| | | Updates from the UCI Office of Research |
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| Federal Research Policy Updates Townhall |
| The research community continues to experience the impact of changes and actions by federal agencies that support research. Most recently, these impacts have hit much closer to home with the suspension of hundreds of awards to UCLA from the NSF, NIH and others. To provide a forum to address questions and provide current information on this evolving situation, the UC Irvine Office of Research has organized a webinar.
Please email your questions, concerns and comments to events@research.uci.edu by Wednesday, Aug. 20, at 8 a.m.
Thursday, Aug. 21, 10 to 11 a.m.
Via Zoom | |
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| August is Disclosure Month — Faculty and Researchers |
| The Office of Academic Personnel and the Office of Research have designated August as Disclosure Month. They encourage all faculty members and researchers to: - Complete their Conflict of Commitment disclosure by submitting their outside professional activities, requesting prior approval for Category I activities, and completing their annual certification in UC OATS;
- Review and update their biographical sketches and other/current and pending support disclosures; and
- Update their Conflict of Interest disclosure.
To assist with this process, the Office of Research has created a new Overview of Disclosure Obligations web page highlighting what information needs to be retained, where it needs to be disclosed and whom to contact if there are any questions.
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| ZOT IRB + ZOT hSCRO: Limited Submissions and Data Migration |
| | Huron IRB (ZOT IRB) and Huron hSCRO (ZOT hSCRO) will launch on Sept. 15, 2025. In order to transition effectively, limited protocol submissions will begin on Aug. 4, 2025, and run through Sept. 14, 2025. This will allow additional time for HRP to clear their review queue, train on the new system and, importantly, the data migration process. The HRP must migrate current data in Kuali Research Protocols (KRP). hSCRO researchers need to maintain their own research records and IRB Principal Investigators need to maintain complete IRB protocol records. | |
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| Sign up for the Office of Research Listserv |
| | To keep up with the latest updates from the Office of Research amid all the federal funding changes, be sure to subscribe to the CG-News listserv. Sign up by sending a blank email to cg-news+subscribe@uci.edu. | |
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| Due to shifts in the federal agency funding landscape, do not sign any certifications or acknowledgments, complete any surveys, or respond regarding grant compliance, change in abstract or scope of work, or project activities. Instead, forward such communications to Jeff Warner, Senior Director, Sponsored Projects Administration. Authorized Organizational Representatives (AORs) in the Office of Research will handle these matters. If you have trouble getting in touch with your Sponsored Programs offices/Contracts and Grants office, contact Nancy Lewis, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Administration. Learn more about the impact of federal executive orders and directives on federal grants and contracts.
For other questions or concerns, contact Paul Lekutai, Director, Federal and Non-Federal Sponsored Projects, or Jeff Warner.
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| Resource Reminder: ICTS Grants Library |
| The ICTS Grants Library is a repository of over 60 successful NIH applications that houses examples of various grant mechanisms such as F, K, T and Loan Repayment Program awards. Select example awards also contain the Summary Statement provided after the award’s study section review. Students, researchers and investigators may request access to the library to view successfully awarded NIH applications for ideas on how to structure their own proposals. Access to the library is restricted to UC Irvine personnel and is not intended to be a source of ideas for new research projects. The library should be used only for insight on structuring, formatting and viewing the various components that compose a full NIH application.
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| Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) & Executive Leadership in Health Care (ELH) UC Irvine Internal Applicant Call |
| The UC Irvine School of Medicine Dean’s Office is requesting internal applicants for the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) and Executive Leadership in Health Care (ELH) programs, offered by Drexel University College of Medicine, for leaders in academic medicine or healthcare for the 2026–27 cycle. Learn more about eligibility and the UC Irvine internal application process. Internal applications are due Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, to Shanti Iyer.
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| Mentorship, Education & Training (MET) Program |
| Partner with senior mentors from the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center to navigate career and scientific challenges, strengthen your research, and advance your long-term trajectory in cancer research. Early-stage and mid-career faculty are invited to apply for the MET program, a year-long professional development and mentorship opportunity.
Eligibility Requirements:
- Early- or mid-career faculty focused on basic, clinical, or population cancer research
- Chair or division chief approval for participation time
- Must be a member of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center by November 2025
- Availability to:
- Present at the MET Advisory Panel (Oct/Nov 2025)
- Attend mentor meetings every 4–6 weeks
- Present at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Scientific Retreat (Fall 2026)
Apply here by Sept. 22, 2025. | |
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| Applications Open! 2025 Physician Scientist Pathways Certificate Course | For Physicians Planning or Starting to Pursue Research at UC Irvine |
| UC Irvine School of Medicine is currently accepting applications for the 2025 Physician Scientist Pathways Certificate Course.
This course is designed for residents, fellows and junior faculty physicians eager to pursue careers in basic, translational, clinical or epidemiological research. The course objectives are:
- Understand the different types of biomedical research pathways and the types of training required.
- Understand the process of formulating a research question and how to search for funding opportunities (through PIVOT, etc.)
- Develop an individualized training plan to obtain the necessary research skills for further career development.
- Understand how the latest research and clinical tools can be applied.
- Obtain a fundamental understanding of the grant application process and what is required to assemble a grant application that could be funded.
The course includes three in-person meetings (listed below) and three online modules. Learn more about the Physician-Scientist Pathways Certificate.
- Tuesday, Sept. 16, 4 to 6 p.m., UCI Main Campus
- Tuesday, Oct. 7, 4 to 6 p.m., UCI Main Campus
- Tuesday, Oct. 21, 4 to 6 p.m., UCI Medical Center
Deadline: Sept. 1, 2025 | | Back to top | | | |
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| Geoffrey W. Abbott, PhD (Physiology & Biophysics) and co-investigator Alvin Yu, PhD (Physiology & Biophysics), received a $2.5M, 5-year R01, “Therapeutic small molecule modulation of Kv channels” to study the molecular mechanisms by which plant metabolites therapeutically activate neuronal potassium channels, with an emphasis on correcting ataxia, epilepsy and hereditary spastic paraplegia.
Do you or someone on your team have research-related good news to report (e.g., research funding/award, publication, other accolade)? We would like to know! Please fill out this short Good News submission form. | | Back to top | | | |
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| Find funding opportunities for trainees, postdocs and early career faculty, and all faculty. For more funding opportunities and resources to help in your funding search, visit the Funding Opportunities page.
The Research Development Unit (RDU) has created lists of intramural funding opportunities and foundation funding opportunities. If you have additional opportunities that should be included, contact the RDU.
Considering applying for a Limited Funding Opportunity? Typically, you submit a pre-proposal to the Office of Research via UCI Review. If the opportunity is not listed, contact the RDU.
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| | Postdocs & Early Career Faculty Funding Opportunities | |
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The University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
Applicants must receive a PhD or terminal degree from an accredited university before the start of their fellowship. Fellowships are awarded for research conducted at any of the UC’s 10 campuses. Each award is for a minimum of 12 months and may be renewable for an additional term upon demonstration of academic/research productivity. Apply here.
Deadline: Nov. 1, 2025
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| A.P. Giannini Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and Leadership Award |
| The A.P. Giannini Foundation invites physician-scientists and junior researchers with three to 36 months of postdoctoral research experience to apply to the 2026 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship & Leadership Award. Postdoctoral researchers are eligible to apply to the 2026 program if they have completed no less than three months and no more than three years in their mentor’s laboratory as of Dec. 31, 2025.
The Fellowship and Leadership Award supports innovative research in the basic sciences and applied fields and trains fellows to become established investigators and to pursue scientific leadership positions in academia, industry, public and non-traditional career pathways. Research projects should advance the translation of biomedical science into preventions, treatments and cures for human diseases.
For questions about the application process, reach out to Dr. Leslie Thompson.
Deadline: Nov. 6, 2025, 3 p.m. | |
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| Estée Lauder Epigenetics Fellowship, in honor of Paolo Sassone-Corsi |
| UC Irvine School of Medicine’s Center for Epigenetics & Metabolism is pleased to announce the Estée Lauder Epigenetics Fellowship program in honor of the late Paolo Sassone-Corsi, PhD, who was UC Irvine’s Donald Bren Professor of Biological Chemistry and director of the campus’s Center for Epigenetics & Metabolism.
The Estée Lauder Epigenetics Fellowship supports the training of PhD graduate students who carry out groundbreaking research in epigenetics and the molecular mechanisms underlying human disorders/diseases. Research that seeks to establish new paradigms, develop innovative new technology and/or methodology, remove roadblocks that restrict progress in the epigenetics or metabolism fields, or answer intractable problems, is given priority. Each year, the Estée Lauder Epigenetics Fellowship will reward a promising graduate student and support future generations of scientists dedicating their careers to education, research and outreach.
Deadline: Aug. 21, 2025, 5 p.m. | |
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| | All Faculty Funding Opportunities | |
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Limited: Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program – Class of 2026The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program awards research stipends of up to $200,000 to 30 exceptional scholars, journalists and authors, making it possible for the fellows to devote their time to significant research. The work of the program will explore the many ways political polarization in the United States manifests itself in society and suggest ways it may be mitigated. Scholars must help Americans understand how and why our society has become so polarized and what we can do to strengthen the forces of cohesion in our society. Political polarization is characterized by threats to free speech, the decline of civil discourse, disagreement over basic facts, and a lack of mutual understanding and collaboration. The fellowship must begin on the first of the month between July and September of 2026. It is not possible to defer the start of the fellowship. It must begin no later than Sept. 1, 2026. The funding is for a period of one or two years with the anticipated result of a book or major study. UC Irvine has been invited to nominate one tenured scholar and one untenured scholar. Apply here. Deadline: Sept. 5, 2025 | |
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| Research Commercialization Funds Available – PoP Grants Request-for-Proposals |
| UC Irvine Beall Applied Innovation (BAI) has launched the Fall 2025 round of its Proof of Product program. Through this program, BAI competitively awards up to $100K for faculty researchers to advance their discoveries toward market to measurably improve lives. Apply here.
Letters of Intent Deadline: Sept. 15, 2025 | |
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| UCI Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center - Call for Developmental Grant Proposals |
| The Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) is pleased to announce the availability of funding for developmental projects. Grants of up to $100,000/year (direct costs) and 1–2 years may be proposed. This funding competition is open to all UC Irvine faculty members (senate and non-senate), with preference for investigators who are pre-tenured and new to the field of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders (ADRD) research. Apply here.
Deadline: Oct. 17, 2025, 5 p.m.
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| | | Upcoming Seminars & Events |
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| Rady Children's Health and UC Irvine Distinguished Lecture Series |
| A Machine-Learning Decision Support Tool to Optimize Whole Genome Sequencing in the NICU, by Rebecca Reimers, MD, MPH, Physician, San Diego Perinatal Center
Wednesday, Aug. 20, Noon to 1:15 p.m.
Via Zoom
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| Bridging Barrio & Bench: How Community Collaboration Accelerates Translational Science in Hispanic/Latino Populations |
| Speakers: Christian Salazar, PhD, MPH, Associate Project Scientist & Epidemiologist, UCI MIND and Guillermo Alvarez, CHES, Programmatic and Operational Leadership, Latino Health Access
Come engage with Christian Salazar and Guillermo Alvarez as they share the story and early results of their Campus-Community Research Incubator (CCRI). This project harnesses promoter-led family-oriented education and neighborhood-level data to address social and behavioral determinants of Alzheimer’s disease among Hispanic/Latino adults in Orange County. They will discuss co-designing studies with community stakeholders, recruiting and retaining Hispanic/Latino participants in research, creating culturally tailored interventions, and lessons learned from their community-academic partnership.
Friday, Aug. 22, Noon to 1:15 p.m.
Via Zoom
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| K12 Scholar Program Informational Meeting |
| Are you an early-career faculty researcher looking for NIH-level support? The ICTS K12 Scholar Program may be right for you! The Institute for Clinical & Translational Science is holding an informational meeting on this NIH-funded training program designed to support early-career faculty researchers. This meeting is intended to provide an overview of the K12 Scholar Program to interested candidates, anecdotes from previous K-level scholars, and an overview of materials needed to apply to the program. The ICTS will have three open training slots to fill for a late 2025 / early 2026 appointment. Faculty who attend will receive priority access to information on assembling a successful application package.
Friday, Aug. 29, 10 to 11 a.m.
Via Zoom
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| Noel Drury, M.D. Institute for Translational Depression Discoveries Speaker Series |
| New Targets, New Hope: Rapid Advances in Novel Pharmacotherapy for Depression, by James W. Murrough, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Vice Chair for Clinical Research, Department of Psychiatry; Director, Depression and Anxiety Center for Discovery and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Hosted by the UC Irvine Noel Drury, M.D. Institute for Translational Depression Discoveries.
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 10 to 11 a.m. PT
Location: Thorp Conference Center, 4001 Gross Hall, and via Zoom | |
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| NIH Loan Repayment Program Informational Webinar |
| The Institute for Clinical & Translational Science (ICTS) will be hosting an informational webinar led by Connie Rhee, MD, on the NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) for interested applicants. Dr. Rhee is a Professor of Medicine at UCLA, and Chief of Nephrology at the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care, and a previous NIH Loan Repayment Program recipient. This informational workshop is designed to provide an overview of the application process for the November 2025 submission deadline. Registration is required. Friday, Sept. 19, 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Via Zoom | |
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| Call for Abstracts! CHOC's Research Day |
| The CHOC Research Institute invites you to submit an abstract for CHOC's Research Day 2025. Work previously presented (within the past year) may be submitted for consideration. Accepted abstracts will be presented LIVE at the CHOC Research Day Poster Session on the CHOC campus on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. Deadline: Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, 5 p.m. PT | |
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| Introduction to Deep Learning Tools in Genomics |
| This workshop, led by Jenny Wu, PhD, and Ivan Chang, PhD, introduces the applications of deep neural networks to genomics including variant calling, motif discovery, analysis of gene expression, single cell and image analysis using deepVariant, deepBind, cellpose, etc. Learn more about this workshop presented by the UCI Genomics Research & Technology Hub. Registration is required: $50/person. Tuesday, Sept. 23, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Location: Sprague Hall, Room 105 | |
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| Third Annual Paolo Sassone-Corsi Lectureship | Michael Greenberg, PhD |
| How Nature and Nurture Conspire to Control Brain Development and Function, by Michael Greenberg, PhD, Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology, Professor of Neurology, Director, Hock E. Tan and K. Lisa Yang Center for Autism Research, Harvard Medical School
The Paolo Sassone-Corsi Lectureship is presented and organized by the Center for Epigenetics & Metabolism in honor of Paolo Sassone-Corsi's legacy in epigenetics and metabolism.
Monday, Oct. 20, 5 to 8 p.m.
Location: Sue Gross Auditorium, Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, 856 Health Sciences Quad, Irvine, CA 92697 | |
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| Early-career investigators! Advanced Workshop on Research Skills in Oncology |
| This NCI-funded intensive 3-day virtual workshop is designed to provide early-career principal investigators a foundation in these critical skills within a short period of time. Beginning with personal assessments, participants will learn how to use their specific strengths to lead more effectively, increase collaborations, and stay resilient in the face of challenges. The workshop will have two tracks to allow for more tailored content for clinical and basic science researchers in oncology. Learn more about the Advanced Workshop on Research Skills in Oncology.
Eligibility: Early-career principal investigators in all areas of oncology research who have career development awards or other research grants with at least $100,000 in total direct costs over the course of the award. Participants must have a doctoral degree.
Application Deadline: Sept. 28, 2025
Workshop Dates: Jan. 21–23, 2026 | |
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| Grand Rounds and CME Symposia |
| | For Continuing Medical Education (CME) opportunities, view the weekly Grand Rounds & CME Symposia email. | | Back to top | | | |
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| Do you have an open research-related position you would also like announced in Research Insider? Please fill out this form to have your open position listed.
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| What kind of grant support does the School of Medicine Research Development Unit provide? |
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| What kind of grant support does the RDU provide to Physician Scientists? |
| Along with the general grant support the RDU provides (outlined above), there are multiple programs available outlined on the Physician Scientist Resources page. - Physician Scientist Collective: Monthly seminar series with visiting speakers
- Physician Scientist Pathways Certificate Course: Six-week, 12-hour hybrid course that introduces clinicians to research pathways
- Physician Scientist Training Program (PSTP): Helps physician scientists apply for their first K award
- Dean’s K Scholar: Provides awardees the protected time and mentorship needed to obtain NIH K/ equivalent funding
- Clinical Trialist Training Program (CTTP): Supports junior faculty on externally funded clinical trials through a 2-year partnership program with senior investigators already running clinical trials
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