Posted on April 7, 2004 at 3:32 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Dr. Ronald D. Alvarez, director of the division of gynecologic oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), will help the Department of Defense decide on the best proposals for $10 million in appropriations for its 2004 Ovarian Cancer Research Program.

Alvarez, who directs the women's cancer program of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been elected chairman of the DOD program’s Integration Panel. The department’s ovarian cancer research program is in its sixth year of funding. It will focus on new prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies in recommending which proposals to fund for the next year.

The professor has served on the Integration Panel since 2001. A national authority of ovarian cancer, he also is heavily involved in the Gynecological Cancer Foundation, serving on their Executive Committee. He has served as a scientific reviewer for the NIH Clinical Oncology Study Section, the FDA, and the National Gene Vector Laboratory.