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Nominations remain open for the 2016 Dean’s Excellence Awards, an annual honor established to recognize the outstanding contributions made by faculty across the School of Medicine. Any full time-faculty member may nominate a faculty colleague for any of the awards; self-nominations are also accepted.

Click here for more information.

View the Children's of Alabama Annual Report for 2015 for a glimpse at some of the many accomplishments at Children's and the UAB Department of Pediatrics. Click here for for the full digital annual report, which includes the year in review, community, medicine and research efforts. Click here for the PDF printed supplement, which contains a few of the items from the full digital version. Please feel free to share the link and/or the PDF with your colleagues, family and friends.

The UAB Pediatric Pulmonary Asthma Program, in collaboration with UAB Lung Health Center, was recently selected as an Airways Clinical Research Center (ACRC) by the American Lung Association. The ACRC is the nation’s largest not-for-profit network of clinical researchers dedicated to asthma and COPD research. The network consists of 15-20 clinical sites and a data coordinating center. The ACRC  conducts large multi center clinical trials that directly impact the care of these patients. The Pediatric Asthma Research Program is led by Drs. Isabel Virella-Lowell and Terri Magruder. This is a great step forward for our program, allowing us to expand our research activities and further improve the care of patients at Children's of Alabama and across the U.S.

Randy Q. Cron, M.D., PhD, Pediatric Rheumatology, is a 2016 American Pediatric Society (APS) International Travel Grant Program (ITGP) application recipient. This will enable him to attend the 6th Congress of the European Academy of Pediatric Societies (EAPS 2016), Oct. 21-25, 2016, in Geneva, Switzerland. The goal of the APS ITGP is to foster international collaboration in the advancement of child health through participation and presentation of research and scholarly work by APS members at EAPS 2016. Congratulations to Dr. Cron.

This year’s race will begin at the Levite Jewish Community Center and occur on Montclair Road. This year's race benefits the Children's of Alabama Healthy Active Living Initiative & Reach Out and Read. The Spring Scramble 5K is one of several community outreach programs organized by the UAB Pediatrics Residency Program through our Community, Outreach and Advocacy Program. Join us April 16, 2016 for the 10th Annual Spring Scramble 5K & 1Mile Fun Run Live Music & Food Trucks! For more information, visit SpringScramble.org

The UAB Commission on the Status of Women recently selected the 2016 Outstanding Women Awards. Out of a total of eight women awarded, three were from the Department of Pediatrics. The commission will present awards to those honored as Outstanding Women for 2016 at a reception March 17, 2016 at the Alumni House. 

• Rebecca Cantu, M.D., Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellow, received Outstanding Woman UAB Postdoctoral Fellow Award.
• Penny Jester, BSN, MPH, CCRC, Pediatric Infectious Disease, received Susan D. Marchase Outstanding Woman UAB Administrator Award.
• Michele Kong, M.D., Pediatric Critical Care, received Outstanding Woman in the Community Award. 

The American Association of Immunologists (AAI) selected Randy Q. Cron, M.D., PhD, Pediatric Rheumatology, to serve as a Block Symposium Chair during the AAI's annual meeting, IMMUNOLOGY 2016, in Seattle at the Washington State Convention Center in May 2016. Additionally, Dr. Cron was asked to serve a second term as a Journal of Immunology (JI) Section Editor. Section Editors provide key recommendation on every paper that is submitted to the JI. Dr. Cron was appointed for a two-year term, and has been asked to renew his appointment for an additional two-year term. Congratulations!

SPRINGING INTO PEDIATRIC RHEUMATOLOGY
Mini-Conference
Saturday – March 12, 2016
7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Bradley Lecture Center 

All faculty, fellows, residents, students and employees can attend for FREE. Register here.

Non-UAB or Children's of Alabama employees, register here.

To view the informational flyer, click here.

Congratulations to Smita Bhatia, M.D., MPH, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, and William J. Britt, M.D, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, on their recent election to the AAP. They will be introduced at the formal AAP dinner in April 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. The Association of American Physicians is a professional organization founded in 1885 by seven physicians, including Dr. William Osler, for “the advancement of scientific and practical medicine.” It is an honorific society and election to the AAP reflects well on UAB, the Department of Pediatrics and of course the individuals. We are extremely proud of Smita and Bill. Congratulations as well to two other UAB physicians, Drs. Ravi Bhatia and Victor Thannickal, both in the Department of Medicine, who were also elected this year. 

UAB Medicine's annual Employee Engagement Survey is one of the best tools for gathering staff input on what's working well, what isn't, and where change is needed most. Leadership looks closely at the results each year and uses the anonymous data to craft new policies that reward employees, make their jobs easier and more productive, and benefit the organization as a whole.

This is your survey, and your participation is invaluable. In 2015, the survey response rate was 74% for non-faculty employees, and we want to see that figure continue to rise.

This year's survey period is February 15-29, which is earlier than usual (more on that here). We hope to encourage greater participation by clarifying certain facts about the survey and sharing some insight into the process. Click here to read more about your privacy and how the survey results are used. 

This survey is open to participation for all regular part-time and full-time employees. If you have yet to receive your code, please see your administrative supervisor. If you have already received your code, what are you waiting for?  Let your voice be heard!

Take the 2016 Employee Engagement and Faculty Engagement Survey February 15-29

Please contact pedshelp@peds.uab.edu if employees have any issues with accessing the survey. We want everyone to have an opportunity to let their voice be heard.