The purpose of this proposed BRAD award project is to remove the primary barriers to the development of important lines of clinical research at the Texas Woman's University (TWU) Institute of Health Sciences-Dallas Center (IHS-Dallas) in collaboration with other medical researchers in the surrounding medical community. Currently, not having the presence of an Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) and the services provided by this office at the IHS- Dallas is a barrier to establishing productive lines of research by faculty. The direct effect of achieving the specific aims for this project will be enhanced research productivity by faculty at the TWU IHS-Dallas, and increased research collaboration with surrounding institutions such as University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center. These collaborations will result in clinical research that has great potential to improve the health of the people in the state of Texas and the nation. The increased generation of external funds that we anticipate as a result of achieving the specific aims for this project would promote a culture of sustained research productivity at the TWU IHS--Dallas. We anticipate that an outcome of this proposal will be external grant support along with institutional support to sustain funding of ORSP personnel beyond the years of funding by the BRAD award. The proposed project broadly addresses 2 major purposes: 1) Developing an ORSP at the TWU IHS--Dallas that will provide leadership and support to faculty for successful planning, development, and execution of externally funded interdisciplinary research, and 2) Promoting a culture of research productivity at the TWU IHS--Dallas that is sustainable. The proposed project will make pre-award services available on the Dallas campus and provide a liaison to services available on the main campus in Denton that cannot be efficiently duplicated in Dallas. The proposed BRAD project will address gaps in existing research support at the TWU IHS--Dallas. Evidence-based interventions and training methodologies proposed to address these gaps include support for an on-site ORSP with trained personnel at the IHS-Dallas, training for faculty, and formation of interdisciplinary grant teams. Additionally, we propose to develop collaborations with researchers in the surrounding UT Southwestern Medical Center. Our mentor for the proposed BRAD project is the Associate Dean for Research at the UT Southwestern Medical Center. In addition to providing expertise in research administration, our mentor will assist the Extramural Associate in identifying common research interests between TWU faculty and UT Southwestern faculty and clinicians to facilitate multicenter collaboration.
The proposed BRAD award project aims to remove the primary barriers to the development of important lines of clinical research at the TWU Institute of Health Sciences-Dallas Center in collaboration with other medical researchers in the surrounding medical community. The direct effect of achieving the specific aims for this project will be enhanced research productivity by faculty at the TWU Institute of Health Sciences-Dallas Center, and increased research collaboration with surrounding institutions such as UT Southwestern Medical Center. These collaborations will result in clinical research that has great potential to improve the health of the people in the state of Texas and the nation.
