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Marisa Marquesby Christina Crowe

On Wednesday, May 24, the UAB Department of Pathology honored Marisa Marques, M.D., with a symposium featuring colleagues, guest speakers and mentees of this longtime faculty member. Marques, a native of Brazil, has been with UAB Pathology since 1993 when she joined the department as a resident. She is director of the Blood Bank and Transfusion Services. 

The Marisa B. Marques Transfusion Medicine Symposium featured opening remarks by George Netto, M.D. Robert and Ruth Anderson Endowed Chair, UAB Pathology, followed by comments from Gene Siegal, M.D., Executive Vice Chair, and Vishnu Reddy, M.D., Professor and Division Director, Laboratory Medicine.

Speakers throughout the afternoon included Yara Park, M.D., Director, Residency Training Program, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Park's talk, "Finding my love of TTP through cupid, Dr. Marques," touched on her time as a resident under Dr. Marques, and the value of her mentorship which continues today.

Joseph "Yossi" Schwartz, M.D., M.P.H., Director of transfucsion Medicine Services, Moffitt Caner Center and Research Institute, Professor of the Department of Oncological Sciences, Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida, spoke on, "The Use of ECP (Photophersis) in Solid Organ Transplantation--The Role of UAB," describing Dr. Marques's role in this research.

Additional speakers included Lance Williams, M.D., Associate Professor and Consultant of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic, a former trainee at UAB Pathology, who returned to Birmingham to speak on, "Davetta vs. Goliath--Dr. Marques's Journey." Jori May, M.D., Assistant Professor or Medicine, UAB Division of Hematology and Oncology, spoke on, "Lessons Learned from Dr. Marques: How to be an Influential and Gracious Consultant." And finally, rounding out the day's talks, Caroline Stanek, M.D., PGY-2, UAB Pathology, lectured on "UAB Sickle Cell Population: Rising to the Challenge." 

A special thanks to event organizers Cheryl Moore, Administrative Supervisor and Jasper Kizziah, Adminstrative Associate in the Division of Laboratory Medicine.