BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Professor Suzanne Michalek, Ph.D., has been tapped to receive the 2009 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award, the UAB Academic Health Center's most prestigious faculty award.

Michalek will be honored at a special dinner on Monday, Oct. 12 in the Grand Ballroom of The Club in Birmingham, and she will deliver an address, "UAB and Mucosal Immunology: Past, Present and Future." Cocktails will be served at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $35. R.S.V.P. by Oct. 5. For information or tickets, call University Events at 205-975-0756 or send an e-mail to uabevents@uab.edu.

Michalek, a professor in the UAB Department of Microbiology, is internationally renowned for her contributions to microbiology, immunology and dental research. Specifically, her research focuses on the mucosal immune system, the regulation and induction of the IgA immune response, oral vaccines and the T cell regulatory networks in the mucosal immune system and inflammatory response.

She earned her doctorate in microbiology from UAB in 1976 and joined the faculty of the Department of Microbiology in 1979 as assistant professor.

Michalek has received numerous honors during her career. She has been a member of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, since 1993. She also is a member of the American Society for Microbiology, American Association of Immunologists, Society for Mucosal Immunology, International Association for Dental Research and American Academy of Microbiology.

About UAB

Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is an internationally renowned research university and academic medical center and the state of Alabama's largest employer. For more information, please visit www.uab.edu.