Doctors conduct exams and tests during annual checkups to get an overall picture of a patient’s health. One important part of this checkup concerns heart health, and for some patients, checking heart health may be the most important part of the exam.

“A kidney transplant…is extraordinarily powerful,” said Jayme Locke, M.D., MPH, director of the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute (CTI), in a recent episode of ‘The Checkup’ podcast. “So is a liver, a heart, a lung—they all change people's lives. They all give life back.”

It is rare that the two largest transplantation societies choose two leaders from the same institution. But this year, University of Alabama at Birmingham nephrologist Vineeta Kumar, M.D., and transplant surgeon Jayme Locke, M.D., MPH, have been named councilors at-large for the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, respectively.

Arnold G. Diethelm, former chair of the Department of Surgery and a leader in transplantation surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, died Jan. 28, 2021. Diethelm was a native of Baltimore, Maryland. His career at UAB began in 1967 when he joined the UAB Department of Surgery, upon the completion of his two-year fellowship at Harvard, at the invitation of John W. Kirklin.

University of Alabama at Birmingham Assistant Professor Saulat Sajjad Sheikh, MBBS Division of Transplantation is one of the first female transplant surgeons from her originating country, Pakistan.

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week, and UAB Medicine is home to a program bringing new hope to those struggling with infertility: the Uterus Transplant Program.

The Inspire Institute Excellence Program named UAB Sleep/Wake Disorders Center a Center of Excellence for hypoglossal nerve stimulator implantation, a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Being physically active is an important part of heart health, but how should one take care of their heart while playing sports or exercising?

Behold the big toe. Called the great toe in medical circles, the big toe is essential in balance, as it displaces body weight throughout the foot. Without a big toe, walking, standing and even moving may be difficult. 

“Life over limb” is not a phrase Amanda Pullen-Hendrix ever thought she would hear, especially not on her 29th birthday. But on July 12, 2020, what she at first believed was an asthma attack turned out to be a life-threatening stroke and multiple blood clots.

Passion is defined as having a strong and barely controllable emotion for someone or something, and for alumna Lindsey Harris, DNP, CRNP, FNP-BC (MSN 2011, DNP 2016), that passion is improving the nursing profession and helping current and future nurses reach their fullest potential.

Diabetes can weaken the immune system’s ability to fight infection, putting people with the disease at risk of serious complications from COVID-19. However, by paying extra attention to diabetes management and nutrition habits, many people with diabetes who do get the virus can avoid or manage serious complications.