The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine Division of Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine at Children’s of Alabama continues to expand, with two new faculty joining in July.
Pedro Anis Nourani, M.D., anassistant professor in the division, earned his medical degree at the University of São Paulo and completed his pediatric residency at Texas A&M’s Driscoll Children’s Hospital. He finished his sleep medicine and pulmonary fellowships at UAB and decided to stay.
“It’s definitely the people that work here,” he said of his decision to remain in Birmingham. “The collaboration between everyone, the excellent support from not just the physicians, but everyone in the department. This group has extensive expertise on subspecialities within pulmonary medicine, which provides good support for someone just starting their career.”
He was drawn to pulmonology medicine, he said, because it’s the “best that pediatrics has to offer.” That includes long-lasting relationships with patients; continuity of care; a strong inpatient presence and the ability to perform procedures. And he was drawn to UAB for his fellowship because of its large pediatric sleep lab. He interviewed at other institutions upon finishing his fellowships, “but there just wasn’t the support and excellence.”
He and his wife have three children, the youngest of whom was born at UAB.
Guillermo Beltran Ale, M.D., an assistant professor in pulmonology, was born and raised in Peru, where attended Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia medical school. He completed his pediatric residency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, then stayed for his pediatric pulmonary fellowship. “I’ve been interested in pulmonology forever,” he said. First because of asthma and cystic fibrosis, with its complex management system and physiology. Then because of the strong bronchoscopy program at Cincinnati and its relationship with chronic ventilator management.
He chose Children’s because it offered a place to grow his skills and continue his research on the pathology of long-term ventilation. He moved to Birmingham with his wife and dog in the summer and started his new career at Children’s July 1.
COVID-19 has, of course, changed the experience of moving to a new city. “We meet a lot of people but we can only see their eyes,” he said. Nonetheless, “we enjoy Birmingham so far.”
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