Office of Research

July 2018

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the inaugural issue of my monthly newsletter, ReSearch ReSource. As written in last month's EVCP Expresso, I intend to do my part toward reducing the volume of email and nurture this monthly communication towards becoming the one-stop shop of news and resources dedicated to the research enterprise. That's my goal, but it's going to take some refinement and feedback from you, so please let me know what you think about the format, tone, and usefulness. In the meantime, below is a consolidation of information from funding to training opportunities - and a lot in between!

Thank you for reading. I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Vice Chancellor Lindsey Criswell

Improving Industry-Sponsored Clinical Trial Processes:

No doubt, we can agree that it is essential to decrease the time it takes UCSF investigators to initiate industry-sponsored clinical trials, as well as to improve our clinical research operations in general. Alan Venook and Diane Havlir have been strong advocates for change, and their commitment to this effort and early collaboration with relevant research administrators helped highlight the need for change.

Subsequently, the industry sponsored clinical trial improvement workshop, facilitated by a great team from the Project Managemt Office, was an extremely valuable exercise.  The success of the three-day workshop is due to the dedication of key stakeholders who came toghether to identify what works and where we have some gaps.  

I am very grateful to the individuals who not only participated in the workshop, but also gave much more of their time and expertise beyond the three days we spent together:

In the coming months, I will keep you apprised about the progress on this important project.

Research Committees:

• Research Advisory Board – The UCSF Research Advisory Board (RAB) is comprised of faculty and senior administration, whose primary focus is on bringing research-related issues to the Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost, and whose goal is to improve research-related operations. RAB discussion topics are varied, comprehensive, and cover a broad range of research-related issues. If you have a topic to bring to the RAB, please email Irene Broderick. Let us hear about the research-related matters that are important to you!

Research Development:

• News from the Research Development Office – Read about increasing NIH diversity supplements, funding from the Marcus Program in Precision Medicine, and much more.
• Diversifying Electronic Cohort Research at UCSF – Enter a community-engaged contest to select and support a diverse "eCohort" at UCSF.

Sponsored Research:

• Research Collaboration with Novo Nordisk – To summarize the meaning of this collaboration for our scientists:
• UCSF's new method of developing hESC's implemented with Novo
• Validation with Novo's special tissue culture medium done at UCSF
• Novo and UCSF jointly using UCSF GMP facility to derive new hESC's based on validation studies
• Novo to derive therapeutic insulin-producing cells from hESC's

and particularly noteworthy for faculty – support from Novo to provide GMP facilities which will remain at UCSF and be accessible down the line.

Clinical Research:

• News from the Human Research Protection Program – Get updated on the use of commercial IRBs, NIH Single IRB mandate and the revised Common Rule.
• UC Health-wide Profiles – Search across the UC Health enterprise for expertise and see coauthors and people who publish on similar topics at other institutions.
• UC Health-wide Clinical Trials – Search this site to facilitate discovery and launch of multi-site trials across the UC Health enterprise.
• Informatics and Research Innovation Program – Start here to request electronic data from a variety of sources, such as STOR and APeX.
• Participant Recruitment Program – Help ensure your recruitment materials are understandable and actionable with free plain language consultations.
• Natural Language Processing for Research – Join the growing NLP community at UCSF, get info on the growing knowledge base, and check dates for in-person Meetups!

Infrastructure and Operations:

• DynaMed Plus – Access the two year trial begun for all of the UC campuses by UC Health, with the assistance of the California Digital Library.  
• Cores at UCSF – Search over seventy core labs that can support your research among the improved core families listing on the newly designed web page.
• LARC Service Feedback Portal – Give input and share comments on how LARC is doing.

Trainings and Tools:

• OnCore Training – Expanded and customized formats available.
• Stem Cell Training – Webinar opportunity for nurses posted on the OCR website.
• Responsible Conduct of Research: Online Course – Part-time, 7-week program addressing ethical issues in research, requirements and regulations that arise in human-subjects research, and IRB approval and consent.
• Implementation Science: Online Certificate Program – Part-time, 6-course program focused on theories and methods relevant to the design of strategies to facilitate uptake of health-related interventions.
• Implementation Science: Online Mini-Course – Free, self-directed program providing introduction to the field of implementation science through short video lectures, readings, and case studies.
• Validated Measures for Research with Vulnerable and Special Populations – Find survey and screening questionnaires for under-represented groups in patient-oriented research.
• Investigator-Initiated Trial (IIT) Toolkit – Get key information needed to start an IIT, guidance regarding protocol development and funding considerations, and help facilitating an efficient contracting process.