The CCTS has launched the Southeast Health Alliance for Research, or SHARe, a consortium through which multi-site studies and clinical trials can be developed, meeting a critical need for a transformational research enterprise in the Deep South. All CCTS Partners have been invited to sign the SHARe agreement, including Auburn, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Southern Research, Tulane University, Tuskegee University, University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, University of Mississippi Medical Center, the University of South Alabama, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. 

The vision for SHARe is to enable CCTS Partners to collaborate more efficiently and effectively, spurring trans-network innovation among faculty, physicians, and other healthcare providers and jointly moving research discoveries to the bedside and into the community. The SHARe network offers trial sponsors access to a large, regional, and diverse patient population while taking advantage of administrative efficiencies agreed to by the Partners, such as single IRB reliance and a joint administrative structure. Principle investigators from any Partner institution can likewise propose a study to be administered by SHARe.  

“By participating in SHARe, each institution becomes more competitive for multi-site trial dollars,” says Dr. Jason Nichols, CCTS Director of the Multi-Site Support initiative. “SHARe can bring several sites to the table in a coordinated fashion, which is an advantage.” 

Tulane and UAB were the initial parties to sign the SHARe agreement. An Advisory Board designed to assess and approve the consortium’s participation in proposed projects has been named with CCTS Director Dr. Robert P. Kimberly serving as chair. The consortium is finalizing internal SOPs in preparation for the first SHARe multisite trial.  

PIs from across the CCTS Partner Network who are interested in more information or proposing a study for SHARe can do that here.