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UAB Briefs: ArtPlay holiday event, visiting musician, arthritis grant

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Photo courtesy of Wikimedia user Chris Clogg.

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 will be our last until after the New Year’s holiday.

We will be back online with a new installment on Thursday, Jan. 7.

To all of our regular readers, we hope you have a safe and fun holiday season.

And remember that the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Continue to follow all of the usual protocols and stay safe.

Let us know about people, events and programs on campus that deserve a mention in UAB Briefs. Email jchambers@starnespublishing.com.

HOLIDAY CRAFTS

ArtPlay, the community art education program at UAB, will offer a family day virtual holiday workshop — with supplies provided — on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 2 p.m., according to UAB News

After registration, participants can join the crafts session via Zoom

The lineup of holiday activities will include the following:

The supplies needed for the festive art activities, along with a treat from Liv Sweet Bakery, are available in “Tinsel Totes” on the porch at ArtPlay, located at 1006 19th St. S., from 3:30 p.m.-6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 16, and Thursday, Dec. 17.  

Those who wish to take part should register online, because the number “Tinsel Totes” is limited to the first 100 registrants.

For registrants who are not local, ArtPlay will include the list of supplies in the confirmation email upon registration

To register for the event, click here.

For more information, email artplay@uab.edu or go to alysstephens.org/events.

ArtPlay will celebrate its 10th anniversary in January.

MUSIC LEGEND

Greg Phillinganes, a legendary keyboardist, music technologist and producer, will be the 2021 Jemison Visiting Professor of Music at the university, according to UAB News.

A series of virtual presentations with Phillinganes will be presented by the Department of Music.

The presentations will include lectures to music majors, virtual recording sessions in the UAB Recording Studio with music technology majors and ensembles, and a lecture and presentation to the community. Dates have not been set.

Professor of Music Henry Panion III told UAB News that people in the music industry think of Phillinganes as one of the most important musicians of the recording era.

He has worked with such music superstars as Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, Mariah Carey, Leonard Cohen, Stevie Nicks, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie and George Benson. 

Phillinganes also worked on such Michael Jackson albums as “Off the Wall” and “Thriller,” and served as music director on every one of Jackson’s massive tours, said Panion.

“I am thrilled that our students will have an opportunity to glean from an individual who, without exaggeration, is considered among the most important keyboardists of the modern era,” Panion said. “Greg has toured, recorded, produced and arranged for virtually everyone that matters in the music industry. As a music technologist, he worked with many of the leading companies in their designing of the music hardware and software used throughout the industry.”

Other artists Phillinganes has worked with include David Gilmour, Laura Branigan, Donna Summer, Sheryl Crow, Deniece Williams, Dionne Warwick, Richard Marx, Toni Braxton, Paul Simon, Michael Bublé, Bill Withers, Michael McDonald, Elvis Costello, Anita Baker, Faith Evans, Paul Young, Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Patti Austin, Bryan Ferry, Boz Scaggs, James Taylor, Diane Schuur, Patti LaBelle, Neil Diamond, The Pointer Sisters, Earth, Wind and Fire, Rickie Lee Jones and Bruno Mars.

LARGE GRANT

Dr. Jasvinder Singh, a professor of medicine in the UAB Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, has received $7.6 million from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study the effectiveness of the two most commonly used drug classes for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, according to UAB News.

The study will examine patients who do not respond to methotrexate, the primary treatment for RA. 

The researchers will focus on two drug classes: biologics and targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.

Singh and his team will compare how the drugs affect patient-reported outcomes and try to find the best treatment for the patient.   

“Our goal is to find whether and how these drug classes differ from each other with regard to their effects on different aspects of patient experience, such as physical function, sleep, fatigue, treatment satisfaction, function and work productivity,” Singh said. 

This study will be among the first real-world effectiveness studies comparing the two drug classes to each other. 

Singh’s study was selected for PCORI funding through a highly competitive review process.

FLYING HIGH

The UAB School of Engineering was recently selected to participate in Design Build Fly, a national competition sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), according to UAB News.

The objective for the competition is to design, build and test an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a towed sensor. 

Missions include UAV delivery, transportation of the sensor and surveillance by deploying, operating and recovering a tower sensor.

UAB’s initial design proposal ranked third overall, ahead of such schools as MIT, Stanford, University of South California and Georgia Tech.

The UAB team, due to its high ranking, will be allowed to build an aircraft and participate in the national competition.

The UAB AIAA branch is a student-led professional aerospace organization and was able to organize its team and create a competitive report during the pandemic.

“We are the only aerospace group at UAB,” Jordan Fuse, AIAA branch chair, told UAB News “If we prosper, we can attract the attention of aerospace companies in the region and show them the talent Birmingham has to offer. This opportunity is incredible considering the school does not currently have an aerospace department or aerospace degree program.”

To help the student-led AIAA organization, donate to go.uab.edu/giveAIAA.

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