Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

CSRD Newsletter

Vol. 6, No. 2, 2024.2.29

Miriam's Message

I am grateful to Christopher Bever, MD, MBA, Deputy CRADO, for providing the document below for this month’s CSRD Newsletter. Chris has been leading the Investigators, Scientific Review and Management (ISRM) component of the ORD reorganization as we transition away from the current four Services within ORD. Should you have any questions and/or comments regarding what you read below, please direct them to Chris at Christopher.Bever@va.gov.

--From the desk of Miriam Smyth, PhD, Acting Director, CSRD

THE OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TRANSFORMATIONAL INITIATIVE:

PREPARING FOR IMPLEMENTATION

The Enterprise Transformation Initiative: Three years ago, the VA, led by the Office of Enterprise Integration, embarked on a transformation to support better integration across the organization to provide better services to Veterans. Following that lead, the Office of Research and Development (ORD) began a transformation to better integrate services and research across the organization. Among other benefits, the ORD transformation has improved IT support for research, established a national research HR program and improved start-up times for clinical trials. Part of the ORD enterprise transformation involved a change from the discipline-based Services to a series of Portfolios focused on areas of Veteran need organized under a new unit – Investigators, Scientific Review and Management (ISRM).

Investigators, Scientific Review and Management: This change is in response to input from Congress, VA leadership and other important stakeholders. The ORD Services (Rehabilitation R&D, Health Services R&D, Clinical Science R&D and Biomedical Laboratory R&D) will be replaced by a series of Portfolios (see below). As of October 1, 2024, four Broad Portfolios and five Actively Managed Portfolios will be established to replace the Services. The Broad Portfolios will cover a range of research most of which will be investigator initiated. They will be Brain, Behavioral and Mental Health; Health Systems Research; Medical Health and Aging; and Rehabilitation Science.  The Actively Managed Portfolios will focus on specific translational priorities established with our clinical partners. They will be Military-Related Toxic Exposures, Pain and Opioid Use Disorders, Precision Oncology, Suicide Prevention and Traumatic Brain Injury.   

Changes to funding opportunity announcements:  Currently, each Service publishes its own Requests for Applications (RFAs). This has led to over 60 RFAs that vary widely based on the publishing Service and includes some duplication. To address these issues, ISRM will shift to the use of cross-portfolio RFAs and program announcements. The cross-portfolio RFAs will be developed for the different types of research being supported by ISRM and will allow the requirements of the RFA to be determined by the type of research being conducted rather than by who is funding the research. Program announcements will allow the Portfolios to rapidly publish their interest in funding research in specific areas, some with specific requirements for funding.

Use of pre-applications in eRA Commons:  The use of eRA pre-applications by the Portfolios will be supported to replace Letters-Of-Intent and Intent-To-Submit. The pre-applications can be used to screen potential applications and to also forecast Scientific Review Group (SRG) workload for the coming round. 

Changes to the application review process:  Applications will continue to be accepted every 3 months through the cross-portfolio RFAs with the SRGs that originated in BLRD and CSRD meeting every 6 months, 3 months out of phase with the SRGs that orignated in HSRD and RRD. The Scientific Portfolio Managers (SPMs) will continue to manage the SRGs that they currently manage. Full applications will be screened in Receipt and Referral and routed to the appropriate SRG as is true now. The SRG meetings, application scoring and summary statements will not change. The primary change to the process will be that the Service margin meetings will be replaced by application ranking meetings conducted by the Portfolios which will be taken to the ISRM Leadership Council which will establish a pay line for the round. For applications receiving an intent-to-fund notice the SPM who managed review will continue to be responsible for setting up the budget and Just-In-Time requirements in eRA. 

Changes to the project management process:  Projects will continue to be managed by the SPM who managed the review, but they will work with the director of the Portfolio providing funding for the project.

How can you help? ORD staff and field investigators have played a key role in the design process, coming forward with helpful suggestions and supporting the development and testing process directly. I (Christopher.Bever@va.gov) look forward to your continued active engagement in this process and welcome your ideas and suggestions on how we do the best job possible with the reorganization and in the process improve our ability to address the health care needs of Veterans.

27 PIs Selected by CSRD for Funding

Congratulations to the 27 Principal Investigators (PIs) selected by Clinical Science Research and Development for the Fall 2023 funding cycle. Applications were released on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, in eRA Commons Just-in-Time (JIT).

Seven PIs were selected for Career Development Awards and 20 PIs for Merit Awards. Cngratulations to these applicants whose innovative studies will improve the lives of Veterans!

Career Development Award Selectees

• Abplanalp, Samuel Joseph, PhD, Los Angeles, ''A Multimethod Approach of Social Disconnection in Schizophrenia: Leveraging Digital Phenotyping, Social Network Analyses, and Neuroimaging''
• Frank, Brandon Edward, PhD, Boston, ''Combining Machine Learning Methods and Scalable In Vivo Biomarkers for the Early and Accurate Detection of Alzheimers Disease in Veterans''
• Jaber Taha, Sausan Mousa, PhD, Baltimore, ''Effects of Exercise Training on Blood Microclots, Tissue Oxygenation, and Mitochondrial Health in Veterans with Post COVID Conditions''
• Na, Peter, MD, West Haven, ''Understanding the role of modifiable environmental and psychosocial factors in moderating genetic risk for substance use disorders in Veterans''
• Powell, Victoria Diane, MD, Ann Arbor, ''Ketamine-assisted integrative treatment for Veterans with chronic low back pain and comorbid depression''
• Rustagi, Alison Silvis, MD, PhD, San Francisco, ''Lung cancer screening for Veterans: measuring real-world benefit and harms''
• Wu, Karin C., MD, San Francisco, ''Modulation of the gut microbiome by dietary fiber to improve calcium absorption and bone health in older men''

Merit Award Selectees

• Bouvet, Michael, MD, San Diego, ''BCCMA: VA Colorectal Cancer Clinical & Computational Collaborative (VA-5C): NIR-labeled antibodies to target and label colon polyps and cancer for improved diagnosis and surgery.''
• Coburn, Lori A., MD, Nashville, ''The Role of CCL11 in Inflammatory and Sporadic Colorectal Cancer''
• Gepner, Adam D., MD, Madison, ''Load-Dependent Arterial Stiffness to Optimize Blood Pressure Management in Older Veterans (LOADED BP)''
• Green, Michael Daniel, MD, PhD, Ann Arbor, ''Repositioning Immunotherapy in Veterans with Lung Cancer''
• Harris-Love, Michael, DSC, Aurora, ''BCCMA: Recovery of Aged Muscle After Disuse Atrophy (REMEDY): Exercise and Monitoring with Post-Hospitalization Muscle Atrophy to Sustain Intrinsic Capacity and Strength (EMPHASIS)''
• Herbst, Ellen, MD, San Francisco, ''Contingency Management for Veteran Smokers With or at Risk for Cancer''
• Ho, Gordon, MD, San Diego, ''Computational Cardiac Mapping Techniques to Guide Ablation of Arrhythmogenic Substrate Underlying Ventricular Tachycardia''
• Hung, Adriana, MD, Nashville, ''Genetic of Kidney Disease and Hypertension in MVP II''
• Maltzman, Jonathan S., MD, PhD, Palo Alto, ''Immune control of chronic viral infection in solid organ transplantation''
• Moreau, Kerrie, PhD, Aurora, ''Improving Cardiovascular Health in Veterans with PTSD by Treating Trauma-Related Nightmares With NightWare''
• Parker, Krista Schendel, PhD, Mather, ''Driving Performance after Stroke: Impact of Cognition, Lesion Site, and Driver-Assist Features''
• Pennington, David L., PhD, San Francisco, ''Personalized Approach Bias Modification to Reduce Heavy Drinking and Improve Cognitive Control in Veterans with Mild to Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury''
• Prasad, Bharati, MD, Chicago, ''Targeted Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea with Dronabinol: Proof of Concept and Phase II Clinical Trial''
• Razjouyan, Javad, PhD, Houston, ''Constructing a Clinical Gulf War Illness (GWI) Case Definition Using Natural Language Processing and Advanced Machine Learning Algorithms''
• Singh, Satish K, MD, Boston, ''BCCMA: VA Colorectal Cancer Clinical & Computational Collaborative (VA-5C): Project #2 - Artificial Intelligence and Multispectral Imaging of Colorectal Polyps.''
• Sponheim, Scott R., PhD, Minneapolis, ''Deviant Synchronization of Neural Functions in Schizophrenia''
• Stout, Daniel, PhD, San Diego, ''Identifying clinically relevant neural circuit mechanisms of cognitive control training for PTSD''
• Tashjian, Robert Z., MD, Salt Lake City, ''Determining Genetic Variants Associated with Rotator Cuff Tearing, Tear Progression and Tendon Repair Healing''
• Trinity, Joel Douglas, PhD, Salt Lake City, ''BCCMA: Recovery of Aged Muscle After Disuse Atrophy (REMEDY): Integrating multimorbidity, multi-omics, physiology, and biomarkers to define hospital acquired muscle atrophy and recovery (ANTICIPATE)''
• White, Donna Lorraine, PhD, Houston, ''Neurological Disease Among 1990-1991 Gulf War and Era Veterans in a Large National Cohort: Onset, Patterns of Occurrence and Association with Deployment Characteristics''

Finalizing JIT February The 180-day deadline for most Spring 2023 applications in eRA JIT was Monday, February 12, 2024. For stations and PIs with applications still in JIT past the 180-day deadline, please ensure that a JIT extension waiver has been submitted into the JIT extension area of eRA JIT. Thank you for continued vigilance in completing JIT.

March 7 is Recommended Submission Date for Spring 2024 Funding Round

March 7, 2024, is the recommended submission date for the Spring 2024 round for CSRD and BLRD. Submitting by this date ensures applicants will have 2 business days to correct errors identified by the system.

The last possible submission date is March 11 at 6 p.m. local time. Applications cannot be submitted after this date. If an application is submitted on this date and errors are identified by either Grants.gov or eRA Commons there may not be enough time to correct the errors, resubmit and have the application received and verified by eRA.

If the application is accepted by eRA with no errors, please do not withdraw the application during the 2-business day examination window unless there is sufficient time to resubmit by the March 10 submission deadline.

Publication Highlight: Dr. Jasmohan Bajaj

A recent JAMA Network Open publication by Dr. Jasmohan Bajaj (Gastroenterologist at Richmond VA Medical Center and Virginia Commonwealth University) and colleagues evaluated 177,422 Veterans with a diagnosis of dementia for undiagnosed cirrhosis and possible hepatic encephalopathy as a cause of cognitive impairment. Dr. Baja and colleagues report that the 5 to 10% of Veterans with dementia may have undiagnosed cirrhosis that could impact hepatic encephalopathy and may be the cause of their cognitive impairment. The study suggests that clinicians treating patients with dementia should investigate whether the cognitive impairment could be due to hepatic encephalopathy to avoid missing treatable cognitive impairment. The findings from this study may improve clinical care of Veterans with undiagnosed cirrhosis as a cause for their cognitive impairment. The link to the article is https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2814346.

NAVREF Meeting to Include CDA Track

We are very excited to share the news that a Career Development Awardee (CDA) track will be included at the 32nd annual conference of the National Association of Veterans' Research and Education Foundations (NAVREF).  The conference will be held September 15-19, 2024, with the CDA track scheduled for September 17-19. ORD funded CDA awardees will be invited to attend this event to be held at the Ritz Carlton in Crystal City, VA, outside Washington, DC. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in breakout sessions on topics such as getting the most out of the CDA, observing a mock study section, developing a merit application, working with the non-profit, networking with other CDAs from around the country, and meeting with senior ORD leadership. Each attendee will also present a poster. The theme of the conference is “Passing the Torch.”  Mark Roltsch and Eric Schwinder from CSRD are leading a planning committee that includes representatives from NAVREF, ORD, and the field. Please be on the lookout for information about registering for this fantastic opportunity. Space will be limited. Ideas for breakout sessions that would be valuable for CDAs are welcome and should be sent to vhacadereview@va.gov.

Applications for DEI Training and Leadership Development due April 3

Please distribute widely to interested parties.  Application instructions may be found at:  https://www.research.va.gov/funding/diversity.cfm.

The Office of Research and Development, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee announces two funding opportunities:

1. SUPPORT FOR DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION TRAINING FOR VETERANS AFFAIRS FIELD RESEARCH EMPLOYEES

Applicants can request up to $5,000 to support training or education in topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The education or training should be focused on raising awareness of perpetual, institutional, and other barriers that may influence workplace culture, recruitment, and retention. Funds must be expended by September 30, 2024. Training must be completed within a year of the award. 

Applications must be submitted to the mailbox VHACOORDDEIWG@va.gov with the subject line “DEI Training” by April 3, 2024. Please include applicant and station name in the subject line

1. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT FOR VA EMPLOYEES AFFILIATED WITH AN ORD PROGRAM/SERVICE

Applicants can request up to $8,000 to support participation in a leadership development course or program (excludes attendance to meetings and conferences). The professional development training must be organized by an accredited institution or federal agency and focus on leadership skill development (e.g., Graduate Health Administrative Training Program, Partnership for Public Service leadership development programs). Funds must be expended by September 30, 2024. Training must be completed within a year of the award. 

Applications must be submitted to the mailbox VHACOORDDEIWG@va.gov with the subject line “Professional Development Training” by April 3, 2024. Please include applicant name and station name in the subject line.

Please direct any questions to VHACOORDDEIWG@va.gov

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

Have a Question for CSRD?

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