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March Announcements

Share Your Good News Here!

Have you won an award recently? Or maybe you just accepted a new job offer? We’d love to share your achievements with other NICHD fellows! Please send your good news information to our editor, Dr. Shana Spindler, at shana.spindler@nih.gov. Let’s celebrate together—we could all use a little good news in our lives.

Congrats to NICHD Graduate Partnership Program (GPP) Graduates

Joshua Freeman

Joshua R. Freeman, PhD, MPH

Every year, GPP graduates are recognized at the annual NIH-wide Graduate Student Research Symposium. At this year’s Graduate Ceremony event on February 17, 2022, NICHD graduate student Joshua Randall Freeman, PhD, MPH, received his certificate for the successful completion of his dissertation research.

Dr. Freeman studied under the mentorship of Dr. Sunni L. Mumford, Epidemiology Branch, NICHD, and Dr. Brian W. Whitcomb, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His dissertation research, entitled “Sleep, reproduction, and pregnancy,” focused on the role of sleep characteristics during the preconception period in reproductive health outcomes among women. These outcomes included reproductive hormone levels and anovulation, time-to-pregnancy, live births, pregnancy loss, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Dr. Freeman continues his work as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute, evaluating the role of self-reported and accelerometry-measured sleep in cancer outcomes.

Introduction to the Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (IPPCR) Course

Interested in expanding your clinical research knowledge base in 2022? Registration for the 2021–2022 NIH Introduction to the Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (IPPCR) course has open enrollment.

This free, self-paced, online course (40 lectures, ranging from 15 to 90 minutes each) is open for registration until July 1, 2022 (final exam completion by July 28, 2022). Graduate students, clinical fellows and post-doctoral fellows are encouraged to enroll now.

The IPPCR course is a lecture series from thought-leaders around the world covering:

  • Study designs, measurement, and statistics
  • Ethical, legal, monitoring, and regulatory considerations
  • Preparation and implementation of clinical studies
  • Communication of research findings and other topics

To register, please visit the IPPCR website at https://ocr.od.nih.gov/courses/ippcr.html. If you have any questions, please contact ippcr2@mail.nih.gov.

Principles of Clinical Pharmacology (PCP) Course

The PCP course is a free online lecture series covering the fundamentals of clinical pharmacology as a translational scientific discipline focused on rational drug development and utilization in therapeutics. Topics covered in the course include pharmacokinetics, drug therapy in special populations, drug discovery and development, and pharmacogenomics.

The course is free, self-paced, and entirely online through the PCP website.

The course will be of interest to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and clinical fellows interested in expanding their pharmacology knowledge base. For additional information on the course, please visit the website above or contact odpcp@mail.nih.gov.

Clinical Research Curriculum Certificate (CRCC)

Are you interested in a career in clinical or translational research? Do the “Introduction to the Principles and Practice of Clinical Research” and “Principals of Clinical Pharmacology” courses sound intriguing to you? If you answered yes, consider the NIH Clinical Research Curriculum Certificate (CRCC) program.

Certificate program participants will acquire in-depth knowledge of:

  • Clinical trial design
  • Ethical concerns and human subject protections
  • Regulatory aspects of clinical research
  • Responsibilities of the clinical investigator

The NIH Office of Clinical Research will issue a formal certificate to those who successfully complete the required components of the Clinical Research Curriculum.

For CRCC requirements, please visit: https://ocr.od.nih.gov/crcc.html.

SAVE THE DATE: Postbac Poster Days (All Virtual)

Tuesday–Thursday, April 26–28; Register by March 31

Postbac Poster Days provides an opportunity for NIH postbacs to discuss their research projects and at the same time develop their communication and networking skills. For more information, please visit https://www.training.nih.gov/virtual_postbac_poster_day.

This Month! Seeking Your Input on Biomedical Workforce Diversity

The Scientific Workforce Diversity (SWD) Committee, part of NICHD’s STrategies to enRich Inclusion and achieVe Equity (STRIVE) Initiative, is hosting a series of listening sessions with external stakeholders who are committed to the recruitment and retention of diverse individuals as trainees or investigators in medicine or biomedical research. We need your insights, expertise, and ideas!

  • Our aim is to better understand how we can improve the diversity of the investigators and trainees who conduct NICHD-supported research.
  • Each session will be an interactive exchange focused on how NICHD can support the career development and trajectory of individuals who are underrepresented in the biomedical and public health research workforce.
  • During the sessions, participants will have the ability to discuss issues and challenges facing institutions, researchers, and trainees in creating a diverse scientific workforce and enhancing inclusion in the research community.

The sessions will inform an upcoming workshop hosted by the STRIVE SWD Committee, “A Pathway to Enhancing Workforce Diversity,” to be held later this Spring. Additional details for this workshop will be sent in the coming weeks.

Please find the schedule of listening sessions below. All NICHD staff and trainees are welcome to attend, and we encourage you to pass the invitation along to your community and external partners.

  • Listening Session 1
    Trainees (Undergraduates, Graduate Students, Postdocs) and Early-Stage Investigators
    Tuesday, March 22, 1–3 p.m. ET
  • Listening Session 2
    Established Research Investigators and Program Directors, Academic and Research Program Leaders, Professional and Scientific Organizations
    Thursday, March 24, 1–3 p.m. ET

Register now to attend these sessions. If you have any questions or are unable to attend the listening sessions but want to provide input or a question to be considered, email the STRIVE inbox.

If you are interested in writing an article about the STRIVE listening session series for The NICHD Connection, please contact our newsletter editor Dr. Shana Spindler at shana.spindler@nih.gov.

2022-march