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Study: Expert-led discussions change student perceptions of COVID vaccinesAfter undergraduates in introductory biology courses talked with an epidemiologist and a physician specializing in infectious diseases, 60% who initially said they would not get vaccinated had changed their minds.More faculty share the stories behind their development grantsPlant-based diets, biased language in the courts and the trouble with night lights: Recipients of 2022 Faculty Development Grant Program awards explain how they will use their funds.Apply for fellowship to explore careers in technology transfer, commercialization
Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the Innovate Fellows program are trained and compensated to evaluate new inventions on campus through market, prior art and patent analyses to assess commercial merit.
Four faculty share the stories behind their development grantsA civil rights field experience, safer MRI scans, investigating college stress and implementing a massive genetic test for cancer: Recipients of 2022 Faculty Development Grant Program awards explain how they will use their funds.
22 faculty receive grants to fund developmental projectsThe UAB Faculty Development Grant Program supports junior faculty with funding to pursue research, creative works and scholarly activity.
Researchers pioneering long-read sequencing studies explain why long reads matterNew technologies are filling in gaps in the human genome and opening major areas for discovery. Zechen Chong, Ph.D., and Robert Kimberly, M.D., explain the pros and cons and how they are using long reads at UAB.Despite gains in bone marrow transplant survival, late mortality still a concern, study findsResearch led by UAB’s Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship finds that patients who received BMT using their own cells over the past three decades lived on average seven years fewer than peers, but newer strategies have narrowed the mortality gap.‘Motor-gaming’ stroke tele-therapy matches in-person results at much lower cost, study findsA “flipped” approach to therapy using video games and short, motivational telehealth visits could spread the benefits of stroke rehabilitation far more widely.Why do students choose immunology? New study answers questions on a crucial pipelineResearchers explore how to help budding scientists fall in love with a field that is incredibly important but can be “very overwhelming” to start.UAB study: Could this five-second obesity management strategy keep the pounds off?American adults tend to gain a pound or two per year. Researchers are testing a new approach to halt this creeping weight gain. They give participants a digital scale that graphs their weight over time and one job: step on it daily.This long-running study proves that nice people finish firstMore than 100 different UAB researchers have been first authors on papers based on the REGARDS study thanks to its innovative design — and a uniquely “friendly and welcoming team.”Using AI to translate old code and fix aging computer systemsUAB computer scientists are contributing to a DARPA-funded initiative with artificial intelligence-based programming languages that allow humans to understand the “safety and correctness of code in the wild.”Study provides ‘critical information’ for treating childhood cancer patients with COVIDThe largest registry of U.S. children with cancer who were diagnosed with COVID-19 found an increased risk of having severe infection and having their cancer therapy modified because of COVID, underscoring the urgency of vaccinations for these children, the authors say.
Exploring simulations, a philosopher finds clues to overcoming “failure of imagination”Lindsay Brainard, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, delves into the tools modern scientists use to generate new hypotheses in biology, medicine, astronomy — and philosophy.Feeling proud: UAB researcher’s work on touch cited in 2021 Medicine Nobel PrizeProfessor Jianguo Gu, Ph.D., was the first to publish direct evidence that the Piezo2 channel is the sensor for light touch in 2014. His lab continues to pioneer research that could ease the burden of chemotherapy, excruciating facial pain and other conditions.Researchers identify new phase of disaster during pandemic: the sandbarIn a new paper, UAB experts in counseling and health behavior adapt the widely used Phases of Disaster Model to help colleges and universities respond to unique needs during COVID.ZAMBAMA grant leverages ‘reverse innovation’ to reduce unhealthy alcohol use and improve HIV outcomesResearchers from UAB’s Center for Addiction and Pain Prevention and Intervention are collaborating with colleagues in Africa on a $5.8-million study to translate effective approaches from Zambia to rural Alabama — and vice versa.Helping teachers see the beauty in Black languageTeaira McMurtry, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Education, is using funding from the UAB Faculty Development Grants Program to provide Alabama teachers with tools, strategies and lesson plans to understand the power of Black language.1850s horror Twitter, recursive propaganda, mapping mutations: Faculty grants seed new projects and nurture careersProjects selected for the UAB Faculty Development Grants Program offer an intriguing look into the creativity and range of research and scholarship on campus.Hackathon yields AI-inspired ideas to fight cancerTwelve teams competed for cash and prizes across two action-packed days in the AI Against Cancer hackathon. This is the third iteration of the UAB-sponsored event, which applies big data and artificial intelligence techniques to fight disease.The world is bumpy. These researchers are teaching computers geometry to save lives and accelerate commutes.With a new NSF grant, computer scientists are developing a precision flood prediction system that pushes the boundaries of the young field of geometric deep learning. Their work could lead to better route recommendations in navigation apps and breakthroughs in drug discovery and development of novel, energy-efficient materials.Study links debt with risk of psychiatric disorders, high blood pressure in midlifeResearch on financial stress following the Great Recession finds that people who were in debt at midlife had a 90 percent increase in being diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder.UAB trial studying diet composition — with no weight loss — to treat Type 2 diabetesClinical trial investigates diet as a way to remodel the body by re-partitioning energy away from metabolically harmful lipid stores.With new NSF grant, UAB researchers have a hot ticket to the materials of the futureUAB will be a statewide hub for developing a new generation of components for spacecraft, power plants and biomedical implants thanks to crush- and corrosion-resistant spark plasma sintering technology.
Researchers are learning how to understand stigma and bring people back from ‘social death’Fear and self-loathing play a role in conditions from cancer to HIV and COVID-19, spurring a flood of new NIH funding for stigma research. This summer, UAB researchers led — and participated in — a first-of-its-kind “crash course” to bring more investigators into the field.How many more COVID variants will we see?Two UAB researchers — a SARS-CoV-2 expert and a vaccine researcher — discuss the prospects for future mutations.
Plant AI project aims to bring food to tables and students into scienceWith a $1 million-plus grant from the National Science Foundation, Shahid and Karolina Mukhtar, associate professors in the Department of Biology, will use machine learning to identify new ways to boost crop production and train high school science teachers in cutting-edge gene studies.Virtually all Alabamians could benefit from gene-based drug prescribing, statewide study findsAnalyzing gene sequencing data and prescriptions for more than 3,300 participants in the Alabama Genomic Health Initiative, UAB researchers estimate 98.6% of Alabamians have actionable genotypes and “a significant proportion are currently prescribed affected medications.”Exercise, sleep and cognition are linked in Parkinson's disease. A new study aims to personalize prescriptions.Research by Amy Amara, M.D., Ph.D., explores the ways deep sleep improves cognition and resistance exercise boosts deep sleep. With a new grant, she is studying the best exercise prescription for people with Parkinson’s.Why doesn't weight loss work for me? Smarter studies aim for faster answers.Drew Sayer, Ph.D., is a pioneer in the use of sequential multiple-assignment, randomized trials, known as SMARTs, for weight-loss research. His studies test several interventions at once to speed the search for solutions tailored to specific groups.How an epidemiologist uses social media to build trust and communicateBertha Hidalgo, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology, explains how she is using WhatsApp and Facebook in two current studies and shares advice on using social media for research.Now is the time to launch or accelerate a startup in AlabamaNew state legislation matches federal small-business grants to Alabama-based recipients. Find out how to take advantage of these opportunities in the updated UAB Startup Guide, created by the university's Entrepreneurial Development Committee.How does COVID-19 affect patients with cancer? Largest U.S. study shares first results.Assistant Professor Noha Sharafeldin, MBBCh, Ph.D., presented cancer-related findings from the massive N3C database of records from COVID-positive patients at 55 institutions nationwide, including UAB. Results — including a significant increase in risk of death among patients who recently had chemotherapy — were published simultaneously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Preparing a new workforce to care for patients with cardiac implantsPatients with cardiac implantable electronic devices are at risk for complications when undergoing heart surgery. UAB’s multi-disciplinary team is creating a platform to train anesthesiologists to help.Deep learning saves researchers years in race to save teens from bad drivingAn AI model created by faculty in CAS and Engineering analyzes driving performance in seconds instead of hours — and could eventually teach new drivers to drive well.
21 faculty receive grants to fund developmental projectsThe Faculty Development Program supports junior faculty as they explore research initiatives, creative works, publications and presentations.
Not just counting calories: Study looks to disrupt obesity triggers that affect black women mostCould a low-sugar diet overcome insulin issues and a lifetime of weight struggles? That’s the question being studied by Barbara Gower, Ph.D., in a five-year, $1.9 million study.
Links between alcohol and suicide risk to be studiedWhat does drinking have to do with suicide risk? With a five-year, $750,000 mentored award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, early-career investigator Caitlin Clevenger, Ph.D., aims to find an answer.
Who will benefit from new ‘game-changing’ weight-loss drug semaglutide?Clinical trial results published this year are better than any other medication and have study scientists excited, including UAB’s Timothy Garvey, M.D. Get the latest on what Garvey calls “a very powerful tool to treat obesity.”
When COVID-19 came calling, UAB researchers were preparedResponding to a challenge like none other, investigators made crucial discoveries, developed new treatments and went above and beyond to serve the campus community and beyond.