Office of Research & Innovation
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER – SEPTEMBER 2024
Dear Colleagues,
To enhance your impact through pilot projects that can be later leveraged to obtain external support, the Office of Research and Innovation provides several funding opportunities. Please check out this link and then select the OORI box to view how we can fund your proposals and help your ideas come to fruition.
I am also pleased to report that in the inaugural Ignition School List released by Fast Company and Inc. Magazine, USC ranked eleventh out of fifty named academic institutions worldwide that are having the biggest impact on the businesses and ideas that define the future. Inc.’s metrics are based on tech transfer activity, licensing, venture capital support, and successful businesses.
As always, I remain grateful to you, our researchers and innovators, for the beneficial global impact you make through your discoveries and solutions. I thank you and wish you a wonderful month ahead.
With kind regards,
Ishwar K. Puri
Senior Vice President and Professor
FACULTY ENGAGEMENT:
Congratulations to our OORI awardees!We are happy to announce the 2024 awardees of OORI’s Grant programs: We received 18 proposals for the Collaborative Research Planning Award program of which five were awarded: Professors Dima Qato (Pharmacy), Sze Suen (Viterbi) and Nicholas Tatonetti (Cedars-Sinai): Collaborative on Innovative, Data-Driven Approaches in Drug Safety Monitoring of Adverse Drug Events and Drug-Drug Interactions in Diverse Populations in the U.S.; Professors Gianluca Lazzi (Keck) and Mark Humayun (Keck): Planning grant for the NSF Science and Technology Center for Digital Twin Neuroscience Across Space and Time (DiTNAST); Professors Kayla de la Haye (Dornsife), John Wilson (Dornsife), Wandi Bruine de Bruin (Sol Price), Abigail Horn (Viterbi) and Senior Economist Ashlesha Datar (Dornsife): Research Partnerships to Strengthen Food Systems and Food Equity; Professors Morteza Dehghani (Dornsife) and Jonathan May (Viterbi): USC Computational Language Science Institute; Professors Qifa Zhou (Viterbi) and Yingxiao Wang (Viterbi): NSF ERC for Sonogenetics and USC Ultrasound Translational Research Center. Congratulations also to Professors Andrew Lakoff (Dornsife), Peter Redfield (Dornsife), Juan De Lara (Dornsife), Christina Dunbar-Hester (Annenberg), Luisa Reis Castro (Dornsife), Peter Ekman (Architecture), and Joanne Nucho (Dornsife), recipients of OORI’s Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences (HHSS) award for the proposal The City on Life Support: Los Angeles as a Laboratory for Planetary Health.
Upcoming Proposal Submission Deadlines: Mark your calendars for the remaining proposal deadlines of 2024: SBIR/STTR Planning Award (October 2), GenAI – Generative AI (October 9) and HHMI Mentorship Award (October 16). Please contact us at rii@usc.edu if you have any questions!
Center for Excellence in Research Training Workshops: Our fall 2024 workshops are now open for registration on our website! Zoom seminars and workshops include Transformative/Read and Publish Agreements at USC Libraries (October 22), Open Access Book Publishing at USC Libraries (October 24), Writing Compelling NSF Proposals (October 30), Conversation with Ken Blum on Foundation Funding (November 1), Developing a Successful Mission Agency Grant (November 13).
If you would like to be updated about upcoming workshops, please join our mailing list. Do you have an idea for a workshop? We would love to hear from you! We’re also looking for faculty or staff to teach a workshop via Zoom this spring on topics such as research resources/methods, professional development, grant writing, etc. Any ideas you think would be useful are welcome!
DEPARTMENT OF CONTRACTS & GRANTS:
NSF Terms Update: USC researchers and administrative staff should be aware of updates to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant Award Terms and Conditions, effective October 1, 2024. These revisions align with the latest 2 CFR regulations published on April 22, 2024. For detailed guidance, visit the NSF Grant Award Terms and Conditions webpage and/or review the DCG Newsflash for additional information.
NASA Terms Update: NASA Grants Policy and Compliance has published Grant Notice 24-01, informing NASA grant and cooperative agreement recipients and applicants about upcoming changes to NASA’s grant policies being released on October 1, 2024, which implements revisions to 2 CFR and National Security Presidential Memorandum-33. The Grant Notice, published on the Grants Policy and Compliance website, outlines what proposers and grant recipients can expect in the coming weeks as NASA prepares to release updated grant guidance in the NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual. For additional information please review the DCG Newsflash.
Monthly Training Dates for October:
The Department of Contracts and Grants offers on a monthly basis, and upon request, a pre-award and post-award training. The pre-award training walks administrators through the proposal process at USC covering; roles and responsibilities, how to route proposals through the Cayuse system, and USC processes and policies to be aware of. The post-award training provides an overview of roles and responsibilities, cost principles, common post award issues and how/when to seek sponsor prior approval. Below are the dates and times the trainings will be available in October:
Pre-Award Training: A Walk-Through Cayuse SP and the Proposal Process
Zoom Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/3436532845
Tuesday, October 29th from 3:00 – 4:30 pm PDT
Post-Award: Managing Common Post Award Issues and Questions
Zoom Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/3436532845
Wednesday, October 30th from 1:00pm – 3:00pm PDT
STEVENS CENTER FOR INNOVATION:
We are thrilled to announce another Technology Licensing Manager has joined the Stevens Center team!
Charlie Bramlett is a scientist with 10 years of experience in stem cells, cancer, and genetics research. Prior to joining USC, Charlie was a scientist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where he worked on the Hematology Research Team responsible for CASGEVY, the world’s first internationally approved CRISPR/Cas9 based gene-edited therapy. Charlie completed a fellowship at Foresite Capital, where he supported due diligence for prospective investment and assessed market landscapes for therapeutic areas of interest. His Ph.D. thesis work was supported by the NIH F31 fellowship, enabling novel approaches of genetic barcoding and single cell genomics to understand the cellular and molecular heterogeneity of stem cells during leukemia-genesis. He earned a B.S. in Genetics and Genomics from University of California, Davis, an M.S. in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and a Ph.D. in Development, Stem Cells, and Regenerative Medicine from the University of Southern California.
In October, Executive Director Erin Overstreet will be attending a “Transformative Center for Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery” day-long meeting with 25-30 faculty across various USC schools and entities including CHLA, Gerontology, Engineering, Keck, Stem Cells, and Viterbi Advancement to name a few. In addition, Dr. Overstreet will be attending the 13th Annual Technology Roundtable for Big 10 technology transfer executives in Chicago, IL.
Our office is moving closer to campus! Please note our new address:
USC Stevens Center for Innovation – MC 0705
3720 S Flower Steet, Floor 3
Los Angeles, CA 90089
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL RESOURCES:
Imports, Exports, Orders, and Transfers: To provide you with advance notice for your planning purposes, the Department of Animal Resources will process all orders and transfers (imports and exports) during September, October, and November this year. Orders and transfers will be on hold in December then will start again in January 2025. This is a process implemented every year to ensure there is space for incoming animals and personnel available at receiving institutions for processing exports. Thank you for using this information to plan accordingly.
Space Capacity and Planning: There has been increased compression of animal space at HSC and UPC. UPC animal facilities are 100% full due to new renovations, recruits, and expansion of existing animal work. DAR is tasked with assigning space when it is available and according to federal regulations. Unfortunately, DAR cannot create space. You can now utilize the new Space Occupancy report to connect, collaborate, and cooperate on space use in the animal facility. It is our hope that opportunities for sharing space and maximizing occupancy can be found. Conversations are ongoing with faculty, new recruits, and leaders to solve this emerging issue.
Upgrades in Animal Facilities: Essential upgrades are near completion in our animal facilities to improve efficiency for your research. Projects at RRI and HMR are now complete!
DAR continues to oversee all projects for research continuity and animal welfare. Please see below for the timeline of completion:
- ZNI Bulk Sterilizer replacement project – final stages pending city inspection.
Planning for animal costs: The 5 year rate schedule for per diem rate change is always posted for your award planning or changing purposes. You can also access the deck from the budget online seminar on 6/14/24, which provided helpful tips on expecting rising costs in animal proposals and explained the services, supplies, and costs that go into per diem and service rate calculations. Information and further details on the DAR cost structure and rate analysis from 2023 can always be found here.
Did you know: DAR is the advocate for your animal research while there are renovations and construction? Our facility manager, supervisors, and veterinarians sit in on every OAC meeting to communicate the specific needs and sensitivities of light, noise, vibration, and delays in operations. We have experience working with specific vendors that have done solid work in animal facilities. If damage is done to the facility or the floors are not properly executed during the process, we can foresee the future challenges and request a redo. We even ask for special hours for contractors to work so that there is minimal circadian rhythm disruption.
Monthly updates are archived here.