April 1, 2004

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Dr. Michael Saag, director of UAB’s 1917 AIDS Clinic and deputy director for clinical care and therapeutics at the UAB AIDS Center, has been named interim director of the UAB Center for AIDS Research, announced interim provost Eli Capilouto.

“Dr. Saag has been a part of the AIDS research enterprise at UAB for nearly 20 years,” Capilouto said. “He is well-respected by his colleagues and will ensure that we continue our pioneering efforts to fight HIV/AIDS on multiple fronts.”

Saag has been on the faculty at UAB since 1987 and has been the director of the 1917 Clinic since its creation in 1988.

He takes over for Dr. Eric Hunter, who is leaving for Emory University. Hunter and his wife, Dr. Susan Allen, have elected to move to Atlanta. They expressed gratitude to UAB for matching the Emory offer, but said multiple other reasons factored into their decision.

“Dr. Hunter leaves our AIDS program in superb standing,” said UAB President Carol Garrison. “We continue to have one of the top AIDS research programs in the nation and look forward to our continued position of bringing important discoveries to light in this field.”