Research & Centers

The UAB School of Health Professions, with more than $16 million in research, ranks among the top ten nationally for schools in the allied health area. Our school was ranked first or second for research funding received by schools of its type from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) each year from 1979 until 2006 when the NIH no longer provided comparative rankings of its medical research funding.

Our renowned scientists are experts in the fields of health care, nutrition and rehabilitation sciences who work with partners to advance the education, health, and quality of life of people around the world.

Our students are allowed unique opportunities to participate in studies and work with researchers through our Undergraduate Research and Honors program. Through our mentoring processes, students can earn a Team-based Undergraduate Research Certificate or a Research Technician Certificate.

Our Centers

Center for Engagement in Disability Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (CEDHARS)

The mission of CEDHARS is to accelerate and implement scientific discoveries, technological advances, behavioral practices and social norms that will allow people with disabilities to live independently in their communities, manage their health better, and increase their overall quality of life.

Center for Healthcare Management and Leadership

This center combines a futuristic vision that is mandatory in today's healthcare landscape with the distinguished history of an institution that has adapted to meet demand for nearly 50 years. Established in 1966, this leadership center has served healthcare managers across the southeast, the nation and the world.

Center for Health Informatics for Patient Safety/Quality (CHIPS/Q)

Our CHIPS/Q is designed to develop and market salient Health Information Technology (HIT) workforce training and education programs for individuals and healthcare delivery systems. The center provides expert assistance to healthcare organizations and medical groups across the nation interested in using Health Informatics and Health IT applications to improve patient safety and healthcare quality.

Center for Health Organization Transformation (CHOT)

Our CHOT is a research collaborative with health industry partners to conduct research to support managerial, clinical, and technological innovations in healthcare. Funded jointly by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and our industry partners, we are one of only eight NSF approved academic sites in the world.

Diabetes Research Center (DRC)

 The DRC, which focuses on developing new methods to treat, prevent, and ultimately cure diabetes and its complications, is a multi-disciplinary operation with faculty researchers from UAB's Schools of Health Professions, Medicine, and Public Health, among other units. It operates in collaboration with the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center to promote excellence in diabetes research and patient care. The DRC supports research in the areas of pathology, animal physiology, human biology, metrics and health services research, and community research.

We are home to one of only 17 DRCs in the United States.

Locomotor Control and Rehabilitation Robotics Laboratory

The research focus of this lab is directed towards the understanding of neuromusculoskeletal control during active movement in individuals post-stroke. Studies seek to understand the underlying control mechanisms of poor locomotor control and to develop quantitative evaluation and intervention tools for the amelioration of locomotor and balance deficits post-stroke.

National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD)

Founded in 1999, the NCHPAD seeks to help people with disability and other chronic health conditions achieve health benefits through increased participation in all types of physical and social activities, including fitness and aquatic activities, recreational and sports programs, adaptive equipment usage, and more.

Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC)

The NORC is an NIH-funded, university-wide interdisciplinary research center established to foster a multidisciplinary approach to basic, clinical, and translational research and research training with an emphasis on understanding the causal factors underlying nutrition and obesity-related health problems and the generation and evaluation of evidence on their consequences, prevention, and alleviation. The NORC, which is composed of four research core facilities, a pilot/feasibility program, and an enrichment program, comprises 159 investigators from 58 academic units, with total direct funding of $56 million for nutrition/obesity research.

We are home to one of only 11 NORCs in the United States.

Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Exercise and Recreational Technologies and Exercise Physiology Benefiting People with Disabilities (RecTech)

Funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), the primary mission of RecTech is to expand new knowledge and research on recreation technology for people with disabilities, and to disseminate technology development through education, training and collaboration with private sectors.

UAB/SHP Research Collaborative

This research group seeks to improve the quality of life of individuals with physical disabilities through comprehensive rehabilitation and sport science research. This research focuses on the development and evaluation of new programmatic, policy, and service efforts, the development and validation of new supportive technologies, and the identification and advancement of meaningful alternatives for people with a physical disability or chronic health condition.