News

What if we could pinpoint a hereditary cause for Alzheimer's, and intervene to reduce the risk of the disease? We may be closer to that goal, thanks to a team at the University of Kentucky. Researchers affiliated with the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging have completed new work in Alzheimer's genetics; the research is detailed in a paper published today in the Journal of Neuroscience. Emerging evidence indicates that, much like in the case of high cholesterol, some Alzheimer's disease risk is inherited while the remainder is environmental.

Over the next year, NIH will begin requiring an eRA Commons ID for all individuals in graduate and undergraduate roles who participate in NIH-funded projects for at least one month or more. To read more about this change in policy, click here.

As previously announced, NIH will require electronic submission for all P01, P20, P50 and U19 applications intended for due dates on or after September 25, 2013. NIH will hold a webinar on Tuesday, August 13, from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m., to help potential applicants get acquainted with ASSIST, NIH’s system for electronic submission of multi-project applications.

As a native Kentuckian, the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center's Dr. Susanne Arnold understands many of the health issues our state faces — and focusing on the problems that hit hardest close to home has kept her motivated in her work.

"I got into research in Appalachia because I'm an eighth-generation Kentuckian, and my father, who was also a doctor and researcher, was a seventh-generation Kentuckian," Arnold said. "I learned a very valuable lesson from him — that we can't make progress in the treatment of diseases without being invested in the research that we do."

The NIH has posted announcements for the following Extramural Loan Repayment Programs (LRP):

Dr. Michael R. Dobbs, associate professor and interim chair of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine's Department of Neurology and director of the UK HealthCare/Norton Healthcare Stroke Network, has edited and published the latest edition of "Psychiatric Clinics of North America" titled “Psychiatric Manifestations of Neurotoxins.” Building on work that he had done with co-editor Dan Rusyniak of Indiana University for Neurologic Clinics, this compilation addresses cognitive and behavioral aspects of neurotoxic exposures.

 Laboratory notebooks should err on the side of completeness. Someone from outside your lab should be able to read what was done without your verbal interpretation.  General guidelines for lab notebooks include:

•  Permanently bound book (not spiral), with acid-free paper
•  Pages should be consecutively numbered 
•  Dated entries 
•  Signed entries 
•  Record entries chronologically 
•  Recorded in English 
•  Each entry should stand on it's own

Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati, professor and vice chair in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and professor of physiology at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, will receive the 2013 Mark Brothers Award from the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. and Mrs. Guey C. Mark created the endowed Mark Brothers Lectureship to recognize nationally and internationally renowned medical scientists of Asian descent. The Mark Brothers Lectureship was established in 1997 in honor of Dr.

The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center was joined by national, state and local leaders today to celebrate its designation as a National Cancer Institute cancer center. The UK Markey Cancer Center is the 68th medical center in the country to receive this prestigious designation, and is the only NCI-designated cancer center in the state of Kentucky. "Kentucky’s extraordinarily high cancer rates cause untold suffering within our families," said Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear.

University of Kentucky President Dr. Eli Capilouto will join Gov. Steve Beshear, U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo, UK Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Michael Karpf and UK Markey Cancer Center Director Dr. Mark Evers for an important announcement at 10 a.m. in the UK Chandler Hospital Pavilion A atrium. All faculty, staff, students and the public are invited to attend the announcement and may also watch the news conference via live stream at http://uknow.uky.edu.

Bradley Gelfand, assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, has been awarded a research grant from the American Heart Association to study atherosclerosis. The grant will be used to determine whether the same novel findings previously discovered in human age-related macular degeneration also apply to human atherosclerosis. In particular, which levels and activity of the enzyme Dicer are altered in the vessel wall during atherosclerotic lesion formation.

In the July 2013 issue of the UK ORI IRB Review, the topic of internet research is discussed.  Follow this link to read the article.

Through early support of promising investigators in fields ranging from lung cancer to Alzheimer's disease to pediatric heart disease, the University of Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) has seen great return on their investment in recent years in the area of biomedical imaging at UK. The growth through investment ratio in this area has been great, with the return in federally-funded grants greatly multiplying the initial investment by the CCTS in the investigators' work. 

Researchers at the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, led by faculty member Donna Wilcock, have recently published a new paper in the Journal of Neuroscience detailing an advance in treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Gammagard™ IVIg is a therapy that has been investigated for treatment of Alzheimer's.

Dr. James DuBois, St. Louis University, was awarded a contract from the ORI RCR Resource Development Program to create an RCR casebook with case studies and role playing activities. ORI will be releasing the finished casebook shortly via the ORI website. To read an example case study, click here.

The Facilities and Administrative Cost rate utilized for industry funded clinical trial agreements is the off-campus research rate negotiated with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).   The federal government caps that rate for universities at 26%.    An agreement has been issued to the University of Kentucky by DHHS with new rates that will be effective July 1, 2013.  According to information submitted by the Office of Controller and Treasurer to DHHS to develop the new rates, the actual off-campus rate is 27.44%.   The actual rate, ro

Sally Rockey, Deputy Director for Extramural Funding at NIH talks about percentile scoring of grant proposals on her blog. To read her comments on percentile scoring, click here.

Since Thursday, July the 4th is a Federal holiday, all NIH offices will be closed. Friday, July 5, 2013 is not a Federal holiday. NIH and its help desks will be open, and application deadlines of July 5th remain in place. If you have an application due on July 5, NIH recommends planning to submit early in the week to give yourself time to respond to errors and to view your application in the eRA Commons before the deadline.

NIH along with other government granting agencies is transitioning to updated electronic forms packages.  The new packages are called FORMS-C and will be required for any submissions after September 25, 2013.  NIH has provided detailed information regarding the changes to the forms.  To read more, click here.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: The University’s policy, as instituted by the Vice President for Research in April 2012, mandates that eIAFs for sponsored research proposals be fully routed 3 business days prior to the sponsor’s proposal deadline. Anyone in an investigator role must provide their own certification. Chairs, Directors, and Deans can set up a delegate to provide the required certification if they won’t be available. Your CGO can provide assistance to make these arrangements, if needed.