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Seven Department of Medicine faculty members appointed to new endowed chairs or professorships were recently celebrated at a school-wide reception. We are delighted to recognize their exceptional accomplishments, and we are indebted to the philanthropists who generously made these positions possible.

Drs. Salpy Pamboukian, Suzanne Oparil, Tom McElderry, Jose Tallaj, Andre Ballesteros-Tato, Doug Morgan, and Gang Liu were among those recognized at the SOM reception.

Our 1917 Clinic will relocate to a much larger space in Birmingham's Lakeview district late next year or possibly early 2021. As the largest HIV health care unit in Alabama and one of the country’s preeminent HIV clinics, 1917 cares for more than 3,600 active patients. The new clinic space will incorporate a full pharmacy, activity space for physical exercise and classes, as well as a resource center with access to computers and meeting space specifically designed for patient use.

The Department of Medicine is delighted to report the opening of a new clinic in Hematology and Oncology. Our new providers Dr. Arnab Basu, Dr. Aparna Hegde, Keri Mclendon, and Kaci Weaver, began seeing patients with a pending cancer diagnosis on November 1. This expanded access will help us see these patients faster, and hasten them on the road to treatment.

Mark Dransfield, MD (Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care) and colleagues have published their findings on the potential of beta blockers to prevent exacerbations of COPD. The results of their prospective, randomized trial reported in the New England Journal of Medicine indicate that beta-blockers do not prevent COPD exacerbations. Further, their research provokes a re-examination of the overall risk-benefit of beta-blockers for patients with both COPD and cardiac indications.

The Department of Medicine is delighted to celebrate 18 faculty members who received the rank of Associate Professor or Full Professor as of October 1, 2019. We also recognize four who were awarded tenure.

Achieving these milestones is a tremendous accomplishment, and we salute each one for their outstanding contributions to academic medicine.