IDCRC Newsletter: January 2023

Submit your nominations for the IDCRC 2023 Awards 

Consider nominating someone from your site for an IDCRC Award. Winners will be presented at the IDCRC Reception during the Annual Meeting.

There are a number of categories for which a nominee may qualify: 

1. VTEU Investigator: well-established VTEU investigator who has made exceptional contributions to research as it relates to the VTEU and IDCRC missions.
2. Early Career Investigator: recent graduate or current participant of the IDCRC Mentoring Program who has made exceptional contributions to research as it relates to the VTEU and IDCRC missions.
3. Staff Star Award: VTEU coordinator or administrator whose exceptional contribution has advanced and supported the quality of IDCRC supported research.
4. Best Scientific Publication of the Year: IDCRC cited publication in the last year that is considered to have had a high impact on the scientific community and/or has led to policy change.
5. Leadership Group (LG) Award: IDCRC member who has demonstrated exemplary leadership in their commitment to the IDCRC LG aims.

Nominations can be made by any IDCRC LG, VTEU or DMID member. All nominations must be received by Friday, February 10, 2023. 

Training

Mentee Profile: Brett Jagger, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy and Immunology, Saint Louis University Medical School

Dr. Jagger’s research focuses on the pre-clinical and clinical development of vaccines and treatments for respiratory and arthropod-borne viral infections, especially influenza and encephalitic arboviruses.

Mentoring Lecture Series

Historical Perspective of the VTEUs

Presenter: Dr. Kathy Edwards, Vanderbilt University

NIH Grants Conference for Early Career Scientists

• NIH Grants Conference, February 1-2, 2023

Job Postings

IDCRC Laboratory Operations Unit (LOU) - Protocol Coordinator I-II 

The focus of responsibilities for the LOU Protocol Coordinator I/II is to support and coordinate IDCRC protocols (clinical trials) on behalf of the LOU in conjunction with other IDCRC stakeholders. LOU Protocol Coordinator I vs II designation will be based on candidate’s qualifications and related experience. The incumbent works under the direction of the Associate Director of the LOU. The LOU Protocol Coordinator will work with protocol teams, laboratory investigators, protocol-specific data management teams, clinical trial sites, and study sponsors in support of all protocol laboratory operations during all phases of the protocol (development, implementation, closeout).

• University of Alabama at Birmingham - Program Manager II

• Baylor College of Medicine - Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor (Infectious Disease) - Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine

• Faculty Position - The Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center

• Faculty Position, Pediatric Immunology and Infectious Diseases

• University of Rochester Infectious Diseases Division Faculty position:  HIV vaccine clinical trials

• Joint ID/EIS Fellowship

• Senior Medical Science Liaison – Immunology

• Southern Research Available Positions in Birmingham, AL

Visit the IDSA Career Center to browse over 200 ID/HIV Medicine job postings.

Event

   Join us for the 2023 IDCRC Annual Meeting

Preparations are underway for the Annual Meeting! This year's robust program will highlight the numerous scientific accomplishments of the IDCRC and VTEUs and provide ample networking opportunities for members. On April 24, there will also be an evening reception and poster session.

Additional information is forthcoming. We look forward to seeing you soon. 

Date: April 24-26, 2023
Location: In-person
NIH Main Campus
Bldg. 35A
Bethesda, MD
*Virtual components will be incorporated*

News

3-Dose Malaria Vaccine Demonstrates Safety, Efficacy in West Africa

The Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite vaccine (PfSPZ, Sanaria), a three-dose regimen of a whole-parasite vaccine against malaria, has demonstrated safety and effectiveness in adults living in Burkina Faso, West Africa, according to a recent release.

"Despite use of rapid diagnostic tests, insecticide-impregnated bednets, use of highly efficacious antimalarial treatments and other community antimalarial initiatives, the total number of deaths and cases due to malaria remained largely unchanged from 2020 to 2021,” researcher Matthew B. Laurens, MD, MPH, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the director of the International Clinical Trials Unit in the Malaria Research Group at the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, in Baltimore, told Infectious Disease Special Edition. “The first malaria vaccine to be approved by the World Health Organization, the RTS,S vaccine, provides modest protection against malaria, and newer, more highly efficacious vaccines are needed.”

Infectious disease expert Edwards ends storied career

Kathryn Edwards, MD, an internationally recognized Vanderbilt University Medical Center physician who has made countless contributions to vaccine evaluation and implementation, public health advocacy, and the mentorship and training of new generations of experts in infectious disease over the past four decades, retired on Dec. 31, 2022.

Buddy Creech, MD, MPH, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program and Edie Carell Johnson Professor of Pediatrics, considers himself lucky to have been mentored by Edwards. He has become her close friend and trusted colleague. “Her enduring legacy will not only be the vaccine studies she has led or the new discoveries in pediatric infectious diseases she has made; rather, her lasting influence in the field will be the vast number of people who consider her their ‘academic mother,’ providing guidance, support, encouragement and sometimes a motherly nudge when appropriate.”

Funding Opportunities

NIH Funding Opportunities Specific to COVID-19
This page contains a listing of active and expired funding opportunities.   

Consortium for Design of TB Drug Regimens (UM1 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) – Due Tuesday, February 7
The purpose of this FOA is to establish a consortium of tuberculosis (TB) preclinical and clinical experts to systematically refine preclinical models by analyses of relevant pre-clinical and clinical data, and to provide results from optimized models to identify the most efficacious combination regimens for future clinical testing through model-informed research.

HIV/AIDS Scholars Using Nonhuman Primate (NHP) Models Program (K01 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) – Due Friday, May 5; Thursday, September 7, 2023; 2024; 2025
The purpose of this NIH Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) is to provide salary and research support to investigators who are within ten years of completing their terminal professional degree or residency training.

NIAID Resource-Related Research Projects (R24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) –
Due 30 days prior (LOI); May 25; September 25, 2023; 2024; 2025 (Full application)
The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to propose resources that provide significant benefit to currently funded high priority projects in need of further coordination and support in the areas specified. Under rare circumstances, this mechanism may be used to support development of a new resource to the broader scientific community of the NIAID.

Catalyst Award for Early-Stage Investigators (ESIs) Pursuing Research on HIV Comorbidities, Coinfections, and Complications (DP1- Clinical Trial Optional) – Due 30 days prior (LOI); May 1, 2023; 2024; 2025
The purpose of this FOA is to support research from creative early-stage investigators who propose highly innovative, pioneering studies with potential to open new areas of HIV/AIDS research related to coinfections, comorbidities, and complications. 

Development of Animal Models and Related Materials for HIV/AIDS Research (R24 Clinical Trials Not Allowed) – Due Friday, January 6, 2024; 2025
The purpose of this FOA is to encourage grant applications aimed at developing, characterizing, or improving animal models for HIV/AIDS research or for improving access to information about, or generated from, the use of these specialized animal models for such research.

IDCRC Studies

IDCRC Concept Quick Stats

NOTE:

• Protocols Transitioned to IDCRC for Protocol Implementation: 5
• Status: Protocol Dev/Pre-implementation: 1; Active Study: 3; Halted 1
• Other studies in process (not from an IDCRC concept): 5

Communication Resources

Please submit IDCRC news to epthomp@emory.edu for inclusion in the monthly newsletter and IDCRC.org.