Spring 2018 Division Newsletter

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Division Faculty Named Best Doctors in America

Division Faculty Twelve of our faculty members were included on the 2017-2018 Best Doctors in America List. The list recognizes 350 UAB physicians in 39 specialties and 179 subspecialties who are among the top 4 percent of clinicians in the United States, as voted by their peers. Best Doctors is an independent, knowledge-based medical referral service whose surveys ask peer physicians, “If you or a loved one needed a doctor in your specialty or a related specialty, to whom would you refer them?” Rheumatology faculty on the list include: Angelo Gaffo,MD, MSPH; Archana Jain, MD; David M. Spalding, MD; Jasvinder Singh, MD, MPH; Jeffrey R. Curtis, MD, MPH; Kenneth G. Saag, MD, MSc; Laura B. Hughes, MD, MSPH; Maria I. Danila, MD, MSc, MSPH; Robert P. Kimberly, MD; S. Louis Bridges, Jr., MD, PhD; Harry Schroeder, MD, PhD (Allergy Immunology) and Sarah Morgan MD, MS, RD, FADA, FACP, CCD (Internal Medicine). Read more here.

Ballesteros-Tato Named Dean’s Excellence Awardee

André Ballesteros-Tato, PhD, received the 2018 School of Medicine Dean’s Excellence Award in Research for his outstanding work, impressive publication record and notable extramural funding. Most recently, Dr. Ballesteros received $300,000 from the Lupus Research Alliance for his grant proposal entitled “Immunotargeting of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells for SLE treatment.” He and other 2018 Dean’s Excellence Award recipients will be honored at a reception to be held on June 19. Read more here.

Randall Receives $300,000 AMC 21 Multi-PI Grant

Troy Randall, PhD, was one of only two recipients of a UAB School of Medicine AMC 21 Multi-PI grant for $300,000. This intramural grant “Modulation of Anti-Tumor Immunity via MNK1/2 Inhibition” will allow Dr. Randall to organize and integrate a multidisciplinary team of accomplished investigators who will compete for long-term support from NIH or other funding agencies. Read more here.

Bridges Named VP of RRF

The Rheumatology Research Foundation has appointed S. Louis Bridges Jr., MD, PhD, to serve as vice president for a two-year term. Bridges will serve alongside the new Foundation president, Abby Abelson, MD, chair of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunologic Disease at the Cleveland Clinic. The Rheumatology Research Foundation is the largest private funding source for rheumatology research and training in the United States. Bridges will serve as a leader to support the Foundation’s mission of funding research and advancing treatment of rheumatology. He has served in various capacities within the organization, most recently as representative of the American College of Rheumatology, where he chaired the committee on research and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation. Read more here.

Featured Publications

The Science Behind Biosimilars: Entering a New Era of Biologic Therapy

S. Louis Bridges, Jr., MD, PhD, was lead author of a white paper on biosimilars from the American College of Rheumatology. The article addresses an important challenge currently facing rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals—understanding the landscape surrounding biosimilar agents, including the scientific, clinical, economic, and prescribing issues related to their use.

Validation of a Definition of Flare in Patients With Established Gout

Angelo L. Gaffo, MD, MSPH, is lead author on a paper published in Arthritis & Rheumatology that offers a validated definition of gout flare that is sensitive, specific, and accurate, as demonstrated using an independent large international patient sample.

In the Absence of Central pre-B Cell Receptor Selection, Peripheral Selection Attempts to Optimize the Antibody Repertoire by Enriching for CDR-H3 Y101

Mohamed Khass, PhD (along with co-authors Harry W. Schroeder, Jr., MD, PhD, Peter Burrows, PhD, Tessa Blackburn, MSc and Ada Elgavish, PhD) published a manuscript in the January issue of Frontiers in Immunology. The paper sought to determine the forces that shape the peripheral B cell repertoire when it is denied preBCR selection. Using bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and evaluation of apoptosis, they found that in the absence of preBCR there is increased turnover of B cells due to increased apoptosis.

Transcriptional Profiling of Synovial Macrophages using Minimally Invasive Ultrasound-Guided Synovial Biopsies in RA

Laura B. Hughes, MD, MSPH, and S. Louis Bridges, Jr., MD, PhD, were authors on a manuscript in Arthritis & Rheumatology, as members and contributors to the Rheumatoid Arthritis Synovial Tissue Network (REASON). This study demonstrates that performance of synovial tissue biopsies by rheumatologists in the United States is feasible and generates high quality samples for research. By utilizing cutting-edge technologies on synovial biopsies with corresponding clinical information, a precision based medicine approach for patients with RA is attainable.

STATus of STAT3 in Psoriatic Arthritis

John Mountz, MD, PhD, published an editorial in Arthritis & Rheumatology, commenting on a publication entitled Augmented Th17 Differentiation Leads to Cutaneous and Synovio-Entheseal Inflammation in a Novel Model of Psoriatic Arthritis.

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