Meet four more hardworking staff who completed their degrees this month.

The first installment, “Bending the Arc: The Vote,” which tells the stories of Black people and white allies who fought for racial justice during the 1960s, is the collaborative effort of retired and current UAB employees and community partners.

What was it like to complete a degree while working full-time during a pandemic? Three employees share their stories ahead of this weekend’s commencement ceremonies.

The newly created role will advance effective learning, teaching, scholarship and service as detailed in UAB’s strategic plan, Forging the Future.

“Is Mommy a Doctor or a Superhero?,” written by emergency medicine physician Amy Faith Ho, M.D., uses colorful illustrations and whimsical characters to show that doctor moms are heroes and children can find superheroes within themselves.

University Professor Jennifer Kilgo, Ph.D., is the recipient of the Ellen Gregg Ingalls/UAB National Alumni Society Award for Lifetime Achievement in Teaching, the highest award for teaching presented by UAB.

With his idea for a coil that travels through the vasculature much like a sailboat riding the breeze, a UAB neuroradiologist has earned a commercialization grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Faculty, staff, student and community innovators were recognized for their 2020 contributions to COVID-19 research, innovation and entrepreneurship during the fifth annual UAB Innovation Awards presented by the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Oct. 29.

A faculty member in the School of Health Professions turns his own experiences running research projects into a vision for a comprehensive, automated digital solution with the help of funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Shauntice Allen, assistant professor of environmental health sciences, is the winner of the 2020 Odessa Woolfolk Community Service Award for her work to influence change in the greater Birmingham community and beyond through community engagement.

A novel detergent-like compound developed by UAB researchers that blocks HIV and HSV viruses from entering cells could have the same effect against the virus that causes COVID-19. The team is exploring the compound’s potential with a commercialization grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Colleagues explain say retiring Animal Resources Program Director Samuel Cartner, DVM, Ph.D., has helped shape the institution’s research.

Jeff Walker, professor and chair for the Department Criminal Justice, is the winner of the 2020 Sam Brown Bridge Builder Award for his interdisciplinary, collaborative efforts across campus.

ScopeAssist, invented by a physician and an engineer, is designed to help surgeons deal with the rigors associated with endoscopic surgeries.

Doctors don’t have anything to reliably collect urine from neonates. A solution to this problem earned a commercialization grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Jones has announced she will retire from UAB in February, after 27 years of service to UAB and 12 as the institution’s senior HR leader.

Nominations are being accepted for one of two new awards that will debut in 2021.

The vaccine pipeline rests largely on a single tree in Chile. A sustainable, cost-effective solution from this UAB chemist earned him a commercialization grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Most PPE goes on the provider, not the patient. A solution to this problem from UAB faculty earned them a commercialization grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

An interdisciplinary team of faculty and graduate students are using machine learning to identify geographic areas in which social determinants contribute to the COVID-19 burden as a way to improve the public health response.

Ten graduate faculty were honored with the UAB Graduate Dean’s Excellence in Mentorship Award during a virtual reception Sept. 9. See what the award recipients say they learned from UAB’s up-and-coming scientists.

Provost Pam Benoit and YWCA Central Alabama’s CEO LaRhonda Magras will team up Sept. 18 for #Sharethemicnow, a national campaign to amplify the voices, perspectives and work of Black women in America.

For his dedication to aging research and science communication, biology Professor and Chair Steven Austad, Ph.D., has been awarded this year’s Ireland Prize for Scholarly Distinction.

Frank Messina, DBA, professor of accounting and faculty athletics representative, exemplifies core values that propel institutional excellence.  

Twelve faculty have been selected to receive the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, which honors those who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishments in teaching. The 2020 honorees represent each school, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Honors College and the Graduate School.

Neurologist Peter King, M.D., shares his experience coming to terms with telehealth.

Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., interim chair of Genetics and executive vice chair of Pathology, is one of 20 named Fellows of the scientific research honor society for his distinguished contributions as a physician scientist, scholar and leader in academic medicine.

Science, medical sociology, health communication, foreign language and the social and behavioral sciences are crucial at this time of a pandemic and protests, says new College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kecia Thomas, Ph.D., who begins her tenure at UAB Aug. 1.

Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Allen Bolton has announced he will retire from UAB effective Jan. 1, 2021. A national search will be launched to identify his replacement.

The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees awarded the Distinguished Professor rank to Nancy Borkowski, Louise Chow, George Howard and Virginia Howard and the University Professorship rank to Eta S. Berner.

Caroline Harada, Burel Goodin, Tina Kempin Reuter and Allison Shorten demonstrated extraordinary commitment to engaging undergraduate students in service-learning, undergraduate research, education-abroad experiences and team-learning environments.

David Chaplin, Harriett Amos Doss, Stuart Frank, William Grizzle, Wendy Gunther-Canada, Robert Kleinstein and Andrew Rucks have been designated emeritus professors for exceptional service to the university and their profession.

Alicia Booker has been selected as the new university ombudsman in a newly expanded office that also will support university staff in conflict and dispute resolution.

Assistant Professor Henna Budhwani, Ph.D., co-led a cross-disciplinary project that was recognized with the Robert Carr Research Award at the International AIDS Conference July 8.

Get a glimpse into how employees are continuing their unique and important work during UAB’s limited business operations.

Despite being thrown a coronavirus curveball, new Engineering Dean Jeffrey W. Holmes, M.D., Ph.D., who began his tenure at UAB July 1, says he is looking forward to what the future holds for the School of Engineering: opportunities for growing and diversifying its student population, defining and developing new research areas and constructing a new building, to name a few.

Members of the lab of tuberculosis researcher Andries Steyn, Ph.D., have provided crucial assistance in UAB efforts to combat COVID-19.

Endowed chairs in cancer disparity research and psychiatry were appointed, along with endowed professorships in pediatrics and otolaryngology; all are inaugural holders.