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Rachael Lee, MD (Assistant Professor, Infectious Diseases) and Bob Centor, MD, MACP (Professor Emeritus, General Internal Medicine) have authored paradigm-shifting guidance in the Annals of Internal Medicine that demonstrates the benefit of prescribing a shorter course of antibiotics for four common infections. Their paper summarizes multiple studies outlining the appropriate duration of antibiotic treatment for these infections, noting that each additional day of unnecessary antibiotics can lead to more side effects, drive antibiotic resistance, and cause more infections like C. difficile.

L to R: Kate Morgan, CMA, Chaeli Lawson, CRNP, Natalja Deineko, TaKeisha Flannigan, CMA

The UAB House Calls Program provides primary care to homebound individuals who are typically very frail with multiple serious medical conditions. Because the patients are at high risk for complication and death if infected with COVID-19, the team has coordinated with pharmacy, the UAB Highlands vaccination site, and leadership to be able to provide the COVID-19 vaccine to these patients at home. House Calls is scheduled to provide around 130 vaccinations to patients and their qualifying caregivers in the weeks ahead. The Department salutes this dedicated team for their compassion and innovation.

Mark Dransfield, MD (Professor & Interim Director, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care) and Devika Das, MD (Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology) have received a $1.3 million grant to develop a Lung Precision Oncology Program at the Birmingham VA Medical Center. The project aims to improve lung cancer screening among veterans, whose cancer often goes undetected until later stages, in an effort to connect them to clinical trials. The award is part of a regional effort to improve the state of lung cancer care in Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Front: Matalie Garner, Pamela Myers, Alicia Dean, Annetris Bates, Amanda Jones Back: Cynthia Jackson, Carolyn Gancy, Dr. Jain, Dr. Wallace, Jessie Holmes

The home dialysis clinic co-led by Drs. Eric Wallace and Gaurav Jain (Nephrology) recently received a DaVita Care Connect Champion Award for their telehealth efforts. The award highlights the tremendous expertise that has been cultivated over the past three years, from the time they became the first in the U.S. to offer telehealth appointments to their patients. Today, the team cares for more than 150 people and is one of the largest academic home dialysis programs in the nation. Three cheers on this well-deserved recognition!

Developing a blood clot in the lungs is a relatively common life-threatening condition, and a number of new technologies have emerged that provide multiple options for treatment of such pulmonary emboli. To give our patients at UAB the best possible care for their particular situation, a multi-disciplinary team of physicians have established a PERT, or Pulmonary Embolism Response Team.