Healthy eating and exercise goals of 6th annual Brussels Sprout Challenge

Challenging people to eat healthy and exercise is the goal of the 6th Annual Brussels Sprout Challenge, hosted by University Medical Center as part of the American Heart Association’s West Alabama Heart Walk scheduled for Saturday, March 7, in downtown Tuscaloosa. UMC is operated by The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences. Partnering…


Plans underway for 45th anniversary celebration of UA Family Medicine Residency

“Our alumni are incredibly important to us. We want them always to be a part of the CCHS community,” said Dr. Richard Friend, dean of The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences. To that end, plans are underway for a UA Family Medicine Residency Reunion Weekend August 28-30, 2020, in Tuscaloosa. The event…


Catch Your Breath: EIB in Athletes

When a patient comes into the clinic complaining of being short of breath during exercise, one of the diagnoses that should be screened for is exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, said Dr. Russ Guin, a sports medicine fellow at the College of Community Health Sciences. Guin also cares for patients at University Medical Center, which the College operates.…


Conference Highlights Triumphs and Shortcomings of Suicide Prevention in Alabama

The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences faculty and staff took part in the first Suicide Prevention Network of Alabama conference at Bryant Conference Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Feb. 21. The College partnered with the Alabama Department of Mental Health Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, the Alabama Suicide Prevention…


45th Anniversary of the UA Family Medicine Residency

This year marks the 45th anniversary of The University of Alabama Family Medicine Residency (formerly the Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency). To mark the occasion, the College of Community Health Sciences, which operates the residency, will host an alumni reunion weekend August 28-30, 2020. The reunion will be held in Tuscaloosa and will include a welcome…


IUGR and Umbilical Artery Dopplers: Informed Delivery for Healthier Babies

Intrauterine growth restriction occurs when the baby is less than the 10th percentile in growth, and if a mother has one baby with IUGR there is a 20% risk of reoccurrence. It is, therefore, vital that all physicians be well versed in the signs, symptoms and diagnostic markers for the condition, according to Dr. Elizabeth…


January 2020 Accolades

Dr. John C. Higginbotham, senior vice president for research and economic development for The University of Alabama, will serve as a senior fellow and mentor for UA’s Alabama Life Research Institute fellows and as an advisor to Dr. Sharlene Newman, ALRI executive director. Dr. Louanne Friend, assistant professor of community medicine and population health, was…


New Roles

Dr. Marisa Giggie, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine for the College of Community Health Sciences, was named vice chair of the College’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine. Giggie, who joined the department in 2009, also directs the Betty Shirley Clinic at University Medical Center, which CCHS operates, and the College’s Behavioral Medicine…


Memory Loss Prevention: Exercise the Mind

Moderate exercise of just four hours over the course of the week can lower your risk of developing cogitative degenerative disease like dementia or Alzheimer’s by 20%, according to research cited by Dr. Raheem Paxton during his presentation as part of the Mini Medical School program, a collaboration of the College of Community Health Sciences…


Understanding Seizures and Epilepsy

Only a third of people who experience one seizure will have a second seizure in their lifetime. However, if two seizures occur more than 24 hours apart, the chance of another seizure rises to 76%, usually within a year. Seizures are an excess of neurons firing in the brain, said Dr. Catherine Ikard, an assistant…