Posted on May 2, 2001 at 9:35 a.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The Charles A. Alford Endowed Professorship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases has been established at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The endowment, in honor of Dr. Charles A. Alford, professor emeritus at UAB, will provide a permanent source of funding for investigators conducting research in the field of pediatric infectious diseases.

The announcement was made at the recent meeting of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees in Huntsville.

Alford, whose publications include at least 20 peer-reviewed articles in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, is a renowned authority on pediatric infectious diseases. While his early research on congenital rubella helped to establish the field of congenital infections and fetal immunology, his work overall has led to the development of new diagnostic techniques and antiviral medications to treat infections in children.

Among his continuing contributions to the field of pediatrics, Alford was instrumental in the establishment of the Southern Society of Pediatric Research, an organization that serves to nurture the research interests of young investigators and to provide them with a forum for the presentation and discussion of their work.

Alford received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and his medical degree from the School of Medicine at UAB. He continued his training in pediatrics at UAB, serving as chief resident of the residency program.

Prior to joining the faculty of the department of pediatrics at UAB, Alford completed a postdoctoral fellowship in virology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Mass., where he began his research of congenital rubella. He also served two years in the military as pediatrician-in-chief at the United States Naval Station Hospital in Sasebo, Japan.