UAB Synopsis, Vol. 26, No. 10, March 19, 2007
Edward Abraham, MD, chair of the Department of Medicine, has appointed Michael S. Saag, MD, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases effective April 12. Dr. Saag, an internationally known investigator who has been active in HIV/ AIDS research and treatment for 25 years, will continue as director of the UAB Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) but will step down as director of the 1917 Clinic, which he founded in the early days of the AIDS epidemic.
Dr. Saag’s plans for the division, which has absorbed the Division of Geographic Medicine, include building on current strengths in sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, virology, vaccinology, international health, and mycology. “While nurturing and supporting our ongoing clinical care and education efforts, we will develop a larger cadre of basic science investigators,” Dr. Saag says. “With the proper alignment of resources, we aim to be a top five division in international health and infectious disease.”
Dr. Saag received his MD degree from the University of Louisville in 1981 and completed his residency in internal medicine, serving as chief resident, at UAB, as well as a fellowship in infectious diseases and molecular virology. During his fellowship, Dr. Saag made seminal discoveries in the genetic evolution of HIV in vivo. He established the 1917 Clinic, a comprehensive HIV outpatient clinic dedicated to providing patient care and conducting clinical trials, basic science research, and clinical outcomes research. From within the clinical structure, Dr. Saag bolstered UAB’s newly established CFAR with a clinical trials unit, a data management center, and a clinical specimen repository. The clinic became a vehicle for synergistic efforts among clinical, basic science, and behavioral science investigators and provides a dynamic interface for clinicians and patients.
Among a raft of groundbreaking articles, Dr. Saag published the first description of the use of viral load in clinical practice, the first guidelines for using viral load, and the first description of rapid dynamics of viral replication. He wrote the first proof of concept of fusion inhibition as a therapeutic option and directed the first inpatient studies of 8 of the 20 antiretroviral drugs currently on the market. He has contributed to more than 50 medical textbook chapters and coedited AIDS Therapy.
Dr. Saag continues to study HIV pathogenesis, including antiretroviral therapy and novel treatments for opportunistic infections. He is principal investigator on two major National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards: the UAB AIDS Center Program Project Award, for which he is director of the clinical core, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases CFAR Network of Integrated Clinical Systems Award, an NIH-funded information sharing network to support outcomes research.
Dr. Saag serves on the NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council and the US Department of Health and Human Services Guidelines Panel on Antiretroviral Therapy. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine, the Infectious Disease Society of America, the HIV Medical Association, and the International AIDS Society-USA.
The AIDS Task Force of Alabama awarded Dr. Saag its Outstanding Medical Research Achievement Award and the Medical Association of the State of Alabama honored him with its Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2003 the Birmingham Business Journal named him a “Health Care Hero,” and in 2005 the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce gave him the Spirit of Birmingham Award. The University of Alabama Medical Alumni Association recently selected Dr. Saag to receive the 2007 Hettie Butler Terry Community Service Award.