Five faculty members in the UAB School of Medicine have been named the 2016 class of James A. Pittman Jr., M.D., Scholars, a program organized to recognize the contributions of junior faculty and support the recruitment and retention of highly competitive scientists and physician-scientists.
The Pittman Scholars, named for the late James A. Pittman, M.D., longtime dean of the School of Medicine from 1973 to 1992, were nominated by their department chairs based on their research achievements and their potential for continued discovery in the basic or clinical sciences. Pittman is considered a principal architect of the School for his ability to recruit top scientists and physicians to UAB.
Faculty nominees must be assistant professors who have held that rank for fewer than five years. Each scholar will receive $12,500 annually to support their research or scholarly activity.
Amy Willis Amara, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Neurology. Amara joined the UAB faculty after completing a residency, along with fellowships in sleep medicine and movement disorders, at the university. She earned her medical and graduate degrees from the Medical College of Georgia in 2005. Amara’s primary research focus is in sleep disorders in patients with Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, along with the effect of exercise on sleep in Parkinson’s patients.
Jeremy Day, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Neurobiology. He joined the UAB faculty in 2014, after completing his postdoctoral training at the university. He earned his doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina in 2009. Day’s lab explores the relationship between epigenetic states and neuronal function, with an emphasis on the brain circuits that regulate motivated behavior.
Jayme Locke, M.D., assistant professor of Surgery in the Division of Abdominal Transplantation. Locke joined the UAB faculty in 2012. She earned her medical degree from the Brody School of Medicine in 2002 and went on to complete a residency and fellowship at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Locke is director of the Incompatible Kidney Transplant Program, director of the Outcomes Research Center in the Comprehensive Transplant Institute and director of Transplant Analytics, Informatics and Quality.
Glenn Rowe, Ph.D., assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Disease. Rowe earned his doctorate in molecular, cellular and developmental biology from Yale University, and joined the UAB faculty after completing his postdoctoral training the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center-Harvard Medical School in 2014. His research interests focus on alterations in the gene expression that ultimately result in physiological changes that could help to identify new target pathways for therapeutic interventions for metabolic disorders.
Lufang Zhou, Ph.D., assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Disease. Zhou joined the UAB faculty in 2011 after earning his doctorate at Case Western Reserve University in 2006 and completing his postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University. His research interest is in understanding fundamental mechanisms underlying between cardiac metabolic and electrophysical subsystems under normal and disease conditions and develop targeted therapies to treat cardiovascular diseases.
January 21, 2016