David Rogers, M.D., chief wellness officer for UAB Medicine, wrote “Frontline Healthcare Leadership” for employees in challenging, high-stress jobs. Its insights can help any Blazer contribute to making UAB an even better place to work, be healed and learn.

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.

Patients at 29 hospitals and free-standing emergency rooms around the state are now being evaluated rapidly for suspected strokes and other conditions by expert UAB neurologists. The program has provided nearly 7,000 consults for patients — many of whom are routed to potentially lifesaving care or saved from expensive transfers away from their home communities.

William Boswell, a speech pathologist-voice therapist in the UAB Voice Center, explains some of the innovative treatments available, why patient numbers are rising and what sets UAB apart.

Annalise Sorrentino, M.D., professor in the Department of Pediatrics, will take on the role Oct. 1, 2024. She replaces Frank Messina, Ph.D., professor in the Collat School of Business, who has served as UAB’s FAR since 2008 and is retiring from UAB at the end of September.

Johnny W. Scott, M.D., Ph.D., professor of nuclear medicine in the Department of Radiology, graduated from the School of Medicine in 1975 and has been a member of the faculty since 1978. Last month, he was honored for 45 years of service.

Richard O. Davis, M.D., will be honored for 50 years of service to UAB at the annual Service Awards Program Reception on April 10 in the Hill Student Center.

In honor of Women's History Month, a remembrance of Alice McNeal, M.D., founding chair of UAB's Department of Anesthesiology (now the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine) in 1948 and first woman anesthesiologist to be named to the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame.

Vern Bush, Kevin Davis and Brittany Martin are the first-quarter 2024 honorees of the UAB Values in Action Program. Nominations for second-quarter 2024 honorees are open through April 24.

Alan T.N. Tita, M.D., Ph.D., has led some of the most notable clinical trials in recent years in obstetrics and gynecology. Now he has been selected for the academic medical center’s highest faculty honor.

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.”

Carolina Harada, M.D., professor in the Department of Medical Education, received HSF-GEF grants to provide mentorship and recognition for junior faculty clinician educators at all six health professions schools at UAB. Participants have been promoted, published research, taken on leadership roles and won teaching awards.

Anna Sorace, Ph.D., core director and associate professor in the Department of Radiology, has leveraged HSF-GEF grants to help grow UAB’s nuclear imaging program.

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.

Carlie Stein Somerville, M.D., an associate professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine, turned an HSF-GEF grant into a nationally recognized program that provides multidisciplinary support to help young adults transition to adult care. Four years later, “we have been able to show the impact that we can make with patients and families,” she said.

A partnership between pediatrician Snehal Khatri, M.D., and program director Betsy Hopson will focus on care for patients across the lifespan, including addressing palliative and memory challenges. The unique approach was made possible through an HSF-GEF grant.

Michael Mugavero, M.D., professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, received HSF-GEF funding to launch the UAB Learning Health System project, where the people setting the research questions are not individual investigators with their own niche interests, “but the people in the trenches.”

Gabriela Oates, Ph.D., director of UAB’s institutional Social Determinants of Health Core, is leading a project funded by an HSF-GEF grant to improve care by combining patient records with their residential information. The goal: “to improve patient care and people’s health.”

Meet Candi Mosley and Shali Zhang, M.D., two regulars at UAB’s on-campus food pantry. The work helps her feel “useful outside my job… and it is fun,” Zhang said. Added Mosley: “You get to meet so many people.”

Meet the 2024 cohort of the DEAL Program, which exposes promising staff members to the essential components of administrative and management positions across UAB.