Breast cancer specialist joins interdisciplinary clinical oncology faculty

Ayesha Munir, M.D., a hematologist/medical oncologist with an interest in health disparities, has joined the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute as a breast cancer specialist and an assistant professor of interdisciplinary clinical oncology.

Munir comes to USA Health from Medstar Health Georgetown University Hospital/Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., where she served as the chief hematology/oncology fellow. She says her passion for treating cancer patients was sparked during her medical school days in Pakistan.

“The way this field has evolved over decades and the fact that it has so much potential to change the disease dynamics and landscape for cancers with its research and science have always intrigued me,” she said. “I love to practice oncology to give patients battling with cancer the hope of better survival outcomes with newer treatments and drugs, and to continue to work on other aggressive and rarer tumors to bring about the same or better outcomes in the future.”

Munir will focus on the treatment of breast cancer and will see patients at the main Mitchell Cancer Institute location in Mobile.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among U.S. women behind skin cancer. Death rates from breast cancer have decreased steadily in the past three decades because of earlier diagnoses through screening and increased awareness, along with improvements in cancer treatment. However, Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than any other race or ethnic group, in part because one in five Black women with breast cancer have the triple-negative type, which tends to grow and spread faster and has fewer treatment options.

Munir said her research interests include quality improvement projects related to health inequity and research that aims at increasing educational awareness in medical oncology. She has been a co-author on several peer-reviewed journal articles on such topics as acute myeloid leukemia, lung adenocarcinoma, and renal cell carcinoma.

Munir said she wanted to join an academic health system to complement her career path. “I am interested in teaching and mentoring, and also wanted to invest my time in the research aspect of medical oncology,” she said.

Munir earned her medical degree from Aga Khan University Medical College in Pakistan and completed a residency in internal medicine at Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y. She recently completed her fellowship in hematology/oncology in Washington, D.C.

Faculty Development to host grand rounds

Faculty Development will host grand rounds Friday, Aug. 25, at noon via Zoom. A roundtable discussion will follow from 1 to 2 p.m.

Jeannette Guerrasio, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado, will present “The Struggling Medical Student.” She practices internal medicine as a hospitalist and has built an internationally recognized remediation program.  

Register for the session on Zoom.

USA Health marks opening of Baldwin County Surgery Center on Mapp Family Campus

The Baldwin County Surgery Center opened on the USA Health Mapp Family Campus.

With a focus on best meeting the healthcare needs of the residents of the upper Gulf Coast, USA Health on Tuesday celebrated the opening of the Baldwin County Surgery Center on the Mapp Family Campus.

The eight-acre complex, located at 21950 Alabama 181, is also home to a three-story medical office building, where USA Health specialists and Baldwin Family Medicine providers began seeing patients in the fall of 2022.

“As the region’s only academic health system, we are excited to bring this surgery center – and the talented team working there – to Baldwin County,” said Owen Bailey, M.S.H.A., FACHE, chief executive officer of USA Health. “This much-needed facility will improve access to exceptional healthcare, and it will bring our specialists closer to the people of Baldwin County. We remain thankful to the Mapp family for their generosity and vision for expanding academic healthcare from Mobile to Baldwin County and beyond.”

Within the 24,000-square-foot ambulatory surgery center, that features six operating rooms and two spaces for procedures, plans call for surgeons from USA Health and the community to utilize some of the most technologically advanced surgical equipment available. Surgical specialists in pediatrics, orthopaedics, urology, general surgery, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, podiatry, ear nose and throat, and more will care for patients at the center.

“We are proud of the partnerships our academic health system has established with community physicians on the Eastern Shore,” said John Marymont, M.D., M.B.A, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine. “This new surgery center is an example of how our successful collaborations expand access to healthcare and benefit those who live and work in Baldwin County and surrounding areas.”

The Mapp Family Campus will become another vital location for educating and training the next generation of healthcare providers, officials said, noting the additional site will assist USA Health and its academic physicians in alleviating some of the healthcare-provider shortages our region and nation face.

Louis and Melinda Mapp donated the land where the complex is located, and the University of South Alabama named the campus in their honor. The Mapps are longtime supporters of USA Health and volunteers at University Hospital and Children’s & Women’s Hospital.

Designed to create a peaceful environment, the Mapp Family Campus has a focus on wellness, education, and nutrition, and includes water features, walking paths, and outdoor educational and gathering areas including an amphitheater. A teaching kitchen is included in the medical office building, giving patients and caregivers the opportunity to engage in healthy-eating classes with the goal of helping people lead longer, better lives.

The Alabama Certificate of Need Review Board unanimously approved the project in 2021. USA Health has been working with its partners – Surgery Partners and HHRE – and Walcott Adams Verneuille Architects and the KPS Group to design the facility. Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC, is the general contractor. Concord Healthcare Development served as the project manager.

View photos from the ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception on Flickr. 

USA announces family medicine leadership change

Ehab Molokhia, M.D., was named interim chair

of family medicine.

Ehab Molokhia, M.D., professor of family medicine at the Whiddon College of Medicine, was recently named interim chair of the Department of Family Medicine. The family medicine physician at USA Health plans to build upon multiple leadership roles and past successes in his new position.     

“USA Health is experiencing significant growth in nearly all aspects of care delivery and expanding its academic mission,” he said. “It’s exciting to be part of this momentum, and I look forward to contributing to this growth as we work to improve the health of our community.”   

Molokhia replaces Allen Perkins, M.D., M.P.H., who stepped down as chair of the department to continue to focus his efforts on reaching underserved communities through training primary care physicians and obtaining grants to support health equity in rural communities.  

“We are grateful to Dr. Perkins for his many years of service and his continued dedication to improving healthcare access in our communities,” said John V. Marymont, M.D., M.B.A., vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Whiddon College of Medicine. “At the same time, we appreciate Dr. Molokhia for accepting this new role with family medicine to continue the important work of caring for patients and educating the next generation of providers.” 

Since joining the faculty in 2002, Molokhia has served as director of the family medicine clerkship, medical director of the family medicine clinic, and director of the family medicine residency.   

“I recently completed the Leadership Education for Academic Development and Success (LEADS) fellowship sponsored by the Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM). The fellowship is intended to help prepare the next generation of family medicine academic leaders,” he said. “In addition, I was fortunate to have benefited from outstanding academic mentors within our institution, as well as outside.”  

Molokhia foresees that family medicine will increasingly take the lead in healthcare delivery because of its comprehensive scope and continuity of patient relationships. He said he is poised to continue building a strong primary care setting at USA Health, while also providing an innovative training environment for students. 

“Dr. Molokhia has demonstrated through his commitment to patient care and physician education that he is prepared to take on this role,” said Owen Bailey, M.S.H.A., FACHE, USA Health chief executive officer and senior associate vice president for medical affairs. “Dr. Perkins has done an excellent job leading the family medicine department, and we support his continued efforts to expand the delivery of quality primary care for all residents in our area.”

Perkins, who served the department as chair for more than 17 years, has been a tireless champion of healthcare access in underserved areas and maternity care in rural communities throughout the state.  

“When I began my career, it was not my intent to stay in Mobile. I have had many opportunities to move, but my work and my family were always here,” Perkins said. “When I look at the growth of the institution over the years, I am proud of the part that I played.”  

He detailed multiple accomplishments he helped lead, including the move to the Strada Patient Care Center, the transitions to three different electronic health record systems, the establishment of a primary care sports medicine fellowship and a rural maternity fellowship, assisting Franklin Primary Health Care Centers in developing a primary care residency, and more.  

“In my tenure as chair, the department has been funded continuously by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to develop a workforce responsive to the needs of the underserved,” he said. “We were instrumental in creating a Primary Care Pathway for students. We provided significant funding for the simulation lab through extramural funding. In other words, we have been very busy.”   

The Primary Care Pathway program, supported by a HRSA grant totaling more than $19 million, prepares medical students through a broad-based four-year program in primary care to serve patients in rural and underserved areas.

Looking ahead, Perkins said he plans to continue to focus his efforts on primary care training and maternity health in rural areas. He is awaiting a decision on a $12 million grant that would draw more students from underserved communities, train them and encourage them to return as care providers.   

“The institution is beginning to work on organizing care in such a way that we can deliver care in a more effective and organized fashion in the region. We are already doing this in Monroeville with some telehealth for high-risk obstetrical patients,” he said. “The federal government would like to see the efforts more tightly organized and are offering money to do that. I will be assisting with organizing this effort.”