January 4, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Professor Russell Kirby, Ph.D., has been named the 2007 recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award given by the Coalition for Excellence in Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology. Kirby is vice chair for research of the Department of Maternal and Child Health in the UAB School of Public Health and Senior Scholar in the UAB Lister Hill Center for Health Policy. He received the award at the 2007 MCH Epidemiology Conference in Atlanta in December.

The National Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Epidemiology Awards recognize individuals, institutions and leaders for making significant contributions to improve the health of women, children and families through a number of factors, including advancing public health knowledge through MCH epidemiology and applied research, improving public health practice through effective us of MCH data and epidemiology, strengthening MCH public health practice through excellence in teaching and training in the use of data, epidemiologic methods and applied research, and providing leadership to enhance the political will to advance public health knowledge and practice and the effective use of MCH data, epidemiology and applied research.

Kirby was cited for his significant contributions to the field of perinatal epidemiology and the laying of the foundation for future MCH leaders through his courses, mentoring and creativity. He also was commended for facilitating the national effort to strengthen the MCH epidemiology workforce.

In addition to his work at UAB, Kirby has taught numerous continuing education classes during national meetings and conferences to MCH epidemiologists at a local, state and national level on topics such as survey research methods, data record linkage methods and geographical information systems. He has authored more than 140 articles, co-authored nearly 300 and has collaborated with numerous state public health officials to provide information targeted to the improvement of state perinatal systems of care and birth outcomes.

In 1997, he worked closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish the National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN), which is a network of population-based birth defects programs and individuals working in birth defects surveillance, research and prevention.

Kirby earned his bachelor’s, two master’s and doctorate at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He has been with UAB since 2002.