Dr. Edward Abraham, Chair of the Department of Medicine, has appointed interim director Dr. Stuart Frank to serve as Director of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism beginning October 1. Dr. Frank is a Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Cell Biology, and Physiology and Biophysics at UAB. He serves as Director of the Basic Science Section of the Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care, and as Chief of the Endocrinology Section in the Medical Service at the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center. In addition, Dr. Frank serves as Chair of the School of Medicine Faculty Council.

Dr. Frank is an outstanding educator, clinician and researcher. “I have every confidence that Dr. Frank has the leadership abilities, research skills, creativity, and energy level required to build on the existing strengths of this division and to develop productive programs in new directions,” said Dr. Abraham.

Dr. Frank received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He completed a fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at NIH and was a medical staff fellow/senior staff fellow in the Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, NICHD, NIH. He was appointed to the faculty at UAB in 1991. His research, aimed at understanding growth hormone (GH) receptor signal transduction and structure/function relationships and mechanisms of generation of the GH binding protein, is supported by grants from NIH and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Dr. Frank sees an exciting future for the Division. “The emphasis on diabetes and metabolism in the research and clinical strategic plans, the tremendous philanthropic support for the new Comprehensive Diabetes Center and related activities, and the recent NIDDK decision to fund UAB’s NIH-sponsored Diabetes Research and Training Center are all important developments that directly impact therole of our Division. I foresee recruitment of world-class research faculty in diabetes and endocrinology to compliment our existing excellent basic and clinical research programs, and I envision that our planned Multidisciplinary Comprehensive Diabetes Clinic will similarly enhance our already robust clinical efforts. I look forward to collaborating closely with Dr. Corbett at the Diabetes Center, Dr. Garvey of Nutrition Sciences, Dr. McCormick in Pediatric Endocrinology, and other leaders in the Department of Medicine to develop new clinical, research, and training programs.”