Consultative Support Options
Portal Support Options Heading link
Areas of Expertise Heading link
During a Research Ally consultation, investigators select from a list of research needs that help us understand your study’s unique challenges.
Our Research Navigators use this information to convene a collaborative team of peer scientists with the expertise to address your specific needs.
Learn more about CCTS’s areas of expertise by browsing the consultative support options.
Commonly Discussed Research Needs: Heading link
Study Design: We advise on the design of data and analysis plans, including data availability, collection, analysis, and management.
Proposal Development: We provide a variety of support services to assist with your proposal development efforts, such as informing scientific grant sections (e.g. statistical methods), recruitment and retention plans, assessing reviewer feedback, and advising on Data Safety and Monitoring Plans (DSMP). We also offer the opportunity to convene multidisciplinary peer groups for feedback on early-stage proposal concepts and/or address barriers to research translation during live brainstorming sessions.
Community Engagement and Collaboration Support: We provide a variety of support services that assist you to engage communities, including guidance on stakeholder engagement, consultation with and development of Community Engagement Advisory Boards, and obtaining and integrating community input into research design.
Recruitment/Retention Support: We provide guidance on developing sound strategies and materials to recruit and retain study participants, including under-represented populations.
Dissemination/Implementation: We provide guidance on how to share study findings with various communities, including academia, research participants, local communities, and other stakeholders, to support the integration of research findings into public health.
Ethics and Regulatory Guidance: We provide advice on regulatory requirements, documents, and processes, as well as ethical considerations (e.g., human research protections, new drug and device authorizations, animal care and use, biosafety) for designing and implementing research.
Access to Clinical Data: We assist in accessing local and national patient medical information (including COVID centric data).
Data Analytics: We analyze the data that has already been collected via method selection, modeling, statistical tests, etc.
Data Collection/Management: We assist in the decision-making process concerning data collection methods, including data structure and outcome and predictor variable formats, as well as consult on resources available for monitoring recruitment and data quality.
Software Development: We craft custom software, large or small, to meet the specific needs of your project. We incorporate UIC systems (Banner, iPay, REDCap, Shibboleth, etc.) and off-the-shelf products (content editors, SMS, etc.) to provide a complete solution. Our partnership will take you from concept to design, development, and deployment. We will support you, your team, and your users/participants over the full lifespan of your project.
Letters of Support: We provide letters of support for grant applications to demonstrate our commitment to collaborating with you.