Schizophrenia Grants

Conference Student Scholarships: Environmental Epigenomics and Disease Susceptibility

Scholarship Deadline: November 30, 2010 (Midnight US Mountain Standard Time)

There are now compelling human epidemiological and animal experimental data that indicate the risk of developing adult-onset complex diseases and neurological disorders are influenced by persistent epigenetic adaptations in response to prenatal and early postnatal exposures to environmental factors. Epigenetics refers to heritable changes in gene function that occur without a change in the sequence of the DNA. The main components of the epigenetic code are DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNAs. The epigenetic programs in cells are normally faithfully reproduced during mitosis. Moreover, they can also be maintained during meiosis, resulting in epigenetic transgenerational disease inheritance, and potentially introducing phenotypic variation that is selected for in the evolution of new species. The objective of this conference is to provide evidence that environmental exposures during early development can alter the risk of developing medical conditions, such as asthma, autism, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and schizophrenia later in life by modifying the epigenome. Epigenetic research promises to markedly improve our ability to diagnosis, prevent, and treat the pathological conditions of humans; however, it also introduces unique legal and ethical issues. These will also be discussed.

Keystone Symposia is offering scholarships to students and post-docs this conference season. These scholarships, of up to $1000 each, are to be used to help defray the expenses associated with conference attendance, including air (on a U.S. air carrier), ground transportation and lodging costs. Receipts will be required to receive reimbursement.

Abstracts submitted for poster presentation will be used as the basis for awarding the scholarships. Conference organizers will select the scholarship recipients based on the quality of science of the abstract and the relevance of the abstract to the conference topic. Only one application per abstract is accepted.

Keystone Symposia
221 Summit Place #272
PO Box 1630
Silverthorne, CO 80498
www.keystonesymposia.org

Financial Assistance / Student Scholarships
Phone: +1 (800) 253-0685 or
Ksenia Shambarger - +1 (970) 262-1230 extension 140
Fax: +1 (970) 262-0311

Kempf Fund Award for Research Development in Psychobiological Psychiatry

The American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education invites applicants for the Kempf Fund Award for Research Development in Psychobiological Psychiatry. This award recognizes a senior researcher who has made a significant contribution to research on the causes and treatment of schizophrenia as both a researcher and a mentor. A $1,500 award will be made to the senior researcher, and $20,000 will support the research career development of a young research psychiatrist working in a mentor-trainee relationship with the award winner on further research in this field. Submissions will be judged on the excellence of the nominee's overall contribution to the body of research in schizophrenia, including submission of the nominee's most significant paper or book; a description of the nominee's role as a mentor to younger colleagues in the field; and a description of the qualifications of the young research psychiatrist, as well as a detailed description of his/her career development plan.

The annual deadline for receipt of all applications and supporting materials is October 14. An original and five collated copies of each application and all supporting materials are required. More detailed guidelines are available from the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education; 1000 Wilson Blvd., Ste. 1825; Arlington, VA 22209-3901; 1-800-852-1390. For information, please contact Ernesto Guerra at eguerra@psych.org It is recommended that applicants contact the APIRE office to obtain a copy of the printed announcement, which provides additional details, before preparing their application. Applicants must be citizens of the U.S. or Canada.

Nomination/Application Requirements

Submissions must:

* Describe the nominee's overall contributiion to the body of research in schizophrenia;
* Identify and submit a particular paper or book which is felt to be the most significant contribution of the nominee;
* Describe the nominee's role and contribution as a mentor to younger colleagues in the field; specifically, the nominee should comment on the young research psychiatrist he or she will be mentoring; and
* Describe the qualifications of the individual young research psychiatrist and include his/her CV. Describe the career development plan for such individual to be supported by the funds accompanying the award. A specific description of how such funds would be utilized, abiding by rules and regulations of the home institution and determined jointly by the nominee and trainee, must be included.
* Include the nominee's name, address, phone and fax numbers, e-mail address and any other pertinent information.

Selection
The selecting body will look for excellence across each of the above points in selecting the winner, judging the quality of the nominee's body of work, the particular book or article singled out as exemplary, the young researcher, the research and career development plan for the young researcher, and the academic environment or setting. Should the selecting body determine, in any given year, that there are no appropriate recipients for the award as described, the selecting body shall be empowered with the right to either award $1,500 (and a plaque or certificate) to an individual researcher for a specific contribution to the advancement of schizophrenia research, or to make no award in that given year.

Annual Deadline: October 14

Submit all materials to:

APIRE/Kempf Fund Award
American Psychiatric Institute
for Research and Education
1000 Wilson Blvd., Ste. 1825
Arlington, VA 22209-3901

Add-a-Day Scientific Conference Grants

These grants support Add-a-Day conferences which are those meetings that occur at the beginning or end of a scientific conference other than American Psychological Association.

Deadline: June 1, 2010; December 1, 2010

Sponsor: Science Directorate

Add-a-Day conferences are those meetings that occur at the beginning or end of a scientific conference other than APA (e.g., Society for Ingestive Behavior or Psychonomics Society). The other organization need not be primarily psychology oriented. The conference may result in a volume or an alternative form of publication.

The funding range is from $500 to $3,000.

Prospective applicants are urged to consult with APA Science Directorate staff for advice on the conference organization and application (e.g., formats or budget allowances). The committee makes recommendations for funding to the Science Directorate. The review period is approximately 8 weeks.

The requirements below must be met in order to submit a proposal.

* One of the primary organizers must be a member of APA.
* Only academic institutions accredited by a regional body may apply. Independent research institutions must provide evidence of affiliation with such an accredited institution. Joint proposals from cooperating institutions are encouraged.
* Conferences may be held only in the United States, its possessions, or Canada.
* APA governance groups including APA Divisions and related entities are not eligible for funding under this program.

Conference proceedings and presentation materials (including electronic presentations) must be submitted to APA three months after the date the conference is held. APA will hold the conference proceedings for three years. If a book has not been published by APA or another publisher within the three-year holding period, APA will place the conference proceedings in PsycEXTRA.

PsycEXTRA is a companion database to the scholarly PsycINFO, which is designed to link academics, clinicians, librarians, consumers, policy-makers, and researchers to a variety of information sources covering psychology, behavioral science, and health; PsycEXTRA provides the readership with original documents, including proceedings, newsletters, magazines, newspapers, technical and annual reports, government reports, and consumer brochures.

Organizers should send the original proposal and seven copies including all appendices to the Science Directorate by the deadline.

Contact:
APA Science Directorate
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
202/336-6000
202/336-6123 TDD
science@apa.org