Posted on June 27, 2001 at 2:30 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Dr. Graciela Alarcon, professor of medicine in the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology at UAB, has been named the first holder of the Jane Knight Lowe Chair of Medicine in Rheumatology. The announcement was made at last week’s meeting of the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees.

Upon Lowe’s death in 1997, the Jane K. Lowe Foundation contributed initial funding for an endowed professorship at UAB. Since then, the Foundation has contributed $1 million, completing funding for an endowed chair.

Alarcon will continue her research with financial support from the endowed chair. Her research interests include the immunogenetics of rheumatoid arthritis, predictors of disease outcome in rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, and lupus among minority populations.

Alarcon’s professional affiliations include the American College of Rheumatology, the American College of Physicians and the Peruvian College of Physicians.

She received her medical degree from the Univeridad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Perú, and a master’s in public health from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She completed an internship with Baltimore City Hospitals and a fellowship with Johns Hopkins before coming to UAB as a fellow in 1980.