October 2024 Research Bulletin

Everyone from the research community is welcome to attend these upcoming events:

We’re excited to announce that Clinical Research Connections is evolving! Formerly a monthly resource forum, Connections is now a shortened, 30-minute forum to provide brief, timely updates on a quarterly basis. These will remain virtual via Zoom. Register here for our first quarterly session happening today, October 22, from 12:15-12:45 p.m. 

The Clinical Research Workforce Development Program invites you to register for the upcoming Round Table event on November 12 from 12-1 p.m. where we’ll share our new Clinical Research Onboarding training in Canvas. Round Tables are a quarterly series aiming to build community, create connection, and encourage collaboration and knowledge-sharing across campus units. Lunch will be provided.

Join the upcoming quarterly Clinical Research Recruitment Program Workshop “Clearer Communication, Healthier Outcomes: The Role of Plain Language in Research” on November 20 at 12 p.m. via Zoom. This session will highlight key principles for communicating in plain language, introduce tools to review research materials, and provide examples of plain language in a research setting. Learn more and register. 

Part of the CCTSI’s mission is to support high-quality clinical research through our Clinical Translational Research Centers (CTRCs). On November 6 , from 2-4 p.m., we will hold an open house in our adult outpatient CTRC on the 6th floor of the Anschutz Health Sciences Building. Whether you are a current user or new to CTRC, stop in for a tour, refreshments and some CCTSI swag! Register here. 

Every fall, the CCTSI and the Center for Bioethics and Humanities host the annual CCTSI Research Ethics Conference. This year, the conference will take place on November 7 from 12-3:45 p.m. Out of Site, Out of Mind? Ethics Issues in Decentralized Research will feature a keynote presentation from Barbara Emily Bierer, MD, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School. You may attend in person at the Fulginiti Pavilion or join via Zoom for the keynote and flash talks. 

At the CCTSI, we aim to increase trust in science by empowering researchers to communicate their work in a clear and compelling way. Communicating Your Science to the Public is central to this mission. This three-part workshop series provides an overview of why and how to engage the public. Each workshop is 1.5 hours, and includes hands-on training and practice. Registration is free and fills up quickly, so sign up for the December workshop series today.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released Notice NOT-OD-24-086, highlighting critical updates to grant application forms and instructions. A key change is the mandatory use of the new “FORMS-I” application packages for all submissions due on or after January 25, 2025. This update replaces the current “FORMS-H” packages and is essential for ensuring applications are considered for funding. The FORMS-I application packages will be available in infoEd in late November to December. Please note that any application created in calendar year 2024 will not be usable; a copy must be created that uses the new FORMS-I for routing and review.

It’s important for Principal Investigators to be aware of the FORMS-I change because the content requested is also changing:

• Recruitment Plan to Enhance Diversity: A new attachment field has been added to the PHS 398 Research Training Program Plan. This change aims to improve diversity in research training programs.
• Modifications to Fellowship Applications: The PHS Fellowship Supplemental Form has been updated to provide clearer guidance and to enhance the peer review process for NRSA Fellowship applications. 
• Application Guides and Resources: Detailed application guides for the new FORMS-I packages will be available by October 25, 2024, providing comprehensive instructions to help applicants navigate the updated forms and requirements.
• Mandatory Use of Common Forms: By May 2025, NIH will require the use of Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support. This standardization is intended to simplify the submission process and ensure consistency across applications. 

Principal Investigators should familiarize themselves with these changes and prepare to use the updated forms for submissions due on or after January 25, 2025. Staying informed will be crucial for ensuring compliance and optimizing the chances of successful grant applications. NOT-OD-24-086 can be found here. 

During the first week of October, Cayuse, the program that the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) and Office of Laboratory Animal Resources (OLAR) use for protocol management, animal orders, veterinary records and billing, was moved from a university-based server to a cloud-managed system. There is now a new login for users of this application. Please update your website favorites with the new link: cuanschutz.app.cayuse.com. I would like to thank all of the members of the IACUC, IBC, OLAR, and Research Information Technology teams that were involved in the process to make this move happen.

As a reminder, the Conflict of Interest (COI) disclosure period ends October 31, 2024. All covered faculty and staff are required to submit a COI Disclosure. Grant and protocol personnel must submit a disclosure prior to submission of a grant to a sponsor or prior to IRB protocol review. New employees covered by the COI policy are required to submit a disclosure within 60 days of hire date. Please contact the COI office with any questions at coi@cuanschutz.edu or visit the Conflict of Interest webpage. 

In addition to the new "FORMS-I" application package (outlined in the Grants and Contracts section), NIH will also implement a simplified peer review framework for competing research project grant applications due on or after January 25, 2025. Previously, five criteria were individually scored using a common scale; the simplified review framework reorganizes these criteria into three factors to simplify reviewers' assessment of scientific merit and mitigate elements that may introduce bias.

While these changes have little impact on what is included in an application, applicants will need to consider how they address review criteria as a matter of grantsmanship. Review what activity codes will be affected by this policy change and helpful resources from NIH.

Pediatric Research Day 

The Department of Pediatrics, Colorado Child Health Research Institute (CCHRI) and Adult & Child Center for Outcomes Research & Delivery Science (ACCORDS) are hosting Pediatric Research Day on Wednesday, October 30 from 12–5:30 p.m. Open to the entire CU Anschutz community, this hybrid event will highlight and recognize the broad range of pediatric research being conducted across campus and facilitate future collaborations between child health researchers. Registration is now open for both in-person and virtual attendance. 

Join upcoming biostatistics courses 

The Introduction to Causal Inference in Epidemiology course (September 25 - October 30, 2024) features live lectures on Wednesdays, 3-5 p.m., focusing on the fundamentals of causal inference in epidemiology. The Fundamentals of Study Design course (October 15 - December 3, 2024) offers live lectures on Tuesdays, 3-5 p.m., and covers basic clinical trial methodology and public health research. Each course costs $340 and provides a certificate upon completion. Enhance your biostatistical skills and knowledge by registering today! For more information and to register, visit the website or contact CIDA.admin@CUAnschutz.edu.