Carla Rigo Lima, a PhD in Rehabilitation Science student expected to graduate May 2023, has been awarded a UAB School of Health Professions Blazer Forever Scholarship. The award is given to five SHP students during Homecoming Week based on their answer to an essay question. This year, there were nearly 100 submissions to the question: What makes you most proud to be a UAB Blazer?

Mark Lainoff is not afraid. Doesn’t fear success – elected UAB MSHA Class 55 President. Willing to take risks – started a business that went under. No horror over pain – followed his college baseball dream through injury. No terror of the unknown – volunteered to serve at UAB’s COVID-19 testing site.

Miranda Zaragoza, a member of MSHA Class 56, was featured as part of the ONE MSHA Campaign. In only six months, the campaign raised more than $1 million to support scholarships and more.

Jamond Glass, a member of MSHA Class 55, was featured as part of the ONE MSHA Campaign. In only six months, the campaign raised more than $1 million to support scholarships and more.

Allyson Hall, Ph.D., director of the UAB Graduate Programs in Healthcare Quality and Safety in the School of Health Professions, was named to the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) Board of Directors on July 1, 2020.

Michelle Brown, Ph.D., program director, M.S. in Healthcare Simulation, is one of ten UAB faculty honored with the UAB Graduate Dean’s Excellence in Mentorship Award. She participated in a virtual reception September 9, 2020, where she received the award for exceptional work with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Sue Feldman, Ph.D., professor and director of Graduate Programs in Health Informatics, is leading UAB's GuideSafe™ platform along with Mohanraj Thirumalai, Ph.D., assistant professor of health informatics in the Department of Health Services Administration.

Christopher Eidson, assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, is one of twelve UAB faculty selected to receive the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. The honor is given to those who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishments in teaching.

Tamara Traber is the first graduate of our Clinical Doctorate in Occupational Therapy program, a degree designed to prepare experienced occupational therapists for important leadership roles in health care, academia and advocacy for professional and community organizations.

The School of Health Professions (SHP) Student Awards, for the summer semester of 2020, were managed by the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) with endorsement from the Program Directors. Due to COVID-19, we were not able to recognize our exceptional students with an award ceremony. Nonetheless, it does not diminish their excellence or their accomplishments.

Eddie Groom and Bayan Karassi, first-year students in the M.S. in Health Informatics program, were awarded merit scholarships by the Alabama Chapter of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (Alabama HIMSS).

Cathleen Erwin, Ph.D., alumna of our PhD in Administration-Health Services program, and Christy Harris Lemak, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Health Services Administration, are named winners of awards from the Health Care Management Division of the Academy of Management.

Amber Lucky, student in the UAB M.S. in Health Administration program (MSHA Class 55), has been named a recipient of the 2020 Albert W. Dent Graduate Student Scholarship. The award is given by the Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) in honor of Dent who was the first African-American Fellow of ACHE.

The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama System recognized two professors in the School of Health Professions’ Department of Health Services Administration with university-wide appointments: Eta Berner, Ed.D., was named UAB University Professor, Nancy Borkowski, DBA, was named UAB Distinguished Professor.

How do you get a reliable count of people who often are stigmatized, distrust local authorities —including researchers — and are afraid to be identified? That was the problem facing a team of researchers that included Ria Hearld, associate professor, Department of Health Services Administration in the School of Health Professions.

The School of Health Professions (SHP) Student Awards will be managed by the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) with endorsement from the Program Directors. Due to COVID-19, we were not able to recognize our exceptional students with an award ceremony. Nonetheless, it does not diminish their excellence or their accomplishments.

Paula Chandler-Laney, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences and Katherine Meese, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Health Services Administration are named 2020-21 UAB Honors Faculty Fellows by the UAB Honors College.

Shannon H. Houser, Ph.D., MPH, RHIA, FAHIMA, professor in the UAB Department of Health Services Administration, will receive the 2020 AAHIM Distinguished Member Award from the Alabama Association of Health Information Management. The award is given annually to an active member with at least 10 years’ experience “marked by distinction, excellence of service and contribution to the profession.”

In an AcademyHealth blog post in honor of Mother's Day, Christy Harris Lemak, Ph.D., chair of the UAB Department of Health Services Administration, reflects on the disproportionate effect working from home is having on colleagues with young children and offers ideas for how to help. "As one of my colleagues noted, rather than pitting ourselves against each other in a dystopian version of 'academic hunger games,' the goal should be to support one another, recognizing that we all face different barriers and we should put our collective brainpower on how to fix a flawed system."

The UAB Graduate School recognized School of Health Professions' students Katie Cederberg and Kory Dees as recipients of the 2020 UAB Samuel B. Barker Award for Excellence in Graduate Studies. Overall they recognized five doctoral students and five master’s students across the university.