Fall 2017 PRN Report

We want to share a quick update on select programs, activities, and opportunities for engagement with the ACCP Research Institute. We also invite you to visit our website (www.accpri.org) for updates and program announcements. Thank you for supporting the Research Institute.

 

Strategically Guiding the Direction of the RI

The RI Board of Trustees is completing an almost yearlong strategic planning process. The new 3- to 5-year plan will guide an exciting and purposeful course for the RI and will be published in early 2018.

• February 2017: BOT environmental scanning and discussion at February meeting.
• March – May 2017: Solicitation of critical issues for the RI from PRNs (through RI PRN liaisons) and review of the ACCP member surveys.
• May 2017: 1-day session facilitated by the Bernard Consulting Group (BCG) in Kansas City, with the BOT and senior staff to confirm current critical issues and draft strategic directions.
• August 2017: ½-day session facilitated by BCG in KC to develop/finalize strategic directions.
• December – January: Finalize strategic plan and disseminate.

 

ACCP RI Congratulates 2017 Futures Grants Program Awardees

The ACCP Research Institute (RI) Frontiers Fund supports clinical pharmacy researcher development and clinical pharmacy research advancement. Through its Futures Grants Program, the RI Board of Trustees is especially interested in supporting the development of research skills among student, trainee, and early-career ACCP members with a goal of establishing sustained interest and careers in clinical pharmacy research.

This year, the ACCP RI received 47 applications for its mentored research funding program. Each application was reviewed by an expert panel according to the program’s core review criteria. The ACCP RI congratulates the 2017 Futures Grants Program awardees. All award recipients will be recognized during the Awards and Recognition Ceremony on Sunday, October 8, during the upcoming ACCP Annual Meeting in Phoenix.

Junior Investigator Awards

• Houda Alachkar, Pharm.D., Ph.D., USC School of Pharmacy – Pharmacogenomics of age-specific, asparaginase-induced hepatotoxicity in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Mentor: Enrique Cadenas, M.D., Ph.D.
• Jeffrey M. Rybak, Pharm.D., University of Tennessee, Memphis – Revealing the impact of small molecule transporters on clinical triazole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus. Mentor: P. David Rogers, Pharm.D., Ph.D., FCCP

Student/Resident Awards

• Tyler Shugg: A mechanistic analysis of CaMKII regulation of IKs during sustained beta-adrenergic stimulation. Mentor: Brian Overholser, Pharm.D., FCCP
• Kevin Straughn: Design and optimization of polymyxin-based triple combination regimens against carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Mentor: Gauri Rao, Pharm.D., M.S. (Computer Engineering), M.S. (Pharmacometrics)
• Anh Truong: University of Southern California – A novel approach to understanding the estrogen receptor signaling pathway using thermally responsive biopolymers. Mentor: J. Andrew MacKay, Ph.D.
• Ana D. Vega: Oral vancomycin plus intravenous metronidazole for severe Clostridium difficile NAP1/BI/027 infection. Mentor: Kimberly Claeys, Pharm.D., BCPS

The ACCP RI Board of Trustees and staff would also like to express their sincere gratitude to the expert reviewers who served on the Junior Investigator and Student/Resident award review committees. Members of the Junior Investigator Award Review Committee were William Baker, Douglass Boggs (chair), Kathryn Connor, Christopher Destache, Sheetal Dharia, Jeffrey Fong, Christine Formea, David Fuentes, Paul Gubbins, Ajna Hamidovic, Charles Leonard, David Martin, David Min, Keith Olsen, Diana Sobieraj, and Michael Ujhelyi. Members of the Student/Resident Award Review Committee were Kyle Burghardt, Margaret (Peggy) Bush, Mariann Churchwell, Yen Dang, Maguy Hajj, Kirollos Hanna, Vanthida Huang, YoonSun Mo, and Kimberly Scarsi (chair).

For more information about the ACCP RI Futures Grants Program, please visit www.accpri.org/futures/.

 

Research Institute and Pharmacotherapy Open House at the 2017 Annual Meeting

Monday, October 9, 11:30 a.m. –1:30 p.m.

Please join us for an Open House to learn how to get more involved with the ACCP Research Institute (RI) or Pharmacotherapy, the official journal of ACCP.

Throughout the Open House, you will have the opportunity to speak directly with board members and advisory panel members from the RI and Pharmacotherapy, specifically about:

• Developing Manuscripts of Interest.
• Serving as a Pharmacotherapy Reviewer.
• Becoming a Pharmacotherapy Editorial Board Member.
• Your Questions for the Editor-in-Chief.
• Serving as a Reviewer for Contributed Scientific Abstracts.
• Researcher Development: Focused Investigator Training (FIT), Mentored Research Investigator Training (MeRIT), and ACCP Academy Research and Scholarship Certificate.
• Research funding available through the RI Student/Resident and Junior Investigator Futures Grants.
• Engaging in Collaborative Research experiences.

 

Handouts/Information Available for Pickup:

• Editorial Board member description.
• Scientific Editor description.
• Pharmacotherapy flyer.
• Call for Abstracts.
• Investigator Training brochures.
• Futures Grants information.
• Abstract Reviewer information.

 

Coming Soon: Plan Your “Walk-Rounds” Through the Scientific Poster Presentations

Many PRNs conduct “walk-rounds” during the Scientific Poster Presentations at ACCP’s Annual Meeting each year. In these walk-rounds, small groups of PRN members move through preselected posters and discuss the presentations’ findings and implications with the authors. Again this year, the Research Institute will provide each PRN (through RI PRN liaisons) with a list of posters for which members of their respective PRNs are named as presenting authors or coauthors. The lists are expected to be distributed no later than September 15. If your PRN does not receive a copy, please contact Shelly Enders ([email protected]).

 

Investigator Development

 

Mentored Research Investigator Training (MeRIT) Program

The Research Institute is pleased to again offer this one-of-a-kind training program designed to assist pharmacists with developing the abilities necessary to conduct investigator-initiated research, either independently as a principal investigator or as an active co-investigator within a research team. Ideal candidates for the MeRIT Program are pharmacy faculty or practitioners with limited research experience who are:

• Committed to incorporating research into their professional careers.
• Interested in generating research themes or obtaining preliminary data for larger funding opportunities.
• Aspiring to be active principal or co-investigators within a research team.

 

MeRIT is a 2-year longitudinal program that uses a combination of live and virtual teaching and mentoring methods to provide trainees with the support and education they need throughout the research experience (i.e., from idea, proposal development, funding application, and project completion to presentation and publication). Be sure to visit the 2016 MeRIT participants’ completed research posters and the 2017 MeRIT participants’ research design posters during the Annual Meeting on Monday, October 9, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., in the Phoenix Convention Center West Building, West Ballrooms 301 B–D.

The application period for the 2018 MeRIT Program will open in November 2017, with letters of intent due February 28 and full applications due March 31. The primer program will be held June 25–29, 2018, on the campus of the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

 

Focused Investigator Training (FIT) Program

The RI’s annual flagship pharmacist investigator training program continues June 25–29, 2017, at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy in Ann Arbor, Michigan. If you are preparing to submit (or resubmit) a research proposal to NIH or other major foundation/organization funding source, FIT should be on your agenda.

This 5-day intensive, hands-on program has a strong history of participant success, as it pairs experienced and funded faculty mentors with investigator participants. The program is geared to fine-tune R-type investigator-initiated proposals and K-type career development awards. The ideal applicant is a mid-career, fellowship-trained, tenure-track or research-focused pharmacist. The application period for the 2018 FIT Program will open in November 2017, with letters of intent due February 28 and full applications due March 31.

 

Feedback from a past FIT participant – “The focused and protected time to work on my proposal and receive expert/critical feedback on my proposal were instrumental to my receiving funding, and I’ve not been able to reproduce the same experience outside the FIT program.”

 

More information on MeRIT and FIT will be available at the RI’s Open House on Monday, October 9, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., in the Phoenix Convention Center West Building, West Ballrooms 301 B–D, or on the RI’s website at www.accpri.org/investigator.