CTSA UM1 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham

ABSTRACT – The Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS), the CTSA Hub at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), serves a region of the country with a disproportionate burden of multiple chronic diseases and health disparities. The COVID-19 pandemic brought into sharp relief the critical

importance of translating new scientific discoveries into interventions that improve the health of patients and their communities in an efficient, effective and equitable manner. The unique health challenges faced by our communities previously prompted the creation of the CCTS Partner Network – spanning Alabama, Mississippi

and Louisiana – to ensure that our research and training efforts serve the populations in our region while maximizing collaborative synergies in clinical and translational science (CTS) investigation to catalyze discovery and accelerate the dissemination and implementation of evidence toward health impact. As it

continues to serve as a national resource for responding to public health emergencies, the CCTS Partner Network will provide programmatic leadership and shared governance (Aim 1) to mobilize the resources and talents throughout the region as it brings together academic, health system, industry and community partners

to advance discovery science in concert with the CTSA consortium. The CCTS will further the development of a vibrant, diverse clinical and translational research workforce (Aim 2) by expanding programs that provide both didactic and experiential training to convey new skills, perspectives and understanding of the translation

process for faculty, trainees, clinical research professionals and community alike. The Center will promote community and stakeholder engagement (Aim 3) in trusting, bidirectional relationships in all aspects of the research process to develop, demonstrate, disseminate and implement new discoveries to enhance the impact

of health insights on those who will most benefit. It will leverage expertise in health informatics, clinical research informatics and translational bioinformatics to extend collaborative, coordinated data analytics and digital innovations across the Partner Network and the CTSA consortium (Aim 4) that allow full utilization of

real world data together with rich, deep clinical information to enable discovery research from the bench to the learning healthcare system. The CCTS Hub and Network will support ethical, scientifically rigorous, informative clinical trials and pilot studies by providing a range of specialized services, resources and consultations (Aim

5) guided by NCATS principles of effective translational science. Through these efforts, the CCTS will formalize its CTS Research Program (Aim 6) to identify, develop and test novel approaches to overcome significant roadblocks in biomedical research, generating new insights that can be generalized to other CTSA

Hubs. By achieving these aims, the CCTS will harness the Network’s vibrant collaborative energy to accelerate the discovery, dissemination and implementation of new findings, deliver treatments to more people more quickly, reduce the burden of chronic disease and advance health equity in the Deep South and beyond.