CTSI enhances online educational resources for clinical researchers

“At the CTSI, we want to enhance clinical research competence among our busy investigators and staff, so we are creating educational content that can be readily accessed, and quickly watched and absorbed,” says University at Buffalo Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Associate Director Sanjay Sethi, MD, Professor and Chief, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, and Assistant Vice President for Health Sciences, Department of Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “There is a real need for these types of materials, and we are excited to continue to find innovative ways to share knowledge from content experts at UB and the Buffalo Translational Consortium.”

Sethi explains that we all learn differently, therefore the methods for doing so should also be diverse. The CTSI has long been known for its Core Competency Workshop Series, and is now offering one of these workshops, “Translational Teamwork,” through a series of free videos in Google Classroom. In addition, digital badges and micro-credentials are offered through various workshops and programs. And the CTSI’s Open Research Office sessions provide a growing, easily accessible library of video materials for UB investigators and research staff.

One of the most noteworthy CTSI instructional initiatives is its Educational Modules video series. An article from April 2022 explained how the CTSI began sharing this online library of asynchronous videos created by UB faculty and staff content experts in 2021 to contribute to a diverse and well-trained workforce of investigators and research staff.

Starting with a handful of videos, the modules project has grown to a total of 16 — with more on the way — from a variety of UB content experts. The modules generally run from 5 to 15 minutes, and are accessible on the CTSI website’s Educational Modules page and in a playlist on the CTSI YouTube page.

“Research team members are finding these videos to be quite useful based on the number of views that they are receiving,” says CTSI Director Timothy F. Murphy, MD.

Recent website enhancements make finding the right module even easier, with the addition of four category types:

• Study Development highlights the phase in which researchers are preparing their project (e.g., conceptual considerations, feasibility assessment, document development). Videos in this category include:
  • “Plain-Language-For-Researchers”
  • “FDA 101: A Primer on IDEs”
  • “NIH Public Access Requirement”
  • “ClinicalTrials.gov: Does Your Study Need to be Registered?”
• Study Submission focuses on the phase in which researchers are preparing to submit their project for approval or activation (e.g., application process, submission of study-related documents, review of regulatory and administrative processes). Videos in this category include:
  • “Introduction to Central Study Registration”
  • “Clinical Research Budgets: You Received a Budget. What’s Next?”
  • “Pre-review by Clinical Research Facilitators”
  • “Pathways of IRB Review: Approval of Human Subjects Research Studies at UB”
• Study Execution covers topics relevant to conducting a clinical research study (e.g., implementation, trial management, participant and data safety, and quality monitoring). Videos in this category include:
  • “OnCore Enterprise Research System: A Tool for Enhanced Trial Management”
  • “ClinicalTrials.gov: How to Register Your Trial”
  • “ClinicalTrials.gov: Entering Results”
  • “CTSI Recruitment Assistance”
• Study Tools and Resources features a variety of useful tools and resources for researchers (e.g., research 101, recruitment resources, dissemination). Videos in this category include:
  • “An Introduction to REDCap”
  • “i2b2 and TriNetX: An Introduction”
  • “The Click Portal: An Overview of the Five Modules Available to Investigators”
  • “Research Fundamentals at UB Video Series”

“These four categories were chosen to cover key stages of the clinical research process,” Sethi explains. “That way, researchers can find useful content for every step they take. And this is just the start. More videos are in the works that will dive even deeper into the most relevant topics for investigators.”

CTSI Clinical Research Facilitators Marchelle Brooks, MPH, and Alexis O’Brien encourage investigators to share suggestions for new topics, updates to past videos, and feedback at ctsihelp@buffalo.edu​.

Creating, providing, and disseminating clinical and translational science training programs for clinical research professionals of all disciplines are goals of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program. As a member of the national CTSA consortium, the CTSI continually works to bring educational resources and training opportunities directly to clinical researchers at UB and its affiliated institutions. Watch the CTSI website for future modules videos and other instructional initiatives.

Graphic courtesy of Pixabay.