Graduate Writing Center

Supporting Graduate Students at UVM

• 01-28-2019
• By Nancy Welch

UVM’s Graduate Writing Center in the Howe Library is open for the Spring semester to support graduate students on a full range of projects and at any stage of the writing process. Our twelve trained consultants are experienced graduate student writers from programs across the campus. We offer both on-campus and online consultations Sundays through Fridays—with morning, afternoon, and early evening appointments available too! Making an appointment is easy via our online scheduling calendar.

All Graduate Writing Center services are free to UVM graduate students, thanks to support from the UVM Graduate College. You can visit our website to learn more about the consultants and follow us on Facebook for announcements of upcoming events like monthly Sunday Graduate Writing Retreats. Faculty interested in workshops and partnerships tailored to their graduate programs can also contact Professor Nancy Welch, Graduate Writing Center coordinator at gradwriting@uvm.edu or 6-4171.

Vermont Medical Reserve Corps

I helped out in the Emergency Cold Weather Shelter last week. It wasn't hard to do, filled a need, and felt good. Maybe you would enjoy it, too!

- Ben Littenberg
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Vermont Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is looking for volunteers. MRCs are community-based organizations that help support the health department, local hospitals, and their local communities. They serve communities by assisting in times of need in various capacities, as well as promoting health education outreach, engaging in disease prevention activities, preparedness education, and taking part in local community events.

MRCs are made up of medical and non-medical volunteers, serving up to their licensed skill level based on incident need.  Non-medical volunteers are just as vital to MRC units. They assist in coordination, administrative, and logistical support.  Members can volunteer as much time as they like on health and wellness activities and/or just serve in times of need. 

MRC volunteers can be a vital resource in times of need, being deployed to overwhelmed medical facilities (medical surge) or assisting the state in mass prophylaxis (e.g. critical interventions antibiotics, vaccinations, or etc. to prevent the development of disease to those exposed or potentially exposed to health threats).  Becoming an affiliated registered volunteer before an incident allows you to be pre-credentialed and verified, so you can be called to help as soon as possible.

Recently, Vermont MRC volunteers helped support the blood drawing clinics for Bennington PFOA water contamination, support the cold weather shelters in Burlington and Rutland, take part in state emergency exercises, assisted with Vermont’s WIC program, and hold first aid stations at each year’s St. Albans Maple Fest and Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run. 

Additionally, members are offered various training and educational opportunities, such as portable hospital (massive tent structure) set-up training, psychological first aid training, and special speaker presentations.

To learn more about Vermont MRCs and sign-up, visit at OnCallforVT.org.   Watch this video to learn about Vermont MRCs and one member's reasons for volunteering. 

Thank you,

Derek Pitts

Emergency Preparedness Coordinator

(MRC State Coordinator)

Vermont Department of Health

(802)651-1614 (DESK)

(802)488-0288 (CELL)

Email: derek.pitts@vermont.gov

Fwd: Jeffords Grant RFP FY19

Rocky in print!

Congratulations to Kairn Kelley, MS, PhD on the publication of her thesis work!

Kelley KS, Littenberg B. Dichotic Listening Test-Retest Reliability in Children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 2019:1-8. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_JSLHR-H-17-0158

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of the study was to compare test–retest reliability of three dichotic listening tests: SCAN–3 Competing Words Test (Words; Keith, 2009a, 2009b), Double Dichotic Digits Test (Digits; Musiek, 1983a), and Bergen Dichotic Listening Test With Consonant–Vowel Syllables (Syllables; Hugdahl & Hammar, 1997).

Method

Sixty English-speaking children, 7–14 years old with normal hearing, had a single study visit during which each test was administered twice. Changes on retest were summarized by within-subject standard deviation ( S w), compared among tests, and compared with binomial model predictions. Correlates of variance were explored.

Results

Scores based on 40 items were more precise ( S w = 5%) than those based on 20–30 items ( S w= 6%–8%). All 3 tests had reliability within bounds predicted by binomial model. Changes on retest for Words and Digits Test were weakly associated with age, but this is confounded by the trend for older children to have higher Words and Digits scores.

Conclusions

Digits Right, Digits Left, and Words Total scores—each based on 40 items—had the best reliability among the clinically used scores. Scores based on fewer items were less precise. Poor precision may contribute to misdiagnosis in clinic and to nondifferential misclassification in research. More precise estimates of dichotic listening ability require longer tests.

UVM Student Research Conference Registration Now Open

Student Research Conference Registration Now Open

• 

Showcase your research at every level, across every discipline!

The UVM Student Research Conference is a showcase of student research at every level and across every discipline within UVM.

This showcase is a public event held annually in the UVM Davis Center. We encourage any and all students, staff, faculty, and community members to come and support the wealth of innovation and creativity being exhibited at this event.

Registration for the 2019 Student Research Conference is open from January 15-February 18. The preliminary schedule of events will be posted March 1. With the final following on March 5.

Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program

The Department of Defense (DoD) Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP), managed by the office of Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) has recently released the following funding opportunity information.

The Peer Reviewed  Medical Program (PRMRP) supports research across a broad range of health care science and medicine topics and across a wide range of disciplines including cardiovascular and endocrine health, autoimmune diseases and immunology, infectious diseases, internal medicine, neurological and psychological health, orthopedic and regenerative medicine, and respiratory and environmental health and injury.  The PRMRP mission is to “Encourage, identify, select, and manage medical research projects of clear scientific merit and direct relevance to military health”.   A key feature of the PRMRP is relevance to military health.  A list of websites that may be useful in identifying additional information about ongoing DoD and VA areas of research interest or potential opportunities for collaboration within the FY19 PRMRP Topic Areas can be found in the Appendix section of each program announcement solicitation.

Deadlines: Pre-applications are due in March and Applications are due in July except for the Discovery Award Application which is due in April.

Current open PRMP Award Mechanisms and Program Announcements are listed here and include the following:

·         Discovery Award – (up to $200,000) to support innovative, non-incremental, high-risk/potentially high-reward research; preliminary data not required but allowed.

·         Clinical Trail Award – (approx. $58.5M to fund approx. 9 Clinical Trial Awards) proposed projects may range from small proof-of-concept through large-scale trials.

·         Focused Program Award – (approximately $43.2M to fund approximately 4 Focused Program Award applications) to support a unifying overarching challenge that will be addressed by a set of distinct research projects; a minimum of four projects are strongly encouraged and additional studies are allowed.

·         Investigator-Initiated Research Award – (approximately $79.6M to fund approximately 42 Investigator-Initiated Research Awards) projects may focus on any phase of research from basic laboratory research through translational research and must include relevant data that support the rationale for the proposed study. 

·         Technology/Therapeutic Development Award – (approximately $72M to fund approximately 16 Technology/Therapeutic Development Award applications) a product-driven award mechanism to provide support for the translation of promising preclinical findings into products for clinical applications.

FY19 Topic Areas  are listed here and include the following:

• Acute Lung Injury
• Antimicrobial Resistance
• Arthritis
• Burn Pit Exposure
• Cardiomyopathy
• Cerebellar Ataxia
• Chronic Migraine and Post-Traumatic Headache
• Congenital Heart Disease
• Constrictive Bronchiolitis
• Diabetes
• Dystonia
• Eating Disorders
• Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Epidermolysis Bullosa
• Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis
• Frontotemporal Degeneration
• Guillain-Barre Syndrome
• Hemorrhage Control
• Hepatitis B
• Hereditary Angioedema
• Hydrocephalus
• Immunomonitoring of Intestinal Transplants
• Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
• Interstitial Cystitis
• Lung Injury
• Metals Toxicology
• Mitochondrial Disease
• Musculoskeletal Disorders
• Myotonic Dystrophy
• Nanomaterials for Bone Regeneration
• Nutrition Optimization
• Pancreatitis
• Pathogen-Inactivated Blood Products
• Polycystic Kidney Disease
• Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis
• Pressure Ulcers
• Pulmonary Fibrosis
• Resilience Training
• Respiratory Health
• Rett Syndrome
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Scleroderma
• Sleep Disorders
• Spinal Muscular Atrophy
• Tinnitus
• Tissue Regeneration
• Tuberculosis
• Vascular Malformations
• Women's Heart Disease

IPUMS Census and Survey Data

Dear IPUMS User, We have another webinar coming up, as well as a workshop at PAA 2019, and that's only the beginning! Read on for the latest from IPUMS. UPCOMING TRAINING IPUMS Time Use Pre-PAA Workshop The IPUMS Time Use team (Sayer, Flood, Hofferth) is hosting a pre-PAA workshop on using time diary data for studying health and well-being. The workshop is on April 10, 2019 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Austin, TX. More information about the workshop is available here. Registration is limited, so reserve your spot now! Please distribute this information widely among colleagues and students. IPUMS USA Webinar: A Guided Tour of IPUMS USA Are you looking for something to assign your class? Look no more! IPUMS USA collects, preserves and harmonizes U.S. census microdata and provides easy access to this data with enhanced documentation. Data includes decennial censuses from 1790 to 2010 and American Community Surveys (ACS) from 2000 to the present. This webinar will dig into the datasets and topics available in IPUMS USA, explore website features for customizing data extracts, and share some useful insider knowledge. The webinar will be held on January 31, 2019, from 2pm - 3pm, Central Standard Time. Registration is required. Like all IPUMS data, the webinar is free of charge! DEVELOPING TOOLS IPUMS Abacus IPUMS Abacus, our new tool for exploring IPUMS USA microdata and metadata from your mobile device, needs your help! As we work on improving our product, we would love to hear from you. We're still in "beta" so your input will have a large impact on how Abacus develops. Please take a moment to fill out this short survey about what Abacus features you would like to see next. If you would also be willing to be a part of a more dedicated Abacus testing group, please contact ipums+abacus@umn.edu. DATA RELEASE UPDATE Government Shutdown and Census Microdata The release of 2017 ACS 5-year PUMS, and potentially CPS Basic Monthly PUMS files, is delayed by the federal government shutdown. We do not expect to receive any additional information during the shutdown on the release schedule for these data. Once the data are publicly available, delivering them to IPUMS users will be our top priority. REMINDER The 2018 IPUMS Research Awards are now open! Submit your best #poweredbyIPUMS work by February 13, 2019. For more information on eligibility and the submission process, visit the IPUMS Research Awards page. Use it for good! The IPUMS Team IPUMS | University of Minnesota Copyright © 2018 University of Minnesota, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: IPUMS 225 19th Ave South Minneapolis, MN 55455

-Ben Littenberg

Early career awards in cardiovascular research

The Early Career Advisory Committee of the CVRI is pleased to announce a unique funding opportunity for Early Career investigators who are developing new skills and/or who are seeking a novel research experience aimed at developing a career in cardiovascular research.  

Eligibility: 

·         Early career investigators at UVM who are working with a UVM mentor or an external (non-UVM) mentor

·         Early career investigators at external institutions who will be working with a mentor at UVM

·         For the purpose of this funding, early career investigators are considered to be:

o   Undergraduate, Masters, and PhD students

o   2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th year medical students

o   Postdoctoral fellows

o   Residents and clinical fellows

o   Faculty and Staff within 5 years of their first appointment

Funding:  Applications requesting up to $10,000 will be considered. 

For more details and application instructions, please see the attached document. 

The complete application is due by February 15, 2019.

Please contact CVRI-VT@med.uvm.edu if you have any questions. 

Sponsored by the CVRI Early Career Advisory Committee

Cardiovascular Research Institute of Vermont. 

Words Matter/Having Difficult Conversations - Presearch Professional Network presentation by Emily Tarleton

Topic: Words Matter/Having Difficult Conversations

Level: Advanced

Presenter(s): Alix Rubio (BMC), Nellie Shippen (BMC), and Emily Tarleton (UVM)
Date: Thursday January 24, 2019, 2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Location: HSRF 400 Conference Room

Certified research professionals who attend the workshop can receive CEUs for this training from SoCRA or ACRP.

- Ben Littenberg

Spring Data Science Fellowship Opportunity

From: "Michael Li" <michael.li@thedataincubator.org>

Subject: Spring Data Science Fellowship Opportunity - o=

Date: January 3, 2019 at 10:24:19 AM EST

Hi,
I would be extremely grateful if you could forward this opportunity on to masters, PhDs, and postdocs in your department or to post this on your announcement board.

---

Program: The Data Incubator is an intensive 8 week fellowship that prepares masters students, PhDs, and postdocs in STEM and social science fields seeking industry careers as data scientists. The program is free for Fellows and supported by sponsorships from hundreds of employers across multiple industries. In response to the overwhelming interest in our earlier sessions, we will be holding another fellowship.
Who Should Apply: Anyone who has already obtained a masters or PhD degree or who is within one year of graduating with a masters or PhD is welcome to apply. Applications from international students are welcome. Everyone else is encouraged to sign-up for a future session.
Locations: In addition to the below in-person locations, we will have a remote online session:

• New York City
• San Francisco Bay Area
• Boston
• Washington, DC.

Dates: All sections will be from 2019-04-01 to 2019-05-24.
Application Link: https://www.thedataincubator.com/fellowship.html#apply?ref=wbWFsbWFzc2FAdXZtLmVkdQo=
Early Deadline: 2019-01-14.
Regular Deadline: 2019-01-21.
We are assessing and interviewing candidates who apply for the Early Deadline first and then based on remaining availability, will take candidates who applied for the Regular Deadline on a first-come first-serve basis.
Data Science in 30 minutes: Learn how to build a data-science project in our upcoming free Data Science in 30-minutes webcast. Signup soon as space is limited.
Learn More: You can learn about our fellows at The New York Times, LinkedIn, Amazon, Capital One, or Palantir. To read about our latest fellow alumni, check out our blog. To learn more about The Data Incubator, check us out on Venture Beat, The Next Web, or Harvard Business Review.
Sincerely,
Michael
Postdoc, Cornell

How to get free statistical help from UVM College of Medicine

Assistance may include:
 Statistical analysis plan
 Power calculations
 Other study design issues
Up to 5 hours of assistance per grant application is available without charge.*

Note that if
additional hours are required, the usual consultation fees to investigators will apply. It will also
be expected that anything in excess of 5 hours of assistance will result in the inclusion of at least
5% effort for the consulting statistician in the budget of any resulting grant application. If less
effort is required, then a fee for service agreement may be negotiated. The applicant agrees to
provide the Medical Biostatistics/Biometry Facility with electronic copy of any resulting grant
application and budget that are submitted. Only salaried LCOM faculty members or trainees with a primary mentor that is a salaried LCOM faculty member are eligible for this free consultation program. *Funding support from the LCOM Dean’s Office will provide this service on a trial basis for the 2019 calendar year.


For further information or to submit the request form to schedule consultation, please contact
Laura Clayton at 802-656-0633 or Laura.Clayton@uvm.edu