IDDRC
Core-A Resources
The
UAB IDDRC Administrative Core is well positioned to employ the
vast range of resources available through its association with
numerous facilities and programs within the UAB medical complex.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) fosters a unique
atmosphere that is highly conducive to multidisciplinary research
programs. The University recognizes that the most challenging
problems facing society involve highly complex physical, political,
or social relationships--intricate balances that demand the
skills of professionals from a variety of disciplines. UAB
has traditionally approached these challenges by bringing together
experts from multiple disciplines within specifically established,
specialized centers and programs. Such centers afford University
faculty the opportunity to work together on programs of mutual
interest irrespective of departmental affiliations.
Administered
through the facilities of one of the key university-wide centers
at UAB, the Civitan International
Research Center, the UAB IDDRC can recruit faculty and access
resources throughout the university. The University offers
51 baccalaureate, 45 masters, and 35 doctoral degrees through
the Schools of Arts and Humanities, Business, Dentistry, Education,
Engineering, Health-Related Professions, Medicine, Natural
Sciences and Mathematics, Nursing, Optometry, Public Health,
and Social and Behavioral Sciences and awarded 3,363 degrees
in 2004-2005. UAB has 96 fully endowed chairs (64) or professorships
(32).
The
CIRC resides administratively within the Academic Medical Center
at UAB. It was formed in 1990 as a result of a 20-year, $20
million grant from the Civitan International Foundation to
coordinate and initiate multidisciplinary programs of research,
training, and exemplary clinical services related to mental
retardation and human development. Through its Civitan Sparks
Clinics, it is Alabama's University Center for Excellence in
Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) for which it receives core
federal funding from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities
and is Alabama’s LEND program (Leadership Education in
Neurodevelopmental Disabilities), funded by the Maternal and
Child Health Bureau of the Public Health Service. Examples
of the various clinics include Autism Spectrum Disorders, Behavioral
Genetics, Child and Adolescent Behavior, Early Childhood Evaluation
and Referral, Inborn Errors of Metabolism, Multiple Disabilities,
and Neurology. Annual clinic visits include approximately 7,500
discipline-specific evaluations on 3,000 children and adults
in addition to more than 10,000 clients served in community-based
clinical service programs. In December, 2004, UAB completed
a total renovated 2 floors of the community health services
building specifically for the Sparks clinics operations in
order to move the clinical sites where patients and their families
are seen to modern new facilities that are separate from the
laboratories where bench research and laboratory animals are
located. Although, this building is two blocks from the main
Civitan Building, its bright, well-designed offices and clinical
space are a welcome addition for clinicians, investigators,
patients and their families.
The
CIRC currently has more than 100 faculty and clinical staff
members representing 23 disciplines, along with more than 70
administrative and support staff members associated witht he
Center. Annually, the number of trainees ranges from 60 to
70 predoctoral students
and 20
to 25 postdoctoral fellows. The CIRC directly administers more
than $16.5 million provided from grants, contracts, clinical
fees, state appropriations, and UAB allocations that directly
or indirectly support the research infrastructure of the proposed
IDDRC. Since its founding, the CIRC has generated more than
$125 million in extramural funding to UAB.
