Kamala G. Cotts, MD

Dr. Kamala Gullapalli Cotts is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine. She graduated from Northwestern University Medical School and completed her internal medicine residency training at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She is a general internist with expertise in the primary care of developmentally disabled adults. Dr. Cotts established the Adult Developmental Disabilities Clinic at the University of Chicago in 2002. And in 2017, she received the Distinguished Clinician Junior Award for her work in caring for this patient population. Dr. Cotts’ commitment to patients with disabilities has allowed her to have a leadership role in the Bucksbaum Institute’s University of Delhi collaboration. During the 2018-19 academic year Dr. Cotts conducted workshops and traveled to India for this international disability education project.



Dr. Cotts completed a fellowship in the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics in 2007 and has been serving as Faculty on the Ethics Consult Service since then. She served on the National Society of General Internal Medicine Ethics Committee from 2011-2018. Dr. Cotts received many awards including the Medical Resident Teaching Award in 2018 and in 2019, the 2019 Department of Medicine Diversity Award and the 2019 Society of General Internal Medicine Award for Advocacy and Community Service.

Disability-Inclusive Accommodations in Nursing Education-Addressing Health Equity Needs.
Disability-Inclusive Accommodations in Nursing Education-Addressing Health Equity Needs. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Feb 03; 8(2):e2461044.
PMID: 39976972

People with Pediatric-Onset Complex Disabilities: Good News, Bad News.
People with Pediatric-Onset Complex Disabilities: Good News, Bad News. PM R. 2020 06; 12(6):602-609.
PMID: 32277593

Disability-inclusive compassionate care: Disability competencies for an Indian Medical Graduate.
Disability-inclusive compassionate care: Disability competencies for an Indian Medical Graduate. J Family Med Prim Care. 2020 Mar; 9(3):1719-1727.
PMID: 32509678

Treatment of Osteoporosis.
Treatment of Osteoporosis. JAMA. 2018 03 13; 319(10):1040-1041.
PMID: 29536084

Ethical Issues in the Design and Implementation of Population Health Programs.
Ethical Issues in the Design and Implementation of Population Health Programs. J Gen Intern Med. 2018 03; 33(3):370-375.
PMID: 29256088