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On Wednesday, Feb. 4, Anupam Agarwal, M.D., senior vice president for Medicine and dean of the Heersink School of Medicine, delivered the 2026 State of the School address. The annual update focused on how the school navigated a year of national uncertainty while continuing to advance research, expand access to care, and invest in its people.

Etty (Tika) Benveniste, Ph.D., senior vice dean at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine, has been selected as a 2026 Distinguished Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI), one of the organization’s highest career honors. The title recognizes long-standing AAI members who have demonstrated exceptional scientific achievement, leadership, and service within the immunology community.

The UAB Heersink School of Medicine is proud to announce the 2026 Pittman Scholars. This prestigious honor recognizes assistant professors for their exceptional research achievements and their potential to make future contributions to their fields. To be considered, the honoree must have held the rank of assistant professor for fewer than five years. Named after former School of Medicine Dean James A. Pittman Jr., M.D., this award highlights the school's commitment to fostering innovation and excellence in medical research.

Rondi Gelbard, M.D., a professor in the UAB Division of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery, has received the 2025 Alliance Committed Leader Award from the Organ Donation and Transplantation Alliance (The Alliance) which recognizes a leader who commits significant time and expertise to Alliance initiatives and taken on significant efforts to advance nationwide collaboration and engaged learning within the organ donation and transplantation community.

In 2025, the Department of Orthopeadic Surgery continued to show that caring for people goes beyond patient care. Throughout the year, we made space to support our staff, faculty, and trainees through moments of connection, appreciation, and wellness, recognizing that a supported team is essential to the work we do every day.

American Heart Month is a time to reflect on progress in cardiovascular care and emphasize a renewed focus on prevention. Today’s heart care is deeply connected to advanced imaging, with radiology and cardiology working side by side to detect disease earlier, guide treatment decisions, and ensure patients receive the right intervention at the right time.

The UAB Department of Family and Community Medicine made an impact at this year’s Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Conference on Medical Student Education. Faculty, residents, clinical and academic staff, and seven students from the department’s Comprehensive Urban Underserved and Rural Experience (CU2RE) program contributed to the national discussion on the future of family medicine.

Satoru Osuka, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery, has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Uncle Kory Foundation to support his mission to advance treatment options for patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

Brent Blackwell has joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery as an advanced practice provider (APP) serving the Neurosurgery Inverness Clinic and the Neurosciences One Neurosurgery Clinic at The Kirklin Clinic of UAB Hospital.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Pediatrics is proud to announce that Matthew Alexander, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Pediatric Neurology, has been awarded a $149,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support research focused on a rare neuromuscular disease.

The UAB Medicine Vein Clinic has received reaccreditation and the 10-year Milestone Award from the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC), reaffirming its continued commitment to excellence in patient care, clinical quality, and adherence to nationally recognized standards for venous disease management.

For nearly a decade, a dedicated team from the UAB Department of Radiology has been making a meaningful global impact by providing remote CT interpretation and mentorship to hospitals in resource-limited regions of Africa. Through ongoing partnerships with Mbingo Baptist Hospital in Cameroon and Soddo Christian Hospital in Ethiopia, our team delivers high-quality subspecialty imaging support that helps bridge critical gaps in access to radiologic care.

UAB Hosptial-Highlands has completed a CT expansion project aimed at improving access and efficiency for patients across care settings. With the addition of a second CT scanner, the facility is now better equipped to serve a growing outpatient population while continuing to provide timely imaging for inpatient and emergency department patients.

Sharon Noser is a curriculum coordinator for the Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) team, where she has served for more than 13 years. Before joining UME, she spent four years in the UAB contracts office. Noser was nominated to the 2025–2026 cohort of Medical Education Unsung Heroes by Mike Belue, program director for UME.

Hannah Zahedi, M.D., doesn’t just practice medicine; she lives it. In Marion, Alabama, her patients are neighbors, friends, and familiar faces she passes on her morning drive. A quick check-in call, a home visit, a conversation in the clinic, her day flows seamlessly between the office and the community she serves. For Zahedi, medicine is more than a job; it is a way of knowing the people behind every chart and responding to their needs with care and expertise.

The UAB Department of Urology is thrilled to announce the results of our 2026 residency match!

At the beginning of each year, many people set health-related goals with the best of intentions. Yet within a few months, those goals often fall away. While this pattern can feel discouraging, it is not a failure of motivation or discipline. Instead, it reflects how the brain, as well as our environment, form – and resist – behavioral change.

The UAB Department of Radiology had an outstanding presence at this year’s Southern Radiological Conference (SRC), with strong participation and recognition across both faculty and residents.

The UAB Division of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery led a holiday clothing and supply drive to support several local non-profit organizations, including Impact Family Counseling, the Offender Alumni Association, and the UAB Compassion Closet.

Two members of the research laboratory of Satoru Osuka, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery, presented award-winning research at the 30th Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting, held Nov. 20–23, 2025, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

UAB Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery Associate Professor James Donahue, M.D., and UAB Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery Associate Professor Sophie Dream, M.D., MPH, have recently been elected to the prestigious Southern Surgical Association (SSA).

A connection sparked at the 2023 Global Health Symposium has grown into a dynamic, mutually beneficial partnership between the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the University of Buea in Cameroon, one that reflects the Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health’s (MHIGH) commitment to sustainable, relationship-driven global collaboration.

Members of the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center (UCDC) participated in the UAB Core and Shared Resources Day on January 27, 2026 at the Heersink Conference Center.

UAB Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is expanding access to rehabilitation medicine services across Birmingham with the opening of a new clinic at UAB Medicine One Inverness location. This new clinic space is focused on Spine and Musculoskeletal Medicine. 

A new study led by Ananda Basu, M.D., professor in the UAB Department of Medicine Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, determines why early post-meal glucagon concentrations are higher in Type 1 diabetes (T1D) than in individuals without diabetes using a novel glucagon isotope tracer. His findings were recently published in the February 2026 issue of Diabetes. 

For more than five decades, Richard Whitley, M.D., distinguished professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, has helped shape not only the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Pediatrics, but the field of pediatric infectious diseases on a global scale.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Neurosurgery is pleased to welcome Marlon Jeyapaul as a healthcare management intern.

The UAB Department of Surgery Access and Engagement Committee hosted Operation CARE, a new community outreach initiative focused on serving Birmingham’s unhoused population, on December 13 at Railroad Park downtown.

As temperatures begin to drop, aches and pains often rise. This feeling may seem like a coincidence, but, according to an expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, there is a real reason why individuals living with neck and back pain may experience increased discomfort during this time of year.

Researchers in the Division of Genomic Diagnostics and Bioinformatics recently developed three new laboratory tests: IDH1 R132 Mutation Analysis, TERT Promoter Mutation Analysis and MLH1 Methylation Analysis by Methylation-Specific PCR and MassArray. These tests help provide more accurate diagnoses and support the development of effective treatment plans.