Weinstein will be a Member-at-Large for the Society for Health Psychology, a division within the larger American Psychological Association.

MeAgainMeds.com, a free AI-powered website, helps clinicians more effectively match patients with the optimal antidepressant using big data.

Now in the second cycle of the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, PI Kathi Huddleston and her team, including Alma Fuller, are continuing the seven year longitudinal study of women and children.

Interprofessional research, led by Cathy Tompkins, found that family caregivers of older adults living with dementia experienced a 15% drop in stress after a 9-week online peer support program.  

Have you recently:

The Marketing and Communications team is looking for strong examples to bring our brand to life in vivid, bold, high-impact ways. Share your stories for consideration with Michelle Thompson AND Mary Cunningham (mthomp7@gmu.edu and mcunni7@gmu.edu).

Include relevant details, so we can consider the information for inclusion in the newsletter, social media, external announcements, etc. Please allow at least 5 business days turn-around for "simple" announcements. For major announcements, please allow at least 10 business days advance notice. Research stories may take 4 weeks or longer.

Note: Mary will be out on parental leave starting in August, so please include both of them.

Courses migrated from Blackboard will be available in the latter half of June. Watch a preview of a migrated course, and some basic course cleanup required after migration. Note: The sample course was migrated before the new George Mason brand was released. Your migrated courses will include the new brand.

The Healthcare Instructional Designers (HLTHLRN@gmu.edu) and your CPH Canvas Mentors, Lila Fleming (lflemin1@gmu.edu) and Allison Miner (aminer4@gmu.edu,) are available all summer for questions about and assistance with migrating to Canvas.

The College’s CEPH Self Study draft was submitted in May, and the team expects to hear feedback from CEPH in July. Bob Weiler and others on the team plan to meet with each department about the self-study in the fall. There will be formal opportunities in the future for faculty to provide feedback to the CEPH self-study team; however, you can also provide feedback at any time to Erin Maughan, faculty representative on the self-study team, at emaugha@gmu.edu.

Join fellow CPH faculty, staff, and campus colleagues for a quick walk around campus. This summer, we'll walk on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Meet in the Peterson Lobby at 12 pm. We’ll depart promptly at 12:05 and walk for approximately 20-25 minutes. Walks may be canceled due to inclement weather. To receive announcements, contact Terri Ann Guingab at tguingab@gmu.edu.

On May 20, members of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies enjoyed a lunch of fresh fruit and sandwiches to celebrate their unit’s top showing in the CPH Spring, 2024 Steps Challenge. Interim Chair Lilian de Jonge accepted the Steps trophy on her unit’s behalf. This past semester Allison McKay reported the most steps for her unit: 967,861 steps!

The Steps Challenge will return in the fall. Stay tuned for more details in mid-August!

An Important IRB update for all Faculty using IRBnet

George Mason is making a significant change that affects your IRB protocols, by closing IRBnet and switching to RAMP at the end of July. Once George Mason switches to RAMP IRB you will immediately no longer have access to IRBnet or any documents currently stored in IRBnet. Moreover, the IRB will not be accepting any new protocols for 2 weeks starting mid-July (dates TBD), and revisions are not recommended during that time either. For now, please download any protocols you want to save, and plan for a blackout in mid-July.  

Once the RAMP IRB system goes live, researchers will need to adjust to it. I am hopeful that RAMP-IRB will be user-friendly, and will happily organize any additional trainings if CPH faculty would like. 

Here are some FAQs about the IRB software transition. The IRB has created a listserv to keep you updated. If you haven't received an email from them, you can subscribe by sending an email to irb@gmu.edu.  

FAQs

Russel Sage foundation call for funding: RSF will accept letters of inquiry (LOIs) under all of its core programs and special initiatives: Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context; Future of Work; Immigration and Immigrant Integration; Promoting Educational Attainment and Economic Mobility among Racially, Ethnically, and Economically Diverse Groups after the 2023 Supreme Court Decision to Ban Race-Conscious Admissions at Colleges and Universities; Race, Ethnicity and Immigration; Social, Political, and Economic Inequality. It will also accept LOIs relevant to its core programs that address the effects of social movements, such as drives for unionization and mass social protests, and the effects of racial/ethnic/gender bias and discrimination on a range of outcomes related to social and living conditions in the U.S.

LOIs must include specific information about the proposed data and research design. After peer review, about 15 percent of those who submit an LOI will receive an invitation to submit a proposal. The deadline is 2 pm ET, July 24, 2024. Successful proposals from this round can have a start date on or after May 1, 2025.

Learn more about our funding priorities and apply.

Summer Grant Writing Resources from Mason's Office of Research

Copy editing service ($15 per hour): Research Development Services can provide copy editing services on the grammar, syntax, layout, and overall presentation of their grant applications. This work will be performed by graduate and advanced undergraduate students who are receiving technical editing training at Mason.  All submissions must be provided at least 2 weeks before the Mason Internal submission deadline. Please note, this editing will not provide commentary on scientific, technical or research merits of the proposal. All applications will be kept confidential. Sign up here 

Grant search tools: George Mason researchers may freely access the Spin Database: https://spin.infoedglobal.com/Home/SOLRSearch  Training resources are available here: SPIN Training. Grant updates are also available through grants.gov.  Here is how to receive email updates on new grants. George Mason University Libraries also provides information and access to resources for identifying foundation funding.

Research Development website resources:  Find sample language and additional resources on our website. 

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the wage, research, classified staff, and A/P faculty who attended our inaugural Staff Council meeting. In July, the Staff Council aims to ratify bylaws for Staff Council operations.

While we are sad to say goodbye to Council co-Chair Samba Pathak, we are excited about his new career in arts management. The Council seeks a volunteer to serve the remainder of Samba’s term through December 2024. Please consider nominating yourself or a colleague for this role.

We welcome your feedback and nominations through June 15. Voting to ratify the bylaws and the special elections will occur from July 2 through July 16. For questions about the bylaws or special election, contact any Staff Council member: Alma Detten, Terri Ann Guingab, Allison McKay, and Maria Perez.

Annual Dean’s Address and Luncheon
August 21

Faculty and Staff Retreat
August 22

Details to follow later in the summer.

Deans Speakers Series: Denise Burnette, PhD
September 17
Dr. Burnette is the Samuel S. Wurtzel Professor of Social Work at VCU. Her research focuses on global topics, including health and psychosocial problems and related service needs of older populations in resource-constrained settings. 

National Public Health Week 2025: Conversation and Connections 
April 9, 2025  | 6-9 pm  Merten 1201

Access the toolkit here. Toolkit link will be available at the bottom of the newsletter. 

If you plan to access the toolkit, please be sure to start by reading this additional guidance from the CPH Markteting and Communications Office. Reach out to Michelle if you have any question about using the new brand—all questions are good questions.

The next newsletter will be sent on Monday, June 24.

Access the CPH brand toolkit, including new CPH logos here.

View the newsletter archives here.