UAB Briefs: Classes at ArtPlay, a big grant, avoiding the flu

Welcome to another installment of UAB Briefs.

In this weekly online feature, we keep track of interesting people and events on campus.

This installment will be our last until Thursday, Jan. 3.

Thanks for reading this year, and enjoy your holidays!

Know people, places and programs on the UAB campus that deserve a mention? Email jchambers@starnespublishing.com.

TIME TO PLAY

Registration is now open for a new series of classes and workshops for all ages and interests to be held this winter and spring at ArtPlay, part of the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, according to a UAB news release.

In 2019, ArtPlay will again seek to connect the community with the arts through weekly classes and summer camps, as well as fun, family-friendly special events.

There will be a half-dozen workshops, including the Love Poems and Chocolate Tasting workshop for couples, singles or groups on Friday, Feb. 8, 6-8 p.m. The cost is $20 per person.

The Hip-Hop Recording for Teens workshop, to be held on Saturday, Feb. 2, 1-3 p.m., will teach students how to make beats for such genres as pop, hip-hop and electronic dance music. The cost is $20 per person.

Pre-K classes will include art, primary ballet and creative movement.

Elementary and middle-school classes will include art, acting, dance and an Introduction to Musical Theater for ages 7-12 with Red Mountain Theatre Company.

Classes for teens and high school students include acting, dancing, zine creation and music production.

Adults have a wide variety of classes to choose from, including acting, improv comedy, calligraphy and music production.

Workshop fees begin at $15, and class fees begin at $100, with a UAB discount available when registering by phone.

Private instruction is also available in a variety of instruments, as well as group classes provided by local teaching artists.

ArtPlay is located at 1006 19th St. S.

For details, call 975-4769 or go to alysstephens.org/classes.

TRAINING NEW RESEARCHERS

The UAB Department of Biomedical Engineering was recently awarded a five-year, $750,000 grant to help support predoctoral students in the university’s BME and biomedical sciences graduate programs, according to a UAB news release.

The grant — the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards Institutional Research Training Grant — comes from the National Institutes of Health and is the first of its kind awarded to an engineering department in the state of Alabama.

The grant is titled “Development and Functional Assessment of Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering Therapy.”

The grant's co-directors are Jack Rogers and Dr. Jianyi “Jay” Zhang, both of whom are BME professors.

“Cardiovascular tissue engineering has tremendous, but as yet unrealized, potential to treat disease,” Rogers said.

The men say they’ll use the funding to support up to four predoctoral students per year.

“We look forward to training a cadre of professionals in academia, government and industry who will accelerate the safe clinical adoption of CVTE technology,” Zhang said.

AVOIDING THE FLU

If you are flying during the holidays, expect to be jammed in with a lot of other people at crowded airports and in long security lines.

This makes it even more important that you take steps to avoiding catching the flu, according to UAB experts.

They have prepared a list of tips to help you stay healthy and safe during your holiday travel.

• Get a flu shot: “The flu shot is the best way to protect yourself from the flu,” said Tedra Smith, a nurse practitioner and an instructor at the UAB School of Nursing. To locate a place to get your shot before you travel, go to uab.edu/flu and use the CDC’s Flu Vaccine Finder
• Prepare a travel health kit: Be sure to take tissues, pain or fever medicine, soap, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes.
• Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze: This helps protect the people around you, but don’t use your hands, Smith says. “The germs will then spread onto everything else you touch with your hands,” he says. “Instead, use your elbow or a tissue.”
• Wash your hands and use hand sanitizer: Do not leave the house without hand sanitizer or wipes. It is wise to use sanitizer or wash your hands with soap after touching your face or public shared spaces, such as door handles, seat buckles and transportation seats.
• Do not forget sanitizing wipes: Use disinfecting wipes to clean armrests, tray tables and seat belts when you board your flight. You can even use wipes to clean handrails, or when opening and closing door handles. If you are staying in a hotel, the wipes are also useful to disinfect the television remote control, the toilet handle, elevator buttons and other frequently touched surfaces.
• Drink plenty of water: Stay hydrated to help your body fight viruses.

To find out more about how to protect yourself from the flu, visit the UAB flu website.