Explore UAB

Two UAB Department of Surgery faculty and three trainees were recently elected to four Association for Academic Surgery committees.

Rhiannon Reed

Rhiannon Reed, MPH, a researcher in the lab of Jayme Locke, M.D., recently authored a research article that was highlighted in The Transplantation Society’s weekly newsletter, The Tribune Pulse. The article, “Population Health, Ethnicity, and Rate of Living Donor Kidney Transplantation,” was published in Transplantation’s December 2018 issue and focuses on the relationships among living donation rates, population health and socioeconomic status.

General surgery research residents Margaux Mustian, M.D., and Samantha Baker, M.D., as well as endocrine surgery fellow Sophie Dream, M.D., have been elected to three Association for Academic Surgery committees. Mustian, Baker and Dream will serve as candidate representatives on the Global Affairs Committee, Membership Committee and Technology and Communication Committee, respectively.

Associate Professor of Surgery Benjamin Pearce, M.D., was recently named the first William D. Jordan Jr., M.D., Endowed Professor in Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy at UAB.

Twitter is a social media channel that allows users to connect according to their shared interests, and the academic surgery community is no different. For the final installment of our 2018 #FollowFriday series, we’re interviewing three of our most Twitter-enthusiastic residents, as well as one of our training program directors, about how they use the platform to stay connected and how they engage with content.

Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy Director Adam Beck, M.D., recently accepted an appointment to the American College of Surgeons Advisory Council for Vascular Surgery, a committee of the ACS Board of Regents.

Benjamin Wei, M.D., has been named the director of the UAB Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency Program. An associate professor in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Wei takes on this new role as the residency prepares to train residents for its 4/3 integrated program and to expand its number of trainees from two to eight within the next year.

The Department of Surgery’s Britney Corey, M.D., and Jared White, M.D., each recently authored op-eds for “The Academic Surgeon,” the Association of Academic Surgery blog.

By Marina Moody

UAB general surgery resident Brett Melnikoff, M.D., recently received a 2019 Society of Thoracic Surgeons Looking to the Future Resident Scholarship.

Dr. Vera Hauptfeld-Dolejsek is recognized for her recent promotion at the 2018 Women in Science and Medicine Promotion Reception at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The Division of Transplantation’s Vera Hauptfeld-Dolejsek, Ph.D., was recognized for her recent promotion to the rank of professor at the Nov. 15 Women in Science and Medicine Promotion Reception in the Partridge Atrium at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

By Marina Moody

The Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery’s Daniel Chu, M.D., discussed advancements in surgical technology at the McWane Center’s monthly Birmingham SCI Café last week at John’s City Diner.

By Marina Moody

The Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery’s Melanie Morris, M.D., recently presented her research on the “Association of an Enhanced Recovery Pathway and Acute Kidney Injury in Colorectal Surgery Patients” at the University of Technology Sydney.

By Marina Moody

UAB general surgery research resident Samantha Baker, M.D., has been appointed to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Review Committee for Surgery. She will attend the committee’s meeting Jan. 17-18, 2019, in Chicago, Illinois, as an observer.

Dr. Daniel Chu presents at the McWane Science Center's Teens and Tech event on Nov. 10, 2018.

By Marina Moody

This past Saturday, the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery’s Daniel Chu, M.D., spoke on the role of technology in surgery at the McWane Center’s Teens and Tech event. The Teens and Tech series allows students to engage in hands-on, technology-based learning experiences and to learn and practice technology-based skills. The theme of Saturday’s event was nanotechnology.

Congratulations to the following general surgery residents who have recently matched into various fellowship programs across the country:

General surgery research resident Rindi Uhlich, M.D., was recently named the resident representative of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma’s Multicenter Trials Committee. Uhlich is only the second resident to ever be named to this committee and will serve the committee in this role for three years.

Kirby I Bland, M.D., former chair of the UAB Department of Surgery and professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology, is among a group of 91 esteemed surgeons – including newly inducted Associate Member and Assistant Professor of Surgery at UAB Brenessa Lindeman, M.D., MEHP – selected into membership or associate membership in the new American College of Surgeons Academy of Master Surgeon Educators™.

Twitter is a social media channel that allows users to connect according to their shared interests, and the academic surgery community is no different. In our ongoing #FollowFriday series, we’re interviewing our most Twitter-enthusiastic faculty about their online presence and how they use the platform to stay connected.

The UAB Department of Surgery gathers for a photo at the 2018 Academic Surgical Congress in Jacksonville, Florida, Jan. 30 – Feb. 1.

By Marina Moody

Early-bird rates for 2019 Academic Surgical Congress registration are available until Dec. 10.

The North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS) is pleased to announce that Renata Jaskula-Sztul, Ph.D., assistant professor of surgical oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, has been selected to receive the NANETS Basic/Translational Science Investigator (BTSI) Award. The award was announced at NANETS’ annual symposium, held Oct. 4-6 in Seattle, Washington.

By Marina Moody

The Division of Surgical Oncology’s Renata Jaskula-Sztul, Ph.D., has received grant funding from the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science, in collaboration with the UAB School of Medicine and the UAB Department of Radiology, and the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society to support two of her research projects.

Photo courtesy of UAB News

By Marina Moody

The Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery’s Daniel Chu, M.D., was recently awarded a grant of $210,000 from the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation General Endowment Fund for his ongoing Enhanced Recovery After Surgery research, which will expand UAB’s partnership with SeamlessMD.

The UAB Department of Surgery attends the 2018 American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in Boston, Massachusetts, October 21-25 (Photo courtesy of Dr. Daniel Chu via Twitter).

Dr. Rachael Lancaster, left, and Dr. Emily Spangler, right, attend the UAB Department of Surgery reception and silent auction on Oct. 22 at the 2018 American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in Boston, Massachusetts, where they were inducted into the ACS Fellowship program the evening prior at the conference's Convocation Ceremony.

UAB Department of Surgery faculty and trainees attended the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress this past week in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Twitter is a social media channel that allows users to connect according to their shared interests, and the academic surgery community is no different. In our ongoing #FollowFriday series, we’re interviewing our most Twitter-enthusiastic faculty about their online presence and how they use the platform to stay connected.

Dr. Isabel Marques presents her winning research poster at the Health Literacy Annual Research Conference in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr. Daniel Chu

By Marina Moody

Isabel Marques, Ph.D., a researcher in the lab of the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery’s Daniel Chu, M.D., recently attended the Health Literacy Annual Research Conference in Bethesda, Maryland, where her project, “Health Literacy Among Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Undergoing Surgery,” won first place at the conference’s research poster contest.

Dr. Jamie Cannon

Two Department of Surgery faculty were recently named recipients of the inaugural Champ Lyons Outstanding Clinician Award: The Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery’s Jamie Cannon, M.D., associate professor of surgery and director of the UAB Colorectal Surgery Program, and the Division of Transplantation’s Jared White, M.D., associate professor of surgery and director of the UAB Interdisciplinary Liver Tumor Board, as well as associate program director of the UAB General Surgery Residency.

Our faculty are often asked to speak at events and institutions all across the country and the world. While these opportunities serve as valuable professional experiences, there are various reasons why faculty can't attend every speaking engagement to which they are invited.

As of Oct. 5, PowerTrials is now available to UAB Department of Surgery researchers. PowerTrials is a module of Cerner Millennium (IMPACT at UAB), that helps notify researchers and healthcare professionals throughout campus when a patient is involved in a clinical trial.

Get ready for this year’s American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in Boston, Massachusetts, with our guide to who’s presenting from the UAB Department of Surgery. All talks will be held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.