CHS Research Facilitation Grant
April 3, 2014
Carleton ‘Buck’ Jones, PH.D.
Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences
Coordinator, Master of Biomedical Sciences Program
College of Health Sciences
CHS & ORSP
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Intramural funds for:
◦ Animals and per diem
◦ Supplies and consumable materials
◦ Non-capital equipment
Pilot studies to obtain preliminary results
 Continuation and/or completion of ongoing research projects
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Overview of the application process
Eligibility
 Required sections
 Budget
 Timeline and deadlines

Eligibility

CHS faculty with at least 0.8 FTE
◦ May collaborate with other faculty
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Ability for success and tangible products
◦ Publications
◦ External grant proposals
◦ Peer-reviewed activities
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No remaining Start Up
Required sections
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At least 4, but less
than 7 pages
◦ Including references
◦ 12-point font
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Cover Page
Program Director
review
◦ All sections addressed
◦ Project is consistent
with the faculty
member’s scholarly
agenda
Required sections

Progress Reports & Final Reports

Title
◦ If continuing grant, keep title consistent
Hypothesis or Research Question
 Abstract

The RFG Committee should know what you want to
do by reading the Abstract
Abstract - Shaun Mendel, CRNA, MSN
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TITLE: Interdisciplinary Simulation: Perceptions of Graduate
Health Science Students.
Interprofessional collaboration has been linked to improved patient
care [1]. The unique combination of programs within the College of
Health Sciences allows for meaningful surgical simulations between
specialties mimicking real professional interactions. The World
Health Organization, Institute of Medicine and many diverse
healthcare professional organizations in the United States support
interprofessional education [2-4]. Simulation training is an ideal
method of interprofessional education [5].
One of the barriers to effective interprofessional education and
collaboration is the presence of negative preconceptions held by
the participants [6].
This study intends to use the revised Interprofessional Education
Perceptions Scale [7] to assess student perceptions of their own
profession and other professions before and after collaborative
simulation exercises between nurse anesthesia, podiatric medicine,
and cardiovascular science students.
Abstract - Kolla Kristjansdottir, Ph.D.
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TITLE: Identifying the NPM1 interactome in neuroblastoma cells
Neuroblastoma, a cancer arising from the sympathetic nervous system, is
the most common extra-cranial solid tumor in children.
Our data corroborates a previous study that shows an increase in NPM1
in high-risk neuroblastoma. NPM1 is a nucleolar protein and participates in
a wide range of biological processes including ribosome biogenesis,
chromatin remodeling, cell cycle, apoptosis and DNA repair. NPM1
functions in these processes via interaction with different binding partners
in some cases by sequestering them in the nucleoli. Of the relatively small
number of known NPM1 interactors phosphorylation status often
modulates interactor binding.
Here we propose to identify novel NPM1 interactors in neuroblastoma
using a Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) screen followed by confirmation of
interactions in neuroblastoma cells.
These pilot studies will identify a pool of NPM1-interactors to study
further and generate a neuroblastoma cell line with tagged NPM1 for
future mechanistic studies. This work will help elucidate the role of NPM1
and its interactome in neuroblastoma and may identify novel targets for
drug therapeutics.
Required sections

Research plan
◦ Background & significance
 What is the context?
 Why is it important?
◦ Hypothesis & specific aims
 What are you going to accomplish to rigorously test
your hypothesis?
◦ Preliminary studies if relevant
 Look! We can do this!
◦ Research design, methods, and statistics
 Figures are great!
 Sample size calculations are great!
Research Design

Hypothesis: Soy consumption will improve
endothelial function in diabetics
Timeline
Soy Improves EC Function
ID Patients (n = 12)
Collect Information
Source:
Clinical collaborator
Exclusion criteria
Age
Smoking Hx
EtOH use
CVD
Htn.
Prescriptions
Type I vs II
Sun exposure
Ethnicity, gender, etc.

Sample 1
HbA1c
Glucose
Serum insulin
Endothelial function
by flow mediated
dilation
Soy consumption
4 weeks
Dose
Formulation
Food & event log
Sample 2
HbA1c
Glucose
Serum insulin
Endothelial function
by flow mediated
dilation
Sample size calculation using data from literature
◦ n = 12
Budget (with justification of items)
Animals and animal care
 Surgical supplies and consumables
 Histopathology supplies and antibodies
 Quantitative rt-PCR supplies
Total

$ 770.40
$ 974.96
$ 2565.00
$ 692.00
$ 4231.96
Required sections
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Timeline for project – e.g.
IACUC submission and approval
January
Animal surgeries, treatments, and behavioral analysis
March – April
Tissue processing, histopathology, and qRT-PCR
May – June
Data analysis and preparation of manuscript
April – July
Identification of key personnel
 Roles and responsibilities of investigators
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Writing a good proposal
Importance/impact
 Research plan
 Pre-submission review
 Progress reports and final reports
 ORSP spending policies and guidelines

Timeline and deadline
Conceptualize and develop proposal
 Contact resources
May 1st
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◦ ORSP
◦ Statistics
◦ Collaborators
Pre-submission review
 Submit to Program Director
 Submit to Dean’s Office
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May 22nd
May 29th
June 2nd
Resources for faculty
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CHS website:
http://www.midwestern.edu/chs-deans-office/resources-faculty-andstaff/research-and-scholarship.html

ORSP
◦ Seeking external funding
◦ Presenting and publishing your work

Forming collaborations
◦ Mentored Research
◦ Journal Clubs
 Various research groups
 SoTL
◦ Involving students
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Research Club
Research Club
A forum for those interested in research to share their
ideas, concerns, and needs...
 Monthly meetings usually include an informal half-hour
presentation of ongoing research by a faculty member,
then discussion of some set of related topics.
 Discussion topics have included where to go and from
whom to get statistics support, what should be expected
of master’s level research students, what kind of
equipment needs to be requested through capital budget
requests and who would share the equipment, how
research ideas can be magnified by collaborations among
MWU faculty, what equipment is broken and how long it
will take to fix or replace, and so on.
 Ellen Tarr and Kathy Lawson are the organizers, and
they do a terrific job.

-Dr. Soby’s excellent description
Research Survey
CHS Dean’s Office will be sending out a
scholarship and research survey for faculty
 Please complete 

Questions?
Sample size calculation

n
n = s2(Z1-b + Z1-a/2)2
(m0 – m1)2
number of measurements per group
s
variation in the sample
a
probability of type I error
b
probability of a type II error
m0 – m1 treatment effect
Z values from stats tables
Z0.8 = 0.84
Z0.975 = 1.96
a = 0.05
b = 0.20
power = 0.8
Real World Example
Sample size calculation

n = s2(Z1-b + Z1-a/2)2
(m0 – m1)2
= (1.7)2(0.84 + 1.96)2
(14.3 – 15.7)2
= 11.56, so 12 per group
a = 0.05
b = 0.20
power = 0.8