CTSA PROGRAM UPDATE

August 25, 2017

PROGRAM UPDATE

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE CTSA CENTRAL WEBSITE

Feedback from last month’s data call to the CTSA Program hubs and questions and comments from the July 24, 2017 NCATS call with the CTSA Program PIs are posted on the CTSA Central website. Please see the homepage for the data collected on the following topics:

• Opioid Crisis Brainstorming
• CTSA Program Fall 2017 Meeting Topics – Summary
• CTSA Program Policy and Procedures for Surveys
• Governance for the CTSA Program
• Questions and Comments from the 7/24/2017 call with the CTSA Program PIs

Questions? Contact Erica Rosemond.

COMMON METRICS

DEADLINE FOR ENTERING 2016 COMMON METRICS VALUES AND UPDATING TTC PLANS

CTSA Program hubs have until August 30, 2017 to enter their 2016 Common Metric values and update their Turn-the-Curve (TTC) plans for the first three metrics. Updating your TTC plan includes describing any changes to underlying factors, the progress you have made by implementing selected strategies, and the results of any additional measures you are using to track progress with these strategies. Click here for step by step guidance on updating Scorecard.

If you have any questions about data or strategic management for any of the metrics, please contact the Tufts Common Metrics Implementation Team Help Desk.

DOMAIN TASKFORCE (DTF) UPDATE

WORKFORCE DOMAIN TASKFORCE 

The Career Sustainability Working Group is drafting a TL1 survey to assess trainee career sustainability and independence modeled after the KL2 survey.  The group is currently preparing a summary of deliverables, milestones, and timelines to present to the Steering Committee to get official approval of the group’s work and to begin the survey approval process.

INFORMATICS DOMAIN TASKFORCE

The Informatics DTF (iDTF) continued to discuss the development of the informatics common metric at their monthly meeting (August 4th).  Dr. Tim Carey (UNC) provided a presentation on the use of Epic Care Everywhere for Research.  This is an Epic-based function to simplifying record sharing across hospitals and clinics.  The discussion focused on the pros and cons of expanding this function beyond clinical care and to use it for research purposes.  The iDTF was informed that Leslie McIntosh stepped down as a lead member as she accepted a new position at the Research Data Alliance. The iDTF Lead Team has not yet replaced her spot on the leadership team.

LIFESPAN DOMAIN TASKFORCE

Dr. Petra Kaufmann participated in the Lifespan DTF meeting on August 24^th to learn about the DTF participant’s perspectives on the opportunities as well as the challenges for the DTF, and to receive suggestions on what NCATS can do together with the DTF to maximize the DTF’s impact.  The DTF has also updated their Key Priorities for FY 2018 which are outlined below:

The Early Life Exposures Workgroup continues to work on the Early Life Exposure paper which is nearing completion.

Within the Single Disease Workgroup, the Single Disease Transition writing group met on August 18^th.

The Aging Workgroup has proposed new goals for the upcoming year:

• Develop guidelines and a liaison process for interacting with the RIC and TIC regarding research including older adults.
• Creation of aging focused expertise directory.
• Stage 1 to advising toolkit development:  Adjudicated survey of aging-focused measures already available through PROMIS and the NIH Toolkit.
• Develop a session for the ACTS meeting.

COLLABORATION/ ENGAGEMENT TASKFORCE 

No updates at this time.

METHODS AND PROCESSES DOMAIN TASKFORCE 

The EMR-based Research Recruitment Workgroup is preparing to submit their manuscript to the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science once it has been reviewed by NCATS and the CTSA Steering Committee.

The Regulatory Science to Advance Precision Medicine Workgroup is hosting a Fall Forum in Washington, DC on September 27^th.  Anyone interested in attending should contact Scott Steele, PhD at the University of Rochester CTSI.

Questions? For more information on the DTFs (including points-of-contact), click here.

FALL CTSA PROGRAM MEETING

UPDATE ON MEETING AGENDA

Date: October 26, 2017, from approximately 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington D.C. For more information, click here! 

Feedback was solicited from the CTSA Program hubs for meeting topics.  A summary of the feedback can be found on ctsacentral.org and here.  The CTSA Program Steering Committee is the Planning Committee for the meeting and they will meet by the end of August to prioritize topics and set the agenda for the fall meeting.  Please stay tuned!

Questions? Contact Redonna Chandler.

OPPORTUNITIES

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON BIOETHICS ISSUES IN CANCER RESEARCH AND CARE (NOT-CA-17-079)

National Cancer Institute (NCI) is seeking input from community members, patients, cancer researchers, physicians and other health practitioners, bioethicists, advocates, and others to help identify bioethics areas clearly relevant to cancer that could benefit from further research.  Input is also sought on approaches for enhancing bioethics and cancer collaborations, and timely issues for bioethics and cancer outreach.

The RFI can be found at NOT-CA-17-079. Comments are due October 6, 2017.

THE UNDIAGNOSED DISEASES NETWORK (UDN) PHASE II

The NIH is now accepting applications for Phase II of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN). The UDN is a research study with three overarching goals to: 1) improve the level of diagnosis and care for patients with undiagnosed diseases 2) facilitate research into the etiology of undiagnosed diseases and 3) promote an integrated and collaborative community of laboratory and clinical investigators prepared to investigate these difficult to diagnose diseases. In Phase II of the program, the UDN will continue accepting participants with unsolved medical cases as well as study the components required for network sustainability once Common Fund support ends. Pending the availability of funds and sufficient numbers of meritorious applications, the program expects to fund a Coordinating Center, 8-10 Clinical Sites, and 3-6 Core Laboratories through 5 FOAs.

Information on all 5 of the UDN Phase II FOAs can be found on the Common Fund UDN website at https://commonfund.nih.gov/Diseases/grants and individual FOAs can also be found through the links below.

• Clinical Sites for the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) Phase II (U01) (RFA-RM-17-019)
• Coordinating Center for the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) Phase II (U01) (RFA-RM-17-018)

• Metabolomics Core for the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) Phase II (U01) (RFA-RM-17-015)
• Model Organisms Screening Center for the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) Phase II (U54) (RFA-RM-17-017)
• Sequencing Core(s) for the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) Phase II (U01) (RFA-RM-17-016)

Letters of intent are due October 2, 2017 and applications are due November 2, 2017.

UDN PHASE II APPLICANT INFORMATION WEBINAR

A webinar for potential applicants will also be held on September 14^th from 3 – 4:30 PM EST. NIH staff will provide an overview of the FOAs and answer questions from prospective applicants. The webinar is open to all prospective applicants, but participation in the webinar is not a prerequisite to applying. Visit the

Notice Announcing an Applicant Information Webinar for Phase II of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (NOT-RM17-038) for more information.

NIH BD2K-SUPPORTED DATA SCIENCE ROTATIONS FOR ADVANCING DISCOVERY (RoAD-Trip)

The BD2K Training Coordinating Center (TCC) has developed the Data Science Rotations for Advancing Discovery (RoAD-Trip) Program which provides fellowship support to junior biomedical scientists who possess unique and compelling biomedical data sets.  The Program matches junior scientists who wish to integrate their prior training and experience with senior-level data scientists with mentoring skills, access to technology, and other resources to assist with novel data analyses.

Junior biomedical fellows will receive $4000 to assist with travel costs, per diem etc. and senior data science mentors will receive a $1000 stipend for their expertise and support.  All stipends/reimbursements are granted after rotations and project abstracts are submitted.

Fellow and mentor applications are due on September 16, 2017.  To learn more, visit https://bigdatau.ini.usc.edu/roadtrip.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

MEETINGS ON CTSA CENTRAL WEBSITE 

CTSA Program hubs can upload information about important meetings they host on the C4 Coordinating Center website, CTSA Central, in order to spread the word about sponsored conferences, activities, and/or items relevant to the CTSA Program and the advancement of translational science. Hubs can upload conference or meeting information here.

Recent additions are listed below. Please click the event name for more information!

Questions? Contact Colleen Lawrence.

NIH NCATS: Improving Health Through Smarter Science

Connect with us!: https://ncats.nih.gov/connect