by Christina Crowe
Joseph L. Messina, Professor, Molecular and Cellular Pathology, will retire July 1, 2023, after 29 years of service at UAB.
Messina received his Bachelor of Arts in a combined degree of Biology/Chemistry/Psychology/and Anthropology from Dartmouth College in 1977. He then obtained his Ph.D. in 1982 from the Department of Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, working in the laboratory of the former Dr. Jack Kostyo. From 1982 to 1985, he worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of the former Dr. Joseph Larner, Department of Pharmacology, in the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
In 1985 Messina became an Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, at the SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1990. Prior to becoming Director of the Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Program at SUNY from 1992 to 1994, he was a founding faculty member of the program and helped develop the initial curriculum. Messina came to UAB in 1994 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology, Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology and was promoted to Professor in 2007.
Messina served as Director of the UAB Department of Pathology Graduate Program from 2001 to 2003. He also had dual appointments as a Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics (2006-2012) and later as Professor of Cell, Developmental & Integrative Biology at UAB, from 2012 to present
As a renowned researcher, Messina had a hand in several significant discoveries, including the cellular signaling pathways involved in the regulation of gene expression by insulin and growth hormone (GH). Messina’s lab also elaborated the cellular signaling pathways involved in the development of resistance to insulin and GH following injury, infection and psychological stress.
Since 1986, Messina has received continuous funding from various grant agencies including the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Veteran’s Administration, Department of Defense, American Diabetes Association, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He is a Senior Scientist at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center; Diabetes Research and Training Center; Center for Exercise Medicine; Comprehensive Diabetes Center; Nutrition and Obesity Research Center; Integrative Center for Aging Research; former Center for Surgical Research; Comprehensive Cardiovascular Center; and the Global Center for Craniofacial, Oral and Dental Disorders.
Education remained an emphasis throughout Messina’s career, having served as a mentor to 16 Ph.D. students and 17 postdoctoral trainees, as well as on 54 Ph.D. thesis committees. In addition to his term as Director of the Pathology Graduate Program, he helped develop the curriculum for the Molecular and Cellular Pathology Graduate Program and the Integrated Biomedical Science Graduate Program. Between UAB and Syracuse he has taught in 24 separate courses in the education of graduate, medical and dental students.
"I congratulate Joe on his outstanding career as a scientist and educator," says Ralph Sanderson, Ph.D., Division Director, Molecular and Cellular Pathology "His long history of funding, marked by numerous important publications, underscores his success. He has been an excellent colleague and contributed greatly to the MCP division over many years."