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Volume 16  |  July 2024

This Month's Featured Director

Douglas Rockwell

Director, Research Support Services

As the Director of Research Support Services, my role provides strategic input, operational oversight and fiscal planning for Boston Medical Center’s service centers/cores and shared services.


In addition, Research Support Services is excited to launch Departmental post-award fiscal support partnership services.  We will be piloting a program that provides central grant/contract post award fiscal support to the PI and department for a fee that has the objective of being budget neutral.  Our pilot program will initially partner with a few departments that do not have Department Administrators supporting their grant portfolio. We are thrilled to have two highly-skilled research administrators joining us mid-summer. Please look for their announcements.      

Funding Opportunities 
NIH Grant Investments

Upcoming Trainings
Career Opportunities

Professional Meetings

Getting a COVID-19 Infection May Provide Protection Against the Common Cold

Humans are commonly infected with highly related but not identical coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2 and those that cause the “common cold.” After infection by one of the coronaviruses, the interrelatedness may generate cross-reactive immune responses. We found that people with prior documented SARS-CoV-2 infection but not COVID-19 vaccination had lower incidence of disease caused by the highly related but not identical “common cold” coronaviruses. 

Read More →

Research Education

Training and Education Opportunities and Development

Research Operations is developing education opportunities and partnering with BMC/BUMC's Clinical Research Resources Office to identify their monthly and quarterly series. As trainings become available, we will add them to the research community calendar or library. 

Upcoming Highlights:

Fri, July 12, 12:00-2:30p

Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the National Research Act

The US Office for Human Research Protections celebrates the enactment of the National Research Act of 1974. No registration is needed for this free virtual event, featuring more than a dozen speakers. Access the agenda and the event link here.

Tues, July 23, 12:00-1:30p

Post-Award Impacts for the 2024 UG Changes 

The Research Administration Demonstration (RAD) series, sponsored by New York University, draws hundreds of attendees to each session. July’s will review the 2024 revisions to the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200).

Read more and register →

Our Network

Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA): 

SPA oversees the non-financial administration of all sponsored awards, grants, and contracts at BMC. SPA supports BMC staff to submit proposals, negotiate agreements, and manage non-financial post award tasks such as progress reporting, prior approvals, and subaward issuance. In this section, find information about BMC processes and policies, important sponsor updates, and general SPA updates.


In this issue: 

  • Reminder to send or copy SPA on all incoming agreements and sponsored program related documents and communications

  • SPA Proposal Submission Deadlines

  • RPPR Preparation and Submission Process

  • SPA Portfolio Assignments

Read More →

Sponsored Programs Finance (SPF): 

SPF provides financial oversight of sponsored programs, including invoicing, collections, financial closeout, auditing, and indirect cost analysis. Check back frequently for information on policies, contracts and forms, new processes and training information. Trainings are live, recorded, and posted here


In this issue:

  • Updated process for hiring employees on sponsored programs

  • Important deadline: grants and contracts ending June 30th

Read More →

Center for Clinical Research and Advancement (CCRA): 

The CCRA encompasses the Clinical Research Network (CRN) and Clinical Trials Office (CTO). The CCRA promotes innovation and discovery in partnership with research teams and our patients, communities, and sponsors for the betterment of health outcomes. Read More →


Clinical Research Network (CRN): 

The CRN is working to improve diverse participation in research by bringing community-engaged staffing services to high priority, under-resourced trials in service to our research and patient communities. Our team will provide updates about how we’re engaging with our communities to improve awareness, understanding, and trust in research through outreach, education and building authentic community partnerships.


In this issue: 

  • Portfolio Updates

  • Community Engagement Updates

Read More →

Clinical Trial Office (CTO): 

The CTO serves as a central resource for principal investigators, study staff and departments involved in clinical research and for sponsors seeking to conduct clinical trials at BMC. Our CTO pre-award and post-award team(s) supports and advances BMC's mission by providing leadership and expertise in Research, Finance and Administration. 


In this issue: 

  • Clinical Research Billing and Finance, Part IV

  • Ask the Experts

Read More →

Research Contracts & Industry Agreements (RCIA): 

RCIA is responsible for drafting, reviewing, and negotiating research and programmatic contracts. RCIA’s portfolio includes Clinical Trial Agreements, Programmatic Service and Research Funding Agreements, and non-funded agreements such as Data Use Agreements and Material Transfer Agreements. RCIA also provides guidance and support to BMC researchers seeking to engage in collaborative or sponsored research with external academic, non-profit, and industry partners.


In this issue:

  • HIPAA Privacy Rule’s Impact on Sharing Data Outside of BMC

Read More →

Research Support Services (RSS): 

RSS provides strategic input, coordination, supervision and operational oversight, and fiscal responsibility for all of BMC’s shared research Cores and Platforms including Shared Services that support research.  In addition, RSS is developing a centralized support services strategy, initially aimed at providing PI-centric post award financial management support to partnering departments and PIs. The initial phase will be a small test phase starting summer 2024. 

Foundation Relations and Government Grants (FRGG):

FRGG strategizes with investigators and teams to maximize competitiveness for research funding. As vital members of the BMC research community, we accelerate the growth of research through collaboration with BMC investigators to craft compelling research proposals responsive to funder priorities. FRGG helps teams and individual researchers amplify their research by becoming more effective communicators, grant writers, and advocates. We activate and lead teams around emerging research opportunities, many of which are large-scale and span scientific disciplines, clinical and administrative departments, and institutions.


FRGG’s continuum of grant-seeking services for government grants and foundation-funded research grants ranges from identifying, reviewing, analyzing, and disseminating funding opportunities to cultivating relationships with investigators, internal and external collaborators, and funders. We partner with investigators on all facets of proposal development, from idea generation through submission, with a special emphasis on helping you navigate the BMC institutional landscape to ensure your research is designed to succeed. Please connect with us if you have any questions.   

Research Informatics (RI): 

RI provides the infrastructure and analytics to drive BMC’s research data strategy. RI also administers the BMC Clinical Data Warehouse for Research (CDW-R), a core facility that extracts data from health system data warehouses on behalf of researchers. CDW-R services include research data sets extractions, medical record pre-screens and prospective recruitment lists, retrospective cohort identification, and simple counts for study cohort estimations.

Read More →

About Us

Research Enterprise (RE) is committed to advancing Boston Medical Center’s research mission by providing comprehensive services across various facets of sponsored research. Our team specializes in Research Foundation Relations and Government Grants, Sponsored Programs Administration, Sponsored Finance Administration, Research Contracting, Research Informatics, Shared Support Services and the Center for Clinical Research Advancement (comprised of the Clinical Trials Office and Clinical Research Network). We also partner closely with Research Information Systems and Research Compliance and our Office of General Counsel.

With a focus on promoting community engagement that leads to health and racial equity in biomedical research and discovery, RE offers expertise in navigating regulatory compliance and institutional policies. We strive to deliver exceptional support to researchers and staff, empowering them to drive groundbreaking research initiatives forward.

RE is structured to meet the diverse needs of BMC’s researchers and departments. We are dedicated to removing barriers and fostering collaboration to accelerate research breakthroughs. RE stands ready to collaborate with researchers, departments, and communities to advance BMC’s research endeavors. Let us know how we can help you!



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