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UAB Briefs: Faculty member wins the first-ever Grand Challenge

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Photo courtesy of UAB Media Relations.

Welcome to another installment of UAB Briefs.

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

A faculty member and her team have won $2.7 million in the inaugural UAB Grand Challenge for a project designed to make Alabama a healthier place.

The UAB Bioethics Bowl debate team has won its third national title in nine seasons.

And the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center will soon host an unusual event — a Jeff Goldblum costume contest.

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

GETTING OFF THE BOTTOM

Alabama ranks 46th nationally in preventing obesity, 48th in diabetes and 49th in high blood pressure.

But Dr. Mona Fouad, director of the UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center, and her team are seeking to change those numbers over the next decade with their “Healthy Alabama 2030: Live HealthSmart” project.

And they were just named the winners of a three-year, $2.7 million award in UAB’s first-ever Grand Challenge to help fund the project, according to a news release from UAB Media Relations.

Fouad’s project aims to pull the state of Alabama out of the bottom 10 in national health rankings by 2030.

“We must educate, reach more people where they are and not put Band-Aids on problems, but work collectively to change our paradigm and improve our state’s health so we as Alabamians can reach our full potential,” Fouad said in the release.

The mid-term objective will be “to improve health behavior — getting people to eat more fruits and vegetables, exercise, stop smoking, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and screen for cancer and chronic diseases,” Fouad said.

The Grand Challenge is a component of UAB’s strategic plan, called Forging the Future. Grand Challenges are ambitious goals that are designed to capture the public’s imagination, boost support for policies and investments that foster innovation and serve to stimulate cross-sector and multidisciplinary collaboration on campus.

The project will involve changing rules through policy initiatives, changing structures such as schools and workplaces and changing places through such environmental improvements as sidewalks and street lighting.

“We need a comprehensive approach to fix this complex problem, which is why our Grand Challenge team includes 90 partners from government, business, education and more in both leadership and advisory roles,” Fouad said.

Healthy Alabama 2030 will launch with demonstration zones at UAB and in three Birmingham communities — Woodlawn/Kingston, Bush Hills/Ensley and East Lake.

THE WINNING TEAM

The UAB Bioethics Bowl team claimed the 2019 National Championship title at the Bioethics National Championship, an annual collegiate debate competition held each April on a college campus.

UAB defeated Georgetown University in the final match at the University of South Alabama to win its third bioethics championship in eight years. UAB also won titles in 2011 and 2016.

The five team members — all of whom are students in the Early Medical Acceptance Program — are Kaitlin Burge, a junior philosophy major from Huntsville; Hana Habchi, a junior biology major from Huntsville; Amy Jasani, a sophomore neuroscience major from Atlanta; Sunya Reddy, a sophomore public health major from Atlanta; and Tanvee Sinha, a sophomore neuroscience major from Cupertino, California. 

“These students' championship builds on their extensive knowledge of bioethics, each having had two or three courses in this area,” said Gregory Pence, professor in the UAB Department of Philosophy, director of the UAB Early Medical Student Acceptance Program and the Bioethics Bowl team coach.

BE LIKE GOLDBLUM

Movie and television actor Jeff Goldblum will serve as the headliner for the 2019 Viva Health Starlight Gala at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center on June 2.

Goldblum, an accomplished piano player, will play jazz with his band, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra.

And his fans will now have the chance to enter a Jeff Goldblum costume contest and win tickets to the show, ASC memberships and other prizes.

The contest will be held at The Lab Bar and Kitchen in the Hilton Birmingham at UAB hotel on Saturday, May 18, from 6-8 p.m. Registration is $5.

Winning categories in the costume contest are as follows: Best Jeff Goldblum Look-Alike, Best Jeff Goldblum Character and Best Supporting Character from a Jeff Goldblum film.

Here’s how the contest works:

The Gala, an annual event, raises money to support the ASC’s programming and community outreach and education.

For tickets and information, call 975-2787 or go to alysstephens.org.

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