Faculty Spotlight: Wei Xin, M.D., Ph.D.

Wei Xin, M.D., Ph.D.

Title: Professor of pathology; director of anatomic pathology

Joined USA College of Medicine faculty: Jan 1, 2022

What does your position at the USA COM/USA Health entail?
As the director of anatomic pathology, I will be in charge of the daily operation of anatomic pathology. Anatomic pathology is an integral part of patient care including providing accurate and timely tissue diagnosis, involving tumor board, supporting independent and collaborative research and quality control, as well as teaching medical students on pathology. Pathology technology has advanced very quickly in recent years, with molecular, digital and AI application in the field. We have to work hard to keep up with the cutting-edge technology.

What research initiatives are you involved in?
Before I joined the faculty at USA, I was on the faculty at Case Western Reserve University for 16 years and ranked as full professor. I was involved in many NIH-funded research projects as a co-investigator. At USA, I will continue my translational research on GI tract diseases, mainly on colonic and pancreatic carcinomas.

What is your advice for medical students and graduate students?
When choosing a career path, pathology is under the radar for most medical students. Pathology in the classroom is fundamentally different from the clinical side of pathology. I strongly encourage medical students to take one month of rotation to see how pathology operates. Modern medicine is more detailed and personalized, and pathology will be a pivotal part of precision medicine. For graduate students, pathology is the bridge between bench research to the clinical bed, and human tissue research is the future.

What are your hobbies/interests outside of work?
Traveling (national and internationally), gourmet cuisine and amateur golfing. Since I moved to the South, I hope to develop some water-related hobbies such as fishing and boating.

Medical student wins National Fellowship award

Hanna Bobinger of Mobile, a first-year medical student at the USA College of Medicine, is the recipient of the $8,500 Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi National Fellowship award.

The National Fellowship award was established by Phi Kappa Phi in 1932, and it has become the society’s signature award. This is a highly competitive award, and Bobinger is one of 54 students across the United States to receive recognition this year.

“Phi Kappa Phi provides student members with the opportunity to develop into professionals and lifelong learners, and this fellowship has offered me tremendous support for furthering my education,” Bobinger said.

Bobinger was admitted into the USA College of Medicine Early Acceptance Program as a senior at the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 2021.

During her time at South, Bobinger collaborated for her honors thesis with Thomas Rich, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology at the USA College of Medicine, on research involving Gq-mediated calcium signaling in human airway smooth muscle cells.

“Having an engineering background assisted my understanding of the confocal microscopy and imaging techniques we used,” she said.

Following residency, Bobinger said she hopes to pursue dermatology and complete a Mohs surgery fellowship.

USA Health featured in new TLC series ‘Stuck’

Andy Nadarajan, M.D., an emergency medicine resident physician, prepares to remove a large splinter from a patient's foot at USA Health Children's & Women's Hospital. The case is featured in an episode of TLC's new series 'Stuck.'

Sometimes things get stuck in places they shouldn’t be: a toy kaleidoscope on a finger, a stiletto heel in the eye, a fish hook in a thumb, or a large splinter in the foot.

These predicaments have landed young patients in the pediatric emergency center at USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital, where they became willing participants in educational emergency medicine YouTube videos.

The popular YouTube channel, run by Larry Mellick, M.D., professor and vice chair of emergency medicine at the USA College of Medicine, caught the attention of 51 Minds Entertainment, a production company that specializes in reality television. About three years ago, one of the producers at 51 Minds reached out to Mellick about a series they were working on for TLC. 

Cases from Mellick’s YouTube videos will be featured in TLC’s new three-part medical series, “Stuck.” The first episode airs Wednesday, Feb. 16, right after the season premiere of “Dr. Pimple Popper.” 

“I always said if this is meant to happen, it will happen; and it’s finally happening,” Mellick said of the project, which has been years in the making.

Larry Mellick, M.D., far left, poses with a patient and her
family, along with the 'Stuck' crew who were on location
to film follow-up interviews for the show.

TLC describes the show: “Viewers will witness foreign body extractions and removal procedures as they happen in real time, as well as interviews with patients, doctors and medical staff who will reveal the extraordinary details behind how these accidents took place. From inside several different medical facilities around the country, ‘Stuck’ promises the wildest, most fascinating and downright unbelievable interventions required to free objects lodged inside of peoples’ bodies, with no easy exit in sight.” 

Mellick, who also is vice chair and division chief of pediatric emergency medicine at USA Health, said the “cringe factor” certainly contributes to the popularity of his YouTube channel, and he suspects “Stuck” will be popular for the same reason. But, like his YouTube videos, he is confident that viewers will learn something from the show as well.

“Idealistically, it would be educational too. I probably wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think it had some educational value for the community,” he said. “I think that’s why my YouTube channel has over half a million subscribers. Besides being very educational and instructionally useful for professional clinicians, any watchable or popular video must have some degree of entertainment or human-interest value or satisfy some curiosity that people might have. If curiosity or entertainment drives people to get educated about these topics, I’m fine with that.” 

Mellick said each of the first two episodes will feature at least one case from Children’s & Women’s Hospital. The third episode, which the production company jokingly refers to as “Mellick’s Greatest Hits,” will feature a compilation of cases from USA Health. The show includes interviews with patients who are featured in the clips as well as interviews with Mellick and other ER personnel.

“The most rewarding thing for me is watching the kids involved in these videos have the experience of a lifetime. Being part of a YouTube channel and seeing their video get millions of views and then actually being part of a national TV show – that’s really a once-in-a-lifetime event for the kids,” Mellick said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, so it’s just one of many rewarding things I have been allowed to do. But for a kid, that has got to be an over-the-top memorable experience.” 

The production company is using a lot of Mellick’s raw footage for the show. “One of the producers allegedly made the statement: ‘Dr. Mellick shoots better video footage than some of our camera guys,’” Mellick said. “Despite the kind words that really made my day, I'm quite confident that I need to keep my day job!”

He added, tongue-in-cheek, “Nevertheless, I will be setting up office hours for signing autographs.”

“Stuck” premiers on TLC on Wednesday, Feb. 16, at 9 p.m. CST. Watch the teaser videos on Instagram or Facebook (viewer discretion advised).

Wanted: Faculty members interested in academic coaching

On the athletics field, coaching can involve watching an athlete perform, establishing practice routines and providing feedback.

In medical school, coaching is more of a series of conversations designed to help a future physician reach his or her full potential. That’s what leaders and educators at the USA College of Medicine hope to achieve with a new program called Academic Medicine Coaching.

“The goal is to develop medical students into self-directed learners,” said Binata Mukherjee, M.D., M.B.A., assistant dean of faculty and professional development and associate professor of internal medicine at the USA College of Medicine. “This is important, because as science continues to advance, new generations of physicians will need these skills to adapt successfully.”

Academic medicine coaching differs from advising in that coaching is a co-creative process, while advising typically has a specific goal and specific steps built in.

“Coaching helps students find their inner motivation and, from there, recognize their goals and build a strategy to reach those goals,” said Renee Roca, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at the USA College of Medicine. “When the answers come from the students, they become more impactful and more powerful.”

Roca was among 18 faculty members who recently completed training to become academic medicine coaches in the new program. The group participated in seminars and two-hour sessions for six months to become versed in coaching methods. They also received 24 continuing medical education credits.

The program, however, needs more faculty volunteers – both clinical and nonclinical – to be trained in academic coaching before it can be launched.

“To any of my colleagues, the strongest argument for learning about coaching is that it will be one of the most efficient ways for you to succeed at something you’re here to do already,” said Franklin Trimm, M.D., associate dean for diversity and inclusion at the USA College of Medicine and USA assistant vice president for medical affairs. “Learning a new way to help other people succeed was why I wanted to get into this.” 

To sign up to become a coach, please complete this survey. For more information, contact Mukherjee at bmukherjee@southalabama.edu.