Dr. Everett Vokes honored three faculty from the Section of Infectious Diseases & Global Health (IDGH)  with the  Distinguished Service Award for their outstanding work and dedication to the Department’s tripartite mission, but in particular their extraordinary efforts and leadership during the COVID crisis. Drs. David Pitrak, Kathleen Mullane, and Emily Landon were announced as the recipients of the award at a virtual award ceremony on September 15, 2020. David Pitrak, MD, Professor of Medicine  has served the Department as chief of  the Section of IDGH since 2002 and is responsible for its amazing growth to currently 17 faculty. He … Read More

Dr.  Shellie Williams, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Geriatrics & Palliative Medicine has been named as the recipient of the Department of Medicine’s 2020 Diversity Award.  Dr. Williams has had a longstanding  commitment and has made significant contributions to the cultural diversity in the health professions and in the reduction of health care disparities. Her work has had a sustained positive effect on the cultural climate impacting her patients, her trainees and mentees,  in the Department of Medicine, South Side communities, and beyond. Dr. Williams has been a member of the Department since 2007 where she has … Read More

The  Department of Medicine awarded the 2020 Leif B. Sorensen,MD,PhD Faculty Research Award to two rising stars: Dr. Justin Kline, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Hematology/Oncology, and Dr. Valerie Press, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Section of General Internal Medicine. The recipients were announced on September 15, 2020 at a virtual Departmental awards ceremony. Dr. Press is a highly accomplished clinical researcher who is developing a national reputation as an expert in patient and system level interventions for improving the care for patients with obstructive lung disease across care transitions. Her academic efforts span from research … Read More

The Department of Medicine recently awarded the 2020 Arthur Rubenstein Faculty Mentorship Award to two excellent mentors: Dr. Monica Peek, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of General Internal Medicine, and Dr. Mark Ratain, the Leon Jacobson Professor of Medicine in the Section of  Hematology/Oncology. The recipients were announced on September 15, 2020  at a virtual Departmental awards ceremony. Dr. Peek is an outstanding health services researcher dedicated to advancing health equity. She has a long-standing track record of mentorship that has been integral in the development of academic physicians focused on health disparities and community health. She has … Read More

  Medicine researchers find association between vitamin deficiency, risk of infection In a retrospective study of patients tested for COVID-19, researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine found an association between vitamin D deficiency and the likelihood of becoming infected with the coronavirus. “Vitamin D is important to the function of the immune system and vitamin D supplements have previously been shown to lower the risk of viral respiratory tract infections,” said David Meltzer, Chief of Hospital Medicine at UChicago Medicine and lead author of the study. “Our statistical analysis suggests this may be true for the COVID-19 infection.” The research … Read More

Originally published in The Forefront 8/4/2020 The COVID-19 pandemic has mobilized the world’s scientific community like no other recent crisis, including many researchers using the most modern data science and artificial intelligence approaches. At the University of Chicago, public health experts, computer scientists, economists and policy analysts have launched projects using computational tools to better detect, diagnose, treat and prevent the spread of the deadly virus. This summer, three of these projects received seed funding from the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute (DTI), a new partnership of technology companies and universities committed to accelerating the benefits of artificial intelligence for business, … Read More

Originally published in The Forefront 9/8/2020 The University of Chicago Medicine is launching a clinical trial to examine the potential of an antibody against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein for treating COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. For the BLAZE-1 trial, UChicago is recruiting 22 participants to be treated with the LY-CoV555 antibody developed by Eli Lilly and Company in collaboration with AbCellera. The antibody was first identified by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and AbCellera in a blood sample from a U.S. patient who had recovered from COVID-19. The neutralizing monoclonal antibody targets … Read More

Originally published in The Forefront 9/9/2020 Physicians at the University of Chicago Medicine are participating in a national trial to study the most effective course of treatment for patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The study will involve patients admitted to UChicago Medicine’s Level 1 Adult Trauma Center with injuries caused by motor vehicle collisions, falls or other incidents causing severe trauma to the brain. Every year, approximately 3.5 million Americans sustain a TBI, of which 50,000 die. Another 300,000 are hospitalized, but survive the injury. UChicago Medicine researchers will begin screening and enrolling patients in the study in early … Read More