New hospitalist joins internal medicine faculty

Angel Gonzalez Rodriguez, M.D., recently joined the Whiddon College of Medicine as an assistant professor of internal medicine and USA Health University Hospital as a hospitalist providing inpatient care.

He brings a background in caring for patients of all ages to these positions. 

Originally from Cuba, Gonzalez Rodriguez received his medical degree from the University of Medical Sciences of Havana, where he graduated summa cum laude. He and his family fled the country, moved to Miami and eventually found a home in Mobile.

“I came to Mobile to interview for residency,” he said, “and not only loved USA but also the city itself as it reminded me and my family of our hometown.”

After relocating to Mobile, Gonzalez Rodriguez completed an internal medicine/pediatrics residency at USA Health.

“Throughout med school and residency training, I’ve looked up to some wonderful attendings who helped me get here,” he said. “Staying at South and serving this community while contributing to forming the next generation of healthcare professionals is a great opportunity that I’m looking forward to.”

During his residency, Gonzalez Rodriguez served as chief resident and was recognized for Outstanding Performance in the Pediatric Outpatient Setting in 2021 and for the Most Growth in the Pediatric Continuity Clinic in 2020. He held positions on the Internal Medicine Residency Council and the Internal Medicine Program Evaluation Committee for three years. 

Williams Hogue named director of USA Center for Healthy Communities

Ashley Williams Hogue, M.D., an assistant professor of surgery, added director of the USA Center for Healthy Communities to her leadership roles. 

To know Ashley Williams Hogue, M.D., a trauma surgeon at USA Health University Hospital, is to know she is driven to make a difference in the community. Now the co-founder of Project Inspire, a gun violence prevention program, has another leadership role through which to make a local impact. 

Williams Hogue was recently named director of the USA Center for Healthy Communities, an arm of the University of South Alabama tasked with addressing health disparities, improving access to healthcare for underserved populations, and empowering individuals to make decisions about their health.

The opportunity to take the lead in making more critical changes in the community is what interested her in the position.

“In my opinion, the Center for Healthy Communities is the University of South Alabama’s gateway into the community we serve. It offers the establishment of an ongoing partnership between medicine, research and the community,” said Williams Hogue, also an assistant professor of surgery at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine. “One cannot exist, and certainly not succeed, without the others. I understand the value in this partnership and want to be a part of the team leading this effort.”

Williams Hogue has been outspoken in her efforts to curb gun violence and improve community wellness, both of which make her an ideal fit for the role. 

“In just a few years, Dr. Williams Hogue has already established herself as a true changemaker within our academic health system and the community,” said John V. Marymont, M.D., M.B.A., vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Whiddon College of Medicine. “It will be exciting to see how she builds upon the mission and impact of the center.”

Part of that mission is to put research into action where it’s needed. Already, the center has organized vaccination clinics, educational events, farmers markets and more in underserved communities to help address disparities and improve access to care.  

“An advocate for those she serves, Dr. Williams Hogue has shown she has the passion and drive to make our community healthier for everyone who lives here,” said Owen Bailey, M.S.H.A., USA Health chief executive officer and senior associate vice president for medical affairs. “In her new role, she’ll have more access to the resources of the university and our academic health system, factors that should give her the tools necessary to open more doors for our patients and their families.”

The Future Trauma Leader, so named by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, already has her sights set on goals she wants to achieve in her new position.

“It is extremely important for medicine and research to bring forth evidence-informed interventions and preventive strategies that can be immediately deployed into the community to alleviate many of the health burdens that exist,” Williams Hogue said. “Our communities struggle with advanced disease, systemic barriers, and social determinants that negatively impact our ability to thrive.”

In 2002, USA established the Center for Healthy Communities to use its academic and healthcare resources to help address some of the region’s most pressing health concerns, most notably health disparities among African American, Native American, Hispanic and Asian communities. 

Additionally, the state struggles with a high prevalence of multiple chronic conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes, according to the America’s Health Rankings 2022 Annual Report, which makes access to care and education a priority for the community to thrive.

Various studies credit community participation with improved health incomes and positive health impact. 

“The Mobile area is poised for the task at hand. We have an academic health system that has the resources and capacity to couple quality medical care and research,” Williams Hogue said. “Partnering with community stakeholders will allow the efficient delivery of resources and programs that serve the overall health needs of the public.”

She is married to Antwan Hogue, M.D., a senior hospitalist at USA Health and collaborating physician with the Johnson Haynes, Jr., M.D., Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center. The couple has three children. 

Pathology residents present research at annual forum

From left, Muhammad Tahir, M.D., M.S., won first place; Zan Ahmed, M.D., won second place; and Lingling Xian, M.D., Ph.D., won third place at the annual forum.

Twelve residents presented their research findings at the fourth annual Allan Tucker Pathology Resident Research Forum, hosted by the USA Department of Pathology on June 9. The presentations were evaluated by a committee of judges, and winners were announced June 22 at the resident graduation party. 

Muhammad Tahir, M.D., M.S., a second-year resident, won first place for his presentation, “Clinical and Mechanistic Support for the Role of Nicotine in Tumor Angiogenesis.” Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels from existing vessels that feed the tumor with oxygen and nutrients. In addition to providing support for the role of nicotine in tumor growth and progression, the study suggests that smoking cessation can positively influence the clinical outcome of patients. 

Zan Ahmed, M.D., a fourth-year resident, won second place for his presentation, “A Dive Into Pathology Informatics: Vitamin B12 Deficiency Recognition and Management.”

Lingling Xian, M.D., Ph.D., a second-year resident, won third place for her presentation, “Synchronous Colorectal Cancers: Different Primaries or Intramucosal Metastasis?”

The winners received book allowances of up to $400 for first place, $300 for second place, and $200 for third place. 

Serving as judges at the forum were Osama Elkadi, M.D., assistant professor of pathology and director of neuropathology and the Pathology Residency Program; Thuy Phung, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology and director of molecular genetic pathology and dermatopathology; and Chandrani Sarkar, M.D., assistant professor of pathology and a member of the Cancer Biology Program at the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute.

Additionally, Phung gave a plenary talk on advancing pathology through artificial intelligence.

The forum is named in honor of the late J. Allan Tucker Jr., M.D., who served as the Louise Lenoir Locke Professor and Chair of Pathology as well as the director of anatomic pathology.

Basic medical sciences student wins travel award to national conference

Marlo Thompson studies DNA repair proteins at the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute.

Marlo Thompson, a doctoral student in the Basic Medical Sciences Graduate Program at the Whiddon College of Medicine, has been awarded a 2023 Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EMGS) Student Travel Award. She also received the award in 2022. 

The $500 prize is intended to provide funding for graduate students and new investigators to attend the society’s 2023 annual meeting, planned for September in Chicago.  

Thompson, who is in the graduate program's cancer biology track, conducts research at the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute in the lab of Aishwarya Prakash, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Whiddon College of Medicine. 

Her current research interests are in structural biology and DNA repair: “I am characterizing a novel nanobody that targets the protein NEIL1. NEIL1 is a difficult-to-study protein, so we have developed and characterized our nanobody, which we refer to as A5. One of our main goals is to crystallize NEIL1 and A5 in complex with one another.”  

The protein NEIL1 is one of 11 enzymes that catalyze the first step of the base excision repair pathway. A deficiency in NEIL1 has been associated with pulmonary adenomas, hepatocellular carcinomas and colorectal cancers. NEIL1 polymorphisms also have been shown to be adequate markers to predict radiation injury and radiation lung inflammation, a common side effect of treating lung cancers. 

Thompson earned an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in biology from Old Dominion University.  

The EMGS is the primary intellectual forum for researchers interested in the development and application of transgenic technology of toxicological studies and for the development of methods for studying mutations and the mechanisms of mutation and DNA repair in model cellular systems and humans. Founded in 1969, the EMGS seeks to create a world where science drives sound decisions to protect people's health from environmental hazards. 

Fellowship-trained gastroenterologist joins internal medicine faculty

Mason Adams, M.D., recently returned to USA Health to enhance the leading-edge care the academic health system provides. Adams, an assistant professor of internal medicine at the Whiddon College of Medicine, joins the Digestive Health Center team located in the University Commons as a gastroenterologist.

“I chose to work in an academic health system because this is where the highest and best level of care is delivered,” he said. “The fields of gastroenterology and advanced endoscopy are heavily multidisciplinary, meaning multiple service lines, like surgery, radiology and oncology, are necessary to provide the best care to patients, and USA Health has excellent teams.”

Adams is board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology by the American Board of Internal Medicine with additional specialized study in advanced endoscopy.

Gastroenterology offers a blend of procedural care along with innovation and technology, which made it ideal for Adams. “Wanting to be on the cutting edge of delivering GI care is what led me to pursue additional training in advanced endoscopy,” he said. “I completed an advanced endoscopy fellowship in order to perform advanced procedures such as endoscopic ultrasound and ERCP.” 

ERCP refers to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, a procedure that combines upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and X-rays to treat problems of the bile and pancreatic ducts. Advanced endoscopy is a term used to describe therapeutic procedures in which endoscopy is a primary tool, including endoscopic ultrasound, which combines endoscopy and ultrasound to help doctors see, evaluate and diagnose GI conditions, ERCP, stent placements, and endoscopic resections, among others.

Adams graduated with honors from LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. He was the recipient of the Gold Humanism Award, which is presented to the senior medical student selected by fellow classmates who has demonstrated outstanding compassion to patients and their families.

Following medical school, Adams did his residency training in internal medicine at the LSU Health Sciences Center in Baton Rouge. He completed two fellowships, one in gastroenterology at USA Health and more recently one in advanced endoscopy at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.