by Christina Crowe
The UAB Department of Pathology gathered for a reception to honor outgoing chair Dr. George Netto, Robert and Ruth Anderson Endowed Chair. Netto, M.D., will join the University of Pennsylvania as chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, effective July 31, 2023. The UAB Heersink School of Medicine hosted the event in his honor on Thursday, July 13. Department faculty, staff, trainees and colleagues and friends from around UAB joined to recognize Netto's contributions during his seven years as chair.
A welcome by Anupam Agarwal, M.D., Senior Vice President of Medicine and Dean, Heersink School of Medicine, was followed by remarks from Dawn Bulgarella, CEO of the UAB Health System and CEO of the UAB/Ascension St. Vincent’s Alliance. Both described Netto's vision to establish a genomic diagnostics lab, and the capacity to guide the department through COVID, with the creation of the one of the nation's first rapid PCR tests, allowing for many individuals to return to campus. Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., Robert M. Mowry Endowed Professor and Interim Chair, UAB Pathology, described Netto's dedication to diversity, equity and inclusion in the department and his overall charisma as a leader.
Thomas Winokur, M.D., Interim Division Director, Women's Health--a division Netto established during his tenure as chair--thanked Netto and presented him with an image of UAB Hospital signed by the clinical faculty. Vishnu Reddy, M.D., Interim Division Director, Laboratory Medicine, said he would miss Netto's candor and his guidance. Marisa Marques, M.D., Professor, Laboratory Medicine, described Netto championing women's roles in leadership in the department, establishing the Division of Women's Health, and naming the department's first female division director, Cristina Magi-Galluzzi, M.D., Ph.D., to head the Division of Anatomic Pathology, as well as hiring six female faculty in the Division of Laboratory Medicine. Marques is outgoing president of the American Women's Medical Association (AMWA) UAB Chapter.
