Explore UAB

Research cooks like Alex Buck, pictured here, prepared over 1,000 meals during the month of September, and supported 70 different studies in 2020.The CCTS Bionutrition Unit offers a range of expertise and scientific capacity to investigators in nutrition-related research. Dietitians are available to help plan, design, and implement the nutritional components of research protocols, inform the recruitment and screening of research participants, and help collect and analyze dietary intake data. The unit is also equipped to work with investigators beyond the CCTS Hub at UAB, investigators like Annet Kirabo, DVM, MSc PhD, assistant professor of medicine and molecular physiology and biophysics at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Kirabo’s team knew about the expertise available nearby and reached out to determine if collaboration was possible. Indeed it was, and now every meal for the study, entitled “Salt-Sensitivity and Immunity Cell Activation” (NCT03753204), is being prepared in Birmingham and shipped to Nashville for study participants enrolled there.

LaleThese meals were prepared for overnight shipping to Nashville, Tennessee for Dr. Kirabo's study participants. Ertuglu, MD, postdoctoral research fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, works in close coordination with the dieticians at UAB, and is pleased with the partnership. “It can be tricky to find a kitchen that can handle a study like this, so this space and team has been indispensable for us. The project requires careful coordination and great communication and their team is proving to be very good at it.”

CCTS Deputy Director and Bionutrition Medical Director, Orlando Gutierrez, MD, looks forward to more partnership opportunities: “This collaboration with Vanderbilt underscores our capacity to support nutrition studies throughout our region, including other CTSA Hubs in the Southeast region. This demonstrates our reach as a regional center of excellence for nutrition research and hopefully will catalyze further studies with regional partners in the future.”

To learn more about clinical services and capacities of the CCTS to strengthen your research, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Written by Katie Bradford | November 8, 2021

Digitization of medical records has been widely adopted by physicians and health systems over the last 15 years, creating a vast quantity of health data. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the need for interoperability of those electronic health record (EHR) systems so that the research community may study COVID-19 through the lens of clinical data and identify potential therapies. Led by NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award programs and spanning more than 70 institutions in the United States, the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) aggregates and harmonizes COVID-19 patient-level electronic health record (EHR) data across health care systems at an unprecedented scale.

James Cimino, MD, CCTS Co-Director and UAB Informatics Institute Director, led the CCTS Hub's (UAB's) participation in N3C as a data provider. “COVID-19 created a singular focus among a wide-array of stakeholders to get a nationwide view of COVID-19. While N3C is effectively a data enclave, it also represents deployment of rapid solutions in the spaces of legal agreements, governance, data and quality management and tools.” These collaborative efforts were recently documented in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.  In parallel, CCTS Partners at Auburn, LSUHSC, PBRC, Tulane, the University of Alabama, UAB and USA and collaborators at the University of Mississippi Medical Center executed data use agreements that allow their researchers to leverage the resource.

As the pandemic evolves, so does the N3C data enclave – it is now one of the largest collections of COVID-19 health records in the world, representing an unprecedented opportunity for scientific investigation. As part of Domain Teams, the N3C platform supports a community of scholarship that enables investigators with shared interest to work together across institutional boundaries, proving to be an effective team-based approach. Noha Sharafeldin, MBBCh, Ph.D. co-leads an N3C Oncology Domain Team. Leveraging N3C, she and her collaborators reported on COVID-19 positive cancer patients and characteristics associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The team also plans to assess the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on cancer outcomes and continuity of cancer treatments. Eli Levitt, Ph.D., collaborated with a multi-institutional team to develop a model that predicts COVID-19 clinical severity, which was reported in JAMA Network Open. Similarly, CCTS Informaticist, Ron Horswell, Ph.D., participated on a project utilizing N3C data to study the COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality rates among individuals from rural settings (available in MedRxIV). Beyond assessing COVID-19 in the context of specific health conditions or populations, the N3C data enclave may serve as model towards strengthening future health emergency capacity.

If you are interested in leveraging N3C at your institution, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. can help you navigate how to get connected.

Written by the CCTS team | November 1, 2021

One of the biggest challenges clinical trials face is recruitment– approximately 50% of clinical trials fail to enroll an adequate number of patients in order to reach statistical power. To help address this challenge, the CCTS Hub partnered with TriNetX, a clinical data network of healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations that connects clinical researchers to trial opportunities based on the patient populations they wish to study.

TriNetX uses the i2b2 (Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside) framework, which is designed to enable enterprise-wide searches of de-identified health information. This platform is used to determine aspects of cohort feasibility by identifying whether a health center sees a sizable number of patients that meet a study’s inclusion/exclusion criteria. TriNetX is able to conduct this analysis across 100+ linked institutional i2b2 instances to provide query capability into the data of potentially millions of patients. Only those sites that meet feasibility expectations are approached to consider participating as a trial site for that given study.

Through TriNetX, investigators benefit from increased opportunities to participate in industry-sponsored clinical trials that are feasible and of scientific interest. Since going live in December 2015, UAB has seen a steady increase of trial opportunities, now averaging around seven per month. These studies cover a range of diseases, including cancer, neurological conditions, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and inflammatory conditions. Among the many trials pursued, the CCTS recognizes efforts in multiple sclerosis and nasopharyngeal cancer under the leadership of Dr. Khurram Bashir and Dr. Lisle Nabell and, most recently, a trial to explore a specific drug treatment for Crohn’s disease under Dr. Kirk Russ.

Those trial units or investigators who are interested in learning more about trial opportunities through TriNetX are invited to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The CCTS panel process has been proven to bolster your project’s extramural success. Before you request your panel, review this list of tips for enhancing your panel experience.

1. Plan ahead. Evidence from the Hub’s Office of Research has previously shown that projects developed with ample lead time are more likely to garner extramural awards than those organized at the 11^th Investigators are strongly encouraged to start early and have a plan.

2. Choose the right panel type. Not all research proposals are the same, and for that reason, we offer a variety of panel types. Nascent panels function as early transdisciplinary brainstorming sessions; Panels Done Quickly are great to review draft applications; Innovation Panels work with investigators looking to commercialize a scientific discovery. Take a few minutes to figure out exactly what you need. Not sure? No problem! Just contact the CCTS and we will help figure out the best approach!

3. Get the most out of your peers. The more time your panel has to prepare, the better! We recommend reaching out to us at least 6 weeks before your grant is due. This lead time increases the probability your peers are available to participate.

4. Brainstorm potential panel reviewers. The goal of the CCTS Panel is intentionally designed to reflect a study section, including a range of disciplinary knowledge (some closer to your area than others) as well as expertise in study design and analytic methodologies. We strive to provide you with the expertise you need. Let us know if you have specific individuals in mind and/or specific research areas that would be most valuable. This will help to ensure that we gather the right folks around the table!

5. Share your materials early. The best panels are those in which panel members have been able to review your materials prior to the panel. We recommend sharing your materials at least one week prior to your scheduled panel in order to get the most valuable feedback.

6. Be ready to dialogue. Make the most of your time with your group of experts! Be prepared to spend just a few minutes summarizing the overall purpose of your research, and then open the conversation! Come with specific questions in mind and/or sections where you wish to focus.

By following the tips above, you are sure to have an amazing panel experience! Reach out the CCTS at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions and request your panel today.