The University of Alabama at Birmingham prides itself on a culture of cross-disciplinary collaboration, which could be why the university rocketed from 47th place in our 2007 survey to 5th place this year. An embodiment of UAB's cooperative spirit can be seen in the university's new Richard C. and Annette N. Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building, which opened in 2006. Since then immunologists, neurobiologists, and others have been setting up shop in its labs and offices.
The Shelby Building, however, is just the latest addition to a healthy tradition of collaboration at the school. UAB maintains 17 university-wide research centers that are based on cross-departmental relationships and interdisciplinary study. Designed to be collaborative, each must involve at least three schools within the university, says Robert Rich, senior vice president for medicine and dean of UAB's School of Medicine. The signature research hub is the Center for Aging, which pulls together ...
