Above: Renee Heffron, Ph.D., MPH, Professor in the UAB Division of Infectious Diseases  

Renee Heffron, Ph.D., MPH, (Professor, Infectious Diseases) is the new director for the Center for AIDS Research at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine, effective July 1. Heffron joins UAB from the Departments of Global Health and Epidemiology at the University of Washington. She succeeds previous director, Mike Saag, M.D., who officially retired from UAB last year. Congratulations on your new role and welcome to UAB, Dr. Heffron!

More Good News for July 8, 2022

Physicians in the UAB Cardiovascular Institute completed the first valve-in-valve procedure using the Evolut™ FX TAVR system last month. Kudos to the structural heart team: Drs. Mustafa Ahmed, Panayotis Vardas, Clifton Lewis, James Davies, Kyle Eudailey, and Mouhamed Sabouni.

Joseph Barney, M.D., (Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine) recently spearheaded efforts for UAB’s Multidisciplinary Sarcoidosis Clinic to become a founding member in the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research’s new Global Sarcoidosis Clinic Alliance.

Kelly Hyndman, Ph.D., (Assistant Professor, Nephrology) addresses hydration myths in the New York Times, noting children, older adults, and people with underlying medical conditions should be most vigilant about hydrating.

Suresh Verma, Ph.D., (Associate Professor, Cardiovascular Disease) received the AHA Transformational Project Award to explore how epitranscriptomic factors control fibrotic gene expression in the setting of heart failure.

Jasvinder Singh, MBBS, (Professor, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology) led the 2022 update of the Perioperative Management Guideline for patients with rheumatic disease undergoing hip or knee replacement.