Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a life-threatening event that can happen unexpectedly to anyone, including young individuals. Unlike a heart attack, SCA occurs when the heart suddenly stops functioning, leading to unconsciousness and cessation of breathing. It's crucial to recognize the signs, understand the risks, and be prepared to take action, especially in sports and other high-risk settings.

Heersink School of Medicine is proud to announce nine staff members have been selected as the inaugural Dean’s Excellence Awards for Staff winners.

Jason K. Daniel, MBA, has been appointed senior executive officer for Finance and Administration in the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine, effective Sept. 1.

As part of Heersink School of Medicine’s Medical Student Services, the Academic Success Program provides personal, professional, and educational support to UAB medical students. Each semester, the Academic Success team invites students to participate in the variety of tutoring and learning services they offer. Students have access to the program all four years of medical school.

Jose O. Maximo, Ph.D., scientist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, received the 2023 Young Alumni Rising Star Award from the UAB National Alumni Society.

Blessing Falola, M.D., director of the UAB Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program, co-director of the First Episode Psychosis Clinic, and assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, has been selected for the Healthcare Leadership Academy (HLA) class of 2024.

Brian Samuels, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, effective Oct. 1.

Anna C. E. Hurst, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Genetics, has been named the 2023 winner of the Brewer-Heslin Award for Professionalism in Medicine.

On Thursday, Aug. 10, the UAB Medicine Leadership Development Office (LDO) held its first annual reception to honor the participants of six cohorts (91 graduates) who have completed the UAB Medicine Institute for Leadership.

John Osborne, Ph.D., assistant professor of Medicine at the Informatics Institute, recently received a notice of award for a U24 supplement to develop a cancer algorithm predicting the severity of cancer recurrence in patients. The work will build on previously funded work to identify recurrence retrospectively in UAB cancer patients using structured EHR data and clinical text.

On August 13, 2023, members from the UAB Heersink School of Medicine incoming MS1 class gathered with friends, family, faculty, and staff to celebrate the White Coat Ceremony.

UAB and the University Teaching Hospital/University of Zambia in Lusaka, Zambia have collaborated on a project titled “Interventions to Reduce Infant Mortality and Morbidity in Low Resource Settings,” which has been continuously funded since 2003. The funding for the ongoing program has been competitively renewed for a seven-year term by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health. 

Ryan Godwin, Ph.D., instructor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and the Department of Radiology, and Sandeep Bodduluri, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Medicine and Instructor & Advisor for AI Programming for the Marnix E. Heersink Institute for Biomedical Innovation, have partnered to instruct the institute’s new graduate certificate course, Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine.

Dr. and Mrs. Marnix E. Heersink have been announced as the William M. and Virginia B. Spencer Outstanding Philanthropists at this November’s National Philanthropy Day ceremony.

Sara Gould, M.D., MPH, associate professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and Camden Hebson, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics, were recently featured as experts on ESPN’s SportsCenter regarding athlete Bronny James’ recent cardiac arrest.

Aaron Casp, M.D., and Amit Momaya, M.D., attended the Annual American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) Conference in Washington, D.C. on July 13-16. Casp presented on cartilage injuries in elite athletes.

William Illiano, a medical student at the Heersink School of Medicine, has been awarded the 2023 Sara Crews Finley, M.D., Endowed Leadership Scholarship.

The UAB Comprehensive Stroke Center has been recertified by the Joint Commission. This designation identifies UAB as an industry leader responsible for setting the national agenda in highly specialized stroke care.

In April 2023, Alejandra Colón-López, Ph.D., the Department of Medical Education’s first postdoctoral scholar in its history, received a MERIT award from NIH/NIGMS. The Mentored Experiences in Research, Instruction, and Teaching (MERIT) Program is an Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (K12) that aims to allow postdoctoral scholars opportunity for research and teaching experiences.

The Heersink School of Medicine hosted new student orientation for the class of 2027 July 24-27. Our MS1 students spent the week learning the tools and information they need to begin their journey through medical school.

The UAB Heersink School of Medicine Office of Research introduces new faculty for Spring 2023. Please join Heersink School of Medicine and the Office of Research in welcoming these new faculty.

UAB and McMaster University are focusing on radiopharmaceutical development through a new program that will provide opportunities for collaboration and training on research, translation, and commercialization.

On Thursday, May 18, UAB celebrated Clinical Trials Day. Since 2020, UAB has averaged nearly 300 new clinical trials annually.

The Board of Visitors will be officially welcoming three new members this October – Dr. John Gallin, Sara Finley, and Gordon Lee.

Endowed appointments are vital to faculty recruitment, retention, and support. This spring, we honored our newly endowed chairs and professors and celebrated newly established endowments.

During his first six months as dean of the Heersink School of Medicine, Dr. Anupam Agarwal has been consistently active in the school's regional campuses. Early in his new appointment, Agarwal visited each campus and met with leadership to discuss student and faculty needs. Additionally, our Montgomery Regional Medical Campus hosted the inaugural Montgomery Health Policy Meeting and is looking at ways to collaborate with the Equal Justice Initative (EJI) in the future.

The Heersink School of Medicine could not provide groundbreaking research, world-class medical training, and nationally recognized patient care without its incredibly hardworking and talented faculty and staff. We believe that recognizing exceptional individuals within our organization is crucial to expressing our gratitude to them as well as our value in their work. We celebrate our faculty and staff both through internal awards and by recognizing their external honors.

The annual ArtBLINK Gala returned to the UAB Kirklin Clinic Feb. 4 and raised more than $900,000 for the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center.

UAB is an ever-expanding community, and growth begins with leadership. That is why we are so proud that, from February 1-June 30, 18 new full-time faculty members joined the Heersink School of Medicine, and a number of existing faculty members assumed new leadership roles. Two examples of these dedicated, engaging, innovative and inspiring individuals who bring fresh ideas and perspectives to our school are Herbert Chen, M.D., FACS, and J. Victor Garcia-Martinez, Ph.D.

In March 2023, UAB celebrated the Medical Alumni Association’s 50th Annual Medical Alumni Weekend, the 70th Anniversary of Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the 15th Anniversary of UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center. These milestones serve as an excellent opportunity to look at where we started and a reminder to look forward to all we wish to achieve.