Jose Lima, M.D., Assistant Professor, Laboratory Medicine, will serve as permanent Section Head of Clinical Chemistry, effective immediately. Dr. Lima joined UAB Pathology in January 2020 from the American Red Cross Blood Services, where he worked as Medical Director since 2010. He received his medical degree from Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 1985 and later trained at UAB for a number of years as a research associate, resident, and then fellow in Transfusion Medicine.
Dr. Lima has completed board certification in both Clinical Pathology and Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine and his research interests focus on immunotherapy of infectious diseases and gene transfer therapy of neoplasias. He has years of experience in leadership, including a decade of teaching as an adjunct assistant professor at Emory University in the Department of Pathology.
Lima succeeds previous permanent Clinical Chemistry Section Head Robert Hardy, Ph.D., Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Interim Section Head John Smith, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Laboratory Medicine.
Dr. Hardy retired in July 2020 after 30 years in the UAB Department of Pathology and 16 years as Clinical Chemistry Section Head. He worked the entirety of his pathology career at UAB, first joining as a postdoctoral fellow with his mentor and former department chair Jay M. McDonald. Hardy served as Laboratory Director, Core Chemistry for UAB Hospital since 2004 and worked for a year and a half as interim director of the UAB Hospital Immunology Lab. He served as Senior Associate Editor for the journal Laboratory Investigation for 12 years, and managed a continuously funded research lab for 20 years focused on researching dietary fatty acids and their role in insulin resistance and breast cancer metastasis. His teaching experience was as extensive as his work in the lab, as he taught some courses for more than 20 years. He was the course Director for Fundamentals 1 and 2 for the UAB Schools of Dentistry and Optometry for 8 years, and mentored dozens of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows over the course of his career. Dr. Hardy's colleagues applauded him for his expertise and mentorship in his career, thanking him for his leadership, expertise, and guidance, as well as his collegial demeanor.
Dr. Smith began serving as Clinical Chemistry Interim Section Head in 2020 after Dr. Hardy's retirement. Smith joined the UAB Department of Pathology in 1993 as Division Director and professor of Laboratory Medicine. Smith is board certified in Clinical Pathology. He served the Clinical Chemistry section well over the past year as interim.
The Clinical Chemistry section serves the University of Alabama at Birmingham's 1,190-bed tertiary care major medical center and the satellite clinics, mainly including the Core Chemistry lab in the University Hospital, UED lab, Point-of-Care testing (POCT), the Clinical Toxicology lab and the Forensic Toxicology lab. The team provides comprehensive expert consultative service for protein electrophoresis and pain management drug report. The lab offers a wide range of tests including basic metabolic panel (BMP), complete metabolic panel (CMP), tumor markers, cardiac markers, lipid profile, hormones, therapeutic drug monitoring, protein electrophoresis, and other miscellaneous tests.
The UAB Department of Pathology congratulates Dr. Jose Lima on this esteemed role and thanks our previous Clinical Chemistry Section Heads for their exceptional leadership and contribution to the section's success.