Research

Our clinical research program is one of the busiest research programs in the nation. Our team includes four pediatric neurosurgery faculty, 2-4 residents, a pediatric fellow, a clinical research manager, three full-time coordinators, four nurses, and a range of 10-15 medical, graduate, and undergraduate students. Biweekly in-person research meetings promote professional networking, mentorship, project updates, new study proposals, brainstorming study ideas, and educational lectures. Every project has a team that includes a faculty member, a resident or fellow, and a student meant for collaborative interaction. Full-time coordinators are dedicated to funded projects as well as student mentorships. Before study initiation, a thorough discussion about study design and clinical relevance is held. Project leads are encouraged to gain statistical analysis skillset but also have access to biostatistical support. We have established a co-enrolled course, “Clinical Research in Pediatric Neurosurgery,” in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. The course is designed to provide students with first-hand experience conducting clinical research in pediatric neurosurgery. This course aims to teach the basics of conducting a clinical study, including institutional review board (IRB) application, literature review, research question and study design development, data collection, data analysis, and abstract and manuscript preparation. Research projects can range from retrospective chart reviews to prospective data collection via surveys. Students have an assigned faculty mentor and/or resident mentor for the length of the course. Collaboratively, they develop research questions and design studies to answer them. Students have opportunities to collaborate with multiple disciplines (urology, orthopedics, neurology, GI, neuropsychology, sleep medicine, physical medicine, and rehabilitation, etc.) if desired.

Performance indicators since 2012:

Number of students leading research projects	80
Total number of projects	150+
Funded projects	30+
Number of oral presentations at AANS/CNS Pediatric Section Meeting	46
Number of posters at AANS/CNS Pediatric Section Meeting	35
Number of awards at AANS/CNS Pediatric Section Meeting	4
Total number of publications	300+