UAB Grant to Speed Benefits of Research to Community, Alabama

Accelerating the pace of turning fundamental scientific discoveries into practical applications that enhance the lives of Alabamians is the focus of a new five-year $26.9 million grant at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It is one of the largest single grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in UAB’s history.

May 29, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Accelerating the pace of turning fundamental scientific discoveries into practical applications that enhance the lives of Alabamians is the focus of a new five-year $26.9 million grant at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It is one of the largest single grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in UAB's history.

The funds will be used to establish the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) at UAB.

"From the outset, UAB's mission has been to offer top-quality health care and education to the people of our state. With this grant, we'll be able to move early scientific discoveries much more rapidly into the community to have a more immediate impact on people's lives and health" said UAB President Carol Garrison.

A key focus of the grant is increasing interaction between UAB researchers and the community, and among researchers at UAB and elsewhere, to share information about community needs and available resource, and to enhance collaboration. This new approach to how research is viewed and conducted builds upon UAB's tradition of interdisciplinary work.

"One of UAB's strengths has been how well we work with each other within the university. We recognize the value of different perspectives to solving problems, and the ideas that are generated from that process," said Lisa Guay-Woodford, M.D., professor of genetics and principal investigator on the grant. "We are opening up the collaborative process even further than before by helping researchers recognize the resources available to them, including information, but also community support and willingness to assist in research, and the physical resources of some of our partner organizations."

UAB will be working with the state's historically black colleges and universities, including Tuskegee University, and Southern Research Institute, Children's Health System of Alabama, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and a variety of community organizations throughout Birmingham and the state.

For years, UAB has worked with community organizations to enhance the health of the population and to decrease health disparities. Through the CCTS, UAB will expand those efforts so that people within the general community can advise researchers how best to reach community members. At the same time, scientists will be able to help people understand the complexities of the research continuum and provide realistic timeframes for new advances.

"This enhanced two-way communication between UAB and the community will help to sustain and improve on the trusting relationship that each enjoys," Guay-Woodford said. "Additionally, through community feedback, UAB researchers will be better able to work with those groups to conduct even better and meaningful research."

A second major portion of the grant revolves around training and education. Young researchers will be assisted in designing their research in the most effective way to solve the problem at hand. However, UAB's efforts will be directed at all levels of researchers, from undergraduate students who are just experiencing an interest in scientific inquiry, to graduate students and clinicians who are making careers of science.

"Ensuring researchers are undertaking their work safely and ethically is first and foremost," Guay-Woodford said. "Over the years, this has brought about a large and complex regulatory system. We will provide researchers the resources to more easily understand and navigate that landscape, thereby enhancing their research efforts."

Sharing data and information within the university research community is another key goal of the CTSA. The Biomedical Informatics Component will capitalize on existing strengths across the university and the Health System, and develop new capabilities to enhance clinical and translational research at UAB.

Additionally, having the expertise and physical resources of HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology available will expand the knowledge-base and equipment available for the generation of research ideas, interpretation of those ideas and eventual development of those ideas into useful products for the general public.

UAB joins 37 other institutions as part of the federally funded consortium of Clinical and Translation Science Award Centers.

"Earning this grant is a demonstration that UAB is among the top clinical and translational research institutions in the nation," said Dr. Robert R. Rich, UAB senior vice president of medicine and dean of the School of Medicine. "The infrastructure created through this award will enhance our researchers' abilities to successfully compete for additional federal funding in the future."

Said U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) "The University of Alabama at Birmingham is one of our nation's premier research institutions. As part of the CTSA consortium, researchers at UAB will work alongside other premier health centers conducting critical studies to provide new, cutting-edge medical treatments to patients. I am confident that the findings from the research that will be conducted at UAB will reach far beyond Alabama and help extend and improve the lives of people across our nation."