Friday, July 30, 2010

Funding: Training Grants at AHRQ

AHRQ has updated its website about training grants for students and post-docs. Of special interest:

Pre-doctoral

Post-doctoral

  • Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards (F32)
    Available to applicants who have completed their clinical or research doctoral degrees.
  • Career Development Awards — FOAs for these programs have been updated to reflect the new requirements from NIH's Enhancing Peer Review Initiative. The new requirements are effective for submissions intended for due dates January 25, 2010 and beyond. If submitting an application intended for a due date of January 25, 2010 and beyond, follow the guidance and be sure to use the Adobe-Forms-B version of the application forms and instructions.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Vermont Vascular Medicine Conference - August Edition


Hello all,

Welcome to an early start to the Fall semester of the Vermont Vascular Medicine Conference!

The next VVM Conference will be on August 20, 9:15-10:15. I will be speaking on, "D-dimer in Disease: Clinical and Research Applications." I'll talk about typical clinical use of the test, discuss relationships of D-dimer with diseases ranging from thrombosis to aging and frailty, and what we are learning about these diseases through study of D-dimer.

 Here is the completed fall schedule of speakers and topics. We have a great mix of interdisciplinary topics and I am greatly looking forward to all of these talks!

September 17:  Richard Pratley, MD, Endocrinology.  BARI2D trial and update on thiazolidinediones (TZDs)

October 15:  Russell Tracy, PhD, Pathology and Biochemistry. Hypercoagulable State of HIV

November 19: Friederike Keating, MD, Cardiology. Use of Transfusions in Coronary Disease Patients

December 17: Gilman Allen, MD, Pulmonary. Hemostasis and Lung Pathology/Disease

This conference is devoted to disseminating information on diverse topics broadly related to vascular medicine, that include clinical and research topics of interest to those at UVM and FAHC. The purpose is to promote collaboration and interchange on clinical and research topics across disciplines at all levels; from students to professors, and including information of use to anyone involved in the care of patients with vascular diseases. Presentations are fairly casual, allowing ample discussion, and are accompanied by a light breakfast.

Vermont Vascular Medicine Conference

An Interdisciplinary Conference devoted to

Hemostasis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Medicine

 

Date:  Friday, August 20, 2009

Time:  9:15 – 10:15 am

Place:  HSRF 400 

 

Speaker: 

Mary Cushman, MD, MSc

Professor of Medicine

Director, Thrombosis and Hemostasis Program

 

Title: 

D-dimer in Disease: Clinical and Research Applications

 

Light breakfast will be served


Mary Cushman, MD, MSc

Professor of Medicine

University of Vermont and Fletcher Allen Health Care

208 South Park Drive

Colchester, VT 05446

phone:   802-656-8968

fax:  802-656-8965

 


Thursday, July 22, 2010

Fwd: FW: MD-PhD Annual Research Day

--Ben Littenberg

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Gillett, Sarah R" <Sarah.Gillett@uvm.edu>
Date: Jul 22, 2010 1:00 PM
Subject: FW: MD-PhD Annual Research Day
To: "Benjamin Littenberg (littenbl@gmail.com)" <littenbl@gmail.com>

I assume you guys got this from the source, but just in case you didn’t….

 

 Come to research day!  Your two CTS MD/PhD people are presenting right after lunch (me at 12:40 and Gabe at 1) and I would love to see you there…

 

Ben, perhaps you can post to the blog?
Sarah

 

From: Taylor, Maranda
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 1:30 PM
To: Gillett, Sarah R
Subject: RE: MD-PhD Annual Research Day

 

Hi Sarah,

 

I’ve attached a PDF of the program.  I hope this is helpful!

 

Maranda

 

From: Gillett, Sarah R
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 1:19 PM
To: Taylor, Maranda
Subject: RE: MD-PhD Annual Research Day

 

Hi!

Do you have the actual schedule of when each student will present? I have some people who may want to come.

 

From: Taylor, Maranda
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 8:11 AM
To: All MD-PhD Students; 'Gale.Golden@uvm.edu'; Nachbur, Jennifer; Budd, Ralph; Cipolla, Marilyn J; Forehand, Cynthia J; Fukagawa, Naomi - Preferred e-mail; Grant, Barbara W.; 'Grasso, Domenico'; Higgins, Stephen; Irvin, Charles G; Jaworski, Diane; Johnson, Robert J.; Kirkpatrick, Beth D.; LeWinter, Martin M.; Mann, Kenneth G.; McLaughlin, Emily A; Montgomery, Erin; Mossman, Brooke T; Naylor M.D., Magdalena; Pederson, David; 'Stokowski, Patricia'; Teuscher, Cory; Tracy, Russell P; Young, Roger C; Bosenberg, Marcus W; Huston, Christopher D.; Janssen-Heininger, Yvonne M; Krag, David N; Lounsbury, Karen M.; Mao-Draayer, Yang; Morrical, Scott; Nishi, Rae; Poynter, Matthew E; Pratley, Richard E; Rincon, Mercedes; Spees, Jeffrey L; Tracy, Paula B; Wallace, Susan; Ward, Gary; Beaulieu, Lisa; Chauncey, Ann; Faustner, Emma K; Frey, Audree; Hurwitz, Aaron; Keirnan, Mary Lou; Leahy, James P; McCrea, Laurie; Perkins, Carrie I; Pratt, Elizabeth F; Youngberg, Sheri L; Delaney, Tiffany J; Forguites, Patricia A; Jewkes, Cary R; Keefe, Mary E; Sladyk, Shona; Aspinall, Jane A; Blount, Rick J; Fuller, Benjamin H; Gilbert, James; Gildea, Cristin; Healy, Michael Jay; Keblin, Sarah; Lubkowitz, Ginger; Morrison, Travis H; O'Connor, Manon; 'Barry Finette'; Bonney, Elizabeth A; 'Brayden, Joseph'; Curley, David P; Dimick, Ellen M.; DoubliƩ, Sylvie; Galbraith, Richard A.; Hudziak, James J; 'Lidofsky, Steven'; Mawe, Gary; Meyer, Marjorie C.; Ogle, Jeri L; Weiss, Daniel J; Bovill, Edwin G; Braff, Steven P.; First, Lewis R; Hamill, Robert W; McFadden, David; Nelson, Mark T.; Nichols, Claude E; Parsons, Polly E.; 'Parsons, Rodney'; Peterson, Thomas C; 'Phillippe, Mark'; Pierattini, Robert A.; Schapiro, Howard M.; Wallace, Susan; Warshaw, David
Cc: Randall, Maura L; Waterman, G. Scott; Jeffries, William; Gallant, Janice M; Bernstein, Ira M
Subject: RE: MD-PhD Annual Research Day

 

YOU’RE INVITED TO

THE UVM COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

 

Seventh Annual

MD PhD RESEARCH DAY

 

Friday, July 23, 2010

Med Ed 200

8:00am—3:30pm

 

Welcome Steven D. Lidofsky, M.D., Ph.D., Program Director  8:45a.m.

 

MD PhD students present their research 9:00am—2:00pm

 

Keynote Address by Gyongyi Szabo, M.D., Ph.D.,

 

Professor, Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Science, Director of Hepatology and

Liver Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School. 2:20pm

 

Closing Reception

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MD PhD Office

The Courtyard at Given, N-106

89 Beaumont Ave.

Burlington, VT 05405

 

 

Monday, July 19, 2010

Clinical Research Oriented Workshop (CROW) Meeting: July 14, 2010

Present: Amanda Kennedy, Rodger Kessler, Ben Littenberg, Carol McBride, Connie van Eeghen

1. Round Table: Pesto season is here, don’t forget the grape tomatoes and the chicken (if necessary); watch the prosciutto – it’s a bit salty

2. Ben’s Discussion: how to predict medical events successfully

a. A clinical diagnosis is the same as a prediction, a classification, and is usually accompanied by a prescription.
b. Ottawa ankle rule: if the patient can bear weight on the ankle and there is no pain at three other specific points on the foot, it is usually not a fracture and therefore it can be managed with conservative and speedy measures. Derived from clinical experience and has become an “official” prediction rule, this prediction is based on the probability of an ankle fracture given that there are no points on the Ottawa scale [P(AF|no points)]. (Note: the prescription is based on this prediction plus the costs/benefits of treatment or not, but that’s another lecture.)
c. How to come up with a rule:
i. Clinical experience – heuristics
ii. Random, uninformed decision making
iii. Logistical regression (predictors and outcomes)
iv. Neural networks
v. Classification and Regression Trees
d. Decision algorithms for prediction should be:
i. Low false negative rate
ii. Easy, simple, fast, and cheap
iii. Few predictors in number
iv. Easy to obtain
v. Reliably measurable
vi. Easily calculable – which the Ottawa rule accomplished by massive simplification of the regression equation

3. Next Fellows Meeting(s): Wednesday, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m., at Given Courtyard Level 4
a. July 21: Predictions, continued: Ben (no Matt through Aug 21, no Connie or Kairn)
b. July 28: Carol – data collection/analysis (no Connie, Matt)
c. Aug 4: Diantha Howard and Liz Chen: REDCap training (no Connie, Matt)
d. Aug 11: Connie’s qualitative study on quality – members will be asked to perform analysis; slides to be mailed out one week ahead (no Matt)
e. Future agenda to consider:
i. Rodger: Mixed methods article
ii. Future: Review of different types of journal articles (lit review, case study, original article, letter to editor…), when each is appropriate, tips on planning/writing (Abby)
iii. Future: Informed consent QI: Connie to follow up with Nancy Stalnaker, Alan Rubin will follow up with Alan Wortheimer or Rob McCauly
iv. Kairn will ask a librarian to join us for selected issues

4. Fellows document – nothing this time – to be reviewed after trialing Wednesday meeting times, which started May 5, 2010.

Recorder: Connie van Eeghen

Friday, July 16, 2010

Fwd: MEPS Data User Workshop Registration Now Open


MEPS Home

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey


Upcoming Workshop - Registration Open

Registration is now open for the upcoming two-day hands-on MEPS Data User Workshop in Rockville, MD, on September 15-16, 2010. For registration and more information, go to Workshops & Events

http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/about_meps/workshops_events.jsp



Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) · 540 Gaither Road · Rockville MD 20850 · 301-427-1364


Thursday, July 15, 2010

Fwd: MARK your calendars for these cyber seminars in AUGUST 2010!

MARK your calendars for these cyber seminars in AUGUST 2010!
[cid:header]

MARK your calendars for these cyber seminars in AUGUST 2010!

Monday, August 2, 1:00pm ET
VIReC Database and Methods Seminar
Research Access to VA Data
by Linda Kok, MA
Denise Hynes, PhD,RN
[cid:cyber-register]<https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/0000012393_1/Registration.aspx?pageName=nd35bxdhfcmg199n>

Wednesday, August 4, 1:00pm ET
Timely Topics of Interest
A Re-conceptualization of Access for 21st Century Healthcare
by John Fortney, PhD
[cid:cyber-register]<https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/0000012393_1/Registration.aspx?pageName=bkf1jzzpkr187c17>

Tuesday, August 24, 12:00pm ET
QUERI Implementation Seminar
My HealtheVet
by Fran Weaver, PhD
Kim Nazi, FACHE
Timothy Hogan, Ph.D.
[cid:cyber-register]<https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/0000012393_1/Registration.aspx?pageName=k49t9kbm0f348n9b>



________________________________

For more information on these and other HSR&D
Cyber Seminars see the Cyber Seminar catalog online<http://www.hsrd.research.va.gov/for_researchers/cyber_seminars/catalog.cfm>.

Questions? Email cyberseminar@va.gov<mailto:cyberseminar@va.gov>






Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Fwd: Please Announce Course - Towards Career Success in Science

CLBI 395: Towards Career Success in Science
Fall 2010
 
 
Dr. Charlie Irvin is offering this class to provide graduate students (interested post docs and faculty) the skills necessary to gain independence and become successful into today's scientific community. This course is designed to enhance learning from other courses and laboratory experiences.
 
Topics covered will include: Promotion & Tenure, Strategic Plans, Scientific Writing, Mentoring and Being Mentored, Time and Project Management ,Getting Published & Being a Reviewer, Staffing Your Lab, Ethics, Leadership and Communication Skills, Teaching, and Regulations.
 
CLBI 395 (CRN: 94331) will be held at 3 – 5 pm on Wednesday during the Fall 2010 semester. This class will be held in HSRF 300.
 
For more information contact Erin at 656-9673 or cmb@uvm.edu
 
 
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Cell and Molecular Biology Program Administrator
89 Beaumont Ave. - C130 Given
Burlington, VT 05405
 
 
phone: 802.656.9673
 
 
 

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Fw: Dana opportunity

--Benjamin Littenberg

-----Original Message-----
From: "Dr. Sharon M. Henry" <sharon.henry@uvm.edu>
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:00:54
To: Benjamin.Littenberg@uvm.edu<Benjamin.Littenberg@uvm.edu>; Nishi, Rae<Rae.Nishi@uvm.edu>; Langevin, Helene M<helene.langevin@uvm.edu>
Subject: Re: Dana opportunity

Rae, Ben, Helene,

I attended this last fall when offered to faculty and now Nancy Bianchi
is offering the series to grad students - thought you might be
interested in sharing with your students. You can be in touch with her
for details about scheduling.

Hope you're both having a good summer!
Sharon
>>>
>>> Hi, Diane -
>>>
>>> Dana Library will once again offer its series of classes, 'Funding To
>>> Publication' this Fall. This time the series will target graduate
>>> students. We are looking for faculty feedback on appropriate topics for
>>> grad students, and would value your comments and/or suggestions on last
>>> year's topics/sessions and their usefulness to grad students.
>>>
>>> What should the content include? Info/Exercises on ...
>>>
>>> * Grants?
>>> * Lit Searching?
>>> * Searching for Systematic Reviews?
>>> * Managing References?
>>> * Alerts?
>>> * Obtaining the Article?
>>> * Posters?
>>> * Deciding where to publish?
>>> * New publishing models?
>>> * Searching for dissertations/theses?
>>> * Other?
>>>
>>> What about timing?
>>>
>>> * How long and how often? (eg 6 one-hour sessions or 4 1 1/2-hour
>>> sessions or 3 2-hour sessions?
>>> * day of the week?
>>> * time to start? (e.g. 3pm? 3:30pm? 4pm?)
>>> * when during the semester? (e.g. early October?)
>>>
>>> Thanks for your help!
>>> ~ Nancy
>>>
>>

--
Sharon M. Henry, PT, PhD, ATC
Professor, Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Science
305 Rowell Building
106 Carrigan Drive
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405-0068
email: Sharon.Henry@uvm.edu
ph: (802) 656-8146
fax: (802) 656-6586

Clinical Research Oriented Workshop (CROW) Meeting: July 7, 2010

Present: Amanda Kennedy, Rodger Kessler, Ben Littenberg, Connie van Eeghen

1. Round Table: Craig’s list – new great place to post positions, one of which could be the new position at the Given that Rodger has been working on

2. Connie’s Discussion:

a. Connie reviewed her dissertation study, for which she has completed the first of six case studies in a mixed methodology design. Her qualitative data were presented as a series of 90 PPT slides, for which she proposed nine header slides as a structure for sorting the results.
b. There is a danger of making this process so “experimental” (as a method of doing qualitative analysis), that the process itself would need to be validated in order to be accepted for publication purposes. As this is a dissertation about a different topic (quality improvement), Connie was strongly advised to stay within established approaches for qualitative assessment.
c. Two approaches were discussed in detail:
i. Giving the research group the “headers” in which to sort the “utterances” (the statements, phrases, questions, etc. created by the subjects) or allowing the research group to create its own headers from the utterances
ii. Asking the research group to sort the utterances into groups as individuals, creating their own relationships and conclusions, or asking the research group to convene to perform this task
d. To summarize the lengthy and helpful discussion: we decided that providing a subset of the headers up front was necessary to answer the specific research question. However, the size of the task makes it important to pick out only those headers that answer that question: the headers related to the dependent variables. To sort the data into those headers, the “CROW” research group will use one of its regularly scheduled meetings to perform this qualitative analysis. To help prepare the group, the slides will be sent out one week in advance, as the utterances are lengthy in some cases and are not going to be atomized due to the risk of losing context.
e. Next steps: Connie will schedule a date to return with the data printed out on separate sheets (August 11). She will also preprint the headers related to the dependent variables and will bring extra blank sheets for other relationships identified by the group. The utterances will be only those statements made by interviewees or from survey comments, not from the document review session or her field notes. After this exercise, we will plan future work on these data and other case studies.
f. Thank you all!

3. Next Fellows Meeting(s): Wednesday, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m., at Given Courtyard Level 4
a. July 14: How to predict medical events effectively (regression, recursive partitioning, neural networks, arbitrary algorithms) (Ben)
b. July 21: Carol – data collection/analysis (no Matt through Aug 21, no Connie))
c. July 28: (no Connie)
d. Aug 4: (no Connie)
e. Aug 11: Connie’s qualitative study on quality – members will be asked to perform analysis; slides to be mailed out one week ahead
f. Future agenda to consider:
i. Rodger: Mixed methods article
ii. Future: Review of different types of journal articles (lit review, case study, original article, letter to editor…), when each is appropriate, tips on planning/writing (Abby)
iii. Future: Informed consent QI: Connie to follow up with Nancy Stalnaker, Alan Rubin will follow up with Alan Wortheimer or Rob McCauly
iv. Kairn will ask a librarian to join us for selected issues

4. Fellows document – nothing this time – to be reviewed after trialing Wednesday meeting times, which started May 5, 2010.

Recorder: Connie van Eeghen

Thursday, July 1, 2010

run charts

Yesterday's CROW discussion was very helpful! Here is the link to the IHI webinar I referred to.


http://www.ihi.org/IHI/Programs/AudioAndWebPrograms/OnDemandPresentationMeasurement.htm

Abby