Dr. Willett (center) with 2017-2018 CMRs Drs. Amanda Brito, Mack Brown, Rob Smola, and Karla Williams

Lisa Willett, MD (Professor, General Internal Medicine) is President-Elect of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM), which is a part of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM).  APDIM is the international organization of accredited internal medicine residency programs. The association represents program directors, associate and assistant program directors, core faculty, program administrators and coordinators, fellowship coordinators, and other key faculty and staff involved in the internal medicine residency program.

Music Therapists Mary Fair and Kim HamrickThanks to a new music therapy initiative called the Heartbeat Project in the Center for Palliative and Supportive Care, a former patient’s heartbeat was recorded, put to music, and incorporated into a song. Not only does having music therapy during treatment provide comfort for the patients, but through this innovative and encouraging program, family members may also have a lasting legacy to remember their loved one.

Left to Right: Troy Randall, PhD; Anupam Agarwal, MD; Martin Young, DPhil; Orlando Gutierrez, MD, MMSc; Sumanth Prabhu, MD; Amit Gaggar, MD, PhD; Stijn De Langhe, PhD; and Victor Thannickal, MDCongratulations to the five Department of Medicine faculty whose endowed chairs and professorships were approved at recent Board of Trustees meetings:

Martin Young, DPhil (Professor, Cardiovascular Disease) Jeanne V. Marks Chair in Cardiovascular Disease

Orlando Gutierrez, MD, MMsc (Associate Professor, Nephrology) Hilda B. Anderson Endowed Chair in Nephrology

Amit Gaggar, MD, PhD (Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care) Endowed Professorship in Airway Biology 

Troy Randall, PhD (Professor, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology) William J. Koopman Endowed Professorship in Immunology & Rheumatology

Stijn De Langhe, PhD (Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care) Endowed Professorship in Lung Development and Regeneration

L to R: Special Care Unit team members Jennifer Sellers, PA; Mary Margaret Basham, MD; Medical Director Tracy Luckhardt, MD; Eva Otoupalova, MD; and Ashlyn Byrd, CRNPSince October 2016, the UAB Special Care Unit has employed a high touch and early mobilization strategy to wean patients from ventilators. Thanks to their hard work, led by Medical Director Tracy Luckhardt, MD (Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care), the ventilator wean rates now exceed the national average by 21%, and hospital readmissions have dropped significantly among these very complex patients. Kudos to the entire team for outstanding patient care efforts.

Two assistant professors in the Division of Hematology and Oncology Racquel Innis-Shelton, MD, and Kelly Godby, MD, co-direct the Multiple Myeloma Clinic at UAB which celebrated its fifth anniversary this month. Over the past 5 years, they have seen a three-fold increase in Multiple Myeloma patients receiving treatment at UAB, and they are currently running 8 different clinical trials. Congratulations to all the hard-working faculty, staff, and investigators who are making life-changing treatments possible—like the stem cell transplant that helped one of our own UAB employees send her Multiple Myeloma into remission.