The AFMR Strategic Planning Initiative set two goals for its Mentorship Strategic Planning Committee:

• Creating mentorship opportunities for junior investigators.
• Launching a mentorship program to address gaps in regional mentorship and encourage career advancement.

AFMR is pleased to announce that it has launched a Mentorship Program thanks to the work of lead Samrat Das and "champions" Akankasha Goyal, Melanie Cree-Green, Siddharta Mahapatra, and Attaya Suvanasankha.
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Inviting all AFMR Members to join the AFMR Twitter team!

We have two handles:

@AFMResearch (general AFMR news and information)

@JIM_AFMR (Journal of Investigative Medicine, Journal of Investigative Medicine-High Impact Cases, and other news).

The accounts are managed by our social media editors Drs. Riccardo Correa (@drricardocorrea) and Amit Dey (@amit5kem). More

Keep up to date on the Corona virus (COVID-19) with updates from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO): CDC WHO The AFMR is very aware of the concerns with the potential spread of the coronavirus, and our team and leadership are closely monitoring the situation on a daily basis. We are dedicated to providing regular updates to our members and attendees of upcoming meetings. Experimental Biology 2020 is cancelled. Learn More

Following escalating concerns regarding recent reports from WHO and the CDC on the coronavirus, Experimental Biology 2020 is canceled.

FASEB has provided members with a summary of proposed federal research and development funding levels in the proposed FY2021 administration budget. The request asks for a reduction of $590 billion in non-defense discretionary spending — five (5) percent below the level agreed to by Congress and the White House in August 2019.

Funding levels for major federal science agencies include:

• National Institutes of Health - $38 billion (Cut of $3 billion /7.2 percent below the FY 2020 appropriation)
• National Science Foundation - $7.95 billion (Cut of $600 million/seven [7] percent below the FY2020 appropriation)
• Department of Energy Office of Science - $5.8 billion (Cut of $1.2 billion/ 17 percent below FY 2020 appropriation)
• Veterans Administration Medical & Prosthetic Research Programs - $787 million (Increase of $37 million/five [5] percent above FY 2020 appropriation minus $50 million in recissions).
• Agriculture & Food Research Initiative (USDA competitive grant program) - $600 million (Increase of $175 million/41 percent more than FY 2020 appropriations)

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Journal of Investigative Medicine (JIM)

Research Tools and Issues
Improvement Science is a Partner in Basic and Clinical Research
Jaclyn N. Kline, Asha S. Payne; 10.1136/jim-2019-001260

Original Research
Assessment of Two Novel Renal Tubular Proteins in Type 2 Diabetic Patients with Nephropathy
Muhammad Tarek Abdel Ghafar, Khaled Hamed Shalaby, Hanaa Ibrahim Okda, Rehab E Abo El gheit, Nema Ali Soliman, Walaa Arafa Keshk; 10.1136/jim-2019-001135

Original Research
Bedside Clinical Assessment Predicts Recurrence After Hospitalization Due to Viral Lower Respiratory Tract Infection in Young Children
Maria Arroyo, Kyle P Salka, Geovanny F Perez, Carlos E Rodriguez-Martinez, Jose A Castro-Rodriguez, Gustavo Nino; 10.1136/jim-2019-001024

Original Research
Statin Use and the Risk of Renal Cell Carcinoma: National Cohort Study
Yu-Ching Chou, Chih-Hung Lin, Chih-Shung Wong, Wan-Yun Chou, Jin-Yin Chang, Chien-An Sun; 10.1136/jim-2019-001209

JIM — High Impact Case Reports

A Newly Discovered Genetic Disorder Associated with Life-Threatening Aortic Disease in a 6-Year-Old Boy
Aortic aneurysms in children are rare and when present are usually caused by a connective tissue disorder. In this article, we present a case of multiple aortic aneurysms in an adolescent with a novel finding of a gene variation that is associated with aortic disease.

A Rare Case of Drug-Resistant Nocardia transvalensis Infection in a Renal Transplant Patient
Nocardia transvalensis is a rare species of Nocardia and is known to be a drug-resistant organism. Multiple cases have been reported of Nocardia species causing opportunistic infections in immunocompromised hosts. To our knowledge, we report the first case of successfully treated drug resistant Nocardia transvalensis causing pulmonary nocardiosis in a renal transplant patient. Our case validates the importance of prompt identification of Nocardia species and their drug sensitivities to improve clinical outcomes and reduce mortality.

AFMR is co-sponsoring a mini symposium at Translational Science 2020 on Equity and Minority Health Research. Speakers will include experts in the field of racial disparities in emergency medicine.

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AFMR members who register for the AFMR Eastern Regional Meeting will receive a special one-day TS 2020 rate of $100. The discount code will be provided in your Eastern Regional Meeting Registration Confirmation email.

Register Now

The Southern Regional Meeting had another strong showing at this year's event in New Orleans, attended by more than 775 participants. In addition to S-AFMR, the conference was co-sponsored by the Academic Pediatric Association, Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, Southern Society for General Internal Medicine, and Southern Society for Pediatric Research.

There were 675 abstracts. The 2020 poster sessions were extremely popular. And, there were 144 awards conferred. Among them were three Henry Christian Awards, 40 SAFMR/SSCI Student Research Awards, as well as SAFMR/SCCI Trainee and SAFMR/SSCI Young Faculty Awards. More

The Henry Christian Awards were established in 1990 to honor AFMR's founder.

Annually, they are given to the presenter (or first author) of the most outstanding abstracts submitted at each of the four (4) AFMR regional meetings.

Presenters must be post-MD trainee physicians who are AFMR members and physicians —residents, clinical fellows, physicians pursuing PhD or other graduate degrees, and other post-doctoral fellows.

Meet the Southern and Western region honorees.