UAB Briefs: Art and blood, new home for 1917 Clinic, scholarship winner
In this weekly online feature, we keep track of interesting people and events on campus at The University of Alabama at Birmingham.
We also provide updates regarding UAB’s efforts to cope with the COVID-19.
This week’s installment of UAB Briefs is our first after a two-week holiday break.
Let us know about people, events and programs on campus that deserve a mention in UAB Briefs. Email jchambers@starnespublishing.com.
And remember that the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Continue to follow all of the usual protocols and stay safe.
SAVING SUPERMAN
“Can You Save Superman? II,” an exhibition by New York-based artist Jordan Eagles that responds to the Federal Drug Administration’s blood donation policy excluding the LGBTQ community, will be on view at UAB in 2021, according to UAB News.
Eagles’ ongoing cycle of art and activism addresses the stigma of “queer” blood and challenges these policies.
Curated by Andy Warhol scholar Eric Shiner, “Can You Save Superman? II” will open on Jan. 18 at the UAB Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts at 1221 10th Ave. South.
The exhibition, which comes to AEIVA from the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York City, will remain on display through World Blood Donor Day on June 14.
“LGBTQ+ rights, health policies, body autonomy and saving lives are all on the line, and the implications at this moment in time are severe,” Eagles told UAB News. “Even during a global pandemic, and with massive blood shortages, the FDA continues discriminatory policies for donating blood and plasma based on sexual orientation.”
For this new series, Eagles appropriates vintage comic books whose characters, including Superman and The Hulk, are placed in stories that deal with such topics as blood donation, health care, HIV/AIDS, racism and stigma.
“Discriminatory and unnecessary deferral periods in place today against gay and bisexual men prevent us from donating blood and helping to save lives in our communities,” Eagles said.
The series also features sculptural works.
This is Eagles’ second solo exhibition with AEIVA. The first was in 2017 for his exhibition “Blood Equality,” which corresponded with the display of “Blood Mirror” at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
The works will be physically in the AEIVA lobby and simultaneously online in a virtual exhibition.
View a virtual component online at canyousavesuperman.com.
For more information, visit uab.edu/aeiva.
ACCESS TO CARE
The UAB 1917 Clinic, the largest HIV health care unit in Alabama and one of the country’s preeminent HIV clinics, has relocated to the Dewberry Building at 3220 Fifth Ave. South in Lakeview.
It opened its doors to the community and about 3,600 active patients Dec. 15, according to UAB News.
In its new location, the 1917 Clinic has 50,664 feet of space, a substantial upgrade from the previous clinic on 20th Street South,
“This move will allow for increased capacity to meet the existing and burgeoning need for HIV comprehensive multidisciplinary care and support service to people with HIV and the community,” clinic director James Raper told UAB News. “It also allows us to more effectively do outreach to identify persons with HIV who are not engaged in care.”
Birmingham AIDS Outreach has space in the building as well,
The Dewberry Building, located on a public transportation route and with ample parking, is intended to provide easier access for the 1917 patient population.
It also provides an easy route back to the UAB main campus.
SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
Keyanna Stokes, a student in the UAB Pre-Nursing program, was selected in December for the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
She was picked from among more than 1,500 applicants for the scholarship, according to UAB News.
The program, which receives more than 10,000 applications each year and awards about 2,500 scholarships, seeks to make study abroad experiences accessible to a more diverse population of students.
Stokes is set to study in the United Kingdom as part of her Gilman Scholarship, but the trip has been delayed by travel restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic
“I am excited for Keyanna to embark on this life-changing experience,” said Michelle Cook, interim director of the UAB Office of National and International Fellowships and Scholarships. “Applying for these programs is always challenging, even more so in the middle of a pandemic.”
KEEPING IT COLD IN SPACE
The UAB Engineering Innovation and Technology Development research group was recently awarded a NASA contract worth up to $48.3 million to continue work building and maintaining cold-stowage units for the International Space Station.
The new contract’s base period begins Friday, Jan. 1, 2021, and runs at least through Sept. 30, 2022, according to UAB News.
The freezers are used to maintain sample integrity aboard the space station and during transit aboard visiting spacecraft.
EITD, a research group of nearly 40 engineers and technicians led by Lee Moradi, a School of Engineering professor, has played a role in NASA research for more than a decade.