The UAB Department of Surgery is excited to welcome two new faculty members this month – Piyush Kumar Sharma, M.D., Ph.D., and Erin Burton, M.D.
About Dr. Piyush Kumar Sharma
Dr. Piyush Kumar Sharma will join the Division of Surgical Oncology as an assistant professor, with a combined research and clinical appointment.
He earned his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi, and obtained his Ph.D. in oncology from the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford. Dr. Sharma completed his general surgery residency at the University of Colorado and his complex general surgical oncology fellowship at the University of Miami. He also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in tumor immunology at Washington University in St. Louis.
His research is focused on understanding the immune and genetic basis of inter-individual variations in response to immunotherapy and discovering peripheral biomarkers to guide personalized treatment plans for patients with solid tumors. He is also investigating how chronic viral infections and socio-economic factors inform immune-competence and determine responsiveness to immunotherapy in cancer patients.
About Dr. Erin Burton
Dr. Erin Burton will serve as an assistant professor in the UAB Division of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery. She attended Texas Tech University for both medical school and her general surgery residency. After residency, she completed the UAB Trauma and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship.
Her clinical and research interests include outcomes after traumatic injury, surgical critical care, and trauma surgery.