Explore UAB

The winner of UAB’s Grand Challenge research competition at UAB has been announced! The Department of Medicine’s Mona Fouad, MD, MPH (Professor and Director, Preventive Medicine) will lead the charge to raise Alabama’s key health measures out of the bottom 10 in state rankings in the next ten years. With soaring rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, the challenge is indeed “grand.”

Fouad’s plan will promote practical individual health behaviors—like choosing more fruits and vegetables, increasing exercise, and smoking cessation—along with public policy initiatives. The Department of Medicine is elated to support this effort to improve health among all Alabamians.

Congratulations to all the worthy finalists, especially Dr. Eric Wallace (Associate Professor, Nephrology) who proposed the “REACH — Reengineering Equal Access to Comprehensive Healthcare” project to advance telehealth in Alabama.

Pictured: Drs. Seth Landefeld, Mona Fouad, and Eric Wallace

Ryan Kraemer, MD (Associate Professor, General Internal Medicine) noticed that he had to click from the provider view menu, to ambulatory workflow, to diagnostics, to cardiovascular just to view an EKG result in IMPACT. He brought this issue to Jonett Beasley, clinical informatics specialist for primary care, who designed the perfect fix. Now there is a CV/Pulmonary results tab in the Results Review Section for all EKG, Pulmonary Function Tests and Telemetry!

Ryan and Jonett remind you that, “If you see something, say something!”  Contact the clinical informatics specialist for your area to suggest other improvements, or email clinicalinformatics [at] uabmc [dot] edu.

The Division of Nephrology was delighted to celebrate the appointment of two new endowed positions in transplant nephrology last week. Vineeta Kumar, MD, was named the inaugural holder of the Robert C. and Cutessa D. Bourge Endowed Professorship in Transplant Nephrology. Roslyn Mannon, MD, was appointed the second holder of the Robert G. Luke, MD, Endowed Chair in Transplant Nephrology. We are proud to recognize both extraordinary physicians and grateful for the generous philanthropy that made these endowments possible!

Pictured L to R: Drs. Carlton Young, Vineeta Kumar, Roslyn Mannon, and Devin Eckhoff

The home of Dr. Tavo Heudebert (Professor and Interim Regional Dean, Montgomery) was the “crustacean destination” last weekend as he hosted the annual IM Resident Crawfish Boil for the 7th consecutive year. All the residents and their families gathered to partake of the food and fellowship, consuming over 150 pounds of mudbugs in traditional Louisiana style. The residents report the event is great for their wellness and for fostering important connections among the housestaff and attendings.

Pictured L to R: Cody Milliman, Jim McPhail, Danny Hardgrove, Daniel Scullin, Jason Graffagnino, Cameron White, Kathryn Sinquefield, Oliver Sinquefield, Andrew Gahagan, Tavo Heudebert, Vick DiCarlo and Alanna Milliman

Julie Kanter, MD (Associate Professor, Hematology and Oncology) has received NIH approval to participate in a clinical trial to study a possible cure for Sickle Cell Disease. The Lentiglobin BB305 Study will begin enrolling patients in the next couple of months here at UAB, and initial results have been very promising.