Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., the inaugural Robert W. Mowry Endowed Professor and Executive Vice Chair, retired on December 31, 2024, after 34 years of service in the UAB Department of Pathology.

Patients with multiple myeloma often develop bone lesions resulting in skeletal-related events (SREs), such as spinal cord compression, vertebral collapse, pathologic fractures and bone pain. Bone lesions are caused by increases in osteoclast formation and are treated using antiresorptive drugs such as denosumab. This drug is an antibody that combats RANKL, a critical regulator of osteoclast formation, however, its use suppresses the immune system and increases the risk of serious infections.

Xu Feng, Ph.D., a professor in the UAB Department of Pathology’s Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, is working to develop a better targeting strategy.

Sixto Leal Jr., M.D., Ph.D., Division Director, Laboratory Medicine, has been named the Jay M. McDonald Endowed Professor in Experimental Pathology, effective January 1, 2025.

The Department of Pathology is thrilled to announce a new faculty member joining our team January 1. Natalie R. Gassman, Ph.D., joins the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, led by Rakesh Patel, Ph.D., as an associate professor.

Peter Anderson, D.V.M., Ph.D., a professor in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, will retire at the end of the month, December 31, 2024, after 43 years in the UAB Department of Pathology.

(l-r) Drs. Dario Vitturi, Nicole Arroyo-Diaz, Mara Carreño, M.S.The UAB Department of Pathology recently funded travel awards to three trainees, Md Akkas Ali, Dr. Nicole Arroyo-Diaz and Samuel Chang, who presented their research at national meetings. 

Mythreye Karthikeyan, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, has been appointed Co-Leader of the UAB O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center's Cancer Biology and Immunology Program (CBI), effective January 1, 2025. 

Drs. Litovsky (left) and RosenblumThe Department of Pathology is proud to announce two faculty recipients for the Argus Awards, presented by the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. Silvio Litovsky, M.D., Professor, Anatomic Pathology, received the award for Best MS1 Course in Cardiology and Frida Rosenblum, M.D., Associate Professor, Anatomic Pathology, received the award for Best Educator in Hematology/Oncology.

(l-r): Drs. Ritu Aneja, Cristina Magi-Galluzzi and Sunil SinghalLeadership from the UAB Heersink School of Medicine, UAB Medicine and the Department of Pathology gathered on Monday, November 11 in the West Pavilion Conference Center to celebrate the launch of UAB Pathology's Digital Pathology Transformation Project. Attendees enjoyed refreshments and remarks from Cristina Magi-Galluzzi, M.D., Ph.D., Robert and Ruth Anderson Endowed Chair in Pathology, Brenda Carlisle, CEO of UAB Hospital, Program Sponsor, Anupam Agarwal, M.D., Senior Vice President for Medicine, Dean, Heersink School of Medicine, Program Sponsor, and Sunil Singhal, Program Manager.

Joanne Murphy-Ullrich, Ph.D., Professor Emerita, Molecular and Cellular Pathology, has been inducted into UAB's chapter of the National Academy of Inventors. Murphy-Ullrich was recognized at an induction ceremony at the UAB Collat School of Business on October 11. 

The UAB O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center has just announced its latest O'Neal Invests grant awardees, of which two faculty from the Department of Pathology are included. O'Neal Invests funds UAB investigators initiating new cancer-related projects to do key preliminary work to enable competitive extramural applications. 

(l-r): Drs. Cristina Magi-Galluzzi, Pamela Stanley and Girish MelkaniThe UAB Department of Pathology welcomed a world-renowned expert on glycobiology, Pamela Stanley, Ph.D., Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Chair, Professor of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein School of Medicine, to present the ninth annual John Jay Listinsky Lecture in Glycobiology. The lecture, "Glycans Required for Reproduction" was presented on Thursday, November 7, 2024, in the Margaret Cameron Spain Auditorium.

Members from the UAB Department of Pathology gathered on November 5 in the Hill University Center to celebrate a variety of research efforts ongoing in the department in its 2024 Research Retreat. A total of 128 faculty, staff, trainees and students registered to take part in the event. 

The Department of Pathology is pleased to announce some exciting changes to the leadership team of our department's residency programs. Effective January 1, 2025, current Associate Program Director, Rance Chadwick Siniard, M.D., Assistant Professor, Laboratory Medicine, will serve alongside Brandi McCleskey, M.D., Vice Chair for Education and current Residency Program Director, as Co-Program Director of the UAB Department of Pathology Residency Training Program. In the next academic year, effective July 1, 2025, Siniard will assume the role of Residency Program Director and McCleskey will serve as Associate Program Director.

Drs. Alyssa Lee and Chiamaka UmahFaculty, trainees and staff from the Department of Pathology were busy presenting their latest work at several conferences related to their respective specialties throughout the fall, and several received recognition.

Faculty, staff and trainees from the Department of Pathology gathered on October 6 at Oak Mountain State Park for a Family Fall Festival. Colleagues, alongside their families, enjoyed a day filled with community. The event was hosted by the department's clinical training programs.

Members from the Department of Pathology gathered to celebrate esteemed milestones amongst colleagues on October 16 to recognize awards and distinctions from the past year. The event was held at Cafe Dupont to honor outstanding professional service to UAB and the department.

Jefferson County, Alabama reported nearly 500 overdose deaths in 2023. More than 400 of these were due to opioids, a class of prescription medication used for their pain relief properties. Opioids attach to receptors on nerve cells to block pain messages being sent from the body to the brain. This effect provides relief to patients after surgery or injury, but when used improperly or taken for too long, can become highly addictive.

Dr. C. Ryan MillerC. Ryan Miller, M.D., Ph.D., Vishnu B. Reddy Translational Research Endowed Professor, Division Director, Neuropathology, has been awarded a 4-year $2.5 million R01 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The grant, “Therapeutic targeting mesenchymal transition in newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma,” will run through August 2028.

The ZTTK SON-Shine Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by Erin Eun-Young Ahn, Ph.D., a professor in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, together with parents of patients with ZTTK syndrome, has been selected by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) to receive an $800,000 five-year grant as part of CZI’s Rare As One project.