The Business Council of Alabama (BCA) on Monday announced that Medical Place, a BCA member based in Montgomery, has donated $100,000 to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) for coronavirus (COVID-19) related research.
This came after Medical Place approached BCA for help facilitating the donation to a group working on long-term coronavirus relief.
“My father’s motto, which Medical Place is built upon, is to never hesitate helping others when you are in a position to do so,” Keela Seawright, daughter of Medical Place founder and owner Dr. Alfred Seawright, explained in a statement.
She added that Medical Place is “proud” to make the donation, which is earmarked for COVID-19 research. The donation is reportedly extra special to Dr. Seawright because his daughter Kwanza Seawright is a 2007 graduate of UAB.
“UAB is not only performing heroic work battling on the frontlines against this pandemic, but this world-class research institution is at the forefront of the type of trials and studies that will beat this virus in the long-term. We are proud to help support UAB’s incredible efforts to save lives here in Alabama, as well as across America and the globe,” Keela Seawright concluded.
Medical Place’s donation comes at a time when UAB continues to ramp-up COVID-19 related research endeavors.
“UAB issued a request for proposals to our faculty for research projects targeting COVID 19 and we are reviewing those proposals now,” commented Etty (Tika) Benveniste, Ph.D., senior vice dean for basic sciences at the UAB School of Medicine. “Gifts such as this will allow us to fund more of these critically needed research efforts. It is imperative that we quickly develop effective treatments for COVID-19 and a vaccine to protect against infection from this novel virus. Through the generosity and altruism of the people of Alabama, UAB will remain at the forefront of this effort.”
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Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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