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ClinicalTrials.gov Modernization Efforts

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Let your voice be heard! ClinicalTrials.gov is getting a facelift and the National Library of Medicine wants your feedback.

 

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is holding a virtual public meeting to discuss the ongoing modernization efforts for ClinicalTrials.gov on April 25th, 2023, from 12:30-3:00 p.m. They will provide a detailed look at the current beta websites–– both the public-facing ClinicalTrials.gov site as well as the entry system site for researchers, known as the Protocol Registration and Results System or PRS. They will provide progress updates and ask for feedback from stakeholders. For the meeting agenda and a link to register, visit the NLM website.

For questions regarding ClinicalTrials.gov at UConn and UConn Health, please contact local PRS Administrator, Ellen Ciesielski

Active and Pending Support

General Information/Introduction

UConn researchers should be transparent regarding their other research support, other research activities, and research collaborations when submitting grant proposals to external sponsors. Disclosure of such support, via forms commonly referred to as “Current and Pending” or “Other Support,” allows the identification of potential duplication of funding, assessment of the investigator’s capacity/available effort to complete proposed projects, the evaluation of potential conflicts of interest, and the overall protection of national security and economic interests.

While the format/form being provided to the sponsor may vary, if applicable to a proposal under development, PIs should include ALL support, including grants and contracts from all domestic and non-U.S. sources, including support internal to UConn. Additional guidance is generally available in the specific funding opportunity announcement to which the proposal is responding, and MUST be followed to avoid return without review or other negative consequences.

Federal agencies are increasingly placing additional scrutiny on potential foreign influence and its impact upon the U.S. research enterprise. Efforts at the federal level are currently underway to standardize disclosure requirements, forms, and other requirements, and some agencies have provided additional guidance on completing disclosure documents. For additional assistance, or to report changes to disclosure documents related to existing awards, please contact your department administrator or SPS@uchc.edu.

Active and Pending Support

EpicCare Link at UConn Health for Clinical Trial Studies

EpicCare Link at UConn HealthEpicCare® Link at UConn Health is a secure web portal that offers site monitors easy access to clinical trial study data. There is no cost to access the portal, and there’s no software or hardware to maintain. EpicCare Link is available 24/7 via any computer with an Internet connection and an up-to-date browser. Supported browsers include Chrome version 50 or later, Microsoft Edge version 79 or later, and Internet Explorer version 11.

In order to provide a site monitor with access to EpicCare link and a specific clinical trial, an EpicCare Link Agreement between the sponsor and UConn Health needs to be completed first. Once the agreement is executed, we will add the sponsor to the EpicCare Link. A site monitor can be added once the sponsor is added to EpicCare Link. You can learn more about our process via the following documents:

To start the process, please complete the EpicCare Link Request Form and send it to octrclinicaltrial@uchc.edu.

If you any questions, please contact us at octrclinicaltrial@uchc.edu.

Chemical Safety Data Sheets (SDS)

To access a Safety Data Sheet (SDS), search for it either with a general search engine, such as Google, or use of the specific manufacturer’s or SDS service websites listed below. Specific instructions for each website are listed in the table below.

COMPANY SITE INSTRUCTIONS
Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. Enter the search criteria: SDS + product name + manufacturer (if known) and SEARCH button to bring up link to SDS.
3M Under Search, down arrow until you find “with Product Name/Number” and under the search (magnifying glass) type in the product you are searching for and on the magnifying glass.
Acros Organics Type in the product name in the “Product Code” box and “Go”.
Avantor Performance Materials, Inc “Certificate/SDS search” and type product name in the “text search” box under SDS and “SDS Search”.
Bio-Rad Laboratories Got to “Literature Library” – Check mark “SDS” and type product name in the search box and press “Search Documents”.
Certol International, LLC Click on whether medical/dental/industrial then on products located in the middle of the page and find the product name and “Safety Data Sheets”.
Eastman Kodak Company Enter product name and search for SDS.
ECOLAB Type in product name and search for SDS.
Fisher Scientific Type in SDS product you are searching for SDS
GC America Inc. Look for product name you are searching for SDS.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Search by typing in product you are looking for and scroll down to find the SDS.
Ivoclar Vivadent Search for product you are looking for. Click on product and to get information.
Lang Dental Manufacturing Company, Inc. Search by product name for SDS.
Promega Search by product name under “Search SDS”.
Pharmco-Aaper Find the product name to get SDS.
Sigma-Aldrich Under “Data Specific Search” search by “Product Name” and under “Search Term” enter product name and click “Search”.  Find the phenol description you are looking for and find “SDS” (next to Pricing) with and click on download arrow.
Sterilex Find product name, “Learn More” and “Resources” to get SDS.
Steris Corporation Search by product name, product number, document title, or key word and “Search SDS”.
Temrex Corporation Click on product name for SDS.

New England University Collaboration on Renewable and Sustainable Energy (NEUCORSE)

Purpose

UConn’s NEUCORSE initiative is designed to catalyze collaboration among universities in New England to address our nation’s urgent need for renewable and sustainable energy.  Building on UConn’s existing strengths in clean energy engineering, this program seeks to support the development of cross-institutional teams with the expertise and capacity to successfully tackle the most challenging scientific and technical problems in this area.  NEUCORSE awards should be thought of as planning grants that will provide seed funding and support team development activities to prepare teams for larger-scale activities in the future.   We welcome proposals focusing on any topic that is relevant to the larger goal of developing renewable and sustainable energy solutions and that can be best addressed through sustained, interdisciplinary efforts within New England.  It is expected that proposed teams be diverse, including investigators from underrepresented groups and a mixture of early-career and more senior investigators.  It is also expected that the planning activities proposed include activities that prepare for future work that will have significant broader impacts, including workforce development.

For more information, please visit the program’s website here.

HCRAC Newsletter

We are happy to introduce our new Health Center Research Advisory Council newsletter. Under the leadership of the Office of the Vice President for Research, the members of HCRAC are working hard to support the research mission at UConn Health. HCRAC plans to release a newsletter twice a year that will highlight our excellent research core facilities, as well as you make you aware of the resources offered. These resources include: Emergency bridge grants, travel support for students and postdocs, and Equipment programs.

Research Development Services (RDS): Proposal Development Services Overview

Overview

As a University, we’ve committed to work together to substantially grow UConn/UConn Health’s capacity for high-level research, scholarship, and creative endeavors.  As part of its Research Development (RD) efforts, the Office of the Vice President for Research now offers proposal development services to increase the competitiveness of proposals UConn/UConn Health investigators submit to funders.  The services offered include consultation, brief and in depth proposal reviews, and large and complex proposal support.

Proposal development services build on the success of OVPR RD initiatives such as grantwriting training and seed funding programs by providing grantwriting support, including grantsmanship reviews, proposal editing, and project management support for large and complex proposals.  These services are designed to ensure that high-quality science and scholarship proposed by UConn investigators can be as competitive as possible.

To learn more about the role and mission of our Research Development Services team, the services we offer, and to submit requests for service, please visit this link.

Proposal Development, Review, and Submission Timeline

Full Business Days Before Submission Deadline

>6 days: PI provides application components to local grants administrator (or Faculty Services)

5 days: Complete application (plus draft scientific components) and IPR submitted to SPS

5-2 days: SPS reviews proposal and provides feedback

2 days: Corrections made and all approvals in place

Noon day before deadline: Final proposal and PI authorization to submit to sponsor provided to SPS

1-0 days before deadline: Proposal submitted

 

Important Notice on Proposal Submission Policy

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Revision Date: March 8, 2021 – revisions in italics

As an applicant organization, UConn/UConn Health has an institutional responsibility to verify the accuracy, validity, conformity, and eligibility of all applications submitted to a sponsor on behalf of the University. We have been exploring how to ensure the best delivery of services, meet sponsor and institutional policy requirements that were highlighted in the recent NSF audit, and to ensure that the University has sufficient time to review and certify proposals and increase the number of successful applications. To that end, we have conducted a survey of all faculty who submitted grant proposals within the last two years, listened to the research community’s comments at town halls, and solicited input from the President, Provost, deans, associate deans for research, the President’s Research Advisory Council, University Senate, and other faculty groups.

This listening process revealed that one of the main challenges for both investigators and staff is the bottleneck that occurs immediately prior to proposal submission. In recent years, nearly two-thirds of proposals submitted (with all components ready) are received by Sponsored Program Services (SPS) within one working day or less of the sponsor deadline.

Numerous proposals are being submitted just barely in time, meaning there is little time for a thorough review. Additionally, proposals that have been submitted to SPS far in advance also routinely lack a timely and thorough review because other proposals with an earlier deadline came in and “cut the line.”

To begin to remedy the proposal submission bottleneck, beginning May 5, 2021, the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) will implement the current policy on internal deadlines for the review and submission of sponsored project proposals. The process change aims to reduce last day proposal submissions and will prioritize proposals as received. Once the policy is implemented, final administrative components of a proposal must be received by SPS Pre-Award at least five full business days in advance of the submission due date (along with a draft of the scientific components). The final submission ready proposal is due to SPS no later than noon the day before the sponsor deadline.

Exceptions include short turnaround RFPs, last minute sponsor requests, or a last minute opportunity to join a proposal under submission by another institution. Also, each UConn investigator will be given one pass to use in the event they are not able to meet the internal five-day deadline. As is the current practice, SPS Pre-Award will make every effort to submit these proposals when possible. Please visit the OVPR website for additional information and FAQs regarding the internal deadline policy.

To increase faculty support related to proposal preparation, the OVPR will be taking the following additional steps:

  • The OVPR is working to address situations where investigators do not have dedicated administrative support for the preparation of a proposal; we will continue to increase staff training opportunities, extend faculty service offerings, and work to simplify the submission process.
  • The OVPR will implement a dashboard to increase transparency and provide information on the status and order of review.
  • The OVPR will provide additional research development services, such as grant editing and proofreading, proposal review, large and complex grant support, and research funding consultation. Further information regarding these services and how to request them is available on the OVPR Research Development section of this website.
  • The OVPR will continue to work with and incorporate feedback from faculty working groups.  Upon recommendation of the University Senate, the President formed a sponsored projects working group to identify impediments to the expeditious review of sponsored project proposals in advance of deadlines.  The group’s report is available on the University Senate website.

Development, review, and submission timeline:

Full Business Days Before Submission Deadline

>6 days: PI provides application components to local grants administrator (or Faculty Services)

5 days: Complete application (plus draft scientific components) and IPR submitted to SPS

5-2 days: SPS reviews proposal and provides feedback

2 days: Corrections made and all approvals in place

Noon day before deadline: Final proposal and PI authorization to submit to sponsor provided to SPS

1-0 days before deadline: Proposal submitted

SPS is responsible for ensuring that applications are compliant and that institutional and sponsor guidelines are met including administrative, management, and scientific information. Please contact Paul Hudobenko (hudobenko@uchc.edu/UConn Health) or Mark Reeves (mark.reeves@uconn.edu/Storrs and Regionals) with questions as we move to a consistent and sustainable process.

Thank you for your continued cooperation in our collaborative efforts to advance UConn’s mission through innovative research, scholarship, and creative pursuits.