Edward Abraham, MD, a pulmonary and critical care medicine expert whose research is known throughout the world, became, chair of the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine, effective March 1, 2006.

Formerly, Abraham headed the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine and was vice chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Abraham, 53, succeeds William J. Koopman, M.D., UAB Distinguished Professor and Chairman Emeritus, who stepped down last July after 11 years as the department’s chair.

A former Fulbright Fellow who spent 2 years at the Pasteur Institute in Paris early in his career before going on to gain prominence on the faculties of UCLA and the University of Colorado, where he has been since 1993, Abraham has devoted much of his academic life to elucidating the mechanisms responsible for inflammatory lung injury and organ system failure in patients with critical illness, such as overwhelming infections.

“Dr. Abraham brings a wealth of academic talent and distinction to the largest department in our school,” said Robert M. Rich, MD, vice president and dean of the UAB School of Medicine. “Under Ed Abraham’s leadership, an already extraordinarily accomplished department will ascend to even greater heights as it continues to make many fine contributions to medical research, teaching and clinical care for the benefit of Alabamians and others throughout the region, the nation and the world.”

Born in Chicago, Abraham completed his undergraduate studies with honors at Amherst College and Stanford University, from which he received his medical degree in 1978. He did his internship and residency in internal medicine at UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles before doing fellowships there in emergency medicine and critical care medicine.

He is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and belongs to a number of professional societies, including the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Thoracic Society, the American Association of Immunologists and the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

Abraham’s numerous professional activities include serving as editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the major international journal in this field, and as an associate editor of the Journal of Immunology. He is a member of the editorial boards of Critical Care Medicine, Intensive Care Medicine, Critical Care, Advances in Sepsis and WebMD/Medscape Pulmonary Medicine. He also serves on a number of key national panels and committees of the National Institutes of Health, including the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and is a frequent speaker at international medical meetings.

Abraham is an author of more than 250 research papers and editorials and six books, including Emergency Management of Critical Illness (1986) and Textbook of Critical Care (5th Edition) (2005).