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Check Out NIH’s New COVID-19 Research Website

COVID-19

Check Out NIH’s New COVID-19 Research Website
Posted on January 19, 2021 by Mike Lauer (NIH Website)

 

We are pleased to announce that the new NIH COVID-19 website launched last week. The site provides a central location for trusted, up-to-date, accurate information about NIH research and our strategic role in COVID-19 research. The site complements information made available on our COVID-19: Information for NIH Applicants and Recipients of NIH Funding webpage.

The new site includes information about key programs such as the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines public-private partnership and the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative to develop state-of-the-science diagnostic tests for COVID-19. Users are also able to search information on funded research by state, institution, Congressional district, and more.

 

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COVID-19
Publication Date: 
02/03/2021

NIMHD 10: A Year in Review and a Path Forward

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NIMHD 10: A Year in Review and a Path Forward

Posted on January 28, 2021
 
By Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D.
Director, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
 
 
In 2020, we celebrated NIMHD’s 10th anniversary as an institute at the National Institutes of Health. As the year began, we could not have foreseen the disruptions and devastation that a global pandemic would cause. Although many would say we could have predicted the exacerbation of health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities and all working people with the onset of COVID-19, its impact has revealed so much about the inequities within the fabric of our nation. While the nation (and the world) grappled with how best to deal with our new public health crisis, NIMHD pressed ahead to be a part of the solutions. We expanded the breadth and depth of our work with new collaborations, research programs and resources in support of our mission to improve minority health and reduce health disparities.
 
Before the pandemic shut the nation down, we were fortunate to hold NIMHD’s first scientific symposium, marking our milestone year, hosting over 2,000 in-person and virtual attendees. Focusing on themes of partnership, innovation, and the role of social and health determinants in health disparities, we created a path for further exploration and research initiatives.
 
On the COVID-19 response, we have co-led three prominent research initiatives to address disparities:
 
The Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics in Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program is designed to enable and enhance COVID-19 testing of underserved and vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the disease. NIH funded 69 projects in 33 states, mostly focused on populations with health disparities. The Coordination and Data Collection Center (CDCC) was funded for four years at Duke University in North Carolina and will be managed by NIMHD.
The Social, Behavioral and Economic Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic is an NIH-wide initiative co-led by NIMHD, NIMH, NIA and OBSSR to support research projects on these issues. Through pooled resources from ten NIH Institutes and Centers and support from the Office of the Director, 52 projects were funded in FY 2020 and plans for new grants in FY 2021 are proceeding.
NIH Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities is based on the premise of trust and truth in community engaged research. Knowing that African Americans, Latinos, American Indians, and Pacific Islanders account for over half of all reported coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States, it is critical that we meet these individuals and communities where they are through trusted leaders and scientifically based information for informed decision making. I co-lead this effort with Dr. Gary Gibbons, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Additionally, our scientific program staff quickly responded with new research initiatives seeking advances in digital healthcare, community interventions and long-term effects of disasters on health care systems serving health disparity populations. In December, we released a new initiative to address research in vaccine hesitancy, which focuses on the immediate issue of COVID-19, and will include other vaccine-preventable conditions such as influenza, hepatitis B and human papillomavirus.
 
 
 
In other key collaborations, the Institute is preparing for the next generation to advance novel research. We joined the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering to host the 2020 Design by Biomedical Undergraduate (DEBUT) Challenge. NIMHD awarded the Healthcare Technologies for Low-Resource Settings Prize to Rice University for their Universal Obturator for Brachytherapy, a low-cost 3D printed device to help expand treatment of late-stage cervical cancer. We also co-lead a new NIH Common Fund program called Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) program, which invests in research faculty committed to promoting diversity and inclusive excellence in their respective institutions.
 
 
 
During our anniversary year we also launched activities in new research areas. Maternal health disparities are impacting African American and American Indian/Alaska Native communities at staggeringly high rates, where women in these groups are respectively 3.2 and 2.3 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related mortality than their White counterparts. New research is underway through six R01 grants co-funded with NHLBI and the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health. In September we hosted The Role of Work in Health Disparities in the United States Scientific Workshop, to cover novel approaches and facilitate discussions on multilevel interventions to investigate work-based health disparities. This two-day virtual event engaged over 1,000 participants. Our Director’s Seminar Series continued with a lecture by Dr. Ricardo Muñoz in October and by David Williams in December. We look forward to hosting Dr. L. Ebony Boulware, whose presentation was postponed due to the pandemic, on February 4.
 
 
 
Research program collaborations across NIH also led to the development of the PhenX Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Assessments Collection, which promotes the use of standard individual and structural measures of social determinants for health disparities research facilitating collection, use and analysis of research data for more common interpretation, use and potential implementation.
 
The social unrest we experienced in 2020 due to the structural inequities that have perpetuated racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities led to monumental response by Americans from all backgrounds. For me, this shows promise towards equity, particularly health equity for all. I added my voice to the conversations through a blog post mid-year. Demonstrations across the country show that many in America envision a country in which all populations have an equal opportunity to live long, healthy and productive lives. NIMHD is championing this promise through our Envisioning Health Equity Art Challenge which is open through February 5, 2021. I hope you will join us by submitting your interpretation of this vision.
 
 
 
 
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Publication Date: 
01/28/2021

NOT-OD-21-053: Updated Guidelines for Enhancing Diversity and Creating Safe Environments in Conferences Supported by NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements

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NOT-OD-21-053: Updated Guidelines for Enhancing Diversity and Creating Safe Environments in Conferences Supported by NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-21-053.html

 

Updated Guidelines for Enhancing Diversity and Creating Safe Environments in Conferences Supported by NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements

Notice Number: 

NOT-OD-21-053

Key Dates

Release Date: 

January 22, 2021

NOT-OD-03-066 - Guidelines for Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in NIH-Supported Conference Grants (Rescinded)

NOT-OD-20-031 - Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity

NOT-OD-15-152 - Civil Rights Protections in NIH-Supported Research, Programs, Conferences and Other Activities

Issued by

Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD)

Purpose

PURPOSE

This Notice provides updated guidance on enhancing the diversity of conferencessupported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (under the R13 and U13 activity codes) and replaces previous guidance in NOT-OD-03-066 Guidelines For Inclusion Of Women, Minorities, And Persons With Disabilities In NIH-Supported Conference Grants. It also reiterates the expectation that organizers of NIH-supported conferences maintain inclusive, safe, and respectful environments for all attendees and provides examples of strategies to accomplish this expectation.

POLICY

Diversity

NIH encourages conference grant applicants to enhance diversity by increasing the participation of individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented groups, in the planning, implementation, and participation in the proposed conference. Underrepresented groups include individuals from nationally underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, and women (see NIH Notice of Interest in Diversity, NOT-OD-20-031, for additional details).

Conference grant applicants (R13/U13) must include plans to enhance diversity during the selection of organizing committees, speakers, other invited participants, such as session chairs and panel discussants, and attendees. Plans to enhance diversity will be assessed during the scientific and technical merit review of the application. Though the proposed plans will not be scored individually, they will be considered in the overall impact score.

Conference grant awardees will be required to report on the effectiveness of plans to enhance diversity of underrepresented groups in annual Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPR) and the Final-RPPR.

Safe and Inclusive Environments

As stated in NOT-OD-15-152, Civil Rights Protections in NIH-Supported Research, Programs, Conferences and Other Activities, consistent with existing federal civil rights laws, it is expected that organizers of NIH-supported conferences and scientific meetings take steps to maintain a safe and respectful environment for all attendees by providing an environment free from discrimination and harassment, sexual or otherwise. It is expected that organizers of NIH-supported conferences employ strategies that seek to prevent or mitigate the effects of discrimination and harassment, sexual and otherwise.Below are examples of strategies, which are not inclusive of all strategies, that could be employed to support a safe environment (conference organizers should consider additional strategies as appropriate):

  • Establishing a conference code of conduct with clearly stated expectations of behavior, systems of reporting, and procedures for addressing inappropriate behavior. The code of conduct and reporting mechanisms should be clear and accessible to all meeting attendees.
  • Providing resources to support individuals who report incidents of harassment, including:
    • personnel trained in advocacy and counseling
    • referrals to legal or health care resources
    • procedures for ensuring the safety of all conference attendees, up to and including removing a perpetrator from the conference
  • Conducting conference climate surveys specifically related to sexual harassment and professional misconduct

Additionally, all NIH sponsored and/or supported conferences must be held at accessible sites, as outlined by section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and, as applicable, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Conference registration websites and registration materials should provide a questionnaire that will allow participants with disabilities to voluntarily identify any special needs, so that conference organizers can make plans to accommodate these needs.

BACKGROUND

NIH provides support for scientific meetings, conferences, and workshops (hereafter “conferences”) that are relevant to its scientific mission and to public health, typically under the R13 and U13 activity codes. The NIH recognizes that the value of conferences is enhanced when persons from diverse backgrounds and perspectives are included in all aspects of conference/meeting planning and when attendees are assured of a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment free from discrimination, harassment, and other barriers that might prevent or inhibit one’s participation.

Per NOT-OD-20-031 Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity, NIH’s ability to ensure that the nation remains a global leader in scientific discovery and innovation is dependent upon a pool of highly talented scientists from diverse backgrounds who will help to further the NIH’s mission. Supporting a diverse scientific workforce fosters creativity and innovation, helps to ensure that different perspectives are considered when addressing complex scientific problems, and ultimately improves the quality of research. Additionally, section 402(h) of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 282(h), directs NIH to provide for an increase in the number of women, racial and ethnic minorities, and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds in fields of biomedical and behavioral research.

NIH is also committed to changing the culture of science to end sexual harassment and other forms of harassment in NIH-funded activities. Harassment, in any form, is detrimental and presents obstacles that hinder an individual’s ability to fully participate in science. Only in safe, respectful, and inclusive environments can individuals achieve their fullest potential and support the mission of the NIH.

Civil Rights Enforcement

The Civil Rights Division (CRD) in the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) promotes and ensures equal access to, and the opportunity to participate in programs funded by HHS. CRD carries out this mission by enforcing Federal laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age and sex in programs and activities that receive financial assistance from HHS. OCR ensures compliance by investigating complaints, conducting compliance reviews, providing technical assistance, and conducting outreach nationwide. For more information, see OCR and civil rights enforcement.

Individuals with questions, concerns or complaints related to any of the civil rights laws are encouraged to contact OCR. OCR has regional offices which enforce the regulations in designated states and territories. The addresses and telephone numbers of the OCR regional offices can be found on the OCR contactswebpage.

Inquiries

Please direct all policy-related inquiries to:

Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration (OPERA)

Division of Grants Policy

GrantsPolicy@OD.NIH.GOV

Please direct all program-related inquiries to:

The appropriate contact listed under the R13/U13 Contacts and Special Interest website or to the R13 mailbox:R131@mail.nih.gov.

 

 

 

Tags: 
news
Publication Date: 
01/26/2021

Vacuna COVID-19 NUEVA INFORMACION

Vacuna COVID-19

Nueva Información (PDF)

Contiene:

  • Tipos de vacuna
  • ¿Cómo funcionan las vacunas de Pfizer y Moderna?
  • Importante recordar
  • Fases de vacunación
  • ¿Dónde me puedo vacunar?
  • ¿Las vacunas tienen costo o son gratis?
  • ¿Necesito tener plan médico para vacunarme?

 

Tags: 
news
COVID-19
VACCINE
Publication Date: 
01/26/2021

Invitation: Call for Abstracts- 5th Interdisciplinary Research Virtual Symposium

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The San Juan Bautista School of Medicine and the Latino Student Medical Association continue their tradition in organizing the 5th Interdisciplinary Research Virtual Symposium to integrate multiple academic levels, disciplines, and institutions to discuss research findings in the clinical, basic, and behavioral sciences.  

The symposium will be virtual during the afternoon of Thursday, February 25th, 2021, starting at 2:30 pm with scientific video presentations followed by a panel of experts discussing the topic “Stress: Neurophysiology, Recognition, and Management.

Students and faculty are invited to submit an abstract of their research proposal or findings together with a video presentation.

The link for accepting abstracts and proposed projects through video submissions is:  https://forms.gle/srGgKTDu5L27BFB86

The due date for submission is January 31st, 2021, and you will receive an answer by February 12th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: 
news
Publication Date: 
01/15/2021

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