About Us
Established by the Department of Pediatrics (DOP) in 2015, the Pediatric Research Office supports research teams across the Children’s of Alabama campus and serves as a resource for pediatric clinical research. Through a 2026 partnership with the Clinical Research Support Enterprise (CReSt), DOP investigators now have access to expanded, comprehensive study support throughout the research lifecycle, including study start-up, budget development and negotiation, regulatory preparation, operational guidance, and close-out activities.
Research Resource Contacts
Pediatric Research Office: Melissa McBrayer
Biostatistics and Study Design: Fazlur Rahman, PhD
Data Management and DOP REDCap Accounts: Emily Mixon
Regulatory Consultation: Leslie Cooper
DOP Financial Office: dopgrants@uabmc.edu
Clinical Research Support Enterprise: CReSt@uabmc.edu
COA Research Data Requests: Ben Rooks
Conducting Clinical Research at Children's of Alabama
Research Development Resources and Funding Opportunities
Industry Sponsored Clinical Trials
Research Submissions
Conducting Clinical Research at Children's of Alabama
Requests for COA Epic Research Access
New process effective July 13, 2026
- Requests for Epic research access must be completed by an approved submitter for each pediatric research area.
- The request workflow assigns a COA affiliate number and required Epic training.
- For those working in-person at COA, a badge may be requested.
- Contact Melissa McBrayer for more information.
Research Data from COA
Submit a Data Portal Request through the COA intranet --> Blue River --> Enterprise Data
Research Coordinators
All Epic Tip Sheets are available with the F1 button in COA Epic. Selected tip sheets are available below.
- Epic Study Start-up and Activation Tip Sheet updated 7292026
- Billing Calendar Template.
- See Study Start-up and Activation Tip Sheet for instructions on use.
- COA Research Pre-Registration form.
- Use is ongoing with current form version 12.2025.
- Complete one form per visit with a research clinical billable.
- Submit document to all emails listed on the bottom of the form.
- Epic Study Monitor Request and Record Release Tip Sheet
- REMINDER: Research Coordinators must request monitoring link no less than 7 business days before monitoring.
- EpicCare Link Tip Sheet for use by Study Monitors
- Epic End-of-Month Billing Review Tip Sheet
COA Investigational Pharmacy
The COA Investigational Pharmacy manages study medications, including receipt, storage, preparation, dispensing, tracking, and accountability, while ensuring protocol compliance and patient safety.
- Release of Drugs for Human Research Use
- Investigational Study Checklist for Coordinators
- FACTS about Billing for the Investigational Study Pharmacy
Research Development Resources and Funding Opportunities
Researcher’s Toolkit
The UAB Office of Research Researcher’s Toolkit provides guidance for all stages of sponsored research, including proposal development, submission, award management, and compliance.
UAB Research Development Office (RDO)
The RDO offers funding identification and proposal development tools.
Grant Writing Resources
Access institutional boilerplate language and grant-writing support materials. provides centralized, institutional boilerplate language for grant text.
Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS)
CCTS supports research development through research resources and training:
Funding Opportunities
- Search for competitive grant opportunities from all Federal funding agencies.
- UAB supports pilot funding programs and early-stage research initiatives.
- Access Pivot-RP to identify external funding.
- Use the "log in from my institution" drop-down and choose University of Alabama at Birmingham.
- BlazerID and password is required.
Faculty Expertise for Collaborations and Mentoring
Scholars@UAB is UAB’s online faculty profile and research discovery platform, providing a searchable information related to:
- Faculty expertise
- Publications
- Grants
- Teaching activities
- Scholarly achievements
Industry Sponsored Clinical Trials
CReSt develops and negotiate budgets for the Department of Pediatrics.
All industry-sponsored budgets are negotiated and must include UAB industry-funded clinical trial fees.
DOP administrative policy for industry-sponsored studies includes an administrative fee added to budgets
Clinical research billables may come from multiple entities, including UAB.
- Pediatric Research Table of Contacts for Clinical Research Prices and Billing
- Budget Worksheet Form for COA hospital clinical billables pricing
DOP Financial Officers support faculty with pre-award and post-award activities.
Research Submissions
Submission Requirements
DOP faculty should submit proposals and supporting documents to dopgrants@uabmc.edu by 8:00 a.m., 10 full business days before the sponsor deadline.
Include the following in the email subject line:
- Principal Investigator name
- Funding agency
- Sponsor due date and time