L to R: Kate Morgan, CMA, Chaeli Lawson, CRNP, Natalja Deineko, TaKeisha Flannigan, CMA

The UAB House Calls Program provides primary care to homebound individuals who are typically very frail with multiple serious medical conditions. Because the patients are at high risk for complication and death if infected with COVID-19, the team has coordinated with pharmacy, the UAB Highlands vaccination site, and leadership to be able to provide the COVID-19 vaccine to these patients at home. House Calls is scheduled to provide around 130 vaccinations to patients and their qualifying caregivers in the weeks ahead. The Department salutes this dedicated team for their compassion and innovation.

More Good News for April 2, 2020

Pran Datta, PhD (Professor, Hematology and Oncology) is the latest winner of the School of Medicine’s Featured Discovery for his paper “STRAP regulates alternative splicing fidelity during lineage commitment of mouse embryonic stem cells,” published in Nature Communications.

Vera Bittner, MD, MSPH (Professor, Cardiovascular Disease) has been included in the Journal of American College of Cardiology Top Picks for 2020 for her recent study on the effect of alirocumab on lipoprotein(a) and cardiovascular risk after acute coronary syndrome.

Isabel Scarinci, PhD, MPH (Professor, Preventive Medicine) and colleagues investigated the factors that contribute to how adults perceive their risk of contracting COVID-19 in an effort to better understand how to tailor interventions that successfully convince people to engage in preventive behaviors.

Maria Pisu, PhD (Professor, Preventive Medicine) will lead a multi-institutional effort to better understand how the economic burden of healthcare impacts our emotional well-being. Their pilot project aims to both establish a network of "emotional-economic" investigators and to attract new scientists to this field of research.

Robert Centor, MD (Professor Emeritus, General Internal Medicine) has been awarded the prestigious Jane F. Desforges Distinguished Teacher Award by the American College of Physicians for demonstrating the "ennobling qualities of a great teacher" as evidenced by accomplishments of their former students.

Gabrielle Rocque, MD, MSPH (Associate Professor, Hematology & Oncology) and colleagues recently received a grant to assess the impact of prior treatments (time on treatment and types of prior therapies) on survival outcomes following treatment with CDK4/6 inhibitors in metastatic breast cancer. Kudos, Dr. Rocque!

Biostatistician Richard Kennedy, PhD (Associate Professor, Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care) has been asked to join the NIH's Clinical Data Management and Analysis Study Section, Center for Scientific Review for a four-year term beginning in July. Congratulations, Dr. Kennedy!

Cindy Joiner, PhD, MPH, RN, (Associate Vice Chair, Department of Medicine) will step into a new role as Vice Chair, Department of Medicine, effective April 5, 2021. This new role will build on her exceptional track record for administrative leadership, expanding her scope of responsibilities for policies, procedures, and strategic initiatives in the Department.

In the first of a five-part series, Dr. Well-Be shares tips from the “Happiness Course” at Yale, a class that teaches a simple, scientific approach to improving our own happiness. This week he explores ideas on rest, movement and how we spend our time to rejevenate body, mind, and spirit.

Amanda Cartee, MD, Assistant Professor in the UAB Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology will present "Celiac Disease: Fact and Ficture" at noon on Wednesday, April 7, via Zoom.