CSRD September Newsletter

Veterans Health Administration sent this bulletin at 09/29/2023 05:00 PM EDT

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Clinical Science

Research and Development

CSRD Newsletter

Vol. 5, No. 9, 2023.9.29

VA / STARRS-LS Researcher-in-Residence Program Announces Selection of First Resident Cohort

The Office of Research and Development (ORD) is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Claire Houtsma and Dr. Emily Edwards for the inaugural cohort of the VA / Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Service – Longitudinal Study (STARRS-LS) Researcher-in-Residence program. The program, announced in April 2023, will embed selected VA investigators into STARRS-LS investigative teams, allowing these VA investigators full access to STARRS-LS data for the purpose of examining suicidality and related outcomes in Veterans. STARRS-LS is the longitudinal follow-up to Army STARRS (Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Service Members) and is a Department of Defense (DoD)-funded project that commenced in 2009 and was designed to comprehensively investigate risk and protective factors for suicide, suicide-related behavior, non-suicidal self-injury, and other mental/behavioral health issues among Army Soldiers. It is the largest study of mental health risk and resilience ever conducted among Army personnel.

Drs. Houtsma and Edwards are both suicide prevention investigators who have experiences working with large data sets.

Dr. Houtsma, a psychologist affiliated with the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System, has suicide prevention research interests that include investigation of lethal means safety delivery and outcomes.

Dr. Edwards, a psychologist affiliated with the James J. Peters VAMC and the VISN 2 MIRECC, has suicide prevention research interests that involve studying interventions for individuals transitioning from military to civilian status.

During their 2-year residencies, Drs. Houtsma and Edwards will be STARRS-LS team members who will pursue independent research projects. Additionally, Drs. Houtsma and Edwards may assist in responding to queries from the Office of Mental Health and Suicide prevention and other shareholders and will help establish processes for linking STARRS-LS and VA data. The VA/STARRS Researcher-in-Residence program is being managed by the Suicide Prevention Research Impact NeTwork (SPRINT) whose mission includes advancement of precision medicine approaches to suicide prevention. More information about SPRINT and the VA/STARRS Researcher-in-Residence Program can be found at Suicide Prevention Research Impact NeTwork (SPRINT) (va.gov).

--from the desk of Dr. Joe Constans, Senior Manager for Suicide Prevention

Submit September:

Submit to JIT. Just do it.

Principal Investigators (PIs) are encouraged to upload materials to JIT areas incrementally, as soon as they are completed, to allow time for ORD staff to review and make decisions. There is no need to wait for all JIT areas to be ready as this causes additional delays.

Only Research and Development (R&D) office staff users with signing official (SO) roles can submit JIT data. After uploading documents into eRA Commons JIT, PIs should alert their local R&D office SO to submit the JIT data. Documents uploaded into JIT areas need to be submitted in order for Office of Research and Development (ORD) staff reviewing the documents to make their decision (approve, revise or disapprove) in a timely manner.

Pain/Opiod AMP RFA Webinar is October 3

Webinar: A webinar on Pain/Opioid Use AMP RFAs will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern Time Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Link to register: https://veteransaffairs.webex.com/weblink/register/r1a221e63566ce266e0a48ad38f3bb099

New Focused RFA:

The Pain/Opioid Use Disorder Actively Managed Portfolio (POU-AMP) announces a funding opportunity for (BX/CX/HX/RX-24-037) Pharmacogenomics/Biomarker Studies to Guide Clinical Care in Pain and Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), which was released on September 22, 2023, and can be found at https://vaww.research.va.gov/funding/rfa.cfm.

This FOA/RFA accepts applications that involve:

Use of machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to extract and code data from electronic health records and other sources to define specific clinical, genetic, and behavioral factors for use in predictive models to inform progression to or treatment for high impact chronic pain (HICP).
Studies identifying behavioral, clinical, genetic, and epigenetic risk factors that can be used in predictive models to identify: 1) individuals with HICP; 2) individuals at risk of progressing to HICP; 3) individuals at risk of developing OUD as a result of prescribed opioids.
Studies identifying behavioral, clinical, genetic, and epigenetic biomarkers that may predict responsiveness to specific pharmacologic or nonpharmacologic treatments for chronic painful conditions.
Prospective studies validating behavioral, clinical, genetic or epigenetic biomarkers and models incorporating multiple variables to predict treatment approaches for individuals with HICP.

Note: Submitting investigators must adhere to all eligibility and preapplication requirements and submission deadlines detailed in the Pain/Opioid Use RFAs, found at: https://vaww.research.va.gov/funding/rfa.cfm

Scientific/Research Contacts for More Information:

Dr. Carol Fowler, BLRD, Carol.Fowler@va.gov

Dr. Jayanthi Sankar, CSRD, Jayanthi.Sankar@va.gov

Dr. Cathie Plouzek, HSRD, Cathie.Plouzek@va.gov

Dr. Audrey Kusiak, RRD, Audrey.Kusiak@va.gov

CSRD DMC is Seeking Members

The CSRD Data Monitoring Committee (DMC), that provides data and safety monitoring for CSRD-funded projects, is seeking biostatisticians, neurologists, and other new members. For more information, please contact DMC Manager Dr. Tamara Paine.at Tamara.Paine@va.gov.

CSRD Contact Information

Career Development: VHACADEReview@va.gov

Clinical Trials: clin-review@va.gov

General Mailbox: VHABLRD-CSRD@va.gov (Please note this is a shared mailbox that should be used for general questions that will be triaged by staff to the appropriate individual.)

Just-in-Time Mailbox: VHACOBLCSRDJIT@va.gov

Scientific Portfolio/Program Managers: BLR&D and CSR&D Contact Information (va.gov)

Newsletter: Lucindia.Shouse@va.gov


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