The Department of Radiology is undergoing a leadership transition in the Division of Interventional Radiology (IR). Aliaksei Salei, M.D., director of IR operations, director of quality of IR, and associate professor in the Division of IR, will be stepping into the role of interim division director as we conduct a comprehensive search for a permanent division director. This change is effective, April 15, 2025. 

Salei completed his medical school at Belarusian State Medical University in Minsk, Belarus. After finishing his Diagnostic Radiology residency at Mercy Catholic Medical Center in Pennsylvania, he completed his fellowship in vascular and IR at UAB. He then joined the IR faculty at UAB.

Junaid Raja, M.D., MSPH, M.S., assistant professor in the Division of IR, associate program director of the IR residency program, and co-director of VIR at Children's of Alabama, will assume the role of program director of the Integrated Interventional Radiology residency program. This change is pending ACGME approval. 

Raja grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina prior to attending Duke University, double majoring in chemistry and political science. He then earned a master’s in public health at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a master's of science in biotechnology at Johns Hopkins University before attending medical school at Ross University. Raja is a fully trained and board-certified internist having trained and practiced in internal medicine at the Waterbury track at Yale New Haven Hospital prior to pursuing additional training in Diagnostic and Vascular IR also at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Husam El Khudari, M.D., director of IR medical student education, and associate professor in the Division of IR, will assume the role of program director of the Independent IR residency program. This change is pending ACGME approval.

El Khudari graduated summa cum laude with first rank from the Medical College at Garyounis University (Currently Benghazi University) in Benghazi, Libya. Initially, he pursued a career in surgery and obtained the Membership of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (MRCS). He then moved to United States where he completed a Diagnostic Radiology residency at Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester, Massachusetts, followed by an IR fellowship at UAB. He is an active member of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) and practices the full spectrum of IR.

We extend our best wishes to Andrew Gunn, M.D., who has accepted the position of chair of Radiology at the University of Kentucky. We thank him for his contributions and wish him success in his new role.