by Sarah L. Minor, MS
Surya Bhatt, MD, MSPH, an associate professor in the UAB Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, has been elected as a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). The nonprofit medical honor society comprises over 3,000 physician-scientists from all medical specialties, with a mission to promote the advancement of research that enhances the understanding of diseases and improves their treatment.
Bhatt is a physician-scientist with a focus on research in pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and advanced emphysema. He currently serves as the Medical Director of the UAB Pulmonary Function and Exercise Physiology Lab and the UAB Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program. Dr. Bhatt also directs the UAB Telehealth Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program — a novel program directed at providing COPD patients with pulmonary rehabilitation at home with the help of telemonitoring and new technology and the first successful application of smart technology to this problem. Additionally, he established the UAB Lung Imaging Core for translational research, leading to state-of-the-art lung image processing capabilities at UAB. His groundbreaking work in lung imaging captured the cover of JCI in September 2018, illustrating how airway fractal dimension predicts respiratory morbidity and mortality in COPD.
Bhatt's election to the ASCI is a testament to his innovative research contributions which have earned him multiple national and international honors, including the 2017 UAB Heersink School of Medicine Pittman Scholars Award, the 2017 Dean's Excellence Award for Research-Junior Faculty, the Alfred Soffer Award from the Amercian College of Chest Physicians, the Dr. Linda Hall Innovation Award from the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, and the Top Reviewer Award from both the AJRCCM and Annals ATS journals.
As a newly elected member of the ASCI, Bhatt expresses his gratitude. "It is an honor to be elected to the ASCI and to be part of such a distinguished community of physician-scientists. I am dedicated to pushing the boundaries of pulmonary medicine research through novel and innovative approaches. I am also eager to collaborate with my fellow ASCI members in nurturing the development of upcoming physician-scientists."