Collaborative Plans and Partnership

The BCCC provides support for collaborations that are ongoing. This might be in the form of long-term projects or a Dept/Center/Research group that wants to develop a collaborative partnership with BCCC biostatistical scientists. For example, a certain Department may want to have the equivalent of .25 FTE (520 hours/year) of biostatistics support available to them for whatever they need. This can be protocol development, manuscript writing, data analysis, etc. An ongoing collaboration plan agreement would be established with the BCCC for this type of ongoing support, and monthly fees would be determined based on the level of dedicated support. This support can be utilized for proposal development, manuscript writing (authorship policy applies), statistical analysis, presentations within the department by biostatistical staff, presence at departmental research meetings, assistance with journal clubs (methodological review), assistance with research conference presentations, and K-award mentoring. In many cases, and when resources are available, collaborative plans may receive matched support by CTSI resources, and would provide available support in excess of that paid for by the collaboration plan holder.

Billing for this plan would be monthly and based on our rate structure. This, for ongoing biostatistical support equivalent to 0.25 FTE, we would charge 0.25*2080 hours/year=520 hours/year, and bill on a monthly basis. This plan usually requires a one-year commitment, to allow for appropriate resource allocation and planning but the level of support can be adjusted when deemed appropriate upon an agreement between the collaboration plan holder and the BCCC Director. This would need to be determined and agreed upon PRIOR to the month in which the adjustment would take place. Research groups investing in the Biostatistical collaboration plan will be responsible for utilizing the support they are retaining and is available within the fiscal year of the collaboration plan agreement. Grant proposals developed under this plan are expected to include BCCC support in the proposal budget for ongoing additional BCCC support to the specific investigation.

Collaboration plans can also be established as partnerships with the BCCC where a department, center, or research group provides ongoing funding to support partial or full FTE of one or more members of the BCCC personnel. This model is sensible to establish ongoing collaborative relationships with specific members of the team and facilitates statistical scientists to become embedded in specific areas of clinical and translational research. This might involve members of the BCCC and/or division of Biostatistics with different levels of degrees, experience, and areas of expertise. In some circumstances, it may also include stipend support for PhD students engaging in research under the supervision of supported faculty and/or staff. The specific arrangement will be discussed with the BCCC director to determine an arrangement that meets the specific needs of the clinical research team engaging in this partnership.

Collaboration plans and partnerships do not cover work funded by grants other than K awards. Biostatistical support should be built into grant budgets as described below during submission:

• As grant proposals arising from this arrangement are funded, grant funds will supplement rather than replace the ongoing collaboration funding arrangement.
• Collaboration plan owner will prioritize usage of the resource by her or his faculty.
• The plans can be used to support abstract preparation on a first-come first-serve basis for fellows, other trainees, and junior faculty as part of their first research project. The intent of the abstract must be to produce a subsequent manuscript for peer review. Normally advance notice of at least one month is required.

To learn more about collaborative plans and partnerships please complete the Common Intake Form to request an initial meeting with our team.

Common Intake Form