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The Department of Medicine is thrilled to announce three DOM STAR Award for Staff Excellence winners for Fall 2022: Administrative Assistant in the Division of Nephrology Corene Knight; Program Director for the UAB Center for AIDS Research in the Division of Infectious Diseases Mary Thielen; and Program Director of Global Infectious Diseases in the Division of Infectious Diseases Jamie White. We are proud to recognize these outstanding staff members who make our department shine!

 Tinsley Harrison Internal Medicine Residents and Primary Care Scholars Drs. David Heaner and Bria Carrithers 

Tinsley Harrison Internal Medicine Residents and 2022 Primary Care Scholars, Drs. David Heaner and Bria Carrithers are observing National Primary Care Week — a celebration that engages physicians-in-training, students across the health spectrum, and the public on the role of primary care in the health care system — by sharing their training experiences and vision for their future careers.

The DOM has partnered other departments across the Heersink School of Medicine to commemorate Primary Care Week. Make sure to follow @UABDeptMed on Twitter to join the conversation.

Anand Iyer, M.D., MSPH, (Assistant Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care) co-chaired a policy statement in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine which highlights ten fundamental values and principles of palliative care in serious illness and proposes seven policy recommendations across palliative care domains. Recommendations include comprehensive individualized assessments, collaboration with informal caregivers, and advanced research.

L to R: Pankaj Arora, M.D., (Professor, Cardiovascular Disease) Vibhu Parcha, M.D., (Former CVD Fellow, PGY-1), Meghan Bartos (Clinical and Research Genetic Counselor), Taylor McClinchey (Clinical and Research Genetic Counselor), and Jonathan Murphy, LPN (Clinic Manger) 

Pankaj Arora, M.D., (Associate Professor, Cardiovascular Disease) and colleagues are working to change the trajectory of hereditary cardiovascular conditions at UAB’s Cardiogenomics Clinic. Established in 2021, the clinic provides patients with a comprehensive cardiovascular assessment that includes special genetic testing, genomic counseling, and a treatment plan for patients and their families designed to mitigate inherited cardiovascular diseases. The clinic is one of two in the Southeast and has already received multiple family referrals.

Mark Dransfield, M.D., Professor and Director in the UAB Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Caren 

In a new report from the Lancet Commission on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, the Commission reframes the conversation on COPD. Mark Dransfield, M.D., (Professor and Director, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care) co-chaired the Commission and notes that COPD has long been perceived as a self-inflicted disease caused by smoking, but there are four other distinct causes of COPD: genetics, early-life events, infections, and environmental exposures. He also highlights the need to broaden the diagnostic criteria, because spirometry alone is insufficient to diagnose COPD. The report findings were presented at the European Respiratory Society 2022 International Congress this week.