Isam A. Eltoum, M.D., MBA, professor and vice chair of Quality and Patient Safety in the Department of Pathology, has been awarded the senior faculty 2020 Dean’s Excellence Award in Service.
Eltoum, a native of Sudan, earned his MBBS (1983) and a Master of Science in Pathology (1990) from the University of Khartoum, Sudan. After three years as a research fellow at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, he completed a pathology residency at George Washington University (1996) and two fellowships at UAB, in Cytopathology and Surgical Pathology. He joined the UAB Department of Pathology as an assistant professor in 1998.
Eltoum is board certified in Anatomic Pathology and in Cytopathology and has been Head of the UAB Cytopathology Section since 2001. This Section serves most clinical departments at UAB Medicine. He brought this section to prominence when the American Society of Cytopathology nominated UAB Cytology as a Center of Excellence in 2004-2006.
In 2002, Eltoum earned his MBA from UAB. He has excelled as a physician-scientist and diagnostic pathologist, and was promoted to professor in 2006. He serves as the vice chair for Quality and Patient Safety for the department.
Eltoum spends most his time on the diagnostic service in both Cytology and Surgical Pathology. Beyond his role as vice chair for Quality and Patient Safety, where he is responsible for a variety of patient safety, risk reduction/mitigation, and regulatory management tasks, he also serves as Quality Officer and co-chair of the Quality and Utilization Committee. He has served as a member of the Dean’s Council and Health Information Management and was involved various quality and patient safety committees. Over the course of his career, he has served as a member of NIH study sections, pathology trade organizations committees or editorial boards.
In addition to his clinical work, Eltoum is well-published and has mentored junior faculty and several pathology residents; trained more than 30 fellows when he was the Cytopathology Program Director; and has served as a thesis advisor for Ph.D. students.
“Dr. Isam Eltoum has sustained outstanding clinical service as well as exceptional service as an educator, collaborative researcher, and as an administrator,” says George Netto, M.D., Robert and Ruth Anderson Endowed Chair, UAB Pathology. “He is very deserving of the recognition of the prestigious Dean’s Excellence Award for Service.”