New UAB Honors College eco-friendly home has open, ‘welcoming’ design
The UAB Honors College has an eco-friendly new home. The university continues to be a magnet for research funding. A UAB researcher received a prestigious grant from the National Institutes of Health.
LEED THE WAY
The new UAB Honors College building, Honors Hall, opened in August in a renovated facility that once housed Snoozy’s College Bookstore.
A two-story, 11,000-square-foot facility, Honors Hall has become one of the latest buildings at UAB to earn the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, according to UAB Media Relations.
Honors Hall is LEED ID+C certified for interior design and construction and features indoor spaces that reduce stress on the environment by generating less waste and lowering the use of energy, water and other resources.
UAB spent $3.55 million to renovate the old bookstore, and Honors Hall has offices, classrooms, study rooms, a student lounge and additional seating throughout the building.
“Honors Hall has a wonderful open design that will provide a great setting for our many honors events and activities, and it offers a welcoming space conducive to the informal honors community that is such a big part of being a student in the UAB Honors College,” Dean Shannon L. Blanton said.
DRAWING DOLLARS
Research funding at UAB from the National Institutes of Health topped $300 million in 2019. The school received just over $328 million, according to UAB Media Relations, citing the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.
UAB was ranked 22nd in the list of schools receiving NIH funding, and UAB ranks ninth among public universities.
“Topping $300 million in 2019 reaffirms UAB’s place as a leading academic research institution,” said Chris Brown, UAB vice president for research.
NEW INNOVATOR
Benjamin Larimer, assistant professor in the UAB Department of Radiology and associate scientist in the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, has received the New Innovator Award from the federal National Institutes of Health.
The award comes with $1.5 million in research funding over a five-year period, according to UAB Media Relations.
Larimer will use the money to develop a PET (positron emission tomography)-based diagnostic tool that has the potential to identify patients who would respond to immunotherapy.
“I’m really grateful for this opportunity from the NIH,” Larimer said in a news release.
He is among 53 U.S. scientists to receive the award.