Seth Landefeld, MD, Department of Medicine Chair

Welcome back to Letters to Tinsley. I am deeply saddened to lead off this issue with the news that William E. Dismukes, MD, died last month. In his 21 years as director of our residency program (1981-2002), Bill was directly responsible for over 500 physicians who were selected by and trained in our residency program—nearly 1% of the internists between the ages of 45 and 65 years who practice in the U.S. today. 

On a much brighter note, six  of our faculty were just named Dean’s Excellence Award winners; five faculty from other departments were also selected. These outstanding faculty inspire us. I invite you to read more about each of the 2017 winners and their accomplishments.

Our faculty are tremendous teachers. Harrish Doppalapudi, MD (Cardiovascular Disease) won the 2017 UAB President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. And the Department of Medicine just recognized our Top 10 Teachers, including five who completed residency at UAB: Stan Massie, Ryan Kraemer, Starr Steinhilber, Ashita Tolwani, & Lisa Willett.

Research in the Department thrives. Steve Rowe (Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care) just reported the first therapeutic success in the treatment of the most common form of CF. This breakthrough will likely extend the lives of more than 50% of people with CF due to homozygous dF508 mutations. Brigitta Brott (Cardiovascular Disease) is pioneering the use of nanoparticles to protect endothelium in coronary arteries. Our Pulmonary Division is now the leading center in the country in NIH-funded research to cure Interstitial Lung Disease. Exciting stuff!

We celebrated our third annual Global Health Day on May 17. Several of our faculty hail originally from Syria, and we heard about the global health crisis there from medical relief organization leader Dr. Majd Isreb. We also heard from a half dozen of our residents in our Global Health Track, headed by Martin Rodriguez (Infectious Diseases). They reported life-changing clinical experiences around the world, in Peru, Honduras, India, and Kenya.

I also invite each of you to support our Tinsley Harrison Residency Program. If each of us give $100, we will raise over $100,000 that will do great things for our residents: expand our Global Health Track, increase training in underserved parts of Alabama, promote their well-being, and much more. Join me in giving! Just follow this link to our online portal www.uab.edu/give/imexcellencefund.

I would love to hear from you about what you’re doing in your medical career and what’s exciting and important to you. Email me directly at sethlandefeld [at] uabmc [dot] edu. 

Best regards,

C. Seth Landefeld, M.D.
Professor and Chair, UAB Department of Medicine