Almost daily, the media reports another health-related discovery. A study in a leading medical journal finds an association between certain genetic variants and increased risk of heart disease.  Another suggests rethinking how bone density testing is used to diagnose and treat osteoporosis.  A clinical trial shows no evidence that a new anti-platelet therapy reduces the incidence of death or serious health outcomes relative to an existing treatment in coronary artery disease patients.

Please join us in congratulating Wanda Skipwith of the Department of Biostatistics and the Section on Statistical Genetics. Wanda was chosen as the Staff Appreciation Award winner for the 2012 Black Women’s Appreciation Awards. She was nominated by David B. Allison, PhD and Hemant K. Tiwari, Phd. The Black Women’s Appreciation Awards celebrate and honor the sacrifices and contributions of African American women on and off the campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

To promote careers in social policy research, particularly for scholars who might otherwise be drawn to government or academe, Mathematica launched its summer fellowship program in 1992. The program supports independent, self-directed research on economic or social problems that affect minority groups and individuals with disabilities.

Please join the UAB School of Public Health and the Department of Environmental Health Sciences in congratulating Edward Postlethwait, Ph.D., on his appointment to serve on the National Advisory Environmental Health Science Council for a term beginning December 1, 2011 and ending November 30, 2015.

What is the end result of research? How do the therapies and interventions that scientists develop actually reach the public? Why do new treatments quickly reach academic medical centers like UAB but move on to community hospitals and health clinics much more slowly, if at all? Is a cheaper but less-effective therapy better than one that is more effective but too expensive to be adopted in the real world?