2013
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Jenifer Cartland, PhD is transitioning to her new role of Administrator for the new department of Data Analytics and Reporting within Ann & Robert H. Luire Children's Hospital of Chicago Center of Excellence, reporting to Chief Medical Officer Michael Kelleher, MD. She has served as the director of the Child Health Data Lab (CHDL) of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Research Center and is a Research Associate Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
While continuing to provide oversight for the CHDL, in her new role Cartland will coordinate the existing reporting and analytics activities from different areas in the hospital while moving forward with efforts to centralize data reporting and analysis across the organization. Her leadership will help the Center of Excellence build capacity to enhance the utilization of data from Epic (electronic medical record) and federated data sources and to more efficiently employ existing informatics resources with the goal of improved patient outcomes.
--by Vita Lerman; Monthly Initiatives Report, May 2013
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Michael Kelleher, MD has been appointed chief medical officer for Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Kelleher has served as the hospital’s chief medical information officer and an associate chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. |
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The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) at the research center is pleased to welcome its newest team member, Diana Favela. Diana brings over 15 years of experience to her role as senior administrative assistant. She previously worked at Houlihan Lokey. She studied at Loyola University Chicago with a focus on marketing and Latin American studies. Diana holds a special place in her heart for animals and children. When the opportunity to work at Lurie Children’s came along, she just couldn’t pass it up! |
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Seth Corey, MD, MPH has been appointed as a standing member of the National Institutes of Health Drug Discovery and Molecular Pharmacology Study Section.
Corey has also been appointed as a co-chair of the American Heart Association Basic Science Section-1.
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Arun Sharma, PhD has been appointed to the editorial board of World Journal of Stem Cells. |
2012
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Adam Becker, PhD, MPH has been appointed Associate professor of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School. |
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Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH has been promoted to Associate professor of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School. |
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Soyang Kwon, PhD has been appointed Assistant professor of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School. |
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The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) is pleased to welcome Jon Teuber, MA as the new Associate Director of Grants and Contracts. Jon worked in the Office of Sponsored Programs at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), most recently as Interim Director. At NEIU Jon was part of a team that established a collaboration with The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University to address health disparities. Jon will be overseeing the transition to electronic proposal routing using Cayuse SP, and supporting pre-award and post-award grants management in OSP.
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Kristen Kenney, LVT, CPIA has been promoted to Assistant Director, Office of Research Integrity and Compliance. Kristen has been the Animal Welfare Program Coordinator at the research center since 2011.
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Sara Ahlgren, PhD has accepted a position at the National Institutes of Health as a Scientific Review Officer for the Cardiovascular and Respiratory Sciences IRG, Center for Scientific Review. In this role she will be running study sections to evaluate grant submissions to the NIH. Summary statements prepared by the Scientific Review Officers from these sections are used by many people, including grant applicants, to understand the science involved. Ahlgren has been an investigator in the Developmental Biology Program of the research center since 2003. She says of her experience “The research center has been very good to me, both in allowing me to do things that I look back on with fondness, and in providing me with the resources that I needed to succeed.” Ahlgren‘s collegiality and generosity with time and expertise will be missed.
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The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) is pleased to introduce the newest member of its team, Ken Mantel, MS. As assistant director, he will provide assistance to investigators (A-L) and their staff during the pre-award process. Ken brings six years of contract compliance and management experience to OSP, after serving as the contract analyst for the Lurie Children’s Purchasing Department. Prior to working at Lurie Children’s, Ken served as a contract compliance analyst for the Gateway Foundation, and was an equal opportunity assistant (internship) with the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Contract Compliance Programs. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale, and his Master of Science degree in Public Service Management from DePaul University.
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Santhanam Suresh, MD, FAAP has been appointed chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at Children’s Memorial Hospital. He has been on staff since 1991 and served as vice chair of the department since 2010. In addition to being an outstanding clinician and teacher, Suresh developed and leads an innovative pain management program. He is internationally recognized for his research and advances in this field. His peers have elected him to leadership positions, including the American Board of Anesthesiology board of directors, the International Anesthesia Research Society board of trustees, the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine board of directors and the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia board of directors. Suresh is associate director of anesthesia research at Children's Memorial Research Center.
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Ashley Brummel has been appointed associate director for the Mary Ann and J. Millburn Smith Child Health Research Program. From 2006 to 2009, Ashley served as a research coordinator with the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant at Children’s Memorial Hospital. Beginning in 2010, she became fiscal program manager for the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC).
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2011
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| The Office of Research Integrity and Compliance welcomes new Research compliance coordinators Jessica Banks and Joshua Fedewa, and new Associate director Cathy Powers. |
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Banks previously served as a Research coordinator for the Prostate Cancer Genetics Program at Northwestern University. During this time she presented novel research at the American Urological Association (AUA) annual meeting, and is currently an affiliate member of the AUA. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Grand Valley State University, and a post-baccalaureate certificate in pre-medicine at Northwestern University, where she also served as president for the Pre-health Professionals student group. At Children’s Memorial Banks will focus mainly on IRB submissions and provide assistance to investigators and their staff in ensuring they are compliant with the applicable regulations and institutional policy.
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Fedewa previously worked as a Clinical research associate for the Emergency Department at Spectrum Health Hospitals in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Aside from coordinating studies in the emergency room, he also presented at the Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners Research Conference and gave poster presentations at the American College of Emergency Physicians annual conference. Fedewa earned a Bachelor of Science with Honors from Grand Valley State University. As he works for Children’s Memorial, Fedewa plans to pursue a post-graduate degree in physiology or biochemistry with an aim to teach at a university.
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Powers brings vast experience to her new role. She is a clinical dietitian who began her research career twenty-five years ago when she published a study that showed that improved nutritional management of hospitalized children could reduce length of stay and associated costs. In the early 1990s she conducted a study that helped bring the first drug specifically developed for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) to market. For the past ten years she has been the Clinical research manager for the Division of Pulmonary Medicine. She has coordinated over sixty clinical trials and published numerous articles. Last year Powers received the Judy Williams Award for Research Coordinator Excellence from the CF Foundation. In her free time she is pursuing an MBA and is a busy mother of four. She likes to relax in the country with her family and chocolate labrador retriever, read and kayak.
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Faculty Promotions
The following faculty promotions have been approved by Northwestern University and will be effective September 1, 2011. Each promotion represents important recognition by faculty peers and the university of the high value of the faculty member’s contributions to our missions of research, education and service: |
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Adolfo Ariza, MD, Mary Ann and J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research Program: Research associate professor. |
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John Crispino, PhD, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology; Cancer Biology and Epigenomics Program: Professor. |
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Rebecca Ford-Paz, PhD, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Clinical and Translational Research Program: Assistant professor |
| Tomoko Hayashida, MD, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Kidney Diseases; Clinical and Translational Research Program: Research associate professor. |
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Jane Holl, MD, MPH, Director, Institute for Healthcare Studies; Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine; Smith Child Health Research Program: Professor. |
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Cynthia LaBella, MD, Medical director, Institute for Sports Medicine; Department of Pediatrics, Division of General Academic Pediatrics; Department of Surgery, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery; Smith Child Health Research Program: Associate professor. |
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Chandra Shekhar Mayanil, PhD, Developmental Biology Program; Department of Neurological Surgery: Research associate professor. |
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Elizabeth Powell, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine; Smith Child Health Research Program: Professor. |
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Karen Sheehan, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine; Department of Preventive Medicine; Smith Child Health Research Program: Professor. |
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Xiao-Di Tan, MD, Departments of Pathology and Pediatrics; Co-director, Center for Intestinal and Liver Inflammation Research: Research professor. |
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Alexis Thompson, MD, MPH, Associate director for Health Disparities and Special Population Initiatives, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant; Director of Hematology Services; A. Watson and Sarah Armour Chair of Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases; Clinical and Translational Research Program: Professor. |
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Kimberly Watts, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pulmonary Medicine; Human Molecular Genetics Program: Assistant professor. |
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Nancy Young, MD, Department of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery; Lillian S. Wells Chair in Pediatric Otolaryngology; head, Section of Otology and Neurotology; and Medical director, Audiology and Cochlear Implant Program: Professor. |
Suresh Appointed to International Anesthesia Research Society Board of Trustees
Santhanam Suresh, MD, FAAP, Vice chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, recently was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the International Anesthesia Research Society, the largest and most well-known research organization in anesthesia. He is the only pediatric anesthe-siologist to serve among eight trustees, making it a pivotal appointment for Children’s Memorial as an institution. Suresh, who also is the director of Pain Management Services and Research at Children’s Memorial, is actively involved in other major professional organizations. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, American Society of Regional Anesthesia, and the American Board of Anesthesia. Suresh is Professor of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics at the Feinberg School. |
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Aleksandra Glavaski-Joksimovic, PhD has accepted a position in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. She was most recently Research assistant professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a member of the Bohn laboratory in the Neurobiology Program of Children's Memorial Research Center. |
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Simone T. Sredni, MD, PhD has been promoted to Research assistant professor of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School. Sredni is a member of the Pachman laboratory, FOCIS Center of Excellence in Clinical Immunology; and the Translational Neurosurgical Oncology group of the research center. |
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Douglas Nordli, Jr., MD was elected president of the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society, a professional association dedicated to fostering excellence in clinical neurophysiology and furthering the understanding of central and peripheral nervous system function in health and disease through education, research and the provision of a forum for discussion and interaction. Nordli is Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at the Feinberg School; the Lorna S. and James P. Langdon Chair in Pediatric Neurology; director of the Epilepsy Center and attending physician in Neurology at Children’s Memorial; and a member of the Clinical and Translational Research Program of the research center.
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Tadanori Tomita, MD, Yeager Professor of Pediatric Neurosurgery, has been named president-elect of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery. Tomita is Professor of Neurological Surgery at the Feinberg School; head of Neurosurgery and medical director of the Falk Brain Tumor Center at Children’s Memorial; and a member of the Cancer Biology and Epigenomics Program of the research center.
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Tetsu (Butch) Uejima MD, CPHRM was recently appointed to the Affiliate Advisory Council, representing the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, for a new organization called SmartTots (Strategies for Mitigating Anesthesia-Related Neurotoxicity in Tots). It is a private-public partnership that includes the FDA to study the long-term effects of anesthesia on young children. Uejima is Associate professor of Anesthesiology at the Feinberg School; director of Liver/Intestinal Transplant Anesthesia and medical director of Risk Management at Children’s Memorial; and a member of the Clinical and Translational Research Program of the research center. |
2010
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Philip Iannaccone, MD, PhD has been appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board, European Union 7th Framework Programme Integrated Project, EURATrans Project (translational genomics); and to the Scientific Advisory Board, Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center at Dartmouth. Iannaccone is Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and director of the Developmental Biology Program of Children's Memorial Research Center. He is also Deputy Director for Research -- Basic Sciences and Senior Vice President of the research center. |
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Jacqueline Pongracic, MD has been promoted to Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Pongracic is head of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Children’s Memorial Hospital and a member of the Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research Program of Children's Memorial Research Center. |
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Rajesh Kumar, MD has been promoted to Associate professor of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School. Kumar is an attending physician in Allergy and Immunology at Children’s Memorial and a member of the Smith Child Health Research Program of the research center. |
Vita Land, MD, MBA has been appointed chair of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Children’s Memorial. She previously served as IRB chair from 2000 to 2006. Land is a member of the Children’s Oncology Group, Washington, D.C.
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| Angela Carrico has joined the IRB as Assistant director. She comes from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where she worked as the IRB manager. She brings extensive experience and knowledge in the field of human subject protection. |
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Mary J.C. Hendrix, PhD has been appointed to the Finance and Audit Committee of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The committee assists in the financial planning of the association, and is responsible for maintaining the financial health of AACR, prioritizing and focusing resources on activities that support the mission of AACR, and managing resources based on strategic priorities. |
Santhanam Suresh, MD, FAAP has been appointed as a director of the American Board of Anesthesiology and the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. Suresh is Professor of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics at the Feinberg School; Vice-chairman; Director of Pain Management Service; and Director of Research, Department of Anesthesiology at Children’s Memorial; and Associate director of anesthesia research at the research center.
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Biostatistics Research Core appointments
Ying Zhou has joined the Biostatistics Research Core (BRC) at the research center. Zhou earned a Bachelor and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at Xian Jiaotong University, China, and a Master in Statistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she is completing her PhD in Statistics. Varied research and consulting experience in both clinical and pre-clinical studies make Zhou an excellent BRC resource. Her research interests lie in study designs, planning and analyzing clinical trials; adaptive design of clinical trials; and longitudinal data analysis, prognostic factor analysis, and clinical efficacy endpoint selections in phase II/III trials. Zhou is a member of the American Statistical Association (ASA), the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, and the Northeastern Illinois Chapter of ASA.
The BRC has hired a master level biostatistician Zhenling Huang, MS. Zhenling Huang earned her Master of Science in Statistics degree at Purdue University. She has experience in performing complex data mining and manipulating in a data warehouse environment. Her unique experience working with an international pharmaceutical company gives her a working statistical analyst knowledge base.
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ORIC appointments
The Office of Research Integrity and Compliance (ORIC) is pleased to welcome two new staff members: Nancy Danielov, Associate director, and Elizabeth Smith, Research compliance coordinator. Danielov brings six years of IRB experience to Children’s Memorial, having served as the Senior education analyst for the IRB at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and in the IRB offices at the UCLA Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. She earned her Master of Arts degree from Pepperdine University and is pursuing her Doctorate in Education in Organizational Leadership from Argosy University. Danielov will help facilitate the conduct of research at Children’s Memorial while upholding its high standards of human research. Smith previously served as a Research coordinator for the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Northwestern University, and as a Clinical research associate at Cognitive Research Corporation, a contract research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Illinois State University and is a certified Registered Health Information Administrator. At Children’s Memorial, Smith will focus mainly on IRB submissions and provide assistance to investigators and their staff in ensuring they are compliant with the applicable regulations and institutional policy.
The goal of ORIC is to provide support and education for the Children’s Memorial research community in regulatory requirements for scientific research. With these two new additions, ORIC will continue in its mission to build an environment that fosters the responsible conduct of research by promoting the principles of scientific and administrative excellence and compliance with both the letter and spirit of governing regulations.
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2009
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Leadership appointment
Ram Yogev, MD has been appointed to the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS) Leadership Committee as liaison representing the needs of the clinical and translational research community at Children’s Memorial Research Center. The committee will consider important structural issues and functions, and work with the research center to synchronize priorities and strategies. Yogev is Deputy Director for Research – Clinical Sciences and director of the Clinical and Translational Research Program of the research center. He is Professor of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School, the medical director of Section of Pediatric, Adolescent and Maternal HIV Infection at Children’s Memorial Hospital, and the Susan B. DePree Founders’ Board Professor of Pediatric, Adolescent and Maternal HIV Infection.
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Hendrix reappointed to the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Advisors
Mary J.C. Hendrix. PhD has been appointed to serve on the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Board of Scientific Advisors for a second term beginning in July 2009. Hendrix was first appointed to the board in December 2004. The Board of Scientific Advisors was established in 1996 to assist and advise the director of the NCI on all aspects of the extramural program, and it is charged with oversight of the full portfolio of extramural programs of the NCI; advising Extramural Division directors on scientific policies, both present and future; and concept review of research and resource activities supported by the Extramural Divisions.
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| Lurie Cancer Center appointment John Crispino, PhD has been named Associate director of Education and Training for the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. Crispino is Associate professor of Medicine–Hematology/Oncology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and a member of the Cancer Biology and Epigenomics Program of Children's Memorial Research Center.
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Human Molecular Genetics Program: Appointment of Christopher Payne, PhD
Christopher Payne, PhD will be joining the Human Molecular Genetics Program of the research center as Assistant professor of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School, effective October 1, 2009. Payne is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Robert E. Braun, PhD at the Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME. Payne’s research focuses on the identification of the male germline stem cell niche. He earned his PhD from the Oregon Health and Science University’s Program in Cell and Developmental Biology. Payne currently holds a prestigious NIH Pathway to Independence Award. The research center is indebted to the Medical Research Institute Council (MRIC) for its funding of this faculty position and continuing support of the center’s research mission and commitment to excellence.
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Official liaison to Children’s Memorial Research Center: Alice Archabal
June 25, 2009 — Alice Archabal, Sr. Vice President, Development and Chief Operating Officer of Children’s Memorial Foundation, has been named by Patrick Magoon as official liaison to the research center. In this capacity, Archabal will work closely with Mary J.C. Hendrix, PhD, President and Scientific Director of the research center, to identify key sources of philanthropy for research programs; and to disseminate information and raise awareness of research center activities. Archabal, a graduate of Ripon College in Wisconsin, joined Children’s Memorial Hospital in 2008. She previously served as chief development officer for Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest - The Nation’s Food Bank Network) in Chicago, and as senior director of field operations for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Ms. Archabal and benefit from her creative ideas and strategic fund raising experience”, said Dr. Hendrix.
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CMRC Research Technologies: Jhumku Kohtz, PhD appointed as director
Jhumku Kohtz, PhD has been appointed director of CMRC Research Technologies, a new leadership position for the research center. In this post, Kohtz will coordinate all shared facilities of the research center, establish or restructure user groups, and form an oversight committee. She will also coordinate and plan services with the Director of Core Facilities, part of the Office of the Vice President for Research at Northwestern University. Kohtz is a member of the Department of Pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and the Developmental Biology Program of the research center.
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2008
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Appointment of Yong-Chao Ma, PhD
Yong-Chao Ma, PhD has joined the Developmental Biology Program as assistant professor of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School. At the research center, Ma plans to define the mechanisms involved in the formation of dopamine neurons. This research will be relevant to neurological disorders in which the neurotransmitter dopamine is important, such as Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, addiction, schizophrenia, depression and some forms of dementia. He hopes to generate a genome-wide picture of transcription factors involved in the development of dopamine neurons and to define their interactions. Ma will also apply his findings to the differentiation of stem cells into defined types of neurons, which will be an exciting contribution to the field of regenerative medicine. Ma joined the research center in September 2008.
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Cancer Biology and Epigenomics Program: Appointment of Nikia Laurie, PhD
Nikia Laurie, PhD, joined the Cancer Biology and Epigenomics Program of the research center in September 2008 as assistant professor of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School. She comes from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Laurie’s research has focused on elucidating the sequential genetic changes contributing to retinoblastoma progression, with important results. Her work will seek to further define molecular, cellular and genetic changes associated with tumor invasion and metastasis, to help identify novel targets for more effective chemotherapy for various types of cancer.
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