Knight Joins AP Division's Community Pathology Practice Program in Montgomery
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The UAB Department of Pathology is excited to welcome Carrie Smith Knight, M.D., to the department as Assistant Professor of Anatomic Pathology. She will cover the Community Pathology Practice Program in Montgomery, effective Monday, February 1.
Dr. Knight joins UAB from Troy University Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences where she has taught since 2015. Knight also practiced pathology at Pathology Associates, PC, in Huntsville, Alabama. She is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and holds a subspecialty certification in Cytopathology. After graduating from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in 2001, she completed her pathology residency and fellowships in both GI and hepatic pathology, and cyptopathology, here at UAB.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Knight back to UAB Pathology as a faculty member.
The Pittman Scholars program recognizes the impacts of junior faculty and supports the recruitment and retention of highly competitive scientists and physician-scientists. The program is named for the late James A. Pittman, Jr., M.D., longtime dean of the School of Medicine from 1973 to 1992. Pittman is considered a principal architect of the School for his ability to recruit top scientists and physicians to UAB.
"I am extremely honored to not only receive the nomination and support to become a Pittman Scholar by Drs. George Netto, Ralph Sanderson, Yabing Chen, and Rakesh Patel, but to then be chosen to be a Pittman Scholar," Hildreth says. "I am extremely familiar with the prestige of this award and excellence of those before me that have received this award."
Drs. Samant Publish Research on Hypoxia's Effects on Tumor Cells
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Two of our faculty, Lalita Shevde-Samant, Ph.D., and Rajeev Samant, Ph.D.,Ph.D., both professors in the Division of Molecular & Cellular Pathology and senior scientists, cancer cell biology with the O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, have collaborated on research on hypoxia that was recently publised in Cell iScience.
"Essentially, tumor growth leads to a central cellular mass where cells get less oxygen (hypoxia)," Rajeev Samant explains. "These cells either die or learn to survive by recruiting new blood vessels to feed them. Our study reveals a very novel mechanism of how these tumor cells learn to survive. From a fundamental science perspective, our report is one of the first to introduce the concept that the machinery (ribosomes) that makes proteins in a cell is not the same in every cell. These ribosomes do change in tumors based on factors such as hypoxi,a and become very specific for executing their tasks to help the tumor cells."
The article, titled, "Hypoxia re-programs 2'-O-Me modifications on ribosomal RNA," was published online on December 29, 2020 and in print in the January issue of Cell iScience.
Image from the article in Cell iScience
COVID-19 infection in immunodeficient patient cured by infusing convalescent plasma
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The 72-year-old patient was unable to mount her own immune defense against the SARS-CoV-2 virus because of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which compromises normal immunity and immunoglobulin producA 72-year-old woman was hospitalized with severe COVID-19 disease, 33 days after the onset of symptoms. She was suffering a prolonged deteriorating illness, with severe pneumonia and a high risk of death, and she was unable to mount her own immune defense against the SARS-CoV-2 virus because of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which compromises normal immunoglobulin production.
But when physicians at the University of Alabama at Birmingham recommended a single intravenous infusion of convalescent blood plasma from her son-in-law — who had recovered from COVID-19 disease — a remarkable, beneficial change followed. Her physician, Randall Davis, M.D., professor in the UAB Department of Medicine, says she showed prompt and profound improvement within 48 hours.
Darley-Usmar named Senior Associate Dean for Research Compliance and Administration
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Victor M. Darley-Usmar, Ph.D., Endowed Professor of Mitochondrial Medicine and Pathology, who has served UAB for over 25 years, has been named Senior Associate Dean for Research Compliance and Administration, effective January 1.
Dr. Darley-Usmar received his Ph.D. at the University of Essex in England followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Oregon to pursue his interests in the structure and function of mitochondrial proteins in human disease. After a period as a lecturer in Japan and ten years as a research-scientist at the Burroughs Wellcome Fund in London, he joined UAB in 1995 to establish his own research group in the Department of Pathology.
Ponnazhagan Secures Dual Grants for Cancer Research at Year's End
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Selvarangan Ponnazhagan, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pathology, and Senior Scientist in Experimental Cancer Therapeutics, O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, has secured two grants at the year's end for his cancer research.
The first is a two-year, $250,000 2020 METAvivor Breast Cancer Metastatic Society Translational Research Award grant. The title of the grant is, "Co-targeting immunosuppression and skeletal pathology for metastatic breast cancer therapy." METAvivor is a Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness, Research and Support organization.
The second is a grant from the Mike Slive Foundation for Prostate Cancer Research, for his grant proposal, "Targeting the androgen receptor axis affects macrophage polarization in castration-resistant prostate cancer." The grant is a $50,000 award funded for the 2020-2021 grant cycle.
Reductive stress in neuroblastoma cells aggregates protein and impairs neurogenesis
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Further understanding is needed of the redox change called reductive stress and its impact on the onset and progression of neurodegeneratCells require a balance among oxidation-reduction reactions, or redox homeostasis. Loss of that balance to create oxidative stress is often associated with neurodegeneration. Less is known about how loss of that balance at the other end of the spectrum — reductive stress, or RS — may affect neurons.
Paying Tribute to a Longtime Colleague: Kathy Coleman
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Editor’s note: This year was untraditional in many ways including the way we celebrate people who leave the department in retirement. While we didn’t have a traditional party, we continue to celebrate one of our longtime employees, Kathy Coleman. The following was written by Yabing Chen, Ph.D., Jay M. McDonald Endowed Professor in Laboratory Medicine and Vice Chair, Faculty Development and Education.
Kathy Coleman received her bachelors’ degree in Business Management from University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. She joined UAB Department of Pathology in 2003 as an Office Associate I in the Division of Molecular & Cellular Pathology. She has since worked in different areas of the Department, including the Chair’s office, and moved up in the ranks to Office Associate II and Administrative Associate. During her 17-year tenure at UAB, Kathy has provided excellent administrative support to many faculty members in the department.
I have been very fortunate to work closely with Kathy since starting my role as Vice Chair for Faculty Development and Education in January 2017. Kathy’s wealth of knowledge about departmental administration and different UAB and HSF financial and administrative systems facilitates my role in assisting our faculty and trainees with their professional development and education needs. With her help, we updated the Department of Pathology promotion and tenure guidelines, generated manuals to standardize departmental faculty mentoring, evaluation, and promotion process. Kathy is very organized and takes the initiative to follow up with faculty and trainees on their requests. She always takes pride in getting her job done at its best.
Kathy’s dedication has made the transition of the MCP pathology seminar to the centralized departmental Grand Rounds smooth. For all departmental Grand Rounds and Named Lectures, Kathy became the face of UAB Department of Pathology to contact and provide administrative support to the invited speakers from all over the country and international institutes. I have heard so many compliments about her professionalism and warm hospitality.
Kathy is a very kind person. Her nice demeanor is infectious and affects everyone she has worked with. I enjoyed working with Kathy, as her kind personality spills over reflecting in her positive attitude towards the job. She understands the importance of her role to facilitate the process and improve work efficiency. We have encountered many difficulties over the years, but Kathy would always work with me to find a solution. Her kindness, commitment and professionalism are also witnessed by many faculty in our department (see below). I am extremely grateful toKathy for all her help, and congratulate her for her well-deserved retirement.
Five Pathology Faculty Awarded Department Pilot Funding
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The Department of Pathology is excited to announce the award of department-funded Pilot/Feasibility Clinical Research grants to five of our faculty, including one looking at the SARS COV-2 virus. They are:
2020 Clinical Research Pilot Grant Awardees and grant titles:
Xiao Huang, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Anatomic Pathology - Comparison of PD-L1 Expression between Primary Triple Negative Breast Cancer and Matched Distant Metastases Correlating with p53 Status
This year many of our UAB Pathology colleagues will be honored for their years of service at UAB. The UAB Service Awards proudly honor those employees who have made a significant career commitment to the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The program is designed to recognize and express gratitude for employees at each five-year milestone who have served for five of more years at UAB.
While the depatment usually holds an event to honor these employees, this year due to COVID-19 the certificates of recognition will be mailed.
Hardy Obtains Professor Emeritus Status After 30 Years at UAB
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Robert Hardy, Ph.D., Professor, Laboratory Medicine, has achieved the rank of Professor Emeritus at UAB. Dr. Hardy retired effective July 1, 2020, after 30 years in the UAB Department of Pathology. He worked the entirety of his pathology career at UAB—first joining as a postdoctoral fellow with his mentor and former department chair Jay M. McDonald, when he moved to Birmingham. He served as section head of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Director, Core Chemistry for UAB Hospital since 2004. He also worked for a year and a half as interim director of the UAB Hospital Immunology Lab.
Dr. Hardy is Senior Associate Editor for the journal Laboratory Investigation since 2008, and has served as ad hoc reviewer for dozens of journals on pathology and other medical disciplines throughout his career.
Huma Fatima, M.D., is Associate Professor of Anatomic Pathology and a member of of the Department of Pathology's Diversity Task Force. This group meets monthly and includes representatives from around the department, including faculty, staff, and trainees. Here, Dr. Fatima shares her personal story of diversity.
Pooled Testing Innovation Designed by UAB Pathology Labs Featured in Birmingham Medical News
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An article in November's issue of local paper Birmingham Medical News dives deeper into the process that led to a pooled testing approach for COVID19 for college students throughout the state.
Reporter Ann DeBellis spoke with Sixto Leal, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Director, Fungal Reference Lab that designed the pooled approach, for the piece.
From the story: "Before Alabama college students could return to campuses this fall, officials decided that the 200,000 students in the state would need to be tested within weeks of the start of the school year. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Pathology and several other agencies partnered and found a way to accomplish this daunting task.
Sixto Leal, Jr., MD, PhD
With the leadership of the UAB Department of Pathology - Chairman George Netto, MD, and Assistant Professor Sixto Leal, Jr., MD, PhD - and the help of the Alabama Department of Public Health, the University of Alabama System, and UAB Medicine, the team launched the GuideSafe™ initiative, which was funded through the CARES Act."
An appointment to an endowed chair or professorship is among the highest academic honors a faculty member can receive. The School of Medicine holds a remarkable 193 endowed chairs and 103 endowed professorship positions. These honors contribute to recruitment and retention of premier teachers, clinicians, and researchers.
Endowed chairs and professorships give donors the chance to link their names to an area of special interest within the university. Some donors choose to direct their gifts to endowing a chair or professorship in the academic discipline that inspired them, while others may direct their gifts to create scholarships or fellowships for deserving students, or to support medical research of particular importance to them.
Siegal Named to Inaugural Class of Sigma Xi Fellows
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Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., Robert. W. Mowry Endowed Professor, Anatomic Pathology, and Interim Chair, UAB Department of Genetics, was recently sworn in as a member of the inaugural class of fellows, Sigma Xi, "for distguished contributions as a physician scientist and for exemplary scholarship as a teacher, mentor, author, reviewer and editor, and as a leader in academic medicine."
"With the challenges facing science in general and Sigma Xi, in particular, it became clear to me that it is once again time to come forward to support this eminent society which was so important to my own success and sense of self worth and assure its stabilization and growth into this next century," Siegal says.
CABTRAC is a national organization that that serves as a forum for faculty leaders in cancer education and training at their respective Institution. It provides a platform to institute mechanisms and guidelines in cancer training – at all levels.
Four Pathology Faculty Selected as 2020 Argus Award Winners
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Students from the UAB School of Medicine honored their outstanding mentors, professors, courses and course directors at the Argus Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 27 during a live ceremony on Zoom. Among this year's winners were four Department of Pathology faculty members, and one former faculty member.
The Argus Awards, created in 1996, allow medical students to nominate faculty members by course evaluations and vote to select award winners for each category.
Interdisciplinary work highlighted at COVID-19 Research Symposium
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Kevin Harrod, Ph.D.Jeanne Marrazzo, M.D., director of Infectious Diseases, got a text at the end of Wednesday’s four-hour School of Medicine COVID-19 Research Symposium that highlighted the broad and breakneck work done at the University of Alabama at Birmingham since March 2020.
“It seems like we’ve done 10 years of work in seven months!” she told participants.
Presentations by eight leading UAB researchers buoyed that sentiment. Among the work:
Campus and community innovators get due praise for work combating the COVID-19 pandemic
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Faculty, staff, student and community innovators were recognized for their 2020 contributions to COVID-19 research, innovation and entrepreneurship during the fifth annual UAB Innovation Awards presented by the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HIIE) Oct. 29.
UAB is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer committed to fostering a diverse, equitable and family-friendly environment in which all faculty and staff can excel and achieve work/life balance irrespective of race, national origin, age, genetic or family medical history, gender, faith, gender identity and expression as well as sexual orientation. UAB also encourages applications from individuals with disabilities and veterans.
The 72-year-old patient was unable to mount her own immune defense against the SARS-CoV-2 virus because of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which compromises normal immunity and immunoglobulin producA 72-year-old woman was hospitalized with severe COVID-19 disease, 33 days after the onset of symptoms. She was suffering a prolonged deteriorating illness, with severe pneumonia and a high risk of death, and she was unable to mount her own immune defense against the SARS-CoV-2 virus because of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which compromises normal immunoglobulin production. 
Lalita Samant, Ph.D., 
Selvarangan Ponnazhagan, Ph.D.
