Department of surgery
Holly Waller, R.N., MPH, associate vice president for Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, is the recipient of the 2025 President’s Award for Shared Values, selected from the 12 UAB VIP recipients in 2025.
The Empathy Project helps trainees respond to the emotions beneath patients’ tough questions. Creator Kimberly Kopecky, M.D., MSCI, a UAB surgeon specializing in high-risk abdominal procedures, understands why doctors often substitute facts for feelings. But it is possible to have better doctor-patient conversations, she said: “It is a skill you can practice.”
The Compassion Closet opened in January 2023 to provide trauma and emergency patients at UAB with clothes when their own clothes have been cut off or ruined before or during care — so they do not have to go home in paper scrubs. It has helped thousands of patients since. See which items are needed most with winter approaching.
Mohammad Zain Hashmi, M.D., assistant professor in the UAB Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and director of an innovative teletrauma program providing care in rural areas of Alabama, has received the 2025 President’s Award for Excellence in Support of UAB and Shared Governance.
This spring, the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees awarded the rank of Distinguished Professor to five and the rank of University Professor to four faculty members.
A study published in December 2024 demonstrates how natural language processing techniques, combined with dedicated human personnel, can flag unusual findings in radiology images and connect patients with follow-up care. The work, pioneered in nodules on the adrenal glands, has many applications, the researchers say.
The UA System Board of Trustees awarded the rank of Distinguished Professor to Robert Brunner, Yogesh Dwivedi, Helen Krontiras, Cora Elizabeth Lewis, David M. Morris and Michele H. Nichols and the rank of University Professor to Marie Bakitas, Mirjam-Colette Kempf, Verna Keith, Michael Neiderweis and David Vance during its meeting in April 2024.
Over its 28 years, this signature program has awarded grants totaling almost $60 million. Meet recipients and see how the HSF-GEF grants make UAB “a place where, if you have a good idea, you can find the support to make it a reality.”
Daniel Chu, M.D., division director of GI Surgery, leveraged an HSF-GEF grant to help Enhanced Recovery Programs reach widespread use at UAB and establish himself as a leader in the field.
Each year, some 100,000 Americans have surgery to repair the knee’s anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL. But treatment and prevention best practices continue to evolve. Hear from a surgeon and a physical therapist on the latest thinking at UAB.
Five years after he retired from the OR, cardiothoracic surgeon James K. Kirklin, M.D., is starting a new company that will leverage his team’s research on advanced statistics and machine-learning algorithms to track and predict outcomes for high-risk patients.
This year, the university recognizes 50 years of service by Jeanne Hutchison, Ph.D., and Ferdinand Urthaler, M.D., and 45 years of service by Robert Kim M.D., and Joseph Lovetto. In addition, 294 employees with 20 or more years and 904 with five, 10 and 15 years will honored for their longevity.