Pathology
In the face of a bacterium that easily resists common antibiotics, members of UAB established testing to identify it in human disease. Mycoplasma, that is. Mycoplasmas are the smallest free-living organisms. They can cause drug-resistant bacterial infections that target various parts of the body, including respiratory and urinary systems and genitalia. Mycoplasmas commonly cause lung infections and often require a special antibiotic to treat the bacterium. Most antibiotics weaken bacteria by penetrating their cell walls. Mycoplasmas, however, don’t have cell walls to weaken.
The Department of Pathology is thrilled to announce Oyedele Adeyi, M.D., FRCPC, as director of the Division of Anatomic Pathology, effective June 6, 2025. Adeyi joins the department from the University of Minnesota Medical School where he served as professor since 2019 and as director of surgical pathology. Prior to his appointment at Minnesota, Adeyi joined the University of Toronto in Canada as an assistant professor in 2006 and was promoted to associate professor in 2014.
Adeyi Oyedele, M.D., FRCPC, Division Director, Anatomic Pathology, will serve as section head of Gastrointestinal Pathology and director of the GI fellowship program, effective July 15.
Falone Amoa, M.D., M.S., a PGY5 and Ph.D. candidate in the UAB Department of Pathology, has recently been named a Society of '67 Kinney Scholar by the Association for Academic Pathology (AAPath). This award is for pathology residents and medical students who demonstrate the potential for leadership in academic pathology. Amoa is 1 of 5 residents and 8 medical students selected from across the United States.
Falone Amoa, M.D., M.S., PGY5, and Damien Roland, M.D., M.S., PGY3, were recently named 2025 Future of Pathology Award recipients by the National Medical Association. The Future of Pathology Award was established in 2020 with the goal to recognize and reward minority students and trainees who have a special interest in the field of pathology.
The Department of Pathology is thrilled to announce a new faculty member joining our team July 1.
Peter Anderson, D.V.M., Ph.D., professor emeritus in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, delivered one of the inaugural lectures for a new certificate program offered by the Association of Academic Pathology (AAPath) at its annual meeting in Denver, Colorado, in July. This program is designed for health science faculty at all levels of experience who seek professional development to enhance their teaching effectiveness, expand their knowledge and expertise in curricular development and advance their careers as health science educators.
Paul Benson, M.D., Professor, Autopsy Section Head, Anatomic Pathology, attended the Third Annual International Post-Tuberculosis Symposium at the STIAS Institute in Stellenbosch, South Africa, April 14-16. Benson joined his collaborators Adrie Steyn, Ph.D., Professor, UAB Microbiology, Africa Health Institute, and Threnesan Naidoo, MBChB, MSc, LLM, Professor, Water Sisulu University, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Rati Chkheidze, M.D., an assistant professor in the Division of Neuropathology, has been appointed section head of neuropathology, effective July 1. Chkheidze joined the UAB Department of Pathology in 2020 from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he completed a neuropathology fellowship following his anatomic and clinical pathology residency. Originally from the country of Georgia, he graduated from Tbilisi State Medical University in 2007. Before joining the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, he worked as a senior visiting scientist in the Department of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics until 2014. His research interests focus on image analysis and machine learning applications in neurodegenerative and tumor neuropathology, and brain banking.
The Department of Pathology is thrilled to announce a new faculty member joining our team August 1.
Melad Dababneh, M.B.B.S., Assistant Professor, Anatomic Pathology, will serve as section head of Head and Neck Pathology, effective June 1. Dababneh joined the UAB Department of Pathology in 2024 from Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s Robert J. Tomsich Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Institute where he completed his fellowship in head and neck pathology.
The Department of Pathology is pleased to announce a new faculty member joining our team, effective June 1. Taru S. Dutt, Ph.D., is joining the Division of Laboratory Medicine as an assistant professor. Dutt joins us from Colorado State University where she served as a research scientist I and as co-director of the Flow Cytometry and Single Cell Sequencing Core since 2022.
The Department of Pathology is pleased to announce the promotion and tenure of eight of our esteemed faculty colleagues for 2025, effective October 1, 2025.
In a molecular diagnostic laboratory, having a system for tracking specimens, or assays, is integral to workflow efficiency and accuracy. Although streamlining this process often proves to be challenging, members from the Division of Genomic Diagnostics and Bioinformatics in the UAB Department of Pathology have developed the In-house Lab Assay Database (ILAD) to customize and expedite specimen tracking.
Michel Kmeid, M.D., will join the Division of Anatomic Pathology as an assistant professor, effective August 1. Kmeid joins us from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, where he served as a head and neck pathology fellow since 2024.
Sixto Leal, M.D., Ph.D., Jay M. McDonald Endowed Professor in Experimental Pathology and Division Director, Laboratory Medicine, was recently awarded the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists (ACLPS) Ellis Benson Award. Leal received the award at the ACLPS annual meeting on May 31 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Goo Lee, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor in the Division of Anatomic Pathology, will serve in the roles of interim section head of gastrointestinal (GI) pathology and GI fellowship director, effective Monday, April 14. Lee assumes the role from his predecessor, Sameer Al Diffalha, M.D., Vice Chair for Outreach and associate professor in the Division of Anatomic Pathology, who has served in these capacities since 2017.
Cristina Magi-Galluzzi, M.D., Ph.D., Robert and Ruth Anderson Endowed Chair in Pathology, has been named president of the Genitourinary Pathology Society (GUPS), effective April 1.
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide and is the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While advances in technologies have improved our understanding of the molecular alterations that occur during breast cancer onset and progression, user-friendly tools for breast cancer data analysis are scarce. To determine effective treatment options, researchers need access to specimen data.
Craig Maynard, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, has been named scientific director of the UAB Gnotobiotic Core Facility effective May 15.
The UAB Department of Pathology boasts a long legacy of fostering physician-scientists who are skilled both in clinical practice and research. These practitioners bridge the crucial gap between the lab and patient care, using clinical experience to drive research leading to new treatments and therapies. Their efforts target individualized medicine, propel public health breakthroughs and ensure that scientific discoveries are translated directly to the bedside.
Peripheral artery disease is a severe form of cardiovascular disease affecting more than 230 million individuals worldwide. The correlation of peripheral artery disease with diminished blood flow in one or more major arteries has prompted numerous studies aimed at developing therapies that promote the formation of new mature blood vessels, known as neovessels, to restore blood flow. However, despite years of investigations, the medical therapies designed to do so have lacked therapeutic significance.
The UAB Department of Pathology is thrilled to welcome a new faculty member to the Community Practice Pathology Program, directed by Walter Bell, M.D.
The Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office has relocated from the old Cooper Green building to a new 32,000 square foot facility on Leaf Lake Pkwy. Greg Davis, M.D., MSPH, Division Director of Forensic Pathology and Jefferson County Coroner, gave an indication and cut the ribbon at the ceremony in conjunction with the Jefferson County Commission on June 23.
Lalita Shevde-Samant, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular & Cellular Pathology, Associate Director for Education and Training, O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, was selected for the 2025-2026 class of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) program at Drexel University College of Medicine.
On April 2, the UAB Department of Pathology honored Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., Robert W. Mowry Endowed Professor, Anatomic Pathology, with a symposium featuring guest speakers, colleagues and former mentees of this esteemed pathologist. Siegal joined UAB in 1990 where he was recruited as division director of Anatomic Pathology and professor in the Department of Pathology, a position he held for 25 years.
Two distinguished, recently retired faculty members, Peter Anderson, D.V.M., Ph.D., a professor in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, and Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., Robert W. Mowry Endowed Professor, Division of Anatomic Pathology, have achieved emeritus status in the Department of Pathology. The decision was made by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees on June 6.
UAB ENhancing Research In Cancer-related Health professions (ENRICH) successfully completed its second year of the rigorous 10-week summer program to engage in cancer research at UAB.
Members of the UAB Department of Pathology gathered for an outgoing reception for residents and fellows on June 5. Faculty, staff and trainees came together to celebrate at The Fennec with dinner and an awards ceremony.
This year April 20-26 is Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, an annual celebration of medical lab professionals and pathologists who play a vital role in health care and patient advocacy led by the American Society for Clinical Pathology. This week’s theme is Mystery Machine of Diagnostics: Another Case Solved by the Lab.
April 14 marks the 12th annual Pathologists’ Assistant (PA) Day, led by the American Association of Pathologists’ Assistants. PAs are often responsible for the efficient and effective operation of the anatomic pathology service and play a critical role in the delivery of healthcare services in both surgical pathology and autopsy by determining patients’ pathologic diagnoses.
The UAB Department of Pathology recently funded travel awards to four trainees, Dr. Ashleigh Riegler, Ezgi Sari, Courtney Swain and Resha Rajkarnikar, who will present their research at national meetings this year.
The UAB Department of Pathology hosted its third annual Staff Retreat on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. The day-long event featured an array of speakers and team activities.
The UAB Department of Pathology, in the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine, is ranked number 10 for the most funds awarded to a United States pathology department by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2023.
Several members from the UAB Department of Pathology participated in the annual Birmingham Kidney Walk and Celebration on April 5 at Samford University’s Track and Field Complex.
The UAB Department of Pathology is proud to welcome nine new fellows into the department this summer, joining the four UAB residents or existing fellows who are staying on to complete a fellowship with us.
Shi Wei, M.D., Ph.D., Division Director, Women’s Health, Section Head, Bone and Soft Tissue Pathology, has been named the Hazel Gore, M.D., Endowed Professor in Women's Health in the Department of Pathology, effective April 4.
Shi Wei, M.D., Ph.D., Division Director, Women's Health, has been named section head for bone and soft tissue pathology, effective April 1. Wei assumes the position from Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., Robert W. Mowry Endowed Professor, who recently retires on December 31, 2024, after 34 years of service in the UAB Department of Pathology.