Creating a supportive environment for discovery

Back in July, I shared my personal goals under the UAB Medicine AMC21 strategic plan to create an enriched environment for engagement, innovation and discovery across mission areas in the School of Medicine. In order to meet any of those goals, we have to develop the environment of UAB as a destination for the country’s best talent.  Our ability to do this is a direct reflection of our ability to—first and foremost— retain and support talented faculty, grow new scientists and recruit clinicians and scientists from around the country.

Growth isn’t just recruiting and hiring new investigators, but increasing our scientific impact into research, discovery, publications and support of our current faculty. Foremost, it’s about providing a foundation for new discoveries that will impact the treatment of medical diseases and reduce suffering.

In the past year, the school has made investments to develop this kind of environment:

• Faculty development and mentorship. David Rogers, senior associate dean for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development, wrote in a piece last week about the roles mentorship can play for faculty at all levels.
• Supporting an increase in graduate student stipends
• Providing mechanisms for bridge funding, to help investigators sustain programs while they resubmit grant applications
• Creating RFAs for programmatic development to fund new ideas
• Partnering with numerous departments to support research-intensive faculty

Programs that have been created in the past year include the AMC21 Multi-PI Investigator Awards, Blue Sky Innovator Awards and the Pittman Scholars.  We have also just released an RFA to provide seed funding to move a one-R01 investigator toward new ideas within our research focus areas that could lead to a second R01.

I invite all of you to attend the next UAB Medicine Town Hall Meetings, where I will be speaking about the resources funded through the Academic Enrichment Fund. Sessions are planned for 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3 in the West Pavilion Conference Center, and 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 11 in the Highlands Media Center.