Dr. Melanie MorrisCongratulations to the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery’s Melanie Morris, M.D., and Courtney Balentine, M.D., M.P.H., who were recently awarded the UAB Outcomes, Disparities and Population Health Research Pilot Grant by the Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education and the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center for their project, “Pilot Evaluation of the Virtual Acute Care for Elders Program for Older Patients Having Complex Gastrointestinal Surgery.”

Dr. Courtney BalentineThis project is a collaboration between the Department of Surgery; the Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care and the Division of Preventative Medicine. Morris, Balentine and their group were awarded $50,000 per year for two years to study virtual acute care for the elderly and develop a software to assess and highlight negative changes in patients’ cognitive function, mobility and pain.