UAB senior Anna Zoladz created this illustration depicting the pain of fibromyalgia for an article in UAB Magazine. Her work won a Grand Award at the 2016 CASE III conference
The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s College of Arts and Sciences, Office of University Relations and UAB Magazine received three awards at the recent Council for Advancement and Support of Education District III conference in Nashville, Tennessee, including two Grand Awards — the top awards given at the event.
UAB News was awarded the Grand Prize in the External Relations Engagement Program category for Programs and Projects for its work promoting the UAB Kidney Chain, a lifesaving transplant chain that began with one altruistic donor in December 2013 and has since grown to 56 transplants. The chain is now the longest such transplant chain ever to have occurred. The strategic, integrated communications campaign to promote and support the record-breaking chain has included input from UAB website developers, photographers, videographers, artists, writers and marketing professionals from UAB Medicine.
The campaign included a website highlighting stories from the chain and the creation of a UAB Kidney Chain Facebook page. The campaign also drove visitors to these sites to UAB Medicine, where they could learn how to be a living organ donor or give a gift to the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute. The award would not have been possible without the support of physicians from UAB’s Incompatible Kidney Transplant Program and the 112 patients — living donors and kidney recipients — who have been a part of the chain and many of whom have been willing to share their stories.
UAB Magazine was also recognized with a Grand Award for its “Prisoners of Pain” illustration in the Illustration-Interior Spread category. UAB student Anna Zoladz, a senior art major from Huntsville, designed the winning illustration.
UAB Magazine worked with Doug Baulos in the Department of Art and Art History to identify students who could provide illustrations for the publication, and last year Baulos asked the magazine’s editor to design an assignment for his course focusing on scientific illustration. The students were challenged to depict what it feels like to live with fibromyalgia, and each student submitted an illustration for consideration to run with an article in the fall 2015 edition of UAB Magazine. UAB’s Jarred Younger, Ph.D., a leading fibromyalgia researcher, talked to the students about the disease, its potential causes, its effect on patients and possible paths to new therapies. The winning image appeared in the print issue and online, and was used to promote the story on social media.
Visit the Kidney Chain website.UAB Magazine also received an Award of Excellence distinction in the Magazine III category, which includes magazines from the largest universities in the Southeast. The magazine is available online on the UAB Magazine website.
The College of Art and Sciences also received special merit honors for Magazine/Tabloid Improvement for print/digital publications for institutions with student enrollment greater than 15,000. The magazine is available online on the College of Art and Sciences website.
CASE is an international association of education advancement officers, including those who work in alumni, development, and communications and marketing for independent schools, community colleges and universities. The ultimate goal of advancement professionals is to enhance their institutions by encouraging support — be it in the form of financial assistance, alumni loyalty, public esteem or new students. In turn, CASE’s purpose is to help its members advance the cause of education. It does this by offering information resources and training opportunities.