Daniel Cox, M.D., associate professor in the UAB Department of Surgery’s Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, was recently named as one of three new associate chief medical officers for UAB Hospital.

Cox, who serves as UAB’s Trauma Medical Director and Chief of the UAB Trauma Service, joins two others in becoming a new ACMO: Anand Iyer, M.D., MSPH, of the UAB Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and the School of Nursing and Mason Frazier, M.D., of the UAB Department of Radiology.

The ACMOs will drive initiatives through relationships and collaboration and be an extension of the office of UAB’s Chief Medical Officer, Kierstin Kennedy, M.D.

Kennedy said the ACMOs were chosen after an extensive search process for candidates who would bring diverse clinical backgrounds and leadership experience.

In this new role, Cox will help lead UAB into more effective and efficient operations.

“It’s an honor to serve UAB Hospital and our patients in this new capacity,” Cox said. “As an associate chief medical officer, I look forwarding to working with Dr. Kennedy and supporting her mission of seeking to continuously improve the delivery of patient care at UAB."

Cox will be building on recent wins for UAB. He recently led a redesign of UAB’s trauma service, resulting in improved patient outcomes, a reduced length of stay for patients, and an increase in the amount of trauma patients cared for. Because of this increase in efficiency, the community and state of Alabama can be assured of access to trauma services when they are needed – 24/7/365. In comparison to hospitals with similar trauma volumes and complexity of cases, UAB’s trauma service ranks in the top ten percent of patient outcomes and maintains a 96 percent survival rate.

Last year, Dr. Cox successfully led UAB through the process to receive re-verification from the American College of Surgeons as a Level I trauma center. UAB is the only ACS-verified Level I Trauma Center in the state and has met the strenuous verification requirements continuously since 1999.

Cox also led the UAB Department of Surgery through the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizing coverage models and critical services to ensure the needs of patients were being met. He works collaboratively with multiple subspecialty services to coordinate optimal care protocols for trauma patients and is clinically engaged as one of UAB’s busiest trauma surgeons.

A UAB Heersink School of Medicine alum, Cox completed both his general surgery residency and surgical critical care fellowship at UAB and came back as a faculty member in 2018 after completing his active-duty service.

Cox is a Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserves. He has served in several deployments, most notably as trauma czar, chief of surgery, and surgical services flight commander at Craig Joint Theater Hospital in Bagram, Afghanistan. He has been awarded the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal four times.

Cox has played a critical role in the development of the Special Operations Center for Medical Integration and Development (SOCMID), the educational hub for Air Force Pararescuemen and medics that allows them to come to UAB for a two-week rotation where they’re clinically integrated, getting hands-on experience in the trauma center to sharpen their medical skills between deployments.

Cox has received the Brewer-Heslin Endowed Award for Professionalism in Medicine, was named a UAB Emergency Medicine Consultant of the Year, and this year became a Dean’s Excellence Award winner.