Pictured Above: Tasks force co-chairs Drs. Gutiérrez and Lyas. 

Division of Nephrology faculty Orlando Gutiérrez, MD, MMSc (Professor & Director) and Clare Lyas, MD, MPH (Assistant Professor) co-chaired a task force to reevaluate the way UAB Medicine reports kidney function, also known as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). The current method of reporting requires the use of a race variable, which has come under fire for potentially introducing bias into the diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease. The multidisciplinary group reviewed the currently available data and proposed that UAB adopt the formula jointly recommended by the National Kidney Foundation and American Society of Nephrology—the CKD-EPI creatinine equation refit without the race variable. The group further recommended that the cystatin C assay be routinely available to augment clinical decision making.

Thanks to Dr. Gutiérrez and Dr. Lyas for their leadership on the task force, and to all the members for their thoughtful contributions: Liyun Cao, Ph.D., Jayme Locke, M.D., Denyse Thornley-Brown, M.D., Maria Taylor, Pharm-D, Vineeta Kumar, M.D., Brittany Shelton, Tennille Webb, M.D., Andre Lessears, MBA, Andrea Cherrington, M.D., Desalyn Johnson, Calvin Baker, M.D., and Marshall Lewis.

More Good News for November 19, 2021

Moh’d Khushman, M.D., (Associate Professor, Hematology/Oncology) and colleagues launched the Hepatic Artery Infusion Pump treatment for patients with colorectal cancers that have spread to the liver. Physicians implant and connect a pump to the hepatic artery, which allows the delivery of high-dose chemotherapy directly to the liver with minimal systemic side effects.

Kenneth Saag, M.D., MSc, (Professor and Director, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology) is the newly elected President for the American College of Rheumatology Board of Directors. He recently discussed the strengths, challenges, and opportunities for the ACR in an interview. Congrats on this national leadership role, Dr. Saag!

Timmy Lee, M.D., (Professor, Nephrology) won the American Society of Diagnostic and Interventional Nephrology's 2022 Gerald Beathard Award. The award recognizes teaching and clinical excellence and scholarly activity. He will present the keynote lecture at the 2022 Virtual Scientific Meeting.

Garima Arora M.D., (Associate Professor, Cardiovascular Disease) was named Fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography. This honor is reserved for practitioners who demonstrate excellence through education, research, leadership, and volunteerism in the field of cardiovascular ultrasound.

Henry Zelada, M.D., (Assistant Professor, Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism) joined UAB’s MedCast to discuss continuous glucose monitoring devices and advise physicians on using diabetes technology in their primary care practices. Learn and earn an hour of CME today.

The Department of Medicine continues to celebrate its 2021 Argus Award for Best Clinical Department on the Birmingham Campus and the 11 Best Educator award recipients. See what each winner finds most rewarding about training medical students.

The DOM would like to introduce a new Instructor, Arun Rajasekaran, M.D., to the Division of Nephrology. He completed his clinical and research nephrology fellowships at UAB. His primary interest is the diagnosis and management of glomerular diseases. Welcome, Dr. Rajasekaran.