Funding Advice Research Articles

Insulin biobetters and biosimilars in clinical practice.

Insulin injections have never been an entirely satisfactory therapy, and as a result a continuing 'biobetter' technological cascade has driven changes in purity and manufacture, in structure and excipients, and in administration devices. The resulting deck of insulin preparations has to be matched by health-care teams and users with individual need. This latter is itself a complex ranging from ambulatory care in type 1 and type 2 diabetes, the topic generally addressed by guidelines and funding advice, to in-patient care and the newly diagnosed, plus secondary diabetes with very different effects on insulin need, through to co-morbidities and medications interfering with glucose metabolism. In this article the match of different clinical scenarios to the available insulins is discussed in the context of available evidence, quality guidelines, and diabetes best practice. Additionally the role of biosimilars of the insulin analogues is addressed, their limited but useful price advantage, and the management consequences of substitution for the originator product.

Launching Successful Beginnings for Early Career Faculty Researchers.

Junior faculty follow a research path replete with challenges as they strive to create knowledge in their area of interest while balancing new responsibilities. Unlike graduate school, where students focus inward on personal development, junior faculty must add responsibilities in ways that hold them accountable as members of a university. This special article deals with three themes of interest to new junior faulty launching research programs: personal development, collaboration and team development within university settings, and funding advice. Strategies in these areas provide guidance on navigating early careers and finding success in the academic setting.

NSF funding advice

The Communications Web site, http://cacm.acm.org, features more than a dozen bloggers in the BLOG@CACM community. In each issue of Communications , we'll publish selected posts or excerpts. twitter Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogCACM Jeannette M. Wing shares useful suggestions for department heads. Daniel Reed discusses the importance of synergy among computing specialists and generalists.

Congress, State Officials Give Funding Advice

Congress, State Officials Give Funding Advice

Development of New Faculty: Summary of the NSF-CMS WEE Workshop

The National Science Foundation-Civil and Mechanical Systems (NSF-CMS) Workshop on the Advancement and Retention of Underrepresented and Minority Engineering Educators (WEE) 2003 brought together approximately 75 future, new, and seasoned professors from universities all over the United States. The NSF workshop is intended to provide valuable information to new or prospective underrepresented and minority faculty to assist them with the start of their academic careers. However, the information provided in the workshop is universally applicable to all new engineering professors, who aspire to develop comprehensive research, teaching, and service programs. This paper provides a highlight of the workshop and summarizes some of the key information presented. Topics such as funding strategies, proposal writing, and advice for the new tenure track faculty member are given. Where appropriate, we have included supplemental information from the literature that supports or expands on topics discussed at the workshop.

Is This the End of the ‘Long Term’ for Pensions Actuaries?. A Discussion Meeting

INTRODUCTIONThe Profession claims to make financial sense of the future, and our particular angle is our purported ability to see past the whims of the short termists and keep an unwavering eye on the long term. The pensions arena has been no different … until now?In June 2003, the Government converted defined retirement benefits unambiguously from an arguably vague promise to a debt, behind which the sponsor has to stand. A series of subsequent legislative changes, including the introduction of Scheme Specific Funding and of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), with its proposed risk-based levies, has forced trustees to take a more commercial view to make sure that accrued benefits are met.This stands in contrast to the gentler ‘funding’ environment in which pension schemes and Scheme Actuaries had become used to working. In that environment, the actuarial ‘long term’ justified many of the decisions taken in funding schemes — the long-term focus drove investment strategy and the approach to setting or agreeing contribution rates.Has the rationale for the ‘long term’ disappeared: now that some of the discussion about funding has included talk of deficit correction periods of less than five years; now that accounting standards put any investment and actuarial volatility in the pension scheme into the sponsor's accounts every year; and now that PPF levies will change from year to year as funding levels and sponsor covenants change?Has the Actuarial Profession over-reacted in focusing on the short term, or has it under-reacted? Will investment strategies look very different in years to come? Will valuations and funding advice take on a different shape?

Research activity, interest and skills in a health and social care setting, a snapshot of a primary care trust in northern England: implications for collaboration and capacity

International and UK National Health Service policy has focused attention on the need to develop research capacity in primary care, with the emphasis on collaboration between professional groups and across organizations including health and social care, and the academic context. The results of a survey of research activity, interest and skills in a health and social care community, in Northern England, are reported. The survey targeted primary care trust (PCT) staff, general practice staff and social services staff seconded to the PCT, and a response rate of 31% was achieved. Twelve per cent of respondents were involved in research, with research active professionals typically involved in between one and three projects. PCT staff reported a significantly higher level of research activity, research skills and research interest than general practice or social care staff. The holding of a master's degree was associated with a greater desire to lead or collaborate in research. All three groups expressed a preference for practice-based research training and other forms of research support were identified, including protected time, apprenticeship, mentoring and funding advice. The results of this survey have been valuable in terms of research governance, forming research strategy, and impact on capacity via training and support for the health and social care community within a newly formed research alliance between a district general hospital, a PCT and social services, including an academic advisory group. The paper concludes that a holistic approach to research capacity building should inform changing policy and research funding in the UK.

Funding Defined Benefit Pension Schemes

ABSTRACTThis paper puts the case for the Actuarial Profession revising and tightening its standards on actuarial funding advice in relation to United Kingdom occupational pension schemes. We critique current actuarial practice and advocate principles for measuring solvency and providing funding advice. In particular, we advocate that funding targets should be clearly and unambiguously related to scheme solvency. The paper also covers optimal investment strategy, treatment of the ‘company covenant’ when giving funding advice and governance issues relating to pension schemes.