Research

Dr. Sarah Bateni joined the faculty of the UAB Department of Surgery as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology in October 2022. Her clinical and research interests include: soft tissue malignancies including extremity, and retroperitoneal sarcoma and skin malignancies such as melanoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and advanced basal cell carcinoma. She serves on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network panel for melanoma. She is also a health services and outcomes researcher and focuses on clinical and patient-reported outcomes in patients with advanced cancer.

Current projects include:

• "Feasibility of the evaluation of patient reported outcomes after consideration of palliative surgery in patients with locally advanced or metastatic cancer"

Dr. Angela Carter is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology. Dr. Carter’s current research involves delineating the underlying molecular mechanisms that constitute relationships between microbes and hosts and leveraging those mechanisms toward the treatment of human disease.

Ongoing projects in the lab include: 1) understanding how Fusobacterium nucleatum acts as an enhancer of amphetamine addiction, 2) investigating microbial biofilms as regulators of substance use disorders, 3) exploring the interplay between amphetamines, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and cancer, and 4) engineering synthetic microbes for the production of therapeutic molecules.

Current research includes: 

• "A Novel Class of Microbial-Based Cancer Therapy"
• "Microbial Biofilms as Regulators of Amphetamine Use Disorders"

Dr. Annabelle Fonseca is an Associate Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She is a surgeon-scientist with a combined clinical and research appointment. With a dual board certification in General Surgery and Complex General Surgical Oncology, she specializes in treating hepato-pancreato-biliary and other foregut malignancies. After completing medical school in India, she pursued a residency in general surgery at Yale University, where she also earned a Master of Health Science (MHS) degree and completed a two-year research fellowship. She subsequently completed a fellowship in Complex General Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Her research, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense, focuses on improving the quality and delivery of high-quality complex oncologic care for foregut cancers across the cancer care continuum. Through her patient-centered approach, Dr. Fonseca has helped guide numerous patients through their cancer journey while simultaneously advancing research aimed at improving cancer care outcomes.

Current projects include:

• "Improving Shared Decision-making in Pancreatic Cancer"
• "A Patient-Centric Approach to Improving Guideline Concordant Care in Pancreatic Cancer: Using modifiable barriers to identify patients at risk for disparities"

Dr. Rachael Guenter received her B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from North Carolina State University in 2017. She received her PhD in Cancer Biology (2021), along with completing her postdoctoral fellowship (2023), at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Currently she is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology. Her research includes: (i) the development of novel theragnostic agents for pancreatic cancers, (ii) understanding the role of Notch signaling in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, and (iii) the development a new preclinical models for neuroendocrine tumor research. She is particularly interested in developing new treatments for patients with unresectable, advanced disease. She also advocates to bring awareness to neuroendocrine cancer and aims to provide accurate information for patients and the general public.

Dr. Martin Heslin serves as the Chief Medical and Quality Officer for the UAB Health System and is a Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology. His research includes both clinical and nonclinical topics. His research interests vary, with topics from surgical outcomes to physician management, but keep a common underlying theme of improving the practice of medicine. Current projects focus on upgrading existing policies, such as physician peer review, and collecting/analyzing meaningful data in patient experience and ongoing physician practice trends.

Dr. Sushanth Reddy joined the faculty of the UAB Department of Surgery Division of Surgical Oncology in 2012. In addition to serving as an Associate Professor in the Division, he is an Associate Scientist in the Experimental Therapeutics Program at the UO'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB.

An active clinician and researcher, Dr. Reddy’s focus is hepatopancreatobiliary surgery and the therapy and study of pancreatic cancers.

Current projects inlcude: 

• "Identifying the Socio-ecologic determinants of health that impact the use of digital health care and survivorship amongst cancer patients during the Covid pandemic"
• "Developing an Algorithm for Pancreatic Survivorship Care using Digital Health Technology"
• "The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cancer Patients"
• "Access and Knowledge of Technology in Alabama"

Dr. J. Bart Rose is an Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology in the Department of Surgery, Section Chief of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Director of the UAB Pancreatobiliary Disease Center, and Leader of our Pancreas Cancer Service Line. His research is focused on identifying biomarkers and mechanisms of cancer development in the liver, pancreas, and bile ducts. His basic/translational science research programs include: (i) understanding new ways to treat neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas and GI tract by targeting the Notch pathway, (ii) investigating novel theragnostic targets in pancreatic, colorectal, and breast cancers, and (iii) identifying molecular drivers of disparate outcomes in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.