://www.cufa.bc.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=225&Itemid=32. The award nomination form can be found at http://www.cufa.bc.ca/award/DAA_Application_2014.pdf.
EVENTS:
Centre for Blood Research Seminar Series – Resurgence of whooping cough? Immune modulation by bordetella pertussis surface structures
Date: November 6th, 2013, 12-1pm
Location: LSC 3, Life Sciences Centre, 2350 Health Sciences Mall
Speaker: Dr. Rachel Fernandez; Associate Professor, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Science, UBC
Pertussis remains an important disease with annual worldwide estimates conservatively approaching 16 million cases and 200,000 deaths. Although most cases of pertussis are prevented by vaccination, neither vaccination, nor natural infection generates life-long immunity. Furthermore, it has recently been discovered that the duration of immunity derived from vaccination with the acellular pertussis vaccines (introduced ~15 years ago) is much shorter than expected, creating a looming public health concern and underscoring the need for new vaccines or approaches. Surprisingly, there are many gaps in our knowledge regarding B. pertussis pathogenesis and the mechanisms that limit the generation of long-term immunity.
Our research focuses on the ability of B. pertussis to dampen the effects of the complement system and to modify the lipid A portion of its lipopolysaccharide to modulate immune responses. We are currently dissecting the mechanisms that account for the different responses to minor variations in B. pertussis lipid A both in human and mouse cells and in so doing, are addressing how human TLR4-MD-2 (the lipid A receptor) recognizes B. pertussis lipid A. Indeed, variation in lipid A has significant consequences for TLR4 activation and we propose that host-specific immunity to a particular Gram-negative bacterial pathogen is, at least in part, mediated by very subtle tuning of one the earliest interactions at the host-pathogen interface.