Four medical specialties are ranked in the top 20 in the nation, and six more are ranked in the top 50.

Only 12 art therapists in Alabama are credentialed, and UAB is home to two of those — EACC Counselor Carrie Ezell and Christianne Strang, a neurobiologist.

UAB is one of 18 sites in a national network to advance interprofessional practice and education through simulation.

A new drug hailed as a game-changer in the cystic fibrosis community is improving life expectancies for patients — and unplanned pregnancies among women who believed CF made them infertile. Nursing Assistant Professor Sigrid Ladores, Ph.D., is undertaking a study to provide a roadmap for more comprehensive care for their reproductive health. For Ladores, this is personal.

UAB was first in Alabama, among the top 75 universities in the nation and No. 200 in the world, according to the 2016 Best Global Universities ranked by US News and World Report. Microbiology, immunology and clinical medicine programs ranked in the top 50.

Six new exam rooms were added and additional staff have been hired to expedite care and reduce wait times at UAB Medicine Urgent Care, located at 125 20th St. South, Suite 103. Hours are 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

Twenty-one UAB physicians are included in Newsweek’s list of more than 2,600 leading cancer specialists in America. “We know that our physicians are some of the best in the world, but now the world knows it too,” said Edward Partridge, director of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

UAB has established the third multidisciplinary comprehensive clinic in the world for transverse myelitis, which can cause loss of motor function or paralysis. It will provide a place each patient can see all the medical professionals who have a role in their care at one time and in one place.

UAB physicians are assessing ways to improve coordination between women's health providers to deliver more comprehensive care for those undergoing surgery for endometrial cancer. New surgical protocols that combine reconstruction could offer a longtime improvement in quality of life, researchers say.

At a time when a young boy needed a friend and a role model, UAB students stepped up to help provide that for him.