Conflict of Interest Rules Proposed for Medical Research

Posted on April 29, 2009October 17, 2012

A recent report from the Institute of Medicine recommends that researchers and medical faculty members decline all gifts from medical companies and refuse to publish or present material that is ghostwritten for such companies in order to avoid real or perceive conflicts of interest. The recommendations also suggest broader reporting requirements of researchers’ ties to companies, but does not go so far as to recommend barring all such ties. Instead, the report suggests that researchers should disclose ties not only to their employers but to other medical organizations.

Read more about the Institute for Medicine report.

Senator Specter Switches Parties

Posted on April 28, 2009October 17, 2012

Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) announced today that he is switching parties and will run for re-election as a Democrat in 2010, drastically altering the balance of power in the Senate. Specter has been a Republican for more than 40 years. His switch would make him the Democrats’ 60th vote in the Senate if Democrat Al Franken is seated (Franken is still in the midst of a legal recount battle in Minnesota). Specter’s switch comes as he faced an increasingly unfavorable electoral environment in Pennsylvania.

Senator Specter is currently the Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, and has long been an advocate for increased funding for health research through NIH. It is unclear at this point how his switch will affect his committee assignments but he is sure to have an even larger role in determining funding levels for federal health and education programs.

Read Senator Specter’s statement here.

IES Research Funding Opportunities

Posted on April 27, 2009October 17, 2012

The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) and the National Center for Education Research (NCER) within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) will host a series of webinars related to research funding opportunities in May. Six types of webinars are planned.

Click here for more information about the upcoming webinars.
Click here to view slides from past webinar sessions.

Education and NSF Guidance on Stimulus Funds

Posted on April 1, 2009October 17, 2012

The Department of Education (ED) released today its much anticipated guidance to states on the state fiscal stabilization funds, which were created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The set of documents published today on the stabilization funds includes: 1) a cover letter; 2) application for funds; and, 3) the actual guidance. The complete set of documents is available on the ED ARRA website at the following URL: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has also issued additional guidance on the use and disbursement of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The most recent set of documents from NSF is available at the following URL: http://www.nsf.gov/recovery/.

Source: Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU)

ED Secretary Duncan to Announce First Round of Education Stimulus Funding

Posted on March 31, 2009October 17, 2012

Tomorrow Secretary Duncan will visit Doswell Brooks Elementary School in Capital Heights, Maryland, to announce the first round of education stimulus funding available from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Doswell Brooks is a 2008 Title I Distinguished School in the Prince George’s County school district, where administrators plan to use ARRA funds to avoid employee furloughs, layoffs, increases in class sizes, and other education program cuts. Fact sheets and guidance on how states and school districts can begin receiving this first installment of education stimulus funding will be available at www.ed.gov/recovery.

Source: Department of Education