Professor Emeritus

Areas of Interest
surgical critical care, trauma, trauma system development, quality, patient safety, and clinical and operational effectiveness

Biography

Dr. Loring W. Rue received his medical degree in 1983 at University of Virginia School of Medicine and went on to complete his postdoctoral training in general surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center. Dr. Rue served as a staff surgeon in the U.S. Army Medical Corps at the Institute of Surgical Research at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and was a burn team leader during the 1991 Gulf War.

In 1992 Dr. Rue joined the faculty of the Department of Surgery. He served as the director of the Division of Acute Care Surgery for 19 years before stepping down in 2014. In 1999 he founded, and continues to direct, the Center for Injury Sciences at UAB, which spearheads the department’s research and education missions in the field of trauma. He holds secondary appointments in the Department of Anesthesiology, the School of Public Health, and the School of Engineering.

He has held several leadership positions in the past, including assistant chief of staff and interim chief of staff for UAB Hospital, as well as senior associate dean for clinical affairs in the UAB School of Medicine and vice chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Surgery. Additionally, he chaired the UAB Health System OR Executive Management Committee from 2005 to 2014. In 2013, Dr. Rue was appointed as the UAB Health System senior vice president for quality, patient safety and clinical effectiveness. The following year, he was named the first chief medical officer for the UAB Health System.

In September of 2021, Dr. Rue was awarded Emeritus status.

Selected Publications

Weinberg JA, George RL, Griffin RL, Stewart AH, Reiff DA, Kerby JD, Melton SM, Rue LW III. Closing the open abdomen: improved success with Wittmann Patch staged abdominal closure. J of Trauma, 65:345-348, 2008 Aug.

McGwin G, Nunn AM, Mann JC, Griffin R, Davis GG, MacLennan PA, Kerby JD, Acker JE, Rue LW. Reassessment of the tri-modal mortality distribution in the presence of a regional trauma system. J Trauma, 66(2):526-30, 2009 Feb.

Snyder CW*, Weinberg JA, McGwin G, Melton SM, George RL, Reiff DA, Cross JM, Hubbard-Brown J, Rue LW. The relationship of blood product ratio to mortality: survival benefit or survival bias? J Trauma, 66(2):358-62, discussion 362-4, 2009 Feb.

Weinberg JA, McGwin G Jr, Vandromme MJ*, Marques MB, Melton SM, Reiff DA, Kerby JD, Rue LW. Duration of red blood cell storage influences mortality after trauma. J Trauma. 69(6):1427-31; discussion 1431-2. 2010 Dec.

Heslin MJ, Taylor B, Hawn MT, Davies JE, Heslin RT, Mims AH, Morgan JE, Rabun RL, Smedley WA, Morris MS, Reiff DA, McGwin G, Bland KI, Rue LW. A 100% departmental mortality review improves observed-to-expected mortality ratios and University HealthSystem Consortium rankings. J Am Coll Surg, 218(4):554-62. 2014 Apr.

Griffin R, MacLennan P, Rue LW III, McGwin Jr. G. The association between usual sleep duration and occupational injury. Am J Ind Med. In Press.

Reiff D, Shoultz T, Griffin RL, Taylor B, Rue LW. Use of a Bundle Checklist combined with Physician Confirmation Reduces Risk of Nosocomial Complications and Death in Trauma Patients Compared to Documented Checklist Use Alone. Annals of Surgery, In Press.

Education

Medical School
University of Virginia

Internship
University of Alabama at Birmingham
General Surgery

Residency
University of Alabama at Birmingham
General Surgery

Contact

Phone
Patient Appointments and Questions: 205-975-7521
Academic Office: 205-975-3030

Email
lrue@uabmc.edu