TRDRP Highlights by TRDRP Staff
- Compendium
- Workshops
- 1999 Call for Applications and 1999 Application Packet
- American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) conference
- TRDRP Annual Investigator Meeting (AIM 98)
- Congratulations to Nobel Laureate Louis Ignarro
Compendium
TRDRP has issued its 1998
Compendium of Awards, which includes all grant recipients and the abstracts
describing their research projects. You can request a copy from our office,
please contact us at 510-987-9870, order
from our website or send an email to trdrp@ucop.edu.
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Workshops
In September, TRDRP staff held a series of grant writing and Community-Academic
Research Award (CARA)
workshops in Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Diego. The morning grant
writing workshops were intended to provide potential applicants with information
that will help them write successful grant applications. TRDRP staff provided
an overview of the components of an application and the most common problems
encountered in the different sections.
In the afternoon, TRDRP staff introduced tobacco control professionals and scientists to our new CARA mechanism. TRDRP staff led participants through the required components and the criteria which will be used to evaluate CARA applications. The afternoon sessions were very interactive and rewarding and TRDRP staff took away valuable suggestions for the implementations of this award.
All sessions were very well attended and very well received. In fact, the unexpectedly large turnout seems to indicate a real need for these kinds of activities and we hope to offer these workshops again next year. In the meantime, a helpful article we handed out at the workshops can be viewed at the following link:
How
To Wow A Study Section: A Grantsmanship Lesson
by Karen Hopkin
The Scientist.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all participants for providing
us with important feedback regarding the quality of the sessions, suggestions
for future activities, and recommendations for TRDRP priorities.
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1999 Call
for Applications and 1999
Application Packet
TRDRP has issued a new
Call for Applications to start our 8th funding cycle. The Call outlines
our research priorities and the available funding mechanisms. The 1999 Application
Packet has been sent to the contracts and grants offices of all institutions
who have previously applied to TRDRP for funding and to individuals who
have specifically requested a copy. If your institution is not on our mailing
list, please contact us at 510-987-9870, order
from our website or send an email to trdrp@ucop.edu.
As is the case with all of our publications, you can find the Call and the
Application Packet on the TRDRP website. The application forms can be downloaded
into Microsoft Word 7 for Windows. Due to the wide array of available technologies
and our limited resources, we are not able to offer this feature for any
other software applications.
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American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) conference
On November 5-8, 1998, TRDRP co-sponsored ASAM's 11th National Conference
on Nicotine Dependence in Marina Del Rey, California. Among other topics,
this conference addressed research on nicotine dependence, cultural factors
in smoking, and funding opportunities for nicotine dependence research.
The conference opened Thursday evening with a "Ten Year Anniversary
Celebration of Proposition 99", co-sponsored by LA Link, the Los Angeles
Regional Tobacco Control Community Linkage Project. At this event, Senator
Diane Watson was honored for her long and unflagging commitment to the letter
and spirit of Proposition 99. In addition, there were video and oral presentations
describing outstanding contributions to tobacco research and control in
California.
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TRDRP Annual
Investigator Meeting (AIM 98)
AIM 98 will be held on December 10, 1998 at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton.
Last year's meeting was a great success and we are looking forward to another
interesting and informative conference. The morning plenary session will
tackle the issue of smoking and the entertainment industry. The keynote
address will be followed by a discussion of a panel representing tobacco
control professionals, researchers, and the entertainment industry will
discuss issues . The afternoon will be devoted to poster sessions, at which
TRDRP researchers will present their latest research findings on a wide
variety of tobacco use problems.
The advance registration deadline is November 18. You can still register
on site; however we cannot guarantee a room at the hotel nor provide lunch
for attendees who register on site. Additional information about the meeting
and registration forms are available from our office or visit our website
for online registration.
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Congratulations to Nobel Laureate Louis Ignarro
Dr. Louis Ignarro, University of California, Los Angeles, won the 1998 Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Robert F. Furchgott and Ferid
Murad for "a brilliant series of analyses" (Karolinska Institute
announcement, Oct. 12, 1998) that identified nitric oxide (NO) as the molecule
that signals cells lining the blood vessels causing them to dilate. NO is
essential to controlling blood pressure, blood flow, and the formation of
blood clots.
Both smoking and breathing secondhand smoke are major causes of cardiovascular disease. NO is abundant in cigarette smoke. Professor Ignarro went on to discover how exposure to such external sources of NO increases the risk of heart and vascular disease. This research was funded by two successive grants awarded to Professor Ignarro by TRDRP. This is an excellent example of how an investment in exciting basic research findings can, in only a few years, lead to discoveries with far-reaching clinical relevance.
In an apparent paradox, small amounts of NO produced by our cells protect us from disease, but excessive NO from external sources is harmful. Professor Ignarro discovered the specific enzyme reaction responsible for the natural synthesis of NO, and that the NO in cigarette smoke inhibits the enzyme reaction and thereby the normal production of NO. Without the normal production of NO, persons are at greater risk for coronary heart disease and stroke. Based on Professor Ignarro's discoveries, efforts are underway to develop new drugs that will more effectively treat cardiovascular disease.
Professor Ignarro also discovered that the NO produced by our cells can be responsible for peripheral vascular disease, raising the possibility that exposure to external sources of NO, such as tobacco smoke, could account for some cases of male impotence.
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