Two assistant professors in the Division of Hematology and Oncology Racquel Innis-Shelton, MD, and Kelly Godby, MD, co-direct the Multiple Myeloma Clinic at UAB which celebrated its fifth anniversary this month. Over the past 5 years, they have seen a three-fold increase in Multiple Myeloma patients receiving treatment at UAB, and they are currently running 8 different clinical trials. Congratulations to all the hard-working faculty, staff, and investigators who are making life-changing treatments possible—like the stem cell transplant that helped one of our own UAB employees send her Multiple Myeloma into remission.
More Good News for April 28, 2018
Andrew Duxbury, MD (Professor, Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care) recently received a letter from a patient’s daughter commending his holistic approach to caring for her elderly father. Kudos to you, Dr. Duxbury, for providing exemplary care to both your patients and their caregivers.
In a study published in the journal JACC: Basic to Translational Science, Sumanth Prabhu, MD (Professor and Director, Cardiovascular Disease) and colleagues found that preventing the early infiltration of CCR2+ macrophages into the heart, after experimental pressure overload in a mouse model, significantly lessened the heart’s enlargement and reduced pumping ability that leads to later heart failure. Read the UAB News Story.
Keith Swetz, MD (Associate Professor, Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care) was recently published in Annals of Internal Medicine. His review of the essentials of communication, symptom management, and end-of-life care, provides a terrific overview of current evidence to support patient-centered palliative care.
Two Department of Medicine faculty members were recently named to the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Amit Gaggar, MD, PhD (Professor) and Mark Dransfield, MD (Professor), both of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care.
Two investigators in the Division of Infectious Diseases recently received Developmental Project Research Awards from the UAB STI Cooperative Research Center. Ellen Eaton, MD (Assistant Professor) will explore “Analyzing Syphilis Incidence and Risk in MSM at an Urban HIV PrEP Clinic,” and Rakesh Bakshi, PhD (Scientist) will pursue a project entitled “Investigating the role of resident memory T cells in chlamydia infection.”
Pankaj Arora, MD (Assistant Professor, Cardiovascular Disease) was recently appointed Section Editor for Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine. The journal, one of 12 American Heart Association scientific journals, publishes research articles on human cardiovascular genetics, genomics and systems biology.
Congratulations to our March Employee of the Month, Sheri McFall! An administrative associate in Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Sheri juggles many responsibilities, including our annual GI/Hepatology Update. She goes above and beyond every day. Her laughter is contagious, and she makes coming to work a pleasure! Think of others you know, and nominate them for this distinction.
Coming next week to Medical Grand Rounds: Teresa Bryan, MD (Professor, UAB General Internal Medicine) will present “Healing Our Heroes: Illnesses Impacting Our Veterans” at noon on Wednesday, April 4, in the Margaret Cameron Spain Auditorium.
Announcements:
- Research Awards RFA. Nominations are open for two Department of Medicine sponsored research awards: The Max Cooper Award for Career Excellence in Research and the DOM Award for Innovation in Research. Deadline for online submission is March 30 for both awards.
- The Comprehensive Center for Healthy Aginginvites you to its 2018 Healthy Aging Symposium. The event will be held from 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 26, at the UAB Hill Student Center. The symposium is open to all UAB and community participants interested in any aspect of aging research, from basic science, to clinical and community outreach initiatives. Abstract submission and registration details are online.
- Save the Date for the UAB Comprehensive Cardiovascular Center’s 7th Annual Symposium: Focus on Heart Failure. The two-day update in cardiovascular disease will feature keynotes from Thomas J. Wang, MD, Physician-in-Chief at Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute and Douglas L. Mann, MD, Cardiologist-in-Chief at Barnes Jewish Hospital. September 6-7, 2018 at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel. Submit abstracts to Megan Pickering at meganpickering@uabmc.edu.