The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees approved several UAB School of Medicine administrative appointments during its Sept. 13, 2013, meeting.
Louise Chow, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and senior scientist in the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, was appointed the Anderson Endowed Chair in Biochemistry. Chow, who joined the UAB faculty in 1993, was elected a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences for excellence in original scientific research in 2012.
Chow is one of the world's foremost researchers of human papillomavirus, having worked with human, animal and bacterial viruses for more than 40 years. She and her research team at UAB developed a process to produce abundant infectious HPV-18, one of the dominant HPV types that causes cancers, allowing researchers to reproduce the entire infection cycle of HPV-18. The discovery paved the way to study HPV pathobiology and to advance genetic analysis.
Other appointments:
• Steven M. Theiss, M.D., was named the second holder of the John D. Sherrill Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery. Theiss, who joined the UAB faculty in 1995, is director of the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery in the Department of Surgery.
• Paul W. Sanders, M.D. was named the holder of the Thomas E. Andreoli, M.D., Endowed Chair in the Division of Nephrology. Andreoli was the founding director of the UAB Division of Nephrology in 1970 and established the Nephrology Research and Training Center. Sanders completed his residency and fellowship in nephrology at UAB and was named director of the center in 2009.
• Robert S. Gaston, M.D., was named the holder of the Robert G. Luke, M.D., Endowed Chair in Transplant Nephrology. Luke joined UAB in 1979 as director of the Division of Nephrology and of the Nephrology Research and Training Center. Gaston previously held the Transplant Nephrology Endowed Professorship and serves as acting director of the division, medical director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation and co-director of the Comprehensive Transplant Institute at UAB.
• Eddy S. Yang, M.D., Ph.D., was named holder of the Regional Oncology Active Research Southeast Cancer Center Foundation Endowed Chari in the Department of Radiation Oncology. Yang is associate professor in the departments of Radiation Oncology; Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology; and Pharmacology and Toxicology.
• J. Max Austin Jr., M.D., was appointed professor emeritus in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Austin first joined the UAB faculty in 1973 in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology. He returned to the division in 2000 after more than 20 years in private practice.
• John Burns, M.D., was appointed professor emeritus in the Department of Urology. Burns retired from UAB on Jan. 31, 2012 after 32 years of service. He provided significant leadership and direction in the organization of the Department of Urology and served as senior scientist in the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.
• E. George Salter, Ph.D., was appointed professor emeritus in the Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology. Salter retired from the active faculty in 2012 after 34 years at UAB.
• Nancy H. Wooldridge, M.S., R.D., was appointed associate professor emerita in the Department of Pediatrics. Wooldridge served as director of nutrition in the Pediatric Pulmonary Center beginning in 1981 and served as co-director of the Pediatric Pulmonary Center from 1998 until her retirement in June 2013.
The board also approved the reclassification of four sections in the Department of Surgery into divisions and the appointment of their directors:
• The Division of Trauma, Burns and Surgical Critical Care with Loring W. Rue III, M.D., as director
• The Division of Surgical Oncology with Martin Heslin, M.D., as director
• The Division of Vascular Surgery & Endovascular Therapy with William D. Jordan, M.D., as director, and
• The Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery with Mary Hawn, M.D., as director.
The board additionally approved the establishment of three endowed research funds:
• The Bourge-Kirklin Endowed Research Fund in Mechanical Circulatory Support was established in the Division of Cardiovascular Disease through gifts from Dr. and Mrs. Robert C. Bourge and Dr. and Mrs. James K. Kirklin. Mechanical circulatory support is a life-saving treatment option for critically ill patients with advanced heart failure.
• The Bourge-McGiffin Endowed Research Fund in Heart Transplantation was established in the Division of Cardiovascular Disease through gifts from Dr. and Mrs. Robert C. Bourge and Drs. David C. McGiffin and Allison F. McGiffin.
• The Detraz Endowed Research Fund in Polycystic Kidney Disease in the Division of Nephrology was established through gifts from Robert C. Bourge, M.D., and his wife, Cutessa Detraz Bourge. Polycystic kidney disease is a hereditary disease with complications ranging from hypertension to renal failure, and it often leads to the need for a kidney transplant.
The board also approved the establishment of the Helen and Murphy Evans Endowed Medical Scholarship in the School of Medicine through gifts from the estate of Helen and Murphy Evans, Hughes Evans, M.D., Ph.D., and Eric Sorscher, M.D. The scholarship will support the training and education of future medical professionals. Hughes Evans is chair of the Department of Medical Education and Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education; Sorscher, her husband, is a professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology.
September 17, 2013