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Colm Travers, M.D., Neonatology Fellow, was selected to join the Health Services, Outcomes, and Effectiveness Research (HSOER) T32 Fellowship Program effective July 1, 2016. In addition to a National Research Service Award (NRSA) stipend, the fellowship award also includes tuition and fees for additional didactic training, a travel stipend, and additional funds for research training related expenses. Congratulations!

Bill Britt, M.D., Pediatric Infectious Disease, received a National Institute of Health RO1 award for his study, "HCMV miRNA Regulation of Secretion and Formation of the Viral Assembly Compartment" in the amount of $779,109 per year through 2021. This award includes funds awarded for subrecipient activity with Oregon Health and Science University.

Click here to read the story in an ongoing series highlighting the 2015 Dean's Excellence Award winners.

From an early age Michele Nichols valued the privilege of education. A single mother raising two daughters, Nichols’ mother instilled one thing in her children: consider education a privilege, not an entitlement. These words still resonate with Nichols as she has dedicated nearly her entire career with the UAB Department of Pediatrics and Children’s of Alabama as not only an educator, but a leader in educating the generations of future pediatricians.... Continue reading here 

“Service is the foundation of our life, our people, our community. Service is what connects you to the next person. Service should be the core of everything we do.”

Michele Kong, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Children's of Alabama, cofounded Kulturecity with her husband in 2013 after their oldest son was diagnosed with autism. The nonprofit works to create a network for families with autism and to change the way the disorder is viewed in society.

Dr. Kong was recognized for her work in the community as a winner in the 2015 Dean's Excellence Awards, established to recognize outstanding contributions made by faculty across the School of Medicine. She was also recently selected by the UAB Commission on the Status of Women to receive the Outstanding Woman in the Community Award. Clickhere to read the story in an ongoing series highlighting the 2015 Dean's Excellence Award winners. Nominations for this year's awards are due today, April 1, 2016  by 11:59 p.m. to Heather McGuire. Click here for details. 

The UAB Department of Pediatrics recently received the competitive renewal for a National Institutes of Health grant, for which Wally Carlo, M.D., division director of Neonatology, is the principal investigator. This marks the fifth consecutive successful five-year cycle of the grant titled, "Cooperative Multi-center Neonatal Research Network-UAB," in the amount of $277,607 per year through 2020.

Due to a generous donation from the Chu family to support educational initiatives, a portion has been set aside for Pediatric Fellows. Applications remain open for the Chu Family Educational Scholarship for the Fall of 2016. There will be three scholarships given for the Fall 2016. Please see memo for details. 

Candidates are selected on a competitive basis and selection is made upon a Review Committee’s analysis of the written application. For the academic year starting in July 2016, three candidates will receive a $5,000 scholarship for their chosen educational endeavor. 

Should you have any questions, please contact Ronda Chandler or Dr. Ann Klasner. Applications should be emailed to or delivered to Ronda Chandler in the Sergio Stagno Center, 4th Floor Dearth Tower, no later than Monday, April 11, 2016.
 
Scholarship recipients will be announced in late May/early June.

Have you marked your calendar? The Spring Benevolent Fund Food Truck Festival is next Friday, April 8 outside of WIC in Limbaugh Park from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. See you there!

The 2016 Benevolent Fund Campaign runs April 1 - 30. 
Make your continuous or one-time pledge online today to support fellowemployees with emergency needs andoutreach in the community.

The first annual Pediatric Science Day was held on March 17, 2016 in the Bradley Conference Center. The organizers are pleased to announce the day was a huge success! Twenty pediatric presentations were showcased including presentations by 12 pediatric fellows, six pediatric residents, one post doc in psychology and one medical student. Additionally, eight posters were presented, five by pediatric fellows, one by a chief resident, one by a nutrition graduate student and one by a research associate. We were thrilled that Dr. Paul Spearman, Vice Chair of Research from Emory University was able to join us as the featured Grand Rounds speaker. He was an integral active participant during both the platform and poster sessions, and gave a very informative grand rounds presentation. Three fellows were highlighted with best abstracts in their section: Dr. Eric Ring and Dr. Jenny McDaniel, first and second year fellows from Hematology/Oncology, and Dr. Johanna Hall, third year fellow from Emergency Medicine. The day was even more complete as close to 70 faculty members took time to enjoy the presentations during the day. Special thanks to the six faculty who took time to review the abstracts: Drs. Tofil, Wu, Walley, Lebensburger, Whitley and McCormick.

Weily Soong, M.D., and Joe LaRussa, M.D., both longstanding members of the Allergy and Immunology teaching faculty in the Allergy and Immunology fellowship program, have been promoted to Clinical Associate Professor. Drs. Soong and LaRussa provide teaching for fellows as well as medicine and pediatric residents and medical students at their private practices in Birmingham.

More than 200 million children age 5 and under do not reach their developmental potential due to poverty, malnutrition, poor health and un-stimulating home environments, according to Fred Biasini, Ph.D., associate professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Psychology. The majority of these children live in South Asia or sub-Saharan Africa.

Biasini and Wally Carlo, M.D., division director of UAB Neonatology, are co-authors of a multicountry study that shows home-based interventions that teach parents to engage children in interactive, developmentally appropriate learning activities during the first three years help erase this gap. Biasini led the team of developmental assessors, while Carlo was the principal investigator.

To continue reading the press release, click here.