Senior Associate Vice President for Research
AB 720
Dr. Jason Nichols is the Senior Associate Vice President for Research in the UAB Office of Research and tenured Professor of Optometry and Vision Science. He has more than 25 years of experience working at the crossroads of translational research, entrepreneurial initiatives, and research administration in academic medical settings. In this role, he oversees the University-Wide Institutional Research Centers (UWIRCs), the Institutional Research Cores (IRCs), Office of Sponsored Programs, Research Regulatory Compliance, Research Technology and Communications, the Animal Resources Program, and the Academic Research Organization for Clinical Trials. Dr. Nichols has been instrumental in developing clinical trials at the university level, more than tripling university-wide clinical trial expenditures while reducing administrative burden. He leads the development and execution of UAB's research and entrepreneurial initiatives including administration and business development with a focus on large-scale and center grants, institutional training grants, industry-academia partnerships, startups, joint ventures, and SBIR/STTR activity through the Research Development Office. He has strong analytical, operational, and leadership skills, but also understands the importance of alliance building, collaborative research initiatives and the cultivation of shared governance. He actively collaborates with school and college leadership, individual faculty and faculty teams, and the Faculty Senate and its leadership in addition to central university functions such as research compliance, post-award, legal, procurement, and safety in addition to advancing effective research governance. He has served on or chaired numerous university, system-wide or national committees representing research administration.
Complementing his administrative leadership, Dr. Nichols is also an internationally recognized clinician-scientist with long-standing track record of research development, oversight, and translational scientific discovery. He has over 190 publications and an h-index of 54. As a long-standing investigator, he has in-depth experience with research operations and the medical/regulatory landscape within academic and corporate environments. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, industry, and nonprofit organizations and has served on numerous study sections associated with these organizations. He has chaired the American Academy of Optometry’s (AAO) Research Committee and served on the boards of directors of the American Optometric Foundation and Sjӧgren’s Foundation. His awards include three Ezell Fellowships, the Borish Award and the Schapero Award from the American Academy of Optometry, the Fry Award from the Ohio State University, and he is a Distinguished Scholar and Fellow of the National Academies of Practice.