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VA program enhances career development by Cindy Abole Public Relations It’s been two years since Veterans Affairs (VA) Senior Research Career Scientist Rita Young, Ph.D., took the reins as associate chief of staff for research and development at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center. Since 2003, she’s steered VA research through an upswing of change while keeping her focus on opportunities for maintaining quality clinical research programs and enhancing career development among researchers.   Dr. Rita Young, left, and Dr. Lina Obeid, second from right, join newly-funded MREP researchers Drs. Ashley Cowart and Kory Johnson. Her presence and long-term experience with the VA research system  helped facilitate administrative changes that allowed fellow VA scientists—both established investigators and early-career scientists—to achieve grant funding while deepening their interdisciplinary collaborations as they continue to make strides in health science research.   Aside from developing research and mentorship opportunities, Young is also committed to making the medical center’s research more visible.      In 2004, she was voted by her peers to serve on the VA’s newly created Field Research Advisory Council (FRAC), a program composed of nine leaders representing various levels of the VA’s national corps—rehabilitation, biomedical, clinical science and health services research—who meet regularly to discuss the future and direction of VA research. The group’s membership includes both physicians and Ph.D. investigators.      Some of the latest issues discussed by FRAC involve funding and the use of budget caps to stretch limited research dollars and a renewed emphasis on funding entry-level investigators under the current program criteria. According to Young, the FRAC committee was responsible for recommending how to attain a 25 percent research funding level.      Young also chairs and is a member of the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 7 Research Council which is composed of the other heads for research at seven VA centers in South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. The group focuses on issues such as research funding.   Earlier this year, Young and the Charleston VA Research and Development Committee nominated 20-year VA career researcher, John Raymond, M.D., as a research program investigator candidate for this year’s Henry M. Middleton Research Excellence Award. Raymond was formally presented with the award at the VISN 7 Fall Retreat on Oct. 27.   “Rita has helped organize our VA research office so that it is very efficient, effective and highly visible,” said Raymond, who is also MUSC vice president of academic affairs and provost. “She’s continued to foster a service-oriented approach to interacting with investigators on campus. For someone who’s as successful with her research as well as her mentorship abilities as Rita has been, we are fortunate she is willing to spend so much time and energy focusing on every little detail of a grant proposal. The small things make a huge difference.”   Young’s VA Research Office helped guide a stream of successful grant-funded research. In the October 2005 funding cycle, the VA Office of Research and Development awarded 10 grants to MUSC-VA career scientists and new investigators—a remarkable achievement for one VA institution competing for research dollars at a time of slow growth and budget-cutting, according to Young.   For junior-level scientists seeking their start in the VA research track, Charleston’s VA Research Office promotes several successful career development awards programs and mentor-ing opportunities. The VA’s Research Enhancement Awards Program (REAP) promotes collaborative research among a cadre of investigators sharing a common interest in health services research, rehabilitation research, biomedical and/or clinical science research. One of the primary foci of REAP is to serve as a training ground for young investigators. The second is the Merit Review Entry Program (MREP), a career development program designed for beginning doctoral-level,  non-clinicians combining an emphasis on research with a strong mentoring program.   MUSC’s Korey Johnson, Ph.D., Ashley Cowart, Ph.D., and Amanda LaRue, Ph.D., were named MREP-approved scientists earlier this year. Johnson and Cowart will be mentored by VA investigator Lina Obeid, M.D., while Young, serves as a co-mentor to Johnson and LaRue.      “MUSC’s campus has a lot of talented, young investigators,” said Obeid, who worked with Johnson and Cowart. “The MREP is really a nice venue to help scientists bridge their post-doc years to become independent investigators. It’s a special program for the VA. When post-docs qualify for it, it opens doors and it allows them to take their research to the next phase of career development.”   Cowart was a post-doc fellow in the lab of Yusuf Hannun, M.D., professor and chair in the MUSC Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Cowart’s research looked at the role of sphingolipids and the role of cellular stress responses especially in diabetes. Her area of focus evaluated fatty acids and the regulation of sphingolipids as a model for insulin-resistance in diabetes.   “The MREP was a great opportunity for me to learn how to progress from the role of a post-doc researcher to a semi-independent investigator,” said Cowart. “During the interim period, we focused on grant writing, budgets and learning how to direct and manage an independent research program. With the success with MREP, I look forward to working towards the next level of awards and new opportunity with the VA Merit Award.”      A post-doc fellow in Obeid’s lab, Johnson studied the linkage between sphingosine kinase to lung cancer, a disease relevant to the VA population. Concentrating on the dissecting role of an enzyme in lung cancer and metastasis, Johnson’s work later involved Young and other experts with other metastasis models from their research work.   “Between Dr. Young and I, we know we can help Korey progress to the next phase of research which might include looking at animal models of lung cancer, and hopefully proceeding to future therapeutic studies in patients,” Obeid said. “Both Korey and Ashley submitted strong, clinically relevant proposals. What has occurred is a natural extension from the work they began in the lab of VA investigators. With funding approved, they can both focus on research that will help improve the health of the veteran’s population.”      Young also credits her staff for refining and maintaining a service-oriented VA Research Office. Upon her arrival in June 2003, she realized the benefits that could be derived if the research office provided assistance to researchers beyond the usual administrative role. Within two years, she imposed administrative changes to enhance the development, preparation and eventual processing of grant proposals. Most of the changes involved developing streamlined processes, computerization of forms, initiation of a central LAN within the office, and the acquisition of computerized equipment designed to produce superior products. Her office includes four staff members dedicated to providing assistance to grant-seeking researchers, in addition to staff assisting in budget development, human subjects, animal use and safety.   Although VA investigator-applicants may be focused on initially starting an application, many lack the experience and cannot devote the amount of time necessary to coordinate and complete the large amount of administrative sections of their application including budget pages,  bio sketches, letters of support, etc. that are required for VA grant proposals.   An experienced VA grant reviewer, Young knows what’s needed to help distinguish a winning grant proposal.   “A grant reviewer wants to read a great quality product, so an applicant must submit a great quality product,” Young said. “The goal is to allow the investigator to focus his/her time on writing the science and providing meaningful feedback and suggestions on how to better design and present the work proposed via a strong, intramural review process.”   While the scientific piece is addressed, the Research Office works toward insuring all the required forms, letters and other supporting documentation are included and addressed, producing the best final product possible, according to Young.   “Everything a reviewer sees, touches and experiences assures them of the quality level of the product they hold in their hands,” Young said. “These details are part of a granstmanship component that is just as important as the science conveyed in the proposal.”     Friday, Oct. 28, 2005 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. 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