UAB was well represented at the 84th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) Clinical Congress of Acute Care Surgery, with five faculty serving as presenters, discussants, and panelists thought leaders on the national stage.

Military Symposium

The Annual Meeting began with the 3rd annual AAST Military Fallen Surgeons Educational Symposium, which highlights the critical intersection of military and civilian trauma care. Retired Army Colonel and Professor John B. Holcomb, M.D., played a prominent role, presented the memorial for Gary Wratten, M.D., and introduced the Colonel Basil A. Pruitt, Jr., Lectureship.

Panelist

Jeffrey Kerby, M.D., Ph.D., Brigham Family Endowed Professor of the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and Chair of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, participated as a panelist in the session “Looking to the Future: Developing a National Trauma & Emergency Preparedness System (NTEPS).” The panel brought together national leaders to discuss the creation of a unified framework for trauma and emergency preparedness in the United States.

Poster Presentation

Rondi Gelbard, M.D., an associate professor, presented a poster presentation for "Early Calcium Replacement After Minimal Blood Transfusion Is Associated With Adverse Outcomes." UAB co-authors for this research are: Russell Griffin, Ph.D., Emily Baird, M.D., Zain Hashmi, M.D., Preston Hewgley, M.D., Jan Jansen, MBBS, Ph.D., Jeffrey Kerby, MD, Ph.D., and John B. Holcomb, M.D.

Discussant Roles

Holcomb was a discussant for the oral presentation "Whole Blood Loses Ability to Correct tPA-Mediated Hyperfibrinolysis During Storage", and Assistant Professor Zain Hashmi, M.D. was a discussant for "Intracranial Hemorrhage in Isolation: Is the Sum Better Than Its Parts? An Analysis of the Modified Brain Injury Guidelines."

Authorship

Research co-authored by division faculty included:

• Prehospital Tranexamic Acid Bolus Improves Outcomes in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Bayesian Reanalysis of the Prehospital TXA for TBI Trial
  • Authors include: Jan Jansen, MBBS, Ph.D., and John Holcomb, M.D.
• State-Level variability in discharge to inpatient rehabilitation after severe traumatic injuries
  • Authors include: Zain Hashmi, M.D.

Through their roles as panelists, presenters, authors, and discussants, Kerby, Gelbard, Hashmi, and Jansen showcased UAB’s leadership in advancing trauma care and emergency preparedness on a national scale.

“The UAB presence as this conference highlights the breadth of UAB’s contributions to the field of trauma and acute care surgery,” said Kerby. “I am proud of our faculty’s work and the recognition it continues to receive at the national level.”