Explore UAB

Ana Xavier, M.D., associate professor in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, was a panel member in the development of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines and Evidence Blocks for Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Prescott Atkinson, M.D., professor in the Division of Pediatric Allergy & Immunology, has been awarded the inaugural Alabama Avocational Paleontologist Award (ALAP). This award was created to honor amateur paleontologists who have made outstanding contributions to the field of paleontology in Alabama.

Sarah Novara, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Neurology, has recently been named program director for the UAB Child Neurology Residency Program. Dr. Novara will take over for Tony McGrath, M.D., associate professor in the Division of Pediatric Neurology, who has served as program director of the residency program since 2008.

Please join us in welcoming our inaugural group of Pediatric Residents Interested in Medical Education (PRIME) Scholars! Residents participating include Andy Marshall, M.D., PGY-4 Med-Peds, Meghan Harrison, M.D., PGY-3 Pediatrics, McGee Hopper, M.D., PGY-3 Pediatrics, Stephen Hudson, M.D., PGY-3 Pediatrics, Carter Barnett, M.D., PGY-2 Pediatrics, Leah Bittles, M.D., PGY-2 Pediatrics, Gabe Daniels, M.D., PGY-2 Pediatrics, Amelia Schuyler, M.D., PGY-2 Pediatrics, and Karen Wang, M.D., PGY-2 Pediatrics.

David Kimberlin, M.D., professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, has been invited to join an expert group of the Departments of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research (SHR) and Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing (MCA) at the World Health Organization (WHO) to review evidence on mother-to-child transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and to create a consensus case definition.

Congratulations to the six faculty being promoted effective October 1, 2020! 

The UAB Department of Pediatrics welcomes two new faculty members during the month of September. Please join us in making them feel at home! 

Helena Gutierrez, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Erin Shaughnessy, M.D., MPH, DTMH, Associate Professor in Pediatric Hospital Medicine

Tamera Coyne-Beasley, M.D., MPH, professor in the Division of Adolescent Medicine, has been invited to join the Institute for Advanced Clinical Trials for Children (I-ACT for Children). In this role, she will help principal investigators of clinical trials to develop protocols and procedures to recruit more children and adolescents and to improve their diversity. I-ACT for Children is a non-profit organization that works to ensure that clinical trials are designed to produce sufficient data to allow for the use of new medications and devices for pediatric patients.

“I am honored to be asked to join I-ACT for Children and to lend my expertise to help recruit diverse participants in clinical trials for pediatric patients,” said Dr. Coyne-Beasley.

David Askenazi M.D., MSPH, professor in the Division of Pediatric Nephrology, has received funding from the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to support his project ZorrowFlow.

The ZorroFlow is a neonatal external urine collection device that has been designed to provide a safe, comfortable, and easy-to-use system for continuous measurement of urine output and sampling in neonates.  

Julie Wolfson, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, has been invited to become a member of the Center for Women's Reproductive Health (CWRH). 

The mission of the CWRH is to conduct research aimed at improving the reproductive health and survival of all women, especially minority and under-served women and offspring, and their families, and to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration between UAB researchers and others and developing scholars interested in women's reproductive health.

The William A. Daniel Jr. Adolescent Health Center launched its voter registration drive on Tuesday, Sept. 1. The Voter Registration Initiative is a unique nonpartisan program done in collaboration with Government and Community Relations at Children’s of Alabama that provides voting age adolescents, young adults and parents the opportunity to register to vote, apply for an absentee ballot and learn more about voting in Alabama. Through this initiative, patients and their parents have the opportunity to register to vote during their visit to the Adolescent Clinic using iPads or by scanning a QR code with their phone. During their clinic visit, they are also shown how to access information on clinic iPads such as their voting location and the identification needed to vote.

The UAB Department of Pediatrics welcomes three new faculty members during the month of August. Please join us in making them feel at home! 

Jessica Schmitt, M.D., Assistant Professor in Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes
Nora Switchenko, M.D., Assistant Professor in Neonatology
Carmelle Wallace, M.D., MPH, DTMH, Assistant Professor in Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Dan Feig, M.D., professor in the Division of Pediatric Nephrology, received a Service Award from the Pediatric Academic Society in gratitude for his leadership, service, and commitment as a member of the Pediatric Academic Societies 2020 Meeting Program Committee. Dr. Feig represented the International Pediatric Hypertension Association on the Meeting Program Committee. His dedication to advancing child health and working collaboratively with other researchers and health care professionals made a significant contribution to building a high-quality scientific program.

Congratulations Dr. Feig!

Effective September 1, 2020, Jamie Aye, M.D., and Christy Bemrich-Stolz, M.D., both assistant professors in the Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, will assume leadership roles in the division.

Dr. Aye has been named medical director of Inpatient Services for the UAB Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology. She obtained her medical degree from Mercer University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and her pediatric hematology oncology fellowship at UAB. Dr. Aye is currently a member of the Solid Tumor Program in the division. As medical director of Inpatient Services, Dr. Aye will refine our inpatient models to provide the best education and patient care.  She will enact policies to the address the needs of the resident and NP services and she will collaborate with administration, IT, patient relations, and pharmacy to improve processes such as chemotherapy safety. 

Dr. Bemrich-Stolz has been named medical director of Outpatient Services for the UAB Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology. She currently directs the Bleeding Disorders Program in the division. Dr. Bemrich-Stolz is a UAB thoroughbred, completing her undergrad, medical school, pediatric residency, and pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship at UAB. As medical director of Outpatient Services, she will oversee and help improve the processes to provide the best care possible to patients seen in our pediatric hematology-oncology outpatient clinic. She will serve as a liaison to Children’s of Alabama Outpatient Services, work with our divisional quality improvement/patient safety officer on efforts to improve the delivery of services in the clinic arena, and enact policies to the address the needs of the faculty and staff in clinic 8. 

Congratulations to Drs. Aye and Bemrich-Stolz!

Matthew Alexander, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Neurology, has been selected to receive the 2020-2021 McNulty Civitan Scientist Award. This honor is given on behalf of the McNulty Civitan Scientist Committee and the UAB Civitan International Research Center. Dr. Alexander was selected in recognition of his excellence in neurodevelopmental disorders research and will help fund continuation of his work.

"The award is a reflection of my lab's determination and focus on helping children and adults with neuromuscular disorders through our research,” said Dr. Alexander. “I am honored every day to work with fantastic clinical and basic science researchers whom prioritize developmental disabilities research at UAB and the Civitan International Research Center".

Congratulations Dr. Alexander!

Congratulations to Karen Wang, M.D., pediatrics resident, on receiving the Rud Polhill Award. This award is presented every year by the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine in memory of Dr. Rutherford B. Polhill to an intern who demonstrates excellence in pediatric emergency medicine and dedication to life-long-learning.

Dr. Rud Polhill was an esteemed faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics and former division director for the UAB Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine who unexpectedly died in April 2002. Lifelong learning was his passion and he had just given a grand rounds presentation entitled “Lifelong Model of Pediatric Education.” His tragic passing stunned us all but through his leadership, he inspired our division to engage in lifelong learning so that we could provide the best care possible for our patients.

Children’s of Alabama and the Kaul Pediatric Research Institute (KPRI) are pleased to announce the 2020 Quality and Safety Awards. The major goal of the KPRI Quality and Safety Grant Program is to allow teams to identify and address specific quality and safety issues that cannot easily be addressed using existing operational resources or structures.

This year, two grants were awarded. All funded applications are directed toward the improvement of child health care. Thank you to all who submitted applications!

David Askenazi, M.D., professor in the Division of Pediatric Nephrology, has been selected to serve on the International Pediatric Nephrology Association Special Projects Subcommittee AKI and 0by25 for a three-year term.

Jennifer Guimbellot, M.D., Ph.D., and Gabriela Oates, Ph.D., both assistant professors in the Division of Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, contributed chapters to the new book, “Cystic Fibrosis: A Multi-Organ System Approach,” part of Springer Nature’s Respiratory Medicine series. 

Kent Willis, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of Neonatology, has been awarded the UAB Microbiome Center Pilot Grant to help fund his project titled, “The Gut-Lung Axis Shapes Innate Pulmonary Immunity in Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.” This project will explore how bacteria and fungi that live in the gut and lungs interact with the innate immune system in the lungs.