Awards & Accreditations

• Raghavendra Mirmira, MD, PhD, and colleagues identified PERK inhibition as a potential strategy to prevent or delay the development of Type 1 diabetes in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
• Samuel Refetoff, MD, and colleagues identified a novel form of TSH resistance caused by mutations in a thyroid-specific enhancer that increases expression of microRNAs linked to TSH regulation in Nature Genetics.
• Louis Philipson, MD, PhD, obtained funding as a member of the steering committee of the Precision Medicine in Diabetes international initiative that developed a series of 14 systematic reviews with over 20 authors regarding opportunities created by applying the concepts of precision medicine to diabetes. See “Second international consensus report on gaps and opportunities for the clinical translation of precision diabetes medicine” in Nature Medicine.
• Brian Kim, MD, an expert in the clinical management of thyroid disorders, was recruited to the University of Chicago as Associate Professor of Medicine.
• Margo Emont, PhD, an expert on adipocyte subpopulations and their functional consequences, was recruited to the University of Chicago as Assistant Professor of Medicine.

• Our Digestive Diseases Center had over 250 peer-reviewed publications including numerous high-impact journals. David Rubin, MD, (Chief of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center) led the phase 3 guselkumab study for ulcerative colitis published in Lancet.
• The Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition welcomed many new faculty in 2024, including:
  
  • Alice Cheng, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Basic Science/Microbiome)
  • Bradford Chong, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Director of our Pancreas Center)
  • Noa Krugliak Cleveland, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Director of our Intestinal Ultrasound Program)
  • Eric Montminy, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Interventional Endoscopy)
  • Matthew Odenwald, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Microbiome and Liver)
• The Section had three notable promotions to Professor:
  
  • Sonia Kupfer, MD, Professor of Medicine (Vice Chair of Medicine)
  • Anjana Pillai, MD, Professor of Medicine (Medical Director of our Liver Tumor Program)
  • K. Gautham Reddy, MD, Professor of Medicine (Associate Section Chief for Clinical Operations)
• Mary Rinella, MD, Carol Semrad, MD, and Helen Te, MD, were recognized in Castle Connolly's Exceptional Women in Medicine.
• Russell Cohen, MD, K. Gautham Reddy, MD, Mary Rinella, MD, David Rubin, MD, Carol Semrad, MD, Uzma Siddiqui, MD, and Helen Te, MD, were recognized in Chicago Magazine’s "Top Doctors" issue.
• 2024 was an extraordinary year for the Transplant Institute, marked by remarkable growth and achievements across all organ groups. Our Transplant Hepatologists played a pivotal role in the growth and success of the Liver Transplant program, completing an impressive 103 liver transplants. This reflects an 11% increase in volume compared to CY2023 and represents a historic milestone as the first calendar year to surpass 100 transplants — an incredible achievement!
• In February, a new Northbrook office, UChicago Medicine Northbrook, opened to expand services on the North Shore and provide services ranging from leading-edge minimally invasive treatments for pelvic floor disorders to world-renowned Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis care, including the groundbreaking intestinal ultrasound.
• In April, a new two-story, 130,000-square-foot multispecialty care center in Northwest Indiana. UChicago Medicine Crown Point provides digestive diseases care for patients of all ages there.
• In December, a new outpatient center at 11 Salt Creek Lane opened to expand our services in digestive diseases care for all ages in Hinsdale.
   

• Katherine Thompson, MD, received a $5 million competitive grant renewal for the Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program, “Sharing Healthy Aging Resources and Education.”
• Megan Huisingh-Scheetz, MD, MPH, received the 2024 Terrie Fox Wetle Rising Star Award in Health Services and Aging Research. Presented by the American Federation for Aging Research, the honor recognizes an influential clinician in an early or middle phase of their career who is likely to shape practice and research for decades to come.
• Heather Leeper, MD, named a Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence Junior Faculty Scholar, developed a serious illness communication curriculum for neurology trainees.
• Stacie Levine, MD, and Andrea J. Landi, MD, published qualitative outcomes on nursing home residents’ experiences with substance use disorders in the Journal of Addiction Medicine.
• Lauren Gleason, MD, MPH, appointed the inaugural Medical Director of Post-Acute Care, will lead age-friendly initiatives across the health system.

• Largest Transplant Program in the Midwest: Our program continues to lead the region, delivering exceptional outcomes and unmatched expertise in organ transplantation.
• Largest Multi-Organ Transplant Program: Demonstrating our multidisciplinary approach, we excel in providing complex, multi-organ transplant care with outstanding success rates.
• Participation in Advanced Mechanical Circulatory Support Clinical Trials: We are proud to contribute to leading-edge research through participation in the BrioVAD and BiVACOR trials, advancing mechanical circulatory support technology and patient care.
• Nation's Largest Bloodless Medicine and Heart Surgery Program: By offering bloodless heart surgery (transfusion-free procedures), we perform lifesaving surgery without compromising our patients’ religious or personal reasons for needing “blood-free” care and treatment.
• Now Offering Pulsed Field Ablation: This state-of-the-art treatment at UChicago Medicine address atrial fibrillation, enhancing patient outcomes with precision and safety.
• Renal Denervation for Resistant Hypertension: Our specialists offer this groundbreaking procedure to patients with persistent hypertension despite traditional therapies.
• Deep Vein Arterialization for Limb Salvage: This unique procedure provides a new option for patients with critical limb ischemia, preserving mobility and improving quality of life.
• Innovative Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm Endovascular Device: Our team utilizes a new thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm endovascular device to treat complex aneurysms, enabling less invasive solutions for high-risk cases.

• We were the first health system in Illinois to treat patients with histotripsy. The new, noninvasive technology uses focused ultrasound energy to precisely destroy liver tumors without needles, surgery or radiation.
• We were among the first 30 institutions in the U.S. to offer tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy for advanced melanoma. The newly approved cellular immunotherapy uses the patient’s immune system to kill cancer cells when other treatments have failed.
• We opened a 130,000-square-foot multispecialty care center to serve patients in Northwest Indiana. The Crown Point facility brings the total number of locations offering cancer services throughout our network to 20.
• Along with two of Chicago’s top medical centers, we worked with the nonprofit Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation to form the Chicago Breast Cancer Research Consortium, making clinical trials more accessible to Chicago-area breast cancer patients.
• Five decades after our original National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation, the NCI renewed our status as a "Comprehensive Cancer Center." The prestigious designation recognizes us as one of the nation's top research and treatment facilities.
• Two large gifts from the the AbbVie Foundation and Susan and Tandean Rustandy will help support the construction of our new cancer pavilion, the first freestanding facility in Illinois dedicated to reshaping cancer care.
• We led a number of practice-changing clinical trials that defined new standards of care, including a less aggressive approach to lung cancer surgery pioneered by Everett Vokes, MD, and an immunotherapy and chemotherapy combination treatment for lung cancer that increased survival led by Marina Garassino, MD.
• A joint project with Argonne National Laboratory will use leading-edge AI technology to mine vast datasets and uncover patterns that can lead to the development of new treatments for drug-resistant cancer.
• We launched the Center to Eliminate Cancer Inequity, a new research hub bringing together researchers, healthcare providers and community members to eliminate Chicago’s chronic cancer disparities.
• We celebrated 10 years of exceptional research training programs for high school students, college students, and middle and high school science educators. NCI Director W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, MMHC, and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) gave presentations on our campus for the occasion.

Clinical Advancements

• Olatoyosi Odenike, MD, and Anand A. Patel, MD, worked on the NCI myeloMATCH initiative which will help to rapidly place individuals with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome in clinical trials based on their genomic profiles.
• Alexander Pearson, MD, PhD, and his team received IBM-UChicago Quantum Program funding to support their quantum machine learning in cancer research, with a five-year grant advancing clinical applications in the Center for Computational Medicine and Clinical AI. Dr. Pearson was also named a Chan Zuckerberg Investigator for the Chicago Biohub, collaborating on a PME project to measure immune cells using quantum ID. Additionally, his team activated an R01 grant on premalignant oral lesions and earned a U.S. patent for machine learning-based recurrence prediction in HPV+ head and neck cancers.
• Marina Chiara Garassino, MD, presented the first digital biomarker for lung cancer in the plenary session at the World Lung Cancer Conference, which assessed the activity of Dato-DXd through the expression of Trop2.
• Simon Schwoerer, PhD, received the Notice of Award for his Pancreatic Cancer Idea Development Award from the Department of Defense. Hs project is titled “Determining and Exploitation Metabolic Vulnerabilities of Cancer-associated Fibroblast Heterogeneity.”
• Sonali Smith, MD, and colleagues published a paper in The New England Journal of Medicine about the utility of Nivolumab+AVD in advanced-stage classic Hodgkin’s lymphoma, based on a three-phase, multicenter clinical trial. Smith was also elected to the American Society of Clinical Oncology Board of Directors as the Designated Medical Oncologist.
• Led by Abhinav Sidana, MBBS, MPH, Director of Focal Therapy for prostate cancer (CaP), we now offer five modalities to target localized prostate cancer and spare healthy tissue. Dr Sidana received a grant for evaluating PSMA-PET in surveillance after focal therapy. He also led a master class on Rectal Spacer placement and on Genetic Testing in Prostate Cancer Management while leading FOCAL+ 2024 a national CaP conference in San Diego.
• Nishant Agrawal, MD, was awarded funding from the National Cancer Institute to study “Multi-analyte Approach for Earlier Detection of Cancer in Non-Plasma Biofluids.” This project aims to develop noninvasive, biofluid-based "liquid biopsy" assays using saliva and other biofluids for the early detection of cancers, including head and neck cancers, addressing current limitations in minimally invasive cancer diagnostics.

Clinical Advancements

• Ernst Lengyel, MD, PhD, Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, and Stacy Tessler Lindau, MD, MA, were elected to the Association of American Physicians in recognition of their contributions as the nation’s leading physician-scientists.
• Mecker Möller, MD, was elected as the 2024 Latino Surgical Society and Association of Women Surgeons Visiting Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Möller will heighten the visibility of Latino surgeons and serve as a positive role model for medical students and trainees of LatinX heritage.
• Cristina O’Donoghue, MD, was appointed as a Senior Faculty Scholar within the Bucksbaum Institute. This appointment recognizes Dr. O’Donoghue as an exceptional clinician, teacher, and mentor.
• Xaiver Keutgen, MD, was awarded the 2024 Fletcher Scholars Award. This prestigious award supports an exceptional research project presented by a distinguished cancer researcher. Dr. Keutgen’s project explores next-generation theranostics to diagnose and treat neuroendocrine tumors.
• Nora Jaskowiak, MD, was appointed Bucksbaum Master Clinician. The appointment is awarded to physicians who are deeply committed to providing the highest quality of care, focusing on both medical expertise and a compassionate approach to patient care.
• Ralph R. Weichselbaum, MD, was inducted into the 2024 Giants of Cancer Care® recognition program, which celebrates the achievements of leading researchers and educators whose discoveries have helped propel the field forward and established the building blocks for future advances.

• Jennifer Wolf, MD, PhD, was named Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Dr. Wolf has been awarded more than $2.5 million in grant funding, has published more than 140 peer-reviewed articles, and is past president of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.
• Led by Tessa Balach, MD, the department has become a high-enrolling site for an NIH-funded trial investigating pain after total knee arthroplasty.
• Lewis L. Shi, MD, in the Division of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, co-authored “Active biointegrated living electronics for managing inflammation,” published In Science. The study discusses how a combination of live cells, gel and electronics can heal soft tissues.
• OrthoReach, our outreach program for at-risk high school students, has received grant funding from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons to expand our activities.
• Our sports medicine and orthopaedic surgeons proudly serve as the official physicians for WNBA's Chicago Sky.

• Eight OHNS faculty members, Nishant Agrawal, MD, Elizabeth Blair, MD, Michael Gluth, MD, Jayant Pinto, MD, Louis de Guzman Portugal, MD, Andrea Shogan, MD, Fuad Baroody, MD, and Dana Suskind, MD, were named to Chicago Magazine’s Top Doctors list.
  
• Dana Suskind, MD, received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood, and the Frechette Family Foundation, among others, to support the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health. The mission of the TMW Center is to create a national shift in the knowledge and behavior of parents and caregivers that leads to optimal foundational brain development in all children during the first five years of life.
  
• Nishant Agrawal, MD, was awarded funding from the NCI to study “Multi-analyte Approach for Earlier Detection of Cancer in Non-Plasma Biofluids.” This project aims to develop noninvasive, biofluid-based "liquid biopsy" assays using saliva and other biofluids for the early detection of cancers, including head and neck cancers, addressing current limitations in minimally invasive cancer diagnostics.
  
• Elizabeth Blair, MD, Dana Suskind, MD, and Andrea Shogan, MD, were listed in the Castle Connolly 2024 List of Exceptional Women in Medicine. The list recognizes women who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, expertise and dedication in their respective fields.
  
• Jayant Pinto, MD, was awarded the top #HeForShe Award at the Women in Medicine Summit.
  
• Jayant Pinto, MD, was also featured in the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Journal for his publication, "A Social Media Quality Review of Popular Sinusitis Videos on TikTok." This article aimed to assess the quality of sinusitis-related videos on TikTok.
  
• Brandon Baird, MD, was interviewed on “TODAY,” a popular morning show and online platform covering news, wellness, parenting, pop culture, and more, to discuss gender-affirming voice therapy. The article explores the transformative impact of gender-affirming voice therapy, highlighting Dr. Baird's expertise as he supports individuals in aligning their voices with their gender identities, emphasizing the therapy's significance for mental health and self-expression.
  
• Brandon Baird, MD, was also featured on “Tamron Hall” and “ABC- Channel 7 Eyewitness News," discussing the career-saving surgery he performed on news anchor Samantha Chatman.
  
• The University of Chicago Section of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery hosted the 7th Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. This national three-day course, led by Nishant Agrawal, MD, and Ellen MacCracken, MS, featured experts who addressed challenges facing practitioners who treat patients with head and neck cancers.
  
• In Spring 2024, UChicago Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery expanded its services to UChicago Medicine’s newest facility in Crown Point, Indiana, where we provide area residents with subspecialty care in head and neck cancer, otology and pediatric otolaryngology. The new Crown Point micro-hospital was named winner of the 2024 International Interior Design Association Healthcare Design Award, which honors innovation and excellence in the design and furnishings of healthcare spaces.
  
   

• Our Interventional Pulmonary (IP) program continues to be the largest in the Chicago area. Septimiu Murgu, MD, D. Kyle Hogarth, MD, and Ajay Wagh, MD, MS, provide state-of-the-art diagnostic approaches and treatments to our patients.
  
  • We are the leading center for bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (endobronchial valves), airway stenting, robotic bronchoscopy, bronchoscopic ablation of airway tumors, and management of tracheal stenosis and tracheobronchomalacia.
  • We are part of the multi-disciplinary Complex Airway Center to manage laryngo-tracheal diseases in conjunction with colleagues from otolaryngology and thoracic surgery.
  • Dr. Murgu is the current President of the American Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology and the recipient of CHEST 2023 Edward C. Rosenow III, MD, Master FCCP/Master Teacher Endowed Honor Lecture.
  • Dr. Hogarth was named as a top doctor and spotlighted in Chicago Magazine.
• Our Sleep Center, directed by, Esra Tasali, MD, Hyde Park location’s American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) Accreditation was obtained on April 4, 2023, maintaining 40 years of continuous accreditation and one of the oldest centers in the country.
  
  • Alejandra Lastra, MD, was appointed as the Chair of the AASM Education Committee, which develops educational programs, initiatives, and products for sleep physicians as well as patients with sleep disorders. She also founded the inpatient advanced respiratory care consult service.
  • Phillip LoSavio, MD, was appointed as the new Chair of the Education Committee for the International Sleep Surgery Society (ISSS). He will be leading the ISSS global education strategy for attendings and residents.
  • Gorav Sharma, MD, joined as an Assistant Professor and Associate Program Director for the Sleep Medicine Fellowship effective August 1, 2023.
• Our Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) program, directed by Mary E. Strek, MD, is among one of three Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Care Centers in Illinois. Other ILD specialists include Cathryn Lee, MD, and Ayodeji Adegunsoye, MD, who also directs post-COVID pulmonary clinic.
• Our COPD program led by Lucas Kimmig, MD, provides inpatient and outpatient care through a dedicated team of advanced practice providers. We have successfully reduced readmission rates via this comprehensive program. We also partner with our sleep medicine team to streamline the facilitation for home non-invasive ventilator support.
• Our Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Program is led by Edward T. Naureckas, MD, together with Kevin Tsui, MD, as Associate Adult Program Director. This program provides multidisciplinary care including pharmacy, nutrition, behavioral health respiratory therapy and physical therapy evaluation to improve the lives of adults with CF and bronchiectasis.

Expanded access to our specialists across the region

• The Northbrook location, UCM’s first site on Chicago’s North Shore, offers urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, minimally invasive surgery for endometriosis, and obesity medicine-gynecology.
• The new UCM Crown Point location offers gynecologic oncology, urogynecology, and minimally invasive surgery.

Leading in gynecologic surgery

• Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery Chief Kimberly Kenton, MD, MS, and Gynecology Quality Chief Margaret Mueller, MD, published a review of Activity Restrictions After Gynecologic Surgery in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Their report challenges traditional postoperative restrictions and advocates for increased activity to support recovery.

Contributions to cancer research

• We’re addressing inequities in cancer with UCM’s new AbbVie Foundation Cancer Pavilion set to open on our Hyde Park campus in 2027.
• UCM received the highest honor from the National Cancer Institute, our designation as one of only 56 comprehensive cancer centers nationwide and one of two in Illinois.
• U.S. News & World Report's 2024-2025 rankings listed UCM as the top cancer hospital in Illinois and ranked us as “high performing” for gynecological cancer surgery.
• Our commitment to advancing cancer biology is reflected in multiple articles in leading journals and honors, including:
  • Adipocytes promote metastasis by diverting glucose by Ernst Lengyel, MD, PhD, in Nature Metabolism
  • The burden of cervical cancer survivorship by Sarah Ackroyd, MD, MPH, in Gynecologic Oncology Reports
  • A National Institutes of Health grant awarded to Katherine Kurnit, MD, MPH, to study molecular classification and targeted tumor therapy for endometrial cancer.
  • Our gynecologic oncology team, the largest in the Midwest, expanded with the addition of Sudarshan Sharma, MD, at UCM AdventHealth Hinsdale.

Transforming obstetrics through innovation and patient-centered care

• Under the leadership of Sarosh Rana, MD, MPH, UCM’s inaugural Chief Obstetric Transformation Officer, we are focused on addressing disparities in care for patients with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and pioneering biomarker testing. We have since earned a Citation of Merit from the American Hospital Association (July 2023) and the Bernard J. Tyson National Award for Excellence in Pursuit of Healthcare Equity (October 2023).
• While many hospitals chose to discontinue midwifery services, UCM added midwifery to meet patients’ desires for a more personalized birth experience.

• Led by Mahmoud Khalil, MBBCh, Assistant Professor of Surgery, UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital is among the first in the area to offer Aquablation therapy, the real-time, ultrasound-guided, robotic-assisted, heat-free waterjet for the treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH).
• Led by Abhinav Sidana, MBBS, MPH, Director of Focal Therapy for prostate cancer (CaP), we now offer five modalities to target localized prostate cancer and spare healthy tissue. Dr Sidana received a grant for evaluating PSMA-PET in surveillance after focal therapy. He also led a master class on Rectal Spacer placement and on Genetic Testing in Prostate Cancer Management while leading FOCAL+ 2024 a national CaP conference in San Diego.
• Our CaP program is a national leader in treating patients, managing one of the largest volumes of cases in the country.
• Gregory Bales, MD, Clinical Associate of Surgery, rejoined Sarah Faris, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery, and Ervin Kocjancic, MD, Professor of Surgery, to augment our urologic reconstruction, gender affirmation and female urology program.