This workshop will focus on finding non-federal sources of research funding. During the session, participants will learn tips and procedures for interacting with foundation and industry research sponsors, as well as strategies for using UNC SPIN to search and create alerts for specific funding opportunities.

Since part of the workshop will focus on how you can access the UNC license to the SPIN funding database to optimize your search for funding across sponsors, please register a SPIN User Profile prior to the workshop if you have never accessed SPIN before at UNC. All requests must be verified by an administrator, so please allow up to 1 business day for registration approval. Directions are available at research.unc.edu. Expand the “Registering a SPIN User Profile” section for the instructions.

Please note: This event is restricted to participants from UNC-Chapel Hill. Please use your ONYEN and password when registering for the workshop in the UNC Event Registration System.

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Modular design and automated testing in R

This course will be split over 2 days and offered via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Research is relying on increasingly complex code. However, most academics have not received formal training in software development. This course will introduce participants to some of the best practices of professional software development. Participants will learn to structure their R code into reusable functions and store those functions as separate scripts and/or packages. Participants will learn to write automated tests for their functions, to help confirm that results are as expected and to ensure that future changes to code do not cause unexpected changes to results.

We will also discuss how to create reproducible “environments” that record package versions in use to help avoid package version incompatibilities and ensure that results can be replicated even months or years after the original analysis.

Modular design is best paired with a version control system. We will discuss how modular design practices integrate with Git and Github, and how to set up “continuous integration” so that automated tests are run each time code is changed.

The course will primarily consist of a hands-on exercise to restructure a single long analysis file into functions and automated tests.

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The Informed Consent Process: Why It Matters and How to Get It Right

This hybrid NRP Education session will be presented by Brett Phillips, MA, PMP, CCRP, Clinical Research Program Manager, from the UNC Blood Research Center. Phillips will discuss the historical and ethical significance of informed consent in clinical research, how to prepare effectively for the informed consent process, how to handle difficult conversations, and how to implement post-consent best practices. This session was rescheduled from February 19 due to inclement weather expected on that day.

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Modular design and automated testing in R

This course will be split over 2 days and offered via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Research is relying on increasingly complex code. However, most academics have not received formal training in software development. This course will introduce participants to some of the best practices of professional software development. Participants will learn to structure their R code into reusable functions and store those functions as separate scripts and/or packages. Participants will learn to write automated tests for their functions, to help confirm that results are as expected and to ensure that future changes to code do not cause unexpected changes to results.

We will also discuss how to create reproducible “environments” that record package versions in use to help avoid package version incompatibilities and ensure that results can be replicated even months or years after the original analysis.

Modular design is best paired with a version control system. We will discuss how modular design practices integrate with Git and Github, and how to set up “continuous integration” so that automated tests are run each time code is changed.

The course will primarily consist of a hands-on exercise to restructure a single long analysis file into functions and automated tests.

Register

Symposium for Health Equity Research in Southeastern North Carolina

The 2025 Symposium for Health Equity Research in Southeastern North Carolina aims to bring together leaders in health equity in the Southeastern region of North Carolina. The goal of the symposium is to highlight the impactful work of researchers, local organizations, and community members while fostering future collaborations for advancing health equity. This event will feature community leaders in the health equity field, showcase current research on health equity in Southeastern North Carolina, and highlight a range of community organizations dedicated to achieving our shared vision of health equity.

View symposium details, learn about educational credits, and register. Registration is free.

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The NC TraCS Biostatistics Seminar Series is appropriate for those with a basic familiarity with statistics. These seminars introduce topics not often included in STATS 101. In this seminar Jeff Laux, PhD, will discuss statistical models for count outcome data (e.g., variables that can be 0, 1, 2...), covering how they work and how to understand the results of such analyses.

Please note: This event will not be recorded. Materials such as slides or handouts will be shared with documented attendees only. Attendance may be determined through Zoom meeting attendance reports.

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A Trial of a “Kidney Action Team” for Hospitalized Patients with Acute Kidney Injury

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

F. Perry Wilson, MD, MSCE
Associate Professor of Medicine and Public Health
Director, Clinical and Translational Research Accelerator
Yale University

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Different than Research For Me, ResearchMatch is a national platform to recruit for your study. Join a live training to learn how to add a study to ResearchMatch, search for volunteers, send a contact message, and manage your enrollment continuum. The ResearchMatch team have extended their training an additional 30 minutes for “office hours.” Anyone is welcome to welcome to join this national call to ask questions about their specific study on ResearchMatch. National office hours are held on the second Thursday of every month at 2 p.m. ET right after the monthly Researcher Training.

Learn more about ResearchMatch overall at researchmatch.org. For local information and approval process of ResearchMatch at UNC, please visit our Resource Center (requires login to SharePoint) or submit a ticket to the NC TraCS Recruitment & Retention Program.

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Spillover Due to Constraints on Care Delivery: A Potential Source of Bias in Pragmatic Clinical Trials

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Sean Mann
Senior Policy Analyst
RAND Corporation

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Rigor and Reproducibility Efforts at Columbia University (ReaDI): Successes and Challenges

Research and Data Integrity Program (ReaDI) at the Columbia University in the City of New York is designed to enhance data management and research integrity, by providing resources, outreach and consultation to Columbia University researchers. In this talk, we will cover ReaDI activities and resources, the revamped ReaDI website, our new training on proper handling of digital scientific images, the recently developed template for the Lab Data Management Plan in the DMPTool, and our upcoming symposium on promoting credibility, reproducibility and integrity in research.

Speakers:
Naomi Schrag
Vice President for Research Compliance, Training and Policy
Columbia University

Roger Lefort
Assistant Director for Research Compliance, Training and Policy
Columbia University

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NC TraCS Data Science Lab Seminar Series: AI Tools for Research

Please join the TraCS Data Science Lab for a review of AI tools applicable to research. This seminar is an update to the April 2024 seminar that introduced the same topic. The primary focus of this seminar will be on easily accessible, browser-based tools that members of the TraCS Data Science Lab have actively used for research. A secondary focus of the seminar will be on programmatic use of AI tools exemplified by a current project.

Seminars in the NC TraCS Data Science Lab Seminar Series will cover a range of topics related to health care data science, clinical data, data engineering, and working in these areas at UNC-Chapel Hill. These hybrid seminars will be held on the third Tuesday of each month from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the NC TraCS suite on the 2nd floor of Brinkhous-Bullitt or via Zoom.

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Being Public and Engaging Policy

Academics are increasingly asked to engage with public actors from policymakers to journalists. Rarely, however, are academics given any guidance or strategies for doing so. In this workshop, Dr. Ray will provide strategies for interacting with journalists, policymakers, and bureaucrats. Participants will learn best practices for amplifying their research to broader publics as well as ways to engage in self-care to continue the work. In addition to publishing over 50 books, articles, and book chapters, Ray has testified at the federal and state levels and written over 50 op-eds for outlets including New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, and Insider. Ray has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, BBC, NPR, and others. From 2018-2022, Ray co-edited Contexts Magazine: Sociology for the Public, which garnered over one million views and downloads per year. He was recently awarded an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship.

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Exploring CDMRP Biomedical Research Funding Opportunities in North Carolina

The UNC Office of Research Development is hosting leadership from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) for an overview and discussion about CDMRP programs. This event is open to UNC faculty, regional institutions, and industry partners to learn about updates to programs and funding opportunities for 2025 as available and provide strategies for success in applying.

CDMRP is funded through the Department of Defense (DoD), via annual Congressional legislation known as the Defense Appropriations Act. The programs collectively provide nearly $1.5 billion annually in research funding.

Following the overview session, attendees are encouraged to join one of three breakout sessions led by CDMRP personnel for additional program-specific information, strategy, and networking.
1) Women's Health Research and Initiatives Across Programs - presented by Dr. Rebecca Fisher, Deputy Director for Program Management at the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
2) Programs in Cancer - presented by Dr. Theresa Miller, Program Manager for Kidney Cancer Research Program and Neurofibromatosis Research Program
3) Programs in Neurological Health, Psychological Health, and Substance Use - presented by Ms. Michelle Lane, Program Manager for Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders Research Program, Lead Coordinator across Psychological Health programs

This event will be held in person at the North Carolina Botanical Garden located at 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27517.

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In this session, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and seek feedback on their qualitative analyses from facilitators and other attendees. This session serves as a workshop in which participants get a chance to discuss and review qualitative analysis techniques while also learning from others.

To attend, participants must be working on a qualitative data analysis project and can seek feedback on any step in the process (e.g., coding, creating matrices/diagrams/other products, developing categories or themes, summarizing data). Participants must have attended an Introduction to Qualitative Data Analysis training offered by NC TraCS (either the session offered on February 28, 2025 or a previously offered session or recording).

Please note: We will not be presenting information about qualitative analysis in this session; instead, we will ask participants to share where they are in their analysis process, ask questions about their analyses, and collectively discuss strategies for moving our analyses forward.

Facilitators:

MaryBeth Grewe, MPH
Program Manager, Qualitative Research Service
Research Specialist, Patient and Community Engagement in Research (PaCER) Program
NC TraCS Institute

Simone Frank, MPH
Senior Project Manager, Patient and Community Engagement in Research (PaCER) Program
Research Specialist, Qualitative Research Service
NC TraCS Institute

Milenka Jean-Baptiste, MPH
Research Specialist, Qualitative Research Service
NC TraCS Institute

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Generative Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Trials: A Driver of Efficiency and Democratization of Care

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Alexander J. “AJ” Blood, MD, MSc
Associate Director, Accelerator for Clinical Transformation Research Group
Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School
Cardiologist and Intensivist
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

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Enhancing Academic Work with AI: Tools, Tips, and Practical Insights

This course equips participants with the knowledge and skills to evaluate and effectively use AI tools to enhance academic research, teaching, and productivity. Participants will explore cutting-edge AI tools, such as Microsoft Co-pilot, Gemini, Claude, and others, through live demonstrations, interactive discussions, and practical applications. Emphasizing ethical considerations, this course fosters a deeper understanding of how AI can transform academic workflows while promoting responsible and equitable use.

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Implementing ICH E6 (R3) in Your Research: Adapting to the New Standards for Compliance and Quality

Join NRP for a hybrid session on the implementation of ICH E6 (R3) in clinical research. The session will begin by showing the ACRP webinar Crack the Code: A Comparison of ICH E6(R2) and ICH E6(R3), providing an overview of key updates in the revised guidance. Following the webinar, a panel of UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC Health experts will address your questions and explore how these changes impact study conduct, compliance, and quality management. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain expert insights and practical strategies to navigate the evolving regulatory landscape in your research.

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Qualtrics Advanced Topics - Workflows

In this advanced topics course, we will present several common use cases for automations with Qualtrics Workflows.

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Foundations of Survey Pre-Testing

Pretesting is often used to identify and address potential issues with questionnaires to ensure they are collecting data as intended before they are administered. This course will introduce several commonly used methods for testing and evaluating surveys, including cognitive testing, usability testing, expert review, and pilots. We will provide an overview of each method, its application, and appropriate uses. This course will also offer practical guidance for survey pretesting when time and resources might be limited.

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Accelerate your ideas through customer discovery and market opportunity validation!

KickStart Venture Services is recruiting community startups as well as faculty, post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students with innovations and an interest in commercialization to participate in their virtual NSF I-Corps program. They will teach you the principles of customer discovery to help you better understand the market potential of your innovation!

The National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps Program (I-Corps) was launched in 2011 and has quickly become one of the world’s largest and most successful technology commercialization accelerators. The I-Corps regional program helps researchers and aspiring innovators determine if they are solving a real-world problem with true market opportunity. NSF’s I-Corps Program not only provides funding, mentoring, and networking opportunities to help commercialize promising technologies, it is offered at NO COST to the community.

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For more information about the I-Corps Program, visit KickStart Venture Services.