by Christina Crowe
The UAB Department of Pathology is pleased to announce the appointment of Sameer Al Diffalha, M.D., Associate Professor, Anatomic Pathology, as Vice Chair for Outreach for the Department of Pathology, effective April 1, 2023. The role was previously managed by the now interim chair, Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., however, with the continued expansion of the Community Pathology Practice Program (CPPP) the vice chair position was created.
“As we continue to add sites throughout the state, a mature diagnostic pathologist with leadership skills is required to support Walter Bell, M.D., Professor, Community Pathology Practice Program, and his team. Dr. Al Diffalha brings such a skill set to service them, to our institutional partners and to the patients they serve," says Gene P. Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., Interim Chair, UAB Department of Pathology.
“Our Community Pathology Practice Program is an integral component of our clinical service,” Al Diffalha says. “We are privileged to boast a team of exceptionally talented CPPP faculty who consistently deliver exceptional care to our communities. Our commitment to excellence in this domain remains unwavering.”
Al Diffalha has been a faculty member with UAB Pathology since 2017, practicing as an academic breast and gastrointestinal pathologist. He provides accurate and timely diagnosis in breast/GI services, the largest subspecialty services in the department of pathology in terms of both volume and complexity. Al Diffalha also provides breast consultation services, participating at daily departmental breast/GI pathology conferences and weekly institutional breast/GI tumor board/radiology conferences. In addition to breast and GI pathology, Al Diffalha signs-out medical, transplant and neoplastic liver pathology, as well as frozen sections. He participates in general surgical pathology and non-gynecologic cytology sign-out the department’s community pathology practice locations.
Al Diffalha serves as director of GI fellowship program, as well as the Medical Director of UAB Tissue Biorepository (TBR), Pathology Core Research Lab (PCRL) and tissue procurement shared resource (TPRO) for the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. As Medical Director of UAB-TBR-PCRL/TPRO, he oversees operational, staffing, and administrative aspects of the UAB biorepository, assures adherence to institutional or national regulatory and compliance guidelines, and provides technical and scientific expertise to investigators as it relates to tissue collection/utilization.