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Christophe Hansen-Estruch, M.D., a cardiothoracic 4/3 integrated resident in the UAB Department of Surgery, has been selected for the Young Cardiac Robot Investigator Award at the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery (ISMICS) conference in Greece.

Mallory Perez, M.D., a general surgery resident at UAB, has been awarded the American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) 2024 M. Judah Folkman Award in Clinical Science.

UAB Division of Surgical Oncology Director Vikas Dudeja, M.D., and Division Surgical Oncology Associate Professor Annabelle Fonseca, M.D., MHS, have been selected for health policy scholarships through the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

UAB Division of Vascular Surgery Professor Bin Ren, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA, has been selected as a recipient of the Transformational Project Award for $300,000 over a period of three years by the American Heart Association (AHA) for his project entitled "Arteriolar angiogenesis and endothelial cell immunity in Alzheimer’s disease.”

UAB Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery Clinical Instructor Margaux Mustian, M.D., MSPH, has been appointed to the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT) Resident & Fellows Education Committee.

UAB Department of Surgery Post-Doctoral Researcher Sanjana Balachandra, M.D., has been selected for a travel award from the International Association of Endocrine Surgeons (IAES) for her project entitled "Hypercalcemic patients have a lesser risk for psychiatric complications after parathyroidectomy."

UAB Department of Surgery Professors Gregory Kennedy, M.D., Ph.D., Jayleen Grams, M.D., Ph.D., and Melanie Morris, M.D., were selected as officers of the Society for Surgery for Alimentary Tract (SSAT) at the organization’s 65th annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Zain Hashmi, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, has been named as a recipient for the 2024 Stepping Strong Innovator Award.

UAB Department of Surgery’s General Surgery chief residents were recognized at the Birmingham Veterans Affairs’ (VA) annual Resident Recognition Ceremony for their hard work and dedication to the patients they treat.

Brittney Knott, a student in UAB’s Graduate Biomedical Sciences (GBS) Ph.D. Program in Immunology, was chosen to present work from her submitted abstract called “Critical role of NFAT in tissue residency transcriptional programming of human uterine natural killer cells" as part of the major symposia at the American Association of Immunologists’ annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

UAB Division of Surgical Oncology Assistant Professor Kimberly Kopecky, M.D., MSCI, has written an editorial featured in The Oncologist.

UAB Department of Surgery Division of Pediatric Surgery Assistant Professor and Associate Scientist in the O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center Laura Stafman, M.D., Ph.D., has been selected to participate in the National Cancer Institute Early-Stage Surgeon Scientist Program (NCI ESSP), beginning April 1, 2024.

Amber Lemon, MS, BSN, RN, a nurse supervisor in the UAB Division of Vascular Surgery, has been chosen for the 2024 Clinical Excellence Leadership in Nursing Award.

Melodie Jones has been selected by UAB's Office of Patient Experience and Engagement as one of the 2024 Patient Experience Heroes. Every year, the University acknowledges outstanding team members for their commitment to patient care.

On April 29, 2024, the UAB General Surgery Residency hosted its annual Resident Research Day.

UAB Division of Surgical Oncology Assistant Professor Angela Carter, Ph.D., and UAB Department of Chemistry Professor Sadanandan Velu, Ph.D., received a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Cutting Edge Basic Research Award (CEBRA) through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for their project entitled "Microbial Biofilms as Regulators of Amphetamine Use Disorders."

UAB General Surgery Resident Wendelyn Oslock, M.D., MBA, has been selected for a Clinical Outcomes/Health Services Research Trainee Fellowship Award by the Association of Academic Surgery Foundation (AASF) and the Association of Academic Surgery (AAS) for her project entitled: "Pollution and its relationship with surgical outcomes and disparities."

Robert Cannon, M.D., the surgical director of the UAB Liver Transplant Program, was recently featured on UAB's MedCast Podcast. 

UAB Cardiothoracic Surgery Professor and Thoracic Residency Program Director Benjamin Wei, M.D., has created educational video content to help patients, medical students, and surgery trainees learn more about procedures they may encounter.

UAB General Surgery research resident Kelsey Montgomery, M.D., has been selected as a 2024 Melanoma Research Foundation Resident/Fellow Grant awardee.

UAB Department of Surgery resident Wendelyn Oslock, M.D., MBA, under the mentorship of Dr. Daniel Chu and Dr. Ruzmyn Vilcassim, was recognized as one of the top poster presentations at the 2024 UAB Health Equity Research Symposium for her project entitled “Ambient Particulate Matter Exposure and Prolonged Length of Stay after Colorectal Surgery – A Novel Association.” 

UAB Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery Assistant Professor Panayotis Vardas, M.D., was recently featured on UAB’s MedCast Podcast to discuss the causes and treatment options for degenerative valve disease.

On March 21, the UAB Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery partnered with the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center to increase colorectal cancer education and awareness with a community event in Greenville, Alabama.

UAB Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery Professor and Vice Chair of Perioperative Services Melanie Morris, M.D., FASCRS, has been selected as a member of the American Surgical Association.

UAB Department of Surgery Assistant Professor Kimberly Kopecky, M.D., MSCI, has been nominated as an official UAB Center of Palliative and Supportive Care (CPSC) Scholar member.

The UAB Department of Surgery’s communication team was recognized at the inaugural UAB Heersink School of Medicine’s Excellence in Communications Awards.

UAB General Surgery resident Autumn Beavers, M.D., has been selected as a Fulbright scholar and will study in Tanzania for the 2024-2025 academic year. 

UAB Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Assistant Professor Zain Hashmi, M.D., was recently featured on UAB’s MedCast Podcast to discuss telehealth as a tool to improve access to trauma care among injured rural patients in the U.S.

UAB Division of Surgical Oncology Assistant Professor Angela Carter, Ph.D., was awarded a Discovery Boost Grant (DBG) from the American Cancer Society for her project entitled “A novel class of microbial-based cancer therapy” – marking the first time this award has been granted to a UAB faculty member.

UAB Program Director of Vascular Surgery Integrated Residency and Fellowship Benjamin Pearce, M.D., has been selected as the president-elect of the Association of Program Directors in Vascular Surgery (APDVS).