Cameron Vowell, Ph.D., known in Birmingham for her work advocating for women, the elderly, and environmental protection, generously gave a lead gift to establish the UAB School of Public Health’s Magic City LGBTQ Endowed Professorship Fund which is now slightly over $250,000 away from transforming into an Endowed Chair. The importance of shifting this role from an Endowed Professorship to an Endowed Chair cannot be overstated. The creation of an Endowed Chair is among the most prestigious and meaningful positions that can be received by any school. Academicians who fill this role are considered the foremost experts in their respective field.
Some UAB faculty already conduct LGBTQ-related research, but “their work is under the radar,” explains Vowell, who taught environmental health sciences courses at the School of Public Health in the 1980s. “I hope to give a focus to their work, to form a gathering place for it. I hope to find a professor who will bring all those minds together in a way that will address the complex issues that affect this vulnerable population.”
LGBTQ individuals are especially vulnerable in the deep South, notes Charles Collins, another member of the team who is a School of Public Health alumnus and a researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to lower health indicators overall, “in Alabama, dialogue around LGBTQ issues is not as open and as transparent as in other parts of the country, so people may be more subjected to the effects of stigma,” Collins explains. These needs combined with UAB’s expertise makes Birmingham “the perfect place for this project to take off,” he adds.
Every donor who has contributed to this initiative thus far is invested in seeing this initiative move forward for numerous reasons. For example, Architect and activist Bob Burns, who has supported LGBTQ-focused research and care for decades, remembers the devastation that took hold of Birmingham more than 30 years ago with the AIDS epidemic. It’s important to make sure nothing like that happens again, he says. Fighting AIDS “took a lot of bright people trying to do the right thing for a long period of time. It captured all our attention. We haven’t had the chance to look at other pressing concerns.”
At the same time, people and organizations throughout the region are “doing remarkable work” to get people the care they need, Burns adds. “Birmingham is tough. We’ve been providing services in difficult places for a long time.” That history and progress will be an asset for the expert who holds the future Endowed Chair, he says.