The Department commends Mary Margaret Basham, MD (PGY-3) for the extraordinary patient care she recently provided to a woman admitted with chest pain and a history of colon cancer who developed a gastrointestinal perforation. Dr. Basham diligently wrote cross-cover notes that were impressive in their detail, and we are proud to salute her attentiveness to both her patient and the medical record.

Joanna Zurko, MD (PGY-1) won the Glenn Cobbs Book Award for the best admission write-ups at the BVAMC in September.

Stuart Frank, MD (Director, Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism) has earned an RO1 grant to study “A Novel Role for IGF-1 Receptor in Growth Hormone Action.” 

Chad Hunter, PhD (Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism) has received a Young Investigator Award from the American Diabetes Association for his project "Ldb1 Mediates Transcriptional Complexes During ß-cell Development and Function." 

Christopher Small, MD (PGY-3) was first author of “Managing Cognitive Load to Uncover an Unusual Cause of Syncope: Exercises in Clinical Reasoning” which was recently published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. 

Suzanne Oparil, MD (Cardiovascular Disease) received the Southern Society of Clinical Investigation’s 2015 Mentor of the Year Award – Postgraduate Division.

Iris Navarro-Millán, MD (Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology) was selected as one of ten junior faculty members in the United States for participation in the 2016 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatology Exchange Program. 

Navkaranbir Bajaj, MD (Fellow, Cardiovascular Disease) gave an oral presentation as part of the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2015, "Mortality and Safety Outcomes of Various Catheter-Based Modalities in Patients with High-Risk Pulmonary Embolism: Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses."

In this week’s Medical Grand Rounds, Stephen Russell, MD (General Internal Medicine) recommended a novel teaching tool for assessing nonverbal behavior using the acronym E.M.P.A.T.H.Y. which was the cornerstone of a randomized controlled trial conducted from 2010-2012. E is for eye contact; M is for muscles of facial expression; P is for posture; A is for affect; T is for tone of voice; H is for hearing the whole patient; Y is for your response. The full article can be accessed online here.

We joyously celebrate a new edition to the DOM family! Shivani Dion Baccus was born to Uma Borate, MD (Hematology and Oncology) on November 18, 2015. 

Coming Next Week: Martin Rodriguez, MD, UAB Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases and Bruce Korf, MD, PhD, UAB Professor and Chair of Genetics will present “The Undiagnosed Diseases Program at UAB.”

View this week's slides here.

Do you have Good News to share? If so, please email the Department of Medicine's Director of Communications, Carolyn Walsh.