UAB emergency department makes history with new chair

Dr. Marie-Carmelle Elie has been named chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.

“Dr. Elie is first and foremost an outstanding academic physician-leader but uniquely will be the first Black woman to be named a permanent chair of an academic emergency medicine department at a major American medical school,” said Dr. Selwyn Vickers, senior vice president for Medicine and dean of the School of Medicine. “I am confident that her expertise and knowledge will benefit the Department of Emergency Medicine, which is continuously providing the highest-quality emergency medical care to patients.”

Elie obtained her undergraduate degree from Columbia University and her medical degree from the State University of New York in Brooklyn with a distinction in research. Since then, she has continued to identify herself as a scholar and clinical investigator. Following her emergency medicine residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, she completed the prestigious Critical Care/Trauma Fellowship at the R. Adam Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland. She is triple board-certified in emergency medicine and critical care, as well as hospice and palliative care medicine.

“My greatest privilege over the course of my career has been to care for patients,” Elie said. “I am excited about the opportunity to join UAB, leading an emergency department committed to the advancement of patient care through education, discovery and community outreach.”

Elie currently is associate professor in the Division of Critical Care, Department of Emergency Medicine and the Division of Palliative Care at the University of Florida College of Medicine. There, she laid the foundation for the emergency medicine research mission as director of Research and Clinical Trials, and she directs the emergency-critical care research efforts. Additionally, she is chief medical officer for Gainesville’s Haven, a hospice and palliative medicine organization that spans services across Florida.

Elie co-chaired the hospital sepsis committee for University of Florida Health. Through this role, she has spearheaded the hospitalwide sepsis protocols, instituted the emergency room sepsis alert and coordinated plans to establish a communitywide program that has engaged neighboring facilities and the pre-hospital system.

Elie will officially assume the role of chair on June 1, 2021, pending provost approval.

This story originally appeared on the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s UAB News website.

During Black History Month, Alabama NewsCenter is celebrating the culture and contributions of those who have shaped our state and those working to elevate Alabama today. Visit AlabamaNewsCenter.com throughout the month for stories of Alabamians past and present.

(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)