Congratulations to the 2018 Dean's Excellence Awardees in the Department of Medicine: Drs. Antony, Ballesteros-Tato, Barnett, Baskin, Frank, Kumar and Rowe. Keep up the good work!
Veena B. Antony, MD
Veena Antony, MD won the award for Excellence in Service for senior faculty. Antony is a professor of Medicine and the Director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program. She stated that she is motivated by two things: the institution of UAB and the leadership. She said, "The institution is such a beacon of education and innovation. She is thankful for the leadership that is so supportive and pushes the vision of the department as a whole."
Andre Ballesteros-Tato, PhD
Andre Ballesteros-Tato, PhD won the Excellence in Research for junior faculty. Ballesteros-Tato is an assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatolgoy. He said, " I am very thankful for the UAB community. There is still so much we do not know about how the immune system works but with the new tools and technology that we have we can now go deep and get a better understanding."
Michael Barnett, MD, MS, FACP, FAAP, FAAHPM
Michael Barnett, MD, MS, FAAP, FAAHPM won the Excellence in Teaching for junior faculty. Barnett is an assistant professor of Medicine and Pediatrics. He also serves as the Director of the Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program. When asked how he deals with death so regularly he said, “Nothing puts life into perspective like death – enjoy every moment and be present in the midst of suffering.”
Monica Baskin, PhD
Monica Baskin, PhD, won the award for an Excellence in Diversity Enhancement for senior faculty. Baskin is a professor in the Division of Preventive Medicine. She is also the Vice Chair for Culture and Diversity in the Department of Medicine. When receiving her award she said, “It is amazing to be recognized for something that is a true passion, something that I have focused on, ensuring everyone feels valued and accepted for who they are.” She thanked the leadership, the Department of Medicine, the School of Medicine and the entire institution for being open to conversations and starting dialog to embrace commitment to diversity inclusion in all policies and practices.
Stuart Frank, MD
Stuart Frank, MD won the award for an Excellence in Mentorship. Frank is a professor of Medicine and in Cellular, Developmental, and Integrative Biology. He is also the Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Division Director as well as Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine. He credited all of his knowledge on mentoring to those who mentored him. He also gave thanks to those he has been able to mentor and says he learned many things from them, “some practical and factual, some emotional and self-insightful.”
Vineeta Kumar, MD
Vineeta Kumar, MD won the award for Excellence in Teaching for senior faculty. She is a professor of Medicine and serves as the Director for the Transplant Nephrology Fellowship Program. Kumar thanked the division chair, "that has been supportive 100% for every crazy idea she has ever had that has allowed her to grow and flourish." She also thanked her co-faculty and staff that deeply cares for her and makes sure she is taking care of herself. There’s so much more she wants to do and looks to the people around her to continue to be her teachers and inspire her to pay it forward.
Steven Rowe, MD, MSPH
Steven Rowe, MD, MSPH, received the award for Excellence in Research for senior faculty. Rowe is a professor of Medicine and the Nancy R. and Eugene C. Gwaltney Family endowed chair in medical research. He is also the Director of the Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research Center and Director of the CFF Therapeutics Development Network. He said, "I am impassioned by the chance to see the job through with all treatments of Cystic Fibrosis, but also to extend these lessons to patients plagued by other diseases that have the inability to breathe."