June 26, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees has named John Owen, M.D., M.S.P.H., to the Bruce Harris Jr. Endowed Professorship in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Owen is a professor in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He was named to the chair in recognition of his clinical and research efforts into the prediction and potential prevention of preterm birth and improving obstetric care.

Owen, who has been on faculty at UAB since 1986, graduated from the University of Texas Medical School and served his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at UAB. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed literature on subjects including misoprostol vs. oxytocin for labor induction, active phase labor arrest, cervical incompetence and cervical sonography.

About UAB

The UAB Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine provides care for women with high risk pregnancies. All faculty members of the division are board certified in Maternal-Fetal Medicine as well as Obstetrics and Gynecology, and one also is board certified in medical genetics. The division is a member of the NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Research Network and has participated in a number of large clinical trials aimed at identifying causes and predictors of preterm birth, and in evaluation of treatments.