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Woman’s Day Features UAB Biology Student’s Story Jessica Martinez, a UAB senior, is featured in this month’s issue of the national magazine for her uplifting story of surviving life-long heart disease. After being born with a congenital heart defect, Martinez underwent three open heart surgeries before the age of 24, the most recent performed by doctors at UAB. “I would not be here today without them,” she says. “I am planning to become a pediatric cardiologist one day. I feel stronger than ever, and I want to use my life experiences while treating other young patients who face what I have faced.” UAB Researcher Warns of Risks of Low Potassium in Heart Failure Patients with CKD Low potassium levels produce an increased risk of death or hospitalization in patients with heart failure and chronic kidney disease, according to research published in the January issue of Circulation: Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association. "Our findings indicate that low potassium may be even more common in these patients, and clinicians need to be aware of the risks associated with even mildly low potassium levels and monitor and treat their patients accordingly," said senior author Ali Ahmed, M.D., associate professor of medicine. Research Retraction Breaks Link Between Autism and MMR Vaccine, Says UAB Neurologist The Lancet, a premier British medical journal, retracted a study published in 1998 that drew a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and increased incidence of autism. "Over the years, study after study had found no causal relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism," said. Alan Percy, M.D., professor of pediatric neurology and medical director of the UAB Civitan International Research Center, "This was of particular concern since the 1998 study was often cited by parents as a reason to not vaccinate their children with the MMR vaccine." Top Antarctic Researchers Return to the Ice, UAB Web Site Lets Everyone Join the Adventure Jim McClintock, Ph.D., and the husband and wife team of Chuck Amsler, Ph.D., and research associate Maggie Amsler have spent a combined 75 years researching the marine life of the Antarctica Peninsula, logging more than 40 combined trips. Everyone can travel to the frozen continent with the team and share in its research discoveries on its award-winning Web site, antarctica.uab.edu.
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Effects of Climate Change Threaten Sea’s Creatures, says UAB Marine Biologist Increasing global levels of carbon dioxide are making the world’s oceans more acidic, says UAB biologist Jim McClintock, Ph.D., and his research reveals this could have profound effects on marine organism.
“The increased acidity of the seawater itself literally can begin to eat away at the outer surfaces of shells of existing clams, snails and other calcified organisms, which could cause species to die outright or become vulnerable to new predators,” McClintock says.
McClintock, who has spent more than two decades studying Antarctic marine life, recently detailed these impacts in an article in Oceanography magazine.
New Hi-Def, Low-Dose CT Scanner is First in Southeast Chief of of CT Lincoln Berland, M.D., says the new GE Healthcare CT 750 HD computed tomography scanner recently installed in The Kirklin Clinic is a momentous advancement for patients, physicians and researchers.
“This really is one of the most exciting breakthroughs in CT technology in the past 20 years,” Berland says. UAB’s high-definition, low-dose CT scanner is the first of its type in the Southeast. It offers considerable benefits to patients concerned about radiation exposure, particularly those with conditions requiring multiple scans.
“What this does is create an image that has very similar characteristics in diagnostic quality to the conventional image, but it can be done with 50 to 60 percent of the radiation exposure you would ordinarily use,” Berland says.
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