On Friday, November 30, after more than two decades of service to the Department, Stephen Moser, Ph.D., Professor of Laboratory Medicine, retired from full time service to UAB and will work part time.

Moser has had a long and prolific career in pathology that was celebrated by friends, family and colleagues with a recognition event in the West Pavilion Conference Center. Chair George Netto, M.D., gave remarks about Moser, who was accompanied by his wife. Other noted guests include current and former students, staff, and former Chair Jay McDonald, M.D.

Department Chair George Netto, M.D., left, listens as former chair Jay McDonald, M.D., speaks about Dr. Moser. Sherry Polhill, director of Hospital Laboratories and Respiratory Care at UAB, speaks about Dr. Moser on behalf of lab staff.
From left to right: McDonald, Moser and former Pathology faculty member Huang Shu

Among Moser's noted achievements in service to the University are:

•       Elected, UAB Faculty Senate representing Joint Science Departments for three terms
•      Elected, UAB Faculty Policy and Procedures Committee
•      Chair, UAB Faculty Senate Faculty Affairs Committee
•      Chair, UAB Faculty Senate Finance Committee
•      Member, UAB Faculty Senate Curriculum and Research Committee

In service to the UA Health System, Dr. Moser served:

• Associate Director (1992-2011) and Director (2011-2018) of the UAB Hospital Clinical Microbiology Laboratory
• Laboratory Information Systems committees and working groups to include installation of the Cerner Laboratory Module. 1993-2003
•      Member of Infection Prevention Committee and Antibiotic Stewardship sub-committee of Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee. 2010-2018
•      Established the Fungal Reference Laboratory that performs testing for the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of UA Hospital

In addition, Moser provided research and service to MedMined, Inc., a medical information technology company he helped form. Moser served as co-advisor (defined the clinical topic) for Stephen Brossette, an MSTP student earning his Ph.D. degree in computer science. Brossette's dissertation addressed a method to prevent healthcare-acquired infections using data analytics. The research team included: Brossette, Moser,  Warren Jones, Ph.D, Alan Sprague, Ph.D.; Computer and Information Sciences; J. Michael Hardin Ph.D., Department of Health Services Administration, School of Health Professions. This work resulted in two patents with these individuals as co-inventors.

After graduation Brossette, M.D., Ph.D. joined the Department as a clinical pathology resident. In 2000, Brossette raised venture capital, left UAB and formed MedMined, Inc. initially based in the Research Foundation Incubator and subsequently sold to Cardinal Health (CareFusion) in 2006 for $95,000,000.

"This service has had great impact on the practice of infection prevention nationwide and I consider it my most significant contribution," Moser said.

UAB has received more than $5 million from the sale and royalties of MedMined to date, distributed to the Departments of Pathology, Computer & Information Sciences, Health Services Administration, Schools of Medicine, Health Professions, College of Arts & Sciences, UAB Research Foundation and the inventors.

Additionally, Moser has been principal or co-investigator on grants and contracts from NIH, foundations, and industry with total awards to UAB of more than $9 million. In 1999 he founded the UAHSF Fungal Reference Laboratory under the Department with grants from the HSF Endowment Fund. The laboratory participates in both basic and applied science research with the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine; School of Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Dentistry and industry. This is a CLIA certified, CAP Accredited, and Licensed by the State of Alabama as an Independent Clinical Laboratory.

For scholarly contributions, Moser has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 7 book chapters, 40 invited lectures, and over 120 presentations at national and international conferences.

Beginning in 1992 and continuing through 2018, Moser participated in teaching Microbiology to Medical, Dental, Optometry, Graduate students, and Pathology residents. He is author of the Medical Student Microbiology Laboratory Manual (1994-2001), and served on the dissertation committees for and mentored Stephen Brossette (CIS), Daisy Wong (CIS) and Stephanie Momeni (Biology).

Moser has received international recognition as editorial board member and editor of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology published by the American Society for Microbiology, considered a top-tier journal in the discipline of Diagnostic Clinical Microbiology and distributed worldwide (2003-2014). He is a member of international organizations: Medical Mycological Society of the Americas, and the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology.

In the realm of community service, Moser has served as Grand Awards Judge or Judge for International and Regional (Central Alabama) Science and Engineering Fairs (1994, 1999, 2008). He had a role in the Department's Community Pathology Practice Plan advising non-UAB hospitals microbiology laboratories is a service to Alabama at large, and is an advisor to a teacher at Ensley High School responsible for science laboratory