Posted on May 25, 2001 at 2:30 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Dr. Michael Saag, professor of medicine and director of the 1917 AIDS Outpatient Clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has been named recipient of the Odessa Woolfolk Community Service Award. The award, which carries a cash prize of $2,500, is presented annually to a UAB faculty member in recognition of significant contributions made to the Birmingham community. UAB President W. Ann Reynolds and Odessa Woolfolk presented the award during ceremonies held last week.

Saag, an internationally renowned AIDS researcher and physician, began the 1917 Clinic, originally named for its street address, in 1988. Today, the clinic, relocated in the in the Community Care Building on the UAB campus, provides medical and social services to approximately 1,000 patients with HIV/AIDS.

Last year, Saag was instrumental in organizing the Community AIDS TRY-athlon, the first event of its kind in Birmingham. The event, a joint effort of seven community-based AIDS organizations, including the 1917 Clinic and the UAB Center for AIDS Research, attracted more than 3,000 people and raised nearly $20,000 for AIDS education, research and services.

Saag, a respected lecturer and mentor, has taught in the department of medicine's division of infectious diseases since 1992. He also serves as a senior scientist and associate director of clinical care and therapeutics with the Center for AIDS Research at UAB, a post he has held since 1988.

Among his numerous professional associations, Saag chairs the Cryptococcal Subproject Committee of Mycoses Study Group of the National Institute of Health (NIH). He is a member of the board of directors of the International AIDS Society-USA and serves on the Program Executive Committee of the organization’s Educational Program. He is also a member of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Grant Review Committee, the NIH Panel to Define Principles of Therapy of HIV Infection and the executive committee of the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research.

Locally, Saag serves as chair of the Infection Control Committee for the VA Medical Center in Birmingham and as a member of the executive committee of the UAB Center for AIDS Research. Among his other numerous UAB committee appointments, he is a member of the Hospital AIDS Committee, the UAB AIDS Education Advisory Committee and the General Clinical Research Center Scientific Advisory Committee.

Saag received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Tulane University in New Orleans and his medical degree from the University of Louisville in Kentucky. He completed his internship, residency and a postdoctoral fellowship at UAB, joining the faculty in 1984 as an associate professor with the department of medicine.