May 14, 2007

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

A. CIRA SPONSORED AIDS SEMINARS

1. There are no seminars scheduled at this time.

B. CIRA MEETINGS/ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Peer Review
   05/22/07, 10:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.
   Location: CIRA, Ste # 200, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT
   NOTE: Materials for peer review must be submitted one week in advance of the peer review meeting. If you would like to have a manuscript reviewed, please contact Andria Giovanelli (andria.giovanelli@yale.edu). If you would like to have a proposal reviewed as part of the process of affiliating your research project with CIRA, please contact Kim Blankenship (kim.blankenship@yale.edu). We encourage you to have your proposal reviewed early in its development. The purpose of peer review is to enhance the quality of proposals and publications from CIRA scientists by allowing them to benefit from the Center's expertise. The spirit of CIRA's peer review program is one of collegiality and respect; it is meant to be constructive rather than evaluative. Investigators use the feedback they receive as they see fit.

C. OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. NEW! The Bridgeport Community HIV Forum - "Revised Recommendations for Testing of Adolescents, and Pregnant Women in Health-Care Settings"
   05/30/07, 12:30 P.M. - 2:00 P.M. (Lunch will be provided)
   Speaker(s): Steve Aronin, MD, Medical Director, Waterbury Hospital Infectius Disease Clinic; Assistant Hospital Epidemiologist, Waterbury Hospital Health Center
   Sponsor(s): The CT AIDS Education & Training Center (CAETC) and the Evergreen Network
   Location: First Baptist Church, Brown Room, 126 Washington Ave., Bridgeport, CT
   Contact: You must RSVP to be assured lunch: CAETC@yale.edu or (203) 737-2312 or to the Evergreen Network at (203) 576-0677
   
2. "The Evolution of a Global Pandemic: The Story of HIV/AIDS and Health Policy Responses from Around the World"
   06/01/07 8:30 A.M. - 3:30 P.M.
   The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS continues to be a clarion call to action for leaders in public health, as well as human development, economics, government, international security, and human rights. For the first time since the disease was identified, Public Health Challenges of the 21st Century will focus on bringing together public health and health policy professionals who are addressing the epidemic in all corners of the world and who will show how these sobering statistics have been the impetus for creative approaches in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The speakers will discuss what nations can do as members of the interconnected global village to address HIV/AIDS and the role of donor agencies and countries in establishing programmatic action at the scale necessary to achieve commitments to the cause.
   Sponsor(s): Yale University School of Public Health
   Location: New Haven Lawn Club, 193 Whitney Ave., New Haven, CT
   Contact: To request a brochure or for more information: Dawn Carroll (dawn.carroll@yale.edu), 203-785-6245
3. NEW! Smoking Cessation: Offering the Appropriate Program
   06/06/07 8:30 A.M. - 4:00 P.M.
   This session will provide participants with current information about Connecticut’s legislative efforts to control tobacco and the broad range of targeted marketing that the tobacco industry is using in retail locations in this state. This presentation will discuss issues involving tobacco use in alcohol-dependent individuals including smoking prevalence, health impact, and alcohol-tobacco interactions. Common barriers to tobacco treatment for alcohol-dependent smokers will be reviewed, and related data will be presented. Recent research on smoking cessation interventions for alcoholic smokers will be presented. They are working with the VA to include a speaker on HIV and smoking cessation.
   Sponsor(s): Connecticut Department of Public Health and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System
   Location: VA Connecticut Healthcare System, 555 Willard Ave, Newington CT
   Contact: Laura Minor, Wheeler Clinic, 860-793-2164 (p) 860-793-9813 (fax). www.wheelerclinic.org
4. NEW! "Contemporary and Controversial Issues in Human Subjects' Protection"
   06/07/07 4:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.
   The protection of human subjects of research is a shared responsibility of investigators, academic institutions, and federal regulatory agencies. This program will discuss several contemporary issues in human subjects’ protection, and provide recommendations for best practices in these areas. Researchers, institutional officials responsible for human research protection programs, institutional review board members, ethicists, and the lay public are invited to attend and participate in this program. Speakers will share their views followed by a commentator and general discussion.
   Sponsor(s): The Metropolitan New York Ethics Network and The New York Academy of Medicine
   Location: The New York Academy of Medicine Conference Center located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street
   Contact: For more information on this program please contact Ed North, by e-mail at enorth@nyam.org or by telephone at 212-822-7204. To register go to: http://www.nyam.org/events/?id=273&click=
5. Notice of Intent to Publish Program Announcements with Review to Support Behavioral and Social Science Research on Understanding and Reducing Health Disparities (NOT-OD-07-063)
   The Sponsor, in collaboration with several NIH Institutes/Centers and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), plans to issue two PARs using R01 and R21 funding mechanisms in early June 2007 and with an earliest start date in July 2008. The announcements will remain active for three years with receipts in September of 2007, 2008, and 2009. The purpose of these announcements is to encourage behavioral and social science research on the causes and solutions to health disparities in the U. S. population. Health disparities between, on the one hand, racial/ethnic populations, lower socioeconomic classes, and rural residents and, on the other hand, the overall U.S. population are major public health concerns. Emphasis is placed on research in and among three broad areas of action: 1) public policy, 2) health care, and 3) disease/disability prevention. Particular attention is given to reducing “health gaps” among groups. Proposals that utilize an interdisciplinary approach, investigate multiple levels of analysis, incorporate a life-course perspective, and/or employ innovative methods such as system science or community-based participatory research are particularly encouraged.
   Sponsor(s): Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), Office of the Director, NIH
   Contact: Ronald P. Abeles, Ph.D., Special Assistant to the Director, Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, (301) 496-7859, abeles@nih.gov
   http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-063.html
6. Notice of Intent to Announce a Competition for Funding NCMHD Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Initiative in Reducing and Eliminating Health Disparities: Intervention Research Phase (R24) (NOT-MD-07-001)
   This notice is to announce the intention to issue a FOA in May 2007 for funding the Sponsor’s community-based participatory research (CBPR) initiative in reducing and eliminating health disparities - intervention research phase. This FOA will provide support for disease intervention research in reducing and eliminating health disparities using community-based participatory research that is jointly conducted by health disparity communities and researchers. The intent of this Notice is to alert and encourage current NCMHD CBPR planning grantees and other interested applicants who have CBPR expertise and have existing community and scientific research partnerships to consider applying to this FOA when published in the NIH Guide (http://www.nih.gov). In order to be considered to be responsive to this FOA, applicants who are not current NCMHD CBPR planning grantees must demonstrate that they have fulfilled all the required activities that are outlined in the research planning phase of this initiative.
   Sponsor(s): National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD)
   Contact: Francisco S. Sy, M.D., DrPH, Chief, Office of Community-Based Participatory Research and Outreach, (301) 402-1366, SyF@mail.nih.gov,
   http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-MD-07-001.html