2020 Neurosurgery Annual Report Neurosurgery Annual Report 2019-2020-FOR WEB | Page 25

CLINICAL RESEARCH WHY UAB The UAB Department of Neurosurgery’s Office of Clinical Research (OCR) aims to facilitate exemplary research by providing the infrastructure to support the design, development, and conduct of all clinical research activities. Its multidisciplinary research staff support this mission by providing a variety of services including protocol development and preparation, continuing education, monitoring, quality assurance, and contract and budget negotiations. UAB nurtures research and is a leader in establishing new programs and directions that promote and enhance our contribution to new knowledge. Our departmental faculty is comprised of surgeon-scientists who strive to advance the field of neurosurgery through cutting-edge clinical research. The OCR, led by Beverly C. Walters, MD, MSc, FRCSC, FACS, teaches our residents the importance of evidence-based medicine and research methodology, involving them in research projects from the beginning of their residency. This training has been highly successful, and most residents pursue even greater research endeavours after they leave our program. HIGHLIGHTS • UAB Neurosurgery, in collaboration with UAB’s Neurology Stroke Center, joined NIH StrokeNet, which is a network of 25 regional centers across the nation, involving more than 200 hospitals, that is designed to serve as the infrastructure and pipeline for exciting new potential treatments for patients with stroke and those at risk for stroke. • Funded through the department’s Clinical Scholar Program, which is supported by donations from grateful patients, residents have the opportunity to secure additional academic degrees at UAB to further their careers and assume roles as professionals in neurosurgery after their training. • We collaborate with other UAB departments to develop a successful clinical research shared services program. Our clinical research staff are highly experienced, which promotes best practices across all the departments we serve, and our research participants ultimately receive better service and care. 80 NEUROSURGERY RESIDENT PUBLICATIONS BY ACADEMIC YEAR 2006–2019 70 72 65 60 50 51 50 48 40 39 38 34 30 34 11 9 6 0 10 10 20 174 FACULTY PUBLICATIONS IN 2018–2019 ACADEMIC YEAR uabmedicine.org 23