Sixto Leal, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Laboratory Medicine, UAB Pathology, has been awarded a 4-year, $2.97 million R01 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study secondary mold infections in patients with severe viral infections, such as COVID. These mold infections, if not recognized or treated, can be fatal. The grant, titled, “The Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Immune Dysregulation on Antifungal Immunity,” runs through July 2027.

Read the full story here.

“Alabama is a hotbed for fungal diseases,” said Peter G. Pappas, M.D., professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. “We see as much or more in the way of fungal infections as anyone in the country.”

Alabama’s climate and population, and UAB’s reputation, mean that patients here can be cared for by specialists such as Pappas and Sixto M. Leal Jr., M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Pathology whose hospital labs can track the spread of fungal infections like nothing else in the state. That gives Alabama an advantage as new fungi are on the march around the world.

Read the full story here.

Sixto Leal, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Laboratory Medicine, Director, clinical microbiology and Fungal Reference Lab and the SEBLAB biocontainment laboratory, is featured on the cover of the June 2023 issue of CAP Today, the monthly publication of the College of American Pathologists (CAP). CAP is the leading organization of board-certified pathologists, serving patients, pathologists, and the public by fostering and advocating excellence in the practice of pathology and laboratory medicine worldwide. 

Read the full story here.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Pathology’s Fungal Reference Laboratory is now offering in-house monkeypox polymerase chain reaction diagnostic testing for UAB Medicine patients who are eligible. The test, which was developed by UAB’s FRL under the direction of Associate Professor Sixto Leal, M.D., Ph.D., utilizes real-time quantitative PCR to detect all variants of the monkeypox virus, including the currently circulating West African clade with high sensitivity and specificity.  

Read the full story here.

Sixto Leal, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Associate Director, Division of Laboratory Medicine, was recently awarded an American Lung Association COVID-19 Respiratory Virus Research Award for his project, “The Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Immune Dysregulation on Antifungal Immunity.” This is a two-year, $200,000 award.

Read the full story here.

Sixto M. Leal Jr., M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Pathology and director of Clinical Microbiology at UAB Hospitals and the UAB Fungal Reference Laboratory, has been appointed as the inaugural scientific director for UAB’s Southeastern Biosafety Laboratory Alabama Birmingham, or SEBLAB. Leal’s appointment will begin April 1, 2022, and he will retain his other roles at UAB.

Read the full story here.

Starting Saturday, health insurance companies will cover the cost of at-home COVID-19 tests. Dr. Sixto Leal, Director of Clinical Microbiology at UAB, said these tests are accurate detectors of the virus when they’re taken correctly and at the right time.

Watch the video here.

The past year has been one of the most challenging years medical professionals have ever navigated. This is especially true for pathologists and laboratory medicine professionals who answered the need for better, faster, and more prevalent testing amidst a sea of uncertainties. The Pathologist’s 2021 Power List is an annual celebration of the great and inspirational minds that underpin the medical laboratory and honors select individuals in six different categories. 

Read the full story here.

Sixto M. Leal, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Division of Laboratory Medicine, UAB Department of Pathology, is awarded the 2021 Dean’s Excellence Award for Service as junior faculty.

Read the full story here.