Samuel C. Cartner Retirement Announcement
Associate Vice President for Research Facilities and Infrastructure Dr. Sam Cartner has announced he will retire from UAB effective October 1, 2020. Cartner is a graduate of UAB and Auburn University and worked for the institution for more than 25 years.
Dr. Cartner oversees the Animal Resources Program (ARP) at UAB which supports over 400 investigators whose research funding tops $150,000,000 annually. Along with the team of 100 veterinarians, scientists, and laboratory technicians, the ARP takes care of 150,000 animals representing more than 20 species.
“Dr. Cartner is the quintessential Blazer, working across departments and schools to advance research while maintaining the highest standards for animal welfare and the best qualities of the veterinary profession” said Chris Brown, vice president for research. “UAB will greatly miss his expertise, decisiveness, and collaborative spirit, but after his long years of service he richly deserves a great retirement.”
Sam started at UAB as a graduate student in 1989 and never looked back. He moved through the ranks in the departments of Comparative Medicine and Genetics from postdoctoral fellow to professor, and served in the roles of associate director and then director of the Animal Resources Program, assistant then associate vice president of Animal Research Services, director of the Southeastern Biocontainment Laboratory (SEBLAB), and associate vice president for Research Facilities and Infrastructure.
“I have absolutely loved working at UAB and the people with whom I have worked” said Dr. Cartner. “The administration has always been supportive, the researchers are dedicated and brilliant and my colleagues in the Animal Resources Program are awesome! I know the program will continue to grow and I look forward to keeping up with the valuable discoveries.”
Dr. Erik Dohm, Associate Director for the ARP, will serve as the interim leader of the ARP while a national search is launched to identify Cartner’s replacement.
“Rest assured that we will continue to provide the highest quality service in partnership with the UAB research community during this transition” Brown said.
UCEM Leadership Transition
UAB Office of Research
UAB School of Medicine
Dr. Marcas Bamman has announced his intention to step down as Director of the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine effective July 31, 2020. Marcas established the UCEM in 2011 and has had a major role in the recognition and growth of exercise medicine nationally. The UCEM was awarded a T32 in 2012, and Marcas founded the National Exercise Clinical Trials Network (NExTNet) with UAB as the hub/Coordinating Center that same year. NExTNet subsequently grew to include 77 member institutions from coast to coast. The UCEM continued to attract significant funding including the NIH National Rehabilitation Research Resource to Enhance Clinical Trials, the Coordinating Center for the NIH Medical Rehabilitation Research Resource Network, and was awarded 1 of 6 adult Clinical Centers for MoTrPAC. The UCEM was renewed as a full University Wide Interdisciplinary Research Center in 2019.
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Tom Buford will assume the role of Director of UCEM. Since his arrival at UAB in 2017, Dr. Buford has worked closely with Dr. Bamman as an Associate Director of UCEM. He is also Co-Director of the UAB Nathan Shock Center on the Basic Biology of Aging. Dr. Buford is an accomplished scholar, having published over 120 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He currently holds two R01 awards from the National Institute on Aging, incorporating both human and animal models of exercise. He has served on multiple NIH peer review panels and has also been an investigator on two of the largest exercise clinical trials ever conducted - the LIFE Study and the ongoing MoTrPAC initiative. Tom will assume the role of UCEM Director on August 1, 2020.
Last updated: 1:25 pm, Feb. 16, 2026
To assist UAB investigators in submitting competitive and successful NIH S10 Shared Instrumentation Grants (Shared Instrumentation Grant Program (SIG)) and High End Instrumentation (High-End Instrumentation Grant Program (HEI)) grants, a pre-submission and review process will be followed in 2026. The goal is to assist investigators in proposal development as well as obtaining institutional support necessary for submission. The process will include a letter of intent followed by a merit-based assessment of each project. Both the SIG and HEI have a due date of June 1, 2026.
| Activity | Date |
|---|---|
| Submit Letter of Intent (see LOI criteria below): | March 13, 2026 |
| Results of LOI review: | March 20, 2026 |
| Selected Project PIs meet with IRCP Director: | March 27, 2026 |
| Acquire Letters of Support with commitment level: | April 17, 2026 |
| Full application review by Instrumentation Grant Panel: | April 24, 2026 |
| Final Sign Off: | May 8, 2026 |
Letter of Intent Components
(2 Pages + 1 Table)
- Page One
- Principal Investigator
- Mechanism: Shared Instrument ($50K to $600K) OR High-End Instrument ($601K to $2M)
- Application Title
- Equipment make and model + cost estimate/vendor quote
- Oversight Committee members proposed or actual. (Oversight committees are required for the S10 mechanism)
- Summary of equipment need/Specific Aims
- Page Two
- Brief half-page Administrative Plan: in an existing core, department, center or stand-alone (RFA strongly recommends existing cores)
- Brief half-page financial sustainability plan
- Page Three
Proposed Users Table including School/College, Department, and grants the instrument would support:User
(Faculty Member)School / College Dept. Supported Grant (Award #)
The IRCP Director, James Kobie, (
Selected projects will work with the IRCP director to identify and garner Letters of Support along with resource commitments.
It is recommended that each application go through the CCTS-facilitated Instrument Grant Panel before being submitted to OSP.
In an effort to assist UAB investigators in submitting competitive and successful NSF MRI grants (https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2023/nsf23519/nsf23519.htm), a pre-submission and review process is being instituted for the 2023-24 cycle. This process replicates what has been used successfully for S10 grants from NIH at UAB. The goal is to assist investigators in proposal development as well as obtaining institutional support. The process will include a letter of intent followed by a merit-based assessment of each project. The process is as follows:
| Submit Letter of Intent (see LOI criteria below): | by Aug 11, 2023 |
| Results of LOI review: | by Aug 21, 2023 |
| Selected PIs meet with IRCP Director: | by Aug 31, 2023 |
| Full application review by The Implementation Group (TIG): | by Sep 29, 2023 |
| Acquire Letters of Support with commitment level: | by Oct 13, 2023 |
| Deadline for NSF submission | Nov 15, 2023 |
Letter of Intent Components (2-Pages + Table):
- PI:
- NSF Track Choice: Track 1 ($100K to $1.4M) OR Track 2 ($1.4M to $4M)
- Application Working Title:
- Instrument location and type, or very brief (1-2 sentences) development plan description:
- Summary of instrument needs and users:
- Summary of broader impacts:
- Summary of management plan (Instrument in a core facility or other model):
- Proposed Users Table including School/College, Department, and grants the instrument would support:
| User (Faculty Member) | School/College | Dept. | Supported Grant (Award #) |
The IRCP Director, Mike Bertram and AVP for Research Infrastructure, David Schwebel will be available until the LOI deadline for consultation and assistance with LOI materials development.
LOI’s should be submitted to Mike Bertram by 5:00 PM on August 11, 2023:
The LOIs will be reviewed for merit by the Institutional Research Core Oversight Committee consisting of broad representation from across the UAB campus, VA Hospital and UWIRCs.
Selected projects will work with the IRCP director and Associate Vice President for Research-Facilities and Infrastructure to identify and garner any needed Letters of Support along with resource commitments.
Each application will be required to go through the TIG consultants review by September 29, 2023.
The SharePoint 2010 site content that you are trying to access is under maintenance. The Office of Research site content may be accessed at www.uab.edu/research/home.
Did you try to find the content using any of the following new sites?
The Office of Institutional Review Board - www.uab.edu/irb
Office of Sponsored Programs - www.uab.edu/osp
Animal Resources Program - www.uab.edu/arp
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee - www.uab.edu/iacuc
Research Technology and Communications - www.uab.edu/rtc
Other Offices - www.uab.edu/research/home/offices