AlumniBulletin - University of Alabama at Birmingham

Cover Story
top 10 medical schools in NIH
research funding by 2010: “Top 10 by
2010.” The expansion of the school’s
physical facilities is the most important
and tangible step toward that goal.
The school administration expects
every field of research and education
to benefit from the expansion, says
Allen Bolton, associate dean for
administration and finance, and it
expects the economic impact on the
city and state to be substantial. But it
will take careful planning, skillful
administration, and the active support
of individuals and groups who wish to
see the school reach its goals.
The plan calls for the school to double
its usual faculty growth rate over a
period of several years, adding more
than 200 new faculty members by
2008, says Bolton. The school’s typical
growth rate is about the same as many
schools in the Top 10, he explains, so
this short-term boost will have a longterm
impact. By recruiting aggressively
now, the school will have the faculty
in place for the projects and accomplishments
that will move it into the
Top 10.
Expanded facilities will make that
growth possible, drawing more
research grants and helping attract
high-caliber faculty by offering a significant,
tangible advantage over
many institutions: research space.
“Our ratio of square footage to faculty
members is greater than that of
many other top medical centers,” says
Bolton. That space allows a researcher
more flexibility and resources than
might be found elsewhere.”
Interdisciplinary Innovations
The new facilities exemplify another
important goal of the expansion—
building synergy among diverse fields
of research. As a truly interdisciplinary
research center, for example, the
Shelby building will bring together
elements of many different departments
that ordinarily work separately.
Its neuroscience facilities may house
researchers in neurobiology, neurology,
physical medicine, physiology, and
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psychiatry. The immunology space
will involve clinical immunologists
and rheumatology researchers. The
biomechanics facilities will offer
research space for pathologists and
engineers. “We’ll take research interests
and group those people together,
regardless of where they come from,”
says Bolton. “That’s going to open up
some exciting possibilities.”
The Hugh Kaul Human Genetics
Building, constructed in 2001, is
another example of the school’s goals
of bringing research disciplines
together and translating that research
to clinical care. Built to treat more
than 12,000 patients a year, it also
serves as a home for research into the
genetic bases of conditions such as
sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis,
AIDS, schizophrenia, heart disease,
and diabetes. In fact, the growth of the
Kaul Building serves as a perfect
example of the goals of the UASOM’s
expansion—it made possible the
recent high-profile recruitment of
Bruce R. Korf, M.D., Ph.D., as chair
of the new Department of Genetics.