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March 14, celebrate a decade of growing Birmingham kids’ vocabularies with Vocabby’s WorldFebruary 18, 2026The free community vocabulary program, now in its 10th year, meets monthly and takes pre-K children on adventures as they learn vocabulary words through art and science integration. -
Live HealthSmart unveils second Mobile Market, expanding access to healthy food optionsJanuary 28, 2026By bringing food directly into neighborhoods, Live HealthSmart Alabama continues its mission to make good health simple, one community at a time. -
Learners to Leaders: UAB Family Medicine Residents Join LHSA Mobile Wellness ProgramDecember 5, 2025The UAB Department of Family and Community Medicine has officially integrated its Cahaba-UAB Highlands Family Medicine Residency Track rotations with Live HealthSmart Alabama’s (LHSA) Mobile Wellness program. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama expands access to fast, reliable diabetes testing with new A1C technologyNovember 7, 2025Live HealthSmart Alabama (LHSA) is upgrading its Mobile Wellness capabilities with a new tool that makes diabetes testing faster, easier, and more reliable. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama’s Community Leadership Academy helps CLICK founder plant seeds for health and connection in AnnistonOctober 13, 2025When DelMesha Swain applied to the Community Leadership Academy (CLA)— a leadership development program created by Live HealthSmart Alabama in partnership with Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED—she was living thousands of miles away in the Czech Republic. -
Lace up for the UAB Veterans Day 5K happening Nov. 8October 1, 2025Now in its third year, the Veterans Day 5K provides much-needed support for student veterans and their dependents for essentials like housing, books and emergency expenses. -
New Mural Unveiled in Chemistry Building: A Splash of Color, A Sea of MeaningSeptember 8, 2025When UAB sophomore Charlie Pommerenck submitted her artwork for a mural contest she wasn’t expecting to be selected or aiming for perfection. She just wanted her design to be honest. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama awarded Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation grant to expand Community Coach program in SelmaAugust 14, 2025The funding will allow Live HealthSmart Alabama to support the hiring, training and deployment of additional community coaches. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama Awarded Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation Grant to Expand Community Coach Program in SelmaAugust 5, 2025The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Live HealthSmart Alabama (LHSA) initiative has been awarded a three-year grant from the Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation to expand its Community Coach team in Selma and the Dallas County area. The funding will allow LHSA to support the hiring, training, and deployment of additional Community Coaches. -
UAB Student Tackles Food Insecurity with Help from Live HealthSmart AlabamaJune 27, 2025As a public health major nearing graduation, Lily Wachtel has spent her final semesters at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, not only studying community health challenges but actively working to address them. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama and Uber Health help Birmingham man overcome barriers to careJune 11, 2025Birmingham residents like Ron Collins stay healthy and independent through a high-tech solution to a health care challenge through Live HealthSmart Alabama. -
Growing Knowledge: Training Selma Teachers to Plant Seeds for Healthier FuturesJune 9, 2025At Sophia P. Kingston Elementary in Selma, a new kind of classroom is coming to life: one that starts with a seed, thrives in the soil, and grows through the hands of educators. -
More Than a Ride: How LHSA & Uber Health Help Ron Collins Reclaim His Health & IndependenceMay 15, 2025At 71, Ron Collins is navigating life with chronic illness and limited mobility, but, thanks to support from Live HealthSmart Alabama (LHSA) and its Uber Health partnership, he’s regaining control over his health – and his life. -
From D.C. to Birmingham: Student Pledges Spring Break to Service with LHSAMay 9, 2025For most college students, spring break is a time to rest and recharge after a semester of hard work. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama Unveils New Mural at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Nursing BuildingApril 18, 2025The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) School of Nursing has a new mural by Rocky Kimble, a senior studying Biomedical Sciences at the university. This mural is the fourth installation in the Live HealthSmart Alabama (LHSA) Stairway to Wellness project, which aims to commission murals in stairwells across the university. -
“Live HealthSmart Alabama is an Opportunity Where Competitors Become Collaborators”: How UAB and Community Partners Drive ChangeFebruary 28, 2025Local Birmingham businesses, often competitors in their daily operations, have joined forces with UAB for a greater cause: improving health and quality of life in Alabama’s most vulnerable communities. Through the Live HealthSmart Alabama (LHSA) initiative, these organizations are making good health the natural and accessible choice. -
Building a Healthier Selma: Live HealthSmart Alabama Celebrates Improvements With A Ribbon CuttingFebruary 25, 2025Live HealthSmart Alabama (LHSA) officially celebrated the completion of community improvements made to Selma’s built environment with a ribbon cutting on January 31st at the East Selma Community Pond and Park. Through generous funding from Novo Nordisk Inc. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama expands to central Alabama thanks to gift from Novo Nordisk, Inc.January 31, 2025With a $2.47 million gift from Novo Nordisk Inc., Live HealthSmart Alabama is applying its holistic health model in Selma, Camden, Demopolis and other underserved communities. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama initiative expands to Selma, building on Birmingham momentum and decades of experienceJanuary 29, 2025Written By: Walt Lewellyn UAB President Ray L. Watts Shakes Hands with City of Selma Mayor James Perkins Live HealthSmart Alabama (LHSA), the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s strategic initiative to improve health outcomes across the state, has spent its first five years investing in the health and well-being of nearly a dozen Birmingham neighborhoods. -
UAB’s impact across the state during 2024 — and what’s next for 2025December 30, 20242024 was a landmark year for UAB, with its influence resonating powerfully throughout Birmingham and the entire state of Alabama. -
Community Health Coaches Help LHSA Build Bridges to Better HealthNovember 26, 2024Accessing quality healthcare is oftentimes more complicated than simply scheduling a doctor’s appointment. For many, it can involve coordinating transportation, finding childcare, managing work schedules, accessing and navigating the healthcare system, or overcoming deep seeded fears. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama celebrates community improvements in East LakeMay 23, 2024With more than 3,300 residents living in East Lake, Live HealthSmart Alabama hopes to encourage a healthier lifestyle by providing safe spaces for them to get outside. -
Graduates of Live HealthSmart Alabama’s Community Leadership Academy present solutions to key stakeholdersMay 14, 2024The CLA was made possible with support from Coca-Cola United, whose generous donation of $250,000 funded LHSA’s pilot academy. -
UAB and City of Birmingham host Regional Wellness Day on April 20April 2, 2024Members of the Birmingham community can receive access to biometric and cancer screenings during the first Regional Wellness Day. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama announces expansion into central Alabama with support from Novo Nordisk Inc.March 21, 2024Through a generous gift from Novo Nordisk Inc., Live HealthSmart Alabama is beginning to expand statewide, starting in central Alabama with Selma, Demopolis and Camden, while taking steps to make good health simple — one person, one family and one community at a time. -
$9.6 million grant will create Center for Cancer Control in Persistent Poverty Areas through the UAB Minority Health & Health Equity Research Center and O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer CenterJuly 27, 2023As one of only five universities selected, UAB joins the NIH’s first major program to address how structural and institutional factors of persistent poverty relate to cancer. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama celebrates completion of Bush Hills Connection ComplexMay 26, 2023Live HealthSmart Alabama is continuing to make good health simple with its completion of the new Bush Hills Connection Complex and Urban Garden. -
“We have a lot of lives to reach”: $250,000 gift from Coca-Cola UNITED will help Live HealthSmart Alabama launch community leadership academies in underserved communitiesMay 18, 2023The Healthy Happy Kids program focuses on a different health and physical activity topic each week, encouraging children to make healthier choices. -
UAB hosts first ever in-person Health Promoting Universities summitApril 17, 2023Created in June 2015, the Okanagan Charter provides institutions with a common language, principles and framework to become health-promoting campuses with cultures of compassion, well-being and equity. -
Healthy eating while living the residence hall lifeAugust 18, 2022Lizzy Davis, Ph.D., shares tips for healthy eating for college students living in residence halls. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama welcomes first group as designated partnersJune 16, 2022The designated partners have shown their commitment to their employees by promoting a healthy lifestyle. They encourage employees to take physical activity breaks, offer tips for healthy eating, host health and wellness sessions for team members, and more. -
UAB campus becomes latest Live HealthSmart Alabama demonstration zoneApril 14, 2022Live HealthSmart Alabama has taken its signature keys — healthy eating, prevention and wellness, physical activity, and education — to create and implement initiatives at all levels within the institution. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama receives UAB funding for two more yearsOctober 26, 2021Live HealthSmart’s goal is to improve Alabama’s national health ranking by 2030. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama celebrates phase one improvements in Kingston, part of the first year’s efforts to revitalize Birmingham neighborhoodsJune 16, 2021Included in the phase one improvements in the Kingston community is a new mobile market bringing fresh food to the neighborhood. -
UAB becomes first Health Promoting University in the United StatesDecember 15, 2020The International Health Promoting Campuses Network is guided by the Okanagan Charter, which calls on postsecondary schools to infuse health into all aspects of campus culture and lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally. -
How a community’s built environment impacts physical, mental healthFebruary 10, 2020Students are examining 60 variables, including sidewalk conditions, crosswalks, blighted properties and advertisements in four Birmingham communities. -
Live HealthSmart Alabama: Conquering the state’s biggest health challenges begins in earnest todayNovember 19, 2019Fouad’s winning UAB Grand Challenge proposal is a comprehensive approach to addressing Alabama’s complex health problems and includes 90 partners on her team from communities, government, business, education and more. -
Birmingham to launch non-smoking Health District with community partnersOctober 15, 2019The Birmingham City Council passed an ordinance on Tuesday, Oct. 15, that establishes a non-smoking Health District on Birmingham’s Southside. Smoking will be prohibited on public property – including city streets and sidewalks within the Heath District. -
First-of-its-kind study shows link between unhealthy diet and symptoms of depression in youthAugust 26, 2019Diet matters when it comes to depression. Teens who have a high-sodium, low-potassium diet are at a higher risk of depression. -
Fueled to improve state’s health, Fouad’s team named winner of UAB’s inaugural Grand ChallengeApril 30, 2019Fouad’s winning proposal is a comprehensive approach to fixing Alabama’s complex health problems and includes 90 partners on her team from government, business, education and more.
In the News
UAB’s Mobile Market aims to bridge the nutritional gap
The Mobile Market launched last month in Selma and City Blocks Wellness Center was its first stop. Taylor said the market will set up shop at different locations throughout Selma on a regular basis. The Mobile Market also operates in Birmingham and Demopolis.
New mobile grocery store hits the road with UAB’s Live HealthSmart
The newest Mobile Market has hit the streets, furthering a UAB initiative to provide fresh, affordable food to Birmingham neighborhoods.
The grocery-store-on-wheels is a project of Live HealthSmart Alabama, an initiative “leading a transformational movement to decrease the incidence of chronic disease in Alabama and eliminate barriers to making good health simple,” according to its website.
Living HealthSmart in Alabama is getting easier thanks to a growing UAB initiative
One of Laura Dudley’s last stops at the Senior Wellness Expo, held at Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham’s Titusville neighborhood, was the Live HealthSmart Alabama Mobile Wellness clinic. She chatted with Keisha Taylor, who checked her vital signs. [Photo courtesy of WBHM.com]
UAB’s Live HealthSmart Alabama helping revitalize Selma
Live HealthSmart Alabama, or LHSA, is a University of Alabama at Birmingham initiative that is making a difference in the Black Belt. This comers after years of transforming neighborhoods in Birmingham. [The] Black Belt expansion was made possible by a $2.47 million gift from Novo Nordisk Inc. and the generous assistance of local, state and national partners.
From Classroom to Community: UAB’s Hands-On Approach with Live HealthSmart Alabama (Community Action Partnership)
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is taking a pioneering approach to health education and community wellness through its Live HealthSmart Alabama initiative. By bridging the gap between academic learning and real-world application, UAB is fostering a healthier future for Alabama’s communities. [Photo courtesy of Community Action Partnership]