The UAB Department of Pathology recently funded travel awards to two trainees, Sajal Kumar Halder and Dr. Kenneth Long, who will present their research at national meetings this year.

The 2025 American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress is almost here! As many members of the UAB Department of Surgery begin to pack their suitcases and double-check their conference itineraries for their arrival in Chicago, Illinois, make sure to keep the following event details in mind.

Michel Kmeid, M.D., an assistant professor in the Division of Anatomic Pathology, will serve as medical director of the gross room and frozen section lab, effective October 1.

Suresh Boppana, M.D., professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, will assume the role of interim co-director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, effective Oct. 1, 2025.

The UAB Department of Pathology celebrated the 30th year of its Paulette Shirey Pritchett Endowed Lecture in Pathology on September 25 with an outstanding lecture by Mark T. Gladwin, M.D., Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, and the John Z. Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean. Gladwin delivered the talk, titled, “Translating Redox Biology to Medicine: Lessons Learned, Taking Risks, and Going NO Where.”

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery is pleased to welcome Mohammad Hamo. Hamo joins as a research technician in the lab of James Garber Galbraith Endowed Chair of Neurosurgery James Markert, M.D., MPH.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery is pleased to announce that Zhihong Yu will join the department in October 2025 as a lab manager in the research lab of Associate Professor of Neurosurgery Jianmei Leavenworth, M.D., Ph.D.

John Knight, Ph.D., tenured associate professor in the UAB Department of Urology, has been named the Inaugural Holder of the John R. Burns, M.D., and Dean G. Assimos, M.D., Endowed Professorship. The appointment was approved at the Board of Trustees’ September 2025 meeting.

John Kearney, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Endowed Professor in Immunology in the UAB Department of Microbiology, will officially retire from UAB on Sept. 30, 2025, after more than five decades of service to the institution.

Kirk Habegger, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine in the UAB Department of Medicine Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, has received funding from Eli Lilly and Company to continue investigation of glucagon receptor activation in incretin-based obesity therapies.

The UAB Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) welcomes two rehabilitation psychology postdoctoral fellows. Heather Clark, Ph.D. and Cassandra Mondesir, Psy.D. joins the department’s rehabilitation psychology division to enhance their skills through training, research opportunities, and mentorship.

Rani Al-Senan, Ph.D., joined the UAB Department of Radiology in August 2025 as an associate professor in the Division of Physics and Engineering. He completed his undergraduate studies in radiological sciences at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. He then earned his master’s degree in medical physics from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He obtained his doctorate in medical physics from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Benjamin Greene, M.D., has been promoted from associate professor to professor in the UAB Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, effective Oct. 1, 2025.

The Department of Radiology has eight faculty members who have earned promotions and one who was awarded tenure for 2025. These achievements represent significant milestones in their academic careers and highlight their unwavering dedication to advancing research, educating the next generation, and serving our patients and community.

UAB diabetes researchers presented their latest work on an international stage at the 61st Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria, Sept. 15-19.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Pediatrics welcomed six new faculty members in the month of September. Please join us in making them feel at home!

A state-of-the-art simulation training room focused on neuromuscular and musculoskeletal interventions will be a highlight of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s new Rehabilitation Pavilion, which opened in August.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Pediatrics is proud to announce that Sandeep Gupta, M.D., professor in the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition, has been reappointed editor in chief of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (JPGN) and JPGN Reports, two leading journals in the field.

The UAB Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy is honored to welcome the inaugural fellow for the newly launched Advanced Podiatric Limb Salvage and Reconstruction Fellowship: Jonathan Gomez Garcia, DPM, MBA.

Granzyme K (GzmK), a family of granzymes implicated in age-associated inflammatory disease, plays a key role in driving chronic inflammation by causing cell death. Despite its significant impact on diseases like asthma, psoriasis and atherosclerosis, current therapies lack focus on GzmK.

Catherine Bridges Adams, M.D., Ph.D., PGY2, joined the UAB Department of Radiology in July 2025. Originally from Coventry, Rhode Island, she earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado Denver before completing both her medical and doctoral training at the Medical University of South Carolina. Get to know Dr. Adams better with three quick questions!

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 67th Annual Meeting will be held from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1, 2025, in San Francisco, California, at the Moscone Center.

The Department of Radiation Oncology is proud to announce the promotion of Michael Soike, M.D., to associate professor of Radiation Oncology.

The UAB Department of Surgery is honored to welcome five faculty members in the month of September: Drs. Juliet Blaskeslee-Carter, Michael “Frank” Gleason, Luis Hidalgo, Victoria Huynh, and Erin White.

National Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Week, held annually in late September, recognizes the essential role of APPs in healthcare. These professionals, including nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and anesthesiologist assistants, provide direct patient care, improve access to services, and contribute to high-quality outcomes across medical specialties.

Seven faculty members in the UAB Department of Neurology have been promoted, and two have received awards of tenure, effective Oct. 1, 2025,

In this installment, Bryan Luikart, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Neurobiology, explores his research on neurons and genetic mutations that cause autism spectrum disorder.

The beginning of August marks the new step in the training process for our incoming fellows and an exciting new chapter for our graduating trainees.

“Academic medicine is one of the best places for faculty, staff, and students to explore their passions and discover new opportunities,” says Thomas Chi, M.D., MBA, chair of the Department of Urology at UAB. With experience spanning three major universities, Chi has seen how a few guiding principles can shape careers and sustain momentum. He recently shared these insights at the Heersink Faculty Leadership Seminar, hosted by the Heersink School of Medicine Office of Access & Engagement Asian American and Pacific Islander Faculty Association, which aims to equip faculty with skills to lead, mentor, and grow in academic medicine.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Pediatrics is proud to announce that Daniel Feig, M.D., professor in the Division of Pediatric Nephrology, received the 2025 Wallace Alexander Clyde Distinguished Service Award from the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.