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Affiliated Faculty

A Steering Committee directs the development and activities of the Center for Global Health (CGH). The steering committee is composed of faculty and staff from across the university representing the diverse disciplines related to global health, including ethics, infectious diseases, research, human rights, environmental studies, and international emergency medicine. The unique insight and experience each member brings to CGH helps create a multidisciplinary global health program at the University of Chicago.

Christine Babcock, MD, MSc, FACEP, FAAEM

Dr. Babcock is Program Director of the University of Chicago Emergency Medicine Residence, Faculty Scholar in the Section of Emergency Medicine and the Graham School, and Center for Global Health faculty. Her specific areas of interest include residency curricular development, bioterrorism/mass casualty preparedness, and the Geographical Medicine Scholars Program (GMSP), a 12-month Global Health competency curriculum for University of Chicago residents and medical students, which includes an international medical experience in South India.

Laura Botwinick

Ms. Botwinick is Director of the Graduate Program in Health Administration and Policy at The University of Chicago. Ms. Botwinick is a health care executive with expertise in partnering with individuals and organizations to further domestic and international mission and goals. She works with health care quality and patient safety organizations to transform health care and improve the lives of people around the world. Her special interests include health system improvement, quality improvement and patient safety, board and committee relations, global health, reducing disparities, health policy, and patient-centered care.

Rebecca (Becky) DeBoer, MD, MA

Dr. DeBoer is currently a Global Health Hospital Medicine Fellow at the University of Chicago, splitting her time between Chicago and the oncology ward at Butaro Hospital in northern Rwanda. She received her BA in Human Biology from Stanford University. After college she worked as a clinical research coordinator for early phase cancer trials at UCSF. She attended medical school at Northwestern University and received a joint MD/MA in Medical Humanities and Bioethics. Her master’s thesis was entitled The Ethics of Global Cancer Care and Control. She completed residency in internal medicine at the University of Chicago and plans to specialize in hematology/oncology and pursue a career in global oncology.

Michael Greenstone, PhD

Dr. Greenstone is the Milton Friedman Professor of Economics and Director of the interdisciplinary Energy Policy Institute at Chicago. Greenstone’s research estimates the costs and benefits of environmental quality and society’s energy choices.  He has worked extensively on the Clean Air Act and examined its impacts on air quality, manufacturing activity, housing prices, and human health to assess its benefits and costs.  He is currently engaged in large‐scale projects to estimate the economic costs of climate change and to identify efficient approaches to mitigating these costs. His research is increasingly focused on developing countries. This work includes an influential paper that demonstrated that high levels of particulates air pollution from coal combustion are causing the 500 million residents of Northern China to lose more than 2.5 billion years of life expectancy.  He is also engaged in projects with the Government of India and four Indian state governments that use randomized control trials to test innovative ways to improve the functioning of environmental regulations and increase energy access.

Colleen Grogan, PhD

Colleen M. Grogan is a Professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. Her areas of research interest include health policy, health politics, participatory processes and the American welfare state. She has written several book chapters and articles on the political evolution and current politics of the US Medicaid program. She co-authored a book with Michael Gusmano titled Healthy Voices/Unhealthy Silence: Advocacy and Health Policy for the Poor (2007), which explores efforts to include representatives of the poor and disadvantaged in health policy decision-making. Grogan is also the Academic Director of the Graduate Program in Health Administration and Policy (GPHAP) and the Co-Director of the Center for Health Administration Studies (CHAS) at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.

Dezheng Huo, PhD

Dr. Huo is Associate Professor of Epidemiology and his research interests focus on the genetic, molecular, and environmental factors underlying differences in etiology, prognosis, and treatment of cancers, particularly as they relate to breast cancer in underserved populations. Although Dr. Huo works on research of other cancer types, most of his ongoing projects are related to breast cancer, including: 1) a replication and fine-mapping study of breast cancer susceptibility loci in women of African ancestry; 2) a genome-wide association study of breast cancer in women of African ancestry in order to identify novel common genetic variants; 3) a whole-genome sequencing study of breast cancer in order to identify moderate-penetrance of novel genetic variants; 4) molecular epidemiologic studies on microRNA in breast cancer detection and prognosis; and 5) systemic investigations of treatment utilization and health disparity in breast cancer patients using national databases.

Leyla Ismayilova, PhD

Leyla Ismayilova is an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. Professor Ismayilova specializes in the development and adaptation of family-based interventions to improve child well-being in the international context and has been involved in international research projects in sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and the former Soviet Union. Her research agenda focuses on developing culturally congruent interventions to improve mental health functioning and reduce risk behaviors (sexual risk behaviors and substance use) and exposure to violence among at-risk children and youth. She is incorporating computerized multi-media technologies in the delivery of preventive interventions to engage youth and assure intervention fidelity and cost-effectiveness of interventions. Professor Ismayilova is the Principal Investigator on the NIDA-funded study testing a multi-media family-based intervention designed to reduce sexual and drug-related risks among at-risk adolescents living in communities highly affected by heroin trade and use in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 

Paula Jaudes, MD

Paula Kienberger Jaudes, M.D. has made waves as an advocate of children for nearly 30 years. She has devoted herself to the health and protection of children who are underserved as a hospital administrator, practicing pediatrician and medical researcher, educator, and public servant. A Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago and a board-certified pediatrician, Dr. Jaudes has received numerous honors recognizing her medical leadership. In 1996, she was named Dr. Albert Pisani Pediatrician of the Year by the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. In 2000, the Chicago Pediatric Society presented her the John Cook Award for Devotion to the Larger Social Issues of Children. Two years later, the Illinois Health and Hospital Association awarded her the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her accomplishments as a physician leader. 

Evan Lyon, MD

Dr. Lyon’s academic interests encompass global health, human rights scholarship and advocacy, social medicine, prisoner health, and medical education. He has collaborated with Partners In Health in Haiti and at other sites for more than 18 years. He has been extensively involved in physician, nurse, and community health worker training for more than a decade. He is on the board of the Human Rights Program at the University of Chicago and teaches health and human rights at the College Dr. Lyon is the lead faculty on a University of Chicago Delhi Center funded project to advance “Rights-based Approaches to Tuberculosis” in collaboration with the Law School. Dr. Lyon is the lead faculty for the Global Hospital Medicine Fellowship at the University of Chicago, with fellows now working between Chicago and Haiti, Rwanda, and China. Closer to home, Dr. Lyon is a primary care and hospital medicine physician in the University of Chicago Comprehensive Care Program. Continuing “global health at home,” Dr. Lyon delivers home-based primary care on the South Side of Chicago providing continuity between house calls and the hospital. Third year Pritzker students are now accompanying Dr. Lyon to learn from house calls during their core Family Medicine Clerkship.

David O. Meltzer, MD, PhD


David O. Meltzer M.D., Ph.D. is Chief of the Section of Hospital Medicine, Director of the Center for Health and the Social Sciences, and Chair of the Committee on Clinical and Translational Science at The University of Chicago, where he is Professor in the Department of Medicine, and affiliated faculty of the Harris School of Public Policy Studies and the Department of Economics. Meltzer’s research explores problems in health economics and public policy with a focus on the theoretical foundations of medical cost-effectiveness analysis and the cost and quality of hospital care. Meltzer has performed randomized trials comparing the use of doctors who specialize in inpatient care (“hospitalists”). He is currently leading a Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Innovation Challenge award to study the effects of improved continuity in the doctor patient relationship between the inpatient and outpatient setting on the costs and outcomes of care for frequently hospitalized Medicare patients. He led the formation of the Chicago Learning Effectiveness Advancement Research Network (Chicago LEARN) that helped pioneer collaboration of Chicago-Area academic medical centers in hospital-based comparative effectiveness research and the recent support of the Chicago Area Patient Centered Outcomes Research Network (CAPriCORN) by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

Alicia Menendez, PhD 

Alicia S. Menendez is a Research Associate (Associate Professor) at Chicago Harris and the Department of Economics, and a Principal Research Scientist at the NORC. At Harris, she also leads the International Policy Practicum, which provides real-world international policy experience to a select group of Chicago Harris students. Menendez's research interests include development economics, education and health, labor markets, and household behavior. She is particularly interested in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. She is currently engaged in a project that collects and analyzes data on individuals' health and economic status, the costs associated with illness and death, and the impact of adult deaths on households and children's well being in a series of household surveys in South Africa. Menendez received her PhD in economics from Boston University. Before coming to the University of Chicago, she was a lecturer in public and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School and a researcher at the Research Program in Development Studies at Princeton University.

J. Michael Millis, MD

Dr. Michael Millis is Professor of Surgery at the University of Chicago Medicine and Medical Director of Transplantation Services. Dr. Millis is an expert in adult and pediatric transplant surgery. His clinical interests include liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery. He has performed more liver transplants than any other surgeon in the region. Dr. Millis has pioneered new techniques of operating on the liver, and his innovations have helped the University of Chicago perform more liver transplants than any other program in the region over the past 15 years. Dr. Millis's research explores the application of cellular technology to patient care. For instance, he is investigating how hepatocyte transplantation, extracorporeal assist technology and stem cells can assist in the care of patients with liver disease or liver tumors. His research interests also include health and policy ethics. He is a consultant to the Chinese Ministry of Health to help them transform their transplant system, including the development of a donor system for volunteer citizen deceased donors.

Louis Philipson, MD, PhD

Dr. Philipson is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Kovler Center for Diabetes. He is an endocrinologist and a leading world authority on diabetes mellitus. His clinical interests include type 1 diabetes, complicated type 2 diabetes, monogenic diabetes and hypoglycemia. Recognized for unmatched expertise in the treatment of diabetes that is difficult to manage, Dr. Philipson's multisciplinary team frequently accepts referrals and provides consultations. Under his leadership, Kovler Diabetes Center has been recognized as a one of only seven National Institutes of Health (NIH) Diabetes Research and Training Centers in the U.S.

Marc Robinson, MD 

Marc Robinson, MD, is a graduate of the University of Chicago Internal Medicine residency and has just completed a year as Chief Resident, focusing academically on improving global health education for our residents and medical students. He will continue this work between Chicago and Haiti as a Global Health Hospital Medicine Fellow. 

Sarosh Rana, MD 

 Dr. Sarosh Rana, is an associciate professor in the department of obstretics/gynecology and is the section chief of maternal-fetal medicine. She cares for women with high-risk pregnancies, and is an expert in the diagnosis and management of preeclampsia – a condition characterized by high blood pressure during pregnancy. Dr. Rana aims to improve maternal and fetal outcomes through research on preeclampsia. Her research over the last several years has focused on demonstrating clinical utility for angiogenic biomarkers in prediction of adverse outcomes among women with suspected preeclampsia. She is also testing the idea that these biomarkers will prove superior in predicting adverse outcomes, leading to reductions in maternal and fetal deaths related to preeclampsia in developing countries such as Haiti. Dr. Rana performs collaborative research evaluating the relationships between increased levels of angiogenic factors and immediate, as well as future, cardiac performance. Dr. Rana's work has been funded by several notable organizations, including the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association.

Steffen Sammet, MD, PhD, DABR

Steffen Sammet is the director of clinical magnetic resonance physics at the University of Chicago Medical Center. His current research interests include development of new methodologies in high- and ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). He is developing advanced sequences and protocols in MRI and MRS for diagnosis and treatment monitoring of anatomical and molecular changes. He is leading several ultrasound research projects, including MRI-guided treatment monitoring of the therapeutic effects of high-intensity focused ultrasound. He is also developing computed tomography (CT) protocols with an emphasis on improving neurosurgical navigation. Sammet is a diplomate of the American Board of Radiology (ABR), and he is ABR board certified in diagnostic radiological physics. He also holds a board certificate of medical physics and a medical license in Germany. He has an MD, a PhD and an MS in physics, and a BS in physics, mathematics, and chemistry from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Sammet has a business administration certificate in total quality management from the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. He is also an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Radiology at the Ohio State University. Sammet joined the University of Chicago faculty in 2011.

John Schneider, MD, MPH


Dr. John Schneider MD, MPH is an infectious disease specialist and network epidemiologist in the Departments of Medicine and Health Studies.  His NIH funded research focuses on how social networks can be leveraged to improve the health of at risk populations in resource-restricted settings.  Clinically, he specializes in adolescent and adult HIV primary care and has a specific interest in provision of high-quality care to LGBT community members.  He has extensive experience with advancing the physician patient relationship in resource-restricted settings, including his current clinic at a Federally Qualified Health Center on the South Side of Chicago and during his time working in Southern India. Dr. Schneider’s research employs social and sexual network analysis to accelerate prevention of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Sexually Transmitted Infections among high-risk male adolescents and younger adults in resource restricted settings.

Renslow Sherer, MD

Dr. Sherer is Professor of Medicine and Director of the International AIDS Training Center at the University of Chicago. In addition, Dr. Sherer has been active in HIV clinical research and in the design and implementation of clinical trials, in HIV prevention programs, and in local and federal policy on HIV/AIDS since the early 1980s. He was one of the founders of the first HIV clinic in Chicago, which is now the Core center. He has numerous national and international publications and has given numerous presentations on the clinical and social impact of the HIV pandemic at conferences all over the world. Since pursuing the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases internationally he has led health worker trainings all over the world. He has implemented micro-credit and health education programs for orphans and families with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas, and he has led HIV prevention and stigma reduction programs around the world.

Mark Siegler, MD, FACP

Mark Siegler, MD, the Lindy Bergman Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and director of the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, will serve as the first executive director of the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence. A respected physician, specializing in internal medicine, Dr. Siegler is internationally known for his work in the field of medical ethics. Established in 1984, the University of Chicago’s MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics quickly became the largest program in clinical ethics in the world. More than 250 physicians and other health professionals have trained at the MacLean Center, many of whom now direct ethics programs in the United States, Canada and Europe. Dr. Siegler, whose research interests include the ethics of surgical innovation, living–donor organ transplantation, end-of-life care, ethics consultation and decision-making within the doctor-patient relationship, has published more than 200 journal articles, 50 book chapters and five books. His textbook “Clinical Ethics: A Practical Approach to Ethical Decisions in Clinical Medicine,” now in its 7th edition, is widely used by physicians and health professionals around the world.

Theodore L. Steck, MD

Ted Steck is a member of the faculty of the University of Chicago, where he is a professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the former chair of the Environmental Studies Program, which he founded in 1994. Dr. Steck received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Lawrence College (Appleton, WI) and his M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA). He received his clinical training at the Beth Israel Hospital (Boston) and did post-doctoral work at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Harvard Medical School before joining the faculty of the University of Chicago. He holds an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Lawrence University. His scientific work has focused on basic membrane biochemistry and cell biology and has been funded principally by the NIH, NSF, and American Cancer Society. He has served on a variety of national advisory boards, most recently Population Connection.