Lauren Tanner, M.D., FACS, assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, is a junior faculty recipient of the 2021 Dean's Excellence Award for Service.
Tanner joined UAB in 2015 and hit the ground running. Within the UAB Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, Tanner serves the chief of Emergency General Surgery Service and program director of Surgical Critical Care Fellowship, upholding both clinical and educational values of the institution.
Additionally, she serves on the UAB General Surgery CME Course Committee, served as co-chair of the Women in Surgery Program from 2015 - 2020, and has been Ombudsperson for the Department of Urology since 2017.
“Dr. Tanner has established herself as a leader of the highest caliber quite early in her career, and we feel she is very deserving of this award,” said Director of Division of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery Jeffrey Kerby, M.D., Ph.D.
In collaboration with UAB Care, Dr. Tanner developed a centralized nutrition support team that currently manages hospital-wide parenteral nutrition and serves as Service Line Director. The development of this program, which provides 24/7 service, has resulted in improvement of patient care, a decrease of central line placement and subsequent CLABSI, and overall cost savings.
Most recently, Tanner’s nominees noted that she has excelled on the front lines of patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing exemplary patient care as part of the COVID surgical surge team. According to her nominees, Tanner has spent part several months involved in the treatment of critically-ill patients via intake into the Emergency Department while leading 273 operative cases for FY2020.
“Dr. Tanner demonstrates a high level of service outside of direct patient care in numerous leadership roles within the UAB Health System and the Department of Surgery,” said Fay Fletcher Kerner Endowed Chair Herbert Chen., M.D., FACS. “Dr. Tanner is a strong leader, compassionate mentor, and a wonderful physician.