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Office of the Vice President for Research

E-Newsletter

Winter 2021-2022

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Letter from the Vice President for Research

 

Dear Stony Brook investigators,Richard Reeder

We’re approaching the two-year mark since we were forced to ramp down research operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s been a challenging road back in many ways—one that also revealed the strength and resiliency of our research community. Like other leading research universities, our phased approach for restarting laboratory and off-campus research served us well and minimized the impacts, even as many were managing activities while remote. During most of the past year, we have witnessed a nearly complete restoration of our research enterprise and some growth. This is reflected in our sponsored research expenditures, which are 22 percent higher than at this time last year, thanks mainly to increased federal funding. This foundation is important as we follow the bold path charted by President McInnis for further growing Stony Brook’s research mission, not only in STEM and medicine disciplines, but in all scholarly areas. 

Despite the wrangling in Congress, there continues to be support for strengthening the nation’s academic research enterprise. The US Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) bill has seen renewed interest in the Senate, and the House just passed the America COMPETES bill. Both call for significant new investments in research funding. As I’ve mentioned previously, the USICA bill provided the motivation to establish a set of Tiger Teams to assess our strengths and to help prepare us for responding to new funding opportunities. The first group of Tiger Teams, which focused on science and engineering areas identified for a proposed new NSF directorate, has completed their reports, and we will begin to organize a series of town hall meetings to share the findings across the university (watch for an announcement). Continuing our close partnership with the Provost’s Office, we are now creating a new group of Tiger Teams that will focus on biomedical topics. These teams should position our investigators to pursue the increased funding expected for NIH. 

We are also seeing the benefits of investments that resulted from the working groups of the Strategic Budget Initiative. For example, inOVPR we are adding much-needed staff in the Offices of Proposal Development, Sponsored Programs, and Grants Management, which will improve support to faculty and help to address recent vacancies. We are also using new seed funds to support the Revise and Resubmit Seed Grant Program, which combined with our existing seed funding program provides more than $1M annually to support faculty investigators. My team has also been working closely with the Clinical Research Working Group to implement changes that will improve the IRB and provide new support for clinical investigators. I also applaud the initiative of the Provost’s Office in developing new approaches for advancing research and scholarly activity in the creative arts, social sciences, and humanities. With so many new initiatives, it’s exciting to imagine our future.

On January 4, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released its long-awaited guidance on the implementation of National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33), which established security policies for US-funded R&D intended to strengthen protections against foreign interference. The guidance outlines the rules that ensure uniform implementation across federal agencies, and specifically a standardization of disclosure requirements associated with grants and contracts, including forms and formats, as well as the peer review process. These measures are intended to harmonize information provided to all federal sponsors. The guidance also notes that implementation must avoid bias and “offer tangible benefit that justifies any accompanying cost or burden.” Funding agencies have already begun to re-evaluate their practices. Many of you will have seen my January 4th email reminding NIH-funded investigators of several changes that became effective on January 25th. Updated format pages are now required for Biosketches, Other Support, Just-in-Time (JIT) Reports, and Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs). Furthermore, senior/key personnel are required to submit copies of contracts, grants or any other agreement involving a foreign appointment and/or employment with a foreign institution as "supporting documentation" to be included as Other Support. Updated guidance from other funding agencies is expected within the next few months. We will keep you informed of relevant changes.

The OSTP implementation document also provided guidance for complying with the NSPM-33 requirement for institutions receiving more than $50M in federal funding to establish a research security program. In October 2021, I appointed Susan Gasparo as Director of Research Security. In this role, Susan is developing a research security program to ensure Stony Brook’s compliance. She is coordinating closely with other leaders across the university, and especially with Vice President for Enterprise Risk Management and Chief Security Officer, Larry Zacarese. Investigators should consult with Susan about international research relationships, foreign visitors, international travel, and other activities that relate to foreign influence, export controls, financial conflicts of interests, or commitment conflicts. She can also provide assistance with risk assessments when considering possible international relationships, and can help with coordination of IT resources to conduct projects that have sponsor-designated data security requirements. 

We have started the process for negotiating the university’s Facilities and Administration (F&A, aka indirect cost) rates for sponsored research grants and contracts. Whereas, normally our F&A rates are reviewed and renegotiated every four years with our cognizant sponsor (HHS), the COVID-19 pandemic allowed us to obtain a one-year extension. This multi-year process begins with surveys of the space devoted to research, review of institutionally purchased equipment items, and reconciliation of campus expenditures that justify the F&A rate. Guidance will be provided to stakeholders in departments and units to support the process. Cooperation from all parties in essential to complete this required activity.

Let me close by highlighting the many outstanding workshops being offered by OVPR. Last week, Intellectual Property Partners organized a very successful panel discussion titled “Female Perspectives on Entrepreneurship and Research.” This semester, the Office of Proposal Development is offering a three-part science writing and management workshop series for all faculty. You can read about them in the sections below. Also, be sure to look for announcements about the NSF CAREER Award series that will launch later this semesterwith an expanded broader impact focus. These are all topics that researchers have expressed as being critical to their success. 

As always, I like to hear from you. Please feel free to bring any suggestions or concerns to my attention.

Regards,

 

Rich Reeder
Vice President for Research


Table of Contents

News From:

 

Office of Proposal Development News

Announcements
Fall 2021 OVPR Seed Grant Program Winners


We are pleased to announce the winners of the Fall 2021 OVPR Seed Grant Program competition:

Seed Grants Award Winners
Seed Grant Project Titles
Eric Brouzes, Department of Biomedical Engineering Platform for High Spatial and Transcriptomic Resolution
Yong Chen, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences Analyzing the historical Hudson River Biological Monitoring Program to develop an integrated program for long-term monitoring of Hudson River ecosystem dynamics 
Matthew Dawber, Cyrus Dreyer, and Marivi Fernandez-Serra, Department of Physics and Astronomy Towards designer superlattice potentials in 2D material-ferroelectric oxide composites: Developing ordered nanoscale domains 
Bruce Demple, Department of Pharmacological Sciences, and John Haley, Department of Pathology A new generation of molecular probes to assess cellular DNA repair pathways
Carly Gomes, Department of Pediatrics, and Howard Sirotkin, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior Modulating NMDA receptors to minimize neuronal injury in neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy 
Jason Jones, Department of Sociology Predicting the Self with Machine Translation
Min-Jeong Kim, Nikhil Palekar, and Sara Weisenbach, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Imaging of Neuroinflammation in Older Adults with Persistent Post-COVID Cognitive Impairment 
Jordan Kodner, Ellen Broselow, and Robert Hoberman, Department of Linguistics, and Owen Rambow, Department of Linguistics and Institute for Advanced Computational Science Arabic Morphology in Theory, Learning, and Practice
Ed Luk, Benjamin Martin, and David Matus, Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology A pipeline to develop antibody-based tools to visualize and manipulate molecules in living systems 
Arianna Maffei and Mary Kritzer, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior Defining the electrophysiological characteristics of functional subdivisions of the subthalamic nucleus: Implications for deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease 
Carrie McDonough, Department of Civil Engineering, Bruce Demple, Department of Pharmacological Sciences, and Arjun Venkatesan, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences "Forever Chemicals" Close to Home: Assessing Human Exposure, Metabolism, and Toxicity for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Consumer Products 
Yingtian Pan and Congwu Du, Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Styliani-Anna E. Tsirka, Department of Pharmacological Sciences AI-enhanced Multimodality Optical Platform to Image Tumor Microenvironment in Awake Brain 
Prateek Prasanna, Department of Biomedical Informatics, and Kartik Mani, Department of Radiation Oncology Quantitative Image-based Response Prediction in Patients Receiving Radiation for Primary Brain Cancer or Intracranial Metastases 
Howard Sirotkin and Lonnie Wollmuth, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior Developing Prime Editing to Model Autism
Yongjun Zhang, Department of Sociology and the Institute for Advanced Computational Science, and Siwei Cheng, New York University Human Mobility and Segregation in the U.S.
OVPR Revise and Resubmit Seed Grant Award Winners

We are pleased to announce the winners of the special initiative pilot OVPR Revise and Resubmit Grant Program competition: 

Seed Grants Award Winners
Seed Grant Project Titles
Jun Chung, Jingfang Ju, and Young Hwa Song, Department of Pathology, and Wei Hou, Department of Family, Population & Preventive Medicine

Chemically modified tumor suppressing micro-RNA as a novel therapeutic option for Triple Negative Breast Cancers

Sima Mofakham and Charles Mikell, Department of Neurosurgery, Petar Djuric, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Chuan Huang, Department of Radiology Modeling the latent structure of coma and consciousness
Aaron Neiman, Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology Mechanisms of de novo membrane assembly
Chander Sadasivan, Department of Neurosurgery, and Miriam Rafailovich, Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering A Dynamic Intrasaccular Biodegradable Polymer for Accelerated Remodeling of Cerebral Aneurysms

 

Revise and Resubmit Seed Grant Program Announcement

We are pleased to announce the second round of this seed grant program is now open! 

What does it fund: The OVPR Revise and Resubmit Seed Grant Program will provide additional funding to support the resubmission efforts of PIs/teams who have received highly favorable summary statements on prior, unfunded grant proposals. The funds are to be utilized to explicitly address concerns and gaps in the original submissions as indicated by the reviewers.

This cycle of the OVPR Revise and Resubmit Seed Grant program will accept proposals from PIs targeting funding opportunities from any sponsor for their resubmissions.

Eligibility Criteria: We are following the Principal Investigator (PI) Eligibility Policy. Please review it carefully to determine whether you need a letter from your Department Chair.

Additionally, projects must demonstrate the following: 

    • Faculty may only submit ONE proposal to the OVPR Revise and Resubmit Seed Grant Program.
    • PIs of active OVPR Seed Grant projects from previous cycles are eligible to submit a proposal to the OVPR Revise and Resubmit Seed Grant Program.
    • PIs must have plans to resubmit a proposal that was declined for funding in the past 12 months and must make their external reviews available.

Award: We expect to make between six and eight awards, with an average award size of $10,000. Well justified proposals may request up to a maximum of $15,000. Award periods will vary, but will be no longer than 12 months, with a start date of May 1, 2022. PIs are expected to apply for external grants within the award period.

Application Deadline: Proposals must be submitted via the application portal by 11:59pm on March 15, 2022. 

Click here to view the full Request for Applications. Refer to the FAQs for all OVPR Seed Grant Programs.

If you have questions or need further information, please email the Office of Proposal Development at opd_ovpr@stonybrook.edu.

Workshops
The Faculty Research Career Series: Achieving Excellence in Writing, Speaking, and Leading

Presented by Beth Schachter, PhD & Christopher Edwards, PhD, of Still Point Coaching & Consulting 

Seminar 1: Scientific Writing – Think Message, Audience, Objective

Moderated by: Nicole Sampson, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

When: February 10, 2022, 4-5pm

  • Organizing and prioritizing through mind-mapping and outlining
  • Learning what readers needs to grasp the message
  • Developing the story – telling the what and the why so that, when you tell the how (your brilliant methodological details), you will have the readers’ interest
  • Assessing and improving the flow of the document from idea to submission.

Seminar 2: Scientific Presentations – Communicating in all Modalities

Moderated by: Alfredo Fontanini, Vice Provost for Research and Infrastructure

When:  March 17, 2022, 4-5pm

  • Altering your content for in-person conferences, pre-recorded video talks, or live Zoom presentations
  • Tailoring the presentation to the allotted time
  • Making your talk and graphics work together
  • Prepping for the talk: planning, rehearsal, researching the talk environment
  • Reinforcing your message: to tweet or not to tweet?

Seminar 3: Difficult Situations – Lead, Manage or Mentor?

Moderated by: Jorge Benach, Vice Dean for Research, Renaissance School of Medicine

When: April 14, 2022, 4-5pm

  • How to diagnose and address low productivity in lab members
  • Guidelines for highly effective meetings – with individuals and groups
  • Crafting your 5-year vision and aligning your lab to achieve it

Please click here to register. 

All participants will receive a Zoom link in advance of the virtual workshops.

Questions should be directed to OPD_OVPR@stonybrook.edu or (631) 632-3127.

NIH Director’s Early Independence Awards Workshop

This workshop is tentatively scheduled for the below date and time:

May 2, 2022, 3:30-5pm

Additional information coming soon. Please visit our website or look out for updates via the OPD Weekly Newsletter*.

Other OPD News
New Staff

Cristina Felton is a Proposal Development Coordinator with the Office of Proposal Development. She graduated from Binghamton University with a dual Master’s Degree in English & Education. She began her career as a pre-award grants specialist at Queensborough Community College before taking time off to raise a family. She re-entered the workforce as a grants administrator at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Her area of expertise includes improving access and diversity in STEM disciplines and careers. 

Kathleen (Kai) Shermanis a Proposal Development Specialist with the Office of Proposal Development. Her career started in 2006 as the lab coordinator/research specialist at the Child Study Center at the University of Virginia. Life experiences led her to receive a Master of Science in Education, and in 2011, she became a Sr. Clinical Research Associate in the Oncology Department at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, MA. When her husband accepted a position at Stony Brook University in 2014, Kai joined Drs. Krupp and Charvet at the Lourie Center for Pediatric MS and the MS Comprehensive Care Center of Stony Brook. She then followed this team to NYU Langone Health, working as a Program Manager. Kai is excited to return to SBU and to be a part of this invaluable OPD team. In her free time, she is an avid dancer and yogi.

Annual Pivot Profile Updates

The Office of Proposal Development is once again offering a quick and easy way for you to update your faculty profile in Pivot, a funding opportunities database provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research. Answerthese 8 questions by Tuesday, February 15th and your profile will be updated to reflect your current research interests and areas of expertise. 

With an updated profile, it will be even easier to find relevant funding opportunities for your research. You will also be able to use the database to find collaborators internally at Stony Brook University and externally at other institutions that subscribe to Pivot. 

You can log in toPivot at any time to view or claim your current profile. OPD will be working in collaboration with Pivot to complete the update by the end of March. At that point, we recommend that you add more details to your profile. The database works most effectively for faculty that provide the most information on their profiles. 

Pivot Snippets: Following the update of the faculty profiles, OPD will offer two 30-minute Pivot tutorial sessions. Zoom links will be sent out to everyone who completes the faculty interests update survey. Please feel free to join with specific questions about updating your profile or finding funding opportunities for your research. 

  • Thursday, April 7th at 12pm: How to Update Your Pivot Profile
  • Thursday, April 21st at 12pm: How to Create a Funding Opportunity Search

As a reminder, OPD staff are available for one-on-one and group training sessions. To request a Pivot training session, please email OPD_OVPR@stonybrook.edu.

For more information about Pivot by Proquest, please visit ourwebsite.

OPD Annual Report 2020-2021

If you have not yet reviewed the OPD 2020-2021 annual report, it can be found here. The report describes the notable accomplishments over the past year and details the comprehensive results of OPD's support since the office opened in 2016. In addition, it describes the initiatives managed by OPD and plans for the upcoming year.

To view all annual reports, please visit our website. Reports can be found towards the bottom of the home page.

OPD External Services

OPD offers a variety of external support services to assist Stony Brook University investigators with finding, developing and applying for highly competitive large and complex (multi-million, multi-institutional) proposals.

SBU investigators can request copy editing or graphic design services from OPD for any submission with a total budget of at least $250,000. SBU must be the lead institution on the project. 

Requests are approved on a case-by-case basis, depending on the availability of funds in the budget. Please keep in mind that the budget for this service runs from July 1st through June 30th each year.

Approved projects can expect to receive the following:

  • OPD staff member to serve as liaison between proposal editor / designer and PI
  • OPD will cover 50% of the cost of the copy editing service / graphic design, up to a maximum of $1,000
  • Access to an experienced grant editor OR graphic designer experienced with the proposal development and submission process

For copy editing support, submit your request here

For graphic design support, submit your request here

All requests should be made at least 4 weeks prior to the date that you need the final product. Please note that PIs can request our external services a maximum of 2 times per fiscal year. 

OPD NSF CAREER Award Services 2022

Details regarding the OPD services to support early career faculty develop their NSF CAREER applications will be coming soon via the OPD Weekly Newsletter*.

*OPD sends out a weekly newsletter on Fridays. The newsletter includes a list of active limited competitions, noteworthy funding opportunities, upcoming workshops, and other important announcements from OPD. To receive the OPD Weekly Newsletter, please visit our website to join our Google Group.

 

Office of Sponsored Programs News

NIH Updates - Effective January 25, 2022

The NIH announced changes to the Biosketch and Other Support effective January 25, 2022.

Biosketch

NIH is requiring the use of the revised Biosketch format for all submissions starting on January 25, 2022. Changes to the Biosketch include:

  • Section A: Personal Statement. This section has been updated to include ongoing and completed research projects from the past three years. This was previously known as “Research Support” which was included in Section D of the Biosketch.
  • Section B: Positions, Scientific Appointments, and Honors. Individuals completing a Biosketch must list, in reverse  chronological order, all positions and scientific appointments, both foreign and domestic, including affiliations with foreign entities or governments. This includes academic, professional, or institutional appointments regardless of payment. All full-time, part-time, or voluntary positions (including adjunct, visiting, or honorary) must be included.
  • Section D: Research Support. Section D has been removed from non-fellowship Biosketches. For fellowships, Section D no longer includes research support and is renamed “Scholastic Performance.”

Other Support

Effective January 25, 2022, NIH is requiring all senior/key personnel to include additional information for Other Support. Senior/key personnel will be required to identify allresources they have received in support of and/or related to their research endeavors. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Resources and/or financial support from all foreign and domestic entities;
  • Consulting agreements; and
  • In-kind contributions.

Senior/key personnel do not need to include training awards, prizes, or gifts on Other Support.

Additional requirements for senior/key personnel include:

  • Providing supporting documentation, including copies of contracts, grants, and any other agreement specific to foreign appointments and/or employment with a foreign institution for all foreign activities and resources that are reported in Other Support. All documents must be in the English language.
  • Immediately updating Other Support and submitting it to the Grants Management Specialists named on the notice of award when an identified senior/key personnel on an active NIH grant fails to disclose Other Support information outside of a Just-in-Time request or the RPPR.

Other Support Format Page: Signature

Signature block added, for Program Director/Principal Investigator or Other Senior/Key Personnel to certify the accuracy of the information submitted. Each PD/PI or senior/key personnel must electronically sign their respective Other Support form as a PDF prior to submission upon request.

After all signatures are obtained, the attachments should be submitted as a flattened PDF. Applicants and recipients must maintain the original electronic signature and make it available upon request.

All principal investigators and other senior/key personnel must electronically sign the Other Support form, prior to its submission to NIH, certifying that the information is accurate and complete

Resources

Updated Biosketch resources, including FAQs and sample Biosketch format pages can be found here.

Updated Other Support resources, including FAQs and sample Other Support format pages can be found here.

NIH Guidance on Salary Limitation for Grants and Cooperative Agreements (NOT-OD-22-076)

NIH has released the   NIH Guidance on Salary Limitation for Grants and Cooperative Agreements . This Notice provides information regarding the salary limitation on direct salary for individuals under NIH grants, contracts and cooperative agreement awards Effective January 2, 2022, the salary limitation for Executive Level II is $203,700.

Please refer to the  notice for the complete text and where you will find examples of Salary Application Requests, Salary Cap Calculations and Adjustments. I f you have questions, please reach out to your OSP Specialist.

eRA Commons ID Requirements

Effective January 25, 2022, an eRA Commons ID must be entered in the “Credential, e.g. agency login” field for all Senior/Key Personnel.  An eRA system validation will be implemented to check for a valid eRA Commons ID, this means you will not be able to submit your proposal if any identified Senior/Key Personnel do not have an eRA Commons ID. For multi-project applications, this requirement also applies to the individual components of the application and not just the Overall component.

NIH Definition of Senior/Key Personnel

The PD/PI and other individuals who contribute to the scientific development or execution of a project in a substantive, measurable way, whether or not they receive salaries or compensation under the grant. Typically these individuals have doctoral or other professional degrees, although individuals at the masters or baccalaureate level may be considered senior/key personnel if their involvement meets this definition. Consultants and those with a postdoctoral role also may be considered senior/key personnel if they meet this definition. Senior/key personnel must devote measurable effort to the project whether or not salaries or compensation are requested. "Zero percent" effort or "as needed" are not acceptable levels of involvement for those designated as Senior/Key Personnel.

Other Significant Contributors (OSC) do not meet the definition of Key Personnel if they do NOT devote measurable effort to the project.

To obtain an eRA Commons ID please submit theNIH ID Request Form.

For more information please the NIH Notice.

Grants.gov News

Coming Soon: Users must sign in to Grants.gov with Login.gov credentials by February 21st.  To create and link a Login.gov account with your Grants.gov account, follow these steps.

Upcoming Maintenance: February 19-21, 2022.  The Grants.gov Calendar lists anticipated dates for both system-wide enhancements and scheduled system maintenance.

Important Updates on Reporting Requirements

This article serves as a reminder to Principal Investigators regarding the requirement of technical reporting obligations associated with their research and acceptance of external funding. It also highlights procedures, guidance from federal sponsors, and describes the current resources available. Recent memorandums issued by several federal agencies (e.g.,   NSF Notice # 148  and AFSOR Memo are described in detail in this article) send a loud and clear message to grantees that reporting is a requirement that will be strongly enforced

Click hereto access the document outlining the reporting requirements procedures or visit the Reporting and Award Closeout webpage to become familiar with the overall institutional reporting guidelines.

Other Important Reminders
  • Office of Sponsored Programs and Office of Grants Management staff are assigned by Department. Use the Department Assignment webpage for the most up to date departmental distribution to find your OSP Specialist of OGM Grants Analyst.
  • The schedule for myResearch Grants 2022 training sessions can be found on our website. Users are encouraged to sign up and attend one of the training sessions at a convenient time in order to prepare for future submissions. Click here to register. Training classes will be offered via Zoom. Registrants will be contacted by an OSP Specialist prior to the training class with the Zoom meeting information.
  • Please visit our Webinars, Workshops, Training, Conferences webpage for the latest information regarding upcoming webinars and meetings offered by different Sponsoring Agencies and Organizations intended to advance the administration of sponsored programs such as NCURA, SRA, FDP.
OSP Staff Updates

In December 2021, our office bid farewell to two very talented team members, Kathryn Joines and Jennifer Jacobs. For those who have had the pleasure to work with them, I am certain that they recognized Kathryn’s and Jen's initiative, drive, intuitiveness, professionalism, thoroughness, humor and shining personality that they brought to every situation. Wishing them both best of luck in their future endeavors!

The Office of Sponsored Programs welcomes two new Specialists, Jamie Murdock and Michelle Walczyk.

Jamie joined our team as a Grants and Contracts Specialist on November 8, 2021. Prior to her role at SBU, Jamie served as Grant Development Manager in the Office of Research at Tennessee Technological University and Development Specialist at Kansas State University. With 10+ years of research administration experience, she is excited to be a member of the team working to ensure that all proposals are competitive and all awards are compliant. Jamie earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Baker University and Master’s Degree in Public Service and from Texas A&M

Michelle joined our team as a Contracts Specialist on February 4, 2022. Prior to her role at SBU, Michelle served as In-House Counsel at Teledata Communications, Inc. where she worked on various legal agreements and a variety of legal matters. Prior to this, Michelle worked in New York City for a National Legal Placement firm where she worked with Fortune 500 Companies and International Law Firms to fill their legal needs. She also has many years of experience as a Real Estate Attorney where she negotiated contracts and closed deals.  Michelle is very excited to work in our research community. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Columbia University and her Law Degree from Hofstra University.

We're super excited that our organization welcomes new strong talents!

 

Office of Grants Management News

Department Email for Office of Grants Management 

All Principal Investigators and respective administrative support teams are reminded that incoming emails with attached non personnel post award transactions should be sent to ogm_ovpr@stonybrook.edu where it will be directed to the assigned Sponsored Award Analyst. Do not copy the respective administrative team that will process the transaction. OGM will forward accordingly once approved against the funding source indicated. 

All HRS forms including Employee Appointment, Employee Change, Fellowship Appointment, must first be submitted to the RFAppointments email

Updated Department Assignments

The Office of Grants Management has recently updated the assignments of Sponsored Award Analyst and this information can be foundOVPR website

Campus Implementation of Concur Travel System

The Campus Travel Office implemented the Concur online electronic travel tool last fall. Effective immediately all post travel reimbursement requests using sponsored funds, should be submitted using the Expense module of this tool. Link to all that is needed to create a Concur user profile and how to submit Expense reimbursement requests within the tool can be foundhere.

All prior approval requests for international travel should still be submitted, prior to travel and travel plans, using eFtr.

Independent Contractors

Requests to pay Independent Contractors from Sponsored Awards must first be approved by the HRS Office who will forward to the Office of Grants Management to execute and forward to Procurement to process. These should be emailed to Dianne Newman, who will forward to the Office of Grants Management. 

End of Award - Allowable Costs

Expenditures in the final 90 days of federally sponsored awards are highly scrutinized to ensure costs are necessary and directly benefit the funded research within the prescribed award period, and should only be those costs that are needed to conclude the project.

Items of long term use, such as computers and computer accessories, equipment, and service agreements that exceed the award end date, should not be submitted for consideration. 

In addition, it is never permissible to order items or to move costs from another award, in the final 90 days of a federal award in an attempt to spend down balances. All costs and justifications must illustrate the benefit to award objectives and be fully utilized within the budget period identified in award notices.  The annual federal cost audit, targets end of award charges to confirm that there is satisfactory evidence that all costs are necessary, reasonable and will be utilized within the award period. The OGM approval process serves to document this review and is critical to our federal cost accounting standard compliance. 2 CFR 200.402-.405.

OGM Staff Updates

Last fall the OVPR and OGM bid farewell to Stephanie Ammann who retired after 40 years of service to Stony Brook University’s Researchers. It was a bittersweet goodbye as Stephanie moved on to life beyond post award management, but she leaves a legacy of processes and internal controls that served to make SBU a strong and reliable place to conduct research. 

OGM is pleased to announce the promotion of Doreen Nicholas to Assistant Director of OGM and Mary Moran to Senior Sponsored Award Analyst. Lisa Tierney was promoted to  a new position in OGM as Labor Distribution Specialist to support this critical task.

We also welcomed two new team members, Melissa Spence as Sponsored Award Analyst and Monica Joao, as the Sponsored Award Expeditor.

 

Office of Research Compliance News

Notification of Transition from IRBNet to Qualtrics for Quality Improvement Projects

During the fall of this year, the Office of Research Compliance (ORC) in conjunction with the Chief Medical Officer Stony brook University Health Sciences Center developed a new system for Quality Improvement projects. As of November 1, 2021 all Quality Improvement projects must be submitted in the Qualtrics system. Quality Improvement projects that are already in IRBNet will remain in IRBNet. The portal to the Qualtrics system is located athttps://research.stonybrook.edu/myResearch.php/.

In an effort to make this transition as smooth as possible, the ORC has been offering informational sessions for the campus community. If you would like an informational session on changes to the Quality Improvement process, please contact Rebecca Dahl.

A quality improvement webpage was created to assist those individuals interested in developing a Quality Improvement project.

Guidance for Human Subjects Research

The protocol template for human subject exempt research is now available for use. This template is short and includes only those questions that pertain to exempt research. A corresponding consent document for exempt research is also available. Both of these newly designed documents can be found in the myResearch IRB library. 

Additionally, the protocol template for research that requires regulatory oversight has been redesigned to better meet the needs of researchers and study team members. Questions that were redundant or not applicable have been removed. Questions that were difficult to understand were re-written. Template questions have been organization into sections that pertain to the content of the question. The protocol template is shorter and easier to use. You can find the newly designed template in the myResearch IRB library.

 

Intellectual Property Partners News

Congratulations to the newly inducted fellows of the National Academy of Inventors

We are happy to announce that two Stony Brook University researchers, Dr. Craig A. Lehmann and Dr. Serge Luryi, have been elected to NAI Fellow status.

Dr. Lehmann is a registered clinical chemist and a Fellow in the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry, an outstanding researcher and a holder of numerous patents. For many years he was a dean of Stony Brook School of Health Technology and Management.

Dr. Luryi, a Distinguished Professor of the SBU department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, holds more than 50 patents in the areas of high-speed electronic and photonic devices, material science, sensor systems and electronic packaging. He is also a Fellow of IEEE, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and a Fellow of the Optical Society of America.

The 2021 NAI Fellow list includes 164 prolific innovators from 116 research universities, and governmental and non-profit institutes worldwide. They collectively hold 4,800 issued U.S. patents.

The National Academy of Inventors was founded in 2010 to  recognize and  encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,  enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property,  educate and  mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society.

Our congratulations to the Stony Brook University NAI Fellows 2021!

The Stony Brook Chapter of the National Academy of Inventors Honored Rising Stars of Inventorship and Research

Three Stony Brook University innovators who received the Stony Brook Chapter of National Academy of Inventors’ Young Academic Inventors award on May 14, 2021, were invited to present an overview of their research at the virtual Young Academic Inventors’ Symposium held on November 17, 2021. Read more

From Ideas to Startups: Advice from Successful Stony Brook Faculty Entrepreneurs

The discussion “From Ideas to Startups: Advice from Successful Stony Brook Faculty Entrepreneurs” was held virtually in October 2021 by the Stony Brook University Chapter of National Academy of Inventors and Intellectual Property Partners (IPP). Five prominent Stony Brook researchers shared their experience in academic entrepreneurship and discussed challenges and joys of running faculty startups. Read more.

The video recording of the event is available on the IPP website.

Female Perspective on Entrepreneurship and Research: Recap

On January 25th, Stony Brook University’s Intellectual Property Partners (IPP) hosted a colloquium called Female Perspectives on Entrepreneurship and Research, an important and timely discussion devoted to the impact of diversity and inclusivity on the success of business and research.Read more

The video recording of the event is available on the IPP  website.

6 Patents Issued to Stony Brook Researchers

IPP is pleased to announce 6 new U.S. patents issued to our faculty and students from July 2021 to present.

Inventors Patent No. Issue Date Title
Luisa Escobar-Hoyos, Kenneth Shroyer 11,092,603 8/17/2021 Keratin 17 as a Prognostic Marker for Pancreatic Cancer
Yi -Xian Qin 11,179,581 11/23/2021 Systems And Methods for Promoting Cellular Activities for Tissue Maintenance, Repair, and Regeneration
Eli Hatchwell 11,180,807 11/23/2021 Methods and Compositions for Diagnosing, Prognosing, and Treating Neurological Conditions
Anatoly Frenkel, Janis Timosenko 11,193,884 12/7/2021 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF MATERIALS BY SUPERVISED MACHINE LEARNING-BASED ANALYSIS OF THEIR SPECTRA
Anshul Gandhi, Muhammad Wajahat 11,212,173 12/28/2021 Model-Driven Techniques for Virtual Network Function Rehoming for Service Chains
Eric Brouzes, Martin Sauzade 11,213,824 1/4/2022 MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE AND METHODS
Staff News

Linda Galvin has been promoted to Sr. Manager of Finance and Business Systems for IPP.  

In this role, Linda will continue to oversee financial operations for IPP, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, royalty distribution and post agreement financial management.  In addition, Linda will leverage her years of experience with technology transfer and in-depth knowledge of IPP business systems to help IPP improve processes and efficiency.  Please join us in congratulating  Linda on this well-deserved promotion.  

Intellectual Property Partners Office Hours

Stony Brook Intellectual Property Partners is offering office hours for Stony Brook faculty, post-docs and graduate students. Schedule your appointment every Wednesday, 1:00 – 2:30 pm, to consult with one of our licensing team members on topics ranging from intellectual property protection to commercialization of your technology innovations. Bring your questions!  Read more

 

Research IT News

IRBNet Document Viewer application

The IRBNet Document Viewer tool is now available to enable investigators access to older study data previously housed in IRBNet. To log into the application, you will need your netID and password. Once in the application, you will see a list of protocols connected to you. You can filter by Protocol Type, IRBNet ID, Protocol Title and PI Name. Clicking the details link for each listed study will provide a list of documents associated with the study along with additional details.

Currently, access to studies are tied to the investigator that was assigned in IRBNet and select administrators. We are currently working to broaden access to study team members where we can find a verified relationship. While this work progresses, please contact the Office of Research Compliance if you don’t see a study that you need to access while using the tool.

If you have any technical questions in using the IRBNet Document Viewer, please email ovpr-it@stonybrook.edu.

 

Economic Development News

 

CEWIT 2021: The Future Begins Today

The 17 th annual CEWIT Conference was held virtually on November 3 & 4, 2021. The Conference was organized by the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) located at Stony Brook University and co-hosted by the IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology. Read more

Stony Brook University Innovation Boot Camp 2021

The Long Island Innovation Boot Camp was initiated at Stony Brook University fourteen years ago, to help evaluate the commercial readiness of a new technology - to help propel ideas into creation.  On September 20, 2021, the annual event resumed after a year off due to COVID. Under new guidance by a professional I-CORPS team delivering the lean-launchpad program, selected start-up teams worked virtually over a ten-day period, which included three full days with instructional workshops and homework.Read more.

Shmuel Einav, PhD, Director of Medical Technologies at CEWIT, Retires

Read more

Stony Brook Small Business Development Center Business Advisor Recognized by the Long Island Hispanic Association

On Thursday, September 30th, 2021 the Long Island Hispanic Bar Association recognized Stony Brook Small Business Development Center (SBDC) bilingual NY State Certified Business Advisor Jacqueline Franco as a Community Hero for her outstanding service to the Long Island Hispanic community.

Ms. Franco has assisted hundreds of SBDC clients through one-on-one counseling sessions and workshops hosted by the Stony Brook SBDC or in association with public libraries located in close proximity to Hispanic communities. Programs focus on providing training in business plan development and strategy, legal structure and marketing to name a few, all in Spanish, and to educate the Hispanic communities served on available resources and opportunities for growing their businesses.

Ms. Franco has led the Stony Brook SBDC’s Hispanic Business Strategies Program, an ongoing initiative sponsored in part by Bank of America, which is geared to support business development and strengthen the small-to-medium sized Suffolk County Hispanic Business Community.

Since February 2018, Ms. Franco has worked as a bilingual New York State Certified Business Adviser for the Stony Brook SBDC bringing over 20 years of managerial, project development, sales management, marketing, and consulting expertise in a wide range of industries. Ms. Franco holds a Masters in Business Administration and Post Graduate Degree in Marketing from EAFIT University, Colombia.

In addition to this acknowledgment, Ms. Franco received multiple recognitions from Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini; New York State Assemblyman Michael Durso; New York State Assemblywoman Gina L. Sillitti; Suffolk County Legislator Samuel Gonzalez; New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, and special congressional recognition received from Congressmen Thomas R. Suozzi and Andrew R. Garbarino.

Economic Development Announces New Interim Executive Director for the Long Island Tech Incubator (LIHTI)

We are very happy to share news of the appointment of Anil Dhundale as LIHTI's Interim Executive Director beginning January 10, 2022. Anil will be overseeing all LIHTI matters. As Executive Director, Anil will take a leave of absence as a member of the LIHTI board. 

Anil has been an active part of the Stony Brook community for many years: as Executive Director of LIHTI for seven years until his retirement in 2015, and prior to that, he worked at SBU's Center for Biotechnology as Director of Scientific Affairs for ten years.  Anil has always had a passion for supporting entrepreneurship even into his retirement by hosting pre-seed workshops and as an advisor for the CEBIP program.  When he is not working with start-up or research companies, Anil enjoys restoring cars.

We consider ourselves lucky to have Anil at the helm for LIHTI. Please join us in welcoming him back!

Hack@CEWIT 2022: Hacking Into the Metaverse

Hack@CEWIT2022, the 6th annual 43 hour hackathon, is taking place on February 18 - 20, 2022, with Major League Hacking (MLH). A hackathon is a sprint-like event that brings together software and hardware programmers to collaborate on a project for a short period of time. This virtual event is open to all college students (undergrad, graduate and PhD). Over 5K in CEWIT prizes will be up for grabs along with company sponsored prizes. This year the hack will focus on NTFs and the metaverse.

One student from Johnson and Wales said Hack@CEWIT is "one of the most well-organized hackathons and keeps getting better every year!"

Normally the building is filled with over 150 students traveling from all over the country. This year the hackathon will be held virtually and will attract students that might not have been able to attend if in person. Instead of the traditional in-person workshops, most workshops will be pre-recorded and give students the ability to watch when convenient for them during the weekend. Students that participate in the hackathon will have the opportunity to make connections with students, industry sponsors, and the CEWIT team. A large number of students have gone on to internships due to connections made at Hack@CEWIT. Registration is now open!

To learn more about the hackathon, click here.

Food Business Incubator at Calverton Continues to Grow and Welcomes New Businesses

Over the past year, the Food Business Incubator at Calverton welcomed a host of new companies specializing in different areas of food production. Breads to tea to spices, and organic to gluten-free to fermented produce producers entered the incubator. The pandemic displaced many “foodies”, with restaurant and catering facility closures, who needed to reevaluate where they were heading professionally. Calverton was there for them to consider, and the facility saw growth from 40 companies pre pandemic to over 80 companies these several months.

Read more

 

Office of Human Resource Services News

Updated COVID-19 Guidelines

Booster Vaccine Compliance

As anticipated, effective January 21 the NYS Department of Health (DOH) has modified the Public Health Law on the Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission by Covered Entities to require that “Covered entities shall continuously require personnel to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and to have received any booster or supplemental dose as recommended by the CDC.” 

  • Health Sciences and Renaissance School of Medicine RF Employees as well as RF Employees in Patient-Facing Areas who are eligible for the booster by January 21, 2022 must comply with the regulation by providing evidence of their booster dose of the vaccine as indicated below on or before February 21, 2022. Those who become eligible for the booster on or after January 22, 2022 must submit evidence of their booster dose of the vaccine as indicated below within 30 days of becoming eligible. This mandate excludes only those employees who have been granted an exemption as defined by the NYS Department of Health. Human Resources will be sending letters to the homes of each affected employee within the next week.
  • All other Research Foundation employees are encouraged to get vaccinated and boostered when eligible if they have not already done so. 

Booster Eligibility & Availability

For information on booster vaccine eligibility or availability, go here.

Booster Status Reporting

  • Clinical Employees and those with Hospital Access: submit proof to Employee Health and Wellness either by email using your Stony Brook Medicine email address, which is secure for these types of emails, or confidential fax at (631) 444-6199.
  • All other employees: submit proof either by fax at (631) 632-6621 or bring a copy in person Monday through Friday 9:00am to 4:00pm to the Administration Building Room 390 OR the Renaissance School of Medicine, Faculty Personnel Office in the Health Sciences, Level 4, Room 197.

Acceptable Proof

Acceptable proof includes a copy of the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card, the pharmacy record or a printout from an Excelsior Pass Plus that includes the date and type of vaccination. For more information on the NYS Excelsior Pass Plus, visit https://epass.ny.gov/home.

Latest Guidance

For the latest COVID-19 Guidance for the entire campus community, please visit Stonger Together, SBU’s COVID-dedicated website. 

We are hiring!

Technical/Scientific Recruiter

This position will help to facilitate and expedite the hiring of researchers and support staff for the Stony Brook University Research enterprise. To apply, forward to a friend, or simply find out more go to Technical/Scientific Recruiter.

Telecommuting

Extension of the Pilot Telecommuting Program

We are pleased to announce that the Pilot Telecommuting Program has been extended! The terms of the pilot program can be found here. As previously, participation in the telecommuting program is based on operational need. For more information, go here.

Did You Know?

Empire Blue Cross has an App!

If you are enrolled in the Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan… Empire Blue Cross has an App! The Sydney Health mobile app is the one place to keep track of your health and your benefits. With a few taps, you can quickly access your plan details, Member Services, virtual care, and wellness resources. Sydney Health stays one step ahead — moving your health forward by building a world of wellness around you. Use the Sydney Health mobile app anytime to find care and compare costs, see what’s covered and check claims, or view and use digital ID cards. Download Sydney Health today - Sydney Health App

HR's Messaging

All of our HR communications are also added to our website for easy reference! They can be found by going to the Resources  tab on our website’s top navigation bar and selecting HR Messaging in the drop down — HR/Resources/HR Messaging. Links to HR’s COVID Messaging and HR’s Supervisor Messaging can be found here as well. Questions? Email hrs_info@stonybrook.edu.

Note: Check all of your Google Tabs as university-wide communications can sometimes find their way into them. More Questions? Visit Google-Tabbed-Inbox.

Employee Wellness

EAP and Healthier U

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Healthier U are both designed to help improve the health and well-being of faculty and staff through emotional support services, individual and group conversations, and programs that address your whole self – mind, body and spirit. In addition, Healthier U is hosting a series of winter wellness workshops to support employees during this time of shorter days and longer nights. For more information, visit the Healthier U website here.