January 19, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Professor Cora E. Lewis, M.D., M.S.P.H., of the UAB Division of Preventive Medicine, is the recipient of the 2010 Alumnus Award for Scientific Excellence from the UAB School of Public Health.

Lewis will be honored during a ceremony at noon Wednesday, Jan. 27 in UAB Ryals Public Health Building Room 407, 1665 University Blvd. During the event, she will present the Distinguished Alumni Investigator Lecture on her research in chronic diseases - such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity and osteoporosis - and the impact of those conditions on public health.

The Alumni Award for Scientific Excellence was created to recognize a graduate who has made significant contributions to the field of public health through demonstrated commitment and exemplary leadership. Lewis is a preeminent epidemiologist whose research focuses on epidemiologic methodology and long-term studies that measure body composition and bone density, imaging results, population surveys, disease outcomes, lifestyle assessments and other health factors.

A professor in the departments of Medicine and Epidemiology, Lewis is a senior scientist in the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center, who serves on the steering committee of the UAB Center for Metabolic Bone Disease and works closely with other UAB research centers. She serves on the faculty of UAB's International Clinical, Operational and Health Services Research Training Award, funded by the National Institutes of Health John E. Fogarty International Center, working with trainees in India.

Lewis has chaired the American Heart Association (AHA) Council on Epidemiology and Prevention and is on the review committees of several funding agencies and clinical-trial review groups. She is a faculty member of the AHA's 10-Day Seminar on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention training program.

About the UAB School of Public Health

The School of Public Health is a community of scholars and professionals working and teaching in varied arenas of public health with the goal of fostering research and best practices crucial to the health of the United States and its peoples. The school offers more than 20 areas of study and manages dozens of research and community-service centers.