April 21, 2008

• A. CIRA SPONSORED AIDS SEMINARS
• B. CIRA MEETINGS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
• C. OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

A. CIRA SPONSORED AIDS SEMINARS

1. THIS WEEK! Director's International Seminar
   
   Date/Time: 04/24/08, 4:00 P.M. – 5:30 P.M.
   Title: "China’s Response to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic"
   Speaker(s): Zunyou Wu, M.D., Ph.D., Director, National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, China, CDC
   Location: LEPH Room 101, 60 College Street New Haven, CT
   Contact: Please RSVP to Nicole Whitcher. For further information send an email or call 203-764-4337.
2. THIS WEEK! YACS@CIRA Seminar Series (Brown bag lunch. Cookies and beverages provided.)
   
   Date/Time: 04/24/08, 12:00 P.M. – 1:00 P.M.
   Title: "Discarded Needles and the Urban Environment - Attractors, Deterrents and Disposal Options"
   Speaker(s): Luc de Montigny, Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Urban Design & Planning, University of Washington
   Sponsor(s): Co-sponsored by CIRA, the Institution for Social and Policy Studies and the Yale School of Public Health's Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases.
   Location: LEPH Room 608, 60 College St, New Haven, CT
   Contact: Please RSVP to Betsy Williams (betsy.williams@yale.edu). For more information or directions, please call 764-4333, or visit the YACS@CIRA Web site: http://cira.med.yale.edu/events/yacs.html.
3. THIS WEEK! Research in Progress Seminar Series
   
   Date/Time: 04/25/08, 2:00 P.M. – 3:30 P.M.
   Title: "Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C virus infections in attendees of sexual transmitted disease clinics in Saint Petersburg, Russia"
   Speaker(s): Maria Meringof, M.P.H., International Trainee
   Sponsor(s): Office of International Training (OIT), CIRA
   Location: CIRA, Ste. 200, Rm. 202, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT
   

B. CIRA MEETINGS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. THIS WEEK! Peer Review
   Date/Time: 04/24/08, 10:00 A.M. - 12:00 Noon
   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. The spirit of CIRA peer review is one of collegiality and respect; peer review is constructive rather than evaluative. Investigators use the feedback they receive as they see fit. We encourage you to have your proposal reviewed early in its development. If you would like to submit a grant proposal or manuscript for peer review, please contact Jon Atherton (jon.atherton@yale.edu; 764-4351).
2. Law, Policy and Ethics (LPE) Core Meeting
   Date/Time: 04/28/08, 10:30 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.
   Location: CIRA, Ste. 200, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT
3. Peer Review
   Date/Time: 05/02/08, 10:00 A.M. - 12:00 Noon
   Location: CIRA, Ste. 200, Rm. 202, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT
4. Executive Committee Meeting
   Date/Time: 05/09/08, 10:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.
   Location: CIRA, Ste. 200, Room 223, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT
5. NEW! Interdisciplinary Research Methods (IRM) Core Meeting
   Date/Time: 05/09/08, 1:00 P.M. - 2:30 P.M.
   Location: CIRA, Ste. 200, Room 223, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT

C. OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. THIS WEEK! ***New Series*** "Empowering the Consumer: A Quarterly Educational Series for People Infected and Affected by HIV/AIDS"
   
   Date/Time: 1st Session: 04/23/08, 12:00 Noon (Lunch Provided)
   Sponsor: Waterbury ID Clinic and the CT AIDS Education and Training Center
   Location: Waterbury Hospital ID Clinic, Suite L-06, 140 Grandview Ave., Waterbury, CT
   Contact: To RSVP or for more information please contact: caetc@yale.edu or 203-737-2312
2. NIH Announces the Posting of Updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Financial Conflict of Interest Requirements for All NIH-Supported Institutions (NOT-OD-08-063)
   
   Issued By: National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Office of Extramural Research
   This Notice announces the availability of updated and expanded FAQs related to the Responsibility of Applicants for Promoting Objectivity in Research for which PHS Funding is Sought as described in Title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 50, Subpart F (for grants and cooperative agreements) and Responsible Prospective Contractors as described in Title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 94 (for contracts). Given the increasing complexity of the financial interests held by biomedical researchers, the Public Health Service (PHS) and the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) published two regulations in 1995 establishing standards and procedures to be followed by institutions that apply for research funding from PHS agencies, including the NIH. The regulation is aimed at ensuring that the design, conduct, or reporting of research funded under grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts will not be biased by any conflicting financial interest of the investigators responsible for the research. Answers were compiled to the most frequently asked questions regarding the implementation of these regulations. The FAQs may be accessed on the Office of Extramural Research, Conflict of Interest Page at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/coi/index.htm.
   Contact: For more information please go to: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-063.html.
3. Revised NIH Parental Leave Policy for the Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Awards (NOT-OD-08-064)
   
   Issued By: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
   This notice revises the parental leave policy for the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA). Current NRSA policy allows trainees on institutional research training grants (T32, T34, T35, and the NRSA component of T90), and fellows on individual research training fellowships (F30, F31, F32, and F33) to receive stipends for up to 30 calendar days of parental leave per year for the adoption or the birth of a child. Effective immediately, NIH is revising the policy as follows: Trainees and fellows may receive stipends for up to 60 calendar days (equivalent to 8 work weeks) of parental leave per year for the adoption or the birth of a child when those in comparable training positions at the grantee organization have access to this level of paid leave for this purpose. Either parent is eligible for parental leave. The use of parental leave must be approved by the training Program Director.
   Contact: For more information please go to: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-064.html.
4. Revision of NIH Policy Concerning Concurrent Support from Mentored Career Development (K) Award and a Research Grant (NOT-OD-08-065)
   
   Issued By: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
   This notice revises and expands NIH policy CONCERNING CONCURRENT SUPPORT FROM CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARD AND A RESEARCH GRANT, published in the NIH Guide on November 14, 2004: NOT-OD-04-007. For a listing of all NIH career development (K) awards, see: http://grants.nih.gov/training/careerdevelopmentawards.htm. NIH mentored K awards are intended to support a period of mentored career development in preparation for a role as an independent researcher in biomedical and behavioral science. NIH is continuing and expanding its policy on mentored K awards to allow award recipients to hold concurrent support from their K award and a competing research grant when recognized as a Principal Investigator (PI) or subproject Director of a multi-project NIH grant. Currently mentored K award recipients in the last two years of their support period are permitted to reduce the level of effort required for the K award and replace that effort with effort on an NIH research grant or subproject provided they remain in a mentored situation (NOT-OD-04-007). The policy change expands eligible grants to include research grants obtained from any Federal agency; clarifies when the research grant may be obtained relative to the years remaining on the K award; and clarifies that status as a PI on a multiple PI award also confers eligibility. The policy detailed in this notice is effective for currently active and for all future K awards.
   Contact: For more information please go to: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-065.html.