December 2022

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2022: UAB’s Year In Review

Congratulations! You made it to the end of 2022, what an accomplishment. We made a lot of progress this year despite unprecedented challenges such as local social and political unrest, war in Ukraine, human rights violations, and devastating inflation. Each of us has been impacted by the world events of 2022 in our own ways, but importantly, each of you reading this have persevered in keeping the motivation and purpose of being an active advocate at UAB. While you are being bombarded with the good, the bad, and the just plain weird of the past year, let us take a minute to remember our purpose and progress as advocates here at UAB. Below are 12 UAB advocacy highlights from 2022:


  • 1.2 million dollars was awarded to Dr. Gabriela Oates to better understand the social, ethical, and behavioral factors surrounding COVID-19 testing in underserved communities 

  • Dr. Paulette Patterson Dilworth invited Dr. LaGarrett King, founding director of CARTER Center for K-12 Black History Education and the University of Buffalo Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education, to discuss how Black history has been portrayed through the media. 

  • UAB was ranked as one of just 13 institutions recognized as a national leader in racial and gender diversity representation in leadership by the Women’s Power Gap Initiative and the American Association of University Women

  • UAB extended the Minority Health & Health Equity Research Center’s (MHRC) Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) impact across Alabama by creating a network of social action advocates to spread COVID-19 facts and dispel misinformation

  • UAB co-sponsored the Achieving Gender Equity in STEM’s 2022 Spring Symposium 

  • Taylor Burns, Shyla Fields, Dr. Tim Kempin Reuter, and Dr. Farah Lubin were awarded the 2022 Padma award for going above and beyond in support of underrepresented populations.

  • UAB’s MHRC began two initiatives to work to increase vaccine usage in underserved populations

  • The Otulana family gives 1 million dollars to support international and underrepresented students through the creation of the Shegun and Mary Otulana Endowed Scholarship.

  • UAB’s Laura Nell Walker awarded at the ConnectHER (formerly Girls Impact the World Film Festival) for her documentary “Our Land Contains the Stories of Our People”.

  • UAB’s SafeZone celebrated 20 years of provided training and education on LGBTQ+ identity and social justice

  • UAB students partner with nonprofit to read books to children at Tuggle Elementary School to increase reading literacy through the community service program Blazers Read.

  • UAB was named one of 16 Diversity Champions and awarded the HEED Excellence in Diversity award for a fifth consecutive year.


See! 2022 wasn’t all bad. In fact, we accomplished tremendous acts of advocacy through UAB this year. As students, practitioners, and educators we can rest easy in the fact that our community shares our values and is committed to change. Though the world is constantly changing from year to year, our purpose as advocates does not. So as we look to the new year for inspiration and resolution, remember that AAWSM things are on the way.