Posted on May 11, 2001 at 11:10 a.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — UAB’s nationally acclaimed women’s reproductive health researchers will celebrate the grand opening of a new building to house the research clinics and administrative offices for the Center for Research in Women's Health (CRWH). An opening reception will begin at 1 p.m. Friday, May 11.
Construction began in January 2000 on the new $4 million three-story building, located at 1500 6th Avenue South, in response to the center's growing research needs. The CRWH works in conjunction with UAB's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and many other disciplines across the campus — including the School of Health Related Professions, School of Medicine, School of Dentistry and School of Public Health — to conduct research aimed at improving the health of all women, especially minority and under-served women and their families. It aims to bring researchers interested in women's reproductive health issues into a more formal research collaboration. The center also supports extensive education and graduate training programs for young investigators and scientists to develop research careers in the area of women's health.
The first floor of the new building will house 16 exam rooms, four consult rooms, laboratories and medical records. Special touches and a contemporary design will allow for maximum patient comfort; while the four, self-contained, color-coordinated "pods" (each containing four patient rooms and a physician and nurse work area) will allow multiple clinics to take place at one time. The second and third floors will house mostly administrative offices, conference rooms and research work areas.
The CRWH encompasses a wide range of women's reproductive health programs and research initiatives. There is a collaborative project funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development focusing on perinatal research. Collaborative projects with the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Gene Therapy Center focus on oncology prevention and control. Collaborations with the Civitan International Research Center focus on newborn follow-up and developmental disabilities. And, the CRWH, working extensively with the Center for Aging faculty, has developed both research and patient care programs aimed at women who experience genitourinary and postmenopausal issues.
Over the past year, the CRWH has cultivated its international presence by developing the Division of International Perinatal Clinical Trials. The division has several federally funded projects, many of which explore women's health issues in countries like Zambia and Pakistan.
The center partners with many local and state agencies such as the Jefferson County Department of Public Health and the Alabama Maternity Medicaid Program to provide a coordinated system of care that serves as the medical home for the low income women of Jefferson and surrounding counties. Outreach efforts serve to reduce adverse outcomes in women with high-risk pregnancy and to improve racial disparity in pregnancy outcomes. Much of the state's gynecologic cancer screening and treatment programs are provided by the center, where a research project and a clinical care project are linked.
The UAB Department of OB/GYN is ranked No. 1 in the nation in terms of funding for reproductive health research from the National Institutes of Health, with a total of $8,184,876 in research and training grants for fiscal year 2000. The UAB gynecology program also is ranked No. 22 in the U.S. News and World Report annual America's Best Hospitals issue.
Other departments working with the center that have attained high national ranking in their specialties include the pediatrics department, which is ranked No. 12 by the NIH with more than $10 million a year in funding; the microbiology department, which is ranked No. 1 with more than $12 million a year in funding; and the Department of Medicine, which is ranked No. 6 with more than $61 million a year.