What is your full name, title, role, and institution?
Carol Bova Hill, ARLG Laboratory Center Liaison – Clinical Operations Project Leader, Duke Clinical Research Institute

How many years have you worked on ARLG projects?
I have worked on the ARLG since the initial grant submission effort and subsequent startup in 2013 as a member of the Laboratory Center Operations and the Statistical Data Management Center (SDMC).

Please tell us about your role at ARLG and any significant projects you’ve worked on.
I have worked mostly behind the scenes by supporting the Laboratory Center, the SDMC, and the Clinical Operations Center at Duke. More recently, I took on the role of Project Leader for the development of the clinical databases (Electronic Data Capture systems) at Duke. Having a scientific background that included genomics, I served as a bridge between the labs and the ARLG statistical group. I also worked to establish methods for data and biorepository sharing and worked with the Duke Legal team to establish the contracts needed for sharing data and materials. I managed the IRB protocol and reporting for the ARLG Data and Specimen Repository, as well as managed the data and data transfers from all ARLG studies. Studies that I touched include PRIMERS, DICON, PROVIDE, PROOF, MDRO, SHREC, SCENE, DOTS, FAST, GENO-STELLAR. I also worked on the DOOR Innovations Workgroup.

Most significantly, I joined the MDRO (Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms) project to help with the global expansion of sites, establishing common lab protocols, working out a reconciliation process for the bacteria, coordinating shipping and laboratory testing, and supporting the final locking of the database and subsequent laboratory testing.

In your role with ARLG, what have been some of your key contributions?
I am probably most proud of the ARLG Biorepository Strain Catalogue. While I had a bigger vision to incorporate data from studies systematically (instead of data entry), the application has been working since launch in 2014 with only a single enhancement. While developing the application, I worked with the developers to create a dynamic system whereby the test results for bacteria were generated in tabular format based upon “what we wanted to label the table, columns, and … type [of] data [going] into the table.” It was fun to see the “vision” become a reality. I am currently working with the Laboratory Center team to determine what enhancements we should consider for ARLG 3.0 to incorporate changes to meet the ARLG’s evolving priorities and to make the system easier for the administrators and users.

Why is the mission of ARLG important to you?
I previously worked at a pharmaceutical company to support the group developing drugs for bacterial infections. The mindset, due to the lack of potential for profit, led to limited research.  While I understood the commercial aspect, as a scientist, it seemed short-sighted and difficult to understand. Projects were cut (or sold off) even if they seemed promising. The mission of the ARLG – creating change through research that impacts not only the prevention, but also the treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacteria – provided a way to move forward with meaningful research with top researchers in their fields.

Being part of the ARLG and its ability to bring together a network of leading researchers, while also enabling me to listen and learn about approaches to clinical research, has been rewarding to me personally and satisfied my constant desire to learn. I have been able to attend conferences and participate in protocol development and manuscripts. It is uncommon for staff at the DCRI from my functional group to be given such opportunities. By being so engaged with the study teams and clinicians, the ARLG mission has become a passion for me as I “drank the Kool-Aid.” I feel comfort knowing that if I (or someone I know) succumb to an infection, the “medicine cabinet” will not be empty. I have met many through the ARLG that I feel will be life-long friends, and I will enjoy seeing where the research goes from here.

 When do you plan to retire?
I am fully retiring this year in June 2024. I retired from DCRI and Duke at the end of 2022, but continued working as a part-time employee for the ARLG during the past year, focusing primarily on data and specimen sharing and MDRO manuscripts.

 Do you have any career highlights that you’d like to feature?
Prior to coming to DCRI, I worked at a pharmaceutical company with a team to develop a system for exchanging vocabulary lists using an API and to provide a mechanism for groups to partner to use the same concept across applications (even if not the identical text, but an alternative term). The application lasted for years. I just saw where NIH is looking to do more with “common data elements.” Problems occur when data is not defined and managed appropriately, and integrating data becomes hard. So, although I could highlight limited success with these “ideals,” the challenges remain due to the complexity and ease of just creating data.

Coming to DCRI, I worked out a process whereby biomarker data from laboratory raw instrumentation was integrated with the clinical data and inventories, cleaned, and provided to the FDA using standard CDISC formats. While not exciting to some, to a data nerd, envisioning and developing systems and processes that work is where I have been able to have an impact while also highlighting work that goes on behind the front lines. Being able to work on the GENO-STELLAR project and seeing/helping it take shape showcases the power to assemble data and use it as technologies advance.

Do you have any exciting retirement plans?
I plan to do more travelling hopefully with COVID and other viral diseases becoming more manageable. I have plans to go see the Solar Eclipse in April while visiting my son and daughter-in-law and to take a trip to France/Germany to go on a river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam. Meanwhile, I am spending more times outdoors, volunteering (invasive species removal), and tending to our garden (vegetables, herbs, and flowers). I raised Monarch butterflies last year and hope to do more bird watching in my future. I also want to take the time to do more reading and am always learning.

On the “odd” side of my personality, but not a surprise I expect to those who know me, I got myself a nice computer and hope to play with data in the public domain (including sequences the ARLG has deposited at NCBI!). I have already started playing with AI Generative tools, and I hope to have time to keep “playing and learning” even more. And, maybe, just maybe, I will finally have time to reflect and study what the data is trying to tell me.