Division News

 This week, JAMA published an article written by William Yancy,MD, Matthew Maciejewski, PhD, and others showing between bariatric surgery and increased long-term survival among obese middle-aged patients in the VA health system.

Shiv Nadar University and Duke have issued a request for proposals (RFP) for research projects that build collaborative interdisciplinary research between both universities. This RFP will offer pilot funds for this collaborative research, which investigators may then use to obtain preliminary findings and larger sources of external funding. The RFP will offer up to $25,000 per year for two years; proposals are due by March 31. This year’s RFP has a focus on the intersection of global health and urbanizations, but other interdisciplinary topics may also be eligible.

The Center for Stroke Disparities Solutions (CSDS) is offering free training and mentoring programs for junior faculty interested in stroke-related disparities. The two-week program will be held this summer in New York City, with resources and faculty from both NYU Langone Medical Center and Columbia University Medical Center; funding for travel and accommodations will be available. Sessions will include coursework, grant-writing sessions, mentoring sessions, and opportunities for collaborative research between mentors and mentees.

The NIH’s Research Demonstration and Dissemination Projects are funding  practical and potentially sustainable strategies, delivered in routine clinical care settings, to improve processes of care and health outcomes of individuals who are at risk for or have diabetes. Applications are due by March 2, 2015. Read more. 

For our last faculty spotlight of 2014, we talk to Leah Zullig, PhD about her research on quality of care for survivors of colorectal cancer, efforts to improve self-management for patients living with chronic diseases, and swimming with sand tiger sharks off the North Carolina coast.
How long have you been at Duke? How long have you been at the Division?

Faculty and staff are invited to join the Internal Medicine Book Club, which will meet for the first time on Wednesday, January 28 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Duke Medicine Faculty Center (Seeley G. Mudd Building). January’s meeting will involve a discussion of Atul Gawande’s latest book, Being Mortal.

AcademyHealth is now accepting abstracts to be considered for presentation or publication at its 2015 Annual Research Meeting and Interest Group Meetings, which will be held in next June. Applications for the Annual Research Meeting are invited for five categories: calls for innovation, policy roundtables, presentations, research panels, and student posters.

The American Medical Informatics Association is offering "10x10” virtual courses in bioinformatics. These courses, taught by partners such as Oregon Health and Science University, Ohio State University and Nova Southeastern University, offer a chance to learn about a variety of bioinformatics topics online. The next batch of 10x10 courses will begin in January and run through April, and include the following:

The National Institutes of Health will require use of a new biosketch format in research grant applications submitted for due dates on or after January 25, 2015. The revised forms and instructions are now available on the SF 424 (R&R) Forms and Applications page. The new format extends the page limit from four to five pages, and allows researchers to describe up to five of

The PowerPoint presentation from Peter Ubel's time management discussion, given at the Fellow/Faculty development presentation on Friday the 19th, is available online here. During this presentation, Ubel talked about how to make effective lists, avoid being distracted by email, carve out time for research and other techniques.