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NUCATS Resource Directory

ACT Network

Explores and validates feasibility for clinical studies across many CTSA sites.

The ACT Network is a real-time platform allowing researchers to explore and validate feasibility for clinical studies across many of the NCATS Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) sites, from their desktops. ACT helps researchers design and complete clinical studies and is secure, HIPAA-compliant and IRB-approved.

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Adobe Creative Cloud for Recruitment

Unlock your research team’s creative potential while designing recruitment advertisement with Adobe Creative Cloud.

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Annotated Form Sets

Visual resources for understanding many of the business rule checks NIH will run against your submitted application.

ARCC Dr. Virginia Bishop Community-Academic Research Partnership Award

The Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities established the Community-Engaged Research Partnership Award to recognize to recognize exemplary partnerships that use a community-engaged research approach to impact the health of their community. In 2022, the award was renamed to honor the leadership and partnerships of the late Dr. Virginia Bishop. Dr. “Gini” Bishop, who passed away in February 2020, co-founded ARCC and served as ARCC’s co-director from 2007 – 2010.

CCR Finance Unit

Assists investigators and study teams with finance-related activities by negotiating budgets and helping to finalize contracts.

The Finance Unit of CCR assists investigators and study teams with finance-related activities by negotiating budgets and working closely with the Office of Sponsored Research to finalize contracts. Additional services include:

  • Budgets preparation for clinical trials
  • Review of financial sections of the clinical trial agreement
  • Supervision of study-related invoicing and collections to ensure that sponsors have properly reimbursed investigators for research services (available upon request) including invoicing for startup costs
  • Completion and submission of forms to the OSR with regular follow-up 

CCR also offers assistance in navigating the resources and services available at Northwestern for clinical investigators and for proper and timely participation in ClinicalTrials.gov. There are fees for some of these services. To learn more about how we can help you, email ccr@northwestern.edu.

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CCR Regulatory Unit

Assists investigators with meeting essential regulatory activities and provides training, mentoring and general support to their research staff.

The Regulatory Unit of CCR assists investigators with meeting essential regulatory activities and provides training, mentoring and general support to their research staff. Services include:

  • IRB submission of new protocols and amendments
  • Preparation and negotiation of informed consent documents
  • Completion of ancillary requirements, including assisting with regulatory matters during monitor visits
  • Assembly of regulatory binders

The Regulatory Unit also closely collaborates with the IRB at Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. These partnerships have led to marked efficiencies and innovative approaches in regulatory compliance, including the development of processes for the use of external (third-party) IRBs, a first for NUCATS, and joint pediatric-adult IRB panel for studies in which participants are seen at both Northwestern and Lurie Children’s facilities.

Other useful resources include:

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Center for Community Health (CCH)

Supports meaningful community engagement across the research spectrum.

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Center for Prevention Implementation Methodology

Ce-PIM is a national resource in the emerging field of implementation science, specifically in developing and applying implementation methodology to prevent HIV transmission and drug abuse.

Chicago CTSA Shared Resources

The Chicagoland Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) institutes (NUCATS, ITM and CCTS) are committed to facilitating greater integration and coordination across the institutes to provide seamless access to all relevant resources for translational researchers. 

Institute for Translational Medicine

Contact: Sara Serritella

UIC Center for Clinical and Translational Science

Contact: Lauren Rieger

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Chicago Tribune Advertising

Get started with a Chicago Tribune ad for your study.

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Clinical Research Units

The NMH Clinical Research Unit (CRU) and CRU Core Lab are part of NUCATS. The CRU supports Northwestern Medicine’s research mission by providing research specific nursing and laboratory services for the implementation of clinical trials and other clinical research, increasing their availability to participants.

The CRU at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago is a child- and family-friendly environment that offers eight outpatient private exam rooms, six dedicated inpatient beds and a consultation room.

ClinicalTrials.gov

ClinicalTrials.gov is a Web-based resource that provides patients, their family members, health care professionals, researchers, and the public with easy access to information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies on a wide range of diseases and conditions.

Clinical Trials Listings

Links to clinical trials listed across Feinberg sites and our affiliates.

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Competitions

NUCATS software that supports internal grant competitions.

CTA Ad Requests & Options

Determine the best way to advertise your research study to commuters.

Complete the CCR Intake Form to start the ad placement process.

Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and PACE: Here is how to get started with a CTA ad request

Commuter Profiles and Service Lines: Review the bus and train lines to determine where to place your research study ad CTA and Union Station Ad Creation Assistance: Utilize our templates and branding guidance to create your ad design with the CTA specifications

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Feasibility Query Tool (NMEDW, i2b2)

The i2b2 (Informatics for Integrating Biology & the Bedside) web-based tool allows scientists, students, and staff to develop and run simple queries against a subset of data in the NMEDW. This gives users the ability to quickly determine the feasibility of conducting a study.

i2b2 lets you look for the number of patients that have been diagnosed with a disease, had a procedure, meet certain demographic criteria, had a laboratory result and were prescribed to a medication. Currently, only these variables are available to be searched. It can help you quickly determine the feasibility of conducting a research study or clinical trial and iteratively work through hypothesis generation by modifying your own searches.

The i2b2 system is already available to all Northwestern University researchers and affiliates. You can access i2b2 here from the NU Network or VPN. If you need help using i2b2 or have questions about your results, please contact i2b2@northwestern.edu.

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Feinberg Research Cores

See all of the medical school's affiliated cores.

Feinberg School of Medicine Faculty Profiles

Search for an expert, locate scientific collaborators or identify a mentor for your training experience.

Feinberg Templates

Use Office of Communications templates to create recruitment advertisement materials.

Good Clinical Practice Training

Good Clinical Practice (GCP) is an international, ethical and scientific quality standard for designing, conducting, recording and reporting trials that involve the participation of human subjects. Compliance with this standard provides public assurance that the rights, safety and well-being of trial subjects are protected, consistent with the principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki and that the clinical trial data are credible.

Grant Writing Coaching Groups

Grant Writing Coaching Groups: writing effective NIH Research (R) and Career Development (K) proposals requires highly refined skills in research conceptualization, design, and writing. All of these skills are interconnected leading to the writing phase.
  • The style and expectation of proposal writing are very complex. To teach the style and content of proposal writing, Rick McGee, PhD, associate dean for Professional Development, has developed a novel grant writing coaching group approach that builds upon highly effective tools of teaching and learning.
  • For more information, or to be added to the list of those to be notified every four months when groups are forming, contact McGee at r-mcgee@northwestern.edu or 312-503-1737.

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Innovation, Commercialization & Entrepreneurship

The Center for Translational Innovation (CTI) offers expertise in areas of technology commercialization and innovation. Whether it’s a new faculty looking to get their innovation to the bedside or a seasoned innovator looking to create a business, CTI can provide counsel, guidance and resources to propel this process to successful outcomes.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Recruitment Guidelines

Throughout the lifecycle of a research study, many regulations, policies, and standard operating procedures apply – from the initial submission, through continuing reviews and modifications, and finally to study closure. Our resources can provide navigation for the research community, as well as for IRB analysts and reviewers. 

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My DreamTeam

Web-based platform to facilitate the assembly of teams.

Navigating the Research Enterprise

Navigating the Research Enterprise is a weekly seminar series for early-career faculty and postdoctoral fellows designed to provide the support needed to focus on developing the key skills young scientists require to progress beyond just doing good research.

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NMH Clinical Research Unit Pre-Submission Draft Budget Tool

The purpose of the FY23 Pre-Submission Draft Budget Tool is to populate the estimated costs of using CRU services. Prices are subject to change. Upon completion, you will be given a cost estimate and the option to download your responses.

Northwestern Scholars

A searchable database of expertise across all disciplines at Northwestern University.

Northwestern University Data & Analysis Coordinating Center (NUDACC)

Works to harmonize all components of the clinical research study life cycle for multicenter clinical trials and observational studies.

NUCATS Grants Repository

A collection of funded training, career and research grant applications and other useful tools.

NUcore

The centralized ordering system for all shared facilities at Northwestern University.

Open Source Projects

Publically available source code for systems developed by NUCATS.

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OpenVIVO

An ontology-driven application for representing scholarship.

Professional Development Trainings

Ongoing professional development resources available through myHR Learn at any time.

  • Human Subjects Protections Module – myHR Learn ID: 00004520
  • Research with Genetic Material – myHR Learn ID: 00004522
  • Financial Conflict of Interest – myHR Learn ID: 00004460
  • Research Misconduct – myHR Learn ID: 00002480
  • Unconscious Bias – myHR Learn ID:  208938030
  • Research design and Analysis Methods Program (RAMP) modules:
    • Data Along the Research Path – myHR Learn ID: NUCATS –RAMP-101
    • The Mysterious Math of Medical Research – myHR Learn ID: NUCATS –RAMP-102
    • Patient Reported Outcomes — Measuring Subjective Experience – myHR Learn ID: NUCATS –RAMP-103
    • Day-to-Day Statistical Issues in Clinical Trials – myHR Learn ID: NUCATS –RAMP-104

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Quartet Print Services

In-house copying and digital printing needs for research teams.

REDCap Office Hours

Schedule an appointment or email redcap@northwestern.edu for support.

Research Recruitment Trackers

Worksheets to keep track of recruitment sources and budget.

These worksheets are only a guide. The prefilled categories should be substituted for your clinical trial specifications.

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SharePoint

SharePoint is an online content and document management tool available for students, faculty, and staff to create web sites and manage file libraries.

SMART IRB

Designed to ease common challenges associated with initiating multisite research and to provide a roadmap for institutions to implement the NIH Single IRB Review policy.

Studio Consultations

These 60-minute meetings can help investigators identify relevant resources that can help support and enhance grant submissions.

Study Tracker News & Notes Newsletter

Read the latest issue and email studytracker@northwestern.edu to join the list.

Study Tracker Office Hours

Register for a one-on-one support meeting by emailing studytracker@northwestern.edu.

TeamScience.net

An interactive, open suite of e-learning resources designed to foster learning and skill development in Team Science.

Team Science Promotion & Tenure Guidelines

A collection of articles related to how collaborative work features into promotion and tenure.

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The New Normal

The New Normal was launched to increase awareness of and participation in health research for the first time on a large scale in the Chicago region.

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The Open Science Framework

A free collaboration tool for scientists across the entire research lifecycle.

TL1 Award for Postdoctoral Fellows

The Multidisciplinary Training Program in Child & Adolescent Health (TL1) is a National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS)-funded training program that seeks to promote interactions among both mentors and trainees in pediatrics and engineering to encourage creative thinking and new approaches in child-health research.

Trellis

An online communication and collaboration platform open to anyone involved in science.

Trello

A web-based project management tool that makes it easy for teams to work together.

Trial Advertisement Flyer Posting Locations

Places to post IRB-approved clinical trial flyers on and off campus.

Trial Innovation Network (TIN)

The Trial Innovation Network (TIN) is a collaborative initiative from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health.

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Participating Institutions: