Department of Pathology
Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive type of brain tumor in humans, with an average survival of approximately 15 months despite current treatment options. A major barrier to effective treatment is the highly invasive nature of glioblastoma cells, which infiltrate the surrounding brain and drive tumor formation. Growing evidence shows that glioma invasion is not only controlled by tumor cells but is strongly influenced by interactions with brain-resident stromal cells, particularly astrocytes. Understanding these interactions is crucial for developing new effective therapies.
Paul Benson, M.D., Autopsy Section Head and professor in the Division of Anatomic Pathology and Nicholas Eisele, D.O., PGY2, Chief Resident of Education and Outreach, were recipients of the 2026 pilot award from the Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health. The goal of the pilot is to catalyze innovation in any mission area that involves collaboration between experienced investigators at UAB and international partners addressing a major global health problem.
The Department of Pathology is thrilled to announce a new faculty member joining our team, effective March 31.
The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare has shown robust potential for future utilization. One common application is its ability to provide quality assurance for practitioners in various specialties. This direction is the vision of Daniel Atherton, M.D., an associate professor in the Department of Pathology’s Division of Forensics, who worked with colleagues from the Institute for Biomedical Innovation to develop WoundX, a software tool for gunshot wound classification.
UAB Medicine’s Leadership Development Office (LDO) recognized eight faculty members who graduated from cohort 8 of the SAIL (Sharing Authentically to Inspire and Lead) program for spring 2026. The program supports junior faculty as they develop authentic leadership approaches, strengthen professional networks, and navigate the unique challenges of early academic careers.
Peter Anderson, D.V.M., Ph.D., a professor emeritus in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, has recently been awarded the Edward Patrick Finnerty Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE). This award is given to an individual who has demonstrated sustained commitment to the advancement of the IAMSE through exceptional contributions to the organization. Anderson will be recognized at the 30th Annual IAMSE Conference in June.
One fellow and three residents were elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society (AΩA) in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. Falone Amoa, M.D., M.S., Gian Piero Carames, M.D., PGY4, Nicholas Eisele, D.O., PGY2, Chief Resident, Education and Outreach, and Alyssa Lee, M.D., M.S., PGY4, were selected to join the Honor society in February.
Researchers in the Division of Genomic Diagnostics and Bioinformatics recently developed three new laboratory tests: IDH1 R132 Mutation Analysis, TERT Promoter Mutation Analysis and MLH1 Methylation Analysis by Methylation-Specific PCR and MassArray. These tests help provide more accurate diagnoses and support the development of effective treatment plans.
The UAB Department of Pathology is excited to announce our chief residents for the 2026-27 year and thank our 2025-26 chiefs.
On January 21, the UAB Department of Pathology honored Peter Anderson, D.V.M., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, with a reception celebrating his retirement featuring colleagues, family and friends of Dr. Anderson.
The UAB Department of Pathology launched its digital pathology initiative in November 2024. Today, the effort is only gaining momentum. The program’s implementation is scheduled to be completed by June 2026, but the journey has only just begun.
The Department of Pathology is pleased to announce a new faculty member joining our team, effective January 15.
Gregory Davis, M.D., M.S.P.H., Division Director, Forensic Pathology, was installed as the 2025-2026 president of the American Society for Clinical Pathology during the annual meeting on November 17-20 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Erin Eun-Young Ahn, Ph.D., a professor in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, has been named a 2025 Termeer Scholar. The Termeer Scholars Program provides mentoring, networking, and coaching for academic researchers, with the goal of helping them translate bench science into real-world impact for patients.
The Department of Pathology is thrilled to announce four faculty’s new appointments to endowed positions. Oyedele Adeyi, M.D., FRCPC, has been named the second holder of the C. Bruce Alexander Endowed Professorship in Pathology. Selvarangan Ponnazhagan, Ph.D., has been named the second holder of the Jay M. McDonald, M.D., Endowed Chair in Laboratory Medicine. Lalita Shevde-Samant, Ph.D., has been named the second holder of the Endowed Professorship in Experimental Cancer Therapeutics. Thomas Winokur, M.D., has been named the second holder of the Robert W. Mowry, M.D., Endowed Professorship in Pathology.
Two physician-scientist trainees in the Department of Pathology participated in the UAB Global Health Symposium on October 29 and 30. Chiamaka Umah, M.D., PGY3, and Falone Amoa, M.D., M.S., a PGY5 and Ph.D. candidate in the laboratory of Upender Manne, Ph.D., M.S., participated in a range of engaging sessions to gain insights into innovative applications of artificial intelligence across diagnostics, health systems, disease surveillance, and more.
Chronic granulomatous fungal sinusitis is a rare, debilitating infection characterized by an enlarged mass in the nasal cavity or sinuses, facial pain and swelling, eye bulging, vision problems, headache and nasal congestion. While most cases are found in subtropical regions of Sudan, India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia caused by Aspergillus flavus, a pathogenic fungus, cases have recently been identified in the Southeastern United States caused by Curvularia, an emerging pathogen.
UAB Medicine’s Leadership Development Office (LDO) celebrated seven distinguished faculty members from the seventh cohort of the Sharing Authentically to Inspire and Lead (SAIL) program at a graduation ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 21. The program, facilitated by Celeste Morgan, Ph.D., CDMS, senior leadership development specialist, is designed to help early-career faculty strengthen their leadership skills, refine their academic identities, and chart clear, sustainable paths toward long-term success.
The 2025 Tri-State Pathology Conference took place October 4-5 at the New Orleans Marriot in Louisiana, hosted by the Louisiana Pathology Society, in conjunction with the Mississippi Association of Pathologists and the Alabama Association of Pathologists.
Several Research and Clinical Experience in Pathology (RaCE4Path) students presented posters at the 2025 UAB Heersink School of Medicine Dale J Benos Medical Student Research Day on September 15 and the UAB Undergraduate Research Expo on July 24.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Department of Pathology is thrilled to announce a new faculty member joining our team August 1.
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 a new faculty member joining our team July 1.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The UAB Heersink School of Medicine is proud to announce the 19 winners of the 2025 Dean's Excellence Awards for Faculty.
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.
The Heersink School of Medicine is proud to announce the 2025 recipients of its 1R01 Award. Securing extramural research funding is a very competitive process, and this award is a testament to these investigators’ groundbreaking research and dedication to advancing biomedical science.
November 2024 marked 20 years since the establishment of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute (EMBI) at UAB. The institute was made possible by a generous gift from the McKnight Brain Research Foundation (MBRF), matched by the university, to support research in cognitive aging and age-related memory loss. Ronald Lazar, Ph.D., professor in the UAB Department of Neurology, has been director of the institute since 2017.
The UAB Medicine Leadership Development Office recently recognized 11 individuals in its fifth cohort of Sharing Authentically to Inspire and Lead (SAIL). The fall 2024 graduates were honored at a ceremony on Nov. 12.
Eight faculty members recently graduated from UAB Medicine’s LEading Advancing Developing (LEAD) Fall 2024 leadership development program. The program, presented by UAB Medicine’s Leadership Development Office (LDO), recognized its graduates at a ceremony on Oct. 24, 2024.
Seven chief residents at UAB recently graduated from the Chief Residents Leadership Series Spring 2024 program. The program, presented by UAB Medicine’s Leadership Development Office, recognized its graduates at a ceremony on May 30, 2024.
UAB Medicine’s Leadership Development Office recently recognized 12 individuals in its fourth cohort of Sharing Authentically to Inspire and Lead (SAIL). The spring 2024 graduates received their certificates on April 9.
Thirteen faculty members recently graduated from UAB Medicine’s LEading Advancing Developing (LEAD) Spring 2024 program. The program, presented by UAB Medicine’s Leadership Development Office (LDO), recognized its graduates at a ceremony on March 14, 2024.
Lunar New Year 2024 begins Feb. 10. The Office for Diversity and Inclusion sat down with Yabing Chen, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Pathology’s Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, to learn what Lunar New Year means to her.
On Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, students from Heersink School of Medicine gathered to celebrate faculty, courses, and course directors at the annual Argus Awards Ceremony.
Gene Siegal, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed as the interim chair of the Department of Pathology in the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine effective June 1, 2023.
Sixteen remarkable faculty members have been named winners of the 2023 Dean’s Excellence Awards for Faculty.
Medical students honored their outstanding mentors, professors, courses, and course directors at the annual Argus Awards Ceremony on Friday, Jan. 6.
Scott Ballinger, Ph.D., has been named the new associate dean for Faculty Affairs.
Anupam Agarwal, M.D., interim dean of the Heersink School of Medicine, welcomed faculty members and their families to the Endowed Chairs and Professorships Reception on Sept. 29.
The Heersink School of Medicine communications staff sat down with Drs. Weaver and Zindl to gain insights about the research of this study, UAB, and the science community.