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The Department of Medicine is delighted to report the opening of a new clinic in Hematology and Oncology. Our new providers Dr. Arnab Basu, Dr. Aparna Hegde, Keri Mclendon, and Kaci Weaver, began seeing patients with a pending cancer diagnosis on November 1. This expanded access will help us see these patients faster, and hasten them on the road to treatment.

Mark Dransfield, MD (Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care) and colleagues have published their findings on the potential of beta blockers to prevent exacerbations of COPD. The results of their prospective, randomized trial reported in the New England Journal of Medicine indicate that beta-blockers do not prevent COPD exacerbations. Further, their research provokes a re-examination of the overall risk-benefit of beta-blockers for patients with both COPD and cardiac indications.

The Department of Medicine is delighted to celebrate 18 faculty members who received the rank of Associate Professor or Full Professor as of October 1, 2019. We also recognize four who were awarded tenure.

Achieving these milestones is a tremendous accomplishment, and we salute each one for their outstanding contributions to academic medicine.

 Pictured: Volunteers from the Division of Hematology and Oncology Serve at the Community Foodbank of Central Alabama.

A community-minded group of 15 volunteers from the Division of Hematology and Oncology participated in a morning of service at the Community Foodbank of Central Alabama. They packed 168 boxes of mobile pantry items (4,200 lbs.) that will be distributed throughout the state, packed 420 individual Weekenders BackPack kits (1,680 lbs.) that will go to school-aged kids and their families, and weighed over 1,100 lbs. of sorted donations. That’s 7,000 lbs. of awesome. We salute you, Hem/Onc crew!

 Pictured: Dr. Seth Landefeld, Department of Medicine Chair, Dr. Bob Bourge, Dr. Suzanne Oparil, Inaugural Holder, and Dr. Sumanth Prabhu

Suzanne Oparil, MD (Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease) was appointed as the inaugural holder of the United Therapeutics Endowed Professorship at the Board of Trustees meeting in June. The Department was delighted to celebrate her many achievements and the generous philanthropy that made this professorship possible at a reception last week.