About Us
The Pediatric Research Office, established by the Department of Pediatrics (DOP) in 2015, supports UAB research teams across the Children’s of Alabama (COA) campus by serving as a liaison with COA research processes, providing biostatistical expertise, and offering data management solutions.
In July 2026, DOP expanded its research support services through a memorandum of understanding with the Clinical Research Support Enterprise (CReSt), a centralized UAB Heersink School of Medicine support unit that provides expert guidance and operational support for clinical research. Through this partnership, investigators have access to comprehensive support across the study lifecycle, from start-up to close-out, including sponsor budget negotiation, regulatory preparation, and consultation.
Together, the PRO and CReSt help investigators conduct high-quality research more efficiently, accelerating pediatric discovery and expanding treatment options for children in Alabama and beyond.
Contacts
Pediatric Research Office: Melissa McBrayer
Data Management: Emily Mixon. Request a DOP REDCap Account.
Biostatistics and Study Design: Fazlur Rahman, PhD
Clinical Research Support Enterprise: CReSt@uabmc.edu
Conducting Clinical Research at Children's of Alabama
COA and UAB partner to advance pediatric care, education, and research, allowing patients and families to benefit from the expertise of both organizations. Research is implemented by UAB teams under the oversight of the UAB Office of Research with COA serving as the performance site.
Epic Research Access
COA uses Epic as its electronic health record software. Epic access for research must be requested using the following forms. Contact Melissa McBrayer with questions or challenges associated with access requests.
- IT Remote Access
- COA Security Access
- COA Non-Employee Affiliate Account
- COA Researcher Project Provisioning
Required Epic research training modules are assigned by COA Epic Training and must be completed for access. Contact EpicTraining@childrensal.org for information.
Investigational Pharmacy
The COA Investigational Pharmacy manages study medications, including receipt, storage, preparation, dispensing, tracking, and accountability, while ensuring protocol compliance and patient safety. For a study drug:
- Review and complete the Release of Drugs for Human Research Use.
- Investigational Study Checklist for Coordinators
- FACTS about Billing for the Investigational Study Pharmacy
Research Coordinator Quick links
Epic Study Start-up and Activation Tip Sheet
EpicCare Link Tip Sheet for use by study monitors.
Epic Tip sheets for research are available via F1 in Epic. Choose COA Research Support as the department.
Billing Calendar Template. Required submission to Children's billing group (Westerkamp) at time of study record creation. See above Study Start-up and Activation Tip Sheet for instructions.
COA Research Pre-Registration form (v12.2025). Use is ongoing. Complete one form per visit with a research clinical billable, send to all emails on the form.
Tasks associated with the Clinical Research Coordinator Epic security template
Research Development Resources
UAB Office of Research - Researcher’s Toolkit provides guidance for all stages of sponsored research, from proposal development and submission through award management and compliance.
UAB Research Development Office (RDO) offers funding identification and proposal development tools.
RDO's Grant Writing Resources and Boilerplate Library provides centralized, institutional boilerplate language for grant text.
Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) supports research development through its Training Academy, Clinical Research Hub and Clinical Trials Kiosk, and collaborative resources that accelerate clinical research and improve patient care.
Funding Opportunities
Federal Research Funding. Grants.gov allows organizations and individuals to electronically find and apply for competitive grant opportunities from all Federal grant-making agencies.
Internal Research Funding. UAB offers a range of pilot funding programs across schools, centers, and institutes to support early-stage research, proof-of-concept studies, and translational science initiatives.
Extramural Research Funding. Access Pivot-RP by using the "log in from my institution" drop-down and select University of Alabama at Birmingham to use your BlazerID and password.
Research Clinical Billables and Budget Development Pricing
CReSt is available to develop and negotiate budgets under the DOP/CReSt MOU.
- All industry-sponsored industry budgets are negotiated and must include UAB Industry-Funded Clinical Trial Fees. View the institutional memo.
- The DOP Administrative Policy for Industry-Sponsored Studies mandates that a 4% fee is added to every industry-sponsored budget. View the DOP memo.
Clinical research billables may come from multiple entities, including UAB.
- The DOP Research Table of Contacts for Clinical Research Prices provides key contacts for pediatric research pricing and billing.
- For COA hospital clinical billables pricing, complete the Budget Worksheet form and send to Pam Barlow.
Studies that include UAB Health System clinical billables may require Clinical Billing Review (CBR), completion of the Fiscal Approval Process (FAP), and an OnCore calendar. Learn more.
Research Submissions
Financial Officers support faculty with pre-award and post-award activities. View the list of current DOP Financial Officers and areas of responsibility.
Office of Research Proposal Due Date and Time Calculator
DOP faculty must submit proposals and supporting documents to dopgrants@uabmc.edu by 8:00 a.m.,10 full business days before the sponsor deadline. In the email subject line, include the PI name, funding agency, and sponsor due date/time.