The research enterprise for academic medical centers nationwide took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. With temporary lab closures, hiring freezes and layoffs, social distancing and other precautions limiting many investigators’ ability to conduct their work, it was a challenging time. The upside to this for some may have been the chance to write, submit, revise and resubmit grant funding proposals. 

The United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) hosts its annual meeting in person and virtually this year, March 23-28, 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland. 

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama (BCRFA) has announced funding for three pre-R01 grants through the fall cycle of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center’s O’Neal Invests program.

Erin Eun-Young Ahn, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Pathology's Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology is a pre-R01 recipient for her project titled, “Phenotypic and Metabolic Reprogramming of Breast Cancer by MascRNA.”

By Christina Crowe

The UAB Department of Pathology is pleased to announce Shi Wei, M.D., Ph.D., returning to UAB as Director of the Division of Women’s Health effective February 1, 2024. Wei is the Barbara F. Atkinson Endowed Professor and Director of Translational Research, at the University of Kansas Medical Center Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

Photo credit: KUMC

Dr. Wei obtained his medical degree in China and received his Ph.D. in Japan. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis, followed by residency in anatomic and clinical pathology and a surgical pathology fellowship at UAB. He obtained additional clinical subspecialty training at Emory, Mt. Sinai and Harvard Universities.

By Christina Crowe

Carlene Zindl, Ph.D., joins the Department of Pathology as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology after having worked for years as a researcher and scientist in the Division of Anatomic Pathology. Her position is effective January 1.

The UAB Department of Pathology is excited to announce our Chief Residents for the 2024-25 year and thank our 2023-24 Chiefs.

We want to acknowledge the superb example that our 2023-24 Chiefs Drs. Brooke Bartow, Michael Robinson and Jacob Havens have set over the past year. They excelled in their leadership positions, and we thank them all for a job well done.

by Hannah Buckelew

Elizabeth E. Brown, M.P.H., Ph.D., Endowed Professor of Cancer Pathobiology, Associate Director for Population Science, O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, Molecular and Cellular Pathology, and Lalita Shevde-Samant, Ph.D., Associate Director for Education and Training, O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, Professor, Molecular and Cellular Pathology, are co-leading a new research education program entitled UAB Enhancing Research in Cancer-related Health Professions (ENRICH)  with support from the National Cancer Institute.

By Christina Crowe 

The UAB Department of Pathology has named Associate Professor Sixto Leal, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., as Director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine, effective January 1, 2024.

Leal, who was named associate division director in 2022, was selected after an extensive national search to take over from Professor Baleed Vishnu Reddy, M.D., who served as interim division director.

By Christina Crowe 

Cancer research on the road may not have been part of your holiday travel plans, but thanks to the innovation of Pathology Department faculty Sooryanarayana Varambally, Ph.D., MBA, Professor, Molecular & Cellular Pathology and Darshan Shimoga Chandrashekar, Ph. D., Assistant Professor, Genomic Diagnostics and Bioinformatics, it can be. Varambally and his team have created a mobile cancer transcriptome analysis (TCGA) app, “UALCAN Mobile,” based on their comprehensive cancer proteogenomic platform, UALCAN, for phones and tablets. The free research and educational app is available at the Google Play store and the Apple App Store. 

Elizabeth E. Brown, Ph.D., MPH, will be the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Associate Director for Population Science beginning January 1, 2024. Brown is the Endowed Professor of Cancer Pathobiology in the Department of Pathology at the Heersink School of Medicine, immediate past chair of the International Lymphoma and Epidemiology Consortium and co-leader of the O’Neal Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program.

By Christina Crowe

On Thursday, November 2, the University of Alabama Board of Trustees voted to approve the appointment of Casey Weaver, M.D., to the Leonard H. Robinson Endowed Chair in Pathology.

Kavita Varma, M.D., DNB, joins the Department of Pathology as an assistant professor covering the Community Pathology Practice Program (CPPP) in Anniston, Alabama, under Walter Bell, M.D., Chief of CPPP.

by Christina Crowe

Marisa Marques, M.D., Professor Emerita, receives the ASCP Distinguished Service AwardUAB Pathology faculty, trainees and staff were busy presenting their latest work at several conferences related to their respective specialties throughout the month of October, and several received recognition

Dr. Schnaar (left) with Dr. Girish Melkani, lecture organizerby Hannah Buckelew

The UAB Department of Pathology welcomed a world-renowned expert on glycobiology Ronald L. Schnaar, Ph.D., John Jacob Abel Professor and Interim Director, Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, to present the eighth annual John Jay Listinksy Lecture in Glycobiology. The lecture, “Glycan Recognition in Human Immune Regulation- a Special Role for Sialic Acid” was presented on Thursday, October 26, 2023, in the West Pavilion Conference Center.

by Hannah Buckelew

The UAB Department of Pathology honored several faculty members for their esteemed accomplishments and outstanding service to UAB and to the department with a Faculty Awards Reception on October 27, 2023 at Cafe Dupont. Retirements, endowments, distinctions, awards, and promotion and tenure were celebrated amongst the following faculty:

by Christina Crowe

The UAB Department of Pathology is pleased to announce the appointment of Sameer Al Diffalha, M.D., Associate Professor, Anatomic Pathology, as Vice Chair for Outreach for the Department of Pathology, effective April 1, 2023. The role was previously managed by the now interim chair, Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., however, with the continued expansion of the Community Pathology Practice Program (CPPP) the vice chair position was created.

by Christina Crowe

Lalita Shevde-Samant, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular and Cellular Pathology, UAB Department of Pathology, has been awarded a $1.48 million grant over the next three years to study the immune microenvironment of breast cancer, specifically the plasticity of regulatory T cells. The grant, a Level 2 Breakthrough Award from the Breast Cancer Research Program of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program of the Department of Defense, is so called because of its potential to, “make an impactful breakthrough and accelerate progress toward ending breast cancer,” Shevde-Samant says.

by Hannah Buckelew

Members of the UAB Department of Pathology attended a department wellness outing at Oak Mountain State Park on Saturday, October 14. Colleagues, alongside their families, enjoyed one another’s company over an outdoor picnic.

Attendees brought an assortment of food and grilled burgers together. Children enjoyed a variety of activities, including games, fishing and face painting.

by Christina Crowe

Sixto Leal, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Laboratory Medicine, UAB Pathology, has been awarded a 4-year, $2.97 million R01 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study secondary mold infections in patients with severe viral infections, such as COVID. These mold infections, if not recognized or treated, can be fatal. The grant, titled, “The Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Immune Dysregulation on Antifungal Immunity,” runs through July 2027.

by Hannah Buckelew

Peter Anderson, DVM, Ph.D., a professor in the UAB Department of Pathology’s Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, has been inducted into UAB’s chapter of the National Academy of Inventors. Anderson was recognized at an induction ceremony at the UAB Collat School of Business on October 13, 2023.