Open Science Summit

12/31/2023

One of the most useful and beloved projects in aging research, the The Dog Aging Project is under threat of closure with the National Institute on Aging deciding that such a successful and popular program has to end. Please read below and I hope you follow the suggestions of Matt Kaberlein, one the leading scientists in the field who has shepherded this program and is encouraging everyone to take action to save it. For our canine compatriots! We continue to FIGHT AGING!

From Matt's "X" account -

Help save the Dog Aging Project.

Despite being one of the most influential, productive and impactful NIH supported projects over the past 5 years, the National Institute on Aging has inexplicably chosen to withdraw support for the Dog Aging Project. For now, I’m won't get into the details of the process or my personal feelings about it, as the important thing is to ensure the Dog Aging Project doesn’t end. If you believe that the Dog Aging Project has value and should continue, I have three requests of you:

(1) Please consider signing the petition to the NIH Director here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/support-the-continuation-of-the-dog-aging-project

(2) Please consider sending an email to your elected representatives here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/support-the-continuation-of-the-dog-aging-project/

(3) Please share this message with your network as broadly as you can

Thank you!!!

The Dog Aging Project represents a pioneering effort in the scientific community, engaging nearly 50,000 Americans in research and propelling significant advancements in aging biology. Despite its remarkable success, the project now faces uncertainty. Your voice is crucial to secure its future. Init...

05/05/2022

All of Us Research Program Seeks Input on Environmental Health Data

Submissions will inform program’s approach to expanding research platform

The National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather public suggestions on integrating environmental health data into its platform for data analysis, the Researcher Workbench. Inclusion of this data will drive new areas of research and insights on the influence of the environment, alongside social, biological, and other determinants of health.

“The air we breathe, the water we drink, even the ground we walk on, all have an impact on our health and well-being, but reliable information on these environmental influences are difficult to capture and can vary dramatically from one community to the next,” said Geoffrey Ginsburg, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical and scientific officer of the All of Us Research Program. “All of Us is well-situated to serve as a platform for dramatically advancing our understanding of environmental health, and we want to be sure we are building on best practices from the environmental research community.”

All of Us’ Researcher Workbench is one of the largest datasets of its kind with a wide variety of data types—genomic data, survey responses, electronic health records, physical measurements and wearable device data. The program plans to add data linkages to pair participant data with data from existing national datasets that collect environmental information. In addition, the program expects to collect environmental data from its anticipated cohort of at least 1 million diverse participants.

Responses on specific categories of environmental exposure, as well as valid and reliable measures, are sought for consideration in shaping how the environmental data, particularly when paired with other data types, can be most beneficial to researchers. The program will consider the information shared from the RFI, along with the potential participant burden, costs and ethical considerations when developing its plan for incorporating environmental data.

“Our participants provide so much time, energy and data to the program,” said Ginsburg. “We want to be sure that we are thoughtful of any additional requests we make by ensuring the data will have the greatest potential for advancing our understanding of the environment’s impact on our health and to provide value back to our participants for providing their data to us.”

Responses will be accepted electronically through May 31, 2022. To learn more and submit comments, view NIH Request for Information (RFI) on Integrating Environmental Data into the All of Us Research Program.

https://allofus.nih.gov/news-events/announcements/all-us-research-program-seeks-input-environmental-health-data

02/17/2022

"The Health eHeart Study is the first of its kind - an electronic clinical research study that will gather long-term information about participants’ health and behaviors with the latest technologies.

The goal of this study is to hone in on more specific predictors of heart disease by taking into account each person’s unique profile in relation to our constantly evolving world.

We need people of all ages and from all backgrounds to tease out the reasons behind heart disease. The only criteria is that the participants are 18 years and older. We are looking to enroll up to 1 million participants worldwide."



https://scistarter.org/health-eheart-study

The Health eHeart Study is the first of its kind - an electronic clinical research study that will gather long-term information about participants' health and behaviors with the latest technologies. The goal of this study is to hone in on more specific predictors of heart disease by taking into acco...

02/04/2022

Researchers at WHO’s technology transfer hub complete first step in a project aimed at building capacity for vaccine manufacturing in low- and middle-income countries.

02/03/2022

When Human Genome Project researchers announced they had successfully completed sequencing the human genome, it was actually only about 92% complete. Now, researchers have finally got that last 8%! https://bit.ly/3BvpwUQ

01/27/2022

Now a new group of psychological scientists led by Samuel G. Robson of The University of Queensland in Australia have published a paper in Collabra: Psychology titled “Promoting open science: A holistic approach to changing behavior.” Here is the abstract:

“In this article, we provide a toolbox of recommendations and resources for those aspiring to promote the uptake of open scientific practices. Open Science encompasses a range of behaviours that aim to improve the transparency of scientific research. This paper is divided into seven sections, each devoted to different groups or institutions in the research ecosystem: colleagues, students, departments and faculties, universities, academic libraries, journals, and funders. We describe the behavioural influences and incentives for each of these stakeholders as well as changes they can make to foster Open Science. Our primary goal, however, is to suggest actions that researchers can take to promote these behaviours, inspired by simple principles of behaviour change: make it easy, social, and attractive. In isolation, a small shift in one person’s behaviour may appear to make little difference, but when combined, many shifts can radically alter shared norms and culture. We offer this toolbox to assist individuals and institutions in cultivating a more open research culture.”

A new paper provides a toolbox of recommendations to promote the uptake of open science practices.

01/25/2022

Check out "Vax Populi" Episode 2: Omicron Update from RADVAC

💭 What can Omicron teach us about vaccine strategy - past, present, & future?
💭 What does a future-proof vaccine look like?
💭 Can decentralization improve speed, access, & quality of vaccines?

/ FTW

The Omicron Variant of SARS-CoV-2 has quickly become the dominant variant in virtually every country on Earth, owing in large part to the complement of over ...

01/21/2022

"Passionate about education, science, and the environment, this project was conceived with an idea that kids enjoy spending time outdoors, and are naturally keen observers when it comes to snow.
​SKNOWLEDGE Collective is a school-based citizen science initiative fostering scientific inquiry, collaboration, and discussion about our environment; because . Students are engaged through outdoor field-based activities, collecting valuable meteorological data, while learning about the shared importance of snow to our environment and water resources.

This project uses low-cost equipment (a ruler!), field-based techniques (making a snowball!), and interactive mapping tools to better understand seasonal snow variability in your community! Why snow? Because it is one of the most challenging climate variables to monitor due to its significant influence by wind, sun, topography, freeze-thaw cycles, vegetation, and wet precipitation events (rain!) – just to name a few!

Data contributed to the SKNOWLEDGE Collective will be used to explore how citizen science can validate satellite derived snow indices (like snow depth, extent, wetness), expand meteorological monitoring networks, and provide valuable insight to broader climate, meteorological, and hydrological processes.

​All data submissions are anonymous, and all data is publicly available.

Check back frequently! New activities, toolkits, and resources will be posted on an on-going basis.
​
We look forward to exchanging SKNOWLEDGE with you!"

https://scistarter.org/sknowledge-collective

Passionate about education, science, and the environment, this project was conceived with an idea that kids enjoy spending time outdoors, and are naturally keen observers when it comes to snow. ​SKNOWLEDGE Collective is a school-based citizen science initiative fostering scientific inquiry, collab...

01/21/2022

"As an IceWatch USA™ volunteer, you observe a water body in your area over the winter, and report on weather (snow, precipitation, ice cover, as well as wildlife activity. In as little as ten minutes, your observations help scientists analyze climate change and other environmental factors as well as how people can adapt to those changes. The IceWatching season begins every year on the day of fall and ends with your last ice coverage and/or last snowfall."
https://scistarter.org/icewatch-usa

As an IceWatch USA™ volunteer, you observe a water body in your area over the winter, and report on weather (snow, precipitation, ice cover, as well as wildlife activity. In as little as ten minutes, your observations help scientists analyze climate change and other environmental factors as well a...

11/28/2021

11/23/2021

Open-Source Vaccinology FTW.
👏👏👏