dkNET community events and announcements in September, 2017

Dear dkNET Community,

dkNET provides updates on activities of interest to the NIDDK-supported community. You could keep up to date on these activities through our Twitter feed @dkNET_info, through our Community Calendar, or through dkNET e-mail list. If you have an event or funding opportunities you'd like to advertise, please contact us info_at_dknet.org.

dkNET Updates:

• NIDDK services (centers and core facilities) are added to dkNET 

At dkNET homepage, you can now click NIDDK services (table view) to see a list of NIDDK centers and core facilities. You can also search centers and core facilities at dkNET based on your research of interest. For example, if you are looking for diabetes relevant centers and core facilities, there are two methods: (1) Input keyword diabetes, select NIDDK services, then click search (see results), or (2) Click NIDDK service and select diabetes under Facet "related condition"(see results). All NIDDK centers and core facilities have RRIDs (Research Resource Identifiers) for researchers to cite when they use resources or services from the centers or core facilities.

• RRID Research Resource Identifier information page

We have added a new RRID information page at dkNET.org this month. RRIDs are persistent and unique identifiers. Adding RRIDs to your research resources such as antibodies, model organisms, and tools to your paper or grant! This helps to authenticate your key biological resources and also makes your paper more reproducible, findable, and widely read! dkNET provides resource tracking and resource authentication services via RRIDs. Open a dkNET account to use these services now!

Events in September, 2017

JAX Webinar: Essential Tips for Mouse Researchers 

At times, information that can greatly improve research quality and help locate resources more quickly is not easily found in the literature. We know this can be frustrating, particularly for researchers who are new to working with mice. Join us as we share strategies for navigating available databases and discuss how mouse strain choice impacts research data quality and reproducibility. In this webinar, you will learn about the following topics:(1)Easily finding mouse strains (2)The research value of using proper strain nomenclature in your publications (3)Selecting the right mouse strain background (4)Choosing the best controls (5)Ensuring the genetic integrity of your mouse colony (6)Cautionary tales from the literature.

More information: https://www.jax.org/education-and-learning/education-calendar/webinars/2017/092017/essential-tips-sep-7

Sep. 11- Sep. 15, 2017

53rd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes 

Location: Lisbon, Protugal

More information: https://www.easd.org/annual-meeting/easd-2017.html

Sep. 11- Sep. 15, 2017

CloudMET 2017: Scientific School on Cloud-based Metabolomics Data Analysis and Collaboration 

Students will have the opportunity to learn about current topics in metabolomics, with a slant on the integration of cloud computing technologies where they are beneficial to the effectiveness and efficiency of research and analysis work. The School is targeted at graduate students and early-stage researchers in metabolomics and bioinformatics. Participants should have some metabolomics experience and an interest in computational data analysis. Some scripting experience will be helpful, but not strictly required.

Location: Pula, Province of Cagliari, Italy

More information: http://cloudmet2017.crs4.it/

Sep. 11 - Sep. 15, 2017

Glucose Clamping the Conscious Mouse: A Laboratory Course 

Location: Nashville, Tennessee 

More information: https://www.mmpc.org/shared/clamping.aspx

Sep. 14, 2017 

JAX Webinar: Generating mouse models using CRISPR/CAS

Do you need to generate new mouse models within 3-4 months instead of 1-1.5 years? Revolutionary CRISPR/Cas technology enables rapid, economical model generation through precise genome editing. During this webinar, we will help you understand the potential of CRISPR/Cas to accelerate your research. Join us as we discuss the following topics:(1) Historical landscape of genetically engineered mouse models (2) How CRISPR/Cas technology is used to generate mouse models (3) Advantages and limitations of CRISPR/Cas technology (4) Selection of founders and follow-up breeding.

More information: https://www.jax.org/education-and-learning/education-calendar/webinars/2017/092017/crispr-sep-14#

Sep. 18-19, 2017

Workshop on Developing Precision Medicine Approaches to the Treatment of Severe Obesity in Adolescents: Research Gaps and Opportunities 

This workshop will bring together scientists with expertise in genetics, pediatric obesity, endocrinology, epidemiology, psychology, behavioral medicine, adolescent medicine, bariatric surgery, and other disciplines to discuss and identify 1) what is known regarding the epidemiology and biopsychosocial determinants of severe obesity in adolescents, 2) what is known regarding effectiveness of treatments for severe obesity in adolescents and predictors of response, and 3) gaps and opportunities for future research to develop more effective and targeted treatments for adolescents with severe obesity. The goal of this trans-NIH workshop is to accelerate research that will identify which treatment approaches will be most beneficial for specific patients based on a better understanding of individual differences in genetic endowment, clinical, metabolic, psychological, and behavioral phenotypes, and response to environmental exposures.

More information: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/news/events-calendar/Pages/workshop-developing-precision-medicine-approaches-treatment-severe-obesity-adolescents.aspx

Sep. 28, 2017

Scholarship Deadline: Keystone Symposium - Organ Crosstalk in Obesity and NAFLD 

Neural and humoral communication among peripheral organs and the brain is critical in coordinating whole body energy homeostasis in health and disease. Nutrient and hormone sensing take place in multiple organs with the central nervous system as a site of integration of these diverse signals, governing this coordination. Within this multi-organ framework, the liver occupies a central role in determining systemic glucose and lipid metabolism in obesity and clinically relevant metabolic pathophysiology, particularly non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and fibrosis. Identification and characterization of the modes and consequences of organ cross-talk is essential to fill existing gaps in knowledge and to promote the development of therapeutic strategies to treat obesity and metabolic disease. This conference brings together experts in the novel, multidisciplinary evaluation of organ cross-talk, using innovative combinations of molecular, genetic, physiological, pharmacological and systems neuroscience approaches to: 1) Provide a unique and timely perspective, and 2) Inspire interactions directed toward basic, clinical and translational research in integrative metabolism. Finally, the joint staging of this conference in conjunction with the conference on “Bioenergetics and Metabolic Disease” will strategically leverage presentations targeting the biology of metabolism and nutrient availability in obesity with those focused on the biology of energy utilization. Taken together, this novel combination will provide a coherent, powerful and comprehensive understanding of and appreciation for the complex.

Location: Keystone, CO

More information: http://www.keystonesymposia.org/index.cfm?e=web.meeting.summary&meetingid=1565&subtab=summary

Workshop Registration Deadline: Enhancing Opportunities in Addressing Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Disparities 

The focus of this meeting is on socioecological approaches to preventing and treating obesity and type 2 diabetes with a specific focus on opportunities to address how socioecological context influences disease risks, as well as engagement in and response to interventions such as lifestyle changes and self-management. The overall workshop objectives are to: (1)identify aspects of the socioecological and health care delivery contexts that may be targeted to reduce obesity and diabetes disparities (2)assess the implications for interventions to reduce and/or eliminate disparities in obesity and diabetes that affect health disparities populations (3)identify important research opportunities to develop and test approaches to reduce or eliminate obesity and diabetes disparities.

Location: Bethesda, MD

More information: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/news/events-calendar/Pages/enhancing-opportunities-addressing-obesity-type-2-diabetes-disparities.aspx

Funding opportunities information and deadlines in September, 2017

Sep. 1, 2017 

Funding Opportunity Application Due Date: NIH Director's Pioneer Award Program (DP1)

The NIH Director’s Pioneer Award complements NIH's traditional, investigator-initiated grant programs by supporting individual scientists of exceptional creativity who propose pioneering and possibly transforming approaches to addressing major biomedical or behavioral challenges that have the potential to produce an unusually high impact on enhancing health, lengthening life, and reducing illness and disability. To be considered pioneering, the proposed research must reflect substantially different scientific directions from those already being pursued in the investigator’s research program or elsewhere. The NIH Director’s Pioneer Award is a component of the High-Risk, High-Reward Research program of the NIH Common Fund.

More information: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-17-005.html

Sep. 1, 2017 

Application Deadline: Stanford University Diabetes Research Center Pilot And Feasibility Program