Save the Date: June 24 Launch and Lead: Research Career Development Workshop
Presented by AR INBRE and the Arkansas Research Alliance |
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Headlines for this newsletter: Updates and clarification regarding NIH foreign institution-affiliated authors and AR INBRE-supported publications Limited slots available – Register Now! AR INBRE Bench-to-Bedside Workshop (for undergrads): Bridging Research and Practice in Opioid Addiction Therapy, May 28 The Resilient Scientist webinar series for undergrads through postdocs and so much more!
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), PAR-23-100, is the FOA that we responded to for the current grant award to the Arkansas INBRE. This FOA contains specific language that states “foreign components are not allowed.” As defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, collaborations with investigators at a foreign site that have resulted in co-authorship of a publication are considered a “foreign component.” This definition is regardless of whether or not any funding was involved. After a period of lenience, NIH has begun to enforce this policy.
What this means for the Arkansas INBRE is that for any publication that cites the grant (NIH P20 GM103469), there can be no authors that have an affiliation with a foreign institution. Since we expect recipients of funding (whether that funding is a research grant, pilot grant, core facility voucher, summer manuscript support, mini-sabbatical) from the Arkansas INBRE to cite the grant in all publications arising from that support, not citing the grant is not an option.
To ensure that the Arkansas INBRE is compliant with this NIH policy, going forward when the Arkansas INBRE issues an award, the recipient and their institution will have to provide assurance that the funded activity does not have a “foreign component.”
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For more on this policy, see the letter from AR INBRE’s NIH Program Officer in our Feb 14 newsletter. |
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Bench-to-Bedside Workshop
This annual one-day, in-person Workshop will be held on May 28, 9 am to 3 pm, at the UAMS Library Active Learning Center. The workshop will help undergrads understand the role of translational research (bench-to-bedside) in contributing to the development of evidence-based treatments.
Have you ever thought about how researchers develop in-depth meaningful studies focused on addiction? Have you encountered family and/or friends with an addiction to opioids and have a desire to learn more about the disorder? Would you like to know how to help someone who has overdosed on opioids?
If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, we invite you to participate in this workshop.
Who can attend? Undergraduate students attending college/ university in Arkansas and Arkansas residents attending an out-of-state college/university.
The workshop is limited to 30 student participants.
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Standardized Lab Safety Training
Keeping student scientists safe at the bench is non‑negotiable, yet making sure each trainee receives consistent, documented training across multiple campuses presents a big challenge, especially when every investigator and program has a different system.
New Hampshire INBRE set out to meet this challenge. Funded by the NIH NIGMS IDeA program and in collaboration with the Office of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, NH INBRE launched LabSafetyWorkspace.org: an open, online hub where undergraduate and faculty researchers across the state of New Hampshire and beyond can complete standardized lab safety training year after year.
The lectures were created and/or compiled by EHS and meet the accepted standards and best practices for laboratory safety. These programs are intended to help scientists with their safety training needs. The lectures ensure that we all achieve this fundamental knowledge for practicing quality laboratory safety techniques. Regardless of whether you are at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, or any of our INBRE partners, we can all expect to have the same safety skillset. |
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EPIIC Core Facilities Tour at UAMS On March 23, faculty and staff from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) and Arkansas Tech University (ATU) (both partner institutions in the Arkansas INBRE) visited the IDeA National Resource for Quantitative Proteomics (led by Alan Tackett) and the Genomics Shared Resource (led by Donald Johann) at UAMS. The institutions share a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant entitled “Collaborative Research: Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC): Bolstering University Infrastructure for Leading Development (BUILD). Dr. Emad Badradeen, research assistant professor of chemistry and physics at UAPB is the principal investigator. Other members of the visiting team were Dr. Vinay Raj (UAPB), Dr. Newton Hilliard (Arkansas Tech), Dr. Robin Ghosh (Arkansas Tech), Dr. Jyotheeswaran Panapakan (Arkansas Tech), and Ms. Melanie Ewing (Arkansas Tech). The purpose of the visit was to facilitate meaningful connections between BUILD-supported investigators at UAPB and Arkansas Tech with the UAMS core facilities. |
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BUILD is a collaboration between ATU and UAPB to improve their institutional position to engage with Arkansas’s statewide research ecosystem. Both institutions play central roles in the rural economic development of their regional ecosystems in central and southeastern Arkansas. However, severely underfunded research and partnership offices have led to extreme inefficiencies that affect the ability to leverage external partnerships fully and have a societal impact. Through this project, these universities will grow research capacity by aligning faculty research with regional partnership opportunities; expanding existing partnerships that currently depend on individual faculty into more sustainable collaborations; building partnerships that better meet employer needs and fully leverage university capabilities; and addressing the regional brain drain due to underemployed or relocation of STEM talent. BUILD aims to create a robust research development enterprise, leading to a revitalized rural economic ecosystem, inclusive STEM workforce growth, and strengthened regional economic competitiveness. |
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This initiative addresses the cohort’s shared strengths and challenges in building sustainable external partnerships essential for increasing research capacity. The cohort’s strengths include a strong commitment and track record of teaching and learning and being geographically situated in central and southeastern Arkansas as regionally accessible rural economic development partners. This project will address the challenges associated with limited staffing and access to professional development that support pre- and post-award services in research administration that plague emerging research institutions (ERIs) nationwide. The cohort will use gap analysis, program and project evaluation and faculty/staff shared governance to improve and implement policies and procedures to build sustainable partnerships with regional industry. This work will enhance institutional research infrastructure to secure competitive funding and conduct impactful research at both ATU and UAPB. |
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NISBRE offering NIH campus tour. NISBRE announces a unique opportunity for students and trainees to visit the NIH campus in Bethesda during the conference. Attendees will have the chance to tour NIH’s intramural research facilities and cores, explore state-of-the-art laboratories, engage with NIH investigators, and learn more about the innovative research shaping the future of biomedical science. Complete a campus visit interest form by March 31. Space is limited, |
NIH Undergraduate Scholarship Program (UGSP) is now open for applications. It is a financial needs-based scholarship award for students who are committed to biomedical, behavioral and social science research. The program provides scholarship recipients up to $20,000 per academic year for tuition, educational, and reasonable living expenses. Scholarships are awarded for one year and can be renewed up to two years.
For every year of scholarship support, scholars commit to two paid service obligations in the NIH Intramural Research Program. Application will close on March 31, 11 am CT. More |
NIH NCI 2026 Speakers for Science-Based Non-Academic Careers (SNAC) Workshops. The SNAC workshop assists and informs about exploring various science-based career opportunities outside of independent academic research. Given that these may include unfamiliar roles outside of bench science, there are guest speakers from various science-based backgrounds to provide information and insight that will help inform decisions about potential future endeavors. Register April 1: From NIH to Genentech and Beyond: Navigating Careers in Pharma, Biotech, and the Startup Frontier
May 6: Connecting employers and job seekers
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Notice of Pre-Application Technical Assistance Webinar on the NIA Expanding Research in AD/ADRD (ERA) R25 Postbac and Summer Research Education Programs (NOT-AG-26004). The National Institute on Aging (NIA) will host a pre-application technical assistance webinar for individuals interested in applying for RFA-AG-26-010 and RFA-AG-26-011. The webinar will provide programmatic, peer review and award information, and guidance on the application process and grant writing strategies. Participation in the webinar, although encouraged, is not required for the submission of an application. NIA ERA R25 Technical Assistance Webinar will be held on April 8, 12 pm CT. More/register |
Public Webinar: Developing the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2027-2031, April 8.1:30 pm CT. In this webinar, NIH leadership will introduce the process for developing the next NIH-Wide Strategic Plan, outline the high-level framework and answer attendees’ questions. This webinar is open for anyone in the public to attend. Upon registering, you will be sent a link to join the webinar. More/Register |
Reminder: Next NIH Fellowship Application Due Date Is Approaching. Have you explored our Fellowship opportunities? NIH wanted to remind you that NIH fellowships are open to early career scientists, including at the predoctoral and postdoctoral level. NIH fellowships and are designed to provide mentored research training to enable skills’ development and experiences needed to transition into careers in the biomedical research workforce.  Through these programs, the NIH fosters innovation, collaboration, and the advancement of knowledge aimed at improving human health. The next due date for Fellowship applications (F series) is April 8. More |
Request for Information (RFI): Gathering feedback for the National Eye Institute 2026-2031 Strategic Plan (NOT-EY-26-002). The National Eye Institute (NEI) has issued an RFI to gather input from the scientific community, health professionals, professional societies, patient advocates, and the public to aid in the development of its 2026-2031 strategic plan. The plan aims to guide vision research priorities over the next five years, building on the previous 2021-2025 strategic plan and aligning with the NIH’s mission through a unified strategy. Responses to this RFI are voluntary and intended solely for information and planning purposes. Please respond by April 15. More |
NIGMS Collaborative Program Grant for Multidisciplinary Teams (RM1) is designed to support highly integrated research teams of three to six Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs) to address ambitious and challenging research questions that are within the mission of NIGMS. Project goals should not be achievable with a collection of individual efforts or projects. Collaborative program teams are expected to accomplish goals that require considerable synergy and managed team interactions. Teams are encouraged to consider far-reaching objectives that will produce major advances in their fields.
This FOA is not intended for applications that are mainly focused on the creation, expansion, and/or maintenance of community resources, creation of new technologies, or infrastructure development.
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Harmonizing the NIH Definition of “Intervention” with the Common Rule (NOT-OD-26-063). In 2014, the NIH revised its definition of a clinical trial (NOT-OD-15-015) to increase transparency and accountability and enhance the precision of the information NIH collects, tracks, and reports on clinical trials. In the context of the NIH clinical trial definition, the NIH also defined an intervention as:
A manipulation of the subject or subject’s environment for the purpose of modifying one or more health-related biomedical or behavioral processes and/or endpoints.
These efforts preceded the 2018 Common Rule (45 CFR 46, Subpart A [Protection of Human Subjects]), which defined an intervention as:
Both physical procedures by which information or biospecimens are gathered (e.g., venipuncture) and manipulations of the subject or the subject's environment that are performed for research purposes.
NIH adopted an implementation approach that operationalized these definitions in a similar manner. However, to ensure consistency and harmonize implementation of the Common Rule across federal agencies, effective with the publication of this Notice, NIH is adopting the definition of an intervention as defined in 45 CFR 46, Subpart A, above. The NIH will make revisions to its websites and forms, as needed, to reflect this change. More |
Prior Approval Requirement for Changes to Domestic Subawards (NOT-OD-26-062). Effective June 1, 2026, all prime recipients are required to obtain NIH prior approval when adding a new domestic subaward to a project post-award, when the arrangement was not originally a part of the peer-reviewed and approved application. The new prior approval requirement is intended to ensure that NIH is aware of all subaward activities for each NIH project, so that NIH can monitor the prime recipient and ensure compliance with subaward monitoring and reporting requirements. More |
Notice of Legislative Mandates in Effect for FY 2026(NOT-OD-26-060). The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (Public Law 119-75), signed into law on Feb 3, 2026, provides funding to NIH for the Fiscal Year ending Sept 30, 2026. The intent of this notice is to provide current requirements outlined in the statutory provision that limits or conditions the use of funds on NIH grant, cooperative agreement, and contract awards for the remainder of FY 2026. More |
Notice of Fiscal Policies in Effect for FY 2026 (NOT-OD-26-059) provides guidance about the NIH Fiscal Operations for Fiscal Year 2026 and implements the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (Public Law 119-75), signed into law on Feb 3, 2026. With the passage of the Act, NIH received a 1 percent increase over FY 2025, for a total of $47.5 billion in program level funding, including $226 million authorized under the 21st Century Cures Act. The increased funding was targeted to specific research priorities, including Alzheimer’s disease, Cancer, and Women’s Health. More |
Publication of the Revised NIH Grants Policy Statement (Rev. March 2026) for Fiscal Year 2026 (NOT-OD-26-057). The NIH announces publication of the updated NIH Grants Policy Statement (NIHGPS, rev. March 2026). The NIHGPS provides both up-to-date policy guidance that serves as NIH standard terms and conditions of award for all NIH grants and cooperative agreements, and extensive guidance to those who are interested in pursuing NIH grants. More |
RFI: Inviting Comments and Suggestions on a Framework for the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2027-2031 (NOT-OD-26-047). The purpose of the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan is to communicate how NIH will advance its mission to support research in pursuit of fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems, and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. More |
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Stipends, Tuition/Fees and Other Budgetary Levels Effective for Fiscal Year 2026 (NOT-OD-26-044). This Notice establishes stipend levels for fiscal year (FY) 2026 Kirschstein-NRSA awards for undergraduate, predoctoral, and postdoctoral trainees and fellows. The Training Related Expenses and Institutional Allowances for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees and fellows remain unchanged from the prior budget year. The Tuition and Fees for all educational levels remain unchanged from the prior budget year. More |
NIH’s Path to a Simpler Funding Opportunity Landscape. NIH is streamlining the landscape for Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs, or funding opportunities) and the application process. We are placing greater emphasis on investigator-initiated science rather than asking researchers to align their work with highly specific funding opportunities.
Although there are fewer funding opportunities, this does not mean fewer funded applications. Instead, it gives investigators greater flexibility to propose their own research topics. We remain committed to supporting meritorious research even as the number of funding opportunities is reduced. More |
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The Resilient Scientist, a five-part webinar series. The University of Denver is pleased to host the nationally recognized, five-part Resilient Scientist Series, developed and facilitated by Dr. Sharon Milgram, the former director of the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education on Mondays, 2 to 4:30 pm CT.
This series focuses on building resilience, adopting healthy mindsets, supporting well-being, and fostering professional growth. Participants will learn evidence-based tools to respond effectively to stress, uncertainty, and change, with the goal of developing a productive and fulfilling career. The content is tailored for modern research and academic environments and provides practical strategies that can be applied immediately and over the long term. The series is for senior undergrads, postbac students, grad students, professional school students, and postdocs.
March 30, Resilience and Well-being: The Real Survival Skills
April 6, Mind Games: Imposter Fears and Other Unhelpful Stories We Tell
April 13, Assertiveness 2.0: Speaking Up, Even When Power Dynamics Make It Hard
April 20, Feedback: We Need It, Even (Especially?) When We Don’t Like It
April 27, You Can’t Sing a Duet Alone: Mentoring Relationships for Long-Term Success
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ASIP 2026 Summer Liver Academy Meeting (SLAM, formerly the FASEB Liver Biology Conference), June 14-16, Cape Coral, FL. SLAM 2026 aims to incorporate the best of our prior liver meetings, cutting-edge science, an interactive program format, and opportunities for trainees — all within a beautiful resort environment. There will also be several career-development sessions, including Meet The Experts lunches and a panel discussion on career paths for the biomedical researchers. Trainees are encouraged to submit abstracts, which will be selected for either abstract-driven talks or poster presentations. Travel awards are available to offset to cost for trainees to attend the meeting. Abstracts due March 31. More |
IDeA State Consortium for Clinical Research Resource Center (ISCORE-RC) Pediatric Advanced Certificate (PAC) Program provides online didactic learning and hands-on training and takes six months to complete. This program allows trainees to participate while working in the field. PAC aims to equip clinical research professionals with specialized knowledge and skills necessary for conducting ethical, compliant, and developmentally appropriate pediatric clinical research. Participants who complete the PAC will earn a micro credential in pediatric research coordination. Locations for enrollment in the University of Louisville. Apply by March 31. More |
EMBO Webinar — From Bench to Boardroom: Pitching Your Start-Up to Venture Capitalists, April 1, 9 am CT. Do you have a great idea for starting a company? Would you like advice on how to pitch to potential investors? Join Dr Matthew Durdy, Chief Executive of the UK Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, who will give you advice on how to prepare, structure and record a presentation for venture capitalists. Matthew will be joined by a small panel of experienced investors for a Q&A session: Trevor Howe (previously Head of Translational Genomics, Johnson & Johnson Innovation), Jana Obajdin (BioGeneration Ventures) and Tyler Hayes (Philips Ventures). Register |
OmicsLogic Online Workshop — Mapping Skills to Roles: A Bioinformatics Career Workshop is a 5-day interactive online workshop, April 6-10, designed to help translate bioinformatics and data science skills into real industry opportunities. Through hands-on demos, practical tasks, and mentor-guided support, you’ll create a clear career roadmap and a repeatable system to apply smarter, network better, and stand out to recruiters. Perfect for students, researchers, and early-career professionals ready to move from learning to landing roles. Register |
SC INBRE Data Science Core Seminar Series. South Carolina INBRE invites all to attend the next seminar in their seminar series on April 24, 11 am CT, via Zoom, “Adaptive Inference Serving: Reconciling Accuracy, Cost, and Latency in Dynamic ML Pipelines,” presented by Dr. Pooyan Jamshidi, Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, University of South Carolina. Dr. Jamshidi’s research involves designing novel artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms and investigating their theoretical guarantees. Seminar series is open to all. More/register |
Biomedical Science Careers Program (BSCP) Virtual Career Development Series equips students and fellows with essential tools and practical guidance to support success across diverse career pathways. Topics include resume and CV writing for scientific careers, LinkedIn branding, and negotiation skills. The series is free and open to all academic levels.
Virtual Career Fair, May 13, 11 am to 1 pm CT. Registration to open in April.
Negotiation Strategies Webinar, June 3, 3:30 pm CT. Registration to open in April.
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March 31 2 pm CT, NIH Demystifying Medicine Videocast: Myelodysplastic Syndromes: Cracking the Code of Blood Disorders
4:30 pm CT, FAES Workshop begins: BIOF 019 - Designing Effective Data Visualizations in R
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April 2 1 pm CT, NCFDD Free Webinar: Strengthening Your Dept Chair Playbook: Spotlight on Faculty Development Strategies |
April 5 LOI: NIH Brain Dev Cohorts Biospecimen Access (X01) |
April 7 9 am CT, ASM POSTDOC Webinar: Building Impact, Not Just CVs: Thriving with Limited Resources
12 pm CT, AMP Trainee & Early Career Series: Embarking on a Job Search
2 pm CT, NIH Demystifying Medicine Videocast: The Immune Identity Crisis: How the Body Knows Itself |
April 8 11 am CT, ASM Webinar: Genome Annotation and Taxonomic Classification |
April 9 1 pm CT, NCFDD SKILL: Mastering Academic Time Management |
April 10 12 pm CT, ASM JMBE Series: Leveraging Gen AI To Foster Metacognition & Self-directed Learning |
April 13 AASLD Foundation Emerging Liver Advanced Practice Provider Program (ELAPP)
AASLD Foundation Emerging Liver Scholars (ELS) Program |
April 14 2 pm CT, NIH Demystifying Medicine Videocast: Can We Hear Again? Genomic Med & the Future of Hearing |
April 15 7:30 am CT, NIH Videocast: Pathways to Prevention Workshop: Advancing Research to Improve Health During the Menopausal Transition
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April 16 7:30 am CT, NIH Videocast: Pathways to Prevention Workshop: Advancing Research to Improve Health During the Menopausal Transition
AACR Oncology Industry Partnering Event: From Cancer Discoveries to Patients |
April 17 7:30 am CT, NIH Videocast: Pathways to Prevention Workshop: Advancing Research to Improve Health During the Menopausal Transition |
April 21 10 am CT, ASM Grad Student Webinar: Your Graduate Committee: From Requirement to Resource
2 pm CT, NIH Demystifying Medicine Videocast: Chronic Graft-vs-Host: The Battle Within |
April 22 9 am CT, ASM Webinar Series: Career Pathways in Clinical and Public Health Microbiology
11 am CT, ASM Webinar Series: Session 4 – Microbiology Resource Announcement Templates for Isolates
Genetics Society of America Yeast Genetics Meeting: Early and Presenter Registration Deadline |
April 23 5 pm CT, ASCB Webinar: MBoC Highlight: Forces On and Within Cells with Keynote by ASCB President Rong Li |
April 24 LOI: NIH NLM Information Resource Grants to Reduce Health Disparities and Promote Health Equity (G08) |
April 25 LOI: NIH NIAAA/NIDA Alcohol and Other Substance Use Research Education Programs for Health Professionals (R25) |
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Our newsletter is open to all. Please feel free to forward and encourage others to subscribe.
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Copyright © 2024 Arkansas INBRE, All rights reserved.Questions or more info, contact Cyndy Buckhaults, Media Specialist, cbuckhaults@uams.edu
Material in this newsletter is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of General Medical Sciences (5P20GM103429). Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the AR INBRE Program and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NIH.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
4301 W. Markham Street, Slot 818
Little Rock, AR 72205
USA
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