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Join us for a special evening at the Heroes and Healers Gala, where we celebrate the incredible resilience of survivors of traumatic injuries and honor those dedicated healthcare professionals who support their journeys. In honor of Trauma Awareness Month in May, the UAB Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery is hosting its second annual Heroes and Healers Gala on May 2, at 6:30 p.m.

UAB General Surgery Resident Madhushree Zope, M.D., M.S., has received the 2025 Association for Academic Surgery Outstanding Resident Research Award in Clinical Outcomes for her project titled “Feasibility of Post-Operative Telehealth for Pediatric Surgical Patients in Malawi."

UAB Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy Assistant Professor Jarrad Rowse, M.D., was recently featured on UAB’s MedCast to discuss insights into thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), and his approach to treating the condition.

Adam Beck, M.D., Holt A. McDowell Jr., M.D., Endowed Chair of Vascular Surgery at UAB and UAB Vascular Surgery Integrated Resident, Angela Sickels, M.D., aimed to determine what part of the population benefited from prophylactic drains. Their research on the topic was presented at the 2025 Southern Association for Vascular Surgery Annual Meeting, and was featured in the national society newsletter.

Introducing the Executive Healthcare Leadership Academy—a cutting-edge program crafted in partnership with the esteemed Society of Asian Academic Surgeons and the prestigious University of Alabama at Birmingham. This exclusive academy empowers surgeons to delve into their leadership aspirations and proactively shape their professional path.

UAB Department of Surgery Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery Assistant Professor Lily A. Gutnik, M.D., has been awarded a K08 grant from the National Institutes of Health for her project titled, “Global Breast and Cervical Cancer Control: Implementing a Bundled Screening Approach in a Resource Limited Setting.”

Dr. Vikas Dudeja, Director of the Division of Surgical Oncology at UAB, has been awarded a $9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

Vikas Dudeja, M.D., Director of the Division of Surgical Oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has been elected as the president-elect of the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS). Dudeja, a recognized leader in academic surgery, will begin his term as president in February 2026.

UAB Department of Surgery Division of Pediatric Surgery Assistant Professor Laura Stafman, M.D., Ph.D, has been awarded the 2025 New Investigator Grant from the Kaul Pediatric Research Institute (KPRI).

The UAB Department of Surgery is honored to welcome two new faculty members – Katie Novitski, M.D., MPH, and Rajamiyer Venkateswaran, M.D, MBBS, M.S.

UAB General Surgery Resident Connie Shao, M.D., is responsible for creating the graphic design for the new Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT) logo. 

Herbert Chen, M.D., the Fay Fletcher Kerner Endowed Chair of the UAB Department of Surgery, was a guest on a new podcast by the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons (SAAS), where he shared insights about his Asian heritage.

UAB Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery Associate Professor James Donahue, M.D., has been awarded a $110,000 grant from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) Rare Cancers Research Program Concept Awards. The funding began in 2024 and has a duration of two years.

UAB Department of Surgery Division of Surgical Oncology Assistant Professor Kimberly Kopecky, M.D., MSCI, was selected as the 2025 recipient of the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) Young Investigator Award.

UAB Division of Pediatric Surgery professors Elizabeth Beierle Chen, M.D., (who goes by Dr. Beierle), and Mike Chen, M.D., MBA, are not only two faculty members within the UAB Department of Surgery and pediatric surgeons at Children’s of Alabama - they are also spouses of 29 years - 30 years in March.

UAB Department of Surgery Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery Assistant Professor Lily Gutnik, M.D., has been named one of the "Top 40 Under 40" honorees by Birmingham Business Journal.

To recognize and celebrate the Chinese New Year, we invited UAB General Surgery Resident Rongzhi Wang, MBBS, to speak with our Access & Engagement Committee about his Chinese heritage and his connection to the holiday.

According to the latest U.S. News & World Report international ranking, the UAB Department of Surgery is among the top 15 percent of surgery departments worldwide and is ranked 35th out of 250 departments evaluated.

The UAB Department of Surgery is honored to welcome two new faculty members –Udai Sibia, M.D., and Bhuwan Giri, MBBS.

UAB Department of Surgery Division of Surgical Oncology Assistant Professor Kristy Broman, M.D. M.P.H., FACS, has been selected as a 2025 Pittman Scholar by the UAB Heersink School of Medicine.

The UAB General Surgery Residency Program ranks among the top 25 percent of general surgical programs in the United States for the highest number of Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA) assessments.

UAB Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery Emeritus Professor William L. Holman, M.D., has been appointed as a feature editor for the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (JTCVS), the official publication of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.

UAB Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery Assistant Professor Sasha Still, M.D., discusses the Access & Engagement group and her participation in the "Exploring Social Determinants in Surgery" webinar. 

UAB Division of Surgical Oncology Associate Professor J. Bart Rose, M.D., MAS, has been awarded a $946,000 grant from the American Cancer Society. The Research Scholar Grant is designated for his project on "Therapeutic modulation of calreticulin in pancreatic adenocarcinoma."

UAB General Surgery resident Tejeshwar Jain, M.D., received the 2025 Residents Research Award from the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract for his project named “Evaluating a novel TLR4-based strategy for improving immunotherapy response in hepatocellular carcinoma.”

UAB Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery Assistant Professor Panayotis Vardas, M.D., recently discussed on UAB MedCast how surgical practices are adapting to the evolving treatment of atrial fibrillation.

The UAB Department of Surgery is excited to participate in the 20th Annual Academic Surgical Congress (ASC) in Las Vegas, Nevada, from February 11th to the 13th, 2025.

Zain Hashmi, M.D., FACS, an assistant professor in the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, both presented and moderated sessions at Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP) annual conference.

UAB Division of Pediatric Surgery Professor Elizabeth Beierle, M.D., has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation to study MYCN driving mechanisms in neuroblastoma.

The UAB Cardiothoracic Surgery research team has co-authored a study published in Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports, titled "Oral Diltiazem Prophylaxis for Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Undergoing Robotic Lobectomy."