In Pursuit of Precision - University of Alabama at Birmingham

News Briefs
Cardiologist Receives
International Honors
Navin Nanda, M.D., professor of medicine
and director of UAB’s Heart Station/
Echocardiography Laboratories, was honored
with a Special Millennium Award from the
Association of Physicians of India during its
recent 57th annual meeting in Chennai,
India. The award cited Nanda not only for his
pioneering contributions in the field of cardiology,
but also for having introduced them to
India over the past two decades.
In addition, Nanda recently was honored
with the Government of India’s Lifetime
Achievement Award. India’s Minister of Health
and Family Welfare presented the citation on
February 8 during the inauguration of the
Sixth World Congress of Echocardiography
and Vascular Ultrasound in New Delhi.
Nanda also recently received the Society
of Cardiology’s “Special Award and
Honor,” which recognizes him as an outstanding
and distinguished echocardiography
teacher and pioneer.
Gentle Venting Boosts Premature Lungs
UAB’s gentle ventilator practices for tiny
premature babies have helped establish its
neonatal unit as one of the best in the country,
particularly in terms of its low incidence
of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).
BPD is a chronic lung disease that can occur
in newborn babies when the lungs become
injured. It is especially common among babies
born prematurely with underdeveloped and
immature lungs and is one of the most common
adverse outcomes of prematurity.
Now other top centers in the country will
attempt to mimic UAB’s ventilator and intensive
care practices as part of a three-year study
to reduce the incidence of BPD nationwide. A
total of 17 highly acclaimed neonatal research
centers will participate in the study.
Infants of very low birth weight (3.3 pounds
or less) account for 1 percent of all U.S. births, or
about 40,000 births per year. Waldemar Carlo,
M.D., lead investigator of the UAB portion of
the study and director of the UAB Regional
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (RNICU), says
lung injury occurs in 60 percent of babies who
are born weighing less than about 3.5 pounds.
Low birth weight typically occurs when
babies are born about two months prematurely
or when there are multiple births involved.
He says about 10 percent of all births in the
country are premature births.
Helping Stop the Spread of TB
UAB researchers have created a systematic
method that health professionals can use to help
halt the spread of tuberculosis (TB), according
to a paper published in the February 27 issue of
the Journal of the American Medical Association
(JAMA). The method identifies individuals
most likely to develop TB infection from contact
with, or exposure to, a contagious person,
allowing health workers to maximize resources
for testing, treating, and controlling TB.
The researchers have named six variables
that identify those most at risk for contracting
TB infection following exposure.
“Local health departments perform what is
called a contact investigation, in an effort to find
all those who might have been in close contact
with an individual diagnosed with TB,” says
William C. Bailey, M.D., director of UAB’s
Lung Health Center and principal investigator of
the study. “For the first time, our research gives
health workers a model to follow so that they can
devote their shrinking financial and staffing
resources to those most likely to be infected.”
Grant Supports Blindness Research
The Department of Ophthalmology at UAB
has received a continuation grant of $110,000
from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) to
support research into the causes, treatment,
and prevention of blinding diseases.
“This continued funding of the UAB
Department of Ophthalmology by Research
to Prevent Blindness underscores the importance
of vision research and the quality of the
work being done here at UAB,” says Lanning
B. Kline, M.D., professor and department
chair. “UAB researchers are making major
strides in improving our understanding of
devastating eye diseases such as macular
degeneration and glaucoma, as well as finding
innovative ways to restore sight to patients
who have lost vision due to severe eye trauma.”
Additional research at UAB supported by
RPB includes studies of amblyopia, retinal
surgery techniques, retinal detachment following
macular surgery, and ocular trauma
caused by pressurized bottles and by paintball
war games. UAB researchers are also studying
the risk factors associated with automobile
crashes involving older drivers.
Study Examines
Genetic Factors in Pain Disorder
A new study under way at UAB seeks to
determine if the sisters of women with
fibromyalgia are at greater risk for developing a
heightened sensitivity to pain and, if so, if one
or more genes are associated with this increased
risk. This is the first study examining sex-related
genetic factors associated with fibromyalgia,
a disorder characterized by chronic muscle pain
and unusually high pain sensitivity.
“There is evidence that many women with
fibromyalgia may have a genetically influenced,
impaired ability to inhibit pain,” says
Laurence Bradley, Ph.D., professor of medicine
in the Division of Clinical Immunology
and Rheumatology at UAB. “There is also
evidence that the disorder occurs more frequently
among sisters compared to brothers
of patients with fibromyalgia. If true, this
points to a sex-related, genetic predisposition
to the development of the disorder.”
UASOM Student
Joins Medical Student JAMA
Fifth-year M.D./Ph.D. student Kayvon
Modjarrad has been appointed associate editor
of Medical Student JAMA (MSJAMA),
the student section of the Journal of the
American Medical Association. Modjarrad is
the first UASOM student to join the MSJA-
MA editorial board.
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