Dear Colleagues,
Lots of news to report as the academic year is now well underway. On September 13th, the Department of Medicine celebrated outstanding contributions of our researchers with a reception and presentation at the Kalmanovitz Library. The presentation illustrated the depth and breadth of scientific inquiry and impact of our work, while highlighting just a few of the many exciting projects. The event also marked the launch of major new DOM Research Initiatives, including the "NIH+" program for support of research faculty, a Team Science Planning Grant, and a PRE-Proposal Application REview (PREPARE) program. Details of these new programs can be found here. This newsletter includes information about new DOM awards, funding, and job opportunities, a perspective about the impact of for-profit publishing, and other updates. Thank you for your commitment to excellence. We wish you another successful academic year! - Diane and David
Diane Havlir, MD, Associate Chair for Clinical Research
David Erle, MD, Associate Chair for Biomedical Research
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 Congratulations to Vasanth Vedantham, MD, PhD, Division of Cardiology-UCSF Health, who received an NIH DP2 New innovator Award. The NIH Director’s New Innovator Award Program supports early stage investigators of exceptional creativity who propose highly innovative research projects with the potential to produce a major impact on broad, important problems relevant to the mission of NIH. Unusual features of these DP2 awards, which are specifically targeted to early stage investigators (ESIs), include an emphasis on innovation and creativity (with no requirement for preliminary data), and the award of all $1.5 million in direct costs at the start of the five-year award. In addition to this NIH DP2 program, which is targeted at ESIs with faculty appointments, NIAID has a NEW Innovator Awards DP2 mechanism specifically for "post-doctoral investigators of exceptional creativity who propose highly innovative bold new research with the potential to produce a major impact on broad, important problems in biomedical research of priority to NIAID." NIAID DP2 awardees must obtain an independent tenure-track (or equivalent) faculty position at an U.S. institution within 12 months to activate the award, which then provides $300,000 per year for 5 years. We encourage eligible individuals to consider applying for the DP2 funding.
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 Meghana D. Gadgil, MD, Assistant Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine, received a K23 for her project, "Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes through Diet and Metabolomics."
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 Theresa A. Allison, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Geriatrics, received a K23 for her project, "The Potential for Music to Improve Quality of Life in Dementia Caregiving Relationships."
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 Melisa Wong Yajima, MD, MAS, Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology and Oncology, received a K76 for her project, "Advancing Patient-centered Decision Making in Older Adults with Lung Cancer: Incorporating Risk of Functional Decline into Treatment Discussions."
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DOM PREPARE Program
Now Accepting Applications for Reviewees and Reviewers!
In September, the DOM launched the "PRE-Proposal Application REview (PREPARE)” program.
The program provides expert peer-review of:
1. Proposal concept sheets (1-2 pages)
2. Full drafts of grant proposals
Now accepting applications. More details and sign up forms can be found by clicking the button below.
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DOM Team Science Planning Grant 
Application deadline is November 1st
The Team Science Planning Grant will offer grants of up to $100,000 for a period of 12 months to spur the development of new multi-disciplinary grant submissions.
The application deadline is November 1, 2019 with funding beginning January 1, 2020. To review eligibility criteria and program details, and to apply, please click on the button below.
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UCSF SOM 26th cycle of Bridge Funding
Application deadline is December 12th
This program is designed to provide temporary (up to 12 months), partial support for full time faculty in the School of Medicine, during continuing efforts to obtain extramural funding.
Priority will be given to two groups of faculty members:
- Established (associate and full rank) faculty with experienced research teams that are threatened with disruption due to fiscal challenges
- New (assistant rank) investigators with one or more rounds of well-scored but unfunded federal applications and who are within one year of exhausting their startup funds.
Applications are due by 5:00pm on Thursday, December 12, 2019. See details about eligibility and the application process on the School of Medicine Bridge Funding Program page.
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 EXTRAMURAL NIH Loan Repayment Program
Application deadline is November 15th
The Loan Repayment Program is a terrific program for our trainees and it just got better! The LRP payback increased from a maximum of $35,000 to a maximum of $50,000 per year. Applications are currently being accepted for the FY 2020 LRP until November 15, 2019. Awardees can now receive up to $100,000 of qualified educational debt repayment with a two-year contract. These are competitively renewable.
Mentors, please work with your eligible trainees who are planning a research career, to achieve success on their applications! To learn more go to www.lrp.nih.gov, or click the button below to apply.
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Research Leadership Opportunity
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UCSF The Search is On: Medical Director, Clinical Research Services (CRS) - Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI)
Interested in an opportunity to provide leadership to the clinical and translational research environment of UCSF?
CTSI seeks qualified UCSF faculty to apply for this open position which will be responsible for the strategic oversight of activities related to the CRS units. The Medical Director will also serve as a core faculty member of the CTSI. Activities will require regular interaction with faculty and staff on all campuses.
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ZSFG Research and Academic Building Updates
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 UCSF Planning for the New UCSF Research and Academic Building at ZSFG
Wednesday, October 16, 6:30pm, Building 5, Room 2A6
- The next ZSFG Community Meeting with our neighbors
Thursday, October 24, 12:00pm, Carr Auditorium
- Town Hall hosted by Sue Carlisle, ZSFG Vice Dean
Send your comments and questions to: UCSF-RAB-ZSFG@ucsf.edu
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Introduction from Interim IRB Director
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 I would like to introduce myself to the UCSF research community. I have over twenty years of IRB operations management and professional project management experience, holding senior leadership positions in both independent and institutional organizations. I am honored to have the opportunity to work for and with the UCSF faculty.
I am aware of the issues currently impacting researchers and the urgency of addressing them. I am committed to finding solutions to these challenges. In collaboration with the research community, my goal is to identify gaps in internal IRB operations and implement best practices through strategic development and implementation of process improvement.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
Sherry Felchlin
IRB Main Line: 415-476-1814
Office: 415-514-9246
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Perspective: How does for-profit publishing affect academic research and career development?
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 The recent breakdown of negotiations between the UC system and the publisher Elsevier has frustrated many in our community and is fostering active discussion about the role of for-profit publishing in academic research. Are for-profit journals providing a valuable service to the research community, or are they taking advantage of our willingness to provide uncompensated labor and pay substantial fees for publications and subscriptions? Does the profit motive distort our system of hiring, promotion, and funding by putting too much power in the hands of a small group of ‘high impact journals’?
Dyche Mullins and Peter Walter from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Departments of Biochemistry and Biophysics and of Molecular Pharmacology at UCSF propose that we re-think our approach to these issues in a recent Perspective: “Publishing is so embedded in the practice of science that whoever controls the journals controls access to the entire profession. We must reform our methods for evaluating the contributions of younger scientists and deflate the power of a small number of ‘elite’ journals. More generally, given the recent failure of research institutions around the world to strike satisfactory deals with publishing giant Elsevier, the time has come to examine the motives and methods of those to whom we have entrusted the keys to the kingdom of science.” While some funders, including the Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust, have signed on to a plan that requires awardees to publish in open access journals and expects funders or universities (and not authors) to cover publication charges, NIH and many others have not yet taken this step.
At the same time as these discussions are taking place here at UCSF and beyond, many authors have changed their own practices by choosing the open access model, declining to review for Elsevier journals, and submitting preprints to publicly accessible servers, such as bioRxiv. We encourage discussion of these issues in the DOM, and welcome your suggestions.
David Erle, MD
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