It’s a match
First, I want to congratulate each of our fourth-year medical students on their strong showing at Match Day on Friday. This year, 97 percent of our medical students matched, and will go into 78 residency programs in 34 states— an impressive achievement in a match environment that becomes more competitive each year. Match Day is one of the most exciting days in a physician’s career and is the culmination of the years of hard work medical students have put into their education. I wish them all the best as they prepare for their transition away from the School of Medicine and toward the next phase of their medical training.I’d also like to congratulate Dr. Laura Kezar, associate dean for students, and her team for a successful Match Day program. Dr. Kezar and Dr. Hughes Evans, senior associate dean for Medical Education, provide outstanding leadership and their teams did a fantastic job coordinating activities with the National Resident Matching Program and preparing this year’s Match Day celebration. I was honored to be among our students’ parents, spouses, friends and family members at the Alabama Theatre—and those watching from around the world via the livestream—sharing in the joy and celebration.
Leadership recruitment
I had a few moments during Friday’s Match Ceremony to formally recognize Dr. Hughes Evans, who, along with her husband Dr. Eric Sorscher, will be leaving UAB this summer for new opportunities at Emory University after more than 25 years at the School of Medicine. Hughes will be the vice chair for Education in the Department of Pediatrics as well as the humanities theme director for the medical school curriculum, and Eric will be the Hertz Professor in Cystic Fibrosis Research in the Department of Pediatrics.I’ve personally enjoyed working with both she and Eric over the past year. Hughes has been an integral member of my leadership team as senior associate dean for Medical Education and chair of the Department of Medical Education. She has been a constant presence, reminding me of one of the biggest of my roles as dean: connecting with our medical students and providing top-notch medical education. Although disappointed to see them go, I am extremely appreciative of their contributions and look forward to continued collaborations with them as they transition to Atlanta. I am working closely with Hughes to identify a succession plan for her roles as senior associate dean and chair of the Department of Medical Education. Dr. Dick Marchase, vice president of UAB Research and Economic Development, is conducting an internal search for a new director of the UAB Cystic Fibrosis Research Center.
We’re now also deep in the search for our new chair in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Kirby Bland, who has been chair of the department and Surgeon-in-Chief at UAB Hospital for more than 15 years, will step back from this role in July. Kirby has been a transformative figure in growing and enhancing an academic culture at UAB through his leadership and faculty support that values great clinical care, scholarship and extramural funding. He is a stellar human being who cares about his patients and who has been an advocate and driver for excellence in the School of Medicine.
Drs. Seth Landefeld and Dr. Bill Andrews are co-chairing the committee leading the national search for a new chair of Bland’s caliber. Candidates have been narrowed down to five. Two top candidates presented to faculty last week their ideas for growing an academic surgical department; the remaining three top candidates will be visiting UAB and presenting to the faculty in the upcoming weeks.
Leaders in the School of Medicine are also actively recruiting a new position: associate dean for Global Health, who would help further development and administration of an innovative and comprehensive global health program that would involve several international sites and collaborations in education, research and service. This dean would work to infuse a global dimension throughout the School’s teaching, research and service activities to broaden UAB’s worldwide reach and to enhance visibility and relevancy on a global scale.
Funding opportunities
Over the past several months, I’ve been speaking with the faculty and leadership about AMC21 Reload, the re-initiation of the UAB Medicine strategic plan, and our identifying five, cross-cutting research areas to build upon UAB’s research strengths to make the School of Medicine nationally prominent in research. One way we’re growing in the School of Medicine is establishing initiatives that will help us increase the number of R01-funded investigators while recognizing key leaders reaching significant goals of innovation to sustain research growth.We have several funding opportunities that will become available in the next few months, including the Blue Sky (Innovator) Awards and the General Endowment Fund awards.
The Blue Sky (Innovator) awards allow our best scientists to pursue high-risk ideas with flexible dollars. Faculty would be eligible for $100,000 per year for one to two years, based on deliverables of publications, grant submission and grant success. A request for applications will be released in April. The Endowment Fund awards help enhance infrastructure for projects in key areas: patient-oriented laboratory research efforts, clinical care program development and medical education initiatives. The next cycle of GEF applications will begin this summer.
We’re also offering an incentive program for R01-funded investigators to submit a second R01 that will be released this summer. Investigators could be eligible for $50,000 per year for novel ideas, preliminary data and/or publications. They could also be eligible, based on their score and critiques, for an additional $50,000 for second year to address critiques, get additional preliminary data and resubmit the grant. The ultimate goal is for the faculty member to attain a second R01-funded project by the end of the second year.