Irshad Chaudry, Ph.D., professor emeritus with the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, recently became the first-ever recipient of the Shock Society’s Mentoring Award. The award, which was presented to Chaudry last week during the Shock Society’s virtual annual conference, was created to honor a society member who has had a demonstrated impact as a mentor to the next generation of scientists and clinician-scientists in the field of shock research.

Vikas Dudeja, MBBS, director of the Division of Surgical Oncology, has named Sushanth Reddy, M.D. (left), associate director of surgical oncology, Ashley Holder, M.D.(middle), section chief of melanoma and sarcoma surgery, and J. Bart Rose, III, M.D., MAS, FACS (right), the section chief of hepatopancreatobiliary disease.

Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Colin Martin, M.D., FACS, was selected for membership in the esteemed Lilliputian Surgical Society, which has only 30 pediatric surgeon members from across the nation.

Assistant Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery Prasanth Patcha, M.D., MEng (left), as well as Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Clinical Assistant Professor Omar Rokayak, D.O. (middle), and Assistant Professor Jon Winkler, M.D., Ph.D. (right), have been named fellows of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), effective Oct. 24.

Kimberly Hendershot, M.D., recently earned the Certificate in Applied Surgical Education Leadership (CASEL) through the American College of Surgeons Division of Education.

UAB was well represented at the 2021 American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) Annual Meeting and Clinical Congress of Acute Care Surgery, with three Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery assistant professors presenting orally.

The UAB Division of Trauma and Actue Care Surgery has matched four new fellows into the Trauma and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship for 2022: Danny Lammers, M.D., Omar Rokayak, D.O., Thomas Sensing, D.O., and Rindi Uhlich, M.D., MSPH.

The team involved in the rescue operation reunited with Arnoldo Vasquez-Hernandez and his family to speak for the Hearts of Heroes episode.

The UAB Department of Surgery is pleased to highlight Hispanic Heritage Month by sharing the stories and experiences of faculty, staff, and trainees across the department.

General Surgery Resident Burke Smith, M.D., received second place with his group in the annual UAB Postdoc Research Day.

Several Department of Surgery faculty and trainees attended the 2021 Society of Asian Americans annual meeting in Chicago, IL and presented presentations, received awards, and were named to new leadership positions.

The Department of Surgery has selected Office Administrator II Kaycee Hair to serve as staff wellness champion through the UAB School of Medicine (SOM) Office of Wellness. 

In this panel, Adam Beck, M.D., and Kyle Eudailey, M.D., discuss ascending aortic arch repair and endovascular treatments at UAB Medicine. They share details of complex aortic surgery, endovascular and interventional techniques, and the importance of a multidisciplinary team approach for managing these challenging patients.

“Are you a doctor?” A man asks UAB Pediatric Surgery Fellow Joseph Esparaz, M.D.

The UAB Department of Surgery is pleased to welcome Nathan Manley, M.D., M.S., MPH, to the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery as an assistant professor.

Written by: David Kloda

20 UAB medical students participated in 2021 summer research experiences under the mentorship of UAB Department of Surgery faculty.

General Surgery Resident Cozette Killian, M.D., and Arnold G. Diethelm Endowed Chair in Transplantation Surgery and Director of the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute Jayme Locke, M.D., MPH, published “Evaluation of Community-Level Vulnerability and Racial Disparities in Living Donor Kidney Transplant” in the journal JAMA Surgery alongside members of the Transplant Epidemiology and Analytics in Medicine (TEAM) lab.

Director of the Division of Surgical Oncology Vikas Dudeja, MBBS, was awarded a Department of Defense (DOD) grant, which will fund his project, “Evaluation of NADPH Oxidase 1/4 Inhibition as a Novel Therapeutic Strategy Against Chronic Pancreatitis.”

General surgery resident Connie Shao, M.D., was a Claude H. Organ Jr. M.D., Resident Award recipient at this year’s Society of Black Academic Surgeons (SBAS) for her presentation, “Increased risk of post-operative mortality with obesity, age, male sex among COVID-19 surgical patients.”

Division of Pediatric Surgery Associate Professor Robert Russell, M.D., MPH, has joined the editorial board of the Journal of Surgical Research: Clinical and Laboratory Investigation (JSR).

The department is pleased to welcome Rachel Aliotta, M.D., to the Division of Plastic Surgery as an assistant professor.

This week, the UAB Department of Surgery is highlighting Omeed Moaven, M.D., a surgical oncologist and an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery and the Department of Cancer Biology at the Mayo Clinic in Florida.

The UAB Department of Surgery Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee has named four new members.

Associate Professor and Program Director of the UAB Colorectal Surgery Fellowship Jamie Cannon, M.D., and Assistant Professor Drew Gunnells, M.D., published “Robotic Surgery in Crohn’s Disease” in the Clinics in Colon and Rectal Surgery journal.

The UAB Department of Surgery is pleased to highlight Hispanic Heritage Month by sharing the stories and experiences of faculty, staff, and trainees across the department.

Although Match Day 2021 did not look exactly like match day in years past due to the COVID-19 outbreak, fourth-year medical students across the country engaged online through social media, sharing where they were matched. While it was impossible to have everyone in the same room at one time, the excitement could still be felt virtually.

Center for Injury Science (CIS) Director Jan Jansen, MBBS, Ph.D., and Executive Director Shannon Stephens will lead a two-year, $2.8 million clinical trial funded by the Department of Defense.

The Department of Surgery welcomes its new communications specialist this month, Allie Hulcher. Prior to this position, Hulcher worked at Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama as a communications manager.

Four general surgery residents have been selected to serve on various UAB Graduate Medical Office (GME) committees.

The UAB Department of Surgery is committed to training and equipping the next generation of surgeons. Our fellowship training programs prepare surgeons for rich careers in their areas of specialty.