Innovative Research and Discovery

VCU SOM needs to demonstrate our commitment to research by investing in the people to effectively grow our research enterprise as we seek to enter the top 50 in Blue Ridge rankings.

IR&D Outcome 1.1: Collaborate with departments, centers and the Office of Faculty Affairs to increase strategic hires of early career, established investigators and faculty who are representative of research priority areas

IR&D Outcome 1.2: Provide greater support for post-doctoral fellows such that 80% of postdocs secure faculty / research positions; 10-20% of postdocs retained as VCU faculty

IR&D Tactic 1.1: Conduct comprehensive workforce analysis with CIRC to identify gaps and to establish baseline

IR&D Tactic 1.2: Conduct interviews with researchers to identify opportunities to enhance career development

IR&D Tactic 1.3: Partner with the Wright Center to increase SOM participation in their grant writing and mock study section workshops by 10%

IR&D Tactic 1.4: Strategically recruit early-career and established investigators to leverage available resources from VCU Research and Innovation funding

IR&D Tactic 1.5: Work with the Office of Faculty Affairs to create clear career pathways for junior faculty with defined milestones and expectations

IR&D Tactic 1.6: Refine recruitment practices and develop systematic on-boarding for researchers

IR&D Tactic 1.7: Establish a postdoctoral office to centralize support and services in the SOM

IR&D Tactic 1.8: Identify priorities for recruitment in specific research areas based on Year 1 analysis

IR&D Tactic 1.9: Support postdocs with infrastructure to launch successful careers at VCU

IR&D Tactic 1.10: Establish a database of NIH reviewers at the SOM and VCU to support early career and mid-career faculty as they submit grants

IR&D Tactic 1.11: Building on the CIMER model, enhance mentorship training

Team-based science has become more important to address increasingly complex scientific questions. VCU has a wealth of resources across the enterprise that could be better leveraged to compete for more funding opportunities. It is important to ensure that the infrastructure and incentives needed to promote team science are available to help overcome existing barriers to collaboration across our entities.

IR&D Outcome 2.1: 10% increase in number of multi-PI collaborative grants submitted and funded

IR&D Outcome 2.2: Satisfaction with research processes and administrative support as demonstrated by survey responses (70% agree or strongly agree)

IR&D Outcome 2.3: Increase in VCU research awards recognizing different types of contributions (team science, co-investigator awards, etc.)

IR&D Outcome 2.4: Increase utilization of research connection tools/databases

IR&D Outcome 2.5: Increase external visibility metrics (e.g., media mentions, presentations at conferences, etc.)

IR&D Outcome 2.6: Office of Research is viewed as a partner and resource as demonstrated by survey responses (70% agree or strongly agree)

IR&D Tactic 2.1: Conduct comprehensive needs assessment of research infrastructure to establish baseline

IR&D Tactic 2.2: Develop infrastructure to support external and internal communications, especially promoting research accomplishments

IR&D Tactic 2.3: Build on existing strengths/areas of excellence (e.g., cancer center, liver institute, etc.) leading to large-scale grant applications

IR&D Tactic 2.4: Invest in staff training and recruitment for research support roles

IR&D Tactic 2.5: Identify opportunities to reduce administrative and regulatory burden on researchers

IR&D Tactic 2.6: Form an Executive Clinical Research Governance Committee to assess and improve IRB process

IR&D Tactic 2.7: Develop incentives that reward different types of contributions to research (e.g., rewarding basic science, co-investigator awards, etc.)

IR&D Tactic 2.8: Foster a culture that values the research process itself by recognizing curiosity, learning and discovery

IR&D Tactic 2.9: Partner more closely with Grants & Contracts to ensure timely and accurate research billing and payments

IR&D Tactic 2.10: Create intentional forums and pathways that bring together students, researchers and faculty across the university to leverage VCU’s unique breadth of expertise

IR&D Tactic 2.11: Build pro-investigator/service-oriented culture within the Office of Research by aligning practices and behaviors around partnership and support

IR&D Tactic 2.12: Improve data management and analytics, statistical, computational and IT support

IR&D Tactic 2.13: Strengthen communication and visibility by holding research retreats and sending an annual newsletter

Federal funding remains essential, but has become increasingly challenging to secure and risky to sustain. While we continue improving our federal funding proposals, we need to seek alternative sources of funding to help grow the research enterprise.

IR&D Outcome 3.1: Achieve a 5-10% increase in grant application volume by funding source (federal, industry, foundation, philanthropy, clinical trials)

IR&D Outcome 3.2: Increase number and dollar value of fee-for-service agreements with industry

IR&D Outcome 3.3: Award pilot funding to increase the number of pilot-funded projects at least 20% while tracking those that lead to future extramural funding

IR&D Outcome 3.4: Increase the number of training grant applications submitted and funded by 10% to have a greater number of trainees supported

IR&D Outcome 3.5: Achieve clinical trials operations metrics that are competitive with peers (e.g., number of trials activated, enrollment rates, time from trial approval to first patient enrolled, etc.)

IR&D Outcome 3.6: Increase number of meetings between School of Medicine departments with tech transfer office to achieve a once-a-year minimum for each department

IR&D Tactic 3.1: Develop a clear understanding of how donors engage with research and intentionally connect them with researchers whose work aligns with their interests and motivations using understandable stories

IR&D Tactic 3.2: Educate faculty about opportunities within the VCI Tech Transfer office

IR&D Tactic 3.3: Develop/leverage mentoring expertise regarding technology transfer across departments

IR&D Tactic 3.4: Coach faculty on how to engage donors on their research through MPAR medical philanthropy academy enhancements and partnership

IR&D Tactic 3.5: Leverage partnerships with pharmaceutical and life-science companies for sponsored research opportunities especially given new pharma investment in Virginia

We need to build bridges across VCU entities to ensure that processes, infrastructure and incentives are aligned to streamline research efforts that positively impact patient care and health outcomes.

IR&D Outcome 4.1: Create an Executive Clinical Research Governance Committee that increases number of collaborative initiatives among VCU SOM, OVPRI and VCUHS leadership

IR&D Outcome 4.2: Standardize processes, definitions and data systems implemented and adopted across entities

IR&D Outcome 4.3: Improve administrative and operational efficiency metrics (e.g., PROC time, IRB time, contracting time)

IR&D Tactic 4.1: Engage leaders across VCU SOM, OVPRI and VCUHS to align aspects of the SOM’s research priorities with the health system’s clinical priorities

IR&D Tactic 4.2: Identify the key systems and processes needed to build efficient cross-collaboration between and among VCUHS, VCU SOM and VCU to enhance administrative and operational efficiency and establish baseline

IR&D Tactic 4.3: Establish cross-university team to establish a dashboard with standardized processes, definitions and data systems for evolving needs

IR&D Tactic 4.4: Document and share lessons learned from high-pressure situations as a way to promote permanent improvements

IR&D Tactic 4.5: Implement lessons learned from high-pressure situations as a way to promote permanent improvements

IR&D Tactic 4.6: Launch and/or refine systems and processes as critical to efficient cross-collaboration