Pioneering Transplant Surgeon to Address McCollough Medical Scholars Forum at UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Arnold G. Diethelm, the pioneering surgeon who performed the first transplant of any kind in the state of Alabama, will be the featured speaker for the eighth annual Susan and Gaylon McCollough Medical Scholars Forum Feb. 5-6 in Shelby Hall on The University of Alabama campus.

The forum, sponsored by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, was established by UA alumni Dr. Gaylon McCollough and his wife, Susan. It will begin at 4 p.m. Feb. 5 and at 9 a.m. on Feb.6, and it is free and open to the public.

Diethelm built The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine’s nationally-recognized transplantation program from the ground up and is now a professor emeritus at UAB.

He will conduct two separate lectures for the McCollough forum. The first, entitled “The Importance of the Doctor/Doctor Relationship,” is Feb. 5 at 4:30 p.m. The second, “A Brief History of Surgery in Alabama: The People that Made the Difference,” is Feb. 6 at 10:30 a.m.

A native of Baltimore, Diethelm received his undergraduate degree from Washington State University in 1953, and his MD degree from Cornell Medical College in 1958. Before coming to UAB in 1967, he completed a two-year fellowship at Harvard with Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Joseph E. Murray, who completed the first human kidney transplant in 1954.

Under Diethelm’s leadership, the first kidney transplants at UAB took place in 1968, which was the first transplant of any kind in the state of Alabama. The first heart transplant in the Southeast happened at UAB in 1981, followed by liver transplants in 1983, the first simultaneous pancreas/kidney transplant in 1988 and lung transplants in 1989.

Diethelm is the author or co-author of more than 210 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and he is a member of 26 surgical societies. He served as chairman of UAB’s Department of Surgery for 18 years (1982-1999), and he has been honored with numerous memberships, awards, visiting professorships and appointments.

The McCollough Medical Scholars Forum’s purpose is to give students an understanding of the importance of the scientific and humanistic aspects of healthcare. High school students, UA pre-health professions students, and past forum participants will join UA faculty representing diverse disciplines for the event.

Gaylon McCollough is an Alabaman physician, the president of the McCollough Plastic Surgery Clinic and the founder of the McCollough Institute for Appearance and Health in Gulf Shores.

A 1965 honors graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, he served as an offensive center for the Crimson Tide football team and was named to the All-American Football Team in 1964. Since entering practice, he has obtained recognition as a surgeon and teacher through his affiliation with the largest association of specialty plastic surgeons in the world.

For more information on the forum, contact Chris Hutt in the College of Arts and Sciences at chutt@as.ua.edu or 205/348-5902.

Check-in and registration begins at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 5 in 1004 of Shelby Hall.

UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.