INTO LIGHT features narratives of people who have died from addiction. This exhibit at UT Austin is a must see for all healthcare providers. I’ll be sharing more on this project, narrative medicine and storytelling as a way to improve patient care and end stigma at IDweek in ATL. Join me!

This is a study I worked on over the last few years with @kinnathakarar.bsky.social and others that shows the power of education on changing mindsets regarding stigmatized conditions!

Kudos to Skye Opsteeen & the Southeastern Med Scientist Symposium #SEMMS2025 cmte. When UAB has hosted (‘22, ‘25), I have been invited to speak on trust in medicine & building a brand. Clearly, these student leads are paying attn 2 the most pressing (& challenging) topics 4 the physician scientist

A warm welcome 2 Dr Nora Volkow, Director of NIDA, who is visiting UAB for the Alabama Summit on Addiction & Pain. Excited 4 our team to present on substance use & infectious outcomes in the state and region. Thanks to UAB CAPPI & Addiction Prevention Coalition for support of this conference.

Thanks to IAS-USA and Dr Mike Saag for a chance to talk about what’s new in substance use treatment- CDC funding cuts, bad batch alerts, & how to improve care in the hospital setting. Plus @kinnathakarar.bsky.social & CTN-0121 shoutouts! urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

Apparently, our clinic is one of the first if not the first to get approval for Yeztugo. One might say we are yaaaaaas to go! #HIVSky #IDSky

Congrats to Dr. Ryan Salazar on his last day of Uab IM residency. 🎉 In OBAT clinic, he learned about acute overdose & stabilization and long-term recovery. He’s headed to Huntsville, AL as a hospitalist ready to screen & treat his patients for substance use and infectious diseases. GL, Ryan!

#Colorado: We're not different. #SavetheRainforest www.al.com/politics/202...

🎉 4 of our lab’s stars are off to grad school! With skills in caring 4 addiction & infectious diseases, these students make our future a lot brighter. Kudos! Ann Harshfield, UASOM Morgan Mulrain , Meharry Med Shubh Malhotra , VCU SOM Anna Julia Kutsch , UNC SoPH Thanks @uabcappi.bsky.social

Kudos to Bailey Pridgen for sharing our work on substance use screening in HIV clinics in AL. We found high rates of alcohol use and geographic variation in drug use patterns across the state. Nice job, Bailey! 👏🏻 @uabcappi.bsky.social

Excited 2 bring the Massachusetts model of care to AL. MD shortages plague our state, & our HIV/OBAT clinic is often overbooked. But with the nurse care manager model, champion by Colleen Labelle (center), we can extend high-quality addiction care across the state. TY Colleen & Grayken team

Delighted to be selected for the 1st cohort of trainees at Grayken Center for Addiction’s Nurse Care Manager Training with our nurse champion, Marsha. Nurses are essential to expanding access to care in AL and rural US, and we’re so glad to have some of the best at UAB @uabcappi.bsky.social

TY @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social & Dr David Kimberlin for the most accessible masterclass on Social Determinants of health. Where there is tuberculosis, there is injustice. Where there is injustice, there is tuberculosis. 👏🏻 5 Stars

Follow HIVMA Board member Hussein Safa, MD, as he advocates on Capitol Hill to save HIV funding. Dr. Safa met with the Pennsylvania delegation to urge full funding for HIV prevention, care and research.

Important result from CDC research team: H5N1 flu virus from a dairy farm worker transmitted by direct contact in ferrets with 100% efficiency (6/6 animals infected) and by droplets/aerosols in ferrets, physically separated, with 50% efficiency (3/6 animals infected). wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/...

In a time and state where it’s hard to find a good doctor, it is getting harder to BE a good doctor. Vaccines are the most effective, lifesaving tool in the physician’s toolkit

The US now has no vaccine advisory committee, no CDC director, and an anti-vaxxer as Health Secretary.

Measles is dangerous Please vaccinate your children!!! www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

A treat 2 learn about meth & the microbiome from @fulchjen.bsky.social. We’ve seen inc. meth use in AL impacting HIV incidence & outcomes, infectious diseases & gut/oral bacterial growth. Thanks 2 the UAB addiction, immunology & infectious diseases research program 4 support! @uabcappi.bsky.social

Proud of Marsha Hawkins, who was accepted to the Expanding Addiction Treatment Nurse Care Manager Model. Hate 2 miss @cpddorg.bsky.social, but I can’t think of a better reason: learning how 2 best serve our patients alongside our nursing team is vital for patient access, Addiction & Medical Care. 👏🏻👏🏻

Save the Date for CAPPI’s Alabama Summit on Addiction and Pain. September 2-3, 2025. Keynote speaker: Dr. Nora Volkow.

A treat to welcome Dr Marisa Young to UAB ID and learn about her trichomonas & microbiome research. Thanks to our friendly STI research faculty for letting me tag along

A #fridayfollow. The assaults on reason & science continue by the administration. It's exhausting. Here are a few scientists whose work you should know about. Please feel free to add: @nathanlo.bsky.social @drelleneaton.bsky.social @emmybetz.bsky.social Each is doing lifesaving & innovative work.

Kansas reports measles spike as other states confirm more cases Montana reported more cases in its cluster, and Ohio reported an infection in an unvaccinated adult. www.cidrap.umn.edu/m... Photo: CDC / Heinz F. Eichenwald, MD

@uabcappi.bsky.social will be tabling at Regional Wellness Day 2025 from 3pm–7pm today at the Birmingham CrossPlex. Come see us! #UAB #birminghamalabama #communitymatters #uabcappi

That’s a wrap! UAB CAPPI photos from the 2025 Addiction Prevention Coalition End Addiction Walk. We were delighted to sponsor this large community event which supports the APC’s lifesaving programs / people who use drugs. #UAB_CAPPI #communitymatters

UAB HSOM and @uabcappi.bsky.social are actively recruiting investigators as part of a major strategic initiative engaged in Addiction, Pain, and/or HIV/HCV. Clinical (PhD, MD, or PhD) research faculty at all ranks are invited to apply! For more info: uab.peopleadmin.com/postings/20862

Great to have so much expertise in substance use & infectious diseases @nationalacademies.org Emerging Leaders Forum. These three leaders have taught me so much about OUD, HCV, and harm reduction. dream team @jabarocas.bsky.social @madelinemc5.bsky.social #DrHanselTookes

Wrapping up an amazing 3 years as an @nationalacademies.org Emerging Leader. This experience has changed the way I approach patient care & research by exposing me to innovative care models & cutting edge research. But the best part, by far, is working with inspiring leaders from across the U.S. 👏🏻

Tremendous presentation by @madelinemc5.bsky.social on HCV treatment in pregnancy @health.nationalacademies.org. We have safe, effective treatment; we just need more meds in hands. Kudos to Madeline, Dr Laura Marks & team

Tremendous #EndAddictionWalk this weekend by my friends at the Addiction Prevention Coalition. It is always encouraging to see my patients, partners, and community celebrating and supporting this cause. Shout out to Nichole Dawsey, new APC Director and absolute gift to BIrmingham.

From 2010 to 2016 (latest data I have ), NIH research contributed to EVERY drug approved by the FDA

We are prescribing anger. With @choo.bsky.social, we need everyone to be a little bit more pissed. @msnbc.com www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Had a great conversation with @contagionlive.bsky.social on the importance of HIV Advocacy and Education in this era #HIVSky @hivma.bsky.social

▶️ "US AIDS funding cuts send #HIV treatment ‘off a cliff’ in #SouthAfrica" via @france24.com

So much uncertainty in the world, but one thing is true: Morgan Mulrain is going to Meharry Medical College! 🥳 Morgan (left of Bryan Stevenson) is professional & empathetic with people w substance use disorders & infections. He will make a competent, compassionate MD 💪🏻

An unvaccinated child has died from #measles in the West Texas outbreak. So tragic. Measles is a dangerous disease. Deaths are rar-ish, but they do happen. The measles vaccine is highly effective and safe. www.statnews.com/2025/02/26/t...

American chaos: standing up for health and medicine - The Lancet www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Take action today with IDSA/HIVMA! Following this link automatically fills out a message to send to your senators and representatives about the effects of the federal grants pause on our work. @idsainfo.bsky.social @hivma.bsky.social #HIVSky #IDSky click.msgs.idsociety.org?qs=c3da1b4db...

Alabama has never been known for public health or wellness, but this level of vaccine hesitancy will surely make us even sicker, increase time away from school & work, and reverse decades of public health progress

In Dec, we lost our rescue pup, Daisy Mae. Her vets believe she died from parvovirus, a vaccine preventable disease, which can be fatal for puppies. Apparently, the anti-vaccine movement has affected pet vaccine rates too, putting pups like Daisy at risk. Please talk 2 your vet about 💉 vaccines! 🙏🏻

DoxyPEP—a dose of doxycycline after sex—helped reduce bacterial STIs in San Francisco & surrounding cities, according to real-world studies. Chlamydia & syphilis notably declined, though there was less effect on gonorrhea. My latest for @pozmagazine.bsky.social www.poz.com/article/doxy...

Excited to share this NEJM CPC. We should all include this in our differential diagnoses in cirrhotics with headaches. Cesar Berto at UAB clinched this diagnosis when he was a transplant ID fellow at MGH. Thanks to @fungaldoc.bsky.social for help with my discussion. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Bravo to Drs. Stone, Leisch, and UAB Addiction Med Fellowship on a successful pilot of core competencies for Substance Use training. Dr Stone is presenting at the National Academy of Medicine today with many other stellar pilot awardees. 👏🏻 @uabmedicine

Thankfully this child did not have birdflu from drinking raw milk but the message here is the kid still got sick‼️ There are many other pathogens in raw milk that can make a child sick & even kill them. So not a victory. No responsible parents feed kids raw milk. www.cbsnews.com/news/califor...

And people wonder why peds ID docs need to take such detailed medical histories 👀 #pedsky #medsky

Excited to share our work with President Biden’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS in Montgomery, AL today. You can tune in virtually to learn more about work being done in the South to End HIV. Link 👇

Great live content today on Substance Use, HPV, cardiovascular disease in HIV. I reviewed emerging data on use of GLP-1 receptor agonists for substance use disorders. We need more data in SUD (& HIV ) but promising early results. On demand content 👇 coming soon www.iasusa.org/events/hiv-a...

Thankful for these turkeys & a few days off 🏖️ 🥧 🦃