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The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) publishes the RESEARCH ENTERPRISE to keep the academic community and the community at large informed about research activities, opportunities and development on the IUPUI campus. |
| May 14, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: |
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FEATURED STORY |
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Kelly to Lead IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute
Dr. Jason Kelly, associate professor of British history in the School of Liberal Arts, has been appointed the inaugural director of the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute (IAHI). His appointment is effective as of July 1, 2012. “I am thrilled to be the first director of the IAHI,” says Dr. Kelly. “IUPUI has a vibrant, interdisciplinary community of scholars who specialize in the arts and humanities. Their work has regional, national, and international impact, and the IAHI will be a resource to help them thrive. IUPUI is more than a life sciences campus. It is a university with a dynamic arts and humanities faculty as well. The mission of the IAHI is to support their scholarship and to help them enrich the cultural landscape of Indianapolis.” |
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ANNOUNCEMENTS |
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School of Medicine Faculty Member Receives NIH Grant for Cancer Cell Research
Dr. Randy Brutkiewicz, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Assistant Dean of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development in the School of Medicine, has been awarded a $1.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health for a project entitled, “Immune Evasion by Multiple Myeloma: Role of the Rho kinase Signaling Pathway.” Multiple myeloma is a devastating blood cancer, with patients surviving from a few months to at most several years following diagnosis. Even with new treatments emerging, multiple myeloma is still incurable. The work to be supported by this grant will allow Dr. Brutkiewicz and his colleagues to understand, at a fundamental level, the characteristics of multiple myeloma cells that allow them to persist in a host by evading the immune system. Dr. Brutkiewicz has zeroed in on a cell signaling molecule called Rho kinase, which has been shown to be important in the migration of multiple myeloma as well as other cancer cells. Ultimately, it is hoped that identifying the ways in which multiple myeloma evades the host’s anti-tumor immune response, can be used for developing novel treatments against multiple myeloma and other blood cancers. IU Research Nurse Receives 2012 Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing
On May 3, 2012 Sheila Dropcho, RN, BSN, a renal research nurse coordinator at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, was named the recipient of the 2012 Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing. The presentation was made at the Oncology Nursing Society’s 37th Annual Congress in New Orleans. In front of more than 700 of her professional peers, Dropcho was selected from three finalists for the national award, sponsored by Cure Media Group and Oncology at Amgen. Dropcho was nominated by one of her patients, Greg Schilling of Greenwood, IN, whose essay highlighted Dropcho’s exceptional compassion, expertise and commitment to her patients. Schilling described the days after his diagnosis as “filled with dread” and wrote that he “had no reason to hope at first.” That was until he met his nurse, Dropcho, also a cancer survivor. According to Schilling, Dropcho “is the epitome of what a nurse should be. She has empathy, compassion and caring that is so genuine and real, I feel it when I see her. She has given me hope on many of the dark days I’ve had.” In addition to bringing Schilling hope, Dropcho has successfully navigated her grateful patient into two clinical trials -- the most recent of which has not only stopped his tumors from growing, it has shrunk them by 16 percent. The winning essay will be featured in the summer 2012 issue of CURE, a free, quarterly magazine for cancer patients, survivors and caregivers. All three of the finalist essays, photos and videos from the event, and a Q-and-A with winner Dropcho will be featured on www.curetoday.com beginning June 13, 2012. Additionally, the essays, photos and more will be available on CURE’s Facebook page. Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Institute Team Projects Announced
The Center for Research and Learning (CRL) is pleased to announce the Summer 2012 Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Institute (MURI) team research projects that have been funded. Eight projects were chosen representing several different disciplines. Although most of the teams have now been filled, a few places are still open to students on selected teams. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Rubens at erubens@iupui.edu. Learn more about each of the projects listed below.
The MURI program was initiated in 2005 in the School of Engineering and Technology. In 2008, the school formed a partnership with the Center for Research and Learning (a division of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research), to jointly fund and administer the program. Today MURI is one of eleven distinct programs that are currently operated through the CRL. The program has two primary goals: 1) to provide substantive multidisciplinary research experiences for IUPUI students; and 2) to serve as a catalyst for innovation and sustained funding from external agencies for faculty projects. Since its creation, MURI has sponsored 124 teams serving 486 undergraduate research scholars. |
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FACULTY SPOTLIGHT |
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Faculty Member Named William T. Grant Foundation Scholar for Research on Adolescent Health Risk Behavior in Urban Communities
The William T. Grant Foundation has long been interested in research that works to improve the lives of young people. The research interests of Dr. Tamara Leech, assistant professor of sociology in the School of Liberal Arts, include adolescent health risk behavior in urban communities. Leech’s research project, "Pockets of Peace: Investigating Urban Neighborhoods Resilient to Adolescent Violence," has recently been recognized by the Foundation through an invitation to join their Scholars Program Dr. Leech’s project explores why some low-income, high minority urban neighborhoods have extremely low rates of youth violence. Over the next five years, she will examine these neighborhoods via various methods such as mapping data, analyzing youths’ cell phone diaries, and documenting social and physical dynamics through surveys and systemic observation. “All of my work starts with the acknowledgement that the very definition of violence and risky sex is socially constructed, such that a complete understanding of these behaviors has to take into account how and why we attempt to address them as social problems," she says. "To date, I have been able to incrementally test and/or clarify some of the assumptions that guide federal and local policy toward urban youth. This grant will help me to do these things at a larger and more comprehensive level." |
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT |
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Potential of Research Opens New Doors for Science Alumnus
Growing up, Josh Horton figured the best way to help people was to go to medical school and become a doctor. After four years in labs at IUPUI, his dreams of helping people have expanded to include medical research. “I didn’t have any interest in research at all when I came to IUPUI as a freshman,” he said. “Now it’s really my passion.” Originally from Jasonville, IN, Horton came to IUPUI as a Herbert Presidential Scholar. He decided to become a pre-med chemistry major in the School of Science at the suggestion of an influential high school chemistry teacher. His passion for research was ignited as a volunteer in a chemistry lab his freshman year. Since then, Horton has done research in areas ranging from medicinal chemistry to the kinetics and mutations of enzymes. These experiences, as well as his relationships with faculty mentors, have changed his career outlook. Undergraduate Student Recognized for His Extensive Research
Tomas Meijome, biology major from the School of Science at IUPUI, has been honored with the highest undergraduate research award given by IUPUI to a non-senior student. Meijome was awarded the Bowling-Jones Russo Memorial Undergraduate Research Award at a recent event on the IUPUI campus. “I have been able to immerse myself in research as an undergraduate, which has given me a very realistic insight into a career as a researcher,” Meijome said. “These experiences have been invaluable to me in determining my passion for research and have motivated me to pursue the MD/PhD degree path after graduation.” The award recognizes students who conduct undergraduate research but have yet to attain senior-class status. Among his areas of research are regenerative medicine and the interaction of bone and blood cells in formation. |
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TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH IMPACT |
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Helping Tourism Organizations Better Understand Their Visitors and Develop Marketing Strategies
Dr. Yao-Yi Fu, associate professor in the Department of Tourism, Conventions and Event Management, conducts research that helps various organizations in the tourism industry to measure how people perceive their tourism offerings, their motivation for visiting a destination or an event, and their satisfaction level with their experience. Much of Dr. Fu’s research involves surveying visitors onsite. The survey instruments were developed based on theories of motivation, travel behavior, and customer satisfaction. The results of those surveys have helped many tourism organizations to better understand their visitors’ profiles, motives for visiting, and satisfaction levels. Existing marketing strategies and promotional activities of those tourism organizations have also been thoroughly reviewed. Based on the data collected and the review of marketing efforts, Dr. Fu develops marketing strategies that have helped the organizations to better market their tourism offerings. |
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RECENT EXTERNAL FUNDING AWARDS |
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The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research recognizes and congratulates all IUPUI faculty and researchers for recent awards they have received and that help to advance the IUPUI research enterprise. The following table highlights those receiving $100,000 or more in external grants. Grants and Awards - April 2012
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CURRENT EXTERNAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES |
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Funding opportunities in this section include selected current grant announcements from federal agencies for new initiatives and changes to existing programs. Announcements with limited scope are not listed here but are, instead, sent directly to IUPUI School Deans. For comprehensive coverage of funding opportunities please use the on-line search tools listed below. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTHU.S.-China Program for Biomedical Collaborative Research (R01): The purpose of the U.S.-China Program for Biomedical Collaborative Research is to stimulate collaborative basic, translational, and applied research between United States (U.S.)-based researchers and Chinese researchers in the areas of allergy, immunology, and infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS and its co-morbidities and co-infections, cancer, mental health, Parkinson’s disease (PD), and stroke. Application deadline is September 18, 2012. Early Detection and Prevention of Mild Cognitive Impairment (R01): The focus is on research into technologies that have the greatest future impact for pre-symptomatic detection and preventive treatment and management of age- or treatment-related mild cognitive impairment (MCI), including those occurring in the setting of Life Limiting Illnesses (LLI). Application deadline is May 22, 2012. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATIONCore Techniques and Technologies for Advancing Big Data Science & Engineering (BIGDATA): The Core Techniques and Technologies for Advancing Big Data Science & Engineering (BIGDATA) solicitation aims to advance the core scientific and technological means of managing, analyzing, visualizing, and extracting useful information from large, diverse, distributed and heterogeneous data sets so as to: accelerate the progress of scientific discovery and innovation; lead to new fields of inquiry that would not otherwise be possible; encourage the development of new data analytic tools and algorithms; facilitate scalable, accessible, and sustainable data infrastructure; increase understanding of human and social processes and interactions; and promote economic growth and improved health and quality of life. Full Proposal Deadline(s): June 13, 2012 Mid-Scale Projects July 11, 2012 Small Projects. |
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IDENTIFYING FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES |
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On-line search tools are available to IUPUI investigators who are interested in identifying funding opportunities in their areas of interest. Community of Science (COS): COS is a primary on-line search tool for identifying funding opportunities. To take advantage of this tool, register at http://www.cos.com/login/join.shtml. Once you have completed the short registration process, you can personalize your search by selecting the option entitled “launch your workbench”. You can access federal, local, corporate, foundation, nonprofit and other funding opportunities using key terms and save the results of up to 20 searches and have them delivered to you weekly via email. National Institutes of Health (NIH) “NIH Guide”: To take advantage of this search tool, register at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/listserv.htm. It allows you to receive discipline specific funding opportunities that are delivered to you weekly via email. National Science Foundation (NSF) “MyNSF”:To take advantage of this search tool, register at http://service.govdelivery.com/service/multi_subscribe.html? Federal Business Opportunities “FedBizOpps”: FedBizOpps is the single government point-of-entry for Federal government procurement opportunities over $25,000. To take advantage of this search tool, visit https://www.fbo.gov. Opportunities found at this site include, but are not limited to, presolicitations and special notices for research and service contracts for specific projects and some national centers and surveys that would not be found in Grants.gov and may not be found in the Community of Science. Limited Submission Funding Opportunities: Many federal agencies and foundations offer grants, awards and fellowships that limit the number of applications that can come from one institution or require special handling. In order to comply with agency and foundation guidelines and increase the chances of Indiana University (IU) succeeding in such limited submissions and special handling opportunities, IU policies and procedures are in place and are utilized by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and other IU research offices to facilitate internal coordination and competitions. Individuals interested in responding to limited submission opportunities must inform the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research about their intent to apply to a given limited submission opportunity, such that they can be included in the internal review and selection process. Failure to do so may disqualify individuals from consideration for submission to the funding opportunity. Individuals interested in a limited submission opportunity or have any questions about the internal coordination process, contact Etta Ward at emward@iupui.edu or 317-278-8427. For a description of upcoming limited submission funding opportunities, as well as guidelines and application forms, go to: http://research.iu.edu/limited_sub.shtml. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list, and that any external funding opportunity that imposes any type of submission limitation is subject to the IU limited submission policy and procedures. Special Handling: The Special Handling list was created in order to communicate donor restrictions and/or preferences for managing solicitation requests from Indiana University. The list reflects special relationships that exist between donors and the university and includes corporations and foundations that the President’s office wishes to review prior to submission in order to coordinate Indiana University’s requests to these donors. The Special Handling List was compiled and is maintained by the Indiana University Foundation office of Corporate and Foundation Relations. Questions regarding this list can be directed to Bobbi Bosch at 317-278-5648 or bsbosch@indiana.edu. IUF Special Handling List and Principal Gifts Review Template |
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Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research - ovcr@iupui.edu |
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