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SPRING/SUMMER 2021SPRING/SUMMER 2021 Working together, the UAB community battled the coronavirus pandemic with skill, innovation and compassion. UABUABMAGAZINE UNITED IN THE FIGHT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAMTHE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM ®®At UAB, diversity is more than a buzzword. It’s a practice. Here, everyone counts—every day. Our leadership reflects our community—from local to global—and our mission ensures we treat our patients, faculty, staff and students with fairness and respect. We’re proud that Insight Into Diversity® has named us a Diversity Champion for the past three years and presented us with the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award four times. Now Forbes has named us America’s #4 Best Employer for Diversity. Be a part of an organization that does more than throw words around. EXPLORE UAB. Forbes 2021UAB MAGAZINE 1 Published by UAB University Relations. Send questions, story suggestions and address changes to UAB Magazine, AB 1370, 1720 2ND AVE S, BIRMINGHAM AL 35294-0113 (205) 975-6577 uabmagazine@uab.edu © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama for the University of Alabama at Birmingham UAB is an EO/AA/Disability/ Veteran Employer. OVER THIS PAST YEAR, UAB and our community and state have come together in a common cause as never before, partnering on an unprecedented scale to meet an unprecedented challenge. Together we have confronted the worst global pandemic of our lifetimes with the very best of our collective will and collaborative spirit. We have persevered through 13 months marked by hope, heartache and heroism, and we remain vigilant as the light at the end of the tunnel grows brighter by the day. Our successful efforts to combat COVID-19 have spanned our campus and state, beginning with our initial response, conducted in coordination with the UA System, Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), local government and others. We partnered with the Jefferson County Department of Health in the first appointment- based testing site in Birmingham, and our UAB Grand Challenge team established walk-up sites in 38 underserved communities. Our health care teams have treated more than 4,300 COVID-positive patients, and—along with a host of volunteers—delivered close to 200,000 vaccinations. Our clinicians and researchers have conducted clinical trials on treatments and vaccines, served on state and national task forces, and done 75-plus interviews on major worldwide television broadcast networks alone. At the same time, our entire campus has rallied behind UAB United, readily adopting measures to ensure our safety and success—on-line and hybrid instruction, masking and social distancing, and use of UAB Healthcheck and GuideSafe™ Exposure Notification App, which were developed jointly by UAB and ADPH. Our alumni, donors and corporate partners have rallied along with us, helping us provide, among other vital needs, $1.6 million for our COVID research, $200,000 for drive-through testing, $320,000 in emergency grant funding for students, and over 31,600 meals for our frontline healthcare heroes. Through it all, we have never wavered in our commitment, and I am forever grateful—and proud—of the ingenuity, resilience and resolve that continue to carry the day. Even amid this massive effort, we have also made remarkable, missionwide strides despite COVID. We achieved a fifth straight year of record enrollment, record retention and record research awards, carrying on the most successful era of research funding in university history. We developed new, one-of-a-kind academic programs as well as our Signature Core Curriculum. We treated more patients and saved more lives than ever. And, most recently, Forbes ranked UAB No. 1 on its list of Best Large Employers (above the likes of Mayo Clinic, NASA and Google), a testament to the exceptional enthusiasm, professionalism and pride of our people—our greatest asset. We look forward to building on these accomplishments in the months to come and beyond. When we first developed our strategic plan for 2018 through 2022, we intentionally designed a dynamic plan that would adapt to ever-changing circumstances. We could not have known just how adaptable the plan would have to be in the median year of 2020. Thanks to all of you, our ongoing planning and collaboration is bringing success in all pillars of our mission, as together we finish this fight and continue forging the future. With my best regards, Ray L. Watts, M.D. President Vigilance and Victory Over COVID EDITOR, ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT OF CONTENT STRATEGY Julie Keith CREATIVE DIRECTOR Amy R. Bickell ART DIRECTOR Hagen Stegall DESIGNER Rachel Hendrix ILLUSTRATORS Rachel Hendrix, Scarlett Miller WRITERS Ashleigh Aldridge, Pamela Benoit, Brett Bralley, Briana Bryant, Tucker Dillard, Ted Feeley, Mona Fouad, Haley Herfurth, Brianna Hoge, Joi Jackson, Lynne Jarreau, Jared Jones, Rick Lewis, Jennifer Lollar, Frances Lund, Malcolm Marler, Jeanne Marrazzo, Jessica Martindale, Chris McCauley, Satina Richardson, Alicia Rohan, Bob Shepard, Kevin Storr, Yvonne Taunton, Karen Templeton, Shannon Thomason, Carla Jean Whitley , Matt Windsor PHOTOGRAPHERS Amanda Chambers, Lexi Coon, Andrea Mabry, Steve Wood DIGITAL ASSET MANAGER Amanda Abbett EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CREATIVE OPERATIONS Andrea Reiber ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT OF PR AND MARKETING Tyler Greer WEB/MULTIMEDIA UAB Digital Strategy & Marketing CHIEF DIGITAL STRATEGY & MARKETING OFFICER Rosie O’Beirne CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER Jim Bakken MAGAZINE Vol. 39/1 Spring/Summer 2021 COVER PHOTO: LEXI COON2 UAB MAGAZINE On the Front Lines: Treating Patients Opening essay by Jeanne Marrazzo, M.D., M.P.H. College During COVID-19: Turning the Ocean Liner Opening essay by Provost Pamela Benoit, Ph.D. The Other Front Line: Research, Innovation and Economic Development Opening essay by Frances Lund, Ph.D. Staying Connected: Engaging the Community Opening essay by Mona Fouad, M.D., M.P.H. 34 42 48 60 features contents UAB UNITED The story of UAB and the global coronavirus pandemic 34 60UAB MAGAZINE 3 Explore more stories at uab.edu/uabmagazine. 4 Our COVID Year A gallery and timeline of our most significant moments 10 Trailblazers: Colleges and Schools News from UAB’s academic units 16 Trailblazers: Centers and Institutes Funding, technology and research successes 18 Catching Fire: Athletics Celebrating UAB Football’s third-straight C-USA title and new Protective Stadium 20 Yearning Minds: Office of the Provost Enrollment growth and new Signature Core Curriculum 22 Rich Diversity: Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Standing in Solidarity—advocating for racial equity and social justice 24 Green and Gold Moments: Advancement A United Front—supporters helped UAB in the fight against COVID-19 28 Ever Faithful, Ever Loyal: Alumni Blazing a Trail—Alumna Kierstin Kennedy, M.D. and other graduates embody UAB’s values 68 Back Page Remembering Officer Parnell Guyton and those lost to COVID-19 departments ON THE COVER: People across UAB’s vast enterprise joined forces and deployed their skills to protect our campus and nation from the threat of the global coronavirus pandemic. 4 24 28 42 10Our COVID Year 4 UAB MAGAZINE 7 World Health Organization identified the outbreak as a new coronavirus JANUARY 2020 21 FIRST CONFIRMED CASE IN U.S. 27 UAB Supply Chain identified supply disruption in critical PPE categories and sequestered N95s 30 WHO declared global health emergency 29 UAB Hospital Incident Command Structure established 4 International travel restrictions set in place at UAB; UAB's COVID-19 informational website launched 11 Pandemic declared by WHO 12 UA System made immediate plans to transition to online or alternate instruction 13 Alabama declared state of emergency; UAB surge bed plan prepared, visitor restrictions implemented 15/16 UAB and UAB Hospital moved to limited business operations and visitor restrictions FEBRUARY MARCHUAB MAGAZINE 5 18 UAB announced in-person/ on-campus classes canceled for rest of spring semester 19 First COVID-19 positive patient admitted at UAB, PCR testing began; Activities and events on the UAB campus are canceled or postponed due to COVID-19 23 Drive-thru COVID-19 mass testing site opened downtown 25 First COVID- positive inpatient death in Alabama at UAB 24 Universal masking implemented on UAB campus; Birmingham stay-at-home order issued 8 Summer semester moved to online/remote 15 UAB experts, including Drs. Vickers and Marrazzo, joined Gov. Ivey's COVID-19 Task Force 28 Alabama issued safer-at-home order 30 UAB provided masks for all on-site campus employees APRIL6 UAB MAGAZINE 1 UAB hosted virtual commencement to celebrate spring 2020 graduates MAY 26 UAB announced transition from Limited Business Model to Modified Business Operations 29 All students began receiving free testing prior to coming on campus for the fall 2020 semester JUNE JULY 1 UAB United COVID-19 safety campaign launched 2 UAB adopted Sentinel Testing 15 Statewide mask mandate implemented by Gov. Ivey 16 UAB ED surge plan activated; UAB Hospital reported first day of triple- digit COVID inpatients 31 Furlough period for UAB ended 4 UAB announced temporary expense reduction strategies due to COVID-19 “Never in my wildest imagination did I imagine it turning into the global pandemic that it’s become.” MICHAEL SAAG, M.D. 10 People knelt at the Student Affairs “Moment of Solidarity” event for racial justice UAB MAGAZINE 7 3 UAB Hospital reached summer peak of 124 COVID inpatients 5 UAB Pathology developed strategy to support GuideSafe Entry Testing, process more than 200,000 samples 17 Alabama’s GuideSafe Exposure Notification App launched statewide SEPTEMBER 13 Childcare Assistance Programs expanded for UAB employees 30 Plans for spring 2021 semester announced, including delayed start to Jan. 19 and canceled spring break AUGUST OCTOBER 11 COVID-positive tests among UAB students trended upward (up from 19 to 49 weekly cases) 12 Healthcheck for all on-campus students and employees required daily 16 Student gatherings restricted 21 UAB Healthcheck launched 21 Expense Reduction Strategies endedNext >