UAB in the News

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  Yoga As Good As Physical Therapy For Treating Lower Back Pain: Study

  In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Stefan Kertesz from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Dr. Douglas Chang from the University of California, San Diego wrote that treating lower back pain is a complicated task and that the findings of the study showed only modest improvements.
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  Brain tumors: Still devastating, but treatment has come a long way

  A neurosurgeon discusses advances in brain tumor diagnosis and treatment that are bringing renewed hope to the battle against brain cancer.
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  UAB launches academy to boost health care administration diversity

  UAB launched this program, which was dedicated to increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of students in graduate level health care management and health care leadership.
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  Most American Workers Uprepared for Workplace Cardiac Emergencies

  "The data suggests these untrained employees may be relying on their untrained peers in the event of an emergency, leaving employees with a false sense of security that someone in the workplace will be qualified and able to respond, when that is clearly not the case," said Dr. Michael Kurz, M.D., co-chair of AHA's Systems of Care Subcommittee and associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine.
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  Donor Microbes Can Persist Long-Term After Fecal Transplant

  Researchers say their small study, published online June 7 in Biofilms and Microbiomes, offers the first proof that therapeutic donor microbes remain for months or years in patients who've undergone fecal microbiota transplantation.
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  UAB students build solar house with tornado safe room for international competition

  A team of about 60 UAB undergraduate and graduate students are building the house on campus for the U.S. Department of Energy's 2017 Solar Decathlon, an international collegiate competition hosted this year in Denver.
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  UAB launches academy to increase diversity in health care leadership

  The two-week program, dedicated to increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of students in graduate level health care management education and leadership, was created by the UAB School of Health Professions’ Department of Health Services Administration with guidance from the UAB Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
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  UAB unveils first look at completely net-positive solar house headed for competition

  A team of University of Alabama at Birmingham students are building a house powered completely by solar energy in a competition against 11 other colleges from around the world. The UAB team unveiled the beginning stages of the house in a ceremony at the construction site recently.
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  Poo transplants are gross — but they’re really, really great at fixing gut problems

  Depositing someone else’s poo inside your own body sounds… revolting. But it’s emerging as one of the most powerful ways to treat gut problems, reaffirmed by a new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
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  LOCAL

  The fourth annual LOCAL is an outdoor, family-friendly event featuring Alabama farmers, artists and vendors, performances by local musicians and food trucks.
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  Measles outbreak highlights risk of forgetting medical miracles

  At a time when measles seems long forgotten, false information about vaccines directed at vulnerable populations is breeding fear, confusion and even disease. Minnesota is experiencing the largest measles outbreak in 30 years, where dozens of children who were not vaccinated have been infected.
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  Patients with epilepsy had high risk for post-shoulder arthroplasty complications

  “Patients with epilepsy have a higher risk for postoperative complications and are more likely to have prolonged hospital stays and may be less likely able to go home than your typical shoulder replacement patient,” Brent A. Ponce, MD, associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told Orthopedics Today.
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  Fecal transplant: UAB researchers show donor microbes persist up to two years

  University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers have made the first direct demonstration that fecal donor microbes remained in recipients for months or years after a transplant to treat the diarrhea and colitis caused by recurrent Clostridium difficile infections — a serious and stubborn cause of diarrhea after an antibiotic treatment for some other illness.
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  Birmingham’s Top 10 event guide for June 14 – June 20

  Concerts, networking, art galleries, the great outdoors – Birmingham has it all!
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  UAB students’ research work takes flight with drone technology

  Elizabeth Bevan, a doctoral student in the Department of Biology, is using drones in her thesis project that studies the effects of climate change on the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle in the Gulf of Mexico.
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  How Bad is it to Drink Tons of Seltzer?

  Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham analyzed 379 drinks and found that pH levels of two seltzers clocked in at 4.96 and 5.25. But that's far from the risky 2 to 4 range—where most sodas and fruit juices fall—which puts you at risk for tooth erosion.
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  UAB lands $2.5M grant for glaucoma research

  Dr. Christopher A. Girkin and Dr. Massimo Fazio have acquired the grant from the National Eye Institute to explore how visual field loss developed with glaucoma is associated with the specific biomechanics of the eye.
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  VIDEO: University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center names new director

  Michael J. Birrer, MD, PhD, discusses his new role as director of University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center at the ASCO Annual Meeting.
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  Things to do in Birmingham, June 11-17

  Show your state pride at LOCAL. Saturday's festival -- held outside the Alys Stephens Center -- will showcase Alabama artists, farmers, musicians and makers, starting at 5 p.m.
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  One Gout Drug Comes Out on Top for Kidney Protection

  Allopurinol was more effective than febuxostat (Uloric) in preventing incident renal disease among older Americans, a retrospective cohort study found.
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  Xtreme Research Award 2017 Goes to Dr. Massimo Fazio

  With the annual Xtreme Research Award, Heidelberg Engineering intends to honor cutting-edge research for the advancement of ophthalmic care. This year, Dr. Fazio’s work was recognized for its contribution to identifying novel imaging biomarkers that take into account the dynamic biomechanical response of ocular tissues to intraocular pressure.
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  SNF aides rated among the unhealthiest eaters in U.S.

  When factoring in so-called “optimal” behavioral health habits that include diet, smoking and exercise, nursing aides, therapy aides and assistants, and phlebotomists scored the worst, according to a research team from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
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  30 must-see concerts coming to Birmingham this summer

  Festivals tend to rule the summer music calendar, but we've still got plenty of concerts to see in Birmingham. Here are 30 shows that made our must-see list, June-August 2017.
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  Omentum Performs Unique Immunological Functions

  Humans develop milky spots in their omentum during early development, before bacteria even appears, indicating its role as a primary immune organ.
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  Megan Rich and her ground-breaking brain research make her an Alabama Bright Light

  Megan Rich, University of Alabama at Birmingham graduate research assistant in neuroscience, is revolutionizing curing disease and, in a larger sense, understanding how our brain works. Rich is working on penetrating the blood-brain barrier in a noninvasive way.
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  Your Abdomen's Layer of Fat Is Also an Important Immune Organ

  Scientists believe that the omentum — a little known organ considered the “policeman of the abdomen” – may have answers about how to halt the growth of aggressive tumors.
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  Men: Start your path to a healthier you with 7 tips

  Medical professionals from the University of Alabama at Birmingham have provided a few tips to help men get healthy.
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  UAB launches clinic dedicated to breast cancer survivors

  The University of Alabama at Birmingham has established the Breast Cancer Survivorship Clinic to provide specialized follow-up care for breast cancer patients based on their individual health care needs.
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  UAB PhD student travels to Africa for foreign studies

  Roman Johnson, a Ph.D. student studying medical sociology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been awarded a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship to study Arabic this summer in Morocco.
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  UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center names new director

  A leader in the early detection and treatment of gynecologic cancers is slated to be the next director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center. Michael J. Birrer, a leading oncologist, will take over as director Aug. 1.
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  Pennington researchers find improved body fat estimation tool for kids, teens

  A former assistant professor at Pennington, mathematician Courtney Peterson developed TMI from a century-old equation and proved its accuracy, Heymsfield said. Peterson is now an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
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  How to avoid falling asleep behind the wheel

  "Drowsy driving can be considered a form of distracted driving. Like in distracted drivers, [mental] resources are directed away from the task of driving in drowsy drivers."
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  Army veteran takes unusual path to nursing, now serves others at UAB

  “I got to see Army doctors, nurses and medics work, knowing what they did was really important, and that there was a great need for it,” Lee said. “I had always wanted to go to nursing school, and this sealed the decision for me. When I got back from that deployment, I enrolled at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing.”
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  OU provost hired at University of Alabama at Birmingham

  Ohio University announced today that its executive vice president and provost has accepted a post at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Pam Benoit, the university's executive VP and provost since 2009, will be UAB's new senior vice president and provost starting July 1, 2017.
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  New senior VP, Wells Fargo gifts, a nurse's award

  UAB piano student Mira Walker recently won first place in a prestigious national competition – the National Federation of Music Clubs Student/Collegiate Competition Finals, Piano Division, according to a UAB news release.
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  UAB students’ research work takes flight with drone technology

  Drones are quickly becoming a prolific part of modern society, and students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are doing cutting-edge research involving the flying machines.
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  UAB head coach Bill Clark donates 100 season tickets to Big Brothers Big Sisters

  "We would not be where we are today without the unwavering support of Birmingham, so this is a token of our appreciation for what the city has helped build," Clark said.
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  Recent farm tragedy sparks outcry

  The outpouring of sympathy from readers was expected; the outrage over the incident was understandable, especially considering the age of the farm machinery operator involved in the May 15 incident.
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  UAB spinoff scores key European patent in cancer fight

  A novel approach to fighting cancer being developed in Birmingham that is in a preclinical phase has received a European patent. The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta have partnered to create biopharmaceutical company Incysus Ltd.
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  Benefits of medical marijuana for treatment of epilepsy examined

  Although cannabis had been used for many centuries for treatment of seizure disorders, medical use became prohibited in the 20th century. However, with the loosening of laws regarding medical marijuana, research and clinical use of marijuana-derived substances are increasing.