UAB Briefs: Words & food, going to NASA, sensory inclusion

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 ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

For example, Gov. Ivey’s “Safer at Home” state order remains in effect and restricts visitors in state hospitals. UAB Hospital and UAB Medicine clinics have implemented and must enforce these visitation guidelines.

For information regarding how to plan your in-person UAB Medicine hospital or clinic visit, click here.

To read other UAB COVID-19 updates or find health information, go to uab.edu/coronavirus.

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

WORDS AND FOOD

World-famous chef and author Samin Nosrat — along with Frank and Pardis Stitt of Highlands Bar & Grill fame — will appear together in a live-streamed Zoom event presented by the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 4 p.m., according to UAB Media Relations.

Nosrat’s appearance, which was originally scheduled to be a live event, has been redesigned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This event will be a virtual culinary conversation and a live Q-and-A with Nosrat and the Stitts, owners and operators of Birmingham eateries Bottega, Chez Fon-Fon, and Highlands Bar & Grill.

Since 2000, Nosrat has pursued her twin passions of food and words. Nosrat’s book, “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking,” published in 2017, is a New York Times bestseller and winner of numerous food and cookbook awards. A documentary series based on the book is now streaming on Netflix.

Nosrat is also a food columnist for New York Times Magazine and was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019.

She is currently working on her next book, “What to Cook” (Ten Speed Press). 

A Cullman native, Stitt is a famed chef. He received the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast in 2001 and was nominated for Outstanding Chef in 2008. He was inducted into the Esquire magazine Restaurant Hall of Fame in 2011.

Highlands Bar & Grill won the Outstanding Restaurant award from the James Beard Foundation in 2018.

Stitt’s spouse Pardis Stitt is the co-owner and operator of Highlands Bar & Grill and is in charge of house operations.

“Without her, the Highlands is not the Highlands,” Frank Stitt told The New York Times in 2013. 

Tickets are $29. Ticket buyers will be sent a private link on the day of the event. To order, call 205-975-2787 or go to visit alysstephens.org.

SHOOTING FOR THE STARS

Jessica Jasien — a summer graduate from the UAB School of Optometry — is realizing her long-time goal of working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

She has accepted a position as a senior vision scientist with the NASA Cardiovascular and Vision Laboratory at Johnson Space Center, according to UAB Media Relations.

Jasien will use the knowledge she gained while researching spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome in the laboratory of J. Crawford Downs, a professor in the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.

“SANS is thought to result from an imbalance of intracranial and intraocular pressure that is caused by the absence of gravity,” Downs said in a UAB news release. “These cephalad fluid shifts are exactly what Jessica worked on in my laboratory at UAB.”

“It’s a perfect fit for the experiments NASA is doing in astronauts and healthy volunteers on Earth to understand the causes of SANS,” Downs said. 

Jasien has wanted to work for NASA for quite a while. After obtaining her master’s degree, she visited the Johnson Space Center several times as part of her first research position and realized the facility would be an exciting place to work. Prior to coming to UAB, Jasien did clinical research at the New York Glaucoma Research Institute at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mt. Sinai.

A MORE POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

Callahan Eye Hospital & Clinics has partnered with KultureCity to make its facility sensory inclusive and seek to provide a positive, accommodating experience for all guests with sensory issues that visit the clinics and hospital, according to UAB Media Relations.

“This collaboration will make visiting our hospital and clinic system easier for those who have sensory needs,” said Rett Grover, CEO of UAB Callahan Eye Hospital & Clinics, in a UAB news release.

The certification process involved the Callahan staff undergoing training by leading medical professionals on how to recognize guests with sensory needs and how to respond to a sensory overload situation. 

Sensory bags with noise canceling headphones, fidget tools, verbal cue cards and weighted lap pads will be available to all patients and guests who feel overwhelmed by the environment. 

Patients will also be able to use a dedicated sensory room if they need a quieter, more secure environment.

Sensory sensitivities or challenges with sensory regulation are often experienced by individuals with autism, dementia, PTSD and similar conditions. One of the major barriers for these individuals is sensitivity to overstimulation and noise.

Prior to visiting, families can download the free KultureCity App.