Important Dates

New Award
Nominations are now open for the inaugural Dean’s Award for Exceptional Achievement in Graduate Studies, which will recognize 10 outstanding graduate students in the School of Medicine who are entering their 4^th year of study. The award provides $5,000/year of stipend support per student for two years. More details and the RedCap nomination form are here. The nomination deadline is May 21.

Vanderbilt-Ancora Deadline Extended

Vanderbilt and Deerfield Management have created Ancora Innovation to catalyze the development of early stage therapeutics discovered at VU/VUMC. Proposals may be submitted through the RFP process, and the deadline for submission has been extended to June 4.

Congratulations

Biochemistry Champs!

Heartfelt congratulations to Yan Su (Guengerich lab) and Kamakoti Bhat (Cortez lab), winners of the 2018 Leon W. Cunningham Postdoctoral Fellow Award and Leon W. Cunningham Award for Excellence in Biochemistry, respectively.

AAPS Foundation Fellowship

Kudos to Elizabeth Gibson (Osheroff lab) who has landed the 2017 AAPS Foundation Fellowship for her work on antibacterial drug-resistant tuberculosis!

New Discoveries

Addiction-Mediated Changes in the Brain

Erin Calipari and her colleagues demonstrate unique patterns of gene transcription in response to cocaine exposure, withdrawal from addiction, and re-exposure following withdrawal.

Structure of a Key Hunger Regulatory Receptor

Jens Meiler and his student Brian Bender joined an international team of researchers to elucidate the structure of the obesity-associated neuropeptide Y Y1 receptor.

H. pylori Exploits Lipid Rafts

New research from Ann Kennworthy and her lab shows that Helicobacter pylori toxin associates with lipid raft domains in the plasma membrane to gain entry into the cell.

Protective Role of Lipids in the Skin

A new report from Alan Brash and colleagues reveals the role of two epoxide hydrolases in helping to form the epidermal water permeability barrier.

Idling Cells Key to Cancer Therapy Failure

A recent report from Vito Quaranta and his lab demonstrates that cancer therapy creates an “idling” population of melanoma cells that can later resume growth.

Keeping the Heart in Rhythm

Structural data from the labs of Walter Chazin and Christopher Johnson show how calmodulin interacts with the cardiac voltage-gated sodium channel to maintain heart rhythm.

Control of Antibody Production

A new study from Mark Boothby and his lab outlines the role of the nutrient sensor mTORC1 in the production of high affinity antibodies.

External Funding Opportunities

Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program
Six award mechanisms are available through the Dept. of Defense’s Breast Cancer Research Program. All have pre-application deadlines between May 15 and May 16.

American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grants
The ACS offers Institutional Research Grants of up to $30,000 to support junior faculty interested in cancer research. The application deadline is May 28.

Blake A. Jenkins Discovery Fund
The Blake A. Jenkins-Discovery fund requests proposals for research into bipolar disorder and related conditions. The 1 or 2-year awards total up to $50,000. Faculty and postdocs may apply. The application deadline is May 30.

Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Emerging Leader Awards
The Mark Foundation Emerging Leader Awards provide funding of up to $750,000 over 3 years to faculty in the 3^rd to 8^th year of their career. The deadline for letters of intent is June 4.

Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program
Five award mechanisms are available through the Dept. of Defense’s Ovarian Cancer Award Program. All have pre-application deadlines between May 30 and July 25.

Department of Defense Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program
Two award mechanisms are available through the Dept. of Defense’s Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program. Both have pre-application deadlines of June 22.

SEC Travel Grants
The academic body of the SEC offers travel grants of $1,500 to $3,500 to support faculty travel between SEC institutions for research and collaboration. The application deadline is June 1.

Breast Cancer Alliance Young Investigator Grants
The Breast Cancer Alliance offers 2-year grants of $125,000 total to early career scientists who are pursuing breast cancer research. Applications are due July 20^th.

Limited Submission Opportunities

Pew Biomedical Scholars Award
VU may submit one nominee per major school/division for the Pew Biomedical Scholars Award , which provides grants of up to $300,000 over 4 years in support of young faculty. Applications to be the Vanderbilt nominee are due May 24.

Pew -Stewart Scholars Program
VICC may submit one nominee for the Pew-Stewart Scholars for Cancer Research Program, which provides grants of up to $300,000 over four years in support of young faculty. Applications to be the Vanderbilt nominee are due May 24.

Internal Funding Opportunities

Basic Sciences Bridge Funding
Primary Basic Sciences faculty may use the Bridge Funding Program to cover temporary lapses of funding or realign projects to embrace new directions. Applications for the next round of funding must be submitted by May 15.

All Faculty, Postdocs, and Students are Encouraged to:

VOTE!
The Tennessee state primary election will be held August 2. You can register to vote here. The deadline is 30 days before the election.

Get an ORCID Account!
Faculty, postdocs, and students are encouraged to apply for an ORCID account/number. This is actually required for submission of manuscripts to some journals.

Get a Google Scholar Account!
Faculty are encouraged to consider setting up a Google Scholar account, which does a remarkably good job of tabulating and continually updating faculty publication lists and metrics.

Acknowledge the Cores!
All are reminded that it is important to cite any grant-supported VU or VUMC Core Facilities that were employed in the course of work being published. It is an NIH requirement and will help the Cores secure future funding. Contact the Core Director for wording and relevant grant numbers to cite.

Faculty Spotlight – Danny Winder