Recent events revealed undeniable racial disparities in police violence and COVID-19 fatality. The movements rising up to combat such injustices have highlighted the importance of considering the intersections of group identities in thinking about what social and environmental sustainability means.

The Campus Sustainability Fund and the UW Resilience Lab are calling for proposals of up to $3,000 for projects that will educate the UW community and spark dialogue about proposed solutions to environmental and societal problems that have a disproportionately negative impact on communities of color, and in particular on Black and Indigenous peoples.

Example projects could include anything from a documentary and group discussion to the creation of online resources or a public art installation. We are especially interested in proposals that address themes of police reform and accountability, environmental (in)justice, and health disparities that result from systemic and institutional racism. The 17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals may serve as an inspiration for thinking about different aspects of intersectional sustainability that could be addressed. We prefer proposals for solutions that can be implemented at the University of Washington or in the greater Seattle area.

The application period will open on July 8, 2020, and will stay open while funding remains. All University of Washington students, staff, and faculty are eligible to apply. However, preference will be given to teams including students. Projects will be funded on a rolling basis.

Application Link

Demographers of Color (DOC) will be organizing an event every 2nd Friday of each month through at least Oct.  The next two “Job-Seeking in Times of Covid-19” workshops will be held Friday August 14^th and September 11^th at 3-4:30 pm PST. These panel discussions were organized in response to feedback gathered at the Demographers of Color & Allies Reception in April. The first workshop was held, June 23.

Real World/beyond Higher-Ed: Friday, August 14^th 6-7:30 pm EST

Post-docs, NIH career awards (k,diversity & re-entry supplements):Friday, September 11^th 6-7:30 pm EST

Demographers of Color and Allies has a LinkedIn group you can join

The Census Bureau (BOC) posted a call for proposals due July 29, 2020 ($150,000 award ceiling) from institutions of higher education and non-profit organizations to measure perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes toward the Census Bureau.  There are three program priorities: (1) secure research and development of formal privacy methods, including but not limited to differential privacy, for sample surveys; (2) explore the feasibility of open source data, and particularly those created through social media platforms such as Twitter, to complment or substitute opinion data from surveys and censuses. In particular, research should develop appropriate analytic strategies that facilitate the use of these data to meaningfully track attitudinal trends; and, (3) collaborate with an external body to design, build, and maintain an online research panel that would be available for robust public opinion and methodological research by statistical agencies and non profit organizations for the common good. For more information see: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=327791

The NIA-funded Reversibility Network (PIs: Eric Loucks, Margaret Sheridan, Keith Godfrey) is designed to foster research to reverse/remediate the effects of early life adversity (e.g. abuse, neglect, poverty, racial discrimination, etc.) in mid- and later-life, and welcomes scientists to apply for pilot funding through the Reversibility Network program shown below.

Applications are due on Aug. 14.

Call for Proposals – Summer 2020

Who we are. The Reversibility Network is a National Institute on Aging (NIA)-funded network of researchers whose mission is to advance research around remediating the effects of early life adversities (ELA) in mid- and later life. This growing network of interdisciplinary ELA experts seeks to foster research that will fundamentally develop and prepare the field for greater scientific discoveries, with a particular focus on the interaction between ELA and interventions for population and patient benefits. Furthermore, we aim to raise awareness in the field about the importance of ELA, ELA measurement, ELA mechanisms, and effective interventions. Specific aims for this call for research proposal are in two themes: (1) ELA mechanisms and (2) ELA interventions. See below for additional detail.

RFA Guidelines and Terms of the Award: 2020 Grant Cycle

Funding Amount: $50,000 available; to be issued in sub-awards of $10,000-$20,000

Research Proposal Deadline: 4:30 p.m., Friday, August 14, 2020

A growing body of evidence, both animal and human, highlights the long-term liability that early life adversities (ELAs) – such as low socioeconomic status, adverse early experiences (e.g. abuse and neglect), and malnutrition – confer on mental and physical health outcomes in late life. In addition, novel behavioral interventions aimed at increasing health and wellbeing during adulthood are being developed, which may be effective when provided in mid- and later life for people who experienced ELA. However, midlife interventions which directly test whether interventions can modify the processes that account for the long-term impact of ELAs on later life health remain minimally researched, representing strong potential for discovery. Finally, newer methodologies (e.g., neuroimaging, gene expression, epigenetics, ecological momentary assessment) offer significantly greater opportunities to illuminate mechanisms linking ELA to adult outcomes. Increased understanding of mechanisms will improve our ability to develop more informed and effective interventions. In sum, this is a particularly ‘ripe’ time for deepening and extending an interdisciplinary research network on reversibility/remediation for early life adversity (ELA), an opportunity the Reversibility Network aims to foster.

The Reversibility Network will foster research that will fundamentally develop and prepare the field for greater scientific discoveries, with a particular focus on the interaction between ELA and interventions for population and patient benefits. Furthermore, we aim to raise awareness in the field about the importance of ELA, ELA measurement, and effective interventions. This is a call for research proposals on two themes:

ELA Mechanisms: Catalyze research on key mechanisms through which ELA influences health and aging outcomes (e.g. biological, behavioral, socioemotional) in midlife. Target mechanisms should be evaluated as to whether they are both malleable to interventions and influence aging outcomes, and projects should be designed to contribute to our understanding of causal pathways.

ELA Interventions: Foster research on: (a) Midlife effects of early life interventions (e.g. preconception through adolescence) for those exposed to ELA; (b) Midlife interventions for those who recall ELA and/or were objectively exposed to ELA. Intervention studies should be designed to test mechanistic hypotheses about malleable targets, utilizing the Science of Behavior Change (SOBC) mechanisms-focused approach.

Examples of possible research projects include: (1) collection of new data (e.g.  performing midlife interventions, or contacting completed intervention study participants to ask about ELA or adult outcomes), (2) analyses of archival data, or (3) systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

The approach to achieve these aims will be to extend an interdisciplinary, international Research Network on Interventions to Reverse Effects of Early Life Adversity (aka “Reversibility Network”) that was developed over the past five years. During the coming year, the Reversibility Network will focus on ELA research capacity and community building, which will cut across the two themes outline above.

One of the major initiatives is a call for Pilot Research Proposals ($10,000-$20,000 grants, from a pool of $50,000), with an emphasis on mid to later life interventions which take into account, and measure, the impact of ELA. These projects should advance the stated goals of this network, and have the potential to lay the foundation for a larger research grant application. Projects should support researchers with expertise in aging, intervention, or ELA, addressing the goal of increasing research into mid-later life reversibility of the impact of ELA on aging.

Proposals should be two pages long, with an NIH-formatted Specific Aims page, and a second page providing further detail on the Methods. In the Methods section, please give careful consideration to rigorous measurement of ELA measures, ELA mechanisms, design of the intervention, as well as statistical analysis and power considerations where appropriate. Successful applicants will participate in a virtual grantees meeting and be welcomed to join additional activities of the Reversibility Network.

Applications with fundable scores will be required demonstrate human subjects research compliance to NIH standards prior to receiving funding.

Please submit research proposals by Friday, August 14, 2020 by email to: Senior Project Coordinator, Frances_Saadeh@brown.edu.

Subject line should read: “Reversibility Network – 2020 Proposal submission – {PI Last Name}”

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards senior individual research training fellowships to experienced scientists who wish to make major changes in the direction of their research careers or who wish to broaden their scientific background by acquiring new research capabilities as independent investigators in research fields relevant to the missions of participating NIH Institutes and Centers.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for applicants proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary clinical trial, but does allow candidates to propose research experience in a clinical trial led by a sponsor or co-sponsor.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will support students at institutions without NIH-funded institutional predoctoral dual-degree training programs. The purpose of the Kirschstein-NRSA, dual-doctoral degree, predoctoral fellowship (F30) is to enhance the integrated research and clinical training of promising predoctoral students, who are matriculated in a combined MD/PhD or other dual-doctoral degree training program (e.g. DO/PhD, DDS/PhD, AuD/PhD, DVM/PhD), and who intend careers as physician/clinician-scientists. Candidates must propose an integrated research and clinical training plan and a dissertation research project in scientific health-related fields relevant to the missions of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers. The fellowship experience is expected to clearly enhance the individual’s potential to develop into a productive, independent physician/clinician-scientist.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is designed specifically for candidates proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary clinical trial, but does allow candidates to propose research experience in a clinical trial led by a sponsor or co-sponsor.

The Washington Sea Grant Keystone Fellowship offers a unique career development opportunity for a soon-to-graduate or recently-finished graduate student in ocean, coastal and policy issues. In 2020 this one-year paid fellowship will place a Keystone Fellow with mentor Nathalie Hamel of the Puget Sound Partnership.

The Fellow will work primarily on science and/or policy projects with an additional emphasis on work related to the advancement of social justice, racial equity and inclusion in these professional spaces. Keystone Fellows receive mentorship both through their host office and through participation in professional development activities with WSG.

The Fellowship offers first-hand experience working on projects that help us better understand, conserve and utilize Washington’s ocean and coastal resources while building pathways into marine related careers for individuals who are historically underrepresented in those fields. The program seeks to recruit students who are underrepresented in marine science and policy fields, especially Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC) as well as representatives of the LGBTQ+ community and allies.

Applications are due by 5:00 p.m., July 29, 2020, and must be submitted via eSeaGrant. Interviews will be held remotely during the first week of August.

Fellowship Dates: October 2020 – September 2021

The MIT Press and UC Berkeley have launched Rapid Reviews: COVID-19, an open access, rapid-review, overlay journal that will accelerate peer review of COVID-19-related research and deliver real-time, verified scientific information that policymakers and health leaders can use.

Scientists and researchers are working overtime to understand the SARS-CoV-2 virus and are producing an unprecedented amount of preprint scholarship that is publicly available online, but has not been vetted yet by peer review for accuracy. Traditional peer review can take four or more weeks to complete, but the new journal’s editorial team will produce expert reviews in a matter of days.