Daniel Tyrrell, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, was recently awarded the 2024 Graduate Biomedical Sciences (GBS) Mentorship Award at the Graduate Student Research Day event held August 9. The award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated exceptional accomplishments in mentorship and is nominated and voted upon by GBS Ph.D. students.

On July 24, more than 150 students, scholars and community advisors attended the annual scientific symposium of the NIH-funded U54 grant program supporting collaborative cancer research. In 2021, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center for Cancer Health Equity collectively awarded the UAB O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) and Tuskegee University (TU) a five-year, $18 million U54 grant to continue to address cancer disparities in communities across the Southeast. This award was initially funded in 2006 and has been competitively renewed three times.

Two of our RaCE4Path students recently presented at the UAB Summer Undergraduate Research Expo taking place July 25, 2024 at the UAB Alumni House. The RaCE4Path summer research students represented 2 of 214 posters presented by students participating in many of the summer undergraduate research programs here at UAB. 

The Department of Pathology is pleased to announce a new faculty member joining our team August 1. Darin Trelka, M.D., Ph.D., joins the Division of Anatomic Pathology, led by Interim Director Thomas Winokur, M.D., as an associate professor.

The Association for Academic Pathology (formerly the Association of Pathology Chairs) held its AAPath Annual Meeting July 21 to 24 in Washington, D.C.–a prestigious conference that brings together academic chairs and program directors from institutions across the country. Several of our UAB Pathology team members attended this year’s conference across its various tracks, highlighting leadership, education, and administration.
Dr. Magi-Galluzzi, Dr. Yabing Chen, Christina Crowe, Dr. Brandi McCleskey at the AAPath Annual Meeting

UAB Enhancing Research in Cancer-related Health Professions (ENRICH), an R25 grant from the National Cancer Institute, anchored in the UAB Department of Pathology, successfully completed its first intensive 10-week summer program to engage in cancer research at UAB. 

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) regulates protein folding and maintains proteostasis in cells- a process essential to maintaining cellular health. However, researchers at UAB have found that chronic reductive stress (RS) impairs the ER transcriptome in the hearts of mice. In fact, RS has been found in the pathophysiology of several diseases, notably cancer, neurodegeneration and metabolic disorders.

In a recent study published in Redox Biology, Rajasekaran Namakkal-Soorappan, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, found that prolonged moderate treadmill exercise mitigates the RS-induced ER dysfunction and cardiac remodeling in mice.

Dario Vitturi, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, has been awarded $1.8 million in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), for his study of, “Formation, metabolism and cell signaling actions of tryptophan catabolism-derived electrophiles.” The five-year award will run through May 2029.

The Community Pathology Practice Program, led by director William Bell, M.D.,  is pleased to welcome Teresa Venz-Williamson, M.D., as a clinical professor, starting July 15, 2024.

Transplantation is a complicated and delicate process that begins long before organs are surgically placed into the recipient. The doctors of UAB Pathology play a crucial role in that process, providing details of pathological findings in diagnostic biopsies throughout the transplant process.

Several members of the UAB Pathology clinical faculty will take part in the 2024 Transplant Games of America, a biennial event welcoming thousands of individuals involved with transplants and organ donation. During the event, which takes place July 5-10 at a variety of locations throughout the Greater Birmingham area, transplant recipients and living donor athletes compete in 20 athletic and recreational competitions.

The UAB Department of Pathology is proud to welcome two new fellows into the department this summer, joining the five UAB residents or existing fellows who are staying on to complete a fellowship with us. 

The UAB Department of Pathology is pleased to announce a new faculty member joining our team July 1. Filipe Cerqueira, Ph.D., joins the Division of Laboratory Medicine, led by Director Sixto Leal, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., as an assistant professor.

Cerqueira joins the department from the University of Texas Medical Branch Department of Pathology where he recently completed his fellowship training in Clinical Health and Microbiology. He received his doctorate degree in microbiology and immunology from the University of Michigan, where he gained extensive lab experience. 

David Figge, M.D., Ph.D., joins the Department of Pathology’s Division of Laboratory Medicine, led by Sixto Leal, M.D., Ph.D., as an assistant professor and Director of Clinical Immunology effective July 1.

Figge will assume the directorship role from predecessor José Lima, M.D., Associate Director, Assistant Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Director of the UAB Apheresis Service.

Daniel Tyrrell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, has been awarded grant funding from the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) for his study of, “Understanding Gzmk+ CD8+ T Cell Development and Activity in Aging.”

“Most studies using mice haven’t really looked at [Gzmk+] cells because people typically use young animals in research, and they tend to show up in older animals,” Tyrrell says. “We don’t really know what they do, or why they accumulate, but they could be contributing to disease.”

On June 10, 2024, the Department of Pathology welcomes a new faculty member to the Division of Anatomic Pathology.

Ayman Tawil, M.D., joins the department as professor, Anatomic Pathology. Dr. Tawil joins us from the American University of Beirut Medical Center’s Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in Beirut, Lebanon, where he served as a professor of Clinical Pathology since 2009.

Members of the UAB Department of Pathology gathered for an outgoing reception for residents and fellows on May 31. Faculty, staff and trainees came together to celebrate at the Fennec with dinner and an awards ceremony.

Dr. Sarah Bean is pictured (left) with Dr. C. Bruce Alexander (middle) and Cristina Magi-Galluzzi, M.D., Ph.D., Chair, UAB Pathology, C. Bruce Alexander Endowed ProfessorOn May 30, the UAB Department of Pathology hosted the seventh annual C. Bruce Alexander Lecture in Pathology Education featuring Sarah M. Bean, M.D., FCAP, Professor, Department of Pathology, Duke University School of Medicine. Bean delivered the talk, titled, "Just Okay is Not Okay! Giving and Receiving Feedback Effectively."

This lecture honors Dr. C. Bruce Alexander for his many years of service to UAB Pathology's teaching mission. 

May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month (BTAM), a time to raise awareness about brain tumors and educate the community. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), about 25,000 people are diagnosed with central nervous system (CNS) tumors each year in the United States. CNS tumors collectively refer to all brain and spine tumors, of which there are more than 130 different types. 

C. Ryan Miller, M.D., Ph.D., Vishnu B. Reddy Translational Research Endowed Professor and Director of the UAB Department of Pathology’s Division of Neuropathology, describes the goal of his team's brain tumor research below.

Fatima Igdoura, Program Manager I in the UAB Department of Pathology Chair's Office, has been elected to serve as Representative for UAB Staff Council. Igdoura will serve a two-year term, August 2024 through July 2026.

Santhosh Kumar Karthikeyan, graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in cancer biology in the lab of Sooryanarayana Varambally, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular and Cellular Pathology, was selected as first-place winner of the Midsouth Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Society’s (MCBIOS) 2024 Young Scientist Excellence Award.