The
Center for Metabolic Bone Disease (CMBD) is directed by Jay M. McDonald,
M.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Pathology. The development
of the CMBD has been a faculty-driven effort, characteristic of many
successful programs at UAB. Although the overall research environment
at UAB is fertile and dynamic, prior to formation of the CMBD, there
were few coordinated research efforts in metabolic bone diseases, no
centralized osteoporosis clinic and only scattered independent clinical
trials in osteoporosis at UAB. Since its inception, a comprehensive
multi-disciplinary osteoporosis clinic is being successfully operated,
representing a prototype for UAB, core facilities to support research
and education have been developed, clinical trials have increased, and
new faculty in basic bone biology, biomedical engineering and clinical
research have been recruited. The CMBD represents one of seventeen designated
university-wide interdisciplinary research centers at UAB, determined
by competitive internal competition. A University-wide interdisciplinary
research center at UAB is defined as one that involves multiple schools
in a true interdisciplinary manner. In 1996 the Board of Trustees of
the University of Alabama designated the CMBD as a Center of Excellence.
