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Collaborative unit working to promote research excellence by Cindy Abole Public Relations As research continues to flourish throughout many corners of MUSC’s campus, more scientists and investigators are utilizing a helpful resource that has guided them through a maze of methodological details and other requirements as it relates to securing funding and the grant preparation process.  The Department of Biometry and Epidemiology’s Collaborative Unit continues to carve a functional niche within MUSC’s research arena by helping to advance cooperative research efforts with on-campus investigators and staffs at practically any stage of the process.  The unit is a dynamic campuswide program that offers professional  advice and guidance in the areas of biostatistics, epidemiology, experimental design, biomathematics and data management systems. The unit through the efforts of the Department of Biometry and Epidemiology faculty and staff, offers help associated with grant proposal development to clinical and basic science investigators. Their efforts are directly related to the growing level of current and new grants being submitted by, and awarded to, MUSC’s investigators. Led by the unit's director Robert F. Woolson, Ph.D., and colleague and associate director Rickey Carter, Ph.D., the program came together in 1999 as the brainchild of Department of Biometry and Epidemiology chairman Barbara Tilley, Ph.D. It was her idea of  reaching out  and working jointly with campus faculty relating to research excellence. The unit helps to coordinate and make use of all department faculty as a team resource in all of its collaborative endeavors.  “We’re getting much more involved in applications for center grants and program projects,” said Tilley. “New research requirements have changed the needs of researchers across the country. Having strong support from biostatisticians, epidemiologists and biomedical informatics faculty from our department can help MUSC researchers be at the cutting edge. Dr. Woolson has helped to make the collaborative unit an integral part of this university.” A respected biostatistician, leader and research mentor in his field, Woolson came to MUSC in summer 2002 from a distinguished career at the University of Iowa. He headed Iowa’s biostatistics program and was associate dean for research at the university’s College of Public Health. A director and principal investigator to numerous NIH and NIMH grants, Woolson helped establish and direct the University of Iowa’s Clinical Trials Statistical Data Management Center, an expanded version of MUSC’s Collaborative Unit which focuses on conducting, coordinating and managing statistical analysis of multi-center clinical trials.  “Most researchers and investigators realize their need to spend more time in preparing the study design and statistical aspects of their applications for funding support,” said Woolson. “There’s a need to provide high quality methodological support for all our institution's grant applications. I think our contributions can be an added benefit and provide investigators with a competitive edge that can strengthen proposals and hopefully increase the likelihood of funding for these applications.” The unit has worked actively with investigators in clinical and basic sciences throughout MUSC, including the College of Dental Medicine; College of Medicine (Department of Medicine and Institute of Psychiatry); the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC); Charleston Heart Study, Project Sugar and even statewide collaborative efforts between MUSC and South Carolina State University.  Most of the unit’s work in grant development is provided at no cost to MUSC investigators thanks to funding from the Office of the Provost and the program’s designation as one of 18 University Research Resource Facilities (URRF). “There are some expectations for our URRFs to provide quality service at a competitive cost,” said John Raymond, M.D., vice president for academic affairs and provost. “Dr. Woolson’s group is a wonderful example of how well this works on campus. A portion of MUSC’s research funding goes to URRF support. The provost’s office is accountable to the general research community. Our philosophy is that the university should allocate some funds to facilitate the development of competitive research projects, as an investment that will allow investigators to continue their work and advance competitive research.” Strong departmental, collegiate and university leadership provide direction for MUSC's research mission; however, the success of collaborative research programs depends on the recognition and willingness of investigators to seek out additional expertise. This happens only in an environment where investigators share ideas and actively engage others in their research projects.  With decreased availability of government funding and less resources, grant awards have evolved to become highly competitive and are often inter-disciplinary. The addition of new laws and restrictions like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), amendments to Institutional Review Board standards, plus and other requirements have affected the way grants are written, data are handled, and how research is conducted. According to Carter, unit interaction and involvement can also guide and teach researchers to be more HIPAA compliant when it comes to security and confidentiality.  “Most importantly, it teaches scientists how to  manage and share data, which is a growing issue with the NIH and research in general,” said Carter. “The bar has been set fairly high regarding these technical requirements and other specifics,” Woolson said. “Actually, it has forced all academic investigators to continue to create excellent, high quality grants while complying with these new requirements. These are important details that need to be conducted in grant development.” What has also changed in recent years is the process of research data collection and sharing thanks to the NIH’s adoption of more data-sharing processes in their research protocol. Coordinating data from different data systems is far less complex today thanks to new advancements in data collection and computer systems technology. According to Woolson, newer standards in the field of gleaning data from multiple resources combined with the ability to analyze information provides researchers with more efficiency. “It’s helpful to design investigations that can integrate research from previous studies and can build on the growing new research programs with women, minorities and other population groups. It is important to establish data sets in these areas that can continue to grow so they can be later used as new, potential research tools,” Woolson said.  Ideally, Woolson and his group would like to see collaboration expand to include more basic science researchers on-campus.  “We’ve done our strongest work with clinical researchers,” Woolson said, who envisions more joint collaborations among basic scientists and with researchers within the allied health professions. “With NIH-driven trans-lational research, our unit can assist MUSC faculty to make better inroads in their work.” “MUSC is certainly in an excellent national research position,” Woolson said. “My colleagues and I happen to be in an exciting academic discipline in a great departmental environment for collaboration. MUSC is a campus that has accelerated it's research programs thanks to strong  leadership at the helm, dedication of researchers and supportive staffs, and the overall work ethic shared by many people. These are key ingredients in fulfilling  our university’s strategic plan.” “There’s actually been some exciting synergy that has occurred between groups of scientists, clinical researchers and members of the collaborative unit team,” Tilley said. “As MUSC moves forward in research expertise and recognition statewide, regionally and nationally, it is important to recognize the role of this group’s efforts as dedicated and committed members of the team.” For information on the unit, contact Janet Bean at beanj@musc.edu, Woolson at woolson@musc.edu, or Carter at carterre@musc.edu.      Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. 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