Awards & Accreditations

• U.S. News & World Report ranked UChicago Medicine’s diabetes and endocrinology program as No. 23 in its 2023-2024 “Best Hospitals” survey.
• Raghavendra Mirmira, MD, PhD, was awarded the Albert Renold award from the American Diabetes Association. This award is given in recognition of an individual who has a “career distinguished by outstanding achievements in mentorship and/or creation of a robust environment for diabetes research.” Dr. Mirmira was also awarded a grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to study engineered nanoparticles and their ability to target pancreatic beta cells as an approach to prevent or treat diabetes.
• Louis Philipson, MD, PhD, and Rochelle Naylor, MD, published a study of sleep patterns in patients with maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY), a collection of monogenic forms of diabetes. They found that sleep disturbances are common in adults with these disorders.
• George Bakris, MD, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Athens School of Medicine in Greece and a Luminary in Cardiometabolic Medicine Award by the Heart in Diabetes organization.
• Samuel Refetoff, MD, and Alexandra M. Dumitrescu, MD, PhD, continued to study patients with Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome, which is caused by defects in the thyroid hormone MCT8 transporter, and they showed that viral delivery of MCT8 in a mouse model improves neurological and endocrine outcomes. These investigators, along with Antonio Bianco, MD, PhD, renewed a long-term National Institutes of Health grant to study inherited thyroid disorders.
• Matthew Brady, PhD, and Raghu Mirmira, MD, PhD, were awarded a new T32 grant by the National Institutes of Health to train graduate students for careers in diabetes and metabolism research.
• Antonio Bianco, MD, PhD, wrote a book titled “Rethinking Hypothyroidism: Why Treatment Must Change and What Patients Can Do,” published by The University of Chicago Press. In this book, Dr. Bianco discusses why standard treatments for hypothyroidism sometimes fail and calls for alternatives that will improve lives.

• With the leadership of David T. Rubin, MD, the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition continued to enjoy success and growth in education, research, innovation, and clinical programs last year. Thanks to peer recommendations from medical professionals like you, Newsweek ranked our program one of the World’s Best Specialized Hospitals.
• The Section welcomed two new faculty in 2023.
  
  • Tenzin Choden, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, specializes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with clinical interests in ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and checkpoint inhibitor colitis. Her primary research interests involve studying various aspects of the care of older patients with IBD, such as frailty, medication management and cancer surveillance. She serves on the Training Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology.
  • Lalitha Sitaraman, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, specializes in motility disorders of the intestines. This specialty studies the movement of the intestinal muscles and ways to better characterize and study how the bowel functions.
• In 2023, the Section grew clinical programs both on campus and at off-site locations. Multiple GI faculty members perform endoscopies at the UChicago Medicine River East location and will continue to grow procedure volumes at other satellite locations, including a new site in Northbrook and expansions in Hinsdale and Northwest Indiana.
• Last year, the Section research portfolio again exceeded $17M and included two NIH R01 grants from Eugene B. Chang, MD, an NIH RC2 grant from Bana Jabri, MD, PhD, and a NIH R01 grant from Cambrian Liu, PhD, on colonic epithelial wound healing by transitional anal cells. Additionally, Eugene B. Chang, MD, and Edwin K. McDonald IV, MD, received GI Research Foundation (GIRF) funding for community outreach on the impact of diet on gut microbial health and function. David T. Rubin, MD, received GIRF funding for assessing the bidirectional impact of GI inflammation and mental health on patients with IBD. Cambrian Liu, PhD, received GIRF funding for reprogramming stem cells to treat IBD.
• The fiscal year 2023 GI Fellowship Program, under the leadership by Andrew Aronsohn, MD, includes 12 categorical fellows, four of whom are part of the Department’s Physician Scientist Development Program. Over half of our fellows are women, and over a quarter of our fellows are underrepresented in medicine. The Section has six advanced fellows in interventional endoscopy, inflammatory bowel disease, transplant hepatology, and nutrition, with a visiting advanced fellow in GI cancer.
• The Section has expanded the community engagement program co-led by Edwin K. McDonald IV, MD, and Sonali Paul, MD, MS, that focuses on diet, cooking, and nutrition education. Over the summer, Dr. McDonald led a high school internship program with two interns who worked in the GI Section. They primarily shadowed Dr. McDonald in clinic and during procedures and had the opportunity to shadow his colleagues in interventional GI, IBD, hepatology, and general surgery. Dr. McDonald also partnered with the Association of Black Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists and local comedians for a community outreach event geared towards educating the South Side Chicago community about gastrointestinal diseases. The program took place before 300 people in The Promontory in Hyde Park and won a coveted SCOPY Award for education from the American College of Gastroenterology.

Additional Highlights and Accomplishments:

• Eugene B. Chang, MD – Recipient of the Walter Palmer Senior Alumni Award; Gastrointestinal Research Foundation (2023)
• Uzma Siddiqui, MD – Recipient of a 2023 Crystal Award: Master Endoscopist Award
• Valerie Abadie, PhD – Recipient of the Celiac Disease Foundation Young Investigator Prize in Basic Science (2023)
• Sonali Paul, MD, MS – Recipient of the Joseph B. Kirsner Mentorship Award (2023)
• David T. Rubin, MD – Recipient of the 2023 Department’s Arthur H. Rubenstein Mentorship in Academic Medicine Award
• Sonia Kupfer, MD – Appointed Associate Vice Chair for Research
• Sonali Paul, MD, MS – Appointed Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program and Faculty Advisory Committee Member, Patient Care and Training

2023 Select High Impact Publications

1. Dolinger MT, Krugliak Cleveland N, Rubin DT, Dubinsky MC. Guide to Intestinal Ultrasound Credentialing, Documentation, and Billing for Gastroenterologists in the United States. Am J Gastroenterol. 2023
2. Akhlaghpour M, Haritunians T, More SK, Thomas LS, Stamps DT, Dube S, Li D, Yang S, Landers CJ, Mengesha E, Hamade H, Murali R, Potdar AA, Wolf AJ, Botwin GJ, Khrom M; International IBD Genetics Consortium; Ananthakrishnan AN, Faubion WA, Jabri B, Lira SA, Newberry RD, Sandler RS, Sartor RB, Xavier RJ, Brant SR, Cho JH, Duerr RH, Lazarev MG, Rioux JD, Schumm LP, Silverberg MS, Zaghiyan K, Fleshner P, Melmed GY, Vasiliauskas EA, Ha C, Rabizadeh S, Syal G, Bonthala NN, Ziring DA, Targan SR, Long MD, McGovern DPB, Michelsen KS. Genetic coding variant in complement factor B (CFB) is associated with increased risk for perianal Crohn's disease and leads to impaired CFB cleavage and phagocytosis. Gut. 2023
3. Siddiqui UD. Top tips for colonic EMR (with video). Gastrointest Endosc. 2023
4. Goldowsky A, Ding J, Vélez C, Paul S. Improving the Experiences of Sexual and Gender Minority-Identifying Trainees in Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Gastroenterology. 2023
5. Kastrinos F, Kupfer SS, Gupta S. Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment and Precision Approaches to Screening: Brave New World or Worlds Apart? Gastroenterology. 2023
6. Duong N, Lee TH, Newman KL, Goldowsky A, Jencks KJ, Chedid V, Barrow J, Burbridge R, Chiang A, Targownik L, Simonetto DA, Paul S. Overcoming disparities for sexual and gender minority patients and providers in gastroenterology and hepatology: introduction to Rainbows in Gastro. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2023
7. Rinella ME, Neuschwander-Tetri BA, Siddiqui MS, Abdelmalek MF, Caldwell S, Barb D, Kleiner DE, Loomba R. AASLD Practice Guidance on the clinical assessment and management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology. 2023
8. Allocca M, Kucharzik T, Rubin DT. Intestinal Ultrasound in the Assessment and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Is It Ready for Standard Practice? Gastroenterology. 2023

• Elizabeth Zavala, MD, launched a urinary incontinence evaluation and management clinic at South Shore Senior Center.
• Heather Leeper, MD, is leading a new neuropalliative care program focused on improving the quality of life of patients with serious neurologic illnesses.
• Megan Huisingh-Scheetz MD, MPH, published a nationally represented study on the association of gait speed and self-reported walking difficulty with social isolation.
• Andrea Landi, MD, received a Health Resources & Services Administration K01 Geriatrics Academic Career Award to develop and study educational programs for older adults with opioid and substance use disorders.
• Stacie Levine, MD, FAAHPM, was elected to the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Board of Directors.

• UChicago Medicine’s Heart Transplant Program is one of the best in the country. We have a 5-star rating from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients for our expertise in heart transplant. We routinely take extremely challenging cases, which include patients who are denied care at other hospitals around the country, and provide the lifesaving treatment they need.
• We have the most comprehensive and innovative Robotic Heart Surgery Program in the world, offering multivessel totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass (TECAB) surgery, valve repair and replacement, surgery to correct atrial fibrillation and pericardiectomy.
• We have the largest Bloodless Cardiac Surgery Program in the country, providing heart transplants, left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), complex valve cases and reoperative sternotomies.
• Our cardiology and heart surgery specialties ranked 38th in U.S. News & World Report for its 2023-24 Best Hospitals list. In addition to the specialty rankings, U.S. News evaluates hospital performance for common adult procedures and conditions. The H&V Center received the top “high performing” rating in these procedures and conditions:
  • Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair
  • Aortic valve surgery
  • Heart attack
  • Heart bypass surgery
  • Heart failure
  • Stroke
• UChicago Medicine’s Marfan Syndrome and Connective Tissue Program was nationally recognized as a center of excellence by the Marfan Foundation for their exceptional work in the diagnosis and management of Marfan syndrome and related connective tissue disorders in adults and children. As one of only two centers of excellence in Illinois, this designation demonstrates our commitment to providing the highest quality care and ensuring that each patient receives the comprehensive, personalized treatment they deserve.
• The Section of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy at UChicago Medicine has a long history of outstanding achievements in patient care, education and research in the broad spectrum of vascular disease. Our team provides state-of-the-art care for conditions of arteries and veins, and treats all vascular conditions. We offer nonsurgical, minimally invasive endovascular techniques and traditional surgical options to deliver the highest level of patient care for aortic aneurysms, aortic dissection, carotid blockages, peripheral arterial disease, venous disease and end-stage renal disease.
• We’re also excited to announce that UChicago Medicine’s cardiovascular surgeons are now performing surgeries and working with the cardiology care team at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale. The agreement is an outgrowth of a joint venture that AdventHealth and UChicago Medicine formed in January 2023, combining the expertise and resources of both organizations to bring academic medicine to the Western suburbs.

• Emily Rogalski, PhD, leads the new University of Chicago Healthy Aging & Alzheimer's Research Care Center to focus on building deep multidisciplinary expertise and bridge the gap between scientific disciplines to accelerate breakthroughs in cognitive resilience. Her work on ‘SuperAgers’ was recently covered by CNN.
• Marcello Cherchi, MD, PhD, and Timothy Hain, MD, joined UChicago Medicine to a launch a world-class, state-of-the-art Otoneurology and Vestibular Disorders Program.
• The Stroke Center received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) U01 award to study stroke transfers across the U.S. and a renewal for five years as an NIH StrokeNet Regional Coordinating Center. Shyam Prabhakaran, MD, MS, was the senior author of a national study on stroke transfers in JAMA and James Brorson, MD, received an award to study kinetics of stroke reoccurrence rates in different trials.
• The Neurovascular Surgery Program received several NIH-funded grants including a grant from the Neurosurgeon Research Career Development Program (Sean Polster, MD) and a grant for research on Multiomic Biomarkers of Cavernous Angiomas with Symptomatic Hemorrhage, optimizing data for Machine Learning analyses (Issam Awad, MD).
• We are one of the leading centers to offer MRI-guided laser ablation to treat various forms of epilepsy and brain tumors in adults and children, and we recently added a directional laser system that allows us to shape the laser ablations to the patient’s tumor contour. This year we treated our 400th patient with an intracerebral laser ablation for refractory epilepsy and our combined pediatric and adult epilepsy surgery program has grown by 38%.
• We have enrolled the first patient into an innovative epilepsy study: FIH Study of NRTX-1001 Neural Cell Therapy in Drug-Resistant Unilateral Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.
• Our deep brain stimulation program continues to lead the way in using the procedure to treat patients who have movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, dystonia or essential tremor.
• The Margaret Hackett Family Program is one of the few entities in the country dedicated to providing comprehensive care for children and adults with central nervous system congenital anomalies.
• Eric Thompson, MD, now leads the Chicagoland Children’s Health Alliance (CCHA) as the Chief of Pediatric Neurosciences. The CCHA reflects a collaboration among Comer Children’s Hospital, Advocate Children’s Hospital and Pediatrics at NorthShore University HealthSystem.
• Expanding our Telestroke Network, we continue to collaborate with Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, Illinois, to bring nationally ranked experts and a full range of technologies and treatments to Will County.
• We launched a partnership with Emirates Health Services which will send physicians, like Tareq Kass-Hout, MD, to the United Arab Emirates to consult on patient cases and advise on protocols that will help develop more consistent and robust specialty care and infrastructure.
• A Dynamic Experiences in Neuroscience to Diversify Research Internship Training Exposures for Students program mentee (mentored by Kaitlin Seibert, MD), earned a prestigious Marshall Scholarship.
• Our neurotrauma program, now in its sixth year, continues to treat hundreds of patients with blunt and penetrating brain and spine injuries. The program held an inaugural Brain Trauma Conference in Chicago.
• We maintained several Centers of Excellence including:
  
  • Ataxia Center
    
  • Center for Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders
    
  • Multiple Sclerosis Program
    
  • Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia
    
  • Cerebral Cavernous Malformation Program
• Our neurology/neurosurgery specialties ranked 47th nationally on the U.S. News & World Report 2023-24 “Best Hospitals” list.

• We broke ground on our $815 million project to build the state’s first standalone structure dedicated to cancer care and research. The 575,000-square-foot, seven-story pavilion will build on our decades of work and leadership in cancer care and research while also streamline patient access to diagnostic and treatment innovations.
• We launched a new joint venture with AdventHealth to extend healthcare services into the western suburbs of Illinois. Additionally, we successfully acquired four oncology centers in Northwest Indiana, significantly expanding our network for cancer care access. This strategic expansion brings our total locations to twenty, serving communities across Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana.
• Funmi Olopade, MD, was awarded three of the most prestigious awards in breast cancer. She was selected to receive both the 2023 Prize for Scientific Excellence in Medicine in Clinical Oncology by the American-Italian Cancer Foundation (AICF) and the Susan G. Komen Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Basic Science. This adds to her prior receipt of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation 2023 Jill Rose Award—the highest honor the Foundation bestows upon a grantee.
• Ben Derman, MD, will lead the flagship MMRC Horizon Platform multi-cohort multi-site trial in newly diagnosed high-risk myeloma.
• In collaboration with the S:CORT consortium in the UK, Sean Pitroda, MD, led the team that performed the first validation of colorectal cancer liver metastasis subtypes in the randomized phase III New-EPOC trial (JAMA Oncology – PMID: 37471075). This team included UChicago faculty Ralph Weichselbaum, MD; Mark Talamonti, MD; and Mitchell Posner, MD.
• Ralph Weichselbaum, MD, and Chuan He, PhD, and colleagues in the Ludwig Center for Metastasis Research at UChicago advanced a novel therapeutic approach in their 2023 Cancer Cell paper. They reported that ionizing radiation (IR) induces the expression of mRNA reader protein YTHDF2, and that depletion or inhibition of this IR-induced YTHDF2 augmented antitumor immunity following IR.
• Maria Lucia Madariaga, MD, won the GEMSSTAR R03 Award from the NIH to study “Applying User-centered Design and Implementation Science to Enhance Prehabilitation for Frail Older Adults Undergoing Lung Cancer Surgery.”
• UChicago Medicine is the only hospital in Illinois and among a select number in the country to offer hepatic artery infusion (also called hepatic arterial infusion pump chemotherapy, or HAI). Ryan Merkow, MD, serves as the program leader for this innovative treatment for patients with certain metastatic colorectal and bile duct cancers *that affect the liver.
• Nearly 200 UChicago Medicine and Comer Children's physicians were named to Chicago magazine's 2024 Top Docs list, including over 40 cancer physicians.
• Our dedicated researchers and clinicians conduct hundreds of clinical trials in phases I, II, III and IV each year, leading to the development of new and better treatments. As a head site for the Clinical Trials Network, we have more than 300 open therapeutic trials and enroll more than 1,000 patients from a diverse population each year.

• Aravind Athiviraham, MD, completed the American Orthopaedic Association USC APEX Leadership certificate program. He also was selected for the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Boosting Orthopaedic Leaders’ Development (BOLD) program. BOLD helps to develop orthopaedic surgeons as leaders in their field.
• Holly Benjamin, MD, was nominated to the planning committee for the national Advanced Team Physician Course for a four-year term. Dr. Benjamin was also nominated to the American College of Sports Medicine Advisory Board for Team Physician Consensus Group. She was selected as the inaugural American Board of Pediatrics representative to the American Board of Family Medicine Sports Medicine CAQ Advisory Committee.
• Mary Kate Erdman, MD, was the director, screenwriter, and cinematographer for a 7-minute video on Allgöwer-Donati suture technique for wound closure that won Orthopaedic Video Theater Award, Best in Trauma at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery Annual Meeting. Dr. Erdman, selected to serve a three-year term as the Simon Diversity Scholar, was also featured on an Orthopedics Trauma Association podcast in an episode titled “The Early Years: Surgical Education: Balancing Trainees and Myself".
• Kelly Hynes, MD, was an American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society traveling fellow. She was awarded a 2023 Bucksbaum Institute Pilot Grant.
• Jason A. Strelzow, MD, was an American Orthopaedic Association North American traveling fellow. He was featured on an episode of a JAAOS Unplugged podcast titled “AAOS Guidelines on Prevention of Surgical Site Infection After Major Extremity Trauma.”
• Sara Shippee Wallace, MD, MPH, chaired the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons annual resident course in November. She also became the second chair of the UChicago Medicine Women Surgeons Committee (WSC) in July and is serving a two-year term.
• Jennifer Moriatis Wolf, MD, PhD, was elected president of American Society for Surgery of the Hand. She was awarded a University of Chicago IIRP faculty grant and also the Mary Harris Thompson Award by the UChicago Medicine WSC. Her case vignette on lateral epicondylitis was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

• Ten OHNS faculty members, Nishant Agrawal, MD, Fuad Baroody, MD, Elizabeth Blair, MD, Michael Gluth, MD, Jayant Pinto, MD, Louis Portugal, MD, Christopher Roxbury, MD, Anil Shah, MD, Andrea Shogan, MD, and Dana Suskind, MD were named to Chicago Magazine’s Top Doctors list.
• Michael Gluth, MD, was named the new Executive Director of the Prosper Meniere Society, an honor society which promotes the academic dissemination and discussion of basic and clinical research data on Meniere disease and all aspects of inner ear dysfunction, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment.
• Phillip LoSavio, MD, was named Chair of the Education Committee for the International Sleep Surgery Society which is dedicated to improving the care of patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
• Jayant M Pinto, MD, was featured in a Fortune Well article titled, “Those most at risk developing Alzheimer’s may lose this sense before cognitive decline sets in.” Dr. Pinto's study found that those who carry a gene variant carrying the strongest risk of Alzheimer’s Disease may lose their ability to detect smells before they begin to lose cognitive function.
• Dana Suskind, MD, published an essay titled “The AI Nanny in Your Baby’s Future” in the Wall Street Journal. Dr. Suskind discusses the potential power of artificial intelligence to optimize early childhood development; while cautioning that use of technology in this way could have profound, unexpected consequences on humanity. Dr. Suskind and her team at the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health are committed to advancing AI that promotes and protects the well-being of children. The Center recently launched a noteworthy, multi-year collaboration with the State of Connecticut to pilot use of its transformational technology to support educators and students in early care and education classrooms.
• Christopher Roxbury, MD, published a textbook, “Cerebrospinal Fluid Rhinorrhea.” This textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the evaluation and diagnosis and the medical and surgical management options.
• Terence Imbery, MD, was featured in the Department of Surgery’s 2022-2023 Annual Report “The Souls of Surgery: Behind the Mask”. The report won the Mid-America Regional Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Achievement for Branded Content – Long Form Content.

• 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.

• The department opened its first women’s health clinic in Chicago’s northern suburbs. The new urogynecology outpatient center, now in Northbrook, is home to four leading UChicago Medicine surgeon-scientists, all of whom provide complex pelvic health care for patients including incontinence and prolapse surgery.
  
  Kimberly Kenton, MD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the health system’s new Chief of the Section of Gynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery is joined at the new Northbrook location by Sarah Collins, MD, Christina Lewicky-Gaupp, MD, and Margaret Mueller, MD. Farah Alvi, MD, from the Section of Gynecology and Minimally Invasive Surgery will also offer her expertise in advanced surgery for endometriosis to patients at the Northbrook location.
• In fall 2023, the department announced the formation of the Section of Ultrasound, Genetics, and the Fetal and Neonatal Care Center. Ryan Longman, MD, was named the section’s inaugural chief. Longman, a physician board-certified in obstetrics, gynecology and medical genetics, has over a decade of experience providing routine and condition-specific diagnostic care for patients before and during pregnancy.
  
  Dr. Longman has transformed the program’s delivery of care with a dedicated nurse navigator and improved patient outcomes through innovative imaging technologies and the advancement of imaged guided procedures. The Fetal and Neonatal Care Center is a program for pregnant individuals with fetal anomalies, often detected through ultrasound imaging and genetic testing.
• Katherine Rivlin, MD, MSc, section chief of Complex Family Planning and Contraceptive Research, co-authored “The Power of Language in Hospital Care for Pregnant and Birthing People” and “A Rubric to Center Equity in Obstetrics and Gynecology Research,” published in Obstetrics and Gynecology. The research focuses on relationship-centered care and reproductive justice frameworks to analyze the role of language in pregnancy in the USA.
• In Spring 2023, the FDA approved a new blood test based on utilizing angiogenic biomarkers to detect preeclampsia in pregnant patients. Sarosh R. Rana, MD, MPH, section chief of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, participated in the seminal study that was used for the approval of the clinical use of these biomarkers in the U.S. The article was published in the New England Journal of Medicine Evidence.
• In July, we established the Center for the Advanced Treatment and Research (CATeR) of Uterine Fibroids, led by Sandra Laveaux, MD, MPH. The center provides high-level, customized care for women with fibroids. Using the latest clinical techniques, including myomectomy, hysterectomy, uterine fibroid embolization and radiofrequency ablation (Acessa), Dr. Laveaux’s team enables patients to achieve their lifestyle and family-building goals.
• Ayman Al-Hendy, MD, PhD, leads research and clinical advancements in nonsurgical treatment modalities to offer patients a less invasive approach to treating fibroids. A study he co-authored that Relugolix therapy effectively reduces menstrual blood loss in uterine fibroids, with 78.4% maintaining lower levels through week 76, indicating its potential as a durable solution for symptomatic relief.
• Our Gynecologic Oncology group is one of the largest in the Midwest region. With services provided from Northwest Indiana to Downtown Chicago, and Northwest Community Hospital we have decades of experience in diagnosing and treating ovarian, uterine, cervical, and endometrial cancers. We offer patients the latest therapies and surgical treatments, including hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) and advanced minimally invasive surgery. Our clinical trials program, directed by John Moroney, MD, hosts a vast portfolio of open trials – many of which are designed to help patients fight even some of the most unrelenting gynecologic cancers. Reach us at GyneCancerProgram@uchicagomedicine.org.
• A groundbreaking event was held in September for our new state-of-the-art cancer care and research pavilion, scheduled to open in 2027. Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, an internationally renowned expert in immunotherapy research who is helping to oversee the project, is dedicated to ensuring the pavilion is the first in the area offering leading-edge immunotherapy trials, including adoptive cellular therapy, open for gynecologic cancer.

• Abhinav Sidana, MBBS, joined our faculty as director of the Partial Gland Ablation (PGA) therapy for prostate cancer. He is a national expert on Focal Therapy trained in Urologic Oncology at the National Cancer Institute. He will be leading our program assisyted by Gregory Zagaja, MD, and Arieh L. Shalhav, MD. With the addition of his skill set we now offer all ablative therapies imcluding: Focal One® HIFU, TULSA Pro®, Cryotherapy and Electro-vaporization for prostate cancer. With our robust robotic surgery program this enhances our ability to offer all surgical options for primary prostate cancer as well as salvage after radiation therapy.
• Mahmoud Khalil, MBBCh, has joined our program. Mahmoud Khalil, MBBCh, is an Endourology and Robotic Surgery fellowship-trained Surgeon who will be spreading our efforts to expand access to urology to Northwest Indiana and the South suburbs of Chicago.
• We have increased our capacity for UroNav® transperineal fusion prostate procedures, providing biopsies in clinic under local anesthesia or in the OR with sedation by four providers.
• We developed a Gender-Affirming Surgical Program led by Ervin Kocjancic, MD, a nationally recognized expert in transgender surgery who also spearheaded the development of our LGBTQ-friendly clinic at River East and our Urologic reconstruction program.
• Our Robotic Cystectomy program led by Piyush Agarwal, MD, and Parth Modi, MD, MS, is growing, with 45 cases completed in 2023.
• Led by Omer Raheem, MD, a national thought leader in men’s health, we launched our Men’s Wellness program at our River East location. This Urology-led multidisciplinary program includes, Cardiology, Sleep Medicine, Endocrine, Internal Medicine, Mental and Behavioral Health Services, and Orthopedics.
• Scott Eggener, MD, was recently awarded the American Urological Association Mid-Career Award: for outstanding contributions to the profession in research, clinical urology, and advocacy. Under his leadership, our multidisciplinary High-Risk and Advanced Prostate Cancer Clinic continues to offer resources for referred patients.
• The expansion of urology clinics into the South Loop, River East, Orland Park, and Ingalls Memorial Hospital in addition to Hyde Park has made urology more accessible in the Chicagoland region. In 2024 we are excited to offer our services in the Northwest Indiana region with the opening of UChicago Medicine’s Crown Point location.