The School of Medicine partnered with the Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute to fund 14 studies on various aspects of COVID-19. Congratulations to the 7 DOM recipients below! We look forward to the results of your investigations.
Winn Chatham, MD (Professor, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology) Early Identification and Treatment of Cytokine Storm Syndrome in COVID-19
Randall Davis, MD (Professor, Hematology and Oncology) Defining Serologic and Neutralizing Humoral Immunity to COVID-19
Jessy DeShane, PhD (Associate Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care) Human Lung Tissue Model of SARS-CoV-2 Infection to Monitor Treatment Response
Paul Goepfert, MD (Professor, Infectious Diseases)
Establishment of a Biospecimen Repository to Enable SARS-CoV-2/COVID19 Research at UAB
Yulia Khodneva, MD, PhD (ABIM Research Fellow, General Internal Medicine) Baseline Use of Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) Inhibitors and the Risk of Severe Novel Coronavirus Infection (COVID19)
Troy Randall, PhD (Professor, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology) Development of SARS-2 Recombinant Proteins for Diagnostics, Vaccine Testing and Research.
Steve Rowe, MD (Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care) A Ferret Model of COVID-19 Pathogenesis and Treatment
More Good News for April 22, 2020
UAB opened a new COVID Respiratory Clinic in the old Regions Bank location led by infectious diseases physicians Turner Overton, MD, and Mike Saag, MD. The clinic welcomes current patients of UAB who have tested positive for COVID-19 and have been experiencing worsening symptoms at home.
As our clinics remain closed to non-essential visits, the Department has embraced eMedicine to swiftly expand our ability to see patients. The chart above demonstrates a dramatic recovery in our lost ambulatory practice. Not only have we managed to provide about 75% of our previous patient care volumes in this time of limited operations, we are well on our way to using video visits for ongoing outpatient care in the future. Hats off to every clinical team member who has climbed up the learning curve and worked outside their comfort zones to make this possible!
Our ability to maintain safe physical distance is a key to fighting the spread of COVID-19. Unfortunately, it comes at a tremendous cost to isolated patients and their loved ones. Dr. Susan Harding's experience inspired UAB's palliative care experts to find better way to offer personal, comfort care when friends and family can't be present.
Sunil Rangarajan, MD (ABIM Nephrology Research Fellow) earned the 2020 Young Investigator Award for his research project "Heparanase and renal damage in myeloma" to identify a high sensitivity biomarker panel to detect renal failure early in myeloma patients. Three Cheers, Dr. Rangarajan!
DOM physicians Drs. Cynthia Brown, Gaurav Jain, and Eric Wallace will present "Physician Engagement, Patient Engagement and Technology: The New Normal" at Medical Grand Rounds next Wednesday, April 29, at noon, via Zoom. The session will be recorded for those who cannot join live.
There's no question that the days we face are trying. Even the most relentlessly optimistic among us have times where we struggle to keep up our spirits. In this weekly wellness installment, Dr. Kennedy discusses his close encounter with a beautiful barred owl, and how it drove him to consider things from a fresh perspective.