Data Services offering new Statista subscription and summer data training workshops

Research Data Services is excited to announce the new data subscription “Statista” free for all SHU faculty, students, and staff. The SHU community can access over 1,000,000 statistics on more than 80,000 topics through this subscription. University Libraries, where Research Data Services resides, is grateful to the Office of Grants & Research (OGRS) who funded this subscription as part of  a $1.5 million grant from the State of New Jersey through its Opportunity Meets Innovation (OMI) Challenge Grants program.

The data in Statista are collected from over 22,500 data sources such as government databases, trade publications, scientific journals, and over 170 different industries and over 160 countries and presented to users in charts, tables, and infographics. Statista is one of the reliable data sources for Market Data, Market Research, and Market Studies. With over 200 data and research specialists, all published data and reports must pass a tested-multi-stage peer-review process. The platform of Statista supports the following languages: English, Spanish, German, and French.Seton Hall faculty, students, and staff can access their accounts using

Seton Hall University Libraries Databases. Under the “Find” tab, there will be the Seton Hall University Libraries A-Z Databases list. Logging to the Statista platform through SHU institutional subscription grants users access to free pdf, PPT, XLS, and PNG files. Users should see :Welcome, Seton Hall University!” on the upper-left side of their screen to ensure full access to the subscription.

Research Data Services will host a “Find Data for Your Research: workshop featuring the newly added subscription, Statista. Participants will learn how to navigate the platform and download and cite Statista data. Registration for the workshop is through RDS’s Calendar.

Interested in more Research Data Services Workshops?

A photo of students with laptops

Research Data Services at University Libraries will be holding Data Summer Workshops online from June 21 to August 30. The RDS data classes provide students, faculty, and staff with hands-on training sessions in data management, analysis, and visualization using different quantitative and qualitative software. These data workshops are beneficial in preparing students for research methods and data analysis classes. Moreover, these data classes help students with their thesis and dissertations. This Summer training will cover Stata, Atlas.ti, ArcGIS, RStudio, Jupyter, Qualtrics, SPSS, and PowerBI.

As mentioned above, in addition to software training, the RDS will introduce the newly added data subscription “Statista.”  featured in the workshop “Find Data for your research in ICPSR, Statista, PolicyMaps, and The Living Atlas of The World.” In this workshop, the RDS team takes you on a journey to discover meaningful datasets suitable for your research interests. The SHU community has free access to ICPSR, PolicyMap, The Living Atlas. of The World, and Statista.

To see the full schedule and to register, please visit The RDS Calendar or email data.services@shu.edu.

Categories: Science and Technology

For more information, please contact:

  • Samah Alshrief
  • (973) 275-4805

Preparing Drugs Ahead of Viral Disease Outbreak

Last month’s announcement[1] from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease that it was funding 9 research consortia – called “Antiviral Drug Discovery Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern”, was welcome news. The idea that a concerted effort will be made to create COVID-19 antivirals, as well as ones targeting a range of (viral) families in anticipation of the next outbreak, is inspired. Bringing together academic researchers with pharmaceutical/industrial partners focused on multidisciplinary approaches is a real strength of the envisioned program. Congratulations to Dr. David Perlin (from the Hackensack Meridian Health Research Institute’s Center for Discovery and Innovation) and his collaborators for being selected as part of the program’s drug development initiative.[2]

Complementing the power of antivirals and their ability to alter the course of disease and/or reduce and prevent viral spread, are vaccines – designed to prevent infection altogether. The following discussion focuses on steps to accelerate development of just such antiviral vaccines.

Viruses
Image Source: Innovative Genomics Institute

Let us be clear – viruses have long been, and will continue to be, a plague on human health and well-being. Whether they be extant (e.g., SARS-CoV2, Ebola, West Nile), newly mutated variants, or recently developed from zoonotic (i.e., animal to human) transmission – infectious viruses will continue to do what they have done for thousands of years – copy and spread their genomes and compromise human health. How do we get out in front of this incoming and indeed ever-present onslaught? The answer is to prepare now.

Dr. Florian Krammer at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai suggests that some 50-100 viruses should be identified and targeted for vaccine development.[3] Choice of which viruses to pursue would be based on infective potential, transmissibility, and accompanying symptoms/pathology. Such a curated list of potentially dangerous pathogens could be informed by recently developed approaches involving machine learning/artificial intelligence. Georgetown University researcher Dr. Colin Carlson and team have been working on just such approaches and have launched VIRION, a database (still in alpha testing) that is designed to help with the curation process. Powerful algorithms coupled with predictive modeling and detailed analytics allow, for the first time, an ability to predictably identify viruses with enhanced potential to infect humans.

Vaccine development in response to the COVID-19 pandemic proceeded at a pace unseen in modern medicine. Vaccine platforms are now in place such that even tighter timelines between virus identification and vaccine production may be realized. But every day – especially early in an outbreak – is critical and could mean the difference between life and death; so how can the program be maximally accelerated? Perhaps, as Dr. Krammer suggests, once viruses (and viral families) are identified, the process of vaccine development could commence. Not waiting for an actual viral outbreak across human populations is crucial.

Vaccine
Image Source: Flickr

mRNA-based vaccine development, which worked so well in the context of SARS-CoV2, could once again be brought to bear. Moderna’s mRNA Access program[4] would be particularly helpful here – assisting in the identification of appropriate antigen(s), the design of relevant mRNA coding sequences, and other stability, expression, and production parameters associated with its (mRNA) vaccine platform. Once candidate vaccines were developed and tested pre-clinically, they could be evaluated in FDA-approved phase 1 and 2 (drug) testing protocols. Having the results of such clinical trials would position the vaccines for rapid deployment in phase 3 testing when circumstances warranted. Once it is clear a (related) virus has been identified and an outbreak is imminent, scaled up production, distribution, and inoculation efforts would be rapidly initiated. What might have taken years in the past and took roughly a year for the COVID-19 vaccine, could now be accelerated to, Dr. Krammer predicts, 3-4 months (after identification of the relevant viral strain). The value of such preparedness in terms of reducing and/or eliminating the disease burden is incalculable. There are many hurdles (e.g., regulatory, monetary, coordination) that would need to be overcome to effect such a strategy – but the impact could truly be life-saving on a world-wide scale.

SRT – June 2022

[1] https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-announces-antiviral-drug-development-awards
[2] https://njbiz.com/65m-grant-funds-joint-academic-pharma-drug-accelerator/
[3] Krammer, F. (2020). Pandemic vaccines: how are we going to be better prepared next time? Med, 1(1), 28-32.
[4] https://mrna-access.modernatx.com

IHS Librarians receive grant, award

The IHS Library is pleased to congratulate Health Sciences Librarians, Kyle Downey and Peggy Dreker, on recent honors.

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Kyle Downey was awarded the “Opportunity Meets Innovation (OMI) Challenge Grant” through Seton Hall University along with co-researchers, Dr. Lauren Snowdon and Dr. Angela Lis of the Physical Therapy program. This grant was designed to create interdisciplinary and collaborative research opportunities among faculty and students from different academic disciplines.

Their project, “Assessing the integration of evidence-based practice skills into clinical practice following curricular redesign” will look directly at outcomes of the embedded library curriculum Kyle has developed with the Dr. Snowdon and Dr. Lis.

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Peggy DrekerPeggy Dreker was awarded “University Libraries Faculty Researcher of the Year” through Seton Hall University. Peggy received this honor at a March 31st Faculty Researcher and Teacher of the Year Awards luncheon presented by the Office of the Provost.

Peggy’s scholarship this past year was robust. She published 5 systematic reviews in scholarly medical journals, two book chapters on systematic review work, and an article on the innovative work done in the SOM’s PPPC curriculum. A listing of her scholarship can be found on her ORCID page.

New Journals available via the IHS Library!

The IHS Library is pleased to announce the following high-impact journals have been added to our collection:

          • Annual Reviews Immunology
          • Blood
          • Blood Cancer Discovery
          • Cancer Discovery
          • Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention
          • Cancer Immunology Research
          • Cancer Prevention Research
          • Cancer Research
          • Clinical Cancer Research
          • Genes & Development
          • Genome Research
          • Immunity
          • JAMA Dermatology
          • JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics
          • JCO Global Oncology
          • JCO Oncology Practice
          • JCO Precision Oncology
          • Journal of Clinical Oncology
          • Journal of Immunology
          • Journal of Investigative Dermatology
          • Molecular Cancer Research
          • Molecular Cancer Therapeutics
          • Nature Aging
          • Nature Biomedical Engineering
          • Nature Cancer
          • Nature Microbiology
          • Nature Structural and Molecular Biology
          • Science
          • Science Immunology
          • Science Translational Medicine

You can access articles from these and thousands of other journals in our collection via the IHS Library website and searching databases such as PubMed and Scopus, or searching for individual journals via the main library search bar. You will then be prompted to enter your Seton Hall University ID and Password. If you do not have your SHU ID/Password, please reach out to the IHS Library at ihslibrary@shu.edu.

We also encourage you to install the LibKey Nomad Chrome Extension, which automatically links to full-text content from websites such as PubMed, Wikipedia, Google Scholar and publisher websites. This extension is especially helpful if you find an article while searching outside the IHS Library website.

1st Annual IHS Student Art Showcase

Art ShowStudents on the IHS Campus (CON, SHMS, and HMSOM) are encouraged to submit their art to be included in an art installation at the IHS Library!

Original art must be submitted by June 1. Check out the submission form here.

A reception for the show is scheduled for June 13th at 3:30pm.

This event is sponsored by HMSOM’s Art and Medicine Student Group and the IHS Library. Contact Allison Piazza at allison.piazza@shu.edu with any questions.

 

New NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy

In October of 2020, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced its new Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy. Beginning in January 2023, this policy will require that all NIH researchers prospectively plan for how their scientific data and accompanying metadata will be preserved and shared by submitting a Data Management and Sharing Plan in their grant applications. This new plan goes into effect on January 25, 2023 replacing the current Data Management and Sharing Policy from 2003. The new policy continues NIH’s commitment to making sure that the results and outputs of NIH funded research are available to the public.

What do you need to know about the new NIH DMS policy?

  • The new policy applies to any researcher funded in whole or in part by NIH whose research generates scientific data, whereas the current policy only applies to grants requesting more than $500,000 of direct costs in a single year.
  • The policy requires investigators to submit an official Data Management and Sharing Plan as part of their request for funding. It does not require researchers to share data per se but expects them to maximize their data sharing. NIH strongly encourages the use of established repositories to the extent possible for preserving and sharing scientific data.
  • It allows investigators to request funding for personnel costs or other fees related to data management and sharing activities; however, the money must be spent during the grant’s award period.
  • Grant reviewers will see the data management plan and can comment on the budget, but plans are not used to determine the grant’s scientific merit.
  • Researchers will need to think ahead when planning research projects to take data sharing into consideration. For example, those planning clinical studies will need to clearly communicate with prospective subjects via informed consent documentation about how their scientific data are expected to be used and shared.
  • The approved plan becomes a part of the terms and conditions of the grant. Compliance will be monitored at regular reporting intervals and may factor into future funding decisions.

Additional Sources of Information

Locating Clinical Guidelines

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines clinical practice guidelines as “statements that include recommendations intended to optimize patient care that are informed by a systematic review of evidence and an assessment of the benefits and harms of alternative care options”.

Access to such concise, evidence-based information stands to improve patient outcomes while decreasing time spent researching. There are a lot of guidelines out there. Make sure you are using the most current guideline and that the guideline you use is a systematic review of the evidence developed by a panel of experts. Currently, there isn’t one place to find all guidelines but read on for several resources available to you that make guidelines available.

Recommended Resources:

ClinicalKey

Select “Guidelines” in the “Browse” menu. In the search box type known topic or guideline. Also, search for specialty guidelines using the “Filter By” option.

DynaMed Plus

Search for your topic. If applicable, “Guidelines and Resources” will be listed in the left menu. Guidelines are pulled from national and international organizations.

PubMed

Search for your topic. On the left-hand side of the page, click “Additional filters”, under “Article type” select “Guideline” and “Practice Guideline” and click “Show”. Now, choose “Guideline” and “Practice Guideline” to limit your search.

Some other helpful resources:

Guidelines International Network (G-I-N) – https://guidelines.ebmportal.com/
A global network that supports evidence-based health care and improved health outcomes by reducing inappropriate variation throughout the world.

Guideline Central Library – https://www.guidelinecentral.com/guidelines/
Free web and mobile database of guideline summaries, calculators, drugs, and other resources.

ERCI Guidelines Trust – https://guidelines.ecri.org/
A publicly available web-based repository of objective, evidence-based clinical practice guideline content developed by nationally and internationally recognized medical organizations and medical specialty societies. [register for a free account to access]

AiCPG – https://aicpg.org/ngc-summaries/
The primary goal of The Alliance for the Implementation of Clinical Practice Guidelines (“AiCPG” or “The Alliance”) is to meet the needs of Guideline Developers and Guideline Users to improve the safety and quality of patient care in the U.S. Healthcare system.

GRADE – https://www.gradeworkinggroup.org/
A working group has developed a common, sensible, and transparent approach to grading quality (or certainty) of evidence and strength of recommendations.

AGREE – https://www.agreetrust.org/
AGREE II is the international tool to assess the quality and reporting of practice guidelines.

CPG Infobase – https://joulecma.ca/cpg/homepage
Database of evidence-based Canadian clinical practice guidelines (CPGs)

NICE Guidelines – https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance
Guidance, advice, and information services for health care professionals from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (UK)

Update to PubMed Central

Update to PubMed Central

On March 13, 2022, the National Library of Medicine will be launching an updated PubMed Central (PMC) website https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ with a modern design.

PubMed Central (PMC) is a free full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM).

In keeping with NLM’s legislative mandate to collect and preserve the biomedical literature, PMC is part of the NLM collection, which also includes NLM’s extensive print and licensed electronic journal holdings and supports contemporary biomedical and health care research and practice as well as future scholarship. Available to the public online since 2000, PMC was developed and is maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at NLM.

March 13, 2022, is the expected change over date to the web interface. You can review the new website at: https://ncbiinsights.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2021/06/02/pmc-labs/ until it goes live.

This update represents the first phase of an overall PMC modernization that will help us update PMC in a quicker and more responsive fashion. New features and functionality will be deployed on an ongoing basis.

In advance of the official update, we wanted to remind you of a few details about what’s changing:

    • A redesigned and reorganized homepage
    • More accessible help documentation, reformatted to address key groups using PMC in different ways and to highlight the most important information first
    • A more modern article view
    • A similar look and feel between features in PMC and PubMed.

As part of this first phase of modernization, the search results page will remain unchanged. And for a limited time, the classic version of the article view will still be accessible to help with this transition.

Remembering Dr. Paul Farmer

Paul Farmer, MDDr. Paul Farmer, co-founder and chief strategist at Partners in Health, died yesterday in Rwanda at the age of 62 (NYT Obituary).

His work in Haiti began while he was a student at Harvard Medical School:

“Even as Farmer was studying for his medical degree, he essentially lived in Haiti amid extremely low-income farmers who didn’t even have access to dependable electricity, let alone health care. Farmer was determined to change that.” (NPR).

I can’t do his accomplishments justice, but to quote author, John Green (Washington Post):

“Here is what I want you to know about Paul Farmer: He simply did not accept the idea that inequality of health-care access is natural or inevitable. Because of his belief, and because of the nonprofit health organization Partners in Health that he co-founded, millions of people in some of the poorest nations on Earth are alive today.”

We have many of his books in our collection, including:

The library also has his biography, Paul Farmer: Servant to the Poor, as well as Partner to the poor : a Paul Farmer reader.

You may also wish to watch Bending the Arc, a documentary (also available on Netflix) “the story of Partners In Health’s origins and how founders influenced international movements at the center of some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian crises”.

If you are interested in reading one of his books for an upcoming IHS Library Book Club, please email allison.piazza@shu.edu.

Preprints

What exactly is “Preprint”?
As you read several news publications you may come across the term “Preprint”.  What exactly does that mean and what does a preprint article entail?

A preprint article is a version of a manuscript that is published on an open-access preprint server.  This kind of manuscript is published before any peer-review process.  They are generally published electronically and can be located on publicly available databases or preprint servers.

One reason a group of researchers may choose to do a preprint submission is because of the length of submitting an article through the traditional publication process can take a while.  Preprint allows for the dissemination of information at a faster pace.  Generally, the authors will still seek to have their work published in a peer-reviewed journal at a later date.

Skipping over the peer-review process may seem unconventional but there are some benefits to preprint.  Preprint allows you showcase to your colleagues where your interests lie, as well as establish early claims to your research findings.  Preprints are the fastest way that a researcher can disseminate their knowledge and research and start scholarly conversations.  Since most are located on an open access platform anyone can read them without paying which increases their accessibility and outreach.

It is important to keep in mind that while preprints may be scholarly, they have yet to be formally peer reviewed.  While some preprint servers may have a simple peer review process to determine that the content is legitimate, they don’t necessarily check on the reliability or accuracy of the information.  It is still best to be cautious when reading a preprint paper and to use your best judgement.

Did you know that we have our own Seton Hall Google Custom search for preprints?! A custom search will search multiple preprint servers simultaneously, including researchsquare.com, medrxiv.org, Preprints with The Lancet, semanticscholar.org, biorxiv.org, and outbreaksci.prereview.org.

Preprint Servers Custom Search

If you have any further questions regarding preprint documents reach out to your librarian!

— Kyle Downey kyle.downey@shu.edu