UAB Briefs: NIH grant, a season of music, discussing human rights

Welcome to another installment of UAB Briefs.

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

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

A BIG GRANT

Matthew Alexander, assistant professor of pediatric neurology at UAB and Children’s of Alabama, has received a five-year, $1.25 million R01 grant from the federal National Institutes of Health to study Duchenne muscular dystrophy and the potential therapeutic benefit of manipulating a molecular pathway, according to a UAB news release.

The grant is funded by the NICHD-Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Alexander and his research team will seek to determine whether miR-486, a key microRNA that is dysregulated in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, can be manipulated in dystrophic mice.

A SEASON OF MUSIC

The UAB Department of Music has announced a new season of performances, including free concerts and recitals by students and faculty.

There are also some ticketed events, with the money from those events helping to support the department.

Ensembles in the Music Department include the Concert Choir, Jazz Combo, Marching Blazers, Gospel Choir, Percussion Ensemble, Computer Music Ensemble, Wind Symphony, Brass Chamber ensembles and Faculty Brass Quintet.

The student groups in the department feature more than 100 music majors and about 150 more UAB students from many other majors, according to Patrick Evans, the chair of the department.

For a complete schedule, go to uab.edu/cas/music.

Here are some of the highlights from the first few weeks of the series, which began on Sept. 15.

Sept. 26: UAB Music faculty potpourri recital. 12:20 p.m. Mary Culp Hulsey Recital Hall, 950 13th St. S. The faculty will present a variety of performances. Free admission.

Oct. 11: UAB Music Jazz Faculty Quintet Second Thursday concert. Noon. UAB Hospital Atrium. Free admission.

Oct. 19: UAB Fall Choral Collage, Southside Baptist Church. The Concert Choir and Chamber Singers will perform a variety of repertoire, most from the contemporary choral tradition. Highlights include two world-premiere performances: a setting of the “Ave Maria” text by Richard Burchard and an arrangement of the traditional African-American spiritual “Bound For Canaan Lan’” by Stacey V. Gibbs. 7 p.m. Free admission.

Oct. 21: Pianist Sofya Gulyak. 4 p.m. Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall, 1200 10th Ave. South. Russian pianist Gulyak will appear In the first concert in the 2018-2019 Piano Series. She has performed with dozens of orchestras around the world and is professor of piano at the London Royal College of Music. General admission tickets are $15. Tickets are $5 for students through grade 12 and UAB employees and free to UAB students. Call 975-2787 or go to alysstephens.org.

EXPLORING HUMAN RIGHTS

Thanks to a series of events offered by the UAB Institute for Human Rights, there will be seminars, lectures and discussions dealing with local, national and global human rights issues throughout the fall term, according to a UAB news release.

The following are the first few events in the series:

Sept. 24-25: Alabama Inclusive, Healthy Communities, UAB Alumni House. This conference will address the fundamentals of walkability and what it takes to create connected, inclusive and healthy communities that are safe for all ages and abilities. Speakers will include walkability expert Mark Fenton. The event takes place Monday, noon-4 p.m., and Tuesday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Sept. 28: Human Rights and the City: Shaping Urban Spaces for Access, Inclusion, and Empowerment for All. 1:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Heritage Hall, Room 126. This lecture is part of the College of Arts and Sciences Haddin Forum series.

Oct. 1: Addressing the Global Refugee Crisis – Part I: Focus on Europe. 6-7:30 p.m. Hill Student Center, Ballrooms C and D. A screening and discussion of the film “Non-Assistance” that focus on the thousands of refugees and migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.

For more information on events, visit Institute for Human Rights website.

ME TOO EVENT

Panelists from UAB will talk about the possible repercussions of the #MeToo movement for higher education in a forum to be held in Heritage Hall, Room 102, on Wednesday, Sept. 26, from 6-8 p.m, according to a university news release.

The forum is called “Critical Conversations: Amplifying the Voices and Echoes of #MeToo.”

Panelists will discuss such topics as the legal and ethical issues leaders must consider when reviewing allegations of sexual misconduct.

Panelists will include Kasey Robinson, the Title IX coordinator, and Lisa Sharlach, the director of Women’s and Gender Studies.

Anita Clemon, vice president for Institutional Equity and chair of the UAB Commission on the Status of Women, will serve as facilitator.

“Critical Conversations” is an annual civic forum series directed by the UAB Office of the Vice President for Diversity.