Human peripheral nerves — all the nerves outside of the central nervous system — are protected by the blood-nerve barrier. This is a tight covering of endothelial cells that maintains the microenvironment within the nerves by restricting the amounts or types of water, ions, solutes and nutrients that can reach the axons, or electric cables within the nerves, from the blood circulation system. This allows the nerves to function.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham's (UAB) Department of Mechanical Engineering is approaching a touchdown with the new ways of testing and analysing football head injuries caused by helmet-to-helmet hits. The team there are developing new testing methodologies using crash test dummies to improve helmet testing and ultimately reduce concussions and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). 

Pulmospheres, three dimensional multicellular spheroids composed of lung cells from individual patients, were shown to be effective in predicting the efficacy of medications for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, according to findings from University of Alabama at Birmingham scientists presented in JCI Insight, a journal of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

  Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are exploring the concept of a wearable personal cloud - a fully functioning, yet compact and lightweight cloud computing system embedded into clothing.