“Our goals are to meet the needs of principal investigators while supporting the highest level of excellence in clinical and translational research, said CRU Nurse Manager Jolene Lewis, MSN, RN. “We are well trained in Good Clinical Practice Guidelines and offer highly skilled, safe, efficient, and compassionate care.” The CRU team’s experience encompasses the entire care spectrum, from healthy volunteers to intensive end-stage participants.
The CRU offers numerous services—both inpatient and outpatient—to support the needs of clinical trials and studies. These include:
• Medication administration/ Intravenous therapy
• Pharmacokinetic sampling
• Nursing assessment
• Patient education
• Treatment monitoring
• Point-of-care testing
• Cardiac & pulse oximetry monitoring
• Venipuncture/phlebotomy
• Questionnaire administration
The CRU clinic is the latest addition to our “First Wednesdays @ PCAMS” consultation clinics. CCTS also offers: (1) Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD); (2) Bionutrition; and (3) Biorepository. To learn more about our other clinics, see “CCTS Triple Feature Wednesdays.” To learn more about CRU or to request services, see our CRU page.
The 3rd Annual Community Engagement Institute (CEI), which will take place in Birmingham on October 14, is seeking proposals for workshop sessions and its poster competition. The theme is “The Journey to Justice: Expanding the Possibilities.”
Designed as a full-day symposium focused on issues related to health equity and social justice, the CEI examines the importance of why and how community engagement and collaboration are effective in social/behavioral research and essential in community building practices. “Our goal is to disseminate research, exchange information, and share successful approaches to decreasing health disparities and increasing health equity and social justice,” said Dr. Shauntice Allen, program director of CCTS’s One Great Community, a CEI sponsor. “We also seek to empower participants to make a difference within and across communities,” she added.
CEI is looking for presentations that are “innovative, interactive, and creative.” Dr. Allen listed several examples of potential topics:
- Inclusion and fairness as approaches to eliminating inequalities seen in communities
- Enhancing community & campus relationships
- Civic engagement (i.e. informed voting, involvement in civic activities, the importance of your voice)
- The importance and power of collecting and using data for social change
- Community outreach and community development strategies
- Community organizing and advocacy approaches that address social injustices in communities
- Social entrepreneurism (use of business techniques to find solutions to social, cultural, and environmental issues)
- Increasing understanding of social justice concepts (economic stability, neighborhoods and built environment, health and health care accessibility, education, and social and community context)
CEI welcomes proposals for both workshops and posters from faculty and staff across multiple disciplines, undergraduate and graduate students, community members, organizational and community/neighborhood leaders, volunteers, business leaders, faith-based leaders, health advocates, information consumers, and grass-roots organizers and funders.
Interested? Submit your proposal idea by email to
To learn more about CEI 2016, including workshop and poster submission and acceptance criteria, registration, logistics, and more, visit our CEI web page.
The third annual Community Engagement Institute (CEI) will take place on Friday, October 14, at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) from 7:30am-3:30pm. Registration is tentatively slated to open on Wednesday, August 10.
The theme for 2016 is “The Journey to Justice: Expanding the Possibilities.” The goal is to build on the momentum of last year’s CEI to connect local change agents to one another to act in concert on projects of importance to the community.
To this end, the institute will explore concepts related to health equity and social justice in communities, with an emphasis on why and how community engagement and collaboration are effective public health resources and community building practices. Participants will gain informative skills related to collaborative research and community action.
Cohosted by CCTS’ One Great Community and the UAB Center for the Study of Community Health, the event will feature political activist, poet, writer, and entrepreneur Mr. Kevin Powell and Rep. Jeramey Anderson, Mississippi House of Representatives, as speakers. The day-long event will also include breakout and poster sessions.
For more information, visit our CEI page or email
Nearly 150 people joined us at our first-ever CCTS Open House, which replaced our usual monthly Forum. More than 90 of the guests were investigators new to the CCTS, with some from as far away as our partner institution Tulane University in attendance. Participants represented all the major roles of a research team, including faculty, trainees, research associates, coordinators and administrators, and many disciplines, from business and engineering to social-behavioral and health-related sciences (social work, psychology, nursing, medicine, dentistry, public health, and allied health professions).
Guests received packets of CCTS materials, enjoyed buffet-style hors d’oeuvres and refreshments, and visited several information stations, where CCTS experts were on hand to answer questions and spark lively scientific discussion.
Among the stations were:
Research Commons, the CCTS domain that connects investigators with scientific collaborators, cores, and capacities; biostatistics and informatics expertise; clinical services in support of trials and other types of studies; partner network opportunities; project panels; and funding opportunities.
Training Academy, the CCTS community of scholars that offers learning opportunities from the development of young investigators and throughout the career arc. From mentoring to mini-sabbaticals, from skill-oriented workshops and immersion courses to practicums in team science, our training team offers grant-based as well as other programs.
Clinical Translation, the CCTS domain that offers clinical research support and training, including skilled professional assistance from our Clinical Research, Bionutrition, Biorepository/Sample Processing and Analytic Nexus (SPAN), and Child Health Research units as well as collaboration with the UAB Clinical Trials Administration Office.
Community Engagement (CE), where visitors learned about One Great Community, at the center of CCTS CE efforts; the recent kick off of the 2016 Community Health Innovation Awards; and the upcoming Community Engagement Institute, which will take place on Friday, October 14, 2016.
Special Modules, which described the ways CCTS supports translational science in the drug discovery, device development, and genomic medicine.
CCTS Partner Network, the foundation of both our community and more academically-based efforts in biomedical research, which featured the latest update on what CCTS is doing to support multi-site studies.
The opportunity to learn from CCTS research experts is not unique to our Open House, but is the goal of every monthly CCTS Forum. These are held the first Wednesday of every month. Don’t miss our upcoming September Forum, which will feature the latest information on the NIH rigor, reproducibility, and transparency requirements.
One Great Community is the community engagement component of UAB’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). Its goal is to connect basic science and clinical researchers with the multiple communities they serve. This collaboration will ensure that research efforts respond to and reflect the needs of the community through an active process of community involvement, dialogue, and mutual understanding.
2. Must I attend the September 17, 2016 workshop in order to apply for a CHIA Grant?
Yes, the Saturday, September 17 Innovation Workshop is mandatory for all individuals who are interested in applying. Interested applicants should submit a Workshop Registration Form by mail or online at www.uab.edu/ccts/chia no later than Wednesday, September 14 in order to register. You or a representative from your team must be present at the Innovation Workshop.
3. Does an organization have to have 501(c)3 non-profit designation to be eligible to apply?
It is possible not to have 501(c)3 status and still apply for this grant opportunity; however, an applicant that does not have this designation must identify a non-profit partner to act as a fiscal agent for the grant opportunity.
4. How long is the project period?
The project period is for one year (12 months) from the date funds are distributed.
5. What do you mean by “innovative”?
An innovative idea for purposes of this grant opportunity refers to the use of a better and, as a result, novel idea or method. Innovative solutions refer to the notion of doing something different rather than doing the same thing. The Saturday, September 17 Innovation Workshop is designed to help you think about solutions to common problems in new ways.
6. How should I organize my final proposal document?
Each team will electronically respond to a set of questions and submit to the CHIA Project Team. Each question has a set amount of space for a response - a minimum of 250 words and maximum of 500 words. Draft proposals are due Monday, October 17 by 5pm. Final proposals are due Monday, November 14 by 5pm. NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED so please prepare early and submit on time.
7. How will my team be assigned a mentor?
Mentors will work with the applicant team to refine project ideas, review drafts of written proposals, and/or review and critique a team’s presentation approach. Mentors will be assigned teams based on the team’s idea and the mentor’s interest and expertise. Mentors are individuals who have been selected because they are community leaders, innovative thinkers, possess an expertise in communication, are able to leverage networks, and bring credibility to the process.
8. Will all teams be invited to present their ideas at the December 7 Panel Presentation?
Based on a selection process conducted by an external panel of reviewers, proposals that strongly demonstrate the incorporation of the five criteria areas will be invited to present to the panel of judges. This is a fast-paced process, so be aware that we are looking for projects that demonstrate a strong consideration of the five criteria areas from the beginning. We ask that you work to complete as much of your team’s project proposal by the October 17 draft proposal due date. The draft proposal will be evaluated and will determine whether your team will be invited to the November 5 Refinement Workshop.
9. What is the purpose of the November 5 Refinement Workshop?
The purpose of this workshop is to refine innovative project ideas and prepare the final proposal and panel presentation with a team mentor. Project ideas that strongly demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the awards criteria will move forward in the CHIA process and attend the Saturday, November 5 Refinement Workshop.
10. How does my team need to structure our final presentation on December 7?Presentations can be done through use of PowerPoint, photo montage, video, live speakers, real-time demonstrations, etc. A combination of all these approaches can be used. Teams are asked to use their best judgment to structure their presentation. Teams are required to keep their presentations to a total of 10-minutes for the December 7 presentations.
Please note that presentations will be evaluated by an external panel of judges based on the following criteria:
• Structure & Organization
• Creativity/Innovatio n
• Visual Aids
• Delivery
• Overall
If you have any other questions, email us at: