SPONSORED PROJECTS

Research Newsletter 2005
March's News

This electronic newsletter is distributed to faculty, postdoctoral researchers and staff who are interested in current research news and funding opportunities. Information is compiled by Rosemary Alexander (rosemary.alexander@case.edu) and Todd Packer. (todd.packer@case.edu). Editor: Rosemary Alexander

Sponsored Projects News

Case News

Research ShowCASE 2005 Begins Wednesday, April 6th!

***PLEASE NOTE! Online registration closes at 5 pm Tuesday, April 5th, but you can still come and register onsite at the "Open Registration Table".*** Some sessions are filled, but most are still available. Register online to guarantee a spot! Posters are viewable any time from 8:15 am - 2:30 pm, Thursday.

"The expanded scope of this year's Research ShowCASE has encouraged many new participants from programs that have previously not submitted presentations," indicated Eric Cottington, Associate VP for Research. "We are excited about the opportunity this offers for a more diverse and multidisciplinary environment for researchers to network."

Attendance at this year’s event is expected to exceed 1,700. A broad spectrum of events includes posters and booth presentations, live demonstrations as well as symposia, workshops, panel discussions and sessions. In addition, there will be a series of brief live demonstrations on a stage, including presentations by the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Center that will feature individuals with medical implants demonstrating their increased mobility. There will also be researchers representing the variety and scope of the Case community, including law, the humanities, engineering, social sciences, management, the arts, social work and medicine.

The range of topics incorporates nearly every department at Case and its collaborating institutions including University Hospitals of Cleveland, the MetroHealth System, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

This year's expanded Research ShowCASE includes two symposia on April 6th: Stem Cell Therapies: Tissue Engineering Translational Research (April 6th, 2 – 6 pm) and Technology Transfer for Women in Science (April 6th, 3 – 6 pm). On April 7th, a variety of topics will be addressed through diverse interactive panels and workshops. We are pleased to announce this year’s keynote speaker, Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock. Mr. Toffler has wide ranging public appeal as a world-renowned researcher and futurist. His address will take place at 3:00 PM on April 7, 2005, in Strosacker Auditorium.

For a complete schedule of events as well as a listing of presenters, please visit the Research ShowCASE 2005 website at:

http://showcase.case.edu

SOURCE Invites Researchers to Attend April 14th Undergraduate Symposium
The SOURCE (Support of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors) office invites the Case community to attend the 1st Annual Undergraduate Symposium and Poster Session on Thursday, April 14th, 2005, from noon until 4:00 PM, in the Thwing Center. The event will feature research and creative projects by undergraduate students, including Senior Capstone students. For more information, please visit:
http://www.case.edu/provost/source/symposium/

SOURCE Seeks To Hear From Case Researchers About Past Experiences and Future Opportunities
Dr. Sheila Pedigo, Director of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors, is interested to hear from Case researchers about their experiences working with undergraduate students. Dr. Pedigo is also seeking opportunities for undergraduates to assist with research projects either during the school year or over the summer. If you have some feedback to provide to Dr. Pedigo, or have an interest to have undergraduates involved in your research, please contact her at the SOURCE office at 216-368-8508 or via email at sheila.pedigo@case.edu

Important Reminder! Do Not Use P-Card On Accounts With Federal Small Business Subcontracting Plans
All federal contracts of $500,000 or more include federal small business subcontracting plans. Please remember and please educate your staff NOT to use the P-card for purchases under these accounts because all purchases on the P-card will be tracked in the Purchasing database as large business purchases even if you actually purchased the goods or services from a small business. Researchers MUST order online (but not via Fisher, which is a large business) and note especially in the comment box that "small business is required".

Please remember that it is essential to meet your goals under ALL of the small business categories in the your small business subcontracting plan because there are financial penalties for not doing so, as well as penalties for Case as an institution with regard to future funding decisions by the federal agencies. If you have any questions, please call or email Rosemary Alexander in OSPA at 368-2008 or rosemary.alexander@case.edu. If you can't remember whether or not you have one of these plans and have an federal award of $500,000 that is awarded as a contract (not a grant), you do.

OSPA Announces Significant Changes to the Consulting Agreement Template
The Case Office of Sponsored Projects Administration (OSPA) has posted on its website a new template for consulting agreements for businesses. This version contains significant changes from the old version. The independent contractor agreement template for individuals will be changed shortly as well. All new contracts must use the new template. Please do NOT save these templates on your computer hard drives. Always download templates from the web to assure that you have the latest version. Changes to templates are not always announced, so downloading them directly from the web will assure your receiving the "latest, greatest" version. Using an old template will only slow the review process and potentially harm negotiations. Please read the instructions regarding these contracts posted on the OSPA website under Forms. Following these will also greatly facilitate the process and shorten review time.

Important Purchasing News Below
Go to the Purchasing Section below to read about Ardiem Medical, a new vendor recently added to the Case vendor database. Ardiem offers expertise in electro-mechanical and electro-optical device development and turnkey assembly.

Also Purchasing is offering updates/training on the Fisher On-Line Ordering system. The schedule is also under Purchasing below.

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Case Spotlight

Melissa Knothe Tate, Ph.D., Associate Professor Biomedical and Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

One may contend that the value of research, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder. However, unlike beauty, the beholder of research is society and its value lies in discoveries that are deposited into society’s “collective brain trust”. As a societal repository, this brain trust knows neither national, cultural nor class boundaries – indeed the greatest advances or biggest deposits in the trust are made when boundaries are broken down for collective discovery. Case School of Engineering promotes the paradigm that teamwork is a great asset in fostering such discovery, recently appointing Melissa Knothe Tate, Ph.D. as joint Associate Professor of Biomedical and Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. Further, Professor Melissa Knothe Tate’s research team exemplifies the principle of breaking down boundaries for collective discovery.

As a mechanical engineer, biologist and biomedical engineer, Dr. Knothe Tate notes that the “ultra-subspecialization” in engineering and biomedical science has begun to yield to the establishment of a common scientific culture that promotes understanding of universal or similar mechanisms and survival strategies shared by diverse cells, tissues, organs and organisms. Her favorite example of this is her research team’s multilateral approach to bridge the fundamental gap in understanding physiology “between cells/tissues in the Petri dish and the human organism”; by combining fundamental engineering and biological approaches in innovative experimental models, they hope to unravel the cellular underpinnings of disease and to engineer replacements for tissue destroyed by trauma or disease processes. Dr. Knothe Tate and her research team have developed cutting edge cellular imaging techniques that provide a means to peer into the world of bone cells in the living organism. At the other end of the technological spectrum, Dr. Knothe Tate and her team have applied techniques from stochastic, poroelastic and computational modeling to build in silico, virtual models for simulation of physiological phenomena that are difficult if not impossible to visualize or observe in situ. By approaching an unanswered problem from distinct vantage points, Dr. Knothe Tate’s “MechBio team” (they like to turn around the traditional nomer for biomechanics in order to emphasize the role of the mechanics in the biology) may provide the means to bridge this gap in understanding “between cellular physiology in the Petri dish and in the human organism”.

Dr. Knothe Tate has entered a major new phase in her research program in moving to Case. Closing the gap in understanding of cell physiology in real tissues within living organisms may provide a basis for new prophylactic and treatment strategies, e.g. to promote musculoskeletal health, to manage musculoskeletal disease, and to engineer fully functional musculoskeletal replacement tissues. For her, Dr. Knothe Tate notes, “the value of research multiplies when one breaks down the barriers to discovery; there is the value of the discovery per se, the path it provides to improve the quality of life, and the platform it builds to strengthen the fabric of society by embracing education as a continuum without national, cultural, or class boundaries. Each of those facets is important and I try to cultivate them all in my research program.”

To learn more about Dr. Knothe Tate's research and the MechBio team, please visit:
http://bme.case.edu/mechbio/personnel/

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Federal News

Policy

NIH Ban on Consulting by NIH Researchers
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director, Elias A. Zerhouni, formally announced a ban on all consulting by NIH researchers for pharmaceutical, medical, or biotechnology companies and any research institute receiving NIH funding. The limitations placed on NIH researchers extends to their stock investments in drug and biotech companies, setting the limit at $15,000 as well as limiting honorariums and prizes to $200.

NY Times article
CBS News article

Redo of NIH Peer Review Process
Jeffrey Brainard reported in the March 18, 2005 Chronicle of Higher Education that NIH had completed "an eight-year effort to overhaul the peer-review committees that evaluate applications for research grants, the first such systematic retooling ever." While this reorganization was applauded by Bruce Alberts, President of the National Academy of Sciences and chair of the advisory committee to NIH regarding the reorganization, critics labeled it "a bureaucratic reshuffling" that merely makes the still existing problems less obvious.

Mr. Brainard reported, "The reorganization focused on 74 peer-review committees that had been organized in 13 clusters, each sharing a common theme. The re-engineering exercise was meant to examine and shake up the boundaries of the clusters and study sections. It left in place an additional 55 standing committees grouped in seven clusters that were created in an earlier reshuffling of review panels in the late 1990s to cover research on AIDS, the neurosciences, and behavioral and social research."

Reception of this reorganization has been mixed. An NIH survey of neuroscience grant applicants found that only 32 percent were more satisfied with the review process since the reorganization. Thirty-five percent felt no change in their level of satisfaction and 34 percent felt less satisfied. However, these levels of satisfaction were higher than those reported in a 1997 survey. The NIH will not review the other sections until 2008.

Mr. Brainard's complete article may be read at www.unh.edu/osr/news/a_makeover_for_the_nihs_peer-review_process.htm

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NIH

Updated Instructions to the PHS 398 (DHHS Public Health Service Grant Applications) Now Available
NIH Notice NOT-OD-05-039

Updated instructions to the PHS398 Application are now available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm. Since the November 2004 release of the new version, the instructions have been updated to reflect changes in policy and/or to provide better clarity. Not all updates are published in the Guide; however, all are noted on the web site. Applicants are reminded to periodically check this web site for the latest version. Notable changes in the instructions are marked in purple. Click here to read the announcement.

NIMH Withdraws from the Senior Scientist (K05) Career Program
NIH Notice NOT-MH-05-005

Effective May 2, 2005, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) will no longer participate in the Senior Scientist Award (K05) program announcement PA-00-021, which was released in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts on December 2, 1999 (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-00-021.html).

The NIMH will no longer accept new applications, unless they are revisions of applications received before May 2, 2005. Per NIH policy, each applicant can revise a K05 application two times after submission of the original application.

NIBIB Withdraws from the Independent Scientist Development Award (K02) Program
NIH Notice NOT-EB-05-004

Effective May 2, 2005, the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) will no longer participate in the K02 Independent Scientist Development Award program announcement PA-00-020, which was released in the NIH guide for grants and contracts on December 2, 1999 at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-00-020.html.

The NIBIB will no longer accept new or competing continuation applications. Applicants with previously unfunded K02 applications from the NIBIB may submit amended (revised) applications. Per NIH policy, each applicant can revise a K02 application two times after submission of the original application.

How to Write an Application Involving Research Animals
www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/clinical/researchanimals/tutorial/index.htm

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has posted a tutorial that explains procedures for writing an application and then applying for and maintaining an NIH grant application for research that uses animals. Click here to read it.

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NSF

New NSF Plane, HIAPER, Flies Higher and Farther on Environment Studies
Press Release 05-033

A new aircraft with exceptional research capabilities is scheduled to arrive at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Co lorado, this Friday. Known as HIAPER (High-performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research), the $81.5 million aircraft will serve the environmental research needs of the National Science Foundation, (NSF), NCAR's primary sponsor and owner of the aircraft, for the next several decades

HIAPER, which is scheduled to begin research missions later in 2005, will provide scientists with insights into the atmosphere and Earth’s natural systems. A modified Gulfstream V jet, the aircraft can fly at an altitude of 51,000 feet and has a range of 7,000 miles. It can carry 5,600 pounds of sensing equipment, putting it at the forefront of scientific discovery.

The entire environmental sciences community will have access to the aircraft, which will be based out of Jefferson County Airport in Colorado, in the fall. Read more at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=103092

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Miscellany

The mini-AIR invites you to enter the first and last annual BANANA PETIOLES MORPHOLOGY LIMERICK COMPETITION, for the best (NEWLY composed!) limerick that elucidates this research report, which was brought to their attention by investigator Nancy Sloat:

"The Functional Morphology of the Petioles of the Banana, Musa textiles," A.R. Ennos, H-Ch. Spatz and. T. Speck, Journal of Experimental Botany, vol. 51, no. 353, December 2000, pp. 2085-93.

RULES: Please make sure your rhymes actually do, and that your limerick at least pretends to adhere to classic limerick form.

PRIZE: The winning poet will receive a free, morphologically functional issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. Email entries (one entry per entrant) to: BANANA PETIOLES MORPHOLOGY LIMERICK CONTEST
at marca@chem2.harvard.edu

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Compliance News

Most of the interim rules stand as final. The most significant revisions imposed with the final rules include:

• Regulation of nucleic acids that can produce infectious forms of select agent viruses and the list of those people eligible to exercise control over unregulated or excluded amounts of toxins.
• Clarification of reporting requirements (both registered and unregistered entities must report)
• Secure storage of select agents further defined
• USDA (APHIS*) and HHS (CDC**) notification lists for overlap select agents and toxins are now combined.
• Clarification of who would be deemed to own or control an entity, and therefore require a security risk assessment
• Provision regarding named Responsible Official when an entity loses a Responsible Official and no alternate is available.
• Removal of required notification of destruction for the purpose of discontinuing use of a select agent or toxin
• Added provision covering revocation, denial, or suspension of registration if deemed in the best interest of public health
• New provision to clarify actions required of an entity whose registration was suspended or revoked
• Clarification of the phrase "an individual will be deemed to have access at any point in time if the individual has possession of a select agent or toxin (e.g. ability to carry, use, or manipulate) or the ability to gain possession of a select agent or toxin"
• New provision that an individual's access will be denied if it is in the best interest of public health
• New provision requiring the entity to notify CDC when an individual's access is terminated and the reasons
• Clarification of language regarding the annual inspection by the Responsible Official
• New requirement mandating security drills or exercises at least annually
• Removal of provision allowing the Responsible Official to certify that an individual has the required knowledge, skills, and abilities
• New provision allowing transfer, valid for 30 days after issuance, with some exceptions
• Requirement for notification of when a select agent or toxin is consumed or destroyed after a transfer is removed
• Deletion of the exit record keeping provision because all other requirements were deemed sufficient
• Use of a single form number for the identical USDS and CDC forms

*APHIS = Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, part of the USDA
**CDC = Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, part of HHS

More details:
COGR Memo-Final Select Agent Rules, Mar 18, 2005
COGR Memo-Select Agent Final Rule Summary, Mar 22, 2005 (pdf)
APHIS USDA Select Agent website
CDC HHS Select Agent website
Federal Register USDA Final Rule-7CFR331, 9CFR121(pdf)
Federal Register CDC Final Rule-42CFR72&73 (pdf)
Appendix A to 42CFR73
More links

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Research Seminar Series

The Office of Sponsored Projects Administration (OSPA) and the Office of Research Compliance (ORC) offer frequent seminars throughout the year. To view the Research Seminars schedule in full, click here. Below are the upcoming seminars. Many of the seminars require online registration. The announcement will specify. If you have never registered online for the Research Seminars, you must first click here to establish an account for this and future registrations. If you need assistance with the registration process, contact Maureen Dore-Arshenovitz at mxd4@case.edu. Registrations are not confirmed until one week before the event.

April Seminars
May Seminars

April Seminars

April 6th & 7th Research ShowCASE 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm, April 6th 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, April 7th Veal Convocation Center CREC Credits: N/A

View the Research ShowCASE Program.
Register Online.

April 20nd: Export Controls Laws and Sponsored Research
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Nord 310
CREC Credits: N/A

Federal laws restricting the export of goods and technology (including information) have been in existence since the 1940s. Attention to export controls has increased due to recent heightened concerns about national and homeland security. Export controls present unique challenges to universities because they require balancing concerns about national security and U.S. economic vitality with traditional concepts of unrestricted academic freedom and publication and dissemination of research findings and results. For example, to the extent that activities of universities involve shipping equipment abroad or teaching or training foreign students on campus or foreign colleagues abroad how to use technology, export control issues do arise. Dr. Eric Cottington, Associate Vice President for Research, will provide some basic information to help faculty, staff and students identify how and when export control issues may arise and how to ensure that there is an open transfer and sharing of information in and outside the U.S. with students, colleagues and others who are foreign nationals. Several case studies will be discussed. Parking will be validated for attendees who work outside the local campus.
Register online.

April 29th: Effort Reporting
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Nord 310
CREC Credits: N/A

The compensation and effort reporting practices of recipients of NIH awards are receiving increased national attention. This is a result of several high-profile, multi-million dollar settlements between major research universities and the NIH for alleged effort reporting problems and recent NIH statements clarifying the requirements for including clinical practice compensation as part of the institutional base salary. In light of this trend, Dr. Eric Cottington, Associate Vice President for Research, will present an overview of effort reporting requirements as they pertain to federally sponsored research and discuss Case's effort reporting system. Parking will be validated for attendees who work outside the local campus.
Register online.

May Seminar

1. a comparison of DHHS and FDA Regulations
2. why it is important to include children in research
3. what is the difference between assent, consent and parental permission
4. why research staff need to understand that children are not just “small adults."

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Tech Transfer News

Case Technology Transfer Office Seminar Series
The Case Technology Transfer Office sponsors a series of seminars throughout the year. To view the schedule and to register for these, click here.

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Purchasing News

Updates/Training Fisher On-Line Ordering
Once again Purchasing will be having training classes for the Fisher on-line ordering system. In addition, there are some new features which will be introduced.

Where: Clapp Hall, Room 108
When: April 21st from 11:30a.m. to 1:00p.m. or April 22nd from 1:00p.m. to 2:30p.m.

Please make sure that all of your department personnel are made aware of these sessions.
To register simply e-mail or call Linda Randa at lxr5@case.edu or 368-2595.
Seating is limited.

Vendor Spotlight: Ardiem Medical Inc.

Ardiem Medical Inc. is a small business vendor that is also HUBZone-certified. (HUBZone means Historical Underutilized Business Zone, one of the federal Small Business Administration classifications.) Finding a HUBZone-certified small business vendor that can meet some of our technical needs in a real bonus. Please take time to peruse their website to determine if they have something to offer your research program.

ISO-compliant and FDA-registered, Ardiem offers expertise in electro-mechanical and electro-optical device development and turnkey assembly. Ardiem's experience and capabilities also include fabricating implantable products in its modern Class 10,000 cleanroom. Ardiem's services extend from product concept through packaging and shipping for medical devices and other precise assemblies.

Contact info:
Nancy Saxman, VP for Business Development
1125 Wayne Ave.
P. O. Box 1306
Indiana, PA, USA
Telephone (724) 349-0855
Fax (724) 349-0857
www.ardiemmedical.com

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Research Equipment Resources

Equipment to Borrow or Lend?
Do you need some equipment but do not have the funds to purchase it? Do you have equipment you are not using and would be willing to lend to other researchers at CWRU? This spot in the newsletter will be devoted to those needs. Send notices of equipment you are willing to lend or need to borrow to Rosemary Alexander at rosemary.alexander@case.edu.

Needed! rat dual-arm stereotaxic instrument and a Mettler type drug scale [mg]
Christine Nocjar, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, needs a rat dual-arm stereotaxic instrument and a Mettler type drug scale [mg]. Please contact her at 440-526-3030, ext 939-6608, or cxn18@case.edu .

Equipment Broken or Working Poorly?
The Scientific Instrument Repair Center (SIRC), directed by William M. Frank, services a wide variety of research equipment from small bench top equipment to X-ray generators for any laboratory on campus at reduced cost. The SIRC also offers advice when purchasing new equipment and extended warranties. The Center is located on the CWRU campus in the School of Medicine in TB07. Contact Mr. Frank at 368-3225 or william.frank@case.edu for details about fees and services or go to http://mediswww.cwru.edu/sirc/.

If you need to borrow equipment while yours is being serviced, you are welcome to post a notice in this space. Email Rosemary Alexander with your notice.


Need Specialized Equipment Built?
The Design and Fabrication Center (DFC), located on campus in the School of Medicine in EG-1, is a fully equipped machine shop, and will custom build new equipment or modify existing equipment to meet your needs at reduced cost. The DFC can provide technical and engineering support service for any mechanical, electrical, and computerized application, for significantly less money. The DFC provides services not only to any CWRU lab, but also to University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, and CWRU-affiliated biomedical companies. Contact Mr. Torontali at 368-3461 or steven.torontali@case.edu. The DFC website, currently under construction, will be available at http://mediswww.cwru.edu/DFC/.

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Funding Opportunities

OSPA Funding News
The Office of Sponsored Projects Administration (OSPA) maintains a funding page at the this link (http://ora.ra.cwru.edu/OSPA/News/Funding_news.cfm). This list of funding announcements is not meant to be comprehensive. It changes at least monthly, sometimes daily. Announcements will be displayed on the website until the letter of intent due date or the application due date and will not be archived, so be sure to save any announcements to which you wish to refer in a future month. The list may include internal funding opportunities as they arise, as well as some less publicized and/or cross-discipline funding announcements sent to us by various routes. OSPA assumes that the reader is also making use of Community of Science (see below), to which the university subscribes, as well as the other resources listed in the links which follow these announcements. If you know of funding announcements that you think should be posted on this page, please contact Rosemary Alexander at rosemary.alexander@case.edu.

Community of Science (COS)
Case is a subscriber to Community of Science (COS), which makes it possible for you as faculty or research staff to make use of this excellent service. If you have not already set up your own profile in Community of Science and need help in doing so, please do not hesitate to call OSPA for guidance (368-4510). You may also contact the Case campus COS liaisons, Monica Bradley (368-4432 or monica.bradley@case.edu) or Narinder Dhaliwal (368-2001 or narinder.dhaliwal@case.edu) for help.

School of Medicine Funding Alerts
While many of you may already receive hard copies of the School of Medicine Funding Alert, the School of Medicine's quarterly newsletter listing funding opportunities and grant-writing tips, you may not be aware that the Funding Alert is also available, in its entirety, online in PDF format. A comprehensive list of RFP's available for the current period, may be viewed at http://mediswww.cwru.edu/researchoffice/index.html. At this URL, click on "Funding Opportunities". Then choose the current School of Medicine Funding Alert. Contact Narinder Dhaliwal in the School of Medicine at 368-2001 or narinder.dhaliwal@case.edu if you have questions.

Links to Sponsors
For an ever-growing list of links to many sources of funding announcements, both public and private, to aid your searches, click on the OSPA Links page.

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Conferences & Symposiums

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Re. Printing this newsletter:

If you wish to save this newsletter as a pdf file, you may do so on PCs via Adobe Acrobat (the full version), which is downloadable for free to faculty, staff, and students from the Case Software Center. In Adobe Acrobat, choose "Open Web Page" from the "File" menu, then insert the URL and click "Download". Adobe Acrobat may display an error message re. one gif file which may not load correctly. Just ignore this, it does not affect the appearance of the newsletter. Mac users using the Safari browser, may choose to print to pdf. Internet Explorer also will print to pdf, but truncates the right portion of the page in doing so.

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To unsubscribe:
If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, please contact Rosemary Alexander at rosemary.alexander@case.edu. If you are aware of individuals who are not currently on our mailing list and would like to receive the newsletter, please have them email Rosemary Alexander.