AIDS Science Day a tremendous success!

CIRA was pleased to have Seth Kalichman, Ph.D., Professor, University of Connecticut, Center for Health, Intervention and Prevention (CHIP), kick off AIDS Science Day last week with a rousing talk on AIDS denialism. His recent book, Denying AIDS: Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, and Human Tragedy, explores a growing movement of naysayers that has dedicated itself to replacing genuine knowledge of the discovery of HIV and the rise of the AIDS pandemic with destructive misinformation.

• Denying AIDS and other oddities, Dr. Kalichman's blog
• Review presentation slides from AIDS Science Day
• Photos and videos will be posted soon

CIRA Sponsored Seminars and Meetings

1. THIS WEEK! Peer Review
   
   Date/Time: 04/08/09, 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
   Location: CIRA, Ste # 200, Rm. 202, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT
   CIRA peer review provides an opportunity to enhance the quality of grant proposals and manuscripts written by CIRA scientists by sharing them with a multidisciplinary group of colleagues. If you would like to submit a grant proposal or manuscript for peer review, please contact Jon Atherton (jon.atherton@yale.edu; 203-764-4338)
2. THIS WEEK! YACS@CIRA Seminar Series
   
   Date/Time: 04/09/09, 12:00 Noon - 1:30 PM (Lunch Included)
   Title: Social Grants & the Incentive to Trade-Off Health for Income among Individuals on HAART in South Africa
   Speaker: Atheendar S. Venkataramani, Ph.D. Candidate, Yale School of Public Health
   Co-sponsor: Institution for Social and Policy Studies
   Location: CIRA, Ste # 200, Rm. 202, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT
   RSVP: Please RSVP to Michelle Gardin (203-764-4347) by April 7
3. Peer Review
   
   Date/Time: 04/14/09, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
   Location: CIRA, Ste # 200, Rm. 202, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT
   If you would like to submit a grant proposal or manuscript for peer review, please contact Jon Atherton (jon.atherton@yale.edu; 203-764-4338)
4. NEW! Research in Progress Seminar Series
   
   Date/Time: 04/17/09, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
   Title: Effectiveness and Safety of Using New Generation Antipsychotic Medication for Early Episode Schizophrenia in Adult Patients, Maria Taame, M.P.H., OIT Trainee, Status of Resistance to Antiretroviral Drugs and Evaluating HIV Medication Resistance among Drug Users, Irina Kozodoy, M.D.
   Location: CIRA, Ste # 200, Rm. 202, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT
   

General Announcements

1. TODAY! National Public Health Week
   
   Date/Time: Monday, April 6 - Sunday, April 12
   Since 1995, communities across the U.S. have celebrated National Public Health Week to recognize the contributions of public health and highlight issues that are important to improving the public's health.

   Below are details on a panel discussion sponsored by the Office of Community Health, Yale School of Public Health:

   Perspectives on Public Health Disparities in CT
   Date: Monday, April 6, 3:30 PM
   Moderator: Paul D. Cleary, Ph.D., Dean, YSPH
   Panelists: Ellen Andrews, Ph.D., Connie Malave-Branyan, M.P.H., Edith Pestana, M.P.H., Eric Triffin, M.P.H.
   Location: YSPH, Room 101, 60 College St, New Haven, CT

   Reception to immediately follow panel.

2. NEW! Presentation of Dissertation Research
   
   Date/Time: 04/13/09, 2:00 PM
   Title: Exploring Sociobehavioral Mechanisms Potentially Underlying Racial/Ethnic Disparities in HIV/STI Using Population-Based Data
   Speaker: Enrique Pouget, Ph.D., student, Chronic Disease Epidemiology Division (CDE), Yale School of Public Health
   Location: LEPH, Room 101, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT
   
3. NIH Fiscal Policy for Grant Awards – FY 2009 (NOT-OD-09-066)
   
   This Notice provides guidance about the NIH Fiscal Operations Plan for FY2009 and it implements the FY 2009 enacted Omnibus appropriation that provided NIH with $30.4 billions or 3 percent more than FY 2008 funding. The NIH will continue to manage its portfolio of investments in biomedical research as described in the FY 2008 Fiscal Policy Notice (see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-036.html). This includes continuing to address the need for a highly productive pool of researchers by providing support for new investigators and sustaining established investigators, who have little or no additional research support.
   Issued by: National Institutes of Health
   Contact: For more information please go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-066.html.
4. Announcing the FY 2009 NIH Director’s Bridge Awards (NOT-OD-09-068)
   
   This announcement updates and expands the NIH Director’s Bridge Award (NDBA), which was initiated in FY 2007. The NDBA provides continued but limited bridge funding for meritorious investigators who just miss the funding cutoff and have minimal support from other sources. The continued funding will permit the Principal Investigator additional time to strengthen a resubmission application. An NDBA recipient will receive an R56 award for a single year.
   Issued by: National Institutes of Health
   Contact: For more information please go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-068.html.
5. Salary Limitation on Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Contracts (NOT-OD-09-069)
   
   This notice provides updated information regarding the salary limitation for NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards and extramural research and development contract awards.
   Issued by: National Institutes of Health
   Contact: For more information please go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-069.html.
6. Notice of Legislative Mandates in Effect for FY2009 (NOT-OD-09-070)
   
   The Omnibus Appropriations Acts, 2009 (Public Law 111-8), provides funding to NIH for the remainder of FY2009. The intent of this Notice is to provide information on the statutory provisions that limit the use of funds on National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant, cooperative agreement, and contract awards for FY2009.
   Issued by: National Institutes of Health
   Contact: For more information please go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-070.html.
7. The Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 Makes the NIH Public Access Policy Permanent (NOT-OD-09-071)
   
   In accordance with Division F Section 217 of PL 111-8 (Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009), the NIH Public Access Policy (NOT-OD-08-033) remains a legislative mandate for FY 2009 and beyond. The law states: SEC. 217. The Director of the National Institutes of Health ("NIH") shall require in the current fiscal year and thereafter that all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication: Provided, That the NIH shall implement the public access policy in a manner consistent with copyright law.
   Issued by: National Institutes of Health
   Contact: For more information please go to http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-071.html.
8. AIDS WALK NEW HAVEN - APRIL 26, 2009
   
   http://www.aidswalknewhaven.org (New Web site!)
   
   You can now Register Online for the Walk!
   All registration and donations can now be done via the internet as well: just click Register Now on the AIDS Walk home page or go to www.firstgiving.com/aidswalknewhaven. This year we will also feature our first 5K Run event. We will provide awards and prizes for the fastest times and Runners will be able to also participate in the traditional AIDS Walk. Check the Web site for more details to follow. In order for AIDS Walk New Haven to continue its success, we need your help!
   
   How You and Your Organization Can Help with AIDS Walk New Haven Publicity (Spread the word!) - In order to get a large showing, we need to get the word out! Please tell your friends, family, co-workers, employees, spouse's co-workers, all about our new Web site and the date of the Walk - April 26, 2009. AIDS Walk New Haven, Inc. minimizes its expenses to ensure every dollar goes to our cause in supporting the HIV / AIDS patient community, but this means our advertising budget is low so your word-of-mouth promotions are a valuable asset! To get off to a good start, feel free to forward this email around.
   
   Register as an Individual or Team - Our registration is now fully online where you can sign up for the Walk and create your own personalized fundraising page. All organizations and businesses are further encouraged to create a Team, where each member can see how their teammates are fundraising and compete with other teams to see who can raise the most. The online set up is simple, easy, and a great way to get others to donate to the cause.
   
   Donate by Shopping Online - That's right, you can donate to AIDS Walk New Haven simply by shopping online. Check out our GoodShop Web site at http://www.goodshop.com/?charityid=889135 where you can buy from over 700 stores (including Amazon, Best Buy, eBay, Apple, 1-800-Contacts) and a small portion of your purchase will go to our cause. It's free, quick and easy.
9. Community-Based Research: New Ethical Challenges
   
   Date: Thursday, May 21, 2009
   Description: With generous support from the Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation, the Yale Interdisciplinary Center on Bioethics and CARE are hosting a one-day conference at Yale University in New Haven, CT on ethical principles and guidelines for engaging community and university partners in the conduct of community-based research. This will be an opportunity to bring together representatives from the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) sites, community and university representatives of institutional review boards (IRB's), and, community agency leaders responsible for reviewing research in their agencies. The conference will be designed for active engagement of all participants in working group sessions, with concrete recommendations to meet each objective.
   Speaker: Jeremy Sugarman, M.D., M.P.H., Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Bioethics and Medicine
   Sponsors: CARE: Community Alliance for Research and Engagement and the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics
   Location: Yale University
   Contact: To RSVP and for more information, please contact: Laurie Hurshman at 203-432-9736 or laurie.hurshman@yale.edu.
   The conference is free and will include breakfast, lunch, and reception. Attendees are responsible for travel and hotel expenses; discount rooms will be available to all participants.
10. The 12th Annual Summit on Adolescents and HIV: The Impact on Youth, Families, Schools and Communities
    
    Date: Wednesday, 06/03/2009
    Description: This one day conference will focus on youth, advocacy, prevention, screening, care and treatment, and is designed for the full spectrum of providers who serve adolescents/young adults in New England.
    Sponsors: Boston Happens/Children's Hospital, New England HIV Education Consortium, New England AIDS Education & Training Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, University of Massachusetts
    Location: Crowne Plaza Hotel, 2 Somerset Parkway Nashua, NH
    Contact: For more information contact Brian Abascal, Boston Happens/Children Hospital, E-mail: brian.abascal@childrens.harvard.edu; Phone: (617) 355-2735; or access the Web site: http://www.neaetc.org/events/detail.cfm?eventID=1262
    NOTE: Registration will be available at http://www.neaetc.org.
11. North America Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit Mobilizing Knowledge: Housing is HIV Prevention and Care
    
    Date: 06/03/2009 - 06/05/2009
    Increasing evidence points to the role of housing – or lack of housing – for the continuing HIV epidemic and health disparities. The theme of Summit IV is mobilizing knowledge, with a focus on building participants’ knowledge base and skills to inform housing and health policy and practice in their communities.
    Sponsors: The National AIDS Housing Coalition (NAHC)
    Location: Double Tree Hotel Crystal City-National Airport, 300 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22202. (Please call 1-866-999-8439 for reservations and reference the National AIDS Housing Coalition)
    Contact: For more information contact NAHC, E-mail: nahc@nationalaidshousing.org; Phone: (202) 347-0333; Fax: (202) 347-3411; or access the Web site: http://nationalaidshousing.org/2008/08/save-the-date/