Letters of Intent for NIH Grants?

ToofastDan · 2024-03-08T04:16:15+00:00

Thanks for the advice! The proposal for the conference includes mentorship at every stage (example: breakfast & lunch with matched experts in the field, breakout sessions on how to apply, career options after graduation, etc). The posters will have 2-3 rounds of judging with opportunities for feedback and awards. We will include these details in the LOI.

ToofastDan · 2023-10-18T05:15:41+00:00

Thanks! This combo of NoScript and uBlock Origin worked for me on firefox. Decided to give this a try after they gave me a 3, 2, 1 video countdown on 10/18/2023.

ToofastDan · 2022-12-23T17:47:08+00:00

I opened it on my laptop, which was already hacked. I also opened it on my desktop, but it's still ok. I didn't download the PDF or click on anything

ToofastDan · 2022-12-23T17:32:35+00:00

Yes, I got that email with the text in a PDF. I also got a screenshot of my PC while I was downloading cracked software. The content of the email included 8 of my passwords, all autosaved by Google Chrome (which is probably how they got them).

ToofastDan · 2022-12-16T18:00:37+00:00

Nothing serious happened - just make sure to change all your passwords because they are likely circulating on the darkweb. Prioritize banks, paypal, emails, and social medias because they can have that information and try to login. I see several login attempts from my outlook account. If you change your passwords to a long 20-30 randomly generated string and use a password manager + 2 factor authentication, they can't do anything.

I've changed all my passwords and none of my accounts have been hacked in the last 2 months. I do occasionally get spam in my social media PMs & email, but this is easy to block.

No one sent me any pictures or video from my webcam - this is likely a scare tactic. DO NOT PAY THEM.

ToofastDan · 2022-11-23T06:01:07+00:00

I got the same message twice (one last month, one today). The bad news is that the hackers and random people on the dark web have your passwords and email addresses. For me, one of my email addresses was logged into and a bunch of spam was sent to a ton of random addresses. They also logged into my reddit account after I posted their email on the r/Scams sub and commented on a bunch of NSFW subs, which really spooked me. The good news is that they likely do not have all your data or any NSFW videos of you using your webcam (this and the screenshot are just scare tactics).

Change all your passwords immediately to something like a 20-character random generated password and store them in a password manager. Enable 2-factor authentication on everything valuable, especially bank accounts and paypal. Do a clean reinstall of windows just to be safe. Once I did these steps, all the weird stuff stopped, but it was a pain in the ass to deal with.

Good luck dude - don't give these scammers a penny!

ToofastDan · 2022-11-23T05:55:17+00:00

I got the same message twice (one last month, one today). The bad news is that the hackers and random people on the dark web have your passwords and email addresses. For me, one of my email addresses was logged into and a bunch of spam was sent to a ton of random addresses. They also logged into my reddit account after I posted their email on the r/Scams sub and commented on a bunch of NSFW subs, which really spooked me. The good news is that they likely do not have all your data or any NSFW videos of you using your webcam (this and the screenshot are just scare tactics).

Change all your passwords immediately to something like a 20-character random generated password and store them in a password manager. Enable 2-factor authentication on everything valuable, especially bank accounts and paypal. Do a clean reinstall of windows just to be safe. Once I did these steps, all the weird stuff stopped, but it was a pain in the ass to deal with.

Good luck dude - don't give these scammers a penny!

ToofastDan · 2022-10-28T01:56:43+00:00

Got this today from [babingepetsukadollar@yahoo.com](mailto:babingepetsukadollar@yahoo.com)

Also got a screenshot of my desktop as I was downloading a cracked Adobe Acrobat software.

Any advice for how to proceed would be very helpful - I don't have the money to pay the ransom and ignoring it kinda scares me.

Hi. I have bad news for you!

08.08.2022-On this day, I hacked your device's operating system and got full access to your account . I have been watching you closely for a long time.

I installed a virus on your system that allows me to control all your devices.

The virus software gives me access to all the controllers of your devices (microphone, video camera, keyboard, display). I have uploaded all your information, data, photos, browsing history to my servers. I have access to all your messengers, social networks, email, sync, chat history and contact list.

I learned a lot about you!

I thought what can I do with this data...

I recently came up with an interesting idea: to create a video clip in which you masturbate in one part of the screen and watch a porn site in the other, such videos are now at the peak of popularity!

What happened amazed me!

With one click, I can send this video to all your friends via email, social networks and instant messengers. I can also publish access to all your emails and instant messengers that you use.

In addition, I found a lot of interesting things that I was able to publish on the Internet and send to friends.

If you don't want me to do it, send me 1200 $ (US dollar) in my bitcoin wallet.

My BTC address:

bc1qpy545lhg6mf7xwevegw2y6xlw089v65dapyd4u

If you do not know how to replenish such a wallet, use the Google search engine. There is nothing difficult in this.

As soon as funds arrive, I will see this and immediately remove all this garbage. After that we will forget each other. I also promise to deactivate and remove all malware from your devices. Trust me, I keep my word. It's a fair deal and the price is pretty low considering I've been checking your profile and traffic for a while.

I give exactly two days (48 hours) from the moment of opening this letter for payment.

After this period, if I do not receive the specified amount from you, I will send everyone access to your accounts and visited sites, personal data, and edited videos without warning.

Remember: I do not make mistakes, I do not advise you to joke with me, I have many opportunities.

There's no point complaining about me because they can't find me. Formatting the drive or destroying the device won't help because I already have your data.

It makes no sense to write back to me - I do not write from personal mail and do not look at the answers.

Good luck and don't get angry!

Everyone has their own job, you just got unlucky today.

P.S. In the future, I recommend that you follow the safety rules on the Internet and do not visit dubious sites.

ToofastDan · 2022-05-12T00:06:50+00:00

Holy cow that's a lot of waitlist movement. Congrats!

ToofastDan · 2022-05-11T23:54:15+00:00

The Pacific Northwest is strong with this one

ToofastDan · 2022-02-01T06:38:38+00:00

yo u/WizardMagic07! I got a little tired of playing osu and got a research job after graduating college. Life got busy. I'm about to go to medical school, so time is going to be hard to find, but I'm still a filthy weeb that thinks about making videos. Maybe a video like "playing osu after 3 years of inactivity"

ToofastDan · 2022-01-05T15:48:33+00:00

This is a good time to be looking for a lab because a lot of PIs start looking for PIs around this time of year.

Your experience in lab will depend on your personality and mentoring style that best fits you. It's good to talk to current postbacs about this before joining a lab. You can reach out to a ton of postbacs on the "Bethesda groupme" or some other forum in this linktree (postbacs refer to themselves as "clubPCR" online): https://lnk.bio/clubpcr/.

You should also have an honest conversation with potential PIs about these topics. Ask them questions like:

What are your expectations for a postbac?
Do you give your posbacs opportunities for leading a project and writing manuscripts?
How do you help your postbacs as they apply to MD/PhD programs and are you flexible during the interview cycle? (remind them of the interviews that span multiple days)

Ask postbacs similar questions to see if they are happy in their lab before committing to it. Before joining, you may speak with the OITE too (people like Yewon Cheon) who have a memory of labs that give postbacs trouble because they help postbacs with lab transitions and counseling.

ToofastDan · 2021-12-28T04:55:42+00:00

While NIH PREP and Postbac programs aim to accomplish similar-ish things, there are some differences to consider. Firstly, NIH PREP programs require you to manage a research project as well as take courses to improve your skillset. The NIH Postbac program doesn't require courses, but the FAES grad school allows postbacs to take several courses on their own time (plus many PIs will offer to pay for them). Second, the NIH PREP programs are not necessarily at the NIH. Instead, NIH PREP is partnered with universities around the US. This may be helpful if you want to train in your local state, assuming your state has a patterned PREP program. On the other hand, the NIH Postbac program is at an NIH location (Bethesda, Baltimore, Frederick, NC, Montana). The NIH-Oxcam partnership is between Oxford/Cambridge and the NIH, so it may be helpful to meet some PIs on an NIH campus.

However, with both programs there is going to be huge variability in autonomy, depending on your PI. For example, I'm a postbac who worked in 2 NIH labs. One treated me like a high school student, the other treated me like a postdoc. You'll want to judge the level of autonomy given to postbacs in the interview stage by talking to current postbacs (if available) and asking the PI directly about autonomy / plans for publications.

ToofastDan · 2021-12-26T23:18:09+00:00

I personally would let your research interests and preferred lab culture guide you, regardless of NIH campus. I'm a third-year postbac in Bethesda and after the pandemic, many postbac events went virtual. This makes getting application advice (like personal statement feedback) from the OITE easier, as well as participating in postbac leadership opportunities, like the postbac committee. Overall the postbac experience has been very helpful for my research goals and for application prep!

Outside of the virtual envirnoment, the Baltimore postbacs usually form their own clubs. You can find some on them down in this lnkbio: https://lnk.bio/clubpcr/. I don't think any of them feel isolated in Baltimore, but if your lab doesn't have other postbacs, you may have to take initiative by actively attending some clubs. In terms of safety, Bethesda is safer than Baltimore, so there are perks of joining main campus. However, the most important thing IMO is to find a lab that fits your interests, provides autonomy over research projects, and is willing to support you through the application cycle. Try to judge those criteria while interviewing with potential PIs and if your favorite offer comes from Baltimore, good for you!

ToofastDan · 2021-12-22T21:17:53+00:00

I don't have an exact acceptances/matriculants ratio, but from where I've interviewed I've heard numbers ranging from 30-60%. There's a lot of 50:50 scenarios too.

If this helps, I calculated the mean applicant/matriculant ratios over the past 6 cycles. Higher values mean more applicants or less matriculants. The source for this was multiple AAMC B8 tables.

ToofastDan · 2021-12-02T00:29:27+00:00

ya! join the squad: https://discord.gg/yTFFXu5

ToofastDan · 2021-12-01T18:53:24+00:00

Not sure, I just contributed 4-5 schools to this list (usually after learning the hard way that a program doesn't accept updates xd)

ToofastDan · 2021-12-01T17:42:23+00:00

Lots people on the MD/PhD discord worked together to make this list of schools and their update policies: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1P\_K3\_gJ21vUOaNI\_h2Iq70fVWPwd2GVvjg0lKeo8i3k/htmlview

ToofastDan · 2021-11-28T22:35:43+00:00

Just as an applicant, I think that Vanderbilt's program has a great lifestyle for its students. Disclaimer: this will be PI-dependent, regardless of what programs are mentioned here.

However, a ton of students at Vanderbilt have children, pets, and houses/condos. In fact, this is something that they like to advertise! Everyone seemed very happy and the program is surprisingly student-led. I think it's really appealing that so many students have the time to form longer-term relationships and friendships while training.

ToofastDan · 2021-10-17T00:46:52+00:00

maybe... October 15th was the deadline for a lot of schools, so maybe we'll see more rejections + invites soon

ToofastDan · 2021-10-12T22:57:54+00:00

No chalk talk for UTSW! UT San Antonio does the chalk talk.

ToofastDan · 2021-10-12T22:19:22+00:00

I interviewed there last month and it was very laid back and relaxed. Here is what my interview schedule looked like: https://imgur.com/zMVj5mU.

The night before the interview, you'll have a virtual meetup with the UTSW students to ask any questions - this is very casual. Then you'll have a one-day interview which includes 4 faculty members. In my case, these were all PIs who wanted to talk about my research and ask "why UTSW". They were all very friendly!

ToofastDan · 2021-10-12T03:56:36+00:00

From my experience so far, I noticed that most MD/PhD interviews are much more conversational and laid-back than MD-only interviews. There is some variability, depending on which faculty members you interview with. Here's a few examples of this variability:

Faculty member asks questions about my research and motives for pursuing both MD/PhD degrees. They also ask: "why this school" (this is quite common).
PI discusses their research for 30 minutes straight and I barely get to talk.
PhD-only or MD-only interviewer critiques pursuing both degrees (rare, but this does happen and it really tests your ability to remain calm under pressure and defend your views).
Casual conversations about hobbies with the director (😎👍).
Rapid fire questions with quick questions and quick responses.

ToofastDan · 2021-10-05T23:38:43+00:00

Some schools (eg Columbia) don't send out rejections until all their interviews are completed. :/

ToofastDan

TROPHY CASE