Dr. Louis Justement presents 2020 FASEB Public Service Award to Anthony Fauci
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of Nathional Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, accepted the 2020 FASEB Public Service Award March 24, 2022. FASEB President Patricia Morris and Past President Louis Justement presented the award. The award presentation was delayed due to COVID-19. FASEB's Public Service Award, recognizes individuals who have made outstanding conributions to the cause of biomedical or biological research through their work in government, public affairs, the media, the law, the arts, or related fields.
Dr. Hubert Tse on National Diabetes Awareness Month
A part of the UAB family for over 12 years, Hubert Tse, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Microbiology, is an expert in diabetes research. Tse’s research interests in Microbiology include understanding the immunological mechanisms involved in Type 1 diabetes pathogenesis and islet transplantation rejection. Tse has been published in several peer-reviewed publications, including Journal of Immunology, Immunohorizons, and Diabetes, and has received a number of grants, awards, and honors.
David Briles retiring from UAB, after 43 dedicated years
A member of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Medicine Faculty since 1978, David Briles, Ph.D., has been a trailblazer in the field of Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine development and pathogenesis.
Dr. Ubil Faculty Spotlight
By Stefan Tuomanen
Welcome to another UAB Faculty spotlight. This month we are featuring Dr. Eric Ubil, PhD, MBA.
Press release from Microbiology’s 2019 lay writing workshop
The microbiology department held a three day writing seminar for UAB students and postdoctoral employees in May 2019. The purpose of which was to teach graduate students and post‐docs how to effectively communicate science to a lay audience. The department invited Dr. Nicki LeBrasseur, the senior director of scientific communications at DNA Communications to instruct the on and off campus portions of the course. The students were tasked with writing a press release on an assigned paper and were given feedback. Sara Stoner (Scoffield lab) participated in the workshop and her article featuring Dr. Gray's research is below.
Read moreSecond press release from Microbiology’s 2019 lay writing workshop
The microbiology department held a three day writing seminar for UAB students and postdoctoral employees in May 2019. The purpose of which was to teach graduate students and post‐docs how to effectively communicate science to a lay audience. The department invited Dr. Nicki LeBrasseur, the senior director of scientific communications at DNA Communications to instruct the on and off campus portions of the course. The students were tasked with writing a press release on an assigned paper and were given feedback. Dominik Herrmann (Saad lab) participated in the workshop and his article featuring Dr. Thompson's research is below.
Read moreNew virologist joins Microbiology
By Stefan Tuomanen
Welcome to the October Faculty Spotlight. This time we are featuring new Assistant Professor, Dr. Carrie B. Coleman.
Meet Our Pioneering Immunology Educator, Dr. Louis Justement, PhD.
By Stefan Tuomanen
Our profile this month introduces one of the best educators in Immunology: Dr. Louis Justement, Ph.D. Dr. Justement trained at Ohio State University in the Department of Microbiology, specializing in Immunology, and at the National Jewish Medical Research Center, in Denver, where his research focused on understanding the cellular and molecular processes that regulate aspects of B cell biology.
Read moreUAB Microbiology "an environment any would seek to have an exciting start to their career"
March Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Jamil Saad, PhD
By: Stefan Tuomanen
We are delighted to feature Dr. Jamil Saad. In March, we spoke with Dr. Saad about his work using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) in projects as broad as probing the mechanisms of HIV pathogenicity as well as finding molecular determinants of apoptosis.
January 2019 Faculty Spotlight: Meet our new Education Coordinator, Dr. Heather Bruns
By Stefan Tuomanen
Welcome to the first Faculty Spotlight of 2019. We have a unique profile this month for one of the newest members of UAB, Associate Professor and Education Coordinator Dr. Heather Bruns.
Read moreFaculty Spotlight: Dr. Beatriz León-Ruiz
Written by Stefan Tuomanen
This month we have the pleasure of featuring Assistant Professor Beatriz León-Ruiz in our faculty spotlight. Dr. León-Ruiz has been an influential member of UAB Microbiology since 2012, first as a postdoctoral fellow and then joining the faculty a year later. Since then, she has made numerous advances in understanding the roles dendritic cells play in directing the T Helper 2 (Th2)-driven immune response; in particular differentiating the behavior of these cells in infants compared to adults.
Congratulations to Microbiology’s newest full professor: Dr. Carlos Orihuela
Written by Stefan Tuomanen
The department of Microbiology is proud to announce Dr. Carlos J. Orihuela’s promotion to full professor as of October 1st.
Dr. Orihuela enthusiastically joined UAB in 2015 as a tenured associate professor whose research is focused on the many host-pathogen interactions associated with invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae infections. Drawn to UAB as a result of a career-long respect for the University’s innumerable contributions to this area of study, Dr. Orihuela has thus far been highly successful in both his scientific and educational endeavors.
Microbiology welcomes new faculty member
Meet Jessica Scoffield, Ph.D., a microbiologist that studies the role of commensal bacteria in polymicrobial pulmonary and oral infections. Dr. Scoffield's research has led to the discovery of novel mechanisms used by commensal bacteria that interfere with the pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a multidrug resistant pathogen that causes deadly lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients.
Read morePress release from Microbiology’s lay writing workshop
The microbiology department held a three day writing seminar for UAB students and postdoctoral employees on May 14-16, 2018. The purpose of which was to teach graduate students and post‐docs how to effectively communicate science to a lay audience. The department invited Dr. Nicki LeBrasseur, the senior director of scientific communications at DNA Communications to instruct the on and off campus portions of the course. The students were tasked with writing a press release on an assigned paper and were given feedback. Rachel Andrews (Wolshendorf’s lab) participated in the workshop and her article featured below reviews “The roles of SaPI1 proteins gp7 (CpmA) and gp6 (CpmB) in capsid size determination and helper phage interference.” by Damle PK et al.
Read more7th Annual Southeastern Immunology Symposium
The UAB School of Medicine held the 7th Annual Southeastern Immunology Symposium (SIS) on June 16 and 17 at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel and Medical Forum. This year's meeting was organized by Dr. Fran Lund. The primary goal of the meeting is to bring together researchers throughout the South and Southeastern US who are learning to harness the power of the immune system in order to protect us from infections and cancer as well as a host of other chronic autoimmune, allergic and inflammatory diseases. Click here to view the photo gallery. Photo credit: Dustin Massey
UAB immunology leader speaks at Unite To Cure — the Fourth International Conference in The Vatican
Frances Lund, Ph.D., has been invited to the Fourth International Vatican Conference, “Unite To Cure: How Science, Technology and 21st Century Medicine Will Impact Culture and Society,” which meets in Vatican City this week. Read more...
$2 million investment boosts UAB biomedical spinoff
A $2 million investment is the latest step forward for the biomedical startup CNine Biosolutions LLC, which is headed by former University of Alabama at Birmingham postdoctoral fellow Theresa Schein, Ph.D., and retired UAB microbiology professor Scott Barnum, Ph.D. This funding comes from a Denver angel investor group.
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Niederweis elected to fellowship in the AAM
Dr. Michael Niederweis, Professor of Microbiology, has been elected to Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM). According to the AAM "over the last 50 years, 2,500 distinguished scientists have been elected to the Academy. Fellows are elected through a highly selective, annual, peer review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology. A Committee on Elections, consisting of Fellows of the Academy who are elected by the membership, reviews all nominations for Fellowship and recommends to the Board of Governors what action should be taken. Each elected Fellow has built an exemplary career in basic and applied research, teaching, clinical and public health, industry or government service. Election to Fellowship indicates recognition of distinction in microbiology by one’s peers. Over 200 Academy Fellows have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, while many have also been honored with Nobel Prizes, Lasker Awards, and the National Medal of Science".
GBS students present at 2017 David E. Wells Memorial Symposium
The UAB Department of Microbiology hosted the inaugural David E. Wells Memorial Symposium on December 14, 2017. The event kicked off with talks by five selected graduate students in the Department of Microbiology who competed for the David E. Wells Scholarship. The students (pictured below from left to right) are Tyler Stewart (Novak/Renfrow labs), Michael Schultz (Lund lab), Anukul Shenoy (Orihuela lab), Danielle Chisolm (Weinmann Lab) and Johua Justice (Thompson lab). The student presentations were followed by the keynote presentation entitled "Genomic control mechanisms that establish T-cell identity", which was presented by Dr. Ellen Rothenberg, Albert Billings Ruddock Professor of Biology at California Institute of Technology. This was the first symposium held in memory of Dr. David E. Wells, a former graduate student in the UAB Department of Microbiology. Family members of Dr. Wells were in attendance for this special event including Dr. Kathy Hancock, who was married to Dr. Wells. Dr. Hancock presented Joshua Justice with the David E. Wells Scholarship at the close of the symposium.
Grad student Josh Justice wins Ellen Fanning Memorial Award at ASM meeting
Josh Justice in Dr. Sunnie Thompson's lab won “The Ellen Fanning Memorial Award for generating discussion" at the ASM meeting on Viral Manipulation of Nuclear Processes in Charleston, SC on December 3-6.