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Four Department of Surgery faculty were recently named to various positions within the Society of University Surgeons.

Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery Director Greg Kennedy, M.D., Ph.D., was recently elected president-elect of the Society of University Surgeons.

Dr. Bart RoseThe Division of Surgical Oncology’s  Bart Rose, M.D., M.A.S., has received a $20,000 Central Surgical Association Foundation Elsevier, Inc. Enrichment Award for his research proposal, “Targeted Treatment of Metastatic GI Neuroendocrine Tumors.” Rose will be officially recognized for receiving the award at the CSA 2018 Annual Meeting, March 15-17, in Columbus, Ohio.

Dr. James KirklinThe Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery's  James K. Kirklin, M.D., director of The James and John Kirklin Institute for Research in Surgical Outcomes, gave two talks at the 21st Annual Update on Pediatric and Congenital Cardiovascular Disease last month in Scottsdale, Arizona. During the Feb. 22 session, "Surgical Strategies for Complex Conditions," Kirklin spoke on aortic valve repair, and during a Feb. 24 plenary session, he delivered the 18th Annual C. Walton Lillehei Memorial Lecture in Cardiovascular Surgery. C. W. Lillehei, M.D., is considered the father of open heart surgery due to his pioneering efforts in the field, beginning at the University of Minnesota as long ago as 1954.

Zachary BurnsMedical student Zachary Burns, mentee of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery's Robert Dabal, M.D., was recently selected as one of the UAB Department of Pediatrics Russell Cunningham Memorial Research Scholars for Summer 2018.

On Tuesday, the UAB Department of Surgery celebrated and honored former department chair Kirby I. Bland, M.D.., with the 2018 Kirby I. Bland, M.D., Visiting Lectureship. Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Department of Surgery Chair L.D. Britt, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc. (Hon.), F.A.C.S., F.C.C.M., presented his talk, “The State of Healthcare in America: Major Challenges for Integrated Academic Health Systems — What Should be the Strategies to Address Them?,” as the lectureship’s visiting professor. Britt is an esteemed leader in the field of surgery and long-time colleague and friend of Bland.

Dr. Herb ChenDepartment of Surgery Chair Herb Chen, M.D., will join the American Board of Surgery’s board of directors for a six-year term starting this July. ABS is the national certifying body for general surgeons and related specialists. In addition to Chen, ABS welcomes seven other directors to the board from various surgery organizations. All ABS directors are currently certified by the ABS and meeting the requirements of the ABS Maintenance of Certification Program.

Dr. Abhishek ParmarThe Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery's Abhisek Parmar, M.D., has received a $60,000 2018 Career Development Award from the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons Research and Career Development Committee and the SAGES Board of Governors. This award was made possible through a grant from the SAGES Education and Research Foundation.

Mariana Chavez, M.D., a fifth-year general surgery resident at the Mexico City Nutricion hospital just finished her eight-week observership at UAB and said the observership program has been immensely beneficial to residents like her.

For nearly 30 years, the UAB Department of Surgery has fostered an observership program in which fifth-year residents from the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion in Mexico City, Mexico, come to UAB in order to experience what it’s like to work at an international institution.

The UAB Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery has partnered with the Deep South Cancer Foundation in the hopes of becoming one of the top FUNders for the Magic City Cycliad. Join the UAB GI Surgery team at the Magic City Cycliad on March 24 at the UAB Kirklin Clinic to benefit the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. The ride costs nothing to enter, but if you cannot attend, you are encouraged to donate via this link.

Join the UAB Surgery team at the Birmingham Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis walk on April 28 .

Join the UAB Surgery team at the Birmingham Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis walk on April 28 at Homewood Park to benefit the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. If you can’t join the walk, we encourage you to donate via this link.

Nominate a faculty member who demonstrates extraordinary commitment to engaging UAB's undergraduate students for the Provost's Awards for Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research, Service Learning and Education Abroad by March 30 using this online form. Any UAB student, faculty, staff, or community member may make a nomination by completing and submitting a short paragraph describing why the nominee is deserving of the award.

Jennifer Foster

Jennifer Foster will now serve as the UAB Department of Surgery’s director of development. Foster joins the department after serving as director of development for the UAB Provost Office, UAB Honors College and UAB Libraries. A graduate of Auburn University, she has been a major gifts officer for the Alys Stephens Center and has worked with alumni and development at Children's of Alabama, the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and Auburn University.

Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy Director Adam Beck, M.D., and general surgery research resident Margaux Mustian, M.D., have been selected to join the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. AOA is a professional medical organization that recognizes and advocates for excellence in scholarship and the highest ideals in the profession of medicine.

Second-year medical student Jameson Weiner’s award-winning ERAS research was recently featured in PM360, a magazine for marketing decision makers in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries. The report came as a result of Weiner’s presentation at the American Surgical Congress in Jacksonville, Florida, last month.

Shelby Bergstresser, MS3, was the overall winner of the Southeastern Surgical Congress Gold Medal Award for the research she presented at the SESC 2018 Annual Meeting in Tampa, Florida.

Third-year UAB medical student Shelby Bergstresser was the overall winner of the Southeastern Surgical Congress Gold Medal Award for her presentation at the SESC 2018 Annual Meeting on the staging systems of hepatocellular carcinoma, “Prognostic Value of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Staging Systems.” The Gold Medal Award is a prestigious recognition of excellent research by young surgeons.

Shelby BergstresserThird-year UAB medical student Shelby Bergstresser has been named a Top 6 Gold Medal Finalist by the Southeastern Surgical Congress for her oral abstract, “Prognostic Value of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Staging Systems.” Bergstresser will present her research at the SESC 2018 Annual Meeting in Tampa, Florida, Feb. 10-13.

Her mentor, Jared White, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of Transplantation, said she was one of the department’s star medical students and looks forward to her presentation at SESC. Bergstresser also presented her research at the 2018 Academic Surgical Congress in Jacksonville, Florida, last month.

 See also: "White’s mentee overall winner of SESC Gold Medal Award."

Dr. Robert RussellThe Division of Pediatric Surgery’s  Robert Russell, M.D., has received a New Investigator Award from the Kaul Pediatric Research Institute for his project, “Coagulopathy Following Head Injury in Pediatric Trauma: From Bedside to Bench.” The award is for $35,000 per year for a two-year period.

The UAB Department of Surgery's Meixi Ma, M.D., Robert Dabal, M.D., Brett Melnikoff, M.D., and Adam Beck, M.D., showed off their Louisiana cuisine at this year's winning table at the 2018 Diversity Fair.

The UAB Department of Surgery won first place at the 2018 Diversity Fair with their table featuring the department’s Meixi Ma, M.D., Robert Dabal, M.D., Brett Melnikoff, M.D., and Adam Beck, M.D., as well as foods from Louisiana such as gumbo, sausage, king cake and several other delicacies. Departments competed for the honor of best table at the Office for Diversity and Inclusion’s second annual event. The departments of Medicine and Microbiology tied for second place, and the Department of Pathology took home third place.

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

The UAB Department of Surgery headed to Jacksonville, Florida, last month for the Academic Surgical Congress, Jan. 30 – Feb. 1, 2018. With 71 presentations, UAB boasted the highest number of abstracts submitted from one institution at this year's event, surging ahead of the competition by a margin of 20. A total of 67 from UAB Surgery presented at the three-day meeting.

The Division of Transplantation’s Jayme Locke, M.D., has been awarded an American College of Surgeons Traveling Fellowship to Australia and New Zealand for 2019. As she makes her way around these countries, Locke will write about her travels in the ACS Bulletin.