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 budget development and 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.
Contact Us
Pediatric Research Office: Melissa McBrayer
Biostatistics and Study Design: Fazlur Rahman, PhD
Data Management: Emily Mixon. Request a DOP REDCap Account.
Regulatory Consultation: Leslie Cooper.
Clinical Research Support Enterprise: CReSt@uabmc.edu
Conducting Clinical Research at Children's of Alabama
Research Development Resources
Research Clinical Billables and Budget Development Pricing
Research Submissions
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.
Requests for COA Epic Research Access -- NEW process effective 7.13.26
- Requests for research access must be submitted by an approved submitter (view list) through COA's AccessIQ portal.
- The individual needing access must be associated with the appropriate IRB.
- The AccessIQ workflow automatically assigns required Epic training, and a COA badge may be requested.
- Contact Melissa McBrayer for more information.
Research Coordinator Quick Links
Epic Study Start-up and Activation Tip Sheet.
EpicCare Link Tip Sheet for use by Sudy Monitors.
- REMINDER: Research Coordinators must request monitoring link no less than 7 business days before monitoring.
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. Submit document to all emails listed on the bottom of the form.
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. For studies that involve an investigational drug, please complete the Release of Drugs for Human Research Use and review the following two documents.
- Investigational Study Checklist for Coordinators
- FACTS about Billing for the Investigational Study Pharmacy
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.
Faculty Expertise
Scholars@UAB is UAB’s online faculty profile and research discovery platform, providing a searchable directory of faculty expertise, publications, grants, teaching activities, and scholarly achievements to promote collaboration and showcase research.
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 should be negotiated and must include the 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. Calculation of this fee and provision of a study-specific justification is available through CReSt.
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.