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).
About Dr. James Donahue
Dr. James Donahue specializes in thoracic surgery and joined UAB after holding leadership positions in the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Maryland Medical Center. At UAB, Dr. Donahue serves chief of the UAB Section of Thoracic Surgery and holds the James H. Estes Family Endowed Chair for Lung Cancer Research in the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center.
In addition to his clinical interests, Dr. Donahue also runs a basic science research laboratory. The laboratory is focused on studying post-transcriptional gene regulation in esophageal cancer cells as a way of identifying new therapeutic targets for management of this disease.
"This is a fantastic achievement for Dr. Donahue. Well deserved and earned over many years of hard work, Dr. Donahue is a terrific teacher and surgeon-scientist," said UAB Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery Director James Davies, M.D.
About Dr. Sophie Dream
Dr. Sophie Dream serves as an associate professor and the chief of the UAB Section of Endocrine Surgery. She completed her fellowship in endocrine surgery at the UAB in 2019 and subsequently served as section chief of the Section of Endocrine Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and program director for the Medical College of Wisconsin Comprehensive Endocrine Surgery Fellowship, prior to returning to UAB.
Dr. Dream’s clinical practice focuses on the surgical treatment of benign and malignant disorders of thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands. She pioneered thyroid radiofrequency ablation and grew the non-surgical thyroid intervention program at MCW.
“Dr. Dream has shown exceptional enthusiasm for initiating research projects at UAB. Having recently joined the division, she has already been actively building a busy clinical practice. She exemplifies the qualities sought in the SSA and will add significant value to our annual meeting with her high-quality scientific projects,” said UAB Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery Director Helen Krontiras, M.D.
About the Southern Surgical Association
The Southern Surgical Association (SSA) is a prestigious society of surgeons that was founded in 1887 in Birmingham, Alabama. The SSA aims to unite prominent professionals and promote presentations of innovative research to advance the standards of surgical practice nationwide. Currently, the SSA has over 800 active members and fosters a collaborative environment for productive discussions at its scientific meetings.