News Highlights - April 21, 2026
Kudos
Lee Receives AGA Distinguished Clinician Award
William M. Lee, M.D., a Professor Emeritus in the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, has received the 2026 Distinguished Clinician Award in Academic Practice from the American Gastroenterological Association. Established in 1996, the award recognizes two gastroenterologists annually, one in private practice and one in clinical academic practice.
Dr. Lee was selected for his longstanding commitment to clinical excellence and his impact on patient-centered care.
“He was one of the first providers in a research-oriented division to see outpatients on the University side, growing his practice to several thousand patients with liver disease and providing care to a racially and socioeconomically diverse patient population,” according to the AGA. “In addition, Dr. Lee made important contributions in clinical research and conducted over 40 clinical trials. He initially characterized Gc protein as an active scavenger in acute liver failure and has delineated many of the clinical features of acetaminophen hepatotoxicity.”
In 1997, Dr. Lee founded the Acute Liver Failure Study Group, a national network focused on studying the orphan disease. The initiative received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health since its inception. He also mentored more than 50 students, residents, and fellows from around the globe, and raised funds to bring four fellows from Uganda for a year of gastroenterology and hepatology training who went on to become gastroenterology faculty.
“I can’t think of anyone more deserving,” said Ezra Burstein, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Interim Chair. “This recognition brings pride to the Division and the entire Department.” ■
Dr. Burstein holds the Berta M. and Dr. Cecil O. Patterson Chair in Gastroenterology. Dr. Hobbs holds the Dallas Heart Ball Chair in Cardiology Research.
Timofte Discusses Technology to Strengthen Organ Allocation Process
Irina Timofte, M.D., an Associate Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, presented recent work at the University of Texas at Dallas “Breakthrough Advances in Medical Innovations” event on using technology to strengthen clinical decision-making during lung transplant allocation.
Dr. Timofte, a lung transplant physician who also treats interstitial lung disease and pulmonary hypertension, discussed new software applications designed to improve how donor lungs are evaluated and matched with patients. Her work focuses on making the allocation, recovery, and transplantation process faster and more reliable, with the goal of increasing the number of successful lung transplant.
The software helps identify issue in donor lungs earlier and supports better donor-recipient matching, providing clinicians with clearer information at critical decision points. Dr. Timofte said this approach can lead to more consistent decisions and better outcomes for patients awaiting transplants.
A central aim of her research is to improve long-term transplant outcomes while reducing reliance on highly toxic immune-suppressing drugs. By supporting less-harmful treatment strategies, the work seeks to promote safer recoveries and healthier transplanted lungs over time.
Dr. Timofte is among a small number of transplant physicians with direct experience in organ retrieval. Her research includes organ procurement and donor selection, with an emphasis on expanding the donor pool and improving match quality.
Her presentation highlighted how data-driven tools can support fairer and more efficient organ allocation, helping more patients receive life-saving lung transplants. ■
Chowdhury Offers Guidance as CMS Changes Short Stay Reviews
Shweta Chowdhury, M.D., a Clinical Associate Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine and Chief Physician Advisor in the UT Southwestern Health System, shared insights on managing short inpatient stays during a recent meeting of the American College of Physician Advisors (ACPA), an organization focused on utilization management, regulatory compliance, quality, and patient safety.
Dr. Chowdhury discussed how health systems can prepare as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shifts responsibility for reviewing short stays to Medicare Administrative Contractors, explaining that the shift requires greater front-end compliance and heightens the role of physician advisors in ensuring consistent application of admission standards. She shared practical strategies to anticipate audits, use real-world case examples to educate clinicians, and align documentation and clinical decision-making across care teams. Her presentation emphasized proactive, clinically grounded approaches that support safer care decisions while reducing the risk of an organization being flagged for review.
Dr. Chowdhury established UT Southwestern’s Physician Advisor program and grew the team from one to 14 physicians over four years, strengthening institutional readiness for evolving regulatory expectations. ■
Research Report
Why Learning to Cook Could Help Manage Hypertension
A new commentary in Circulationargues that teaching people how to cook may be a practical yet underused strategy for managing high blood pressure, the most common modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
In the article, Jaclyn Albin, M.D., an Associate Professor in the Division of Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, and her co-authors make the case for culinary medicine to help patients reduce sodium intake while increasing consumption of potassium-rich foods.
Hypertension affects nearly half of U.S. adults and is closely linked to heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and premature death. Although national guidelines recommend dietary approaches such as the DASH eating pattern, adoption has been limited, particularly when it comes to reducing sodium in daily meals. Most dietary sodium comes from processed and restaurant foods, making nutrition advice difficult to apply in practice, the authors wrote.
“Culinary medicine bridges that gap by combining nutrition science, behavior-change strategies, and hands-on cooking skills,” Dr. Albin explained. “It teaches people how to build flavor using herbs, spices, acids, and technique rather than relying on salt, while adapting to real-world time and cultural constraints.”
The authors noted that potassium-containing salt substitutes can lower blood pressure but are used by fewer than 6% of U.S. adults with hypertension and may raise taste or safety concerns for some patients. Culinary medicine instead emphasizes whole foods such as vegetables, legumes, and fruits that naturally boost potassium intake while lowering sodium.
The commentary also pointed to growing opportunities to integrate culinary medicine into health care through teaching kitchens, group medical visits, and partnerships between clinicians, dietitians, chefs, and community organizations, noting that such programs can support blood pressure control while improving confidence, connection, and long-term adherence to healthy eating. ■
Study Finds Most Mpox-Like Cases Were Chickenpox
A new study co-authored by Krutika Kuppalli, M.D., an Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, found that most patients suspected of having mpox at a treatment center in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were actually infected with chickenpox or other illnesses, highlighting the limits of symptom-based outbreak diagnosis.
Published recently in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the study examined patients who sought care at an mpox treatment center in Uvira during a period when multiple rash-causing diseases were circulating simultaneously.
Between October 2025 and March 2026, clinicians evaluated 158 patients for suspected mpox, also known as monkeypox. Of those, 95 received laboratory testing using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results showed that 76% were infected with varicella-zoster virus, which causes chickenpox. Only 4% tested positive for mpox virus, including some patients with co-infections.
The researchers found that all patients met the national clinical case definition for mpox, which prioritizes sensitivity but does not reliably distinguish between diseases with similar symptoms, such as rash and fever.
“This study underscores how overlapping symptoms can strain public health systems, increase the risk of cross-infection, and distort disease surveillance when laboratory confirmation is limited,” Dr. Kuppalli said. “Expanded, multi-pathogen testing can improve patient care help public health officials better understand what diseases are truly circulating.”
The authors noted that relying only on clinical signs can overwhelm treatment centers and inflate reported mpox case numbers. They called for broader access to laboratory diagnostics, particularly in resource-limited settings where mpox, chickenpox and measles often circulate concurrently. ■
Education & Training
UT Southwestern Launches Dermatology-Rheumatology Combined Fellowship Program
UT Southwestern has launched a new Dermatology-Rheumatology Combined Fellowship Program to advance training at the intersection of cutaneous and systemic inflammatory disease. The one-year advanced fellowship is directed by James Roberts, M.D., Assistant Professor in the Division of Rheumatic Diseases.
Designed for physicians who already have strong specialty training, the program builds on prior dermatology or rheumatology residency and fellowship experience to develop deep interdisciplinary expertise. Fellows enter with a solid foundation in their primary specialty, allowing the year to focus on integrated clinical care, scholarship, and collaboration across disciplines.
“This program was made possible by Dr. Joseph Merola, Professor and chair of Dermatology, and Dr. David Karp, Professor and Chief of Rheumatic Diseases,” said Dr. Roberts. “Their mentorship and support ensured this collaborative fellowship program aligned with our mission of educating, discovering, and healing.”
The program will accept up to two fellows annually.
“A key advantage of training at UT Southwestern is the opportunity for hands-on, interdisciplinary clinical experience with complex autoimmune and inflammatory conditions,” Dr. Roberts added. “Fellows will work in a collaborative specialty environment that brings together dermatology, rheumatology, and related disciplines, supporting both clinical excellence and academic growth.”
Applications are now being accepted. The program is partially funded through grant support from Johnson & Johnson. ■
Dr. Merola holds the Mary Kay Inc. Distinguished Chair in Dermatology. Dr. Karp holds the Fredye Factor Chair in Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and the Harold C. Simmons Chair in Arthritis Research.