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Sally McIver: I am honored and so grateful to be among the six teams whose ideas were selected for Blue-Sky funding.

Photo from Sally Mclver/LinkedIn

Sep 17, 2023, 17:50

Sally McIver: I am honored and so grateful to be among the six teams whose ideas were selected for Blue-Sky funding.

Sally McIver, the Director of Academic Programs at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, recently shared a post by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on LinkedIn:

“I am honored and so grateful to be among the 6 teams whose ideas were selected for Blue-Sky funding. And I am so excited to be implementing the Strategic Milestones and Research Training (SMaRT) Plan for Career Advancement program for our postdocs!!! They are such a vital part of our research workforce and this investment is yet another step St. Jude is taking to support them and ensure successful career outcomes.”

Quoting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s post:

“St. Jude is devoting more than $50 million to launch and implement six new employee-generated transformational projects that will create 54 new jobs at St. Jude. The projects address critical patient care needs, fundamental basic science questions or administrative gaps and were identified in the Blue-Sky program, which encourages the development and submission of bold, transformational ideas by faculty and staff that helps St. Jude accelerate mission-critical approaches to the research and treatment of catastrophic childhood diseases.

‘The Blue-Sky process results in many of the world-changing ideas that St. Jude is proud to foster and contribute to the understanding and treatment of catastrophic pediatric diseases,’ said Shari Capers, Strategic Planning and Decision Support senior vice president, who oversees the Blue-Sky program ‘This process was created to foster identification of innovative ideas that evolve during the current strategic plan timeline by engaging employees to develop their ideas and collaborate across traditional departments and disciplines.’

In the latest Blue-Sky cycle, employees across departments and roles at St. Jude submitted 36 proposals for consideration.

Selected projects include:
PTNI Genomic Medicine Initiative (GEMINI)
Partnership to Advance Development of Individualized Genomic Medicines (PARADIGM)
Tracking the Immune Repertoire of Tumor Lymphocytes (TIRTL)
Strategic Milestones and Research Training (SMaRT)
Plan for Career Advancement Program
St. Jude Historical Archive
Diagnostic Innovations using Value-based implementation models to Increase Access (DIVIA)

Earlier Blue-Sky projects led to the creation of the Department of Global Pediatric Medicine, the Pediatric Translational Neuroscience Initiative and Family Commons, a clinic-free zone for patients and families to relax in between clinic appointments. Since the program was launched, employees have submitted 91 proposals, with 12 approved and funded prior to the projects being announced today. Funding for the implementation of those ideas exceeded more than $188 million.”

For details click here.
Source: Sally McIver/LinkedIn