The Child Health Research Unit (CHRU) is a partnership between Children’s of Alabama, the UAB Department of Pediatrics and the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). The Pediatric Research Office manages the unit.

Our mission is to provide an outpatient pediatric research unit that reduces barriers to the conduct of scientifically rigorous clinical and translational research. The CHRU facilitates the implementation of safe and age-appropriate clinical research protocols in a flexible fashion to accelerate our understanding and treatment of childhood diseases.

Application and Guidance

To utilize the CHRU, including the centrifuges located in the laboratory:

• Complete the one-page CHRU Application and submit it with the required attachments to Cheryl Perry. 

• Once approved to use the unit, contact Melissa McBrayer  for a safety overview and the scheduling process (reservation form)

All protocols utilizing the CHRU must have a designated, protocol-specific physician with primary responsibility for the safe conduct of the study and must have IRB or WIRB approval. Dr. Dan Feig is the CHRU Medical Director.

Every research study must have a corresponding research study record in Children's of Alabama's Epic system. 

The CHRU is required to generate revenue to support the activities of unit support personnel, to maintain equipment, restock disposable items, and cover the general upkeep of the Unit. In order to be consistent with other UAB research units and better cover costs, the pricing structure has been revised.  Please contact Cheryl Perry for pricing information.

The CHRU provides space; investigators supply their own Research Coordinator and support staff. Two UAB programs provide staff and services.

• The UAB Clinical Research Support Program (CRSP) is a fee-for-service entity that may provide study coordination, phlebotomy service, regulatory form application completion, etc. Contact Pam Cunningham for more information and to access the CCTS Clinical Services application.

• The UAB Center for Injury Science's Research Assistant Program is a fee-for-service program with expertise in screening, recruitment, enrollment in the hospital setting. Contact Shannon Stephens for more information.

The CHRU maintains the following for research use. Contact Melissa McBrayer if you would like to tour the unit. Directions to the CHRU and information on parking are available here. 

• Triage room with scales and stadiometer

• Exam rooms

• Laboratory with two table-top centrifuges and -20 freezer for short-term storage

• Conference room space

• Locked storage space is available for storage of team supplies

• A -80 freezer is available on the 7th floor of Dearth Tower for short-term storage. Longer-term use is available on a case by case basis.