James Bibb, PhD has joined the UAB Department of Surgery as professor and vice chair of Basic Research. His research focuses on signal transduction as it pertains to cognition, neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, and cancer.

Throughout his career, Bibb has aimed his research at understanding the mechanistic basis of cellular functions and disease. He strives to bring clinical information in the laboratory, use this information to explore disease causes, and then develop new treatment approaches.

"Collaboration between scientists and clinicians is key to making discoveries that provide benefits for patients," Bibb said. "The clinical strengths and collaborative spirit at UAB make this a great environment for this type of translational research."

Bibb received bachelor's and master's degrees with honors from Murray State University and the University of Kentucky, respectively. He earned his doctorate in cellular and developmental biology at the State University of New York and did postdoctoral training at Rockefeller University.

His work on the regulation of dopamine neurotransmission was cited in the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2000. From 2001 to 2015, Bibb was a principle investigator and tenured faculty in the Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurotherapeutics departments at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Bibb has published 82 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, including in some of the highest-impact biomedical journals. He has numerous patent and intellectual property filings. Bibb also serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, is a member of the Yale-NIDA Proteomics Center, and co-chairs the Research Committee as a member of the Advisory Board for the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society.