Posted on October 18, 2004 at 1:40 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The Civitan International Foundation will present UAB’s (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Civitan International Research Center with a grant of $900,000 on Friday, October 22. The gift is part of the on-going commitment from Civitan International to UAB, which began with the center’s founding in 1990. Total gifts now stand at more than $12 million and ultimately will reach $20 million.

The UAB Civitan International Research Center is an interdisciplinary center, dedicated to the research, treatment and prevention of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

“The foundation’s major grant has been a keystone in the center's efforts to develop world-class research, treatment and service programs in the areas of mental retardation and developmental disabilities,” said Michael J. Friedlander, Ph.D., director of the center and professor and chair of the UAB Department of Neurobiology. “The annual contribution from the Civitan Foundation enhances the center's efforts to be highly competitive in preparing applications for funded research and recruiting outstanding personnel, while creating opportunities to respond rapidly to scientific developments.”

The latest gift will be presented to UAB President Carol Z. Garrison during a ceremony at 10:15 a.m. on October 22 in the center’s first floor conference room. The center is at 1719 6th Avenue South.

The check will be presented by Dr. Bobbie Walden and William Hiscott, of Civitan International, along with Charles Smith and Whitfield Mallory of the Chesapeake Civitan District. The Chesapeake district gift will support the acquisition of human functional brain imaging facilities for studies of teenage mothers at risk for child neglect and for studies of children with autism spectrum disorders.

It will also fund a new ‘McNulty Civitan Scientist Award’, which honors the memory of Tommy McNulty, a Maryland man who had Down syndrome. “Tommy was a wonderful man with great optimism and spirit who motivated Civitans and others with developmental disabilities around the world to strive for a better life,” says Friedlander.

McNulty’s parents, the late Tom and Mary McNulty of Baltimore, were supporters of services and research to benefit others with developmental disabilities including mental retardation. Through their hard work and generosity, considerable funds were raised in support of these projects including the many good works of Civitans.

The first recipient of the McNulty Civitan Scientist Award is Harald Sontheimer, Ph.D., professor of neurobiology and senior scientist at the center. He is among the leading world experts on glial cells in the brain and their functions in health and disease in the developing and mature brain. Among his many achievements are the development of a novel therapy for humans with the most devastating type of brain cancer — glioblastoma multiforme. This therapy moved from very basic laboratory investigation to human clinical trials at several sites around the U.S., including UAB.

Civitan International was founded in 1920, with a goal to build good citizenship by providing a volunteer organization of clubs dedicated to serving individual and community needs with an emphasis on helping people with developmental disabilities.