NIH101

Sharon L. Milgram, milgrams@od.nih.gov

The National Institutes of Health

“The Nation’s biomedical research institution”

Composed of 27 Institutes and Centers

Campuses in MD, NC, AZ, MI, and MT

Two divisions -- intramural and extramural

Biomedical, behavioral and social sciences

Basic, translational and clinical research

www.nih.gov

The world’s largest hospital devoted exclusively to clinical research, with:

Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center

240 beds

7,000 inpatient admissions a year

9,750 new patients a year

72,600 outpatient visits a year

900 active clinical research protocols

http://clinicaltrials.gov/

How many researchers are at NIH?

1100 Tenured/Tenure-track investigators 800 Staff Scientists 300 Staff Clinicians 3800 Postdoctoral Fellows 400 Clinical Fellows 485 Graduate Students 100 Medical Students 600 Postbaccalaureates 1200 Summer Students

……. In 1250 intramural labs

What we offer?

Resources - access to outstanding mentors, new technologies & state-of-the-art research facilities

Amazing science seminars, workshops and courses Exciting programs in all NIH Institutes & Centers Leadership and personal development opportunities Communication skills workshops Opportunities to learn about many different science careers Workshops to help you successfully make “the next step” Access to NIH Career Services Center in OITE Special one-day events for the NIH community

Eight - 10 week research experience at all levels High School College Medical/Dental Graduate (MS. PhD, PharmD, PsyD, etc)

Many workshops and other educational opportunities Access to pre-professional and pre-graduate advising End-of-summer poster session

http://www.training.nih.gov/student/sip/

Summer Internship Program

Students work in NIH lab for all or part of their dissertation research

PhD is granted by home university Two types of partnerships:

Individual agreement Institutional agreement

http://gpp.nih.gov/

The Graduate Partnerships Program

Positions in biomedical, social and behavioral research For US citizens and foreign nationals Must be within 5 yrs of receiving doctoral degree First year stipend $41,200 - $47,200 Includes health insurance for individual or family Appointment for up to 5 years A number of competitive fellowships are available:

Intramural Fellowship to Promote Diversity National Research Council PRAT Program

NIH Postdoctoral Programs

http://www.training.nih.gov/postdoctoral/

Writing research fellowships

Sharon L. Milgram, milgrams@od.nih.gov

To develop writing skills Begin understanding the grant writing process Initiate dialogue with your mentors and committee Assure that you have a good grasp of the field, including

important questions, current controversies, gaps, broad relevance, etc

Assure that you know (or can learn) techniques required to succeed

Helps you envision potential problems and devise solutions in advance

Why write a fellowship application?

Talk to your teachers Visit the Graduate School Go to undergraduate research conferences Use the web

How to find fellowships

Useful websites

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/funding http://www.gradschools.com/Article/a/1692.html http://www.ncsu.edu/grad/financial-support/fellowships.html http://grants.nih.gov/training/F_files_nrsa.htm http://www7.nationalacademies.org/FELLOWSHIPS/

Other_Sources_of_Funding.html

Getting started: programmatic issues

Start by reading the instructions CAREFULLY Are you eligible? When is it due? What will my mentor/program need to do?

Find examples from senior students

Discuss your interest with your mentors

let them know WHAT help you will need and WHEN you will need it

Getting started: academic issues

Read the literature broadly - not deeply; save important papers for a deeper read later

Engage your colleagues and your mentors in the brainstorming process

Find outside experts to talk with - but go prepared Work early to define, organize, and plan the

content

Getting started: personal issues

Find help to improve your writing style Set a daily writing schedule Form a writing group to help with proof-

reading, procrastination, writer’s block, etc

Parts of a typical proposal

Title Abstract Specific aims Background & significance [Preliminary data] Research design & methods [Timeline] References

Negotiating content

Start talking with your mentor(s) before you get too far along

Agree on the Aims/goals before beginning other sections

Be aware that the proposal is not a contract written in stone, so be willing to compromise

Whose project is it?

YOU

ME

YOU ME

YOU ME

YOUME

A real-life example

My interest: Regulation of CFTR trafficking

Bill’s interest: Using mass spectrometry to identify novel protein interactions

Bill’s thesis: Using mass spectrometry to identify novel regulatorsOf CFTR trafficking, turn-over, and activity

The organizational process

“Many of us when confronted by a writing deadline, skip the organizational phase of writing. This is akin to leaving on a trip to unknown parts without a road map, hotel reservations, or plans of any sort.”

Approaching the first draft

Don’t start writing immediately - spend time thinking & talking first

Brain-storm and make lists of the issues you hope to address

Make lists of methodologies you need to learn and reagent, cell type, animal, or human subject issues you need to deal with

Use an outline or a concept map to help you prepare to write

CFTR protein interactionsKnown interactions

How to find them?

Relevance to treatment of CF

a disease of protein trafficking and cell signalingStatus of CF drug discoveryCould novel interactors be drug targets? P’TASE data

Yeast two-hybridTargeted guessesPROTEOMICS

Pros/consto each

Experimental design

Sample prepMS approachesValidationDomain mappingFunctional assays

PDZ proteins (ours & others)ChaperonesAdaptor proteinsCONTROVERSIES CONTROVERSIES MODEL SYSTEMS

Preliminary data

P’TASE dataMS resultsDomain mapping

Getting started with a concept map

CF Center collaboration

Abstract

The Reader’s Digest condensed version of your story

Should begin by stating the problem & end by stating the impact of the work if successful

Should stand alone Should not contain abbreviations or jargon Typically follows strict word limits

Specific aims

The “opening statement” -- tells what your proposal is about Should generate enthusiasm & excitement for your ideas -

should grab the readers attention The reader MUST finish this section convinced that the work

you propose is significant and that you have a feasible approach; they should want to read on…

Should list Aims and include subaims Typically no more than one page

Background & Significance The place to clearly state the importance of the proposed

research Looks both backward & forward Should be appropriately referenced with an honest &

balanced discussion of others’ work Points out controversies and discrepancies that your work

will address Convinces the reader that you know what you are talking

about & that your proposed work is the OBVIOUS next step 2 - 3 pages; no more than one or two figures

Preliminary data

Key pieces of data to generate excitement and enthusiasm for the proposed studies

Demonstrates feasibility Shows you are a careful scientist who does controls and does

not over-interpret data Ranges from 2 - 8 pages depending on overall grant length May contain several figures with clear legends

Research plan

Organized by Aims Can put general methods at the end or leave them out (but not if you are

junior) Should be balanced between over-view of approaches, rationale for

specific experiments, & the specific details of each experiment Clearly discuss controls (positive & negative) for all experimental

approaches Show you have thought through issues of feasibility, sample size, data

analysis, etc Include sections discussing expected outcomes, data interpretation,

potential pitfalls & alternate approaches Include a timeframe & discussion of critical collaborators if appropriate Include detailed discussion of animal use or human subjects if appropriate

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Strong writing can not compensate for bad ideas, but weak writing can easily ruin

good ideas

Writing hints (I) Write from the perspective of the reader - make sure

there is a logical starting point & a flow to your “story” Start all paragraphs with a topic sentence - this tells

the reader what the paragraph is about End each paragraph with a transition sentence to lead

to the next section Pay attention to the stress position in each sentence

and paragraph - readers naturally emphasize material that arrives at the end of a sentence or paragraph.

Avoid passive voice, especially in the Aims, background & preliminary data sections

Avoid long-winded sentences, & big words when simpler words would work just as well

See Spot run. Run Spot run.

See Spot run. Run Spot run.

The canine was observed moving at very high velocity. Accelerate rapidly from a walk, Spot, accelerate rapidly from a walk.

Common criticisms Diffuse, unfocused or superficial examination of the field Lack of knowledge of published work Mediocre preliminary data that is over-hyped Lack of experience in required methodologies Unrealistic amount of work Lack of experimental detail Too many irrelevant experimental details Not enough discussion of potential pitfalls & alternate

approaches Poorly written with typographical errors and grammatical

mistakes

Writing is all about revising drafts & seeking feedback

Proof-readers and editors

Scientists in your field

Scientists in peripheral/related fields

Scientists who write and review grants