Wei Returns to UAB Pathology as Division Director, Women’s Health
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.
Read moreZindl Joins Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology as Assistant Professor
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.
Read moreCongratulating Our 2024-2025 Chief Residents and Leadership Group
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.
Read moreNCI Grant Funds New Cancer Research Opportunities for UAB and Samford Students
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.
Read moreLeal Named Division Director, Laboratory Medicine
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.
Read moreUALCAN App Facilitates Cancer Research on the Go
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.
Read moreBrown Appointed as Associate Director for Population Science for the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center
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.
Weaver Named to Robinson Endowed Chair in Pathology
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.
Read moreVarma Joins Faculty Covering Community Pathology Practice Program
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.
UAB Pathology Represents at October Conferences
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
Eighth Annual Listinksy Lecture Features Glycobiology Expert Schnaar
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.
Read moreUAB Pathology Accomplishments Awarded at Reception
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:
Read moreAl Diffalha Named Vice Chair for Outreach
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.
Read moreShevde-Samant Awarded DoD Grant to Study Immune Environment of Breast Cancer
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.
Read moreUAB Pathology Enjoys Oak Mountain State Park
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.
Read moreLeal Awarded R01 to Study Secondary Mold Infection in COVID Patients
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.
Read moreAnderson Inducted into National Academy of Inventors
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.
Read moreHel Secures $3.6M R01 to Study Liver Disease in HIV Patients
by Hannah Buckelew
Zdenek Hel, Ph.D., a professor in the UAB Department of Pathology’s Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, received a five-year, $3.6 million R01 to support his project, “Dysregulated neutrophil subpopulations as a driving mechanism of liver and gastrointestinal disease in HIV-1-infected individuals.” The grant is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and will run from July 2023 through May 2028.
Read moreFour Faculty Earn Promotions, Tenure in 2023
by Christina Crowe
The Department of Pathology is honored to announce the promotion and tenure of four of our esteemed faculty colleagues for 2023, effective October 1, 2023:
Read moreAnderson Elected as Founding Member, APC Academy of Distinguished Pathology Educators
by Christina Crowe
The Association of Pathology Chairs elected 20 of the most accomplished educators in the specialty of pathology and laboratory medicine as founders of the newly established Academy of Distinguished Pathology Educators at its annual conference held late this summer. Peter Anderson, DVM, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular and Cellular Pathology, was selected as part of the inaugural class of Distinguished Pathology Educators.
Members of the Academy will work closely and collaboratively with the education committees of the Association of Pathology Chairs and with the Residency Program Directors Section and Undergraduate Medical Educators Section to:
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