UAB is ranked No. 164 based on exceptional academic research portfolio and its overall global and regional reputation.

Tony Merriman, PhD, FRSNZTony Merriman, PhD, FRSNZ, professor in UAB’s Division of Immunology and Rheumatology and internationally recognized leader in the genetic basis of gout, published “A genome-wide association analysis reveals new pathogenic pathways in gout” in the journal Nature Genetics.

J. Claude Bennett, M.D., who served as UAB president from 1993 to 1996, passed away on Aug.

Orlando Gutiérrez, M.D., will be appointed senior associate dean for Clinical and Translational Research in the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine and director and contact principal investigator of the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science.

Nicole M. Arroyo-Diaz, PhD Student Lung-resident memory B cells (lung-BRMs) differentiate into plasma cells after reinfection, providing enhanced pulmonary protection.

Gene V. Ball, M.D.* It is with very deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Gene V.

Leslie Jackson, M.D. While many clinicians manage bone health, established competencies to assess those clinician’s do not exist.

The program seeks to support and foster multidisciplinary collaborations, especially between UAB clinicians and basic and physician scientists.

The MyLupus app is a patient-friendly, patient-focused decision-aid tool for people from all backgrounds with moderate to severe lupus.

Lung-resident memory B cells produced during influenza are long-living immune cells that migrate to the lungs from draining lymph nodes and lie in wait as early responders that can quickly react to future infections. They are key sentinels against subsequent viral variants.

The study, funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, will compare two pathways of post-fracture patient care.

Knowledge of this previously unrecognized mechanism may aid therapy for patients with interleukin-6 signaling mutations and hyper-IgE Syndrome, or HIES.

Description of this mechanism offers a promising therapeutic target to limit lung injury and death. Lower respiratory tract infections, including bacterial pneumonia, are the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide, with 120 million to 156 million cases and 1.4 million deaths a year.

These effector memory B cells appear poised for a rapid serum antibody response upon secondary challenge one year later, and evidence shows that the cells in this subset differ from all previously described memory B cell subsets.

Dr. Ken Saag, 2022 ACR PresidentKen Saag, MD, MSc, delivered a stirring presidential address at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting in October 2022.

Megan Leask, Ph.D., InstructorMegan Leask, Ph.D., has received an NIH/NIAMS Competitive Diversity Supplement for an existing R01 awarded to Dr. Richard Reynolds for her research titled, "Functional and Integrative OMICS of Recurrent Gout Flares.” Leask is Indigenous Māori from New Zealand who joined her mentors Drs.

Dr. Jasvinder Singh, senior authorMany genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have begun the work of identifying genetic loci of osteoarthritis.

Kenneth Saag, M.D., Msc, delivering the Presidential Address at the 2022 American College of Rheumatology Annual MeetingThe UAB Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology has been ranked among the best in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report in its 2023-2024 Best Hospitals Rankings.

One UAB patient uses her transformational story to spread awareness of scleroderma.

U.S. News & World report named UAB Hospital as the best hospital in Alabama.

UAB rheumatologists will begin seeing patients at the UAB Hoover Primary Care clinic in July 2022.

How can physicians help patients with rheumatoid arthritis when methotrexate fails? It was hoped that a new class of oral medication held the answer, but the FDA issued a black box warning for JAK inhibitors last year citing major adverse cardiac events and cancer as safety concerns.

Dr. Jeffrey Curtis wants to use virtual reality to help patients with rheumatoid arthritis experience how the disease may worsen over time in the future to improve shared decision making about their treatment choices in the present.

Maria I. Danila, MD, MSc, MSPH Our understanding of how to best use telemedicine for rheumatology patients began with our need to care for patients with chronic illness during the height of the COVID pandemic.

The American College of Rheumatology is the premier society for the advancement of rheumatology in the U.S. This year’s ACR President, a newly designated Master, and a Distinguished Fellow all call UAB home.

A detailed mechanistic study unravels how the bacterial endotoxin LPS prevents or promotes allergic disease.

Lupus, an autoimmune disease that can attack any part of the body, can be confounding because patients often respond differently to the same treatment, and they vary widely in the severity of their symptoms.

Record $95 million Heersink lead gift to advance strategic growth and biomedical innovation.

This finding upends the long-held paradigm that priming during lung infections takes place only in the draining lymph nodes, and it will be key to developing more efficient vaccinations and therapies for respiratory challenges.

This year, the university recognizes 50 years of service by Jeanne Hutchison, Ph.D., and Ferdinand Urthaler, M.D., and 45 years of service by Robert Kim M.D., and Joseph Lovetto. In addition, 294 employees with 20 or more years and 904 with five, 10 and 15 years will honored for their longevity.