The University of Alabama at Birmingham honored six students in the School of Health Professions' M.S. in Occupational Therapy program with the President’s Diversity Champion Award at a celebration on February 20, 2020. The annual award recognizes employees, students and organizations that have helped create a more culturally diverse, inclusive university community through their achievements.

First-year students in the UAB School of Health Professions’ Master of Science in Health Informatics (MSHI) program, placed second in the Mendix Student App Contest.

Katherine Meese, Ph.D., assistant professor in the UAB Department of Health Services Administration, joined a surgical mission hosted by Hispaniola Medical Charity. She witnessed this dedicated team of American physicians working long hours with limited resources. But at the end of each day, rather than being exhausted, the team felt the exact opposite.

Emma Richardson, a postdoctoral fellow in the Exercise Neuroscience Research Lab, wins first place in the 2020 UAB Postdoctoral Research Day Science Blitz category. Her focus was “What is it like to age with MS?” which came from work she developed as one of the first recipients of the Healthy Aging through LifesTyle in Multiple Sclerosis (HALT MS) pilot grant awards.

Stephanie Silveira, a postdoctoral fellow in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Exercise Neuroscience Research Lab, receives a National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award. The award, known as an NIH F32, is given to postdoc candidates “who have the potential to become productive, independent investigators in scientific health-related research fields.”

Students from three programs in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Health Professions Department of Health Services Administration won first place at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Student Case Competition.

Brooke Miller, a first-year student in the  UAB School of Health Professions’ Master of Science in Nutrition Sciences – Clinical Track – Dietetic Internship program, received the Emerging Leader in Health and Wellness Student Award from UAB Employee Wellness.

Five members of the UAB School of Health Professions faculty earned certificates for completing the National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy (NIXLA). Members of the Class of 2019 are Dina Avery, DHSc, Brenda Bertrand, Ph.D., April Rollins-Kyle, MAEd, Sarah Tucker, Ph.D., and Neena Xavier, M.D.

Floyd Josephat, EdD, MT(ASCP), program director, UAB School of Health Professions' M.S. in Clinical Laboratory Sciences (MSCLS) program, conducted a workshop on Real Life Case Study at the Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists National Symposium in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Real Life Case Study is a unique teaching strategy and empirical inquiry that allows students to investigate diseases within its real-life context. It provides students the opportunity to work on these cases simultaneously as physicians and other members of the healthcare team are working on the same cases.

In his presentation, Josephat stressed the benefit of integrating this technique into the classroom and explained how he implemented it into the UAB MSCLS program. He says teaching this technique accomplishes three specific things:

1. Requires students think critically about the situation.
2. Prepares students to apply decision-making to real-life situations.
3. Develops students’ research skills.

Josephat, who presented to an international group of Clinical Laboratory Scientists, Medical Technologists, Cytotechnologists and Physicians, also pointed out that the program better prepares students to solve or address disease processes by making sense of information using creative, intuitive, logical and analytical mental processes.

Matthew Ithurburn, PT, DPT, PhD, assistant professor in the UAB School of Health Professions’ Department of Physical Therapy, has been selected by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Section on Research as a 2019 recipient of the Emerging Leader Award. Ithurburn, who is also treasurer of the Biomechanics Special Interests Group (2018-2020), was nominated by the Section’s leadership to recognize his accomplishments and contributions to the PT profession and the APTA, early in his career.

For the third year in a row, a team from our Physician Assistant Studies program wins the UAB Gurney Derby!

Eta Berner, EdD, professor in the School of Health Professions and director of the Department of Health Services Administration’s Center for Health Informatics for Patient Safety/Quality, is newly elected to the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics (IAHSI) 2018 and 2019 Class of Fellows.

Chris Eidson, MS, OTR/L, assistant professor in the UAB School of Health Professions’ Department of Occupational Therapy, is the Alabama Occupational Therapy Association‘s (ALOTA) 2019 Ann Cosby Service Award winner.

Andrew Butler, Ph.D., dean of the UAB School of Health Professions, was recently elected to the Lakeshore Foundation and the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions Board of Directors. Butler, who became dean of SHP in July 2019, came to UAB from the Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions at Georgia State University where he was associate dean for Research and director of the Clinical Neuroplasticity Lab.

Barbara Gower, Ph.D., professor and vice chair for Research in the School of Health Professions Department of Nutrition SciencesUAB is a unique place, says Barbara Gower, Ph.D., professor and vice chair for Research in the School of Health Professions Department of Nutrition Sciences. But not just because the university brought in nearly $300 million in NIH funding this past year, or because our orthopaedic surgeons offer total knee replacements without an overnight hospital stay for some patients. For Gower, it’s the university’s collaborative spirit that makes it singular in nature. “There’s no other institution like it,” she said.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham launches the pilot class of the UAB Healthcare Educators Academy at an opening ceremony and reception on September 17, 2019. The HEA is a strategic partnership between the UAB Schools of Medicine, Health Professions, Dentistry, Public Health and Nursing designed to strengthen educators through mentorship that fosters a culture of excellence, develops innovative teaching resources and advances a collaborative environment.

Monica Aswani, DrPH, assistant professor in the UAB School of Health Professions’ Department of Health Services Administration, will receive a UAB National Alumni Society (NAS) Young Alumni Rising Star Award at a ceremony on September 19, 2019, at the UAB Alumni House.

Sue Feldman, RN, MEd, Ph.D., Director, UAB School of Health Professions’ Graduate Programs in Health Informatics, completed the 2019 HERS Institute at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. HERS (Higher Education Resource Services) is a leadership development and research organization dedicated to women in higher education.

Kayla Stinson, a UAB School of Health Professions’ M.S. in Health Physics second-year student, was awarded a prize for her research presentation at the Health Physics Society annual meeting on July 7, 2019.

Enyonam “Enyo” J. Kpomblekou-Ademawou, who is graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Care Management in the pre-professional track from the School of Health Professions is announced as the speaker for UAB's undergraduate ceremony. Kpomblekou-Ademawou has earned presidential and dean’s list honors.