Research Revealed: How Collaboration Helped BU Researchers Develop a New Tool to Assess Cognitive Impairment

July 2022 | Information & Support for the BU Research Community

Collaborate

COLLABORATION IN ACTION

Researchers at Boston University have created an artificial intelligence program that detects cognitive impairment accurately and efficiently from voice recordings. Although the results still need to be validated against other data sources, this new tool could streamline our capacity to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease.

Plus:

• Tips on identifying good collaborators (Nature)
• A checklist for designing a great conference poster (Crastina)

Career Development & Funding Opportunities

Program for Early Career Development: The BU Clinical & Translational Science Institute is sponsoring a program designed to provide a roadmap and targeted guidance for senior postdoctoral fellows and early career faculty (MD and PhD) committed to launching an independent research career. The workshop will help attendees assemble a professional portfolio requisite for attaining career development awards, pilot awards, and other funding areas consistent with the success of early-stage investors. Applications are due September 16.

Education and Special Education Research: The US Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences seeks proposals by Thursday, September 8 for research that expands knowledge of (1) developmental and school readiness outcomes for infants and toddlers with or at risk for a disability; (2) education outcomes for all learners from early childhood education through postsecondary and adult education; and (3) employment and wage outcomes when relevant (such as for those engaged in career and technical, postsecondary, or adult education).

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants: The NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts is NIH’s official publication of notices of grant policies, guidelines and funding opportunity announcements. Upcoming announcements will include an opportunity for centers of excellence for maternal health research.

Manage an Award

Where’s My Award Page Update: Please note, the “Where’s My Award” page has been updated on the Research Support website. The information located on the page is now being stored in a Power BI interactive report. The report, its instructions, and additional details can be found under the “Check Your Award Set-up Status” section of the Award & Subaward Tracker site.

Two-Part Webinar on Implementing the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Offices of Science Policy and Extramural Research are co-hosting a webinar series focused on implementing the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy. Experts will help participants understand and successfully implement the new policy in advance of its taking effect on January 25, 2023. 

Funding Resources: A recent post to the Research Admin Blog highlights the top 5 eRA resources for anyone applying for or managing an NIH award. The post provides key support to help navigate the NIH grants systems.

NSF Program Suitability & Proposal Concept Tool (ProSPCT):  The National Science Foundation (NSF) has developed a new proposal concept tool, ProSPCT, for prospective principal investigators to contact the NSF to determine the suitability of a project idea prior to submission of a proposal. 

Internal Proposal Submission Deadlines: Summer grant deadlines are upon us. As a reminder, BU Sponsored Programs requests that investigators notify them of their intention to submit a proposal well in advance of the sponsor deadline. Additionally, all administrative components must be finalized five business days before the deadline, and the final and complete proposal must be submitted to Sponsored Programs three business days before the deadline. Proposals completed on the day of the external deadline are at risk of not being successfully submitted given high volumes and system pressures. Learn more

Postdoc & PhD Compensation Increase: The NIH has raised its minimum salary and stipend level for postdoctoral scholars to $54,840, a two-percent increase. As of Thursday, September 1, BU’s minimum postdoc salary and stipend level will be $54,840.  New proposals submitted through Sponsored Programs will require postdoc salaries to be budgeted at $54,840, effective immediately. We encourage faculty and units that wish to raise their postdocs’ salaries or stipends in advance of September 1 to do so. Additionally, BU has increased PhD student stipends by four percent, bringing the minimum eight-month PhD stipend to $25,502 and the minimum 12-month stipend to $38,253. The University has created a Task Force on the Future of PhD Education to address key concerns, such as adequate financial support, and help PhD students focus on their education and independent research.

Conducting Research

Lab Animal Per Diem Rate Changes: New lab animal per diem rates can be found on the Research Support website. The updated rates reflect the costs for fiscal year 2023, which began on Friday, July 1, as well as proposed costs for the next four years. Please use these projected costs when preparing proposal budgets.

Bring to Market

From Lab to Life: Ignition Awards provide BU faculty with one-year grants of up to $75,000 to help launch promising new ideas into the marketplace—better positioning investigators at all stages of project development to transform their research from concept to reality. Read about this year’s nine winners and their life-changing innovations. Ignition Awards will begin soliciting pre-proposals from faculty for the coming year in October 2022.

The Innovator’s Journey: This month’s blog post from Rana K. Gupta, Director of Faculty Entrepreneurship, tackles one of the most common questions academic inventors face in meetings with company reps interested in an idea or technology: “How does it work?” His advice? Don’t take this question at face value by sharing too much, too soon. Instead, dig deeper to find out what they’re really asking.

Notes & News

Associate Professor, Ahmad (Mo) Khalil, was one of the co-principal investigators awarded $1 million by the W.M. Keck Foundation to study cell signaling. The collaboration between biomedical researchers at the University of California Irvine and Boston University could unlock significant discoveries in human physiology and lead to therapeutic innovations. 

BU’s Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS) Launches: Under the leadership of Director Benjamin Sovacool (CAS), IGS brings together more than 100 faculty for interdisciplinary research on planetary and environmental health, climate governance, and energy systems. The institute’s focus is grounded in equity and justice, robust data analysis, and real-world impact. Sign up for email updates on IGS research, events, news, and more. (IGS replaces the Institute for Sustainable Energy with an expanded scope of research).  

The BU Center for Antiracist Research released a new report on the state of racial and ethnic data collection and reporting. The report details the gaps in how race and ethnicity data are collected and shared at the country, state, and federal levels. 

Professor Nahid Bhadelia, founder of Boston University’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (CEID), has joined the White House COVID Response Team as senior policy advisor for global COVID response. Professor David Hamer will serve as interim director of CEID during Dr. Bhadelia’s White House tenure. 

Stephanie Strickland, master’s candidate at the College of Communication and research fellow at the Institute for Global Sustainability, is looking for research participants to complete a brief survey on climate change messaging. The 5-minute, anonymous survey asks participants to watch short video advertisements and respond to related questions.

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