UTMB Announcements for 7/20/2018

Beginning Wednesday, July 25, the internal home page for faculty and staff, iUTMB, will no longer be available outside the UTMB network. Get details on this change and see updated FAQs at https://www.utmb.edu/public-iutmb-portal/about.

Date:  Thursday, July 26, 2018

Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM CT

Place: Rebecca Sealy 1.126

Presenter: Megan Queen Cantwell, Founder, MQC Consulting, LLC

Summary: Investigators know that any sponsored research involving children requires special consideration.  Even more complex is when the children are vulnerable due to risk factors such as involvement in delinquency or dependency court; abuse, disability, physical or mental illness; or significant family disruption such as parental incarceration in the criminal justice system.

Participants in this webinar will explore various strategies for applying the protections required by federal and state regulations, institutional policies and compassion for vulnerable youth.  This webinar will include case studies; discussion of risk factors of vulnerable children; as well as strategies for adopting a risk-averse approach in research involving vulnerable youth.

Participants may wish to review in advance their institution's IRB policies and a list of Office of Human Research Protections frequently-asked questions on research with children

https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/guidance/faq/children-research/index.html

Questions: researcheducation@utmb.edu

RSVP: Research Education Calendar:  https://my.utmb.edu/PStraining/

The Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) is an integral part of the UTMB System Ethics Program to provide comprehensive, integrated ethics support for the institution. The IEC is a multidisciplinary forum for the analysis and discussion of ethical issues and standards affecting patient care, professional education and community interests in service to the organizational mission of improving health. This mission is fulfilled through the Committee’s advisory, educational, policy management and service functions.

Anyone may submit an application for membership. The Committee is seeking individuals who have an interest and commitment to ethical discourse, diversity of perspective, and respect for divergent opinions.

 All students are encouraged to apply.

The term of commitment for new members is three years (student commitment is for one year). Meetings occur monthly, with the possibility of emergent meetings on an ad hoc basis should the need arise.

 If you are interested in serving on the committee click here to complete an online application.

Application deadline is July 20, 2018.

For questions or for more information, please see the UTMB Institutional Ethics Committee web page or email Jeff Farroni at jsfarron@utmb.edu.

The annual enrollment period for the 2018–2019 benefits plan year is Sunday, July 15, to Tuesday, July 31. During this period, you may make changes to your benefits elections, add or remove dependents, and/or enroll in a flexible spending account.

To view or update your current coverage, log in to the My UT Benefits  online system using the personal identification number emailed to you by the UT System Office of Employee Benefits. No action is needed if you do not want to make any changes to your coverage; however, employees interested in a flexible spending account must actively enroll each year.

Your annual enrollment elections and new rates are effective Saturday, Sept. 1.

See https://hr.utmb.edu/hrbbc/benefits/annual_enrollment/ for more annual enrollment information.

And the survey said…

UTMB’s Select Survey and Poll Everywhere featured on next Tech Talk

Are you a Survey Monkey or a Poll Daddy? There’s no shortage of survey and polling tools on the market today, but did you know UTMB offers two powerful and feature-rich survey and polling applications, at no cost to UTMB faculty, staff or students?  

Our next TechTalk—scheduled for July 24—will feature an overview of Select Survey and Poll Everywhere, two applications that make it easy to get feedback from your customers and audiences.

Poll Everywhere offers live interactive polling, web delivery & PowerPoint embedding, as well as reporting and results. It lets your audience provide instant feedback via text message, and is available for on and off-site functions.

Select Survey, UTMB’s free web survey tool, provides web-based surveys and powerful reporting to solicit feedback and generate engagement across a wide set of formats and platforms.

The Tech Talk session will offer a brief overview of each tool, instruct attendees how to access them, and include interactive demonstrations.

Event Details
Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Noon to  1 pm

Levin Hall South Auditorium, Rm. 2.222

Galveston Campus

Can’t attend in person? We’ll Skype the meeting (details below), and record it for posting online after the event.  Additional details are at https://intranet.utmb.edu/techtalk

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 Join Skype Meeting      

Trouble Joining? Try Skype Web App

Join by phone

409-266-2120 (Galveston Main Campus Profile)                          English (United States) 

855-539-7525 (Toll Free) (Galveston Main Campus Profile)                       English (United States)  

Find a local number

Conference ID: 2061405

Forgot your dial-in PIN? |Help    

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IS Voice Services will be migrating the ER, L&D and Med-Surg areas of League City Campus Hospital to the Avaya telephone system at 8 a.m on July 24^th. If time permits, Voice Services will continue with the non-critical areas of the hospital.

IS Voice Services will be migrating the League City Campus to the Avaya telephone system. The migration will begin at 6:00 p.m. on July 27th and last throughout the weekend.

The Caregiver Connection

Support group for family caregivers of adults with dementia and special needs

The group is open to all members of the community. Its next meeting is Wednesday, August 1st from 12:15 to 1:15 P.M., at the Island Community Center, 4700 Broadway, OLLI at UTMB, Suite B101, Sand Dollar Room, in Galveston. Participants are encouraged to bring their lunches.

Participants will:

• Take part in group discussions led by licensed professionals from the UTMB Department of Family Medicine and Libbie’s Place Senior Day Program

• Discover the benefits of connecting with others and sharing your experiences

• Realize the importance of accepting your feelings and attending to your own needs

• Learn new coping strategies and ways to reduce caregiver strain

• Get tips for accessing community resources

The Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences-Clinical Trials Program is recruiting volunteers

50 years old or older for a Pneumococcal vaccine clinical trial.

  Participants must be available for about 4 study visits over approximately 13 months.

Reimbursement for time and travel is provided

Please contact Amy McMahan, LVN at (409)772-5278, (409)772-5409 or anmcmaha@utmb.edu for more information

SUPERIOR VISION BENEFITS EXPIRE AFTER AUGUST 31

UTMB Health Optical Centeroptometrist Dr. Praveena Gupta and Dr. Matthew Crookston would like to remind UTMB employees to use their 2017-2018 Superior Vision benefits this fiscal year, before they expire after August 31.

Book an appointment with one of our optometrist soon and take advantage of your special *discount on frames and prescription lens treatments.  Stop by and view our great selection of designer frames.

We have special package prices starting as low as $79.95 for single vision lenses including selected frames, to $149.95 including selected progressive lenses and selected frame.  That is great if you do not have vision insurance!

Call today and schedule your eye appointment with Dr. Gupta at our Galveston location or Dr. Matthew Crookston at our Texas City location.

• Appointments Galveston 409-747-5800
• Question Galveston 409-747-5823
• Appointments Texas City 409-978-4377
• Questions Texas City 409-978-4315
• Free, convenient parking
• Yes, we accept other optometry prescriptions
• Open 8am – 5pm, Monday – Friday

*Maui Jim and sunglasses excluded from discounts

COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS TO USE YOUR SUPERIOR VISION BENEFITS BEFORE THEY EXPIRE AUGUST 31.

UTMB Health Optical Centeroptometrist Dr. Praveena Gupta and Dr. Matthew Crookston would like to remind UTMB employees to use their 2017-2018 Superior Vision benefits this fiscal year, before they expire after August 31.

Book an appointment with one of our optometrist soon and take advantage of your special *discount on frames and prescription lens treatments.  Stop by and view our great selection of designer frames.

We have special package prices starting as low as $79.95 for single vision lenses including selected frames, to $149.95 including selected progressive lenses and selected frame.  That is great if you do not have vision insurance!

Call today and schedule your eye appointment with Dr. Gupta at our Galveston location or Dr. Matthew Crookston at our Texas City location.

• Appointments Galveston 409-747-5800
• Question Galveston 409-747-5823
• Appointments Texas City 409-978-4377
• Questions Texas City 409-978-4315
• Free, convenient parking
• Yes, we accept other optometry prescriptions
• Open 8am – 5pm, Monday – Friday

*Maui Jim and sunglasses excluded from discounts

UTMB HEALTH TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION PROGRAM

Seed Fund Applications Open

Pre-proposal Deadline: July 23, 2018

Questions and requests for instructions should be directed to Jacqueline Ramos (jrramos@utmb.edu)

BACKGROUND

One of the goals of UTMB Health is to support and promote technology transfer and commercialization of research discoveries. The Technology Commercialization Program (TCP) provides seed funds to support the commercialization of discoveries created at the UTMB Health. The funds for this program are made available from the UTMB Health President’s Royalty Fund. Through a partnership between the Chief Research Office and The Office of Technology Transfer, this program is usually offered twice a year in the fall and spring. The distribution of funds will be handled by the Office of Sponsored Programs.

ELIGIBILITY

• All UTMB employees are eligible to submit the application to the UTMB Health TCP.
• The technology to be developed and commercialized is based upon efforts of a present UTMB employee, and has the potential to provide meaningful healthcare benefits, or viable commercial product(s).
• A UTMB Invention Disclosure (ID) Form describing the technology must be submitted to the Office of Technology Transfer 15 days prior to the date pre-proposal is due.

FUNDING AVAILABLE

A project can be awarded up to a maximum of $50,000 for a year. Funding awards will range between $10K and $50K. After an awardee has achieved the set milestones in the first round then the awardee will be eligible to apply for competitive renewal. For competitive renewal, committee members will take into consideration the milestones achieved and adequate progress shown during the first funding period. Awards for Fall 2018 TCP are anticipated to be made by December 1, 2018.

SPECIAL NOTES

• The program will give more emphasis to proposals that will focus on market opportunities and that will describe strategic paths to commercialization of a product.
• The TCP award does not provide funds to support basic research or faculty salary.
• We encourage the inter-disciplinary approach, and special consideration will be given to applicants who will engage junior scientists and/or junior faculty in TCP pilots.
• Awardees are expected to attend and present project updates in TCP-affiliated TREX seminar series and workshops designed to enhance innovation culture at UTMB Health.

The Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology

Proudly Presents

Bohdan R. Nechay PhD

Lectureship In Pharmacology

Scott R. Gilbertson, PhD

M.D. Anderson Professor

Department of Chemistry

University of Houston

“Probes for the Serotonin System in the CNS”

Friday, July 20^th, 2018

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Basic Science Building, 2.212 Auditorium

Hosted by: Pharmacology and Toxicology Student Organization

To assist with the FY18 performance review cycle, Human Resources is offering training on UTMB’s performance management program.

All employees and managers are encouraged to attend one of these training sessions to learn more about each phase of the annual evaluation process and how to effectively document, track and measure performance. No registration is required to attend.

Please note that training for Correctional Managed Care will be handled separately. CMC employees and managers should contact their local HR Office for assistance.

The FY18 review period ends Aug. 31, and the institutional deadline for completing an evaluation for all eligible employees is Oct. 31.

For questions or more information about the FY18 review cycle and your role and responsibilities as an employee or manager, please contact the HR consultant for your department or visit https://hr.utmb.edu/relations/performance/.

The Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology

Proudly Presents an

Oral Qualifying Exam Seminar by

Luke Bourner

Graduate Assistant

“Investigation of ARNT Phosphorylation and

Co-Regulator Recruitment Mediated by AHR Activation”

Tuesday, July 24^h, 2018

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

BSB 2.212 Auditorium

Mentor: Casey Wright, PhD