16th Annual Grant Writing Workshop
Saturday, April 6, 2013, 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Congressional Hall A-B, Renaissance Washington Hotel
This half-day workshop consists of three featured presentations, a mock study section and interactive roundtable discussions with senior scientists. This workshop is intended for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, physician-scientists and clinicians-in-training with limited or no experience preparing grants. At the end of the workshop, attendees should have a clear understanding of how to compose a compelling grant and should be aware of common grant writing mistakes. Attendees should be familiar with formulating specific aims, significance and innovation sections. They should also be aware of how collaborators and letters of support can strengthen applications. This session allows for significant networking opportunities. Attendees are expected to remain for the entire session. Lunch will be provided. Pre-registration through your Annual Meeting registration is strongly encouraged; there is a $45 registration fee for AACR members, and a $95 registration fee for nonmembers.
Grant writing basics revealed
- Wei Zheng, M.D., professor, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
Make your grant stand out part 1: Success is in the details
- Karen E. Knudsen, Ph.D., professor, Thomas Jefferson University Kimmel Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA
Make your grant stand out part 2: Dynamic writing
- Victoria L. Seewaldt, Ph.D., professor, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC
Mock Study Section Chairperson
- Bernard E. Weissman, Ph.D., professor, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, NC
Round Table Mentors
- William T. Beck, Ph.D.
- Amy H. Bouton, Ph.D.
- George A. Calin, M.D.
- Ethan Dmitrovsky, M.D.
- M. Eileen Dolan, Ph.D.
- Leisha A. Emens, M.D., Ph.D.
- Keith T. Flaherty, M.D.
- Robert J. Hickey, Ph.D.
- Yibin Kang, Ph.D.
- Thomas J. Kipps, M.D., Ph.D.
- Karen E. Knudsen, Ph.D.
- Raju Kucherlapati, Ph.D.
- Jeffrey P MacKeigan, Ph.D.
- Carlo C. Maley, Ph.D.
- Andrea M. Mastro, Ph.D.
- Suresh Mohla, Ph.D.
- Paul Okano, Ph.D.
- Phuong Kim Pham, Ph.D.
- Selvarangan Ponnazhagan, Ph.D.
- Jennifer Rubin Grandis, M.D.
- Victoria L. Seewaldt, M.D.
- Bernard E. Weissman, Ph.D.
- Wei Zheng, Ph.D.
Designing and Delivering Effective Scientific Presentations
Sunday, April 7, 2013, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., Constitution Ballroom A-B, Grand Hyatt Washington Hotel
This session for early-career scientists will focus on assembling and delivering scientific presentations in both the oral and poster formats. Attendees will gain knowledge and practical skills on: how to deliver a compelling major symposium; how to give an informative and memorable minisymposium; and how to engage visitors during their poster presentation. Each lecture will be followed by a roundtable discussion that will give the attendees an opportunity to practice and apply what they have learned.
Designing scientific presentations
- Gloria S. Huang, M.D., associate professor, Dept. of Ob/Gyn and W. Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY
- Thomas A. Sellers, Ph.D., M.P.H., E.V.P., director, Moffitt Research Institute, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL
- Scott Morgan, B.A., director, The Morgan Group - Clear Communications, Washington, D.C.
Round Table Mentors
- Gregory L. Beatty M.D., Ph.D.
- Mary-Ann Bjornsti, Ph.D.
- Michael B. Cook, Ph.D.
- Gloria S. Huang, M.D.
- Sarah K. Knutson, Ph.D.
- Lawrence Kushi, ScD.
- Justin D. Lathia, Ph.D.
- Yonghe Li, Ph.D.
- Scott Morgan, B.A.
- Gwen Murphy, Ph.D.
- Andrew D. Rhim, M.D.
- Thomas A. Sellers, Ph.D., M.P.H.
- Lalita R. Shevde-Samant., Ph.D
- Hushan Yang, Ph.D.
Professional Networking: The Gateway to Scientific Collaborations
Sunday, April 7, 2013, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., Renaissance Ballroom, Renaissance Washington Hotel
The session seeks to demystify the concept of networking and provide examples of how networking impacts career development and scientific advancement on small and large scales. The how to of networking will be addressed with an emphasis on how early-career scientists can identify and initiate networking opportunities in their training programs and during scientific conferences. Additionally, testimonials will be provided, which highlight how networking impacts scientific discovery on large and small scales. An interactive panel discussion will follow the lectures, and the program will close with a networking session involving attendees, speakers, panelists and other distinguished members of the cancer research field.
Demystifying the elements of successful networking
- Victoria M. Richon, Ph.D., vice president, Discovery and Preclinical Research Oncology, Sanofi Oncology, Cambridge, MA
Advancing cancer research through collaborations: Never too early to start
- Ross L. Levine, M.D., associate member, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
How team science strengthens cancer research
- John D. Groopman, Ph.D., professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Mentorship in Cancer Research: Fostering Excellence
Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Constitution Ballroom A-B, Grand Hyatt Washington Hotel
This session will offer a unique insight into the mentorship process for scientists in training: How, where and what to look for in mentors; the concept of having multiple mentors; the importance of good mentoring at an early-career stage; and building productive relationships.
Why look for a mentor? And if you do, who should it be?
- Arnold J. Levine, Ph.D., professor, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ
Identifying good mentors: Strategies, avenues and traits
- Michael A. Caligiuri, M.D., CEO and director, James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, OH
The importance of mentoring in cancer research
- William Pao, M.D., Ph.D., director, Personalized Cancer Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Career Options Beyond Cancer Research
Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., Congressional Hall A-B, Grand Hyatt Washington Hotel
The overall objective of this session is to expose early-career scientists to multiple science careers not directly related to research. This will be accomplished by speakers providing real world perspectives of their careers and offering professional advice for early career scientists. Additionally, in the final lecture, attendees will be guided on how to evaluate and pursue compatible career options. The session will guide attendees on three specific career paths outside the realm of bench science. Attendees will gain insight into what types of careers are available within each area covered. Speakers will describe their own experiences, how their personal motivations led them to their career choice, and what steps attendees can take to pursue a career in this area. The session will close with a panel Q&A to provide attendees the opportunity to ask specific questions and receive comparative feedback from the panel.
The leap from bench to "deskside": One Ph.D.’s transition from academia to the government
- Michelle Hamlet, Ph.D., program director, Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD
- Dr. Hamlet completed her Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology from Harvard University and her postdoctoral research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Hamlet serves as a program director at NIH in the Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity. She is the program contact for the Bridges to the Future program at NIH which support institutions in helping increase the number of students in baccalaureate and doctorate programs from underrepresented populations affected by health disparities. She has also previously served as the first training program coordinator for the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute Training Office.
The road from academics to publishing
- Judy Quong, Ph.D., executive editor, Cancer Discovery, AACR, Philadelphia, PA
- Dr. Quong obtained her bachelor’s degrees in biological sciences and physics from the University of California, Irvine, a Master’s degree in medical engineering from George Washington University, and her Ph.D. in vision science from the University of California Berkley. She completed her postdoctoral fellowships in oncology at the University of California, San Francisco, and in analytical chemistry at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She has previously worked as an assistant professor in the Department of Cancer Biology at Thomas Jefferson University prior to becoming a senior associate editor with Cancer Research. She currently serves as executive editor for Cancer Discovery.
Entering the business side of science
- Paul McDonald, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder, AxHill LLC, Washington, D.C.
- Dr. McDonald holds a degree in neuroscience from Vanderbilt University and has been working in the government market for the last 10 years. While an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, Dr. McDonald was a scientific engineering and technical assistant to the Defense Science Office (DSO) at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), oversaw technology development for Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and worked with the assistant secretary of the army for manpower and reserve affairs as part of their Medical Readiness Oversight Taskforce. As the founder of AxHill, Dr. McDonald provided executive level subject matter consulting to the Army Suicide Prevention Task Force (ASPTF) and was a lead author of both the Army’s “Red Book” and “Gold Book” publications. Additionally, Dr. McDonald has worked with the Office of the Provost Marshall General for the last three years providing SME support to Army Criminal Intelligence in the development of crime reporting and trending.
Evaluating career paths
- Lori Conlan, Ph.D., director, Office of Postdoctoral Services, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD
- Dr. Conlan is trained as a biochemist, receiving her B.S. in biochemistry from Michigan State University and her Ph.D. in biochemistry and biophysics from Texas A&M University. She worked for several years as a postdoc at the Wadsworth Center, NYS Department of Health, before transitioning from the lab to focus on career issues for the next generation of scientists. Dr. Conlan started as the director of the Science Alliance, an international career development program for graduate students and postdocs sponsored by the New York Academy of Sciences. She now is at the NIH in the Office of Intramural Training and Education assisting the 4000 NIH postdocs in their personal career choices. Dr. Conlan is the director of two offices, the Office of Postdoctoral Services and the NIH Career Services Center. She speaks at universities and institutions around the nation on career development topics for young scientists.
Located in AACRcentral on the exhibit floor, all early-career scientists are invited to take advantage of this space to network, meet with friends and enjoy special programming and resources.