Marches and April

The end of the academic year is approaching, and with it, commencement and the start of the summer. We celebrate the accomplishments of our students and look forward to some extra time to spend with our research groups and to attend scientific conferences. There has been plenty of activity in just the last month as the awards, research discoveries, and grants in this month’s newsletter document. There has also been an outpouring of support for science nationally and here in Nashville with the March for Science. There was a great turnout at Legislative Plaza, and the rain held off long enough for everyone to hear passionate and inspiring speeches, then to walk the route of the March. Kathy Edwards and Mark Boothby from the School of Medicine spoke eloquently of the importance of science in our daily lives and the breakthroughs in medicine that have dramatically extended our lifespan and improved our quality of life.

President Trump’s proposed reductions in federal funding for research catalyzed the March for Science and mobilized scientists of all political persuasions to stand up and speak out. Not only are such cuts puzzling given the importance of science as a driver of societal evolution but also because of the administration’s laser focus on growing the economy. The entire biotechnology sector was created in the 1980’s from biomedical researchers using techniques that led to the revolution in molecular biology, and many studies demonstrate a strong return on dollars invested by the National Institutes of Health.

There is great concern over the administration’s budget proposals, but it is important to remember that the President does not determine the budget. Congress sets the budget, and there is strong bipartisan support in both houses of Congress for NIH and the research it sponsors. An indication of that support is evident in the $2 billion increase in NIH funding that was included in the FY 2017 budget formulated by the House and Senate. Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have outstanding legislative offices headed by Christina West and Alex Currie, respectively. They are working diligently with our congressional delegation and with organizations such as United for Medical Research to ensure that the impact of research and education is appreciated throughout the halls of Congress. Christina publishes an excellent newsletter on these activities called DCBRIEF and you can sign up for it as described in the box on the right of this issue of Basically Speaking.

April 30 marked the one-year anniversary of the VU-VUMC reorganization. It has been quite a year, occasionally rocky, but never dull. There are new programs, new processes, and new problems. We are very fortunate to have an extraordinary group of professionals in our administrative offices who have worked their tails off to get grants submitted, students, postdocs, and technicians appointed, and budgets reconciled. April 26 was national Administrative Professionals Day, and I can’t think of a better week for this day of recognition to fall within given everything our administrative professionals have done for us since the reorganization. Please take time to tell them thanks.

One lesson we’ve learned in the reorganization is that it is impossible to over-communicate. This has led to the creation of Basically Speaking, which celebrates accomplishments and highlights opportunities across the Basic Science community of the School of Medicine. We have also enhanced the Basic Sciences website with lots of useful information. The need for communication also led to the creation of Weekly Research Update from the VUMC Office of Research – a great compilation of seminars, funding opportunities, etc., that all of us should be aware of. If you aren’t on the mailing list and would like to be added, just go to the Office of Research website and sign up.

In closing, I want to return to NIH funding. The Blue Ridge Institute recently released updated information on the national rankings of departments and institutions for research support from the NIH. Vanderbilt School of Medicine moved up two slots to 8th, and our departments of Biochemistry, Cell & Developmental Biology, Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, and Pharmacology ranked 3rd, 1st, 3rd, and 6th, respectively. This is the highest ranking ever for the School of Medicine, and the rankings for our basic science departments remain near the top of their peer departments nationally. These rankings underscore the robustness of our research portfolio and its promise for discovery and translation.

Congratulations and Kudos!

Lorena Infante Lara Named Spanish Language Fellow

Lorena Infante Lara (Biochemistry), a fourth year graduate student in Neil Osheroff’s lab has been named a Spanish Language Fellow in the AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellows Program. Fellows in the program are assigned to media sites across the U.S. where they work during the summer to research, write, and report science to the general public. Lorena’s assignment will be with Univisión Salud (Health) in Miami, FL, where she will communicate primarily with Latino audiences from June through August of this year.

Billy Hudson Receives Carl Brändén Award 

Billy Hudson (VICB) has received The Carl Brändén Award from the Protein Society for his work to develop and foster the Aspirnaut K-20 STEM Pipeline for Diversity Program. The Award honors an outstanding protein scientist who has made exceptional contributions to education and or service to the field. Read more

Art Dalley Honored With Award by Students

Art Dalley (Cell & Developmental Biology) has been honored by his students with the 2017 Shovel Award, presented by the graduating class to the faculty member who has most impacted their lives over the past four years.

Jennifer Pietenpol Appointed Chief Scientific Advisor

Jennifer Pietenpol has recently been appointed to the position of Chief Scientific Advisor for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research. She will share this responsibility with George Sledge, Jr., M.D. of Stanford University Medical Center. Read more

Vanderbilt School of Medicine Improves Rankings

The Vanderbilt University School of Medicine has moved up two spots to eighth in NIH research funding. Read more

Career Stories

Vanderbilt is one of only ten institutions nationwide to have received a Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) award from the NIH. Through this funding, the Biomedical Research Education and Training (BRET) Office created its ASPIRE (Augmenting Scholar Preparation and Integration with Research-Related Endeavors) career development program. Since its inception in 2013, ASPIRE has touched the lives of numerous graduate students and postdocs as they pursued a wide range of career goals. To highlight the successes of these students and postdocs, Basically Speaking will be sharing their stories. Our second career story features Kim Riley, whose desire to have her “boots-on-the-ground” placed her in a central role managing a clinical research program. Read more

New Discoveries

Resolving DNA Cross-Links

Brandt Eichman and his lab report on the structure of a novel DNA glycosylase that can repair DNA cross-links. Read more

Evolution of Multicellular Organisms

Research from Billy Hudson and his lab traces the evolutionary underpinnings of the basement membrane, a key to the development of complex multicellular organisms. Read more

A Fresh Look at an Important Anti-Fungal Target

Work from Galina Lepesheva outlines important properties of the C. albicans CYP51, a primary target of anti-fungal agents. Read more

New Insights into Longevity

New Research from Susan Wente and her lab reveals an interesting link between tRNA levels and replicative lifespan in yeast. Read more

Infection Response-Resistance Disconnect

A new report from Edward Sherwood and his laboratory reveals a disconnect between the magnitude of the cytokine response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide and resistance to infection. Read more

New Funding

Terunaga Nakagaw (Molecular Physiology & Biophysics) is one of 40 investigators from 10 countries to receive a grant from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation in support of his efforts to understand the molecular basis of autism Read more

Seva Gurevich (Pharmacology) has received a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award from the NIH/NIGMS to support his project entitled “Targeting Engineering of Designer Arresistins to Regulate Cell Signaling.”

Craig Lindsley (Pharmacology), Jeff Conn (Pharmacology), and their colleagues at the VCNDD have just reached an agreement with Ono Pharmaceuticals to extend and expand their on-going ion channel discovery collaboration until 2020.

Ethan Lee (Cell & Developmental Biology) has been awarded funding from the NIH/NIGMS for his project entitled “Mechanisms of Wnt Signal Transduction”.

Dylan Burnett has obtained funding through the American Heart Association for his project “Mechanisms of Sarcomere Assembly in Healthy and Diseased Heart Muscle Cells”.

Funding Opportunities

Pew Biomedical Scholars Award Program

Vanderbilt University may submit 1 nominee for the 2018 Pew Biomedical Scholars Award, which provides $240,000 over four years to young investigators of outstanding promise who are conducting research to advance human health. The deadline for the internal competition is May 26^th. Read more

William T. Grant Foundation Scholars Program

Vanderbilt University may submit 1 nominee per major school or division for this award that provides $350,000 distributed over 5 years to support early career development of researchers focusing on programs that reduce inequality in youth outcomes or improve the use of research evidence in ways to benefit youth. The deadline for the internal competition is May 25^th. Read more

NIH Director’s Award Programs

Requests for applications for the following programs have now been issued by the NIH:

Pioneer Award Program (DP1) – Application Deadline September 1, 2017 (RFA-RM-17-005)

New Innovator Award Program (DP2) – Application Deadline September 8, 2017 (RFA-RM-17-006)

Transformative Research Awards Program (R01) – Application Deadline September 15, 2017 (RFA-RM-17-007)

Early Independence Awards Program (DP5) – Application Deadline September 22, 2017 (RFA-RM-17-008)

Vanderbilt Bridge Funding

Applications for the next round of Bridge Funding should be submitted no later than May 15. Primary Basic Sciences faculty are encouraged to take advantage of this excellent mechanism to help them maintain momentum on a project during temporary funding lapses or to reorient projects in need of a new alignment. Read more

NIH Guide E-Mail List

If you have not already done so, you are encouraged to subscribe to the NIH Guide email list. The weekly NIH Guide provides a wealth of information on NIH grant programs, including RFAs for special one-time grant programs.  To subscribe, follow the instructions at the following web site: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/listserv.htm