Dr. Adam Beck's clinical interests span the field of vascular surgery, including open surgery and endovascular therapy for aortic, cerebrovascular, mesenteric and peripheral artery disease, with a specific interest in complex aortic disease, including aortic dissection, suprarenal and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms. Dr. Beck is actively involved in clinical research and is specifically working to develop new medical devices that are tailored to individual patients. He is also interested in surgical outcomes research.

Current projects include:

• "A Multi-arm, Multi-Center, Non-Randomized, Prospective, Clinical Study to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of the NEXUS TM Aortic Arch Stent Graft System in Treating Thoracic Aortic Lesions Involving the Aortic Arch"
• "An Exploratory Analysis of AAA patients using the predictive value of ViTAA’s growth algorithm on static CT scans"
• "Biochemical Markers of Ischemic Spinal Cord Injury in the CSF, Blood and Urine of Patients Undergoing Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair (TEVAR) and Open Thoracic or Thoracoabdominal Aortic Repair. Subtitle: CSF Biomarkers of Spinal Cord Injury in TEVAR Patients
  Contemporary Diagnosis and Management of Aortic Graft Infection"
• "Coordinating Center for United States Aortic Research Consortium (ARC) Pilot Study: Prophylactic vs Therapeutic Cerebrospinal Fluid Drain Placement During Endovascular Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm"
• "Effects of Statin and Antiplatelet Therapy Noncompliance on Patient Outcomes Following Vascular Surgery"
• "Evaluation of All-Cause Mortality and Pulmonary Morbidity in Treating Juxtarenal, Suprarenal and Thoracoabdominal Aortic Pathologies Using the Cook Custom Aortic Endograft, the Zenith t-Branch Endovascular Graft and Surgeon-Modified Endografts (Short Title: CMD and Zenith t-Branch)"
• "Evaluation of the GORE® EXCLUDER® Thoracoabdominal Branch Endoprosthesis in the Treatment of Thoracoabdominal and Pararenal Aortic Aneurysms (Sponsor's Protocol AAA 17-01)"
• "Evaluation of the Temporal Incidence of Post-Operative Myocardial Infarction in Patients Undergoing Vascular Surgery Interventions"
• "Evaluation of the Use of EVAR for the Treatment of Ruptured AAA"
• "Examining Vascular Surgery Outcomes within the Society of Vascular Surgery (SVS) and Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI)"
• "Implementation of a Bundled Protocol to Reduce Spinal Cord Ischemia After Branched or Fenestrated Endovascular Aortic Aneurysm Repair"
• "Outcomes in Implementation of an Enhanced Recovery Program for Lower Extremity Bypass"
• "Predictive Algorithm to Guide the Management of Patients with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms: A Multicenter Retrospective Longitudinal Analysis"
• "Renal Injury After Vascular Surgery"
• "Should treatment of acute type B aortic dissections be deferred until the sub-acute phase"
• "The Use of Shear Wave Elastography to Predict and Assess Spinal Cord Injury Post Complex Vascular Procedures and Trauma Injury - An Exploratory Study"
• "United States Aortic Research Consortium (ARC) Pilot Study: Prophylactic vs Therapeutic Cerebrospinal Fluid Drain Placement During Endovascular Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair"
• "Vascular Surgery COVID-19 Collaborative (VASCC)"
• "Vascular surgery outcomes in the Aortic Research Consortium (ARC) data"
• "ViTAA Registry: Pre- and Post-Operative Monitoring for Endovascular Aortic Aneurysm Repair and Serial Monitoring for AAA"
• "WCG IRB - AAA-SHAPE Pivotal Trial: Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Sac Healing and Prevention of Expansion– A Randomized Multicenter Study"
• "WCG IRB - Zenith® Fenestrated+ Endovascular Graft Clinical Study"

Dr.  Zdenek Novak received his M.D. from the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, and completed his internal medicine residency at General Teaching Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic. After postgraduate fellowship in the Department of Immunology, Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, he came to UAB as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pathology and then Department of Pediatrics. In the meantime, he obtained an M.S. in Health Informatics at UAB and a Ph.D. in medical immunology from Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic. In 2012, he joined the Department of Surgery in the Division of Vascular Surgery. In 2017, he became a Vascular Surgery faculty member.

Current projects include:

• "Natural history of patients achieving a normal ABI or palpable pulse after bypass or intervention for lower extremity ischemia"

Dr. Marc Passman is a nationally recognized leader in vascular disease. He has authored over 100 journal articles, chapters, and scientific abstracts, with numerous presentations at national meetings. He has co-authored evidenced based guidelines for the management of vascular disease. Dr. Passman has current leadership roles in the American Venous Forum, Southern Association for Vascular Surgery, Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery, Society for Vascular Surgery, and Board of Directors - Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC)-Vein. Dr. Passman is the editor in chief, Yearbook of Vascular Surgery, is on the editorial board for Journal of Vascular Surgery and Annals of Vascular Surgery, and participates as a peer-reviewer for several other journals.

Current projects include:

• "Advarra IRB - The Hancock Jaffe Surgical Antireflux Venous Valve Endoprosthesis (SAVVE) Study"
• "Neo Legacy (Rheos®) Humanitarian Use Device (HUD/HDE H130007)"
• "Outcome of Patients with Iliac Vein Obstruction"

Dr. Benjamin Pearce is an associate professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy. He is the director of Vascular Surgery Integrated Residency and Fellowship Programs. His areas of interest include: tibial revascularization, open thoracoabdominal reconstruction, complex endovascular reconstruction of aortic disease involving the visceral segment, iatrogenic injury.

Current projects include:

• "Aortic Trauma Foundation Prospective Blunt Thoracic Aortic Injury Registry"
• "Assessment of the GORE EXCLUDER Conformable AAA Endoprosthesis in the Treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (Sponsor's Protocol AAA013-03)"
• "Assessment of the Hospitalized Population requiring Evaluation by Vascular Surgery Service"
• "Contemporary Management of Peripheral Venous Aneurysms"
• "GREAT(Global Registry for Endovascular Aortic Treatment Outcomes Evaluatio) (sponsor protocol GRT 10-11)"
• "Identification and Evaluation of Vascular Injury"
• "Outcome of Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease"
• "Outcomes of Lower Extremity Revascularization for Traumatic Injuries"
• "Peripheral Arterial Disease Screening Among Diabetes Mellitus (PADS-DM) - Phase 2 Long Term Follow-Up"
• "Renal Artery Aneurysm and Other Arterial Pathology"
• "Short Term and Long Term Evaluation of Patients with Carotid Disease"

Dr. Bin Ren actively participates in academic services and educational programs, in addition to conducting biomedical research. As a principal investigator, his research has been supported by the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research, the Ann’s Hope Foundation, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). He is currently leading an innovative research program exploring endothelial differentiation and angiogenesis in cardiovascular diseases and cancers. The research in his laboratory focuses on the epigenetic and transcriptional regulation of angiogenesis and arteriogenesis, as these processes are involved in cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, neurological disorders, and obesity.

Current research includes: 

• "Characterization of Cancer Stem Cells in Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors"

Dr. Jarrad Rowse joined the faculty of the UAB Department of Surgery as an assistant professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy in June 2023. Dr. Rowse is board-certified in vascular surgery and, through his faculty appointment, will support the Advanced Limb Preservation Program at the UAB Russell Clinic. He is a member of the Society for Vascular Surgery, Midwestern Vascular Surgical Society, Association of Program Directors in Vascular Surgery, and Alpha Omega Alpha. 

Current projects include:

• "Complex Endovascular Aortic Repair in Inflammatory and Infective Perivisceral Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms and Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysms"

Dr. Emily Spangler joined the faculty of the UAB Department of Surgery in 2016. She serves as a peer reviewer for Annals of Surgery and Annals of Vascular Surgery. Her research interests include outcomes and effectiveness evaluation of carotid and aortic disease treatments, imaging surveillance, as well as quality improvement through interventions on modifiable perioperative factors.

Current projects include:

• "Aortic Interventions in Vascular Surgery Enhanced Recovery Pathway"
• "Contemporary Diagnosis and Management of Aberrant Subclavian Artery Aneurysms and Kommerell's Diverticulum"
• "Examination of Abdominal Exploration and Return to OR in Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair"
• "Examination of Growth Rates of Aortoiliac Aneurysms in Patients with Pelvic Malignancies"
• "Examination of Potential Racial Disparities in the Choice of Conduit for Lower Extremity Bypass"
• "Examination of Racial Disparities in Length of Stay in Lower Extremity Bypass Surgery"
• "Examination of the Impact of Obesity on Lower Extremity Bypass Readmissions and Financial Implications of Readmissions"
• "Functional status in non-home discharges after Vascular Surgery"
• "National Assessment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair Imaging Surveillance Practices in Veterans"
• "Qualitative Assessment of Recruitment Considerations for an Early Aneurysm Repair in Women"
• "Retrospective review of combined Vascular and Podiatric Care"
• "Type III and Uncharacterized Endoleaks in EVAR and Complex EVAR"

Dr. Danielle Sutzko serves as the associate program director of the Vascular Surgery Integrated Residency and co-leader of the Surgical Grand Rounds. Her research interests are in health services research, specifically areas related to quality improvement and cost effectiveness of vascular interventions. She also has a passion for education and educational research and has been an active member of the OpTrust research team investigating intraoperative teaching and advancing operative autonomy.

Current projects include: 

• "Disparities in Vascular Care for Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia (CTLI) within African American End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Patients"
• "Using the United State Renal Data System (USRDS) to Investigate Cardiovascular Outcomes"