Kenneth G. Saag, M.D., MScKenneth G. Saag, M.D., MSc, has been named director of the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is the Jane Knight Lowe Professor and also serves as vice chair of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research in UAB’s Department of Medicine.
Saag has been a practicing physician with UAB Medicine and researcher in the UAB School of Medicine for 23 years, with particular expertise in osteoporosis, gout, and outcomes research.
“I’m humbled to serve our division as director and to continue to build upon the reputation of patient-centered care, academic prowess and national leadership in the field that UAB Rheumatology is known for,” Saag said. “I have ambitious plans to grow our faculty and fellowship program, expand our clinical services, and enhance both clinical and fundamental scientific research in rheumatology and immunology. I’m excited for what is to come for our faculty and patients alike.”
He succeeds former division director S. Louis Bridges Jr., M.D., Ph.D., effective July 1, 2020.
Saag will begin serving as president-elect of the American College of Rheumatology this fall and he is past-president of the National Osteoporosis Foundation. He has served UAB as director of the Center for Outcomes, Effectiveness Research and Education (COERE) since 2009, and directs the Center of Research Translation (CoRT) in Gout and Hyperuricemia, a program supported by the NIH for nearly a decade. He also serves as Vice Chair for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research in the Department.
UAB’s Rheumatology program was just ranked 10 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.