Cynthia J. Brown, MD, MSPH (Director, Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care) has been selected as a 2016-2017 fellow of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program. ELAM is a year-long, part-time fellowship that prepares women faculty for senior leadership roles in academic health science institutions. 

2014-2015 Teaching Excellence Awards have been given to 25 DOM faculty members with the highest overall teaching effectiveness scores from residents and students. Five of these outstanding clinician-educators are Omar Massoud, MD (Gastroenterology and Hepatology) Oluseun Alli, MD (Cardiovascular Disease) Todd Brown, MD (Cardiovascular Disease) J.R. Hartig, MD (General Internal Medicine) and Brooks Vaughan, MD (Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism). We will share five more names next week.

Jeff Foster (Program Manager II, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology) has been selected DOM Employee of the Year. “It’s hard to have a bad day with Jeff in the office. He’s seldom rattled by the stress of academic research; and he produces top-tier results on every assignment.” A luncheon will be held in Jeff’s honor at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 10, in the Boshell Diabetes Building (BDB), Room 445

Bernard Camins, MD, MSc (Infectious Diseases) was selected to be part of the Education Committee Panel for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Outbreak Response Training Program. This program is designed to provide U.S. healthcare epidemiologists with resources and skill-building opportunities that will help ensure their effective leadership in future outbreaks.

Ashwani Singal, MD (Gastroenterology and Hepatology) has been elected editorial board member of Liver Transplantation, the premier journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Gareth Dutton, PhD (Preventive Medicine) was featured in a Medscape report on the American Diabetes Association 2016 Scientific Sessions. His symposium, “Beyond A1c—Why Quality of Life Matters” presented a secondary outcome of the Look AHEAD trial where overweight type 2 diabetics who participated in lifestyle intervention maintained a modest but clinically meaningful weight loss for almost a decade and experienced a positive impact on their quality of life.

Ben Vaughan Branscomb, MD, a pioneering pulmonologist and professor at the University of Alabama at Birminghamfor 51 years, passed away July 4. Branscomb was a passionate crusader for the Clean Air Act and inventor of Flow-Volume Loop Machine. He was also the first Director of UAB’s Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, & Critical Care Medicine.

The RIME program is pleased to announce a request for applications to the Faculty Development for Educators – Immersion Program. The purpose of this RFA is to identify up to three UASOM faculty members who apply for advanced degrees or immersion programs in medical education. Up to $10,000 may be awarded to each successful applicant. Deadline is August 31.

Medical Grand Rounds is on summer hiatus until September 7.