Annual Meeting Speakers

Mark E. Anderson, MD, PhD
Dean of the Biological Sciences Division
Dean of the Pritzker School of Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs
Paul and Allene Russell Professor Department of Medicine
The University of Chicago Medicine

Mark Anderson, MD, PhD, is the Dean of the Biological Sciences Division and Pritzker School of Medicine, Executive Vice
President for Medical Affairs, and Paul and Allene Russell Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of
Chicago, where he heads the medical and biological research, education, care delivery, and community-engagement
enterprises. He works closely with leaders across the University to drive growth of the health system and integrate the
academic, basic research, and clinical programs to leverage the strengths of each, including efforts to create fundamental
new knowledge, train future leaders, enhance community health, health equity, and access to care for communities in
Chicago’s South Side and beyond.

A renowned scholar, physician and caregiver, Anderson’s research, commitment to education and medical leadership have
earned international recognition. He is a leading expert on the mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure,
conducting research focused on the role of the calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) in heart failure and
cardiac arrhythmias, which are a common cause of sudden cardiac death. In a seminal 2008 study, his team found that
CaMKII could be activated by the oxidization of the amino acid methionine, allowing the protein to sustain its activity even
without the presence of calcium or calmodulin. This mechanism, and its activation by angiotensin II-induced oxidation,
can lead to cell death in cardiomyocytes, while later work showed that oxidized CaMKII contributes to atrial fibrillation,
heart failure and asthma. His work, most recently funded by an Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute, has continued to explore the potential for targeting oxidized CaMKII in treating atrial fibrillation
and heart failure without inadvertently inhibiting the molecule’s critical role in the brain.

Anderson came to the leadership at UChicago in October 2022 from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,
where he served as director of the Department of Medicine, the William Osler Professor of Medicine and physician-in-
chief of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Before moving to Johns Hopkins, he was chairman and department executive officer
of internal medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine from 2005 to 2014, while also leading Iowa’s
Cardiovascular Research Center and serving as the Fran çois Abboud Professor of Medicine. He was on the medical faculty
at Vanderbilt University from 1996 to 2005, where he directed educational and clinical programs and served as the Jack
and Betty Bailey Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine.

Anderson has published more than 160 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and book reviews, and has served
on the editorial board for several scientific publications, including the Journal of Clinical Investigation. He has given invited
talks across the United States and in more than a dozen nations and was included over many years in the Castle Connolly
Top Doctors listing. He is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American
Physicians and the National Academy of Medicine.

Sara J. Becker, PhD
Professor and Inaugural Director
Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science
Northwestern University

Sara Becker, PhD, is the Alice Hamilton Professor of Psychiatry and Founding Director of the Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science at Northwestern’s Institute for Public Health and Medicine. She conducts programmatic research that harnesses methods from business, engineering, and psychology to increase both the demand for and supply of effective addiction health services in community settings. To date, she has been the Principal Investigator or Scientific Lead on 12 grants totaling $90 million in funding. She currently serves as Multiple Principal Investigator of the Northwestern Clinical and Translational Science Institute (NUCATS) and co-leads two research centers of excellence that train the next generation of scientists seeking to bridge the gap between research and practice. In 2021, she was honored to become the first implementation scientist to receive a Method to Extend Research in Time award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which provides 10-years of funding to investigators demonstrating distinctive innovation and productivity. Dr. Becker has earned early and mid-career awards from the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Dissemination and Implementation Science Special Interest Group (DIS-SIG) and Addictive Behaviors Special Interest Group (AB-SIG), respectively, and has received best of conference awards from Addiction Health Services Research, Society for Implementation Research, and Academy Health Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation. She earned a BA in psychology and economics at Dartmouth College, a PhD in clinical psychology at Duke University, and competed a clinical internship at Harvard Medical School’s McLean Hospital. She was formerly a strategy consultant with the Boston Consulting Group and a faculty member at the Brown University School of Public Health. 

Rinad S. Beidas, PhD
Chair and Ralph Seal Paffenbarger Professor of Medical Social Sciences
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Rinad S. Beidas, PhD, is Chair and Ralph Seal Paffenbarger Professor of Medical Social Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. Previously, Dr. Beidas served as founding Director of the University of Pennsylvania Implementation Science Center at the Leonard Davis Institute (PISCE@LDI) from 2017-2022 and Director of the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit (2021-2022). Dr. Beidas’s research leverages insights from implementation science and behavioral economics to make it easier for clinicians, leaders, and organizations to use best practices to improve the quality and equity of care and enhance health outcomes. She works across areas including mental health, firearm safety promotion, cancer, HIV, and cardiovascular disease and collaborates closely with key constituents, including patients, clinicians, health system leaders, payers, and policymakers. As an international leader in implementation science,  Dr. Beidas has published more than 300 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as JAMA, NEJM Catalyst, and Implementation Science. She has led two NIH centers on behavioral economics and implementation science (P50 MH 113840, P50 CA 244690) and has a strong record of NIH-funded implementation research serving as MPI or PI of 14 NIH grants totaling ~45 million dollars. She has been identified as one of the top ten implementation scientists nationally and is Deputy-Editor-In-Chief for Implementation Science, the flagship journal for the field. She is currently an appointed member of the National Advisory Mental Health Council and serves on the scientific advisory board for AIM Youth Mental Health Foundation and the Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation. Dr. Beidas holds a bachelor of arts in psychology from Colgate University and a doctorate of philosophy in psychology from Temple University. She is the recipient of a number of awards, including the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies President’s New Researcher Award; the American Psychological Foundation Diane J. Willis Early Career Award; the Perelman School of Medicine Marjorie Bowman New Investigator Research Award; the Acenda Institute  Research Pioneer Award; the Maret School Distinguished Alumni Award; the Susan Essock Award for Outstanding Contributions to Mental Health Services Research and Policy; and the John Westbrook Award for Contributions to Knowledge Translation from the Campbell Collaboration. 

Ankit Bharat, MD
Chief Clinical Officer
Northwestern University

Surgeon-scientist and institutional leader with over 20 years of experience advancing the frontiers of thoracic surgery, lung transplantation, and translational immunology. Pioneer of COVID-19 lung transplantation in the United States, founder of the DREAM program (lung transplantation for stage IV cancer), APLUS (lung sparing early stage lung cancer), and PREMIER (for esophageal cancer). Inaugural director of the Canning Thoracic Institute - an integrated thoracic surgery and pulmonary medicine center that has grown from inception to top seven in the US. Research portfolio encompasses over $20 million in active NIH funding as Principal Investigator, including multiple R01 grants and a P01 Program Project Grant, with over 300 peer-reviewed publications (h-index >65). Elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the American Surgical Association (ASA), and the Association of American Physicians (AAP). Associate editor of the Journal of Clinical Investigation and Am J Transplantation. Co-founder of three biomedical companies and inventor on multiple patents. Committed to training the next generation of surgeon-scientists, with active mentorship of 40+ residents, fellows, and postdoctoral researchers.

Debbie Leah Buonomo
Medical Science Liaison
Verona Pharma

Debbie Buonomo is a Medical Science Liaison with Verona Pharma since 2023, bringing over a decade of pharmacy and product development expertise. She completed her residency in ambulatory care within the Veterans Administration system. Prior to her current position, she served as a Director of Product Development for a national home infusion provider, leading strategic initiatives and oversaw rare disease clinical programs. In her current role at Verona Pharma, Deborah collaborates with a team clinicians and specialists to support therapies in the respiratory space. 

Ryan A. Coute, DO
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Dr. Ryan Coute is a physician-scientist and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). His research training includes a Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Fellowship completed under the mentorship of Robert W. Neumar, MD, PhD, at the University of Michigan. His primary research focus is resuscitation science, with an emphasis on improving the treatment of sudden cardiac arrest.

Dr. Coute has authored 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts, including 25 as first or senior author. He has received 15 national research awards, including two American Heart Association (AHA) Young Investigator Awards, an AHA Best of the Best Award for Resuscitation Science, and the 2025 Amy H. Kaji Early Investigator Award from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. He was recently named a James A. Pittman Scholar within the UAB Heersink School of Medicine and received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, becoming the first emergency physician to receive either distinction.

He is the principal investigator on multiple extramural grants, including an NIH K23 Career Development Award (perfect impact score of 10), an AHA Second Century Early Faculty Independence Award, and a Zoll Foundation Early-Stage Research Award. He is ranked among the top 150 NIH-funded emergency medicine physicians in the United States, according to the Blue Ridge Institute.

Dr. Coute’s scholarship has translated into national service roles with the American Heart Association, including membership on the Advanced Life Support Guideline Writing Group and the ECC Science Subcommittee, as well as service as Co-Chair of the Research Sustainability Task Force. Regionally, he chairs the Alabama Sudden Cardiac Arrest Task Force and serves as Director of Research and Innovation for the Birmingham Regional EMS System.

Susan De Luca, MSW, PhD
Associate Professor
MetroHealth Medical System
Case Western Reserve University

Dr. De Luca’s research focuses on the experiences of adolescents and young adults suicidal risk, disclosure patterns preceding and following suicidal ideation and attempts, the availability of social coping resources, and help-seeking attitudes.

Her work has received funding through NIMH (T32 NRSA postdoctoral fellowship), and NIMHD (NIH Loan Repayment Program) in addition to foundation and government sources. She has been consistently funded by NIH since 2009, examining suicide trajectories among racial/ethnic minority adolescents investigating how developmental social relationships were related to risk (1R03MH112015), how religious affiliation and levels of religiosity are related to sexual minority adolescent suicide ideation and attempts (1R03MH122852), and currently examining parents of a LGBQ child and their help seeking attitudes and behaviors after their child came out to them (R21MD019829). She is also Co-I to a 5-year study involving family lawyers, mortgage lenders, and unemployment officers (1DP2MH129967-01) in suicide prevention efforts; and an additional study observing school representatives’ participation in child death reviews (R21HD115957).  Dr. De Luca also led numerous studies that include mixed-methods approaches to novel dyadic suicide interventions, longitudinal examinations of parental depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts and their relationship to their child’s reported levels of connectedness to trusted adults, and subsequent help-seeking attitudes and behaviors during times of distress. These studies will also provide a foundation to improve targeted upstream prevention programs in community settings.

Hunter M. Eby
MD, PhD Candidate
The University of Toledo College of Medicine

Hunter Eby is an MD, PhD candidate at the University of Toledo College of Medicine & Life Sciences, where he is pursuing physician-scientist training with an emphasis on translational bioinformatics and clinical outcomes research. His doctoral work focuses on kinase activity profiling and immune signaling pathways in kidney transplantation, with particular interest in antibody-mediated rejection and biomarker discovery functional proteomics.

His research integrates high-dimensional molecular data with large electronic health record–derived datasets to identify clinically meaningful predictors of disease and therapeutic response. In parallel with his bench-focused work, he has led and collaborated on multiple retrospective cohort studies utilizing real-world data resources, including TriNetX, to examine cardiovascular, neurologic, psychiatric, and transplant-related outcomes. These studies include investigations of atrial fibrillation in end-stage renal disease, mental health and substance use outcomes following concussion, and medication-associated outcomes in transplantation.

His recent work emphasizes the use of bioinformatics and real-world evidence to test clinically relevant hypotheses, including drug repurposing strategies and risk stratification approaches across diverse patient populations. In addition to his research activities, Mr. Eby is actively involved in medical education, contributing to pre-matriculation and early medical school curricula focused on epidemiology, clinical informatics, and data-driven research methods.

He plans to pursue a career in internal medicine with current interest in subspecializing in cardiology, combining patient care with translational and outcomes-focused research aimed at improving clinical decision-making.

Sarah A. Helseth, PhD
Assistant Professor
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Sarah Helseth, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science (CDIS) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She completed her PhD in Clinical Science of Child and Adolescent Psychology at Florida International University and her NIAAA T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University School of Public Health. Dr. Helseth's program of research seeks to increase equitable access to and utilization of effective interventions and health services, particularly among underserved populations and high-risk youth. She pursues this objective via several complementary lines of research that span from treatment development and evaluation to widespread dissemination and community-based implementation. Broadly, her work includes: 1) developing and evaluating behavioral health interventions, 2) using patient-directed dissemination strategies to increase demand for effective health services, 3) using provider-directed implementation strategies to increase the availability of effective health services, and 4) leveraging technology to deliver interventions to underserved populations. As a Team Scientist, she lends her expertise as an implementation science Co-Investigator on numerous studies funded by private foundations (e.g., West Health Institute, Breakthrough T1D) and the National Institutes of Health (e.g., NIDA, NIDCR). Many of these studies are hybrid effectiveness-implementation trials that test the individual- and organization-level effects of an intervention and its implementation. Dr. Helseth also recently completed a 5-year, NIDA-funded Early Career Award to develop and implement digital health technologies to reduce marijuana use among court-involved, non-incarcerated youth.

Craig M. Jarrett, MD, MBA, MS
Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Clinical Informaticist & Physician Investigator
University Hospitals

Dr. Craig Jarrett, MD, MBA, MS, is a physician-scientist and clinical informaticist focused on using large-scale clinical data to improve patient outcomes and advance learning health systems. He is affiliated with the Department of Surgery at University
Hospitals Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and he completed his Clinical Informatics fellowship training at MetroHealth System.

Dr. Jarrett is currently a PhD candidate in Biomedical and Health Informatics at Case Western Reserve University with a concentration in Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. He also holds a Master of Science in Biostatistics and dual MD and MBA degrees from Case Western Reserve University through the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and the Weatherhead School of Management.

Clinically trained in cardiothoracic surgery, Dr. Jarrett completed his general surgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and cardiothoracic surgery fellowships at University Hospitals Cleveland. His research focuses on applying clinical informatics, electronic health record data, and machine learning methods to generate real-world evidence and improve predictive modeling in healthcare.

He has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and national presentations and has received several competitive research awards, including an American Heart Association Second Century Early Faculty Independence Award and an NIH AIM-AHEAD CLINAQ award supporting work at the intersection of artificial intelligence and health equity.

Shingo Kajimura, PhD
Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Shingo Kajimura, PhD is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and an Investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  

Dr. Kajimura aims to uncover the molecular basis of bioenergetics in health and disease by leveraging adipose tissue as a model.  He made pioneering contributions to the identification of the master regulator of brown/beige fat development and its mechanisms of action. Subsequently, his laboratory discovered a non-canonical pathway, termed the UCP1-independent pathway, through which brown/beige fat controls systemic glucose homeostasis and energy balance independent of thermogenesis by uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). His research led to the widely accepted notion that brown/beige fat controls metabolic health beyond thermogenesis. 

Dr. Kajimura's work has been internationally recognized by distinguished awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the White House USA, the Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award from the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the Richard E. Weitzman Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award from the ENDO Society, Pew Scholar, JSPS Prize, and selection as an HHMI Investigator and AAAS Fellow. 

Dennis H. Li, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Northwestern University

Dennis H. Li, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University. He is core faculty at the Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science and Co-Director of the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute’s Translational Science Pilot Award Program. As Founding Director of the ACCELERATE Research Program, Dr. Li and his team focus on public health approaches to improving the delivery of HIV treatment and prevention interventions to end the HIV epidemic in the US. He has been Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on 19 NIH-funded projects in this area, including an ongoing R01 that is facilitating and studying the implementation of low-barrier HIV care clinics across the Chicagoland area. Additionally, he is Multiple Principal Investigator of the national HIV Implementation Science Coordination Initiative, which coordinates and supports researchers’ and practitioners' use of shared implementation science methods to contribute to generalizable HIV implementation knowledge.

Robert Erne McCullumsmith, MD, PhD, FACNP
Professor and Chair
University of Toledo

Dr. Robert McCullumsmith completed his BS degree with highest distinction and Honors in biochemistry from Indiana University in 1990. He completed his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Michigan in 1997, and he completed a research track residency in Psychiatry in 2002. He is a recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious ACNP travel award, the ACP Laughlin Fellowship, the ECNP Rafaelsen Scholar, as well as the Kempf Fund award from the APA. He has been continuously funded for the past 20 years by NIH, with work focusing on the pathophysiology of complex brain disorders, including schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s dementia. His recent work includes using bioinformatics approaches to test hypotheses using large publicly available databases, with the goal of repurposing or first-purposing FDA approved drugs or library-sourced compounds, respectively. Dr. McCullumsmith is currently the Chair of the Department of Neurosciences and Psychiatry at the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, as well as the Research Director of the ProMedica Neurosciences Center, Toledo, OH, USA.

Tara G. Mehta, PhD
Clinical Associate Professor
Department of Psychiatry
University of Illinois Chicago

Dr. Mehta is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Psychology Training in the Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago. Dr. Mehta’s community engaged program of research is centered on dissemination and implementation sciences and children’s mental health services research to address the persistent disparities in access to, and quality of, mental health services for predominantly economically marginalized and minoritized youth and families treated in public settings. Her work is based in an ecological public health model that augments non-specialty settings’ capacity to enhance positive youth development, expands the workforce supporting positive youth development and increases coordination across systems. Utilizing dissemination and implementation sciences she examines organizational factors, such as supervision and support, to enhance the capacity of community organizations to promote children’s and youth's well-being and mental health. A second line of research explores the role of peer support specialists (e.g., lay professionals, community health workers, patient navigators) and care extenders (e.g., school personnel, out-of-school time staff) to promote and enhance mental health across the prevention to intervention continuum in community mental health and non-specialty settings [e.g., school, out-of-school time]. Dr. Mehta has collaborated with multiple partners, including the Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Park District, community mental health centers, and non-profit organizations, as well as key policy stakeholders in Illinois, including as a consultant to the Illinois Department of Mental Health Evidence Informed Training Initiative and the Illinois Department of Mental Health Evidence Informed Practice Board and the Illinois office of Medicaid Innovation. Dr. Mehta is a core faculty member of the Community Engagement Center at UIC’s Center for Clinical Translational Science and an Affiliate of the UIC Clinical Psychology Program. 

Elaine H. Morrato, DrPH, MPH, FISPE, CPH
Professor and Founding Dean of the Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health
Loyola University Chicago

Dr. Morrato is professor and founding Dean of the Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health at Loyola University of Chicago, USA. A Fellow in the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology and board-certified in public health, her research aims to accelerate the translation of health innovation into practice, with an emphasis on drug safety. Previously, as a product manager in Procter & Gamble’s global healthcare division, she led interdisciplinary clinical development teams to launch new drugs and indications in North America and Europe.  This experience informs her implementation research and practice.  Dr. Morrato also maintains an active research portfolio funded by NIH to advance clinical and translational science in the U.S. Dr. Morrato has also been an active advisor to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on issues of pharmaceutical risk management and served as a visiting scientist in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Her contributions have informed FDA guidance to industry and good pharmacovigilance practice for the European Medicines Agency. Dr. Morrato earned her BS (Honors) summa cum laude from Purdue University and her DrPH and MPH from Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Igho Ofotokun, MD, MSc, FIDSA
Chair, Department of Medicine
University Hospitals
Case Western Reserve University

Dr. Igho Ofotokun serves as the Steris Chair of Excellence in Medicine, Chair of the Department of Medicine at University Hospitals/Case Western Reserve University (UH/CWRU), and Physician-in-Chief for the UH Health System. In these roles, he leads the department’s clinical and academic strategy across patient care, research, and education, with a focus on interdisciplinary collaboration, faculty development, and initiatives that improve health outcomes and accelerate scientific discovery.

Prior to joining UH/CWRU, Dr. Ofotokun spent more than two decades on the faculty at Emory University. He served as the Grady Distinguished Professor of Medicine in the School of Medicine and Professor of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences in the Rollins School of Public Health. His leadership roles at Emory included Associate Dean for Research Development in the School of Medicine, Staff Physician at Grady Memorial Health System, and Co-Director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research Clinical Core.

Dr. Ofotokun’s research focuses on the long-term sequelae of HIV, particularly age-related comorbidities and healthy aging among people living with HIV. His work has explored the role of organ–immune interface disruption as a potential driver of these conditions.

He has led several major multicenter research programs, including the Atlanta MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study, the Emory–CDC Clinical Trials Unit, the Emory Specialized Center of Research Excellence in Sex Differences, and the Georgia CTSA KL2 Program. Building on his experience in HIV research, he led the Atlanta hub of the NIH RECOVER Initiative and currently serves as National Chair of the RECOVER Adult Cohort Coordinating Committee.

Dr. Ofotokun’s work has been supported by numerous NIH awards, and he has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed publications. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Selwyn Olweston Rogers, Jr., MD, MPH, FACS
Chief of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
Surgeon and Public Health Expert
Founding director of the University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center
University of Chicago Medicine

Dr. Selwyn Rogers is founding director of the University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center, a nationally recognized surgeon and public health expert, and an innovative and leading advocate for treating gun violence as a public health crisis. 

Born on the island of St. Thomas, Dr. Rogers earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard and has practiced surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Temple University Medical Center in Philadelphia, University of Texas Medical Branch, and, since 2017, the University of Chicago Medicine. The first trauma center in existence on Chicago’s South Side in thirty years, Dr. Rogers founded it, hired and trained its staff, and led it to this day. 

Dr. Rogers also serves as the University of Chicago Medicine’s executive vice president for community health engagement; in this role, he has been an enthusiastic advocate and thought leader toward improving the health of neighboring communities through policy and education. Dr. Rogers has testified before Congress regarding his proposed strategy for reducing gun violence, created the Violence Recovery Program to connect trauma patients with social services, mental health care, and vocational resources, and partnered with community-based organizations that seek to improve Chicago’s neighborhoods with the highest rates of violence, poverty, and inequality. He also serves on the boards of Chicago CRED, the anti-violence project of former U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, Project Unloaded, and the Ross University Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. 

Dr. Rogers has published over twenty articles related to the effects of health disparities on patient care and outcomes. Dr. Rogers is an Associate Editor of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Damiano Rondelli, MD
Michael Reese Professor of Hematology
Chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology
Director, Blood and Marrow Transplant Program
University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Damiano Rondelli completed his medical training and fellowship in Hematology at the University of Bologna, Italy. He was then a Research Assistant at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, WA, and in 1995 he became at the University of Bologna, Italy. In 2002 he joined the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) as the Director of the Blood & Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program and is currently the Michael Reese Professor of Hematology, Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Director of BMT in the Department of Medicine. He is also the Director for Global Partnerships in the UIC Center for Global Health.  His research interests focus on allogeneic stem cell transplantation for blood cancer and for sickle cell anemia patients, and on building capacity in global health. Since 2012 he has led a global health [GlobalBMT] initiative to build capacity in BMT in public or non-profit institutions of low-middle income countries (LMIC). His GlobalBMT initiative currently includes partners in Nepal, India, Bolivia, Ukraine, Uganda, Rwanda, and Cuba, as well as a yearly 5-week GlobalBMT Training Program held at UIC, hosting physicians from LMICs. He was the recipient of the American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) 2022 Public Service Award, an Honorary Degree from the Universidad Major San Andres in La Paz, Bolivia (2023), the Global Humanitarian Award of the Institute of Medicine in Chicago (2024). He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles and multiple book chapters and is the Editor of a book on the history of medical disciplines [in Italian] (Storia delle Discipline Mediche, Hippocrates Editore, 1999 and 2003). 

Darius Tandon, PhD
Professor
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Dr. Darius Tandon is a tenured Professor and Intervention Science Division Chief in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Trained as a community psychologist and prevention scientist, Dr. Tandon’s research program focuses on the development and testing of interventions to reduce the burden of mental illness on families in the perinatal period and into early childhood, with a particular emphasis on preventive interventions integrated into community-based settings. I also bring considerable expertise in the science and practice of community-engaged research, characterized by meaningful collaboration between researchers and community stakeholders. I am Director of the Center for Community Health, which serves as the community engagement core for the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). I also served as the Editor-in-Chief from 2011-2017 of the only peer- reviewed journal solely focused on community-engaged research, Progress in Community Health Partnerships.

Dasan Thambiayya, PhD
Senior Medical Science Liaison
Genentech

Dasan Thambiayya, PhD is a Senior Medical Science Liaison at Genentech, where he supports a broad portfolio spanning asthma, chronic urticaria, nasal polyps, food allergy, COPD, and influenza. With over a decade of experience in medical affairs and more than ten years of prior research in lung diseases and immunology, he brings a strong translational perspective to connecting scientific research with clinical practice. 

Dr. Thambiayya has developed collaborative relationships with academic institutions across the Midwest, contributing to investigator-initiated studies, health economics and outcomes research, and population science and health equity initiatives. He has also been involved in identifying and supporting clinical trial sites and fostering scientific exchange between industry and academic partners. 

Prior to joining Genentech, he served as a Medical Science Liaison at Sage Therapeutics and GSK Pharmaceuticals, where he supported central nervous system and respiratory portfolios, respectively. 

Dr. Thambiayya earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from SUNY Buffalo and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Science from the University of Pittsburgh, where his research focused on pulmonary vascular biology and inflammatory mechanisms in lung disease. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship in lung biology at the University of Chicago. His research has been recognized with fellowships from the NIH and the American Heart Association and has resulted in peer-reviewed publications and invited presentations at scientific conferences, and service as a reviewer for the American Journal of Physiology–Lung. 

Based in Chicago, Dr. Thambiayya is interested in advancing collaborative research efforts that address clinically relevant questions and improve understanding of disease and patient care. 

 

Karriem S. Watson, DHSc, MS, MPH
Chief Executive Officer
UI Health Mile Square Health Center

Dr. Karriem S. Watson, DHSc, MS, MPH is the Chief Executive Officer for UI Health Mile SquareHealth Center. As part of the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Science System, Mile Square includes Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) clinics throughout south and west Chicago, Cicero and Rockford communities, with a mission to provide holistic, quality health services amid an underserved, urban community. The system includes primary care, behavioral health, and dental services, as well as school-based health centers.

In addition to his work as a healthcare administrator, Dr. Watson serves as a Research Associate Professor in the UIC School of Public Health. He is trained as a cancer disparities researcher to ensure early detection and improve screening and cancer prevention in high-risk populations. His work has examined cancer prevention and control in rural Haiti, Cuba, Ethiopia and Uganda. Prior to returning back to UIC and leading Mile Square, Dr. Watson spent time at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) supporting the largest precision medicine initiative. His work as a cancer disparities researcher has been funded by the NIH’s NCI, NIMHD, NHLBI and industry and foundational support. In addition to his work as a researcher, healthcare administrator and public health educator, Dr. Watson has a deep engagement in the community. He has been recognized by the Chicago Urban League as an Innovator in STEM, he has served on the board of It Takes A Village of Schools and former board chair of Community Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH).

Zanthia Wiley, MD
Professor of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine

Zanthia Wiley, MD is a Professor of Medicine in the Emory Division of Infectious Diseases and Associate Vice Chair of Community and Engagement within the Emory Department of Medicine.  She is Vice President for Biological Workforce Development and Engagement for the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.  She has served on multiple national committees including as Chair of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America’s Education Committee from 2023-2024.  Her commitment to service was honored as a 2025 Nanette K. Wenger Distinguished Service Award winner within the Emory Department of Medicine. She was awarded the Jonas A. Shulman Teacher of the Year Award in 2018 (awarded by Emory infectious diseases fellows) as well as a Golden Apple Teaching Award in 2022 (awarded by Emory internal medicine residents).   She has been elected by her Atlanta peer physicians as an Atlanta Magazine Top Doctor in 2022 and 2023 and honored as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor yearly since 2022.     

She is the Atlanta Hub MPI of the multi-site NIH Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (Long COVID) study, co-investigator in the Emory Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit, and has served as Site PI on multiple clinical trials.  Her clinical research has been published in reputable journals including JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, Nature Communications, Vaccine, and Clinical Infectious Diseases. She is MPI of INSPIRE (Infectious Diseases Summer Program Integrating Research at Emory) where undergraduate students from across the US are mentored and provided opportunities to explore careers in infectious diseases research. She is Associate Director of Mentorship and Training at the Emory Hope Clinic. She co-chairs the Mentoring and Career Development Committee of the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium.  She served as the 2024 President of the American Federation for Medical Research where the mission is to “develop and mentor tomorrow’s leaders in medical research”. She is dedicated to the mentorship, coaching, and sponsoring of medical residents, medical students, graduate students, allied health students and undergraduate students and has mentored more than 20 trainees at all levels.