2024 OMED Call for Research Abstracts - Deadline June 17

The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) announces the CALL FOR RESEARCH ABSTRACTS for the 2024 Osteopathic Medical Education Conference (OMED).  The date of the virtual poster session and student competition is Friday, September 20, 2024. The AOA's virtual poster session/competition provides an opportunity for researchers, both new and mature, to share their research with a broad audience. As part of the competition, the AOA Bureau of International Osteopathic Medicine (BIOM) provides an opportunity for osteopathic medical students and residents to share their research experiences as they relate specifically to osteopathic healthcare internationally.  

The virtual Poster Session is integral to the Osteopathic Medical Education Conference (OMED) experience.  Investigators interested in participating will submit an abstract of their research project.  Approved abstracts are published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine (JOM) online.  The non-international virtual Poster Session will include a virtual student poster competition.  Students must enter the competition at the time of their abstract submission. The International Poster Session will include a student and resident virtual poster competition.  Students and residents must enter the competition at the time of their abstract submission.   

Guidelines:
Abstracts must be clinical, basic science, health services, public health, or international health studies and fall within one of the AOA research topic areas:

Research Topic Areas
• Chronic Diseases & Conditions
• Acute and Chronic Pain Management
• Impact of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) & Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT)
• Musculoskeletal Injuries and Prevention
• Osteopathic Philosophy
• Health Disparities/Social Determinants of Health
• International Health

Submission Deadline
• Monday, June 17, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. CST

Abstracts Eligibility and Instructions Document

For more information and to submit an abstract, visit the AOA website.

Changes Coming to Applications and Peer Review in January 2025

NIH is implementing multiple changes that will impact the preparation and peer review of most grant applications submitted to NIH for due dates on or after January 25, 2025. Although each of these initiatives have specific goals, they are all meant to simplify, clarify, or ensure greater fairness.

NIH just released a guide notice (NOT-OD-24-084), what they are referring to as an “uber” notice, that provides an overview of each change to help the community contextualize them as details are released over the next few months. They developed this video (25 min) to provide you with an overview of the following changes:

Simplified review criteria for most research project grants. NIH announced this initiative this past October, held an informational webinar in November, and are also providing additional information on what this means for funding opportunities in a separate blog today.

Revisions to the fellowship application and review process. You may remember the request for information NIH published last year. In the next few weeks, NIH will be releasing details of the resulting fellowship application and review changes that they are implementing. The changes are intended to: (1) better focus reviewer attention on the fellowship candidate’s preparedness and potential, the research training plan, and the sponsor/sponsoring institutional commitment to the candidate; (2) ensure a broad range of candidates and research training contexts can be recognized as meritorious; and (3) reduce bias in review by emphasizing the commitment to the candidate without undue consideration of sponsor and institutional reputation. NIH will be hosting a webinar to walk the community through the fellowship changes on September 19, 2024.

Updates to reference letter guidance. NIH is updating the instructions for reference letters to provide more structure for reviewers. Resulting letters will better assist reviewers in outlining the candidate’s strengths, weaknesses, and potential to pursue a productive career in biomedical science. The updated instructions will be posted later this fall on the Reference Letter web page.

Updates to NRSA training grant applications. Later this spring NIH will publish an NIH Guide notice announcing changes to training grant applications that, at a high level, include:

• Updating the NRSA Data Tables to reduce applicant and reviewer burden;
• Including the Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research and the Recruitment Plan to Enhance Diversity as items that contribute to the overall impact score; and
• Enhancing research training programs by further defining expectations for mentor training and clarifying positive outcomes related to preparing trainees for the breadth of research and related careers relevant to the NIH mission.

Read the full article here. 

NIH-NIDCR St. Louis Forum

Please save the date for the National Institutes of Health-National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIH-NIDCR) Forum to be held in St. Louis on August 20, 2024 (more details on location and times to follow). We anticipate options for in-person and virtual participation. This exciting event will bring together leading researchers, clinicians, and trainees to discuss the latest advancements in oral and craniofacial health research.

The forum will feature a variety of presentations and discussions, including a keynote from Director Rena D’Souza, DDS, MS, PhD, who will offer valuable insights into NIDCR’s support of oral and craniofacial research. The Research Forum will offer a unique opportunity for ATSU researchers to connect with colleagues from different disciplines to explore new avenues for collaboration.

New NIH "FORMS-I" Grant Application Forms and Instructions Coming for Due Dates on or after January 25, 2025

The following application forms include substantive form changes (i.e., new/deleted/modified fields). All other forms include only an OMB expiration date change.

• PHS 398 Research Training Program Plan
• PHS Fellowship Supplemental Form
• PHS Assignment Request Form
• PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement Form

Key Changes:

• A new attachment field for the Recruitment Plan to Enhance Diversity on the PHS 398 Research Training Program Plan. Additional changes for institutional training grants are detailed via NIH Guide notice NOT-OD-24-129.
• As part of NIH efforts to improve the peer review process for NRSA Fellowship applications, there will be modifications to some sections of the PHS Fellowship Supplement Form. Additional details are provided via an NIH Guide notice NOT-OD-24-107.
• NIH adoption and required use of the Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support by May 2025. Additional details will be communicated via NIH Guide notice by summer 2024. 

See High-level Summary of Form Changes in FORMS-I Application Packages for a full list of known form changes. These changes will be implemented with application form packages identified with a Competition ID of "FORMS-I" and associated application guide instructions. Additional guidance and confirmation of implementation plans will be provided in fall 2024.

Effective Date

Applicants must use FORMS-I application packages for due dates on or after January 25, 2025, and must use FORMS-H application packages for due dates on or before January 24, 2025. Applications submitted using an incorrect forms package for their intended due date will be withdrawn and removed from funding consideration. Read the full notice here.

Preparing for Funding Opportunities Using the Simplified Review Framework

Last October, Open Mike announced that NIH was implementing a simplified review framework for most research project grants (RPGs). As a reminder, in the simplified review framework NIH aims to better facilitate the mission of scientific peer review – identification of the strongest, highest-impact research. The changes are intended to:

1. Enable peer reviewers to better focus on answering the key questions necessary to assess the scientific and technical merit of proposed research projects: Can and should the proposed research project be conducted?
2. Mitigate the effect of reputational bias by refocusing the evaluation of investigator/environment to within the context of the proposed research.
3. Reduce reviewer burden by shifting policy compliance activities to NIH staff.

Today, NIH released a Guide Notice (NOT-OD-24-085) to provide an update on the implementation plans for the simplified review framework. The Notice provides guidance to applicants on navigating new and updated funding opportunities expected to be published between now and January 2025. Read the full article here.