Centor receives Robert J. Glaser Award from Society for General Internal Medicine

A longtime UAB physician, educator and administrator has been honored with a major award from the Society for General Internal Medicine.

bob centor 2017Robert Centor, M.D.Robert Centor, M.D., professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, has been named the recipient of the Robert J. Glaser Award from the Society for General Internal Medicine.

The Glaser award recognizes outstanding contributions to research, education, leadership and mentoring in medicine, and is presented at the SGIM annual meeting. This award is supported by grants from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund and many individual contributions.

“Dr. Centor has led our field as a teacher and scientist, and as a pre-eminent developer of people and programs,” said Seth Landefeld, M.D., chair of the UAB Department of Medicine and the 2011 Glaser awardee. “His impact in the professional lives of hundreds of physicians is demonstrated by their success; physicians throughout Alabama and across the country testify to the inspirational role Bob Centor played in their education and careers.”

In his 23 years at UAB, Centor has been a central figure in academic medical leadership. He served as regional dean and executive director of the Huntsville Regional Medical campus from 2004 to 2017. He is a national leader of the American College of Physicians, which selected him as chair of the Board of Regents and recognized him with its highest distinction, Master of the ACP.”

He has received multiple awards for teaching from UAB medical students, including the Argus award for best overall attending physician, the Best Campus Attending Award and Best Overall Teacher for the Department of Medicine. He is the recipient of the highest universitywide awards, including the UAB Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching and The Ellen Gregg Ingalls/UAB National Alumni Society Award for Lifetime Achievement in Teaching.

Centor’s seminal findings on Group A streptococcal pharyngitis were published more than 35 years ago, and the clinical prediction rule that now bears his name, Centor’s Criteria, has been replicated worldwide and is embedded in clinical guidelines.