Author: awesterb@bsdad.uchicago.edu

2020 Janet D. Rowley Research Day Abstract Winners


By

Congratulations to the Janet D. Rowley Research Day Best Abstract Winners: Faculty: Joseph Wynne,MD,PhD (Hematology/ Oncology)- Basic Research: “Targeting BACH1 inhibits HIF-induced tumor hypoxia and improves radiation treatment in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC)” Felicia D’Souza,MD (Hospital Medicine)-Clinical Research: “Appropriateness and Safety of Direct Access Endoscopy (DAE) in Hospitalized Patients” Kimberly Stanford, MD (Emergency Medicine)-Health Services Research:   Routine HIV testing in Emergency Department relies on effective electronic medical record prompts, provider buy-in, and dedicated staff follow-up” Alexander Pearson,MD,PhD (Hematology/Oncology)-Translational Research: “Deep learning detects actionable molecular and clinical states directly from head/neck squamous cell carcinoma histopathology slides”   Trainees: Xiaoou Li,MD,PhD … Read More

Breakthrough mouse model of celiac disease could lead to new treatments


By

Researchers in the Department of Medicine  have developed the first truly accurate mouse model of celiac disease. The animals have the same genetic and immune system characteristics as humans who develop celiac after eating gluten. This provides a vital research tool for developing and testing new treatments for the disease. “Based on our understanding of the human disease, we were able to retro-engineer a mouse model of celiac disease,” said Bana Jabri, MD, PhD, Director of Research at the University of Chicago Medicine Celiac Disease Center and senior author of the new study, published this week in Nature. “It’s the first model where the … Read More

Department of Medicine ranks #17 in 2019 NIH Funding


By

The Department of Medicine was ranked  #17 in 2019 NIH funding among departments of internal medicine in the latest data released by Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. This ranking, representing $92.4 million in NIH awards, is the Department’s highest ranking since 2012 when we ranked #15.  Within the Chicago area, Northwestern ranks #20, UIC #51 and Rush #70. In the Midwest, Washington University ranks #11, the University of Michigan #18, the University of Wisconsin #21, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis #29 and the University of Iowa as #41.  UCSF ranked #1 with over $216.4M followed by Vanderbilt with $175.1M in … Read More

Three Department of Medicine Faculty Elected to AAP


By

Three Department of Medicine faculty were recently elected to the Association of American Physicians (AAP): Marisa Alegre, MD, PhD, Gokhan Mutlu, MD and Thomas Gajewski,MD,PhD. The AAP is an honorific, elected society of America’s leading physician-scientists who exemplify the pinnacle of pioneering and enduring, impactful contributions to improve health. Dr. Alegre, Professor of Medicine in the Section of Rheumatology, is a leader in the field of transplantation immunology. Stemming from her clinical training as an intensivist and her basic immunology training, she addresses critical clinical questions with new mouse models of solid organ transplantation. This has led to several paradigm-shifting … Read More

Chicago Magazine Names 28 Medicine Faculty to 2020 Top Doctors List


By

Twenty eight Department of Medicine faculty were named “Top Doctors” in the Chicago area based on a selective annual list published by Chicago magazine. Cardiology: Michael Davidson,MD James Liao,MD Matthew Sorrentino,MD Roderick Tung,MD Dermatology: Victoria Barbosa,MD Christopher Shea,MD Endocrinology,Diabetes & Metabolism: David Ehrmann,MD Louis Philipson,MD,PhD Gastroenterology: Carol Semrad,MD Helen Te,MD Irving Waxman,MD Geriatrics: Stacie Levine,MD Hematology/Oncology: Michael Bishop,MD Gini Fleming,MD Philip Hoffman,MD Andrzej Jakubowiak,MD,PhD Hedy Kindler,MD Richard Larson,MD Olufunmilayo Olopade,MD Mark Ratain,MD Sonali Smith,MD Wendy Stock,MD Walter Stadler,MD Everett Vokes,MD Infectious Diseases: Kenneth Pursell,MD Nephrology: Fredric Coe,MD Pulmonary/Critical Care: Edward Garrity,MD Rheumatology James Curran,MD   A total of 76 University … Read More

Janet Rowley Research Day Schedule of Events – March 10, 2020


By

Schedule of Events for the 2020 Janet D. Rowley Research Day  on Tuesday, March 10, 2020.    Due to concern over the coronavirus, Dr. Ridker’s talk will be rescheduled for the spring or fall 2020.   We will however, continue to hold Grand Rounds with presentations from our top 4 trainee abstract winners followed by an award presentation. The poster session is cancelled.  Location Time Event P-117 12:00-1:00pm Top 4 Trainee Presentations P-117 1:00-1:30pm Best Abstracts Award Presentation   We ask that individuals with respiratory symptoms or those that have traveled to any part of the world or our country that … Read More

Vineet Arora,MD and Lucy Godley,MD,PhD Awarded Named Professorships


By

University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer recently awarded named professorships to two Department of Medicine faculty effective January 1, 2020:  Vineet Arora, MD (General Internal Medicine) and Lucy Godley, MD, PhD (Hematology/Oncology). Dr. Arora, an academic hospitalist and medical educator who specializes in improving the learning environment for medical trainees and the quality, safety and experience of care delivered to hospitalized adults, has been named as the Herbert T. Abelson Professor, and Dr. Godley, an expert in the field of inherited susceptibility to hematopoietic malignancies, has named as the Inaugural Hospira Foundation Professor in Oncology. Dr. Arora is an academic … Read More

Research sets sights on heart disease discoveries through precision cardiology and bioinformatics


By

Globally, heart disease is the leading cause of death in men and women and is projected to affect almost half of all adults by 2030. Nevertheless, cardiovascular research lags when it comes to harnessing technology, big data and funding – critical elements for precision cardiovascular medicine to make the sort of dramatic advances achieved in cancer research and care. “Cardiovascular disease as a field hasn’t seen very much computational firepower coming to the rescue to do something about it, at least relative to precision oncology,” said Bohdan Khomtchouk, PhD, an instructor in the Section of Computational Biomedicine and Biomedical Data … Read More

Calculating genetic links between diseases, without the genetic data


By

Physicians use standard disease classifications based on symptoms or location in the body to help make diagnoses. These classifications, called nosologies, can help doctors understand which diseases are closely related, and thus may be caused by the same underlying issues or respond to the same treatments. An important part of understanding disease is estimating its heritability, that is, what percentage of disease variation in individuals is due to inherited genetic variants versus environmental causes like exposure to pollution, infections or trauma. Traditionally, to calculate the heritability of a given disease, researchers needed expensive data sets containing all kinds of medical … Read More