The Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at UAB has a broad mission to address a variety of endocrine disorders.
We provide state-of-the-art clinical care to our patients, conduct clinical and basic endocrine investigation, and the educate medical students, graduate students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows.
Early Division leaders in the 1960s-1980s included Drs. Rex Clements, Buris Boshell, S. Richardson Hill, and James Pittman. The late Dr. Jeffrey Kudlow directed the Division from 1989-2006 and fostered the growth of its clinical service and molecular and clinical endocrinology research efforts. Dr. Stuart Frank served as Director of the Division from 2007 to 2018 and after an extensive nation-wide search, Dr. Fernando Ovalle was appointed in the summer of 2019.
The Division has enjoyed continued expansion and extensive collaboration with many other DOM divisions. Additionally, a hallmark of the Division in recent years has been its broad interaction with Centers and other academic units outside the DOM. These interactions have allowed the Division to enhance its impact. Dr. Anath Shalev has directed the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center since 2010 and Dr. Frank has served as Co-Director of the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science (an NIH-funded CTSA) since 2010.
The faculty possesses broad clinical expertise in diabetes, thyroid disease, pituitary disorders, adrenal disease, lipid disorders, gonadal disorders, and metabolic bone disease and interacts closely with the Departments of Surgery, Ophthalmology, Radiology, Reproductive Endocrinology, as well as other Divisions in the Department of Medicine. These interactions take the form of both shared multidisciplinary clinics and clinical case conferences. The Division supports one of the Department of Medicine’s largest outpatient clinics in The Kirklin Clinic, staffs the Endocrinology Section of the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and maintains a consultation service that evaluates patients with a wide variety of endocrine problems within all hospitals of the UAB Medical Center. In addition, Division faculty contribute inpatient General Medicine attending service at both University Hospital and the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Division faculty are engaged in cutting edge basic and clinical research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, American Diabetes Association and other industry and foundations. Division research is fostered by the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center, the NIH-sponsored UAB Diabetes Research and Training Center, the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science and the UAB Center for Metabolic Bone Disease. Faculty members are also closely affiliated with UAB’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research Center and Center for Aging.
The Division sponsors an Endocrinology Fellowship Program that provides three physician trainees with broad outpatient and consultative experience in all areas of clinical endocrinology with added exposure to Pediatric Endocrinology, Reproductive Endocrinology, and other disciplines on an elective basis. Fellows are also encouraged to gain investigative experience in clinical or basic research with faculty mentors either within the Division or in other academic units at UAB. Completion of the Fellowship allows ABIM Board Eligibility in Endocrinology and Metabolism.