Grants>Virology

Call for Young Investigators Posters: 2nd World Congress on Controversies in the Management of Viral Hepatitis (C-Hep)

Berlin, Germany, October 18-20, 2012

The C-Hep Young Investigator Poster Exhibition

We are delighted to announce a special opportunity for young investigators. The C-Hep Young Investigator Poster Exhibition will be held during the second C-Hep Congress on October 18-20, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. Successful poster presenters will be provided with a poster board at the Congress and their poster abstract text will be published on the Congress website.

An award will be granted to the winning author. Posters will be evaluated by the C-Hep Awards Committee. First prize will receive 500 Euros and the two runners-up will receive free registration to the 2013 C-Hep conference.

Topic: Studies focusing on viral hepatitis B or C will be considered.

Criteria for submission:
Participants must be under the age of 40. Proof of age must be sent to the Secretariat (identification document with photograph).

How to submit:
Please submit your important scientific insights into Hepatitis research using the online submission form.

Deadline: The deadline for submission is August 6, 2012.

Review process:
All posters will be reviewed and assessed by the Congress Scientific Review Committee based on scientific content and impact. The Scientific Review Committee reserves the right to decide on the status of each poster.

Contact us:
If you have any questions, please contact the C-Hep Secretariat: chep@comtecmed.com

Call for Applications From Undergraduates: Integrated Biological Sciences Summer Research Program at the Institute for Biology Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Program: May 29th- August 4th, 2012 Application Deadline: February 15th, 2012

The Institute for Biology Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison invites junior and senior undergraduate students interested in research careers in the biological sciences to participate in the Integrated Biological Sciences Summer Research Program (IBS-SRP). As part of the program, students do full-time research for 10 weeks with a faculty member in one of eight disciplinary areas:

Biochemistry/Biophysics
Bioenergy
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Computational Biology & Biostatistics
Ecology, Plants, and Environmental Systems
Molecular & Environmental Toxicology
Neurobiology
Virology

The eight disciplinary areas are connected through a seminar series highlighting major themes in biology, science writing, preparation for graduate school, and biological sciences careers. The major themes are:

• evolution
• pathways and transformations of energy and matter in biological systems
• information flow, exchange and storage in biological systems
• structure and function
• systems biology

At the end of the program, students give an oral presentation of their research results and write a final research report that is published in a program journal.

Eligibility

Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents between their sophomore and senior years who have a grade point average of at least 3.0 and strong interest in a career in biological research. Students who are African American, Hispanic, Native American, Southeast Asian, Native Alaskan or Native Pacific Islander OR who are from low-income homes OR who are the first in their family to attend college OR who attend small liberal arts institutions without broad research facilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Application Procedure

All application materials are due on February 15, 2012!

Financial Support

There are no fees or tuition costs. The program provides a $5,250 stipend, full support for travel, housing, health insurance (if needed), and a partial food allowance. Students also have access to campus libraries and facilities.
Research Areas

The range of biological research areas in which students may participate is quite extensive. Applicants are encouraged to learn about faculty doing research in their areas of interest, and identify their top choices for potential mentors in the application.

Selection and Placement

Selection and laboratory placement of students will take place in January, February, and March. Applicants who are not placed will be notified by the end of April.

Contact

Program Coordinator
Brian Asen
ibs@biology.wisc.edu
(608) 262-5267

Program Director
Dr. Janet Branchaw

American Gastroenterological Association Fellowship to Faculty Transition Awards

Two awards are made annualy to advanced fellows/trainees, to provide salary support for additional full-time research training in gastrointestinal, liver function or related diseases.

AT A GLANCE
Eligibility: Advanced Fellows
Amount/year: $40,000
Duration: Two years
Deadline: Aug. 31
Start Date: July 1

DESCRIPTION
This award provides $40,000 per year for two years (total $80,000) to current trainees in gastroenterology related fields so they may gain additional laboratory research training in gastrointestinal, liver function or related diseases.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of the award is to prepare physician-scientists for independent basic science research careers in digestive diseases. The award provides salary support for additional full-time training to acquire modern laboratory skills. The additional two years of research training provided by this award should broaden and expand the scope of investigative tools available to the recipient, generally in basic science disciplines such as cell or molecular biology, genetics, immunology, virology or analogous fields.

ELIGIBILITY
Candidates for this award must hold an MD or equivalent degree (e.g. MB, ChB, MBBS, DO). Candidates must have completed at least one year of research training in their current laboratory prior to the start of this award. Candidates must have commitment from their home institution for a full-time faculty position at the time they apply for the award. The faculty position commitment, which includes instructor and junior faculty level positions, must be clearly articulated in the division chief or department chair letter (see below).

Candidates must be AGA Trainee Members and be sponsored by an AGA Member at the time of application. Please visit www.gastro.org/membership or call 301-654-2055, extension 651, for membership information.
Candidates must devote at least 70 percent effort to research related to the gastrointestinal tract or liver. Women and minority investigators are strongly encouraged to apply.

AWARD OVERLAP
At the time of application submission, candidates may not hold another award with overlapping scientific objectives. If a candidate is granted the award and notified of a comparable award on a similar topic from another agency prior to the first payment of this award, the recipient must select one of the two awards (e.g. the recipient may not retain both awards). If the recipient is notified that a comparable award has been granted after the first payment of this award, the recipient must forfeit the balance of this award.

REQUIREMENTS
Awards are made for salary support for the recipient. Indirect costs are not allowed. Candidates must demonstrate how they will obtain additional knowledge through the proposed project and how that knowledge may be used in their future research. Upon notification of receipt of this award, the recipient must provide institutional approval from the appropriate committee for use of human subjects or animals. If approval is not necessary, the recipient must provide an explanation.

Candidates are required to have a preceptor for the award. A preceptor will supervise the principal investigator’s research activities and will serve as a mentor. Candidates are also required to have a letter from their division chief or department chair stating the institution’s commitment to a faculty position.

At the end of the award, the recipient will be required to indicate how the funds were used, the accomplishments made during the project and how the additional training contributed to his/her research career development. A complete financial statement and scientific progress report are required annually and upon completion of the program. Second year funding is contingent upon submission of the required financial statements and scientific progress reports.

Annually, a one-page plain-language summary, a scientific progress report and a financial statement must be submitted by the award recipient by July 30. Second-year funding is contingent upon submission of this documentation. All publications, presentations and abstracts arising from work funded by this program must acknowledge support of the AGA Research Foundation Fellowship-to-Faculty Transition Award.

SELECTION CRITERIA
The recipients will be selected based upon the candidates’ promise for future success, feasibility and significance of the proposal, attributes of the candidates, the record and commitment of the sponsors, and the institutional and laboratory environment.

REVIEW PROCESS
A selection committee comprised of members of the AGA Research Awards Panel will review the applications and select the award recipient. Award funding will commence July 2013.

APPLICATION PROCESS
The application deadline for this award is Aug. 31. The completed application, letters of support or commitment, and other documents, as applicable, must be combined into and submitted as one PDF document. The document must be titled by the applicant’s last name and first initial only. Hard copies are not excepted. Please e-mail the application document to awards@gastro.org. The applicant's full name and project title are to be included in the submission e-mail. Please direct all questions to the Research Awards Manager via telephone at 301-222-4012 or by e-mail at awards@gastro.org.

Swiss Society for Infectious Diseases/International Society for Infectious Diseases Infectious Diseases Research Fellowship Program

ISID and the Swiss Society for Infectious Diseases (SSI) jointly sponsor the SSI/ISID Infectious Diseases Research Fellowship Program.

The purpose of this Fellowship Program is to support infectious disease physicians and scientists from developing and middle income countries through multidisciplinary clinical and laboratory training at select biomedical institutions in Switzerland. The objectives of the Fellowship Program are:

to train promising young physicians and scientists from developing and middle income countries for clinical and research positions in infectious diseases,
to foster partnerships between Fellows and infectious disease leaders in Switzerland, and
to increase scientific research capacity in low income/high disease burden countries.

Opportunities for training and research in a variety of areas ranging from basic studies of the mechanism of disease to studies in public health, epidemiology, diagnostics, therapeutics or vaccine development, are available through this program.

The term of the Fellowship is for one year. The start date of the will be determined by arrangement between the host institution and the Fellow.

A financial stipend of up to 36,000 SF per year (approximately $21,000 USD) will be given to Fellows to cover travel costs and living expenses. The program intends to award two fellowships every year.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Language skills of French or German are necessary according to the institution chosen (German for Basel, Bern, Zurich and St. Gallen; French for Geneva and Lausanne). Please indicate in your application your speaking and writing proficiency of these languages and of English.

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Training Sites
SSI/ISID Fellows will be placed at one of six collaborating research centers in Switzerland according to technical interests and skills. All infectious diseases programs at each institution offer experience in clinical infectious diseases, including HIV, and microbiology. The technical research interests at each site include:

Bern: Meningitis. Brain injury in CNS infection. Molecular pathogenesis of respiratory pathogens. Epidemiology and resistance of pneumococcus. (Tauber MG, Leib SL, Aebi C, Muhlemann K)

Geneva: Clinical trials in hospital infections and HIV infection. Hospital hygiene and epidemiology. Genomics, molecular biology, and pathogenicity of S. aureus. Foreign body infections. (Lew D, Garbino J, Pittet D, Perrin L, Hirschel B,Vaudaux P, Schrenzel J, Kelley W, ) [additional information is available at http://www.geneve-infection.ch/]

Lausanne: Mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. Molecular pathogenesis of endocarditis. Cytokines and sepsis. Resistance, pharmaco-epidemiology, and therapeutic drug monitoring in HIV. Molecular epidemiology of nosocomial infections. Antibiotic use. (Glauser M, Calandra T, Moreillon P, Telenti A, Francioli P, Zanetti G)

Basel: Infectious diseases, hospital hygiene and epidemiology. Full clinical service in all areas of infection diseases and hospital hygiene and epidemiology. Pathophysiology and clinical research including health economy. HIV: pathogenesis and course of disease. (Battegay M, Flckiger U, Widmer A, Erb P) [additional information is available at http://www.kantonsspital- basel.ch]

Zurich: Clinical trials in HIV. Molecular biology of HIV, latent reservoirs, and anti-HIV immune response. HIV epidemiology. Intestinal infections. Zoonotic infections. Hospital epidemiology. (Weber R, Ruef C, Guenthart H, Opravil M, Trkola A, Flepp M, Speck R, Ledergerber B)

St. Gallen: Sexual transmission of HIV (Vernazza P). [additional information is available at http://www.infekt.ch]

Eligibility
The program is open to applicants who are citizens or permanent residents of developing countries or Eastern Europe. Applicants should have a M.D. or a Ph.D in a relevant field and should hold a position at a medical, research, or public health institution. An endorsement by the home institution is required for participation in the program.

Applications will be reviewed by a joint SSI and ISID committee. Selection will be based on the applicant's academic potential, career plans, previous clinical/research experience, letters of reference, and relevance of training to home institution and home country. Personal interviews will be arranged with selected applicants as the final step in the application process.

The annual application deadline for Fellowship applications is 1 April. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by 1 July.

Requests for application materials and additional information should be directed to:

ISID Professional Development Working Group
1330 Beacon Street, Suite 228
Brookline, Massachusetts 02446
USA

Fax: (617) 731-1541
E-mail: info@isid.org