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JULY 23 Andy Baer, MD of MagMutual: Returning Youth Athletes to School and Sports after a Concussion

AUGUST 1 Samantha Hill of Interior Elements: Creating the Right Waiting Room Atmosphere throat, head and neck diseases and surgeries, cosmetic surgery, robotic procedures, inoffice balloon sinuplasty, allergy treatment, and hearing solutions. We concentrate our training and experience in these areas to provide the best possible medical care for our patients.

ENT Associates of Alabama, P.C. is the largest Otolaryngology practice in Alabama with 10 locations,15 physicians, and over 600 years of combined staff and physician experience.

Our practice includes general ear, nose, and throat, head and neck diseases and surgeries, cosmetic surgery, robotic procedures, inoffice balloon sinuplasty, allergy treatment, and hearing solutions. We concentrate our training and experience in these areas to provide the best possible medical care for our patients.

At ENT Associates of Alabama, P.C. the patient’s experience matters. We treat each patient as a person, not just another case. We pride ourselves in delivering a positive personal experience along with a positive outcome

At ENT Associates of Alabama, P.C. the patient’s experience matters. We treat each patient as a person, not just another case. We pride ourselves in delivering a positive personal experience along with a positive outcome

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Alabaster - Jasper - Pell City - Trussville - Valleydale Rd. www.entalabama.com or call toll free 888-368-5020

UAB Part of NIH Program to Advance Precision Medicine Nutrition How Does Each Individual Respond to Specific Foods?

The National Institutes of Health is now enrolling for the Nutrition for Precision Health (NPH), powered by the All of Us Research Program in collaboration with UAB and other partners. The project, which is the largest precision nutrition effort of its kind, aims to engage a diverse group of participants to learn more about how our bodies respond differently to food.

NPH will use artificial intelligence to analyze information provided by participants to develop algorithms that predict responses to dietary patterns. The study’s findings may one day allow clinicians to offer more customized nutritional guidance to improve overall health.

Current dietary recommendations do not consider individual biological differences in how people respond to foods or ways and timing of eating. NPH will study how a range of factors, including genes, lifestyle, health history, gut microbiome, and social determinants of health, influence a person’s response to diet.

NPH plans to enroll 10,000 participants age 18 or older from diverse backgrounds. To participate, individuals must be enrolled in NIH’s All of Us Research Program. All of Us aims to engage at least one million participants in building a health database that reflects the diver- sity of the United States to help speed up medical research and enable individualized prevention and treatment.

The study consists of three modules. In the first module, participants will complete surveys, report their daily diets, and give blood, urine and stool samples for lab tests, including microbiome analysis. In the second module, a subset of participants will be given diets selected by researchers. In the third module, participants will also be given diets selected by researchers, but will be asked to stay in a research center while on the diets.

All participants will take part in meal challenge tests, where physiological changes will be measured after they eat a standardized meal. Participants will receive interpreted information from the study on their health, including body composition, microbiome makeup, metabolism and diet composition.

At UAB, participants in module three will have the opportunity to spend three, two-week blocks of time living in Wi-Fi-enabled cottages on the Lakeshore Foundation campus. Participants will be able to take advantage of the facilities at Lakeshore — such as the gym, pool and walking trails — throughout their stay. Participants will receive compensation for their time, as well as all meals and snacks for the duration of their stays.

NPH will link participants’ data from the study to information obtained through the All of Us Research Program, including genetics information and data from electronic health records and additional surveys. The study use AI to analyze this data from participants to develop algorithms predicting how a person will respond to a particular food. This information will ultimately be accessible through the All of Us data platform, the Researcher Workbench, to support other studies on health and disease. Strict safeguards are in place to keep the data secure and protect participant privacy.

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Brookwood Baptist Opens New

In May, Brookwood Baptist Medical Center opened its new operating room. The 18,822-square-foot facility has 10 new operating rooms and shelled space for three more. The OR suite will allow for advanced cardiac and vascular procedures, along with robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgeries. There is also a new pedestrian bridge, as well as administrative spaces, and a 3,500-square-foot post-anesthesia care unit.

Robins & Morton Corporation served as the general contractor on the $30 million project which broke ground in November 2021.

Jefferson County Health Department Files Contempt Petition Against Bluestone Coke

In May, the Jefferson County Department of Health filed a Contempt Petition in its lawsuit against Bluestone Coke. The Petition is based on Bluestone Coke’s failure to pay the monetary penalties required by the parties’ Consent Decree. Over $90,000.00 of the money that Bluestone Coke has refused to pay has been previously set aside by the Health Department for the benefit of the communities surrounding Bluestone Coke’s facility.

“We look forward to resolving this matter in the best interests of the public and the Health Department,” said Mark Wilson, MD, Jefferson County Health Officer.

Brian Massey Joins Children’s of Alabama

Children’s of Alabama has appointed Brian Massey as director of government affairs. Massey is coming to Children’s from Ascension St. Vincent’s where he was the Alabama Chief Advocacy Officer. He is replacing long-time vice president of government relations Suzanne Respess, who retired in June.

$3.3 Million Grand Funds Research on Cardio Program for Wheelchair Users

There are roughly 5.5 million wheelchair users in the United States. Most live predominantly sedentary lifestyles, which leads to higher cardiometabolic risk factors. Researchers at UAB hope to minimize some of these risk factors through a new study.

The NIH awarded Jereme Wilroy, PhD, assistant professor for the UAB Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, $3.3 million to study the effects of live telehealth exercise training on cardiometabolic outcomes in wheelchair users.

“We are building on our previous

In this role, Massey will monitor and negotiate all federal, state and local legislation and regulations impacting operations and pediatric healthcare. He will act as a liaison with government entities, industry and community organizations that regulate or influence healthcare policy and hospital operations.

Massey graduated from Belmont University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Healthcare Management. He received a Master of Business Admin- success with Movementto-Music, a rhythm-based exercise program that has proved effective in improving health,” Wilroy said. “We’re adapting the M2M telehealth delivery method to develop a program with a cardio emphasis.” istration and Master of Science in Health Administration from UAB. Massey is on the Birmingham Business Alliance Government Affairs Committee, the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee and the Alabama Hospital Association State and Federal Policy Committee. In 2022, he served as the board chair for the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce, and from 2019 to 2023 he was the vice chair for the Alabama Care Network Mid-State. birminghammedicalnews.com

The 24-week M2M-C program includes a remote training system with built-in videoconferencing and realtime monitoring of vital sign data. The aim is to examine the average treatment effects of the M2M-C program on core indicators of cardiometabolic risk factors.