April 20 – 26

Funding Opportunities:
  • Canadian Diabetes Association – 2015 Personnel Awards Competition Now Open
  • amfAR – Mathilde Krim Fellowships in Basic Biomedical Research
  • Prostate Cancer Foundation – Young Investigator Awards
  • Government of Canada – Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships (updated information)
Events:
  • Centre for Blood Research – Norman Bethune Symposium (webcast link available)
  • Biomedical Research Centre Seminar Series  – In situ hemopoiesis in allergic inflammation and disease: from serendipity to prediction
  • Centre for Blood Research Seminar Series – Cardiovascular disease in children treated with second-generation antipsychotics
  • UBC SPARC Office – NSERC Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) Grants Workshop
  • ERA-Can+ – Webinar on Opportunities for Europeans in Programs by CFI

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES:
Deadline: May 4, 2015; 8pm EST
Applications are currently being accepted for the following Personnel Awards:
  • Clinician Scientist Awards
  • Scholar Awards
  • Post-Doctoral Fellowships
For detailed information regarding eligibility criteria, please  visit the CDA website.
All applications are to be submitted online through ResearchNet.

LOI Deadline: May 14, 2015; 3pm EDT
The goal of amfAR’s Mathilde Krim Fellowships in Basic Biomedical Research is to:
  • Facilitate the exceptional postdoctoral researcher’s transition to a productive and independent long-term career in HIV/AIDS research.
  • Support two years of postdoctoral basic biomedical research (phase I).
  • Provide the possibility of one additional year of research funding during the first year of an independent research position (phase II).
Applicants must conduct basic biomedical research on HIV/AIDS to be considered for funding in this program.
Please visit the amfAR website for further information.

Deadline: June 3, 2015; 3pm EDT
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is pleased to announce a request for applications for Young Investigator Awards.
PCF (www.pcf.org) champions human capital investment to fast-forward solutions for prostate cancer with the ultimate goal of ending death and suffering from prostate cancer. The PCF Young Investigators Award program is one of our most significant efforts toward developing gifted cohorts of young prostate cancer researchers.
PCF Young Investigator Awards will be three (3) years in duration and will provide $75,000 per year. The award funds may be used flexibly to advance the career and research efforts of the awardee. Every PCF Young Investigator is required to be under the direct supervision of a mentor. Applicants should be within six-years following completion of a professional degree or clinical training such as MD, PhD, DSc, MD-PhD or equivalent and hold the title of Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, Instructor, Research Associate, Assistant Professor, or equivalent. Applicants should have received no more than $200,000 in current direct research funding from all sources including institutional funds. Investigators who have specifically received young investigator research support from the NCI, NIH, or DoD are still qualified and very much encouraged to apply. Young Investigator awardees are required to attend the Annual PCF Scientific Retreat and Young Investigator Day, typically held in October, throughout the duration of their award.
For further information, please review the PCF Request for Applications.

Internal Deadline: June 8, 2015
Please be advised that Banting has officially launched the 2015/2016 Banting Fellowship Competition and their website is now updated with the new competition information. The PDFO website has also been updated to reflect these changes however the changes will primarily impact the applicants that UBC will be endorsing through the internal adjudication process.  The most significant change is that the Banting Application will require only 2 institutional documents instead of the 4 that were outlined in previously available information and used in previous years.  These letters that formed part of the formal Banting Application have been streamlined so that the supervisor statement will now include professional development and the research environment, changing the page limit from 4 to 5 pages.  The PDFO will assist in providing feedback/advice on the new institutional document where possible.
For your convenience, attached is a 1-page information flyer for circulation.
Please contact Hourik Khanlian (Hourik.khanlian@ubc.ca) with any questions regarding UBC internal processes.
For any general Banting inquiries (including Common CV and ResearchNet support) please send your questions directly to Banting.

EVENTS:
Date: April 16, 2015
A webcast link for the recently occurred Norman Bethune Symposium is available here.

Date & Time: April 17, 2015; 4-5pm
Location: Biomedical Research Centre, 2222 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver
Seminar by:
Dr. Judah Denburg
Director, Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Department of Medicine
William J. Walsh Professor of Medicine
Scientific Director, AllerGen-NCE Inc.
McMaster University
Hosted by Dr. Kelly McNagny Kelly@brc.ubc.ca

Centre for Blood Research Seminar Series – Cardiovascular disease in children treated with second-generation antipsychotics
Date & Time: April 22, 2015; 12-1pm
Location: LSC 3, Life Sciences Centre, 2350 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver
Seminar by:
Dr. Angela Marie Devlin
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UBC
Research Scientist, CFRI
Approximately 1 in 7 (1.2 million) Canadian children and youth under age 19 yrs are estimated to have a mental health condition and many will be treated with second‐generation antipsychotic (SGAs) medications. Recent estimates suggest that approximately 5600 children in British Columbia are undergoing SGA treatment. However, use of SGAs comes with concern because SGA treatment is associated with rapid weight gain and other comorbidities such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and impaired glucose tolerance. Recent estimates further suggest that SGA‐treated children have a 1.5 to 3‐fold greater risk of type 2 diabetes compared to those who are not treated. The mechanisms of SGA ‐induced weight gain and metabolic side effects are not known. Interestingly, not all SGA‐treated children develop these side‐effects suggesting there are underlying genetic and/or lifestyle factors that predispose a child. Targeted genetic analyses have identified interactions of SGA‐treatment with gene variants in pathways regulating methyl metabolism and appetite control, which may be useful in predicting children at risk for metabolic side effects. Further clinical and mechanistic studies have identified effects of SGAs on pancreatic beta cell function and have begun to characterize the effects of SGAs on cardiovascular function in children.

Date & Time: May 4, 2015; 1-3pm
Location: Room 101, Michael Smith Laboratories, 2185 East Mall, Vancouver
The SPARC Office is pleased to announce it is once again organizing an NSERC Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) Grants Workshop for UBC researchers interested in applying to this valuable research partnership funding program.
Jeffery Nerenberg, Senior Manager, Research Partnerships, from the NSERC-Ottawa office will be coming to UBC on Monday, May 4th, 2015 to give a presentation, meet with researchers and address any questions you may have related to the NSERC CRD program. In addition to Mr. Nerenberg, some successful UBC CRD applicants will also outline and discuss their experiences with the CRD program.
This information session is scheduled for:
1:00 – 3:00pm on Monday, May 4th, and additional information is available on the Event Registration webpage on the SPARC website.
Please NOTE: Registration for this Workshop is REQUIRED. Lunch will be provided.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to forward them to David Woods (david.woods@ubc.ca) in the SPARC Office.

Date & Time: May 6, 2015; 4:30-6pm Central European Summer Time
ERA-Can+ Canadian project partners are hosting a live webinar about research opportunities for Europeans to participate in programs offered by the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The webinar is open to European researchers, research managers, and representatives from universities, colleges, government agencies and the private sector.
Canada’s Public Policy Forum and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada will host a webinar to introduce the ERA-Can+ project and Horizon 2020—the European Union’s current Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The second part of the webinar will feature the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and explore its research opportunities open to Europeans.
Date: May 6, 16:30 – 18:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST)
Speaker: David Moorman, Senior Advisor, Policy and Planning, Canada Foundation for Innovation
For more information and to register, click here.
The panelist will be available to answer questions from audience members following his presentation.
For further information please contact Danielle Lenarcic Biss at dbiss@aucc.ca. Any technical questions pertaining to ERA-Can+ of Horizon 2020 can be directed to the ERA-Can+ helpdesk at helpdesk@era-can.net.