April 2019

Dear Colleagues:

To share your voice as part of the research community, I encourage you to attend this month’s Revitalization of Parnassus Heights Campus Town Hall on April 24 to learn about progress to define a bold plan for the campus and the ZSFG Town Hall on April 29 for an update on the ZSFG Research and Academic Building.

I also congratulate several of our faculty on recent honors:

Please read on for an interview with Shuvo Roy, PhD, and updates relevant to our work.

Regards,
Vice Chancellor Lindsey Criswell

Town Halls: Revitalization of Parnassus Heights Campus Town Hall and ZSFG Research and Academic Building

Join UCSF leaders at the Revitalization of Parnassus Heights Campus Town Hall as they share the latest planning developments: the progress made to date to define a bold plan for the campus and the process going forward to develop the Comprehensive Parnassus Heights Plan. The event will be livestreamed and there will be a question and answer session. April 24, 12-1 p.m. Cole Hall Auditorium.

Also, hosted by Vice Dean Sue Carlisle and the Project Team, the ZSFG Town Hall will provide an update on the ZSFG Research and Academic Building. April 29, 12-1 p.m. Carr Auditorium.

MacArthur 100&Change: A $100 Million Grant Opportunity

The MacArthur Foundation announced that it will again hold its 100&Change competition for a $100 million grant to fund a single proposal that promises real and measurable progress in solving a critical problem of our time. In 2016 (the last time the competition occurred), 2000 unique applications were submitted for this singular prize.

Successful proposals must be:

  • Impactful – an urgent problem worth solving with a proposed solution that will have a transformative impact.
  • Evidence-based – there must be practical and concrete evidence that the solution, or critical components of it, will work. This is not a competition to test a new idea or theory.
  • Feasible – the project team must have the skills, capacity, relationships, and experience to deliver the proposal.
  • Durable – the $100 million solution must have a sustained impact.

Anyone is welcome to apply to this competition, however, there are limited institutional resources to support proposals. Therefore, the Research Development Office (RDO) in partnership with campus leadership and Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR), is running a competition from April 15 to May 10 to solicit project ideas for the award. Any UCSF community member is able to post their ideas on the Open Proposals system where others can view and comment. All UCSF community members are encouraged to review and comment on the ideas in order to build collaboration, combine efforts, and strengthen ideas. UCSF leadership will then select up to two ideas that will be supported by the RDO and CFR. Full proposals will be due to the MacArthur Foundation on August 6.

2020 RFP: UC National Laboratory Fees Research Program

UC Research Initiatives announced this year’s funding opportunities for the UC Multicampus-National Lab Collaborative Research and Training (CRT) Awards and the UC-National Lab In-Residence Graduate Fellowships. CRT awards are available in three thematic areas: accelerator research, quantum information science, and wildfire-related research (more information, including workshops and info sessions). Deadline to submit letters of intent for both opportunities: May 30, 12 p.m.

Researcher of the Month: Shuvo Roy, PhD

Shuvo Roy, PhD is a professor of bioengineering and therapeutic sciences (lab website) and technical director of The Kidney Project, a multi-institutional collaboration that is building a bioartificial kidney as a permanent solution to end stage renal disease.

“I often think about UCSF’s mission and think ‘If not us, as a public institution, who?’ UCSF is the right place to do it. And if not now, when? Patients are waiting – each year less than one in five who are on the kidney waitlist actually get a transplant. How lucky I am, that as an engineer, I have a chance to make a significant impact on patients using my core technologies." Read more.

Events:

  • Parnassus Research-in-Progress Series (PRIPS) – PRIPS is an ongoing series of Tuesday talks (4-5 p.m. HSW 301) featuring trainees from across UCSF labs and schools, with the aim of bringing researchers together at the Parnassus campus:
    • April 16 – Katie Chirco (Lamba lab) and Rebecca Jaszczak (Laird lab)
    • April 30 – Joyce Lee (Goga lab) and Qi Yan Ang (Turnbaugh lab)
    • May 7 – Ian Boothby (Rosenblum lab) and Chaoqun Wang (Peng lab)

   Contact Tiffany Criger to be added to the listserv.

  • UC Cool Campus Challenge Continues! – Sign up to participate as a lab team or as individuals in a friendly competition between the ten UC campuses to reduce UC's carbon footprint and create a culture of sustainability. Help UCSF become the “coolest” UC campus and win prizes and bragging rights! Challenge runs through April 26.
  • SFBayCRN 5th Annual Meeting – Join the UCSF practice-based research annual meeting, hosted by the San Francisco Bay Area Collaborative Research Network (SFBayCRN) and CTSI Community Engagement & Health Policy Program. Theme: Building Capacity to Address the Health Needs of Diverse Communities. April 26.
  • In the Mix 5 – In the Mix 5, the ongoing faculty mixer between San Francisco State University and UCSF faculty is May 7 in the Parnassus Library Lange Room from 5-7 p.m. This event will initiate a new 3-event theme focusing on health equity with the first event on environmental justice.
  • Faculty Research Lecture: Translational Science – Kathleen Giacomini, PhD is the 2019 recipient of this award. Her lecture will be held in Byers Auditorium on the Mission Bay campus May 9 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. followed by a reception outside of Byers Auditorium.
  • 2019 Clinical Trials Day Celebration – Calling all UCSF CRCs and Clinical Research Support Staff! Please join us May 13 from 3-5 p.m. at Mission Bay in celebration of the great contributions of CRCs to UCSF’s research efforts. There will be light refreshments, raffle prizes, and tables staffed by many of the teams with which you interact.

Funding Opportunities:

  • OnPAR Opportunities – Each year hundreds of innovative, high-scoring research applications are unfunded. OnPAR seeks to provide alternatives to the research community’s constraints imposed by limitations in government funding and provide opportunity to match highly meritorious applications with a growing list of private biomedical foundations, pharmaceutical and biotech companies for potential award.
  • Pivot Funding Opportunities Database – Pivot allows researchers to search funding opportunities, save results, set automated funding alerts, and identify potential collaborators. It is one of the most comprehensive searchable funding opportunities databases available and free to all UCSF faculty, staff, trainees, and students.
  • Limited Submission Opportunities – Limited submission opportunities (LSOs) are extramural funding opportunities that limit the number of applications that UCSF may put forward to a given sponsor or that require internal coordination. The calendar of recurring and current LSOs is available on the Research Development Office website.
  • WANTED: RFIs for UC Carbon Offset Projects – UC is soliciting ideas from the UC community for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) or sequester carbon. Under UC’s Carbon Neutrality Initiative, the UC system has committed to reducing its net GHGs from its operations to zero by 2025. To help, UC is seeking 1) UC-initiated offset projects or 2) projects already on the carbon offset market. Submissions due May 31.

Infrastructure and Operations:

  • New Energy Conservation Policy – Campus administrative policy now requires that all appliances and office equipment purchased with University funds be ENERGY STAR labeled unless no ENERGY STAR labeled alternative is available.
  • Updated ULT Freezer Rebate Offer – There are now more ways to get money on your ULT freezer! Change your setpoint to -70C for any new OR old freezer and get $500, on top of $4500 for replacing an old model or $2000 for buying a new ENERGY STAR freezer.

Training and Tools:

Useful Links:

  • Bakar ImmunoX – Infrastructure for sharing technology and findings across fields, disciplines, and geographies via a series of CoLabs and CoProjects.
  • CTSI – Infrastructure, services, and training for research spanning early translational research to community engagement.
  • Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) – IRB, Quality Improvement Unit (QIU), and GESCR updates and resources.
  • IACUC – Committee providing training, guidance, and resources for people working with animals.
  • Innovation Ventures – Expertise and resources to transform innovation into impact and translate scientific discoveries for public use and benefit – read about incoming Office of Technology Management Executive Director Anthony Francis and more in their quarterly newsletter.
  • MATLAB – A computational platform for engineering, scientific, and mathematic applications.
  • NIH Updates – Updates on policies, resources, and guide notices relevant to UCSF researchers.
  • Research Advisory Board (RAB) – An advisory forum promoting dialogue between UCSF leadership and the research community.
  • Research Allocation Program (RAP) – An intramural grant program that provides coordinated, collaborative effort among UCSF funding opportunities.
  • Research Development Office (RDO) – Services and resources for UCSF research development.
  • Research Resource Program (RRP) – Support and services for cores and shared resource laboratories.
  • Sustainability – Discounts and programs to help researchers save money and be sustainable.