2018 Stata Conference

July 19 – 20, 2018

Hyatt Regency Columbus

350 N High St., Columbus, OH 43215

Experience what happens when new and long-time Stata users from across all disciplines gather to discuss real-world applications of Stata. The 2018 Stata Conference provides an unparalleled opportunity for you to collaborate with Stata developers and connect with the inventive and creative user community. Don’t miss this great networking and learning opportunity. Learn more.

Leveraging Data within the Federal Interagency Traumatic Brain Injury Research (FITBIR) Informatics System to Identify Actionable Insights for the Diagnosis, Management and Treatment of TBI

The Department of Defense Joint Program-6 (JPC-6), Combat Casualty Care Research Program (CCCRP) has recently released an RFI for the secondary analysis of data housed within FITBIR. We are inviting responses to this RFI in an effort to leverage data within FITBIR to identify actionable insights for the diagnosis, management and treatment of TBI.

Respondents should submit a Capabilities Statement that demonstrates the Offeror’s ability to perform the scope of work identified in accordance with the RFI, including but not limited to:

• A plan for utilizing the data within the repository including a description of:

o   Specific studies that will be analyzed

o   Forms (including CDEs and UDEs) that will be analyzed

• A brief description of the multidisciplinary team that may be well-suited to accomplish the task (e.g., data scientists, neurologists, neuroscientists etc.)

• A detailed timeline for the completion of FITBIR data analysis/mining

• An anticipated budget that details the amount of funds needed to successfully complete the task

Additional details can be found at:

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=cb6becbd255b00a23696caa556b1cfc8&tab=core&_cview=0

Primary Point of Contact:

Deanna Moose,

Contract Specialist

deanna.s.moose.civ@mail.mil

Phone: 3016192025

Secondary Point of Contact:

Randy O. Barry JR.,

Contracting Officer

randy.o.barry2.civ@mail.mil

Phone: 3016193345

NIA Future research directions

(Note: Alzheimer’s and related dementias are of particular interest – SS)

As you may know, the National Advisory Council on Aging met here in Bethesda on May 22–23. Among its many actions, Council reviewed and approved 12 new concepts for NIA Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs). Although these are still in the concept phase, it’s likely—but by no means certain—that they will appear as FOAs in the NIH Guide before the end of the year. Approved concepts in this round:

• A Census of Cells and Circuits in the Aging Brain
• Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium
• Building an Infrastructure to Synergize Research for Improved Care of Older Adults across Specialties and Disciplines
• Development and Maintenance of an Aged Rodent Tissue Bank (Contract Renewal)
• Exploring Molecular Links Between Dietary Interventions and Circadian Rhythm
• Integrative Research to Understand the Role of the Gut-Brain Axis and the Microbiome in Brain Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease
• Involvement of Small Business Concerns in the Preclinical Development of Novel Therapeutics which Target Fundamental Mechanisms of Aging
• Low-Cost Detection of Cognitive Decline in Clinical Settings
• Marmosets as a Translational Model for Aging Research
• Microbiome and Aging: Impact on Health and Disease
• Network for Identification, Evaluation and Tracking of Older Persons with Superior Cognitive Performance for Their Chronological Age
• Small Business Innovation Research Early-Phase Clinical Trials of Novel Interventions to Prevent, Delay, or Treat Aging-Related Conditions by Targeting Aging-Related Mechanisms (Clinical Trial Required)

You can find brief summaries of the approved concepts on our website, along with contact information for the NIA program staff involved with each. The award mechanism or the funds allocated for a particular concept are not mentioned. Program staff cannot provide this information until the concept officially becomes an FOA. Award mechanisms and funding limits are determined when the FOAs are developed for publication in the NIH Guide.

If you’re currently working in one of the fields described in these concepts, we suggest that you start thinking about how you would respond to a Program Announcement or Request for Applications on your topic. Do you have the facilities and people available to investigate this topic? If not, can you get them if needed? Without committing a detailed plan to paper, you can brainstorm with your colleagues about how you would approach the topic.

Be sure to keep an eye on the NIH Guide to search for new FOAs, or take a look at this list of NIA funding opportunities. You can also sign up to receive a monthly list of all newly released NIA FOAs. Enter your e-mail address in the box at the bottom of the NIA home page. Click “Submit” and check “NIA Funding Opportunities.”

We appreciate your feedback, so please let us know if this is helpful to you by contacting us or commenting below.

Budget Funding Opportunities Funding Policy Pay Lines

2018 pay lines

The newly posted NIA pay lines look a lot like last year’s pay lines. Happily, we are paying most applications to the 19th percentile again this year and those with a focus on Alzheimer’s or its related dementias to the 28th percentile. We subtract three points for large applications ($500K or over). New Investigator R01s (22 percent) and Early-Stage Investigator R01s (25 percent) receive an extra boost. Those with an Alzheimer’s focus see a similar boost (New Investigator R01s to the 28th percentile and Early-Stage Investigator R01s to the 30th percentile).

We very much appreciate the generous increases provided through the Appropriations Act this year that made possible these expanded funding lines.

The pay line for NIA-reviewed and training-related applications are also shown in the funding policy page. Both the career award and fellowship funding lines have tightened a little this year compared to last. We are not being stingier here! We have increased support for both lines. The problem—if it can be called a problem—is that we are receiving an increasing number of outstanding applications. In fact, we paid more career awards going to a score of 20 this year than we paid last year going to a score of 22. The same thing happened in the Alzheimer’s line where we paid to 28 this year but to 36 last year.

Overall, our greatest growth in applications is coming from students and junior faculty. That is a wonderful indicator of hope for the future of aging research and for progress against Alzheimer’s disease. We are glad to sacrifice a point or two in the funding line to achieve that kind of growth any day!