CCTS is working hard to ensure investigators are ready for two new requirements that will take effect in January 2017: Good Clinical Practice training and trial registration and reporting in ClinicalTrials.gov.

'Tis the season to celebrate collaborations, like the new CCTS SHARe, which will increase the competitiveness of participating institutions for multisite trials that, in turn, will speed the translation of scientific discoveries into health care improvements.

CCTS will host several events shortly after the holiday season, including the CCTS Forum on Wed. Jan. 4th, which will explore bioinnovation and commercialization in academia; our Clinical Research Seminar Series on Jan. 5, which will review new ClinicalTrials.gov requirements; and our First Wed. drop-in clinics for our Biostatistics, Bionutrition, Biorepository, and Clinical Research units.

The i2b2 platform is increasing the number and quality of research opportunities, whether multisite collaborations via SHRINE or TriNetX or by investigators trained to use the i2b2 self-service query builder and so access UAB EHR data on their own.

Due to popular demand, the i2b2 hands-on training, cohosted by CCTS and the UAB Informatics Institute, will take place on the 1st Thursday and 3rd Tuesday of every month as of 2017. Registration is required, and attendees are strongly encouraged to request i2b2 access prior to their session. Visit the CCTS Events page for information about all our trainings.

In a talk presented to Auburn University investigators earlier this month, CCTS Codirector of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) and UAB Chair of Biostatistics Dr. David Redden reviewed steps investigators can take to avoid cognitive fallacies in research that undermine reproducibility.

Dr. Robert Rich, professor of Medicine, Microbiology, and Medical Education and former senior vice president and dean, UAB School of Medicine, provided invaluable career advice at the most recent CCTS Training Interdisciplinary & Emerging Research Scholars (TIERS) seminar.

Eight CCTS Predoctoral TL1 trainees presented posters on their research findings at the UAB School of Medicine Dale J. Benos Medical Student Research Day. Our outstanding TL1s are pursuing an MS or MSPH, in addition to an MD or clinical PhD, to broaden their career options by adding a translational science skill set to their cvs.

MyNRMN is a free social networking platform to help scientists of any discipline and at every career level find or become a mentor regardless of geographic location. CCTS Training Academy Director Dr. David D. Chaplin recommends the new resource, noting “You do not have to be an NIH-funded scientist to use it."