Six scholars were recognized as the winners of the 2026 Community Engaged Scholarship Showcase, hosted on April 8 in partnership with the UAB Office of Access & Engagement, the Office of the Provost, Center for Teaching & Learning, Center for the Study of Community Health, the Service Learning & Undergraduate Research, and Blazer Pulse.
The Community Engaged Scholarship Showcase was themed Scholarship with a Purpose and celebrated collaboration, research, and community impact. The showcase featured faculty and staff’s community-engaged scholarship that has addressed real-world challenges, expanded access and opportunity, and contributed to a better quality of life in Birmingham and beyond.
This event highlighted UAB’s commitment to advancing its public mission through meaningful partnerships that improve lives and strengthen communities.
Congratulations to the oral and poster presenters for their excellence in community-engaged scholarship:
Oral Presentation Winners
- Ronit Elk, Ph.D., Professor
Gerontology, Heersink School of Medicine
African American Communities Speak: A Training Program for Clinicians in Providing Respectful, Culturally Concordant Care to Older African American Patients, Developed in Full Partnership with an African American Community
- Joy Ledvina, Director of HEALTHe Study
Gerontology, Heersink School of Medicine
The Evolving Role of Community Research Assistants in Community Health Research: A Citizen Science Perspective
- Crystal Stephens, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care, Heersink School of Medicine
Addressing Youth Tobacco Use in Alabama: Evaluating School-Based Prevention and Youth Perceptions of E-Cigarettes
Poster Presentation Winners
- Peter Jones, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Political Science and Public Administration, College of Arts and Sciences
Partnering for Policy Insight: Measuring the Impacts of Fines and Fees in Criminal Justice System
- Tina Kempin Reuter, Ph.D., Professor, Director of Institute for Human Rights
Political Science and Public Administration, College of Arts and Sciences
Strengthening Justice from Policy to Practice to People: A Human Rights-Based, Community-Engaged Model to Advance Health Equity
- Rachel Wells, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Nursing Acute, Chronic & Continuing Care, School of Nursing
Partnership, Purpose, and Pain in Heart Failure (HF): The Co-Designed ADAPT HF Optimization Pilot
