Nine UAB faculty members elevated to Distinguished and University professorships
Nine faculty were honored for exceptional achievement and contributions through either Distinguished or University Professor distinction by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees this spring.
These distinctions are awarded to faculty who demonstrate sustained academic excellence, scholarly achievement and impactful contributions to their field, as well as UAB’s mission. Distinguished Professors are recognized for excellence within a specific discipline, while University Professors are recognized for their broader impact across multiple disciplines.
Suzanne E. Judd, Ph.D., has been named University Professor in the School of Public Health’s Department of Biostatistics. Judd is the director of the Lister Hill Center for Health Policy and interim chair of the Department of Health Behavior.
Judd is multiple principal investigator on both the REGARDS and RURAL cohort studies, which are large, NIH-funded epidemiological cohort studies seeking to understand disparities in chronic disease in the United States. Her experience provided a platform to collaborate with European cohort studies in France through the Fulbright Scholar Program.
Judd’s research focuses on the role of diet and the environment as mediators of racial disparities in the risk of dementia and stroke. Her unique combination of training in engineering, epidemiology and nutrition, as well as industrial experience, have provided a solid foundation to guide her research, mentorship and collaboration. She has worked across campus on a variety of projects, including the COVID-19 Incident Command Team and the Signature Core Curriculum.
Barbara Gower, Ph.D., has been named University Professor in the School of Health Professions’ Department of Nutrition Sciences. She is chair of the Department of Nutrition Sciences. Her research focus is on the interplay among diet, endocrinology and metabolism and their relation to chronic metabolic disease, with expertise in evaluation of body composition, body fat distribution, insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function.
She has discovered that restriction of dietary carbohydrates has beneficial effects on human physiology, including depletion of ectopic fat and improvement in beta-cell function. She is currently leading studies concerning nutrition for precision health and predictors of pediatric Type 2 diabetes. She is an avid proponent of “food as medicine,” and strives to use this theme to integrate the research, education and clinical care components of the Department of Nutrition Sciences.