Dr. Michael Saag presents: "A Historical Look at How Advocacy Leads to Progress in Medicine"

Dr. Michael Saag will speak on, “A Historical Look at How Advocacy Leads to Progress in Medicine”

This event is free and open to the community. RSVP to monika@bhamjcc.org.

Michael Saag, MD
Professor of Medicine
Associate Dean for Global Health, UAB School of Medicine
Jim Straley Chair in AIDS Research
Director, Center for AIDS Research
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama

Dr. Saag received a B.S. in chemistry with honors in 1977 Tulane University, earned his medical degree with honors from the University of Louisville, and completed his residency and infectious disease and molecular virology fellowship training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. During the last 6 months of his fellowship, Dr. Saag conceived the concept of a comprehensive HIV outpatient (1917) clinic dedicated to the provision of comprehensive patient care in conjunction with the conduct of high quality clinic trials, basic science, and clinical outcomes research.
Within the clinic structure, he established a clinical trials unit, a data management center, and a Clinical Specimen Repository designed to support the activities of the newly established Center for AIDS Research at UAB. In essence, the clinic became a “hub” for the clinical, basic science, and behavioral science investigators within the Center by creating a dynamic interface between the patients and the investigators. Dr. Saag has participated in many studies of antiretroviral therapy as well as novel treatments for opportunistic infections. He has published over 400 articles in peer reviewed journals, including the first description of the use of viral load in clinical practice (Science, 1993), the first description of the rapid dynamics of viral replication (Nature, 1995), the first guidelines for use of viral load in practice (Nature Medicine, 1996), the first proof of concept of fusion inhibition as a therapeutic option (Nature Medicine, 1998), and directed the ‘first-in- patient’ studies of 7 of the 30 antiretroviral drugs currently on the market. Dr. Saag Co-Edited a textbook entitled AIDS Therapy (now in its 3 rd edition) and currently serves as an Editor of the Sanford Guide for antimicrobial Agents and theSanford HIV Guide. Dr. Saag serves on the International AIDS Society-USA Board of Directors, is a Past-President of the HIV Medical Association, is a member of the IAS-USA Antiretroviral Therapy Guidelines panel, was a founding Co-Chair of the AASLD / IDSA / IAS-USA Hepatitis C Guidelines Panel, is a member of the WHO Antiretroviral Therapy Guidelines panel and a past-member of the HHS Guidelines Panel on Antiretroviral Therapy. Dr. Saag recently published a memoir entitled “Positive: One doctor’s encounters with death, life, and the US Healthcare system,” now in its second printing.