# Leadership, Planning, and Evaluation

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · 2023 · $493,758

## Abstract

ABSTRACT – LEADERSHIP, PLANNING, AND EVALUATION
The O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center (O’Neal) at the University Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) was one
of the first eight Comprehensive Cancer Centers designated by the NCI in 1972. The State of Alabama is the
catchment area for the O’Neal, and the population of Alabama has significant cancer burdens and disparities.
O’Neal has a long and distinguished history of health disparities research and of implementing the findings of
this research to reduce the cancer burdens in Alabama. In addition, there have been significant accomplishments
in taking O’Neal basic science forward to develop novel prevention, diagnostic, and therapeutic agents. The UAB
campus spans 100 city blocks that hold its 12 schools. This contiguous layout provides important opportunities
for O’Neal to engage expertise at schools not normally focused on the cancer mission. In January 2020, Dr.
Barry Sleckman became the fifth Director of O’Neal. The arrival of Sleckman CBI brought many new important
initiatives and changes. A five-year Strategic Plan was initiated that included over 200 participants, including
faculty from most UAB Schools, community stakeholders, UAB Health System leadership, trainees, and
administration. The strategic planning process was focused on identifying areas of institutional strength that
could be coalesced into thematic multidisciplinary teams aimed at reducing the cancer burden and disparities in
our catchment area. This process identified six thematic areas of research focus for the next five years; 1)
Obesity and Metabolism in Cancer; 2) Cancer Immunology; 3) Cancer Imaging; 4) Target Identification and
Therapeutic Development; 5) Cancer Prevention and Early Detection; and 6) Mitigating Morbidity of Cancer and
its Treatment. Sleckman CBI also restructured the Senior Leadership team, adding two new key Associate
Directors and establishing seven committees focused on important missions of O’Neal. These committees, which
meet regularly, are all chaired by members of senior leadership and include program leaders and O’Neal
members. The committees provide for real-time two-way communication between program members and Senior
Leadership around issues that are critical for advancing our strategic goals. Sleckman CBI also made improving
O’Neal clinical trial processes a top priority, facilitating therapeutic trials to open more rapidly, and allowing for
more cancer patients to be accrued to therapeutic clinical trials. These important changes were brought about
by the findings of a Clinical Trials Task Force, the appointment of an Associate Director for Clinical Research,
and the formation of the Clinical Research Oversight Committee. Together they have already brought about
significant increases in our accrual to therapeutic trials. The new leadership structure and committees put into
place by Sleckman CBI will provide important real-time communication connections between Senior Leadership,
O’Neal members, and ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10629282
- **Project number:** 5P30CA013148-50
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
- **Principal Investigator:** Barry P Sleckman
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $493,758
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-03-28 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10629282

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10629282, Leadership, Planning, and Evaluation (5P30CA013148-50). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10629282. Licensed CC0.

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