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The Division of Plastic Surgery’s Timothy W. King, M.D., Ph.D., will co-chair the AOCMF course, “Management of Facial Trauma,” in Atlanta, Georgia, Sept. 7-8.

Dr. Timothy King

The UAB Department of Surgery Communications Office is now accepting applications for our communications internship! We’re in the market for an eager, tech-savvy upperclassman or recent college grad with strong writing skills who is interested in the following:

Alabama School of Fine Arts and UAB PRISM student Oluwatosin Badewa presents her research, "A Novel Application of Artificial Intelligence to Assess Diversity in Surgical Performance," at the PRISM and SURE presentation reception in Wallace Tumor Institute on July 24. (Photo by Rebecca Turner)

Last month, five high school students from the Department of Surgery's Pre-College Research Internship for Students from Minority Backgrounds and 10 undergraduate students from the department's Surgery Undergraduate Research Experience presented the research projects they completed this summer under the mentorship of UAB Surgery faculty.

Sara Mazzoni, M.D., MPH, an associate professor in the UAB Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, is the winner of this year’s Brewer-Heslin Endowed Award for Professionalism in Medicine.

General surgery resident Raoud Marayati, M.D., a researcher in the lab of the Division of Pediatric Surgery’s Elizabeth Beierle, M.D., received the award for best resident research presentation at last month’s annual meeting of the Alabama and Mississippi Chapters of the American College of Surgeons.

More than 1,200 interns, residents and fellows train in every medical specialty at UAB in Birmingham, at our regional campuses in Montgomery, Huntsville and Tuscaloosa, and in our program in Selma.

In an ongoing series, the Department of Surgery will feature incoming and outgoing trainees for all UAB Surgery programs. This week, learn about those joining and leaving the Vascular Surgery Integrated Residency Program and the Vascular Surgery Fellowship.

On Monday, the American College of Surgeons named UAB Assistant Professor of Surgery Graeme McFarland, M.D., its 2019 Gerald B. Healy, M.D., FACS, Mentorship Traveling Fellow.

The UAB Department of Surgery welcomes its new communications director this month, Marissa Keppley, MBA. Prior to this position, Keppley worked in the UAB Health System Department of Marketing and Communications as the physician marketing manager.

As the UAB Healthcare Educators Academy prepares to launch in September, Assistant Professor of Surgery Brenessa Lindeman, M.D., MEHP, gets ready to join the Academy's first class of mentees.

UAB medical student and Ren Lab member Reagan Hattaway is preparing to wrap up the last of her research training next week as this summer’s UAB School of Medicine Physician Scientist Development Fellow.

Dr. James Kirklin

Earlier this month, James Kirklin, M.D., professor of cardiothoracic surgery and director of the UAB James and John Kirklin Institute for Research in Surgical Outcomes, started his term as the new acting president of the board of directors of the American Heart Association’s Greater Southeast Affiliate.

Assistant Professor of Surgical Oncology Brenessa Lindeman, M.D., MEHP, was recently chosen to serve as the new wellness champion for the Department of Surgery.

Robert Russell, M.D., was recently chosen to represent UAB at the University of Florida next year, as part of the inaugural UAB/UF Associate Professor Faculty Exchange Program.

(Not pictured: Dr. David Northern)

By Ashton Cook

The Department of Surgery welcomes five new faces to our faculty this summer: Panayotis Vardas, M.D.; David Northern, M.D.; Jonathan Black, M.D.; Jon Winkler, M.D., and Danielle Sutzko, M.D., M.S.

Alumni and faculty, including Urist Society President Dr. Graeme McFarland (second from right), attend the fourth annual Marshall M. Urist, M.D., Society Golf Tournament at Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Oxmoor Valley on June 15, 2019. (Photo Courtesy of Jamie Moody)

UAB vascular and endovascular surgeon Graeme McFarland, M.D., has been named president of the UAB Marshall M. Urist, M.D., General Surgery Residency Society.

A Birmingham, Alabama, native and a graduate of both the UAB School of Medicine and the UAB General Surgery Residency, McFarland returned to UAB in 2018 to join the Department of Surgery faculty as an assistant professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy.

“It is an honor for me to be named the Marshall M. Urist, M.D., Society president,” McFarland said. “I have revered Dr. Urist since I first encountered him as a medical student here at UAB, and I owe a lot to the General Surgery Residency Program, which he ran for many years.”

The Urist Society was founded in 2016 with a mission to engage alumni and provided support for innovative educational opportunities that cultivate residents’ clinical expertise and character, preparing them to become the next generation of leaders in surgery.

Through generous donations from alumni, faculty and friends, the Urist Society, has offered unique opportunities for residents by funding travel to conferences, resident research, international training experiences, program facilities and more.

As president, McFarland said he aims to provide a sense of community among alumni and inspire ongoing philanthropic support for the UAB General Surgery Residency and its programs.

“I am thankful for the opportunity presented by this new position,” McFarland said. “It is my hope that I am successful in increasing membership and involvement within the Society during my term.”

Just last month, the Society hosted its fourth annual Marshall M. Urist, M.D., Society Golf Tournament in conjunction with the UAB General Surgery Residency Program’s 2019 alumni weekend. UAB Department of Surgery faculty, trainees and alumni showed off their swings at the tournament, held on June 15 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Oxmoor Valley, before heading to Regions Field that same evening to cheer on the Birmingham Barons baseball team.

Urist served as the director of the General Surgery Residency Program from 1991-2012 and has dedicated his career to preparing UAB Surgery residents to become surgical leaders in Alabama and throughout the country.

Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy Director Adam Beck, M.D., was featured in the UAB MD Learning Channel’s recent video, “Live Thoracoabdominal Aneurysm Repair.”

Dr. Colin Martin

The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract recently named Colin Martin, M.D., an associate professor within the Division of Pediatric Surgery, to the Society’s Finance Committee.

As Ronald Brown, MBA, CMPE, prepares to retire after half a decade as the Department of Surgery’s executive administrator, new recruit Christal Moore, MBA, MHA, FACHE, is getting ready to step into the position this summer.

The UAB Department of Surgery gathers for a photo while attending the 14th Annual Academic Surgical Congress in Houston, Texas, Feb. 5-7, 2019.

Submit your abstracts for the 15th Annual Academic Surgical Congress! The deadline for electronic submissions is Aug. 23. Next year’s meeting will be held in Orlando, Florida, Feb. 4-6, 2020.

Participants of this year's UAB Healthcare Leadership Academy, including Associate Professor Dr. Robert Russell and Executive Administrator Megan Yeatts, graduated from the program in May.

Nominations for this year’s UAB Healthcare Leadership Academy are now open. Mid- or early-senior-level faculty and administrators from the Department of Surgery who are interested in participating in the HLA Class of 2019-2020 should contact their division directors and UAB Surgery Chair Herbert Chen, M.D. The deadline for nominations is July 15.