Thomas Kaleekal, M.D., has joined the UAB Pulmonary Faculty as our new Associate Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of Lung Transplantation and Advanced Lung Diseases. Coming to us from Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Dr. Kaleekal has over 22 years of medical experience. Dr. Thomas Kaleekal received his medical training from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India in 1998. He completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at SUNY Health Sciences Center in Brooklyn, NY, and spent an additional year as Chief Medical Resident in the program. In 2005, Dr. Kaleekal completed his fellowship in Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.

Dr. Kaleekal went on to hold faculty positions as Assistant Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wisconsin and Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas. From 2013 to 2018, Dr. Kaleekal served as the Medical Director for Lung Transplantation at Houston Methodist Hospital and was also the Medical Director of the Lung Transplant program at the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in New Jersey from 2018 to 2020.

Dr. Kaleekal’s clinical and research interests relate to advanced lung failure therapies, with a particular focus on lung transplantation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Dr. Kaleekal has published and presented work on lung transplant outcomes and survival as well as chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).