Daniel Chu, M.D., MSPH, and Paige Porrett, M.D., Ph.D., were elected as active members to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). They will be formally inducted at the national meeting in Chicago on April 25.
Each year, up to only 100 candidates – out of several hundred nominations – are elected to the ASCI. Election “is a milestone in the physician-scientist career path, and the organization holds its members to the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, mutual respect and collegiality,” according to the ASCI.
Above: Dr. Daniel Chu and Dr. Paige Porrett.
The ASCI is a nonprofit medical honor society with over 3,000 physician-scientists representing all medical specialties. It seeks to support the scientific efforts, educational needs, and clinical aspirations of physician-scientists through advancement of research and mentoring. Founded in 1908, it is one of the country’s oldest medical honor societies.
About Dr. Daniel Chu
Chu serves as the director of the UAB Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery. He graduated from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed his surgical residency at Boston University Medical Center. He completed a fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at the Mayo Clinic. He has been at UAB since 2014. His research is focused on identifying, understanding, and eliminating surgical differences in surgery, and he is a proponent for, and leader in, implanting enhanced recovery programs (ERPs), health literacy interventions, and patient engagement technologies. He has mentored over 60 trainees since joining UAB has been recognized with the 2016 Marshall M. Urist Junior Faculty Teacher and the 2023 Mark H. Deierhoi Faculty Mentor awards. Chu serves on several national committees, including the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS).
“I’m humbled to have been nominated and selected for ASCI membership,” Chu said. “The society’s commitment to research and mentorship is in line with what I strive for professionally and personally.”
About Dr. Paige Porrett
Porrett is an associate professor in and the interim director for the UAB Division of Transplantation. She also serves as director of VCA Transplantation and director of Clinical and Translational Research at the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute. She is the Vera Hauptfeld-Dolejsek Endowed Professor in Transplant Immunology. Porrett graduated from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. She then completed a Ph.D. in immunology as well as her general surgical residency and transplant surgery fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. After joining UAB in 2020, she started the fourth uterus transplant program in the country – cementing her reputation as a national and international leader in the field of uterus transplantation. She currently serves as the president-elect of the International Society of Uterus Transplantation (ISUTx), a section of The Transplantation Society. Porrett also serves on the VCA Committee for the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network (OPTN/UNOS). Her research aims to improve pregnancy outcomes. Recently, she published the world’s first experience of a clinical-grade, gene-edited porcine kidney transplant into a human being.
“It’s an honor to join many of my esteemed colleagues nationwide in this renowned society,” Porrett said. “I’m looking forward to gaining insight from other members as well as being able to give back to future generations of physician-scientists.”
Chu and Porrett join a number of other faculty members from UAB who are members of the ASCI, including Fay Fletcher Kerner Endowed Chair of the Department Surgery Herbert Chen, M.D.