Latest News
When founders took the stage at the gBETA Prosper HealthTech Showcase in June, they weren't just pitching ideas. They were presenting solutions forged through weeks of rigorous mentorship, customer discovery, commercialization planning, and entrepreneurial training. This made for a big spring for two UAB students. Two startups advised by the UAB Marnix E. Heersink Institute for Biomedical Innovation — MAMU Digital Solutions and GuidelinesIQ — landed spots in the Spring 2026 gBETA Prosper HealthTech accelerator, joining just six Alabama startups selected for the cohort.
Members of the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology were honored Thursday, June 11, at the 2026 Graduation and Education Awards. The annual event served to recognize exemplary residents, faculty, and fellows in the department for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Douglas Anderson, M.D., M.S., associate professor in the UAB Division of Transplantation, has been appointed to the Ethics and Conflict of Interest Committee of the Society of University Surgeons (SUS).
On June 6, 2026, Heersink School of Medicine’s Equal Access Birmingham (EAB) hosted its third annual EAB on the Green golf tournament. Golfers of all levels gathered at Highland Park Golf Course for a day of games, prizes, and fundraising for an impactful cornerstone in the Birmingham community.
Jianyi “Jay” Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., professor and T. Michael and Gillian Goodrich Endowed Chair of Engineering Leadership, has been appointed to the rank of Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine.
The Department of Microbiology recently bid farewell to a respected colleague and friend who has served the department steadfastly in multiple capacities for more than a decade. Julie Decker, program manager III in the Department of Microbiology, retired on June 1 after 13 years with the Department of Microbiology and more than 25 years with UAB at large.
The UAB Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine proudly celebrated its graduating class during a memorable ceremony on May 29, recognizing excellence in clinical care, education, leadership, and service.
The UAB Medicine Leadership Development Office (LDO) is proud to honor the latest graduates of the Emerging Leaders Series (ELS) — 24 accomplished professionals who represent the breadth and strength of our institution.
Carrie Atcheson, M.D., MPH, FASA, assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, was recently elected to two prominent statewide bodies: the Board of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama and the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners as censor-at-large.
Faris Zaibaq, a student in the M.D.-Ph.D. program at Heersink School of Medicine, has focused his extracurricular work on how city design shapes daily life in Birmingham. Together with his collaborators, he helped launch Better Birmingham, a community initiative focused on improving access across the city, particularly in transportation and housing.
For the International Medical Education (IME) office at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine, 2025 marked a defining year. What began as a collection of global programs has matured into an office-led effort that strengthens the school while building international partnerships and creating meaningful value across UAB.
Kelly Chapman, BSN, RN, CWOCN, a certified wound, ostomy and continence nurse in the Division of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery and the team-lead and supervisor of the UAB inpatient wound care team, received the inaugural Certified Nurse of the Year from the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing Certification Board (WOCNCB).
The UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences hosted its 27th Annual Research Symposium on Friday, June 12, at the UAB Altec/Styslinger Genomic and Data Sciences Building, bringing together leading voices in vision science for a full day of education, discussion, and innovation.
John Choi, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the Division of Laboratory Medicine and director of the Flow Cytometry Laboratory, is retiring from the Department of Pathology, effective June 30, 2026.
Martha Tankersley, associate vice president of the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute, has been named a recipient of the second quarter 2026 UAB Values in Action Program (VIP) Award, one of the university’s highest employee recognitions honoring individuals who exemplify UAB’s shared values of collaboration, integrity, respect, and excellence.
Alan W. Eberhardt, Ph.D., professor and associate chair of education in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, has retired after 35 years of dedicated service.
The UAB Department of Pathology is pleased to announce the establishment of a dedicated Head and Neck Pathology Fellowship Program within its Surgical Pathology Fellowship Program. The fellowship will welcome its inaugural fellow in July 2026 and represents an exciting expansion of subspecialty pathology training opportunities at UAB.
At UAB, a dedicated Granulomatous Mastitis Clinic is providing new hope for patients navigating the complex and often frustrating diagnosis of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis.
Maria Grant, M.D., professor and Eivor and Alston Callahan, M.D., Endowed Chair in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been awarded a four-year, $2.67 million R01 grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to continue research combining her dual expertise in endocrinology and ophthalmology.
The UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center and Diabetes Research Center members showcased their latest scientific findings at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 86th Scientific Sessions, June 5-8, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
Members of the UAB Department of Pathology gathered for an outgoing reception for residents and fellows on June 5. Faculty, staff, and trainees came together to celebrate at the Marnix E. Heersink Conference Center with dinner and an awards ceremony.
A new textbook on pediatric diabetes co-edited by UAB professor Ambika Ashraf, M.D., provides comprehensive coverage of the latest research and clinical care guidance for children and adolescents with the disease.
For more than a decade, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Pediatrics has been helping residents do more than learn medicine, it has been teaching them how to improve it.
Buse Baykoca-Arslan, M.D., first-year fellow in the Division of Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, has received the 2025-2026 Spring Pediatric Research Roundtable and Fellow Core Conference Attendance Award.
Brittney Knott, a doctoral candidate and a researcher in the laboratory of Paige Porrett, M.D., Ph.D., will give an oral plenary presentation at the 31st International Congress of the Transplantation Society on September 23, 2026, in Sydney, Australia.
Marisella Maribel Pillaca Horna, M.D., a pulmonologist from Peru, traveled to UAB as the first-ever physician in the Cassell Bidirectional Training Program. What she found here, and what she left behind, is already changing medicine on both sides of the world.
For Stevan Fairburn, M.D., M.S., medicine was never just about science. It was about service. About showing up in the moments that matter most. About helping people navigate fear, uncertainty, pain, and survival. Artificial intelligence (AI) simply became another way to do that more effectively, more thoughtfully, and more humanely.
University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery Associate Professor Jakub Godzik, M.D., MS, and Executive Administrator Donna Bailer, J.D., LL.M., recently served as panelists at the 2026 Neurosurgery Executives’ Resource Value and Education Society (NERVES) Annual Meeting.
Donna Bailer, J.D., LL.M., executive administrator for the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery, recently received the President’s Award from the Neurosurgery Executives’ Resource Value and Education Society (NERVES), recognizing her years of leadership and service to the organization.
Elizabeth Beierle, M.D., Charles D. McCrary Endowed Chair in the UAB Division of Pediatric Surgery, has been selected as a recipient of the 2026 O’Neal Invests Award from the O’Neal Cancer Center.