UAB Briefs: ArtBLINK Gala 2017; students play for teacher

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Welcome to another installment of UAB Briefs, in which we keep track of interesting people and events on campus.

Know people, places and programs on the UAB campus that deserve a mention?

Email Iron City Ink at sydney@starnespublishing.com or jchambers@starnespublishing.com.

Don’t blink, you’ll miss it

The UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center will host the ArtBLINK Gala 2017, its largest annual fundraiser, at The Kirklin Clinic on Sat., Feb. 18, at 6:30 p.m., according to a UAB news release.

The unique event will feature 18 local artists who will work with a variety of media to create original pieces in only 90 minutes – pieces that can be purchased during a silent auction.

Most of the money raised will go to the CCC’s Fund for Excellence, which supports high-priority research efforts for specific projects, including launching young investigators in cancer research or recruiting new faculty.

The CCC’s “comprehensive” designation from the National Cancer Institute is held by only 44 other American institutions.  

“Our more than 330 scientists work diligently every day to make promising breakthroughs, andandwe could not do it without community support,” said Dr. Edward Partridge, CCC director, in the news release.

Participating artists are Ahmad Austin, Melissa Payne Baker, Sally Waldrup Boyd, Carol Carmichael, Gary Chapman, Amy Collins, Sam Collins, Amy Crews, Joan Curtis, Barbara Davis, Vicki Denaburg, Thomas Andrew Findlay, Carol Misner, Linda Ellen Price, Michael Swann, Paul Ware, Robine Wright and Natalie Russo Zoghby.

The event will feature a cocktail dinner provided by IZ Catering and live dance music from The Rock Candy Band.

There will be a gallery where guests can purchase additional artwork created by the ArtBLINK artists.

The Kirklin Clinic is located at 2000 Sixth Ave. South.

Admission is $150. For more information, call 934-1603 or go to artblink.org.

Happy Birthday, Maestro

Yakov Kasman, an acclaimed pianist and a professor and artist-in-residence at the UAB Department of Music, recently told Iron City Ink that his work at UAB is “very inspiring and very rewarding.”

“I have an excellent piano studio, some really great students,” he said.

So it seems appropriate that four of Kasman’s former students will perform in the Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall at the Alys Stephens Center on Sun., Feb. 12, at 4 p.m., in honor of Kasman’s 50th birthday and his 15 years at UAB.

The students – Maeve Brophy, Edward Forstman, Kseniia Polstiankina and Cahill Smith – will perform works by Carter, Liszt, Medtner and Rachmaninoff as part of the second installment in UAB’s 2016-2017 Piano Series, which Kasman directs, according to a UAB news release.

A native of Russia, Kasman made his American debut in 1997 as Silver Medalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

He has also taken top prizes in competitions in Rome, London and Tel Aviv, recorded 15 albums and performed widely in Asia, Europe, North America, South America and the Middle East.

General admission tickets are $15; tickets for UAB employees and students through grade 12 are $5; and, UAB students are admitted free.

For tickets, call 975-2787 for tickets. For more about the event, call 934-7376 or go to uab.edu/cas/music.

Spinning off careers

The UAB Summer Program in Neuroscience, or SPIN, helps promote careers in science for deserving undergraduates from around the world, including underrepresented minority students and students from non-research-intensive universities.

“SPIN is a 10-week research-intensive program in which students are mentored in UAB neuroscience labs to get a firsthand look at whether research is a good career option for them,” said Gwendalyn King, SPIN program director and assistant professor in the Department of Neurobiology.

And SPIN recently got a boost when the program regained funding from the National Science Foundation in the form of a three-year, $120,000 grant that will allow for significant expansion of the program, according to a UAB news release.

The program will be able to expand the number of students enrolled, provide stipends and help pay for meals and housing.

The program enrolls 10 students each summer, usually juniors and seniors, who get hands-on experience in a laboratory, as well as career counseling.

The students “don’t sit and watch — they are actively involved in the lab’s work,” said Lucas Pozzo-Miller, SPIN co-director and professor of neurobiology.

Since it began in 2005, SPIN has trained 106 undergraduates from 29 states and two foreign countries.