Medicine on the Midway - Fall 2019

FALL 2019

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

The time-traveling, globe-trotting scientists of the CEB The Committee on Evolutionary Biology celebrates 50 years of interdisciplinary studies

Dear Colleagues,

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Dean’s Letter

ollaboration across disciplines is a hallmark of the University of Chicago. The University’s system of degree-granting committees — the prime example being the John U. Nef Committee

on Social Thought, established in 1941 — brings together faculty from across

The BSD has 11 interdisciplinary committees that bring together faculty from science, clinical and other University of Chicago departments to train the next generation of scientists and physicians.

departments, divisions and disciplines for the training and mentoring of students in interdisciplinary scholarship. We have 11 interdisciplinary committees in the Biological Sciences Division, including the Committee on Evolutionary Biology (CEB). In the cover story, writer Stephan Benzkofer examines the CEB’s unique structure, which encompasses six Chicago-area scientific institutions and faculty and graduate students conducting research on every continent.

An anecdote that came up during interviews for the story speaks to the robust interchange of ideas at the heart of the CEB. Paleontologists David Jablonski and Susan Kidwell — now our colleagues in the Physical Sciences Division — were being recruited by the University. After a long day of interviews, the final stop was the CEB’s weekly Evolutionary Morphology Seminar. The room was packed with faculty and students. “Here were people who worked on fossil invertebrates, who worked on fruit flies, who worked on plant ecology, and here they all were in this seminar room at night to hear a talk about whooping crane biomechanics,” Jablonski recalled. “And it was so clearly such an intellectually vibrant community that it was just irresistible.” Jablonski and Kidwell joined the faculty, and Jablonski went on to serve two three-year stints as CEB chair.

Our coverage of the CEB’s 50th anniversary continues on Page 17 with a profile of Alex Dehgan, SM’03, PhD’03, an expert in war zone conservation who helped establish the first national park in Afghanistan. Dehgan now leads a nonprofit that pulls together experts from a variety of disciplines to work on innovative technology to fight extinction.

An interdisciplinary approach also is essential to taking on the epidemic of gun violence as a public health issue. In a powerful series of stories starting on Page 20, writer Jamie Bartosch profiles four Pritzker School

Kenneth S. Polonsky, MD The Richard T. Crane Distinguished Service Professor Dean of the Biological Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Medicine Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs The University of Chicago

of Medicine alumni who are confronting gun violence from different angles — including one of our own emergency department physicians who lost his brother in a shooting on the South Side.

Also in this issue, you will read an interview with the inaugural director of the Duchossois Family Institute: Harnessing the Microbiome and Immunity for Human Health; about two programs to remove some of the barriers that discourage medical students from choosing to pursue research careers; and a profile of Kenneth Bridbord, MD’69, and his remarkable contributions to public health.

As we look ahead to the holiday season, I wish you and your family health, happiness and peace.

IN THIS ISSUE

C OV E R S T O R Y

From Hyde Park to the Himalayas

Fall 2019 Volume 72, No. 2 A publication of the University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences Division.

Medicine on the Midway is published for friends, alumni and faculty of the University of Chicago Medicine, Biological Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Medicine.

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The Committee on Evolutionary Biology (CEB) is marking a half century as a unique interdisciplinary graduate program with faculty from four University of Chicago academic divisions and six Chicago-area scientific institutions.

CEB faculty and students are engaged in research on seven continents, and the program’s graduates are working at museums, zoos, universities and governmental and nongovernmental agencies around the world.

Email us at momedit@uchospitals.edu Write us at Editor, Medicine on the Midway The University of Chicago Medicine 950 E. 61st St., WSSC 325 Chicago, IL 60637 The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and Biological Sciences Executive Leadership Kenneth S. Polonsky, MD, the Richard T. Crane Distinguished Service Professor, Dean of the University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Medicine, and Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs for the University of Chicago T. Conrad Gilliam, PhD, the Marjorie I. and Bernard A. Mitchell Distinguished Service Professor, Dean for Basic Science, Biological Sciences Division Sharon O’Keefe, President of the University of Chicago Medical Center Halina Brukner, MD, Dean for Medical Education, Pritzker School of Medicine

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Editorial Committee Chair Jeanne Farnan, AB’98, MD’02, MHPE Chris V. Albanis, AB’96, MD’00 Dana Lindsay, MD’92 Robert Mitchum, PhD’07 Coleman R. Seskind, AB’55, SB’56, MD’59, SM’59 (Lifetime Member) Abby Stayart, AB’97, PhD’12 Carol A. Westbrook, AB’72, PhD’77, MD’78 Student Representatives Shira Fishbach, LAB’13, AB’17 (Pritzker) Helen Wei (Pritzker) James Zhang (Pritzker) Jessica Morgan (BSD) Alexandra Smith (BSD) University of Chicago Medicine Marketing and Communications William “Skip” Hidlay, Senior Vice President, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Anna Madrzyk, Editor Gretchen Rubin, Associate Editor Editorial Contributors Nancy Averett Emily Ayshford Jamie Bartosch Stephan Benzkofer Kate Dohner John Easton Stephanie Folk Photo Contributors Jimmy Fishbein Rob Hart Robert Kozloff Jean Lachat Jonathan Newton Pritzker School of Medicine Eddie Quinones Anne Ryan Special Collections Research Center, Design Wilkinson Design

Ellen McGrew Angela Wells O’Connor Colleen Radzevich Gretchen Rubin Matt Wood

University of Chicago Library Joe Sterbenc University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences Alumni Association Beth Wald Joel Wintermantle John Zich

PHOTO OF ASHY BULBUL BY TOM STEPHENSON

D E PA R T M E N T S

Midway News

Pritzker News

Meet new UChicago MBSAA President Chris Albanis, AB’96, MD’00 3

Halina Brukner, MD, appointed dean for medical education 34

Abdullah Pratt, MD’16

UChicago launches Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering 4

AAMC honors Pritzker career advising program 34

F E AT U R E S

BSD News

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Conservation innovation 17

Research boost 32

Alex Dehgan, SM’03, PhD’03, fights extinction with technology.

Two major grants aim to help medical students become successful researchers.

Confronting gun violence 20 Four Pritzker alums take on the national epidemic from different angles.

Faculty honors and awards 30 Nobel laureate addresses graduates 30

Reunion 2019 36 Your News 42 In Memoriam 43

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Alumni profile 39 From the EPA to the NIH, Kenneth Bridbord, MD’69, has made a mark on global public health.

Distinguished Service Award recipients Mark Anderson, PhD'92, MD'94, left, and Thomas Gajewski, AB'84, PhD'89, MD'91

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M E D I C A L & B I O L O G I C A L S C I E N C E S A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N

Midway News

Check out our new alumni website!

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he University of Chicago Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association (UChicago MBSAA) is hitting the refresh button with the help of its alumni community.

Last summer, nearly 400 alumni participated in a survey about UChicago MBSAA marketing and communications. After assessing the survey feedback and gathering additional information from the Alumni Council — the volunteer leadership board of the UChicago MBSAA — UChicago MBSAA staff determined how alumni affiliate and view the UChicago MBSAA, the topics about which alumni would like UChicago MBSAA to communicate, and preferred communication channels.

As a result, the UChicago MBSAA spent over a year developing and implementing a new website that launched in September. The new site — mbsaa.uchicago.edu — is mobile responsive, is easier for alumni to navigate, and introduces a refreshed look and feel.

The October 2019 Alumni Matters, UChicago MBSAA’s bimonthly e-newsletter, revealed a redesigned layout and content that most alumni expressed interest in receiving.

The UChicago MBSAA looks forward to hearing from alumni about what they think about these exciting changes at alumni@bsd.uchicago.edu.

About the UChicago MBSAA 9,000+ alumni with an MD from the Pritzker School of Medicine, or SM or PhD from the Biological Sciences Division, or both.

1,742 cities While the majority are in Chicago, alumni live and work in cities across the country and around the world.

70% of alumni are actively involved through attending events, making gifts and volunteering their time.

$4 million Amount alumni give each year to support programs, research, scholarships and financial aid.

Career connections BSD alumni returned to campus in September

Marianna Johnson, SM’16, PhD’17, senior medical writer at Capgemini Invent, left, John Leonard, PhD, scientist at 3T Biosciences, and Sahar Mozaffari, SM’18, PhD’18, computational biologist at 23andMe, appear on an alumni career panel.

for the sixth annual myCHOICE BSD Alumni Career Forum, co-hosted by the UChicago MBSAA, myCHOICE and UChicagoGrad.

The annual event gives graduate students and postdocs the opportunity to connect with alumni in one-on-one, small group and panel discussion settings. Alumni provide advice about, and insight into, the process of translating a PhD from the University of Chicago into a variety of careers.

PHOTO BY ROB HART

Continuing medical education For information or to register, visit cme.uchicago.edu.

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New Frontiers in Therapies for Celiac Disease

33rd Annual Challenges for Clinicians

2020 Tutorial on Neoplastic Hematopathology

November 23, 2019 Ida Noyes Hall 1212 E. 59th St. Chicago

December 6-8, 2019 The Drake Hotel 140 E. Walton Place Chicago

January 20-24, 2020 Naples Grande Beach Resort Naples, Florida

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

Women in Digestive Diseases: Updates in 2020

9th Annual Clinical Cancer Genetics and Genomics Conference

March 14, 2020 Ida Noyes Hall 1212 E. 59th St. Chicago

April 17-18, 2020 Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park 200 N. Columbus Drive Chicago

ALUMNI LEADERSHIP

Five questions with Chris Albanis, MD

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PHOTO BY JOHN ZICH

hris Albanis, AB’96, MD’00, is taking the lead as the new president of the Alumni Council. She is president of Arbor Centers for EyeCare and a clinical associate at the University of Chicago Medicine Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

How did you first become involved with the UChicago MBSAA?

The University of Chicago and Pritzker School of Medicine have given so much to me, both in my personal and professional life, so I’ve always wanted to give back.

When offered the opportunity to volunteer for Medicine on the Midway’s Editorial Committee, I took it right away. It’s important for alumni to be aware of UChicago’s amazing accomplishments and discoveries. Medicine on the Midway gets that message to our alumni in the U.S. and around the world.

What has been most rewarding about your involvement?

Staying in touch with my fellow classmates, meeting alumni from around the globe and interacting with the world-class faculty at UChicago. As co-chair of Reunions, I’ve had the opportunity to re-engage with my classmates, which motivates me to do even more.

You partnered with UChicago MBSAA staff to start the Women in Medicine Panel held during Pritzker Reunion weekend. What is the goal?

Throughout my career, I have been mentored by many incredible men and women. They nurtured me, helped me seek out opportunities for success and encouraged my ongoing personal growth and development. Unfortunately, not all women have similar experiences.

A few years ago, we began hosting the Women in Medicine Panel during Pritzker Reunion. Female alumni who are leaders at the University of Chicago Medicine and other institutions share their insights on the practice of medicine and science. uchicagomedicine.org/midway

Chris Albanis, AB’96, MD’00, is the new president of the Alumni Council, the volunteer leadership board of the University of Chicago Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association.

We highlight and discuss successes and challenges of women in medicine and the biological sciences. We discuss how to move beyond gender bias and focus on the talents of each individual and the knowledge and expertise they bring to the table as healers, innovators and leaders in their field.

What are your priorities and your vision for the UChicago MBSAA?

My vision for the group is to help engage as many alumni as possible. We graduated from an incredible university and have had opportunities to make a positive impact. I look forward to meeting and working with alumni to share our stories of research, discovery, clinical and surgical care, advocacy and beyond, to positively impact many people around the globe.

Working with the alumni association, I will encourage our members to engage through volunteerism and donations of time and money for the various efforts we have to help alumni as well as Pritzker and Biological Sciences Division students.

What motivated you to give to Pritzker?

I was walking with Dr. David Whitney (MBA’78, MD’80) after an annual Alumni Senate meeting when he asked me if I donated money this year. When I responded with: “Well, I donate my time… isn’t that enough?” he candidly said “No.” He encouraged me to give within whatever means I could afford.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to be an ophthalmologist, as I have a passion for vision and all things visual.

Chris Albanis, AB’96, MD’00

Since that time, I’ve given meaningful gifts to causes important to me or in memory of colleagues and faculty.

These gifts are precious as they are tied to mentors and friends, allowing their legacies to live on.

MEDICINE ON THE MIDWAY

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MOLECULAR ENGINEERING

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upported by a $100 million commitment from the Pritzker Foundation, the University of Chicago is launching the nation’s first school dedicated to the emerging field of molecular engineering.

The Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering will expand the University’s research, education, technology development and impact in molecular engineering, which builds on advances in basic science to design technology from the molecular level up, providing pivotal new approaches to fundamental societal challenges.

“The generous support of the Pritzker Foundation will enable us to both deepen and broaden our efforts in areas of global significance, such as sustainability and natural resources, advanced materials design, and translational systems biology,” said Matthew Tirrell, PhD, the founding Pritzker director and dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. “Our mission is to develop solutions to problems that have a profound effect on humanity and quality of life.”

The University, in partnership with Argonne National Laboratory, established the Institute for Molecular Engineering in 2011. In recognition of the institute’s success, impact and expansion, and with increased support from the Pritzker Foundation, the institute was elevated to the University’s first new school in three decades — and its first in engineering.

The Pritzker Foundation is made up of four trustees from the Pritzker family: Tom, Nick, Penny and Gigi.

The school will be distinct from other engineering programs, with an organizational structure that transcends traditional boundaries and focuses on societal problems primed for new solutions. Interdisciplinary research themes will aim to develop new solutions to pressing global challenges, such as immunotherapy-based approaches to cancer, the search for sustainable energy and “unhackable” communications networks.

The University and the Pritzker Foundation also saw an important opportunity through the new school to grow support for Chicago-area students interested in science, technology, engineering and math. This includes launching a new partnership for students at the City Colleges of Chicago who are interested in pursuing four-year degrees in these fields.

Existing K-12 programs to promote STEM, which include events and internships throughout the school year, will continue to expand.

Matthew Tirrell, PhD, founding Pritzker director and dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2019.

CLINICAL RESEARCH

Alumnus honored with Lasker Award PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LASKER FOUNDATION

D Dennis Slamon, PhD’74, MD’75, is a 2019 Lasker Award recipient.

ennis Slamon, PhD’74, MD’75, received the 2019 Lasker Award for clinical research for his role in the invention of Herceptin, one of the earliest targeted therapies, which transformed breast cancer care.

Slamon, director of Clinical/Translational Research at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, shares the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award with H. Michael Shepard, PhD, and Axel Ullrich, PhD, who were with the biotech company Genentech when they did the research.

Herceptin interferes with a protein called HER2 on the surface of breast cancer cells. A humanized monoclonal antibody, Herceptin is used to treat HER2-positive breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease. Since it was approved by the FDA in 1998, more than 2.3 million individuals have been treated with Herceptin.

The Lasker Awards, America’s most prestigious biomedical research awards, recognize the contributions of leaders who have made major advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of human disease.

Read more at laskerfoundation.org.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

PHOTO BY JOHN ZICH

Midway News

New school in molecular engineering first in U.S.

U N I V E R S I T Y O F C H I C AG O M E D I C I N E

According to the University

Coming together to address community violence

of Chicago Medicine’s 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment, community safety is a top health priority for residents of the neighborhoods in the medical center’s South Side

BY ANGELA WELLS O’CONNOR AND KATE DOHNER

service area. Community violence is linked to chronic stress, decreased

critical resources to help children, families and the community build long-term resilience from trauma.

Also in spring 2019, UChicago Medicine and Advocate Christ Medical Center announced a collaboration called Southland RISE (Resilience Initiative to Strengthen and Empower) designed to strengthen and integrate existing violence recovery and trauma

mental well-being, trauma among children and adults, and decreased physical activity. Read more: UChicagoMedicine.org/ community-health

PHOTO BY JOE STERBENC

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ccording to the Chicago Police Department, 561 residents were killed and nearly 3,000 injured by a gun in the city in 2018.

To help address this epidemic of violence and its physical and mental health consequences, the University of Chicago Medicine provides specialized trauma services for adults and children, while also promoting holistic recovery via the Violence Recovery Program (VRP).

As the most comprehensive hospital-based violence recovery program in Chicago, the VRP steps in to help patients and their families in the critical moments immediately following an injury and after they’ve been discharged. Established in concert with the launch of UChicago Medicine’s Level 1 adult trauma center in May 2018, the program is supported by donations from local foundations and individual philanthropists, and includes violence recovery specialists who connect patients and families to social services, mental health care, vocational resources and more. In its first year, the program engaged nearly 800 patients.

In spring 2019, UChicago Medicine announced additional strategic initiatives and community collaborations to expand services and strengthen the region’s violence recovery ecosystem.

In April, the Ellen & Ronald Block Family Foundation and the Hassenfeld Family Foundation donated $9.1 million to develop the Block Hassenfeld Casdin (BHC) Collaborative for Family Resilience. The BHC Collaborative builds on the holistic approach of the VRP and, with the integral support of the violence recovery specialists, provides wraparound services to meet the special needs of children and their families who experience trauma. Key components of the collaborative include providing 24/7 support from child life specialists for children in both the pediatric and adult trauma centers; connecting children and families to trauma-informed counseling services, such as Healing Hurt People-Chicago; and investing in community-based organizations that provide

care services within the two medical centers and throughout the South Side and south suburbs.

Among the group’s first priorities was to help provide young community residents with safe spaces during the summer months. The collaborative awarded $100,000 in grant funding to 14 grassroots organizations for their summer violence prevention and recovery programs.

Looking ahead, UChicago Medicine also aims to advance a robust research agenda investigating violence and trauma from a variety of angles and across disciplines — from medicine to the social sciences to public policy — with the ultimate goal of creating a model that can be replicated at other trauma centers across the country.

Over the summer, participants at Chicago Eco House managed a flower farm in Englewood, including growing, harvesting and beekeeping. The program is one of 14 grassroots organizations to receive funding for summer violence prevention and recovery programs.

How four Pritzker School of Medicine graduates are confronting the gun violence epidemic Page 20

uchicagomedicine.org/midway

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MICROBIOME RESEARCH

Midway News

Building a research foundation to optimize health

BY MATT WOOD PHOTO BY JEAN LACHAT

Renowned physician-scientist Eric G.

Pamer, MD, is the inaugural director of the Duchossois Family Institute: Harnessing the Microbiome and Immunity for Human Health (DFI) at the University of Chicago Medicine. The institute is dedicated to developing new knowledge about human biological defense systems, including the microbiome, and their potential for preventing disease and maintaining lifelong wellness.

Formerly with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Pamer is tasked with building the DFI’s research capabilities, from recruiting new faculty and building core facilities to translating discoveries into treatments that can be used in the clinic. He talks about his plans, and what he hopes to see the DFI accomplish.

The core mission of the DFI is developing science to maintain wellness and prevent disease, rather than treating disease after the fact.

How does your own work square with that mission?

The work in my lab in the last 10 years has focused on the role of the microbiome in enhancing resistance against a variety of infectious diseases associated with cancer treatment. These infections occur in a broad population of patients though, so there are many directions that I could see my laboratory’s research going that would be possible here that I wouldn’t be able to pursue in my previous position.

I think that squares beautifully with what we are attempting to do here at the DFI. Much of the work we do is focused on the microbiome, the complex microbial populations that live on our bodies and especially in our intestine. We now know

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from over a decade’s work by many labs around the world that the composition of the microbiome can enhance disease resistance. We know that antibiotic use, for example, or poor diets can change the microbes that live within us, and that those changes can be drivers of a number of conditions like autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases and susceptibility to infection. So, dissecting the microbiome and identifying the specific bacterial strains that are associated with health is one way I think we can actually address the exact mission that was proposed for the DFI. What are your immediate goals as you build the DFI’s research capabilities?

An important step for the DFI will be recruiting faculty members who have a general focus on research to enhance disease resistance or to promote health.

Most of the people we are recruiting will have at least a partial focus on the microbiome because it’s such a new area that needs deep and broad investigation.

There are so many opportunities there.

We are also going to work on establishing core facilities. One will be a biobank of commensal bacterial strains, or the bacteria that normally live in the body.

This is something we have already started and we have over 1,000 strains of bacteria that we have cultured from healthy donors. Now we are sequencing them and making their entire genomes available for academic investigators who want to test the ability of these different strains to provide health benefits or disease resistance. We are also going to establish a core facility to measure metabolites, or the chemicals they produce, which

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

Eric G. Pamer, MD

involves mass spectrometry and protein and nutrient purification tools.

Ultimately, we want to be able to develop commensal bacteria that produce substances that we think are beneficial, so we can administer them to patients in clinical trials. My longer-term goal is for the DFI to be able to facilitate clinical trials that will help us re-establish the microbiome in patients where it has been damaged, or to potentially modify the microbiome in patients who may be vulnerable to one disease or another.

As you recruit new faculty, is there a certain specialty or background you’re looking to find?

Not really, no. My research program completely changed over the two decades I was at Sloan Kettering, and I would anticipate that as we recruit people here they will almost certainly evolve over the course of five to 10 or 15 years. So, the most important thing is to bring in people

PHOTO BY MATT WOOD

who are excited about the opportunities that the DFI will offer and make sure they are adaptable and looking to address important scientific questions that are biomedically relevant.

Is the DFI’s mission of promoting wellness daunting because it’s such a broad, open-ended goal?

It would be daunting if our goal were to prevent every possible disease. For example, we will potentially have researchers who are interested in the role of the microbiome in vascular disease. That’s a very important problem. Preventing vascular occlusion could have huge health benefits to broad populations. But I don’t know if that’s who we’re going to bring in. We may bring in somebody who’s very focused on the microbiome and prevention of Parkinson’s disease, or diabetes, or Alzheimer’s. So clearly, addressing everything is not something we’re going to be able to do, but addressing a wide range of diseases is — with the right people.

What we want to avoid is lightly touching on every possible disease. Instead, I think our goal should be to really make a difference. And making a difference in this area is going to require establishing correlations, testing them in animal models, getting at mechanisms, developing approaches to alter the microbiome and moving things into the clinic.

What does success for the DFI look like to you?

Success to me is recruiting a dynamic group of assistant and associate professors who establish productive research programs that are publishing important papers, obtaining grant funding and making discoveries that can be exploited to enhance disease resistance and to optimize health. I think if we can establish that, then getting the attention of people in the clinical world where there will be the opportunity to develop clinical trials and move things from the laboratory into the clinic would be the second phase of this.

That to me would be success.

uchicagomedicine.org/midway

Students at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Microbiome Center continues its focus on the broader world of microbes

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he resources and research infrastructure being developed by the Duchossois Family Institute (DFI) are a tremendous boon for all researchers studying the microbiome at UChicago, said Cathy Pfister, PhD, professor of ecology and evolution and co-director of the Microbiome Center.

The DFI’s emphasis on human health also allows the center to focus its efforts across many environments.

The Microbiome Center was launched nearly three years ago as a joint effort of the University of Chicago, the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and Argonne National Laboratory to capitalize on the growing interest in microbiome research. The announcement coincided with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s National Microbiome Initiative to bring together public and private entities to advance research on microbial behavior and understand what constitutes healthy microbiome function.

“We feel that our mission is to encompass microbes broadly: environmental microbes, microbes that are free-living, microbes that have symbioses with other organisms as well as humans,” Pfister said. “We all think microbes are important in any context, so let’s bring together

common approaches and methods to study them.”

Pfister and her co-director, David Mark Welch, PhD, an evolutionary biologist at the MBL, want to leverage the Microbiome Center as a way to foster collaborations across the three institutions. Research on climate change, for example, might include ecologists like Pfister, marine biologists from MBL, geologists from the University’s Physical Sciences Division, or computer scientists from Argonne. The center has developed undergraduate courses to teach students the basic tools for studying microbes.

They are also soliciting pilot proposals from researchers who need help generating preliminary data for their projects to apply for external funding.

“I sometimes feel like human health gets defined too narrowly,” Pfister said.

“We also need to think a little harder about the origins of these microbes, how they evolve and how they affect where we live.

“So many of the methods to study environmental microbes, whether they’re in the human environment or outside of it, have come from many different disciplines, not just the medical sciences. We know there are going to be contributions from diverse sources.”

— Matt Wood

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M O R TO © THE OR N ARB ETUM

Unpacking the CEB Inside the one-of-a-kind interdisciplinary, interinstitutional graduate program

STORIES BY STEPHAN BENZKOFER

© F IE L D MUS EUM

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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

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he Committee on Evolutionary Biology (CEB) is a driving force behind a half century of impactful scientific inquiry at the University of Chicago. And to this day, this interdepartmental, interinstitutional graduate program remains unique.

“You would think that something this effective also would be functioning in New York or London or Paris or anywhere else they’ve got world-class universities and museums and collections and zoos and botanic gardens,” said Michael Coates, PhD, professor in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy and chair of the CEB. “But it isn’t.”

What makes it so successful in Chicago and so hard to transplant? Call it what you will — the essential oil, the element that greases the skids — the sine qua non of the Committee on Evolutionary Biology over its impactful 50 years may rest in one unassuming conjunction: and.

By breaking down barriers between University departments and forging deep relationships with six world-class scientific institutions from around Chicago, the CEB creates a fertile stew of ideas and interdisciplinary research for faculty and students to feast on.

It is the South Side and the South Pacific, Hyde Park and the Himalayas.

It is 340-million-year-old Whatcheeria fossils and today’s weaver ants.

It is cutting-edge theory and world-class collections.

It is scuba diving and data crunching.

Altruism in the name of science The committee was formed in 1968, the culmination of efforts by generations of UChicago paleontologists who had campaigned to break through barriers between academic divisions. To some degree, success came as science itself evolved, Coates said.

A precursor Committee on Paleozoology in the Physical Sciences Division was created in the 1960s to allow for the interdisciplinary study of paleobiology and evolution, but it didn’t go far enough. Biological Sciences Division faculty who had a primary interest in evolutionary biology felt disconnected from the new committee.

“It quickly became apparent that this artificial division between paleontology and neontology was not in the best interests of the field,” Coates said.

So with the Committee on Evolutionary Biology, the University created a framework for like-minded faculty to share their work and for graduate students to explore further interdisciplinary studies.

Notably, it embraced the University’s already deep ties with the Field Museum of Natural History. Since then, the CEB has developed strong partnerships uchicagomedicine.org/midway

with five more Chicago-area institutions: Argonne National Laboratory, Brookfield Zoo, Chicago Botanic Garden, Lincoln Park Zoo and Morton Arboretum.

“What makes it work is reciprocity and engagement,” Coates said.

“I’ve never seen a program that operates with this commitment to intellectual diversity,” said David Jablonski, PhD, William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Geophysical Sciences and Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, and former CEB chair. “It’s run by faculty for faculty and students. That means that every faculty member who is really involved has what I call an up-regulated altruism gene, because what they’re doing is in addition to all the stuff they do in their departments.”

Interdisciplinary committees are a hallmark of the University of Chicago. Likely the most famous is the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought, which was formed in 1941 by then-University President Robert Maynard Hutchins, and there are dozens now across all the divisions.

Victoria Prince, PhD, dean for graduate education in the Biological Sciences Division and a professor in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, said the University reviewed the committee system a few years ago, prompted by criticism that there were too many graduate programs.

“The external reviewers basically said, ‘You invented this idea of interdisciplinary committees, and you do it really well, so keep doing it,’ ” Prince said. “The CEB is a prime example of it and unique because of its collaborations with other institutions.”

Prince said the CEB’s continuing success is due in part to its impressive track record, which attracts committed faculty members — “they eat and drink CEB,” she said — and lets the CEB have its pick of truly impressive student applicants.

CEB alumnus Patrick Phillips, SM’88, PhD’91, provost and a professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Oregon, said the committee structure was ahead of its time. “It was a very stimulating environment, and a lot of really foundational work was done,” he said. “I’ve never been in a place that’s close to that in terms of interaction, the quality of the graduate students, the intellectual period of time and how important the institution was.”

PHOTO BY JOHN ZICH

David Jablonski, PhD, left, professor of geophysical sciences, and Trevor Price, PhD, professor of ecology and evolution, collaborated on cross-discipline research.

Facing page, clockwise from top photo: The Morton Arboretum; joint meeting of the Price and Jablonski labs; Marine Biological Laboratory; CEB Chair Michael Coates, PhD; the Field Museum; Erdman Biology Center; graduate students Andrew George and Chloe Nash; J. John Sepkoski, PhD, left, and David Raup, SB’53, PhD, collaborators whose work contributed to the knowledge of extinction events.

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Thursday night tradition: The weekly Evolutionary Morphology Seminar featuring a prominent researcher, hosted by the Committee on Evolutionary Biology and Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy.

PHOTOS BY JOHN ZICH

Trevor Price, PhD, left, who studies bird diversity, describes his collaboration with paleontologist David Jablonski, PhD: “He’s the 600-million-year man, and I’m the 600-million-second man.”

A quintessential CEB partnership

IN MEMORIAM One of the founding members of the University of Chicago’s Committee on Evolutionary Biology (CEB) and its first PhD both passed away in 2019.

Robert Inger, PhB’42, PhD’54, a founding member of the CEB, was a faculty member from 1958 until his retirement.

His research focused on the systematics and ecology of reptiles and amphibians of Southeast Asia. He authored or co-authored more than 130 peer-reviewed papers and 11 books, described more than 75 species and had more than 40 new species named after him by other scientists.

Learn more: evbio. uchicago.edu/site/news/ robert_inger_1920_2019 John Bolt, PhD’68, the first candidate to be awarded a PhD from the CEB, was the emeritus curator of fossil amphibians and reptiles at the Field Museum, where he had worked since 1972. His scientific work focused on early tetrapods and vertebrate evolution.

Learn more: evbio. uchicago.edu/site/news/ john_bolt_1940_2019

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The CEB’s benefits redound to the professors as well.

So much so that Trevor Price, PhD, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, only half jokes that its real value is in getting diverse faculty to work together.

His joint research with Jablonski has been particularly fruitful and rewarding.

Price said of their collaboration: “He’s the 600-million-year man, and I’m the 600-millionsecond man.”

Their seemingly unrelated interests — Price studies bird diversity, while Jablonski is a paleontologist who studies clams — have come together in potent ways, changing the trajectory of their research.

The two have gone so far as to combine their labs’ meetings, creating a fertile intellectual environment and forging a common language.

The synergy wasn’t immediate. “I don’t know how much time we talked across each other,” Price said, “but those are the critical engagements I think you need. That’s where science is going to advance in the future.”

Added Jablonski: “The arguments started with a seminar we ran jointly, along with Susan Kidwell (William Rainey Harper Professor in the Department of Geophysical Sciences). Trevor would say, ‘But that can’t be true for birds,’ or I would say, ‘But marine systems must work differently,’ and grew from there into a really rich collaboration for us and our students.”

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The pairing has produced two related studies for the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, one published in 2016 and the second in July of this year, with co-authorship of each shared by students in both labs. Both papers explore fascinating commonalities in biodiversity in birds and marine bivalves. The findings might shed light on how species will adapt as climate change continues.

For both birds and marine bivalves, there is a significant decrease in the number of species from the tropics to the colder temperate regions. The same pattern holds for bivalves. The second study bores into the functional diversity of these species.

“Our first paper was about species numbers and geographic range sizes,” Jablonski said. “This new paper is about the different ways of making a living.

It’s been really interesting because it turns out that birds and bivalves again show very similar patterns.”

Jablonski said that, while in the tropics you might find a huge imbalance among different modes of life — say, dramatically more insectivores than carnivores or parasites — at the colder, less hospitable altitudes, the number of species drops but their functional diversity also evens out. “That says fascinating things about how ecological niches and resources are managed,” he said. “And the great thing is that terrestrial birds and marine bivalves show similar patterns. We never would have discovered that if it hadn’t been so easy to work together under the CEB umbrella.

“I’m already scheming what our next analysis is going to be. It’s really been fun.”

Evolving studies As impressive as CEB-centered research has been for its first 50 years, it may only now be experiencing its true potential. Significant advances in imaging, data analytics and computational power have greatly expanded the types of questions scientists can imagine asking, let alone pursue. The possibilities are felt across a diverse spectrum of disciplines, including genetics, ecology, biomechanics and morphology, and environment and microbiome.

This presents its own challenges.

“You can easily lose track of relevant disciplines that might be actually working on very similar problems but in different ways,” Price said. “With the CEB, there’s an interchange of ideas, and sometimes we can see commonalities and integrate those into our research. That is why the CEB exists.”

350 MILLION YEARS AGO

PHOTOS BY ANNE RYAN

Benjamin Otoo

CEB graduate student Benjamin Otoo’s research focuses on understanding what happened after a mass extinction 350 million years ago. Much of the relatively rich fossil record of the early tetrapod he studies — Whatcheeria — is held at the Field Museum.

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or Benjamin Otoo, SM’19, a serendipitous discovery during his master’s studies at Cambridge University sparked the interest that led him to the Committee on Evolutionary Biology.

Otoo was working on a project led by Jennifer Clack, FRS, the famed English paleontologist whose earlier discoveries had advanced the understanding of fish-tetrapod evolution. Her collaborator in much of that work was Michael Coates, PhD, CEB chair and professor of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago.

The team was investigating finds from a cliff site dig in southern Scotland, about 20 miles east of Edinburgh on the North Sea coast, looking to shine a light on Romer’s Gap, a period about 350 million years ago where the tetrapod fossil record is frustratingly light. Covering about 25 million years at the end of the Devonian and beginning of the Carboniferous

period, Romer’s Gap also corresponds with that magical moment in history when fish developed legs and moved ashore.

Otoo was in charge of a meter-square chunk of rock that at first willingly gave up its secrets, proving informative in helping researchers better understand the community that lived and died to create it those millions of years earlier. At the point when the sandstone matrix became too difficult to break down further, they decided to take the pieces back to Cambridge for a CT scan, which would allow them to peek inside without further destroying the rock.

Hiding beneath the surface was a new species, Aytonerpeton microps, which became the focus of Otoo’s master’s thesis and a Nature Ecology & Evolution article for which Clack was the lead author and he a contributor.

“It turned out that in one of the blocks there were most of a tetrapod skull, both jaws and some bits of the post-cranial skeleton, which were completely invisible from the surface, and so we had no idea,” Otoo said.

Building on the work of giants Otoo was hooked. Before the big discovery in Scotland, he had a research internship at the Field Museum working with Kenneth Angielczyk, PhD, associate curator of paleomammalogy, who studies paleobiology and paleoecology. Through the unique structure of the CEB, Otoo could put together a doctoral program that included both prominent scientists, Angielczyk and Coates.

“When I was forging my thesis, I wanted to fuse major pieces from each of their research programs,” Otoo said. “I wanted Ken’s ecological focus. I wanted Mike’s tetrapod work. I wanted a phylogenetic piece and the anatomical piece.”

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Benjamin Otoo had a research internship at the Field Museum before beginning his doctoral program in the Committee on Evolutionary Biology.

His adviser is Michael Coates, PhD, CEB chair.

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The fourth-year graduate student’s focus now is on another early tetrapod, Whatcheeria, to better understand what happened after the mass extinction at the end of the Devonian period, the age of fishes, and the early Carboniferous — “think rainforests and giant bugs,” Otoo said.

The period is marked by an explosion of life.

Amphibians and amniotes (reptiles, birds and mammals) go their separate ways. Why this all happened is what Otoo calls a “fairly rich and complicated question.”

The Whatcheeria is an attractive model to explore that question because of its relatively rich fossil record, much of which is held at the Field Museum.

Named for What Cheer, Iowa, the town near which it was discovered in the 1980s by researchers John Bolt, PhD’68, and Eric Lombard, PhD, now professor emeritus in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, the Whatcheeria resembles a big beefy salamander, maybe as large as 6 feet long when full grown, that straddled the fish-tetrapod gap. For example, it didn’t have gills like a fish, but its ankles and wrists were more cartilage than the bone found in later land dwellers.

(Bolt, who was awarded the Committee on Evolutionary Biology’s first PhD, retired from the Field Museum in 2008 and died earlier this year. See story on Page 10.)

Building on the work of his CEB predecessors, but armed with such advanced tools as CT scanners, 3D scanners and 3D printers, Otoo hopes to better understand what happened at this critical period in evolution.

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Fossils at the Field Museum, a member institution of the CEB with long-running ties to the University of Chicago.

CEB anniversary event We’re pleased to present such a diverse program of research output from CEB alumni, ranging from the biomechanics of bat flight to conservation biology. This broad canvas of science extends beyond lab-, field- and collections-based investigations to present the impact of such fundamental research on public policy.

CEB Chair Michael Coates, PhD

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The Committee on Evolutionary Biology will celebrate its 50th anniversary Nov. 21-22 on campus and at the Field Museum.

Nov. 21: Evolutionary Morphology Seminar lecture by paleobiologist Michael Foote, SM’88, PhD’99, Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Geophysicial Sciences, Committee on Evolutionary Biology and the College Nov. 22: A Look Back and Forward, research symposium at the Field Museum featuring CEB alumni and current students.

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Invited speakers: Ana Carnaval, SM’03, PhD’04 Alex Dehgan, SM’03, PhD’03 (see story on Page 17) Brandon Kilbourne, SM’11, PhD’11 Michael LaBarbera, PhD, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, Department of Geophysical Sciences, Committee on Evolutionary Biology and the College Lucinda Lawson, PhD’10 Anjali Goswami, SM’03, PhD’05 Karen Sears, PhD’03 Nate Smith, SM’08, PhD’11 Sharon Swartz, SM’85, PhD’88

UNDER THE SEA

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHLOE NASH

Chloe Nash

Separate research projects took graduate students Chloe Nash, right, of the Committee on Evolutionary Biology, and Andrew George, SM’17, to the South Pacific volcanic island of Mo’orea last summer. Nash focuses on the goatfish — a coral reef fish — in her exploration of why fish are found where they are.

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or Chloe Nash, SM’19, the road to the Committee on Evolutionary Biology led through South Africa, the Caribbean and Australia — places her passion for science took her during her undergraduate studies at Wesleyan University.

“I’ve always been interested in studying fish,” said Nash, a fourth-year CEB student. “And so, in undergrad, I did a population genetic study looking at silversides in the Caribbean and rates of migration between populations. I found this work really interesting, but I knew that I wanted to ask largerscale questions, looking into macro-evolutionary patterns.”

Nash said she wanted a graduate program that had a strong basis in theory and a connection to a museum.

“I could have pursued a marine biology program, but I like the idea of keeping my education broader,” Nash said. “That way I get more interaction with people who work on different systems and can learn from them on how to build a better question and become a better scientist.”

Nash and her fellow grad students in her cohort joke that they are the “ologists” — a paleontologist, an entomologist, a microbiologist, an ornithologist, a botanist and an ichthyologist. “We’re working in different areas, but we still help each other and learn from each other,” Nash said. “I think it has been really beneficial.”

Of goatfish, paradise and hard work Nash’s globe-trotting didn’t end when she came to the University of Chicago. She worked for seven weeks this past summer on the South Pacific

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volcanic island of Mo’orea, about 11 miles northwest of Tahiti.

Building off her earlier work with silversides, Nash wanted to further explore the question of why fish are found where they are. She decided to focus on coral reef fish, specifically the goatfish — a family known for its catfish-like pair of chin barbels, which it uses to dig in sand or probe reefs for food.

“Goatfish occupy this unique role on the coral reef that isn’t well known,” Nash said. “They can use these barbels, which are essentially a chin-tongue because they are coated in taste buds, so they’re sensing their environment, but they’re also manipulating their environment to get their food.”

As they dig, they bring up food that they eat, but also for other fish to eat, playing a role in the composition of the fish in a reef.

“All of these other species of fish are following them hoping to get a meal out of it,” Nash said.

Nash’s project is pure CEB. She plans to develop a phylogeny of goatfish, or Mullidae, to understand the evolution of the group across space and time, explore their global biogeographic patterns and potential barriers to dispersal, and then research how the actual morphology of the fish — those fascinating barbels — affects where it eats.

The last part is what took her to Mo’orea this summer. What dictates if a goatfish species prefers to hunt in sand or mud or coral rubble? Is it because a particular species isn’t strong enough to move a rock, or is it related to swimming performance or some ecological variable, such as competition?

Nash’s project was relatively straightforward: catch fish and observe their feeding habits with high-speed cameras shooting from multiple angles. In addition, she planned to video record goatfish in the wild.

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ON TOP OF THE WORLD

K. Supriya

PHOTO BY JOBIN VARUGHESE

Nash’s advisor, Mark Westneat, PhD, professor in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, joined her for the first few weeks and showed her how to collect fish using a barrier net. Fellow UChicago graduate student Andrew George, SM’17, who was working on his own project in Mo’orea, helped her with the high-speed video. George is a sixth-year student in the Integrative Biology program.

Nash overcame the expected rocky beginnings launching the experiments, but after the two weeks it took to collect the necessary specimens, many of the goatfish wouldn’t eat. “When you’re studying feeding behavior, that’s problematic,” Nash said.

But given time, the fish warmed up to their environment, revealing individual personalities that struck Nash.

“They have tons of personality,” she said. “Some of them would be really eager and lick you.”

Lick you?

“Well, the barbels are essentially tongues, but barbel you sounds kind of violent,” she explained.

Nash knew the trip was going to be a success when they watched the first high-speed video recordings.

CEB graduate K. Supriya spent months doing fieldwork in the Himalayas studying the interplay between birds and weaver ants. She is now a CLIFF SIT E I N S CO T LAND postdoctoral researcher at Arizona State University, NORTH S EA where she is studying diversity in science education and research.

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“The videos looked amazing,” she said. “I learned so much just from watching the fish on the videos and then seeing the same behavior back in the wild.”

Nash is already planning for her return trip next summer, when she is considering focusing more on the goatfish’s hunting behavior. She also has plenty of data to crunch back at the Field Museum, comparing the video and the fish specimens she brought back.

“It was a crazy journey, especially in a place like Mo’orea,” Nash said. “Mo’orea’s a literal paradise, and it’s this juxtaposition of being in the South Pacific, a place I never imagined going to, and struggling to get my stuff to work.”

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ike all graduate students, K. Supriya, SM’19, PhD’19, was eager to make her mark by going where few other researchers had trod. For her, that meant the Himalayan foothills.

Supriya had met Trevor Price, PhD, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, while working on her master’s degree at the Wildlife Institute of India, where Price was visiting. The opportunity to continue her studies at the University of Chicago and the Field Museum was too good to pass up, but she knew she wanted to return to India for her fieldwork.

“Especially in ecology and evolution, there’s a very strong temperate bias,” Supriya said. “We don’t have that much research from tropical and subtropical regions, so I wanted my work to contribute to addressing this gap.”

Supriya became interested in understanding the interplay between birds and weaver ants, and to answer the question: Why are there considerably fewer bird species at the lower, more hospitable elevations in the Himalayan foothills than in the colder upper reaches? Were those armies of weaver ants to blame?

While Price is an expert on bird diversity and biogeography, he acknowledges that he doesn’t “know a thing about ants.”

No problem: enter Corrie Moreau, PhD, then an associate curator at the Field Museum and the Robert A. Pritzker Director of its Integrative Research Center, who has since moved to Cornell University.

Their combined experiences and expertise were invaluable in preparing her for months in the field, Supriya said.

Scientific inquiry takes researchers to every corner of the globe, and you’re never far from a CEB connection. CEB has produced over 140 graduates who are now working around the world in universities, museums, zoos and governmental and nongovernmental agencies.

Answer one question, two more pop up

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To find out, they placed nesting boxes at lower elevations and at 1,200 meters (nearly 4,000 feet).

(The size and weight of the nesting boxes prohibited lugging them up to the higher elevation, a grueling five-hour hike even without the extra weight.)

The nesting boxes at 200 meters attracted plenty of birds, Supriya said, but that wasn’t all.

“What we found fascinating was that a lot of ants also built nests inside the boxes, and that is something I wasn’t expecting,” she said.

Supriya, who is now starting postdoctoral work at Arizona State University, said her research was more challenging because of the sheer diversity of flora and fauna in India, but it was worth the effort.

“Getting good data out of a complex system is more difficult,” she said. “At the same time, it’s really important because we can’t extrapolate things between such different ecosystems. It is important to do research in these places.”

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Supriya set out to see if weaver ants and birds competed for the same food. Her fieldwork, though, raised even broader questions.

From April to June for four years, Supriya worked out of a small West Bengal community on the outskirts of the sanctuary called Panijhora, whose residents each year welcomed her back, opened their homes and often lended a hand. Supriya’s work often drew a crowd of curious children.

Supriya had to learn on the job how to overcome the inevitable challenges natural to fieldwork, how to recruit and manage research assistants, and when to ask for help.

The sizable elephant population, for which Chapramari is famous, is awe-inspiring, Supriya said, “but they can also be very scary, so that places some limitations on fieldwork.” She enlisted the help of a local villager, Amir Chhetri, who proved adept at navigating the forests safely and, more importantly, tree climbing and pruning.

“I could not have done my fieldwork without him,” Supriya said.

The first part of Supriya’s experiment called for her to identify 15 pairs of trees of the same species that they could isolate from the rest of the forest. In one of each pair, they removed any weaver ant nests, and then they ringed the trunk with a sticky material that prevented the weaver ants from returning. That was the relatively easy part. They also had to cut back the canopy to make sure the arboreal ants didn’t just cross back over via the network of branches. “It took a long time to just find trees that would work,” she said.

The resulting observations, though, showed that the populations of other insects, such as caterpillars and beetles, did rise when the weaver ants were excluded. But that was just the foundational research. Now for the next question: Do ants and birds eat the same insects?

To answer this, Supriya compared the DNA of the bird and ant diets. She gathered bird droppings from both Chapramari and from 2,000-meter (more than

6,500 feet) elevations at Neora and stole insects from weaver ant trails. She conducted the sophisticated testing back at the molecular lab at the Wildlife Institute of India and at the Field Museum’s Pritzker DNA Lab. “We found a lot of overlap in diet between birds at both elevations and weaver ants,” Supriya said. “That was interesting and solidified our idea that birds and ants are indeed competing for food.”

Now her research moved into a third phase, one sparked by field observation: Did the interspecies battle extend beyond food and into competition for nesting space?

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The project led her to the northern section of the Indian state of West Bengal, which is nearly surrounded by Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China. Working mainly in the densely forested Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary, but also at the higher elevations afforded in Neora Valley National Park, she set out to discover if and how the aggressive ants depressed bird populations.

Supriya and her team stayed in Panijhora village for the fieldwork. Assistance from a local villager, who was adept at tree climbing and pruning, proved invaluable to her research.

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ALUMNI PROFILE

A lifelong love for research Gene Albrecht, PhD’76, embraces the principles he learned as a graduate student at the University of Chicago

BY KATE DOHNER

Gene Albrecht, PhD’76, and his partner, Paula Markgraf, at Columbia River Gorge in Oregon.

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s a student at the University of Chicago, I gained a love for research, and that has affected my entire life,” said Gene Albrecht, PhD’76.

Albrecht received his PhD in anatomy, under the supervision of Charles Oxnard, PhD, former professor of anatomy and dean of the College.

“The University of Chicago offers an ideal setting for anyone seeking an immersive, intense, intellectual experience,” Albrecht said.

To help future generations of students, Albrecht named the University as a beneficiary of his living trust and retirement accounts. His bequest will establish and endow the Gene Albrecht Dissertation Research Fund in Organismal and Evolutionary Zoology in the Committee on Evolutionary Biology.

The fund will award competitive doctoral dissertation research grants to students conducting independent work in zoology at the organismal level of study.

“Dr. Albrecht’s bequest will provide a reliable source of funding that allows our students to build research networks, conduct field research, work with specimen collections internationally and collect other kinds of data that are absolutely essential to their research,” said Michael Coates, PhD, chair of the Committee on Evolutionary Biology. “Since the

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National Science Foundation no longer provides grants to supplement ongoing dissertation research, this fund will fill a much-needed gap.”

After receiving his PhD, Albrecht briefly taught anatomy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1978, he joined the department of cell and neurobiology at the University of Southern California (USC), where he remained until his retirement in 2016. While at USC, Albrecht advanced research he began at UChicago, investigating the evolution and morphology of primates, while also teaching anatomy courses to medical students.

His research examined why primates’ anatomy varies across different habitats, as well as the quantitative methods used for analyzing data in evolutionary studies. One of the projects Albrecht is most proud of involved an analysis of size variation across the entire fauna of endemic prosimian primates in Madagascar — from mouse lemurs to extinct species the size of gorillas. The study demonstrated that the more productive the habitat, the larger the animals.

A few years ago, Albrecht returned to Hyde Park to advance an emeritus research project examining brain size variation across mammals. Much of the data he collected came from early and rare publications, including biology journals at Crerar Library.

“When I was back on campus, I got the sense that while the buildings have changed somewhat, the intensity of intellect and research remains,” Albrecht said.

Today, Albrecht enjoys gardening and traveling with his partner, Paula Markgraf, and continuing his research on brain size scaling in mammals.

“Whatever problem I encounter — whether in my own field or an entirely different area — I apply the same curiosity, rigor and whim that I learned as a graduate student at UChicago,” Albrecht said.

PHOTO BY BETH WALD

Kyrgyz horsemen ride across a high, barren plateau in the Wakhan Corridor in far northeastern Afghanistan. Wildlife inhabiting the fragile mountain environment include snow leopards, Marco Polo sheep, ibex and Asiatic brown bears.

Saving species An evolutionary biologist’s bold approach to halting human-induced extinction

BY NANCY AVERETT

Alex Dehgan, SM’03, PhD’03, has faced extreme challenges during his work abroad. In Madagascar, where he did his PhD research, his motorcycle hit quicksand and sank to the handlebars. Dehgan lost his boots in the struggle and had to walk 20 kilometers for help. In Baghdad, where he retrained Iraqi weapons scientists, he slept with $30,000 under his pillow because he was running a $2 million program in cash.

And in Afghanistan, where he helped create the country’s first national park (detailed in his new book, The Snow Leopard Project: And Other Adventures in Warzone Conservation), he convinced a border guard that the word “cancelled” stamped on the first page of his expired diplomatic passport actually meant “approved.”

Problem-solving on the fly is something the 49-year-old does well, even if he sometimes questioned why he was putting himself in situations where such skills were uchicagomedicine.org/midway

needed. “Every time the plane is about to land in one of these countries, I go through this anxiety attack, ‘What the **** am I doing?’ ” he said with a laugh.

These experiences left him awed by the planet’s biodiversity — and alarmed at the loss of so many plant and animal species at the hands of humans. Determined to save as much of the natural world as possible, he decided the best approach is to cast a wide net.

Dehgan runs the nonprofit startup Conservation X Labs in Washington, D.C., which brings conservationists together with engineers, computer scientists, marketers, economists, entrepreneurs and others from a variety of disciplines to develop innovative solutions to stop extinctions.

He wants to be a disruptor in his field.

“The Society of Conservation Biology does a really good job of documenting and

lamenting the passage of species, and they write awesome scientific papers that are obituaries of everything that we’re about to lose,” he said. But conservation efforts aren’t succeeding fast enough to halt the extinction rate, which is rising exponentially — experts estimate the current rate of extinction is 100 to 1,000 times higher than natural background rates.

Dehgan believes bold, cutting-edge approaches are needed. Conservation X Labs, where he serves as CEO, connects conservationists with ideas and people with technical skills to build technology for fighting extinction. The hope is that some of the teams will then form companies and begin selling their inventions. “We’re a nonprofit, but we spin off for-profits,” Dehgan said. “Instead of having a mission of maximizing shareholder value, these for-profits have a mission of ending human-induced extinction.”

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PHOTO BY JONATHAN NEWTON

Alex Dehgan, SM’03, PhD’03, is one of the CEB alumni speakers at the 50th anniversary research symposium.

‘Giddy with knowledge’ Born in Iran and raised in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, the son of Iranian/Azeri/Kurdish physicians, Dehgan used his $5-a-week allowance to buy the book Wildlife Alert! The Struggle to Survive. Just 9 years old, he read about the species that were going extinct: the black-footed ferret, the Florida Key deer, the California condor. “It worried me greatly,” he said. “Just the thought that a single species — humans — was driving other species to extinction.”

Dehgan earned his undergraduate degree in zoology and international relations from Duke University and a law degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law. For his PhD studies, he chose the University of Chicago’s interdisciplinary Committee on Evolutionary Biology for its reputation and extraordinary faculty. “It was an institution where curiosity and the quest for knowledge were celebrated,” he said, “and that to me was spectacular. I was giddy with knowledge.”

His doctoral thesis examined why certain species go extinct while others survive after periods of environmental change.

He spent three years doing fieldwork in Madagascar, where he studied behavior differences among lemurs to determine whether those with the greatest behavioral plasticity were the most likely to survive in the country’s fragmented forests. He eventually focused on two species — Eulemur fulvus rufus (the red-fronted lemur) and Propithecus diadema edwardsi.

In addition to fighting motorcycleswallowing quicksand and cerebral malaria, which caused his temperature to spike to 105 degrees every evening, the graduate student had tremendous logistical responsibilities. He oversaw a crew of 22 field assistants and 50 porters and was responsible for feeding them — they ate 10,000 pounds of rice over three years — and keeping them healthy. The nearest road was a day’s walk. Batteries were impossible to charge in the field (today, scientists can use solar chargers), cellphones were a novelty and ATMs were non-existent.

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“It was definitely my first startup,” Dehgan said. “And it gave me a set of skills that I think is incredibly valuable to what I’m doing now.”

Sheep and snow leopards Dehgan planned to go into academia. But after 9/11, he felt called to serve. Within three months he was on the ground in Iraq, where his mission was to redirect former Iraqi weapons researchers into other scientific fields. He worked with them to create a national academy of sciences and a presidential science advisory board.

In 2006, two years after Dehgan returned to the U.S., he was hired by the Wildlife Conservation Society (better known as the Bronx Zoo) to start a conservation program in Afghanistan. As usual it was trial by fire.

“When I arrived, we didn’t have offices, vehicles or even permission to work in the country, all of which we had to set up in 30 days so we could get people to some of the most remote places you could go.”

At first, Dehgan spent most of his time in Kabul, a dusty, crowded city full of ruined buildings from decades of conflict. It wasn’t until he got out into the countryside and up into the mountains that he realized how much natural beauty existed in the war-torn country. “It’s a country of oak and cedar forests,” he said. “It’s a country that brings together the American West, the mountain peaks of Nepal and the savannas of Africa.”

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For nearly two years, Dehgan traveled on makeshift roads, skirting minefields and climbing thousands of feet in elevation.

He and his crew conducted surveys of Marco Polo sheep, the elusive snow leopard and the Asiatic black bear. They helped set up Afghanistan’s first national park, Band-e-Amir.

The Afghans were eager to help, in part because 80 percent of the population relies on the environment for their livelihood. And, looking back on his time in Iraq and Afghanistan, the work was satisfying because anything is possible in places undergoing such upheaval, Dehgan said. “In Iraq, I could create the science policy infrastructure for an entire country and change the trajectory of science. In Afghanistan, I could help create a national park and a set of environmental rules that would govern protection of species long into the future.”

Aspiring to Bell Labs After returning to the U.S. in 2007, Dehgan went to work as chief scientist for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). During his tenure, he started USAID’s Global Development Lab, whose mission includes producing “breakthrough development innovations by sourcing, testing and scaling proven solutions.” The lab has supported such projects as ClickMedix, a U.S. startup that uses mobile technology to connect patients

Fighting extinction, one innovation at a time

uchicagomedicine.org/midway

Handheld DNA detection Conservation X Labs will soon spin out its first product: a handheld DNA barcode scanner that allows anyone, regardless of educational background or even the ability to read, to quickly ascertain whether a plant, fish or wildlife product is the species that the owner claims it to be.

The device will make it easier for park rangers and customs officials to spot illegal wildlife or plant products, which can be hard to identify after they’ve been converted into furniture, decorative carvings and other commodities.

through Conservation X Labs’ digital makerspace to create specialized software to speed up the process. The two gathered thousands of photographs of individual chimpanzees from nonprofits, including the Jane Goodall Institute, that they used to train the software’s algorithm.

“ChimpFace came through a super-cheap prototyping competition we held — think of it like Tinder for conservationists and engineers,” said Alex Dehgan, CEO of Conservation X Labs. “We said if you have an idea, we’ll give you $3,500 and you build a prototype, and then maybe we’ll provide $20,000 to keep you going.” ChimpFace won the grand prize and Conservation X Labs is now its financial sponsor as it moves forward.

A deep sea camera trap

The scanner reads a short segment of DNA that serves as a barcode for individual species. Extremely low-cost, robust and battery-powered, the scanner will allow users to evaluate up to 35 species simultaneously and give results in 30 minutes. Because wildlife trafficking and fish traceability enforcement are not huge markets, the scanner has been designed to be subsidized by use in other markets as well, such as checking for black mold or bedbugs, or even assessing whether something is halal, kosher or vegan.

Facial recognition for chimps Every year, wildlife traffickers steal 3,000 great apes from the wild and sell them to private zoos or private homes.

The majority are infant chimpanzees. Wildlife experts comb through social media and e-commerce sites to find them, but the process is expensive and time-consuming.

In 2018, Alexandra Russo, a conservationist, teamed with Colin McCormick, a computer vision expert,

Inhabitants of the ocean’s depths are mostly unknown. “We have a better idea of what is on the surface of Mars and the moon than we do of what’s at the bottom of the ocean,” Dehgan said. And without such knowledge, it’s hard to protect whatever exists there.

TOP PHOTOS COURTESY OF CONSERVATION X LABS

in developing countries to doctors. It has also launched competitive programs to focus global attention on such solutions as supporting solar energy projects to provide 20 million households in sub-Saharan Africa with electricity by 2030.

Then in 2015, Dehgan decided to focus exclusively on innovation and conservation by co-founding Conservation X Labs.

Through challenge prizes coupled with its own engineering labs, Conservation X incentivizes people to save the world’s flora and fauna using advanced technology.

So far, they’ve awarded $3.33 million for technology prototypes that address such critical needs as limiting trade in endangered wildlife, curbing the spread of invasive species and creating cooling technology with a much lower carbon footprint than standard air conditioning.

Upcoming competitions are underway to spur innovative ways to mitigate the environmental impact of artisanal mining — small-scale subsistence mining in mineral-rich developing countries — and to combat the harmful effects of microplastics and endocrine disruptors.

Dehgan dreams that one day Conservation X Labs will have as much of an impact on the conservation field as Bell Labs had on the communications and computer science industry. To get there, the organization needs to scale up in a big way. But Dehgan is optimistic. “We started by meeting at my kitchen table, and now we have labs in D.C. and Seattle,” he said.

“We’ve nearly doubled in size each year, so I’m hopeful.”

He and 15 staff members research and consult with other experts to decide what to focus on for maximum impact “per unit” of conservation effort. This systematic approach might seem surprising coming from Dehgan, who is ebullient and full of big ideas.

“As a conservationist, I started out working in the U.S., but I quickly switched to working internationally because, to me, the question is, ‘Per minute of my life, how many species could I protect?’ ”

Some technology-savvy ocean enthusiasts, who call themselves Real Deep Conservation VR, used a $3,500 prototyping incentive from Conservation X Labs to build an inexpensive 360-degree camera that films in virtual reality. They named it Autonomous Camera for Kraken Baiting and Recording (ACKBAR) — a kraken is a giant deep sea monster in Scandinavian folklore. They tested it off the coast of San Diego, lowering it to 2,000 feet and recording eight hours of high-quality footage of squid, lantern fish and other creatures. Their efforts helped them win the $20,000 grand prize, which they’ll use to fund the next stage of development.

— Nancy Averett

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A young physician who lost his brother to gun violence on the South Side.

A gun violence researcher whose cousin’s child died at Sandy Hook.

An emergency medicine specialist embedded with the Pittsburgh SWAT team.

A violence prevention visionary with global impact.

Four Pritzker School of Medicine alumni confront the epidemic of gun violence in America.

STORIES BY JAMIE BARTOSCH

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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

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AB fter midnight, in the University of Chicago Medicine emergency department, Abdullah Pratt, MD’16, was tending to a gunshot wound on a man’s forearm when the patient’s girlfriend suddenly tapped him on the back.

“Hey,” she asked. “Did you use to go to Jesse Owens Park?”

Yes, he told her, he used to hang out at the South Side park as a kid.

“I knew that was you! We remember you! We used to go to the same programs together!” she shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. “See? I told you that was him!”

Scenes like this happen regularly to Pratt, who lived in the Woodlawn neighborhood, near the hospital, for most of his childhood. But geography is just part of his unique, personal connection to the gun violence victims he treats nightly.

Pratt owns nearly a dozen T-shirts memorializing friends shot to death on Chicago’s streets. His older brother, Rashad, is among them. Pratt was a student in the Pritzker School of Medicine in 2012 when his beloved 28-year-old brother was gunned down while sitting in a car. Rashad was proud of his little brother’s accomplishments, but he always reminded Pratt never to forget where he came from.

Community is everything, he preached.

Those words stayed with Pratt. So when local leaders started a grassroots effort to bring a Level 1 Adult Trauma Center to UChicago Medicine’s Hyde Park campus, Pratt, still in medical school at the time, got involved.

He became a prominent figure in the debate. He served as a liaison between the neighborhood and hospital administrators, because he had the unique ability to represent, understand and communicate with both sides. He took a year off from medical school to learn the dynamics of the situation, do research, work with the Urban Health Initiative and start the Medical Students for Health Equity group.

They celebrated when UChicago Medicine launched adult trauma services in May 2018.

The 30-year-old attending physician, whose friends call him “D,” is easily recognizable in the emergency department — and not just because he is a 5-foot-11, 300-pound former offensive lineman

R AT AH P L L U D

Emergency department physician Abdullah Pratt, MD’16, grew up on the South Side. “The root of everything I do,” he said, “is wishing I could change this gun violence.”

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“ With every single 17-year-old who comes in here, I think, ‘That could have been me.’ ” AB D U L L A H PR ATT, MD’ 1 6

for Valparaiso University’s football team. He’s also an active volunteer in community sports and health care programs. Sometimes he’ll host free clinics to teach community members how to properly use a tourniquet to wrap a gunshot wound until the paramedics arrive or how to administer CPR. It’s an easy step that can save lives, he said.

Pratt is a firm believer that sports can help young people develop a strong work ethic, self-esteem, personal responsibility and conflict resolution skills — the lack of which, he said, leads to the majority of the gun violence he has seen.

“The root of everything I do is wishing I could change this gun violence. Because we see young people die every day,” Pratt said. “I could just say, ‘That’s the way things are.’ But I don’t want to leave it that way. I’m in a position now to do something about it.”

Working in the ED, and being recognized, isn’t usually a fun trip down memory lane. Many times, he has had the difficult task of telling families he knows that their loved one, who had been shot, didn’t survive.

“It’s hard. I can say to patients, ‘I have literally been in the same situation you’re in.’ To be able to honestly say ‘I understand’ makes a difference,” he said. “I grew up with this. It’s not like it is in the movies or what you see on TV. I see the world as it really is. With every single 17-year-old who comes in here, I think, ‘That could have been me.’ I walked those same streets. I played at those same parks.

I hung out at those same parking lots where big shoot-outs have happened. I can connect to their experience.”

The reasons behind the gun violence are complex, but Pratt believes they stem from a breakdown of

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families and a lack of self-worth, jobs, opportunities and mentors. This prevents young people from believing in themselves or thinking that anyone believes in them.

“I understand their outrage,” he said. “To get rid of the angst, what do you do?”

Pratt believes he became the exception because of strong mentors and coaches who taught him that, with hard work and determination, he could do anything he set his mind to. He pays it forward by volunteering and being involved in the Provident Foundation (provfound.org), a charity that provides scholarships for African American students from South Side communities who want to pursue careers in nursing and medicine.

Both of Pratt’s parents had advanced degrees. His father worked for a time as a psychiatrist, and his mother was the first African American woman to earn an MBA from Texas A&M University. But his dad’s health made him unable to work, and his mom struggled to find a job that could support the family.

That meant Pratt was in the free lunch program at school, needed financial aid for college and had to work as a tutor while in college. He often tutored other athletes or, sometimes, people in his own class.

Every time he had a medical board exam, Pratt’s mom scraped together money from different family members to pay for it. He only could interview at local medical schools, because he couldn’t afford to fly anywhere.

It didn’t matter, really, because Pratt had his eyes set on UChicago Medicine ever since he was a little boy riding his bike near the campus, wondering if anyone in those big hospital buildings cared about people in their community.

The answer, he now knows, is yes.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

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C

hana Sacks’ cousin’s 7-year-old son, Daniel, was shot to death along with 25 other people, mostly first-graders, as they hid from a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012.

Sacks didn’t realize it at the time, but as she watched Daniel’s tiny white casket come down the church aisle, her medical career was about to pivot into a new and more purposeful direction.

For the next year, Sacks thought about Daniel every day. She also read every book and study she

could find on firearm-violence prevention and was stunned to find how little data there was about something that kills 40,000 people a year — about the same number who die of liver disease, which is heavily studied. (Legislation passed in 1996 curtailed gun-violence research by restricting federal funding.)

By the time she finished her internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Sacks, MD’11, MPH, knew she wanted to become a health policy researcher focused on gun violence prevention.

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MD’1

NA S AC K S, 1, MP H

The coalitio builde n r

Chana Sacks, MD’11, MPH, helped launch the nonpartisan MGH Gun Violence Prevention Coalition at Massachusetts General Hospital. “It won’t be easy,” she said, “but this is a solvable problem.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHANA SACKS

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“ We’re not anti-gun. We’re anti–bullet holes in our patients.”

C HA NA SAC KS, M D’ 1 1 , MP H

In 2015, Sacks and three co-workers gathered in an MGH conference room and launched what would become the MGH Gun Violence Prevention Coalition. The nonpartisan group’s purpose is to reduce firearm-related injuries and death through research, clinical care, education and community engagement.

“We’re not anti-gun. We’re anti–bullet holes in our patients,” said Sacks, who grew up in central Florida.

“It won’t be easy, but this is a solvable problem.”

Meeting attendance quickly swelled with people from a wide range of hospital departments. In June 2019, MGH announced it would provide $1.2 million in funding to launch the MGH Center for Gun Violence Prevention. Harvard Medical School, where Sacks is an instructor in medicine, kicked in an additional $200,000. Supporters also are doing private fundraising.

“We can’t wait for the CDC and NIH to allocate more funding for this issue,” she said. “Lack of funding has really crippled this field of study, but we can’t let that be an excuse.”

Sacks is now making a major push to have gun violence labeled as a public health epidemic. She wants more research done that delves into the root causes of gun violence, so that a solid evidence base can inform public health policies. For example, there is no reliable national tracking of non-fatal shootings.

Better data could also help better demonstrate who’s at risk for social isolation or potential violence, and what effective education and counseling should look like.

“I will follow the data wherever it takes me,” she said. “We can use the same evidence-based approach

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for tackling this problem as we would for tackling heart disease.”

Treating gun violence as a public health issue also would allow physicians to be trained on topics like how to talk with patients about guns and gun safety.

It could allow clinicians to distribute things like free gun locks, much the way they would hand out free condoms or bike helmets.

The statistics Sacks cites are shocking. Of all gun deaths in the United States, 60 percent are due to suicide. Mass shootings account for just 1 percent.

And 4.6 million kids live in homes with guns that are unlocked and loaded. The perception that most gun violence involves gangs is inaccurate.

“We talk about gun violence as one thing, but it’s not,” Sacks said.

She is also deeply concerned with what she calls the psychological ripple effect of all the gun violence. For every person who is shot, many more witnessed a shooting, lost a friend or loved one, or are traumatized by the heightened security everywhere, the news reports and the active shooter drills in schools.

“It’s getting rarer and rarer for someone not to be touched by this issue in our country,” she said. “How can the medical community reduce the suffering?”

Her professional and personal mission is inspired

by Daniel and his dad, Mark Barden, co-founder of the gun violence prevention group Sandy Hook Promise.

“When you experience this, and witness this pain, you know what it means,” Sacks said. “It’s time to roll up our sleeves, dig in and find a way to make things better.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

H MU KEIT 7 MD’0

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Much like a military medic saving lives on the battlefield, Keith Murray, MD’07, works with the Pittsburgh Police SWAT team in high-risk situations.

Murray was one of the first responders at the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.

uchicagomedicine.org/midway

PHOTO COURTESY OF KEITH MURRAY

s Keith Murray helped his 3-year-old son put on his cricket costume for a Halloween party, an alert appeared on his phone: Active shooter, Tree of Life Synagogue.

Murray, MD’07, heads a unique Tactical Emergency Medical Services (TEMS) team that works with the Pittsburgh Police SWAT team in high-risk situations. He calmly told his son he had to go, because people needed his help, and rushed to the Pittsburgh temple.

He met the team of 45 police officers and 10 tactical medics in the Tree of Life parking lot, where they hurriedly put on full body armor and helmets, grabbed mass casualty bags and entered through the back of the temple. Murray could hear the shooter — who ultimately killed 11 people and injured six — firing at officers who had cornered him in the building.

Murray and the TEMS team are credited with saving four lives that morning. One was a Pittsburgh police officer and SWAT team member — a friend of his — who was standing just 30 feet away from Murray when he was shot 13 times, including once in the head. Police handed the wounded officer down a few stairs to Murray and a waiting team of seven other medics who immediately went to work on him, even as guns fired on the floor above them. They applied pressure to every gunshot wound, cut away clothes, applied tourniquets and talked to the officer as they worked. Within two minutes, they had him on a stretcher and in an ambulance.

“It must have looked like a NASCAR pit stop,” Murray said. “There were eight of us, and we had drilled for seven years on this scenario.”

The officer underwent a few surgeries, and still faces a long recovery. “We went to visit him in the hospital,” Murray said, “and his first words were, ‘Thank you, guys.’ ” Murray tells these stories in a calm, just-doing-myjob way, even though he has received many awards for his lifesaving actions and bravery that morning.

Like a real-life Clark Kent, Murray returned home after the shooting and resumed his dad duties for Halloween. First, he cracked open a beer and then took a 20-minute shower to wash off the blood. He sat quietly, decompressing until his wife and children got home from the costume party.

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“ I wish my job would go away, truthfully. Unfortunately, there’s probably going to be more need for people with my skill set.”

K E IT H M U R R AY, M D’ 07

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Murray got his first taste of this while doing his emergency medicine residency at the University of Chicago Medicine. In Chicago, he met Cook County Health trauma surgeon Andrew Dennis, DO, who connected him with the Chicago Police SWAT team.

Murray got a front row seat to Chicago’s gun violence and the type of emergency medicine skills it requires.

“The trauma training I did in Chicago was absolutely the groundwork I needed to operate in the environment I operate in,” he said. “My residency Keith Murray, MD’07, has received numerous awards for his lifesaving actions and bravery.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KEITH MURRAY

“Actually, after seeing something like that, you want your loved ones as close as possible,” he said. “If you’re doing what you’re trained to do, you’re only focusing on problems that are one to three seconds ahead of you. You don’t have time to be scared. That sinks in later.”

The SWAT and TEMS teams soon reunited for a critical incident debriefing with psychologists and psychiatrists, therapy dogs and no media. It was helpful to Murray, who admits he struggled to process how intense hate would drive someone to kill people they’ve never met — especially elderly people who can’t run, hide or fight.

TEMS is part of an emerging field of medicine nationwide, where physicians are trained to respond to emergencies with first responders, much like military medics work in the battlefield. The relatively new job doesn’t have an agreed-upon name yet.

It’s been called tactical EMS, special operations medicine, law enforcement medicine or, as Murray dubbed it, “the best medicine in the worst places.”

Their role isn’t only to help crime victims, but also to provide immediate medical attention to police SWAT team members. A physician on the scene can serve as a commander, make high-level decisions about multiple patients at once, and perform advanced surgical procedures or intravenous access.

The training involves trauma medicine, triage and mass casualty care — all without disturbing the crime scene.

“The intensity of the situations is pretty remarkable,” said Murray, medical director of the TEMS team and an emergency medicine physician at Heritage Valley Sewickley Hospital, in a Pittsburgh suburb.

“You work in an environment with very limited resources, so you have to think outside of the box.”

class had quite possibly 15 of the smartest people I will ever meet. I feel like after I walked out of residency, a 747 jet could fall out of the sky and I’d know how to help. The training was amazing.”

Since the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, Murray has spoken to several physician and first responder groups about his experience and the expanding TEMS field.

“I wish that my job would go away, truthfully,” Murray said. “Unfortunately, there’s probably going to be more need for people with my skill set.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

GA

The inte epide rru m pte ic r

A

fter 10 years in Africa, where he led teams to help reverse epidemics like cholera, tuberculosis and AIDS, physicianepidemiologist Gary Slutkin returned home in 1995.

Some things were easy to adjust to, such as having running water and electricity in every room of his house. But he was alarmed by how much violence he saw in the U.S. As he thought about it, and then researched it, Slutkin realized violence is contagious.

What if he tried to stop it using the same methodology he had used to successfully stop contagious diseases from spreading in Africa? Could violence be treated like an epidemic health problem?

This led Slutkin, MD’75, to launch Cure Violence — now Cure Violence Global — which today ranks among the top 10 NGOs in the world, alongside organizations like Save the Children and Amnesty International. Slutkin is hailed as a visionary for making significant progress on what once seemed like an unsolvable, way-too-complicated problem in cities from Los Angeles to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, to Basra, Iraq.

“It started just with curiosity,” Slutkin said, during an interview in Cure Violence Global’s downtown Chicago office. “That curiosity is what’s so great about the University of Chicago — it’s a place of curiosity — and questions. So is the field of medicine. With violence, I just started asking questions, looking at graphs and charts, and figuring out what would be the simplest, most effective way to reduce the problem.”

None of the existing violence-reduction ideas or programs made sense to Slutkin. The “bad people” or “we have to solve everything” approaches were not rooted in science. “I’ve never seen a ‘bad person’ idea under a microscope,” he said.

So in 2000, Slutkin came up with the unique Cure Violence intervention, which involves sending out trained mediators to serve as “interrupters” and behavior change agents. This new type of health worker — like other health workers — has deep roots in the neighborhood. The interrupters identify situations where violence may occur — based on what’s going on in the neighborhood and what they see on social media, for example — and intervene before violence erupts. This not only stops shootings, but the spread of violence, Slutkin said.

This type of street outreach gives persons who might be potentially violent the chance — with uchicagomedicine.org/midway

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PHOTO BY ROBERT KOZLOFF

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MD

’ 75

Gun violence needs to be treated as a contagious epidemic, said Gary Slutkin, MD’75. Slutkin founded Cure Violence Global, which is now working in more than 100 communities, 25 cities and 15 countries.

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“ Violence has been misdiagnosed. We found it to be a contagious disease, and it needs to be managed in that way.”

G ARY S LU T KIN , M D’ 75

hands-on guidance and support — to cool off, buy time, work to change their perspective and consider the consequences of violent actions.

Cure Violence Global provides the training, management and guidance, and helps find funding for interrupters, often partnering with local health organizations or international partners like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank and UNICEF. Cities that have adopted the method have seen violence drop an average of 45 percent — and as much as 90 percent, according to studies.

The approach was first tested in Chicago’s West Garfield Park neighborhood, where violence decreased 67 percent in the experimental run. To make sure it wasn’t a fluke, they tried it four more times, and each time violence saw a major drop, averaging 45 percent.

Over the years, Cure Violence Global has trained more than two dozen community groups and 400 workers in Chicago alone. Unfortunately, Slutkin said, Chicago put Cure Violence in an endless start-stop cycle, with statistics rising and falling in parallel with local funds and the number of supported workers. At times, the program was operating in 16 Chicago neighborhoods, and at other times, in only one.

Slutkin is highly optimistic now about Chicago and Illinois under new administrations. The city previously preferred a “catch the bad guys and teach them a lesson” approach using almost exclusively police officers, he said, rather than accepting health-based, behavior-changing interventions. “It’s an incredible tragedy. It could have saved thousands of lives in this city. But they didn’t want to do it this way, while other cities did,” he said.

Cure Violence Global is now working in over 100 communities, 25 cities and 15 countries.

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The approach is similar to the way health care workers battle malaria in Africa. Slutkin said the health sector had to acknowledge that getting rid of all the mosquitoes wasn’t working and develop a new strategy. The same applies to violence. “I operate on a World Health Organization model,” said Slutkin, former head of WHO’s Intervention Development Unit. “You can’t keep trying to do the same thing over again. And it is imperative to get results. At WHO, we were always under intense pressure to get and show results. That’s simply not the mindset here.”

Today, Slutkin and his team are working on five continents, while also developing brand-new interventions to interrupt hatred and violence against particular groups (for example, immigrants, Jews, African Americans, Muslims and the LGBTQ community).

PHOTO BY NANCY WONG

Gary Slutkin, MD’75, center, speaks during a 2017 panel discussion around peace and conflict at the University of Chicago’s International House.

“These hatreds are also contagious diseases,” he said. “The hatreds exist in a culture in America that’s not healthy right now, and getting worse. We feel a responsibility to see what’s missing in the strategies versus hate, to figure it out anew, put into place new interventions, and show they work, too.

Many evaluations show Cure Violence works. Now we need to use these methods for hate and violence against groups.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

T H A N K YOU

C A N C ER RE S E A R C H F O U N DAT I O N FOR

65

YEARS

OF FUNDING BOLD SCIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

1954

DISCOVERY TO IMPACT

IDENTIFYING THE SITE OF ORIGIN IN OVARIAN CANCER TO IMPROVE TREATMENT

GENETIC MUTATION BEHIND THERAPY-RELATED LEUKEMIA

HORMONAL CAUSE AND TREATMENT FOR CANCER

DEVELOPING CHEMICAL PROBES TO BETTER MONITOR AND MODIFY TUMOR CELLS

KEY AGENT IN THE GENESIS OF SKIN CANCER ROLE OF STRESS IN BREAST CANCER

IDEA TO INNOVATION

2019

Founded in 1954 by Maurice Goldblatt, by then a longtime supporter of cancer research at the University of Chicago, the Cancer Research Foundation has funded game-changing researchers — Nobel-prize winner Charles Huggins, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Janet Rowley — and generations of young investigators to carry forward their history of groundbreaking work.

$21M

in Total Funding

$9M 193 to

Individual Researchers

Leveraged to

$1B

in Additional Support

BSD News

DIVISIONAL ACADEM IC CEREMONY

‘Science is essentially a social activity’

K

eynote speaker Eric Wieschaus, PhD, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, welcomed graduates to the scientific community at the Divisional Academic Ceremony in June. He is the Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology at Princeton.

Ninety new PhD

“Science is essentially a social activity,” he told graduates. “None of us, unless we are really, really smart, can do science in an ivory tower. We depend on discussions and interactions with other scientists.”

The Biological Sciences Division conferred 63 PhDs and 47 master’s degrees from summer 2018 to spring 2019.

students joined BSD graduate programs in the 2019 Autumn Quarter, including 32 international students and 16 students from groups underrepresented

Nobel Prize recipient Eric Wieschaus addresses Biological Sciences Division graduates.

in science.

E C O LO G Y A N D E VO L U T I O N

Researcher receives Friend of Darwin Award PHOTO BY LIFETOUCH

N AT I O N A L H O N O R S

Two BSD faculty members elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences Mercedes Pascual, PhD, professor of ecology and evolution, and Francisco ‘Pancho’ Bezanilla, PhD, the Lillian

Eichelberger Cannon Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, have been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. They are among an esteemed group of 200 individuals across several disciplines elected in 2019.

Pascual is a theoretical ecologist who has made major contributions to the population dynamics of human infectious diseases, including malaria and cholera, especially in the context of environmental change.

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Her work embraces both ecological and evolutionary dynamics and, as such, considers how strain diversity influences strategies for intervention.

Bezanilla is best known for discovering the movement of charges, known as gating currents, that are responsible for voltage sensing across the nervous system. This discovery opened up a whole field of inquiry, leading to our understanding of the correlation between electrical events in the membrane and structural changes in ion channel proteins.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

Joe Thornton, PhD, professor of

ecology and evolution and human genetics has been awarded a Friend of Darwin Award for 2019 from the National Center for Science Education.

The NCSE is a national advocate and resource center for accurate and effective science education, particularly on politically threatened science topics like evolution and climate changerelated science.

Thornton specializes in ancestral protein reconstruction, a technique that uses gene sequencing and computational methods to travel backwards through the evolutionary tree and infer the likely sequences of proteins as they existed in the deep past. Through biochemical methods, these ancient proteins can be synthesized and introduced into living organisms to study their function and create libraries of genetic variants of these proteins to replay all the possible paths of evolution under different scenarios.

T E AC H I N G AWA R D S

Professor honored for teaching excellence

this year’s Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

The University of Chicago award is believed to be this country’s oldest prize for undergraduate teaching.

Many of the students who take Bendelac’s introductory course move on to an advanced immunology course taught by his wife, Bana Jabri, MD, PhD, who won the Quantrell Award in 2017.

“She knows how I teach and can adjust where she takes over,” Bendelac said. “It’s almost a seamless transition for the students.”

Noting that immunology is incredibly complex, Bendelac said that the key to keeping undergraduates engaged as he introduces them to the field is to convey this complexity without overwhelming them with details.

“My mission is to cover all the key aspects of the field but not go into excruciating detail, like know the music, but not necessarily all the words,” he said. uchicagomedicine.org/midway

Volchenboum appointed dean of master’s education in BSD Samuel Volchenboum, MD, PhD, has been named dean of Albert Bendelac, MD, PhD

master’s education in the Biological Sciences Division. He will focus on the creation, growth and administration of master’s programs within the division.

Volchenboum has served in a leadership capacity for the BSD over the past five years as the director of the Center for Research Informatics in support of numerous research efforts.

During this time, he also led the development of a master of science in biomedical informatics degree program that currently has 90 students and over 40 graduates.

In recognition of the important role that health and biomedical informatics will play in the future of academic medicine, Volchenboum will direct a new program in health sciences informatics that will focus on the BSD’s academic partnerships across the University and the national labs in the areas of data science and informatics. Under his leadership, the program will develop important research and training initiatives in conjunction with the Office of Master’s Education.

B I O C H E M I S T R Y A N D M O L E C U L A R B I O LO G Y

BSD postdoc named Pew fellow Bernardo Pinto, PhD, a postdoctoral

scholar in biochemistry and molecular biology, has been named to the 2019 class of the Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The 10 Pew postdoctoral fellows from six Latin American countries — Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico — each will receive two years of funding to conduct research in laboratories in the United States, where they will work under the mentorship of prominent biomedical scientists.

Pinto works in the lab of Francisco Bezanilla, PhD, the Lillian Eichelberger Cannon Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. His research investigates how nerve cells produce proteins they need to support electrical activity and chemical signaling in their axons, long fibers that help connect to other nerve cells.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BERNARDO PINTO, PHD

PHOTO BY JEAN LACHAT

Albert Bendelac, MD, PhD, the A.N. Pritzker Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Pathology, the Comprehensive Cancer Center and the College, was one of five recipients of

G R A D U AT E E D U C AT I O N

Bernardo Pinto, PhD

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M E D I C A L E D U C AT I O N

Pritzker News

On the road to research Pritzker receives two multimillion-dollar grants to encourage medical students to pursue research careers

BY EMILY AYSHFORD

W

hen Megan Prochaska, AB’07, MD’11, MPH, was a student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine a decade ago, she wasn’t set on becoming a researcher.

As an undergraduate, she had found a mentor in Vineet Arora, MD, AM’03, now Pritzker’s assistant dean for Scholarship & Discovery. Arora encouraged her to join a research study on care transition outcomes, and the young student found she liked the challenge. When Prochaska started medical school, Arora continued to encourage and support her and provided a model of what a medical career could be.

“She did research but was also an excellent clinician, and I realized I wanted to do that, too,” Prochaska said.

But professors who encourage medical students to conduct research face several barriers. Surveys show that many students report not having enough time to conduct research on top of their busy medical school commitments. Furthermore, conducting research can extend medical education by months or years, meaning careers start later and debt piles up.

Perhaps more importantly, it can be difficult for medical students to see themselves as successful researchers, especially if they don’t see leaders in the field who look like them.

Two new multimillion-dollar grants awarded to Pritzker aim to boost scientific research careers among medical students.

A National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant, led by Arora and Rachel Wolfson, MD’00, co-director for Scholarship & Discovery, will test the effectiveness of

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PHOTO BY JIMMY FISHBEIN

virtual mentor training on mentors of female and underrepresented minority students who wish to pursue research careers in a collaborative of eight medical schools that includes Pritzker.

Another grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund will offer students specifically interested in basic and translational science several opportunities, including stipends and scholarships, to remove barriers to entry into the field. That grant, which also includes Arora and Wolfson, is led by Julian Solway, MD, Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and director of the Institute for Translational Medicine.

“We’ve made progress to diversify our medical student population, but several barriers prevent women and diverse students from choosing research careers,” Arora said. “All research is personal, and if we only have scientific ideas emanating from one segment of our demographic, we will never solve the ills of all people.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

Training mentors

Arora has seen these issues firsthand. As a researcher and assistant dean, she has mentored many students over the years and found that many students don’t imagine themselves as succeeding in research careers because they don’t see people who look like them in the field. That can lead to imposter syndrome: a feeling as though you don’t belong.

“Even when I was faculty, I remember starting out and thinking, ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ ” she said.

Arora has made it her goal to encourage others, and the NIH grant comes on the heels of years of research by Arora, Wolfson and the Scholarly Concentrations Collaborative, a group of medical education leaders who work together to grow opportunities for students.

That research showed that having a strong mentoring relationship is the most important goal among medical students and is valued even more by

Vineet Arora, MD, AM’03, leads a study to test the effectiveness of virtual mentor training on mentors of female and underrepresented minority medical students who wish to pursue research careers.

female students. They also found that mentors who invested in the professional development of their students were rated most impactful on students’ intent to have research careers.

“We know students enjoy working with a mentor, but they don’t necessarily internalize that scientist identity,” said Wolfson, who led this research.

With the new grant, which is part of the Diversity Program Consortium National Research Mentoring Network initiative, the researchers will conduct a randomized trial of 300 mentors of women and minority students across eight institutions and test whether a set of virtual mentor training tools will increase research outcomes among students.

The researchers hope the training, which addresses issues like bias and imposter syndrome, leads to better self-efficacy for the mentees, as well as more research publications, awards, and an intent to pursue a research career beyond residency. They will begin enrolling participants this fall.

Reducing financial barriers

Even if students do not pursue research in an MD/PhD program, conducting basic or translational research can help them accelerate progress in medical research through unique insights and points of view, Solway said.

“We want our medical students to understand that there are many pathways to doing basic and early stage translational research, and that they can be successful at it,” he said.

That’s why Solway is leading the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Early Scientific

uchicagomedicine.org/midway

“ We’ve made progress to diversify our medical student population, but several barriers prevent women and diverse students from choosing research careers.”

Vineet Arora, MD, AM’03

PHOTO BY JEAN LACHAT

Training to Prepare for Research Excellence Post-Graduation (BEST-PREP) program.

The program will create an enhanced research track for Pritzker students and will offer students six interventions aimed at removing barriers to basic and translational science.

The program includes a seminar series and a funded summer research experience designed to introduce first-year students to the idea of basic and translational research.

For those whose interest is piqued, the program offers several ways to decrease the financial burden.

Students will have a dedicated research year (between the third and fourth years of medical school) with a stipend that gives them time and funding to conduct basic and translational research. Students also will receive a full tuition scholarship for the fourth year of medical school to reduce their debt burden. That burden is also reduced by the option of a commitment for preferential consideration in the Match for residencies in internal medicine, pediatrics or obstetrics/gynecology at the University of Chicago.

“That way, students don’t need to spend time and money traveling around the country interviewing for residencies,” Solway said.

Finally, students in the program will receive a certificate in basic/translational science that recognizes the research experience of MD-only students. Solway and his collaborators will begin recruiting for the program this fall. “If those who participate ultimately incorporate science into their careers, that will be the measure of success,” he said. “We have such a strong

basic and early translational science faculty here that these students will find superb mentors and will be poised for success.”

Fostering resilience

That success will only create a more diverse field of medical researchers. After medical school, Prochaska ultimately went on to a research fellowship and earned her MPH. She’s now a nephrologist who conducts research on kidney stones at UChicago Medicine.

PHOTO BY JIMMY FISHBEIN

“Even now I sometimes think, who am I to do this?” she said. “But students should know that everyone has those moments, and everyone has failures as a researcher.

But a good mentor can help you understand and be resilient, and eventually the successes come.”

Research reported in this article is supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number 1U01GM13237501 and a Physician Scientist Institutional Award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

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AAMC RECOGNITION

Brukner named Pritzker dean

Pritzker wins award for career advising

Halina Brukner, MD, has been appointed dean

for medical education at the University of Chicago.

Brukner served as interim dean since July 2018. As dean, she oversees the continuum of medical education, including the Pritzker School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Education, Continuing Medical Education and Medical Simulation.

Brukner has been a leader within the medical school and the Department of Medicine since she became a faculty member in 1985. In her 14 years as associate dean for medical school education at Pritzker, she oversaw all aspects of curricular and academic issues and guided the implementation of a new curriculum. She is also the founding director of the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators, which supports research, innovation and scholarship in medical education at UChicago.

“Given Halina’s extensive track record of leadership and contributions to the University of Chicago throughout her long and distinguished career, we are confident that she will provide the effective Halina Brukner, MD direction and oversight needed to support and sustain our students, residents and trainees,” said Kenneth S. Polonsky, MD, Dean of the Biological Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Medicine.

Cifu appointed associate dean Adam Cifu, MD, professor of medicine, has been

appointed the associate dean for medical school academics in the Pritzker School of Medicine.

Engaged in medical education since 1998, Cifu is the clerkship director for internal medicine, course director for the first-year Medical Evidence course and fourth-year Critical Appraisal of the Landmark Medical Literature course, and co-author of two influential books, Symptom to Diagnosis and Ending Medical Reversal.

In this new role, Cifu brings his extensive knowledge of undergraduate medical education to various leadership positions at Pritzker, working closely with faculty and students to ensure student success Adam Cifu, MD in the curriculum and appropriate progress for all students toward excellence in their future practice of medicine.

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Pritzker’s program at a glance

39 Questions in self-assessment survey sent to students every six months on academic, professional and personal skills

The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine was awarded the 2019 Excellence in Medical Student Career Advising Program Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

The career advising program is led by by James Woodruff, MD, dean of students; Wei Wei Lee, MD, MPH, assistant dean of students; Chelsey Dorsey, MD’10, director of preclinical advising; eight faculty career advisors; and key medical school staff members.

90%

PHOTO BY JOEL WINTERMANTLE

Pritzker News

PRITZKER LEADERSHIP

Students engage in shadowing or experiential learning

25% Students from groups traditionally considered underrepresented in medicine, and another significant percentage are from low socioeconomic status families and/or are first generation to go to college

1.1% PGY-1 no match rate, compared to national average of 6% (2012-2019)

0 Pritzker students went through the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) in 2019

84.7% Students matched to one of their top three ranked programs (2012-2019)

Fourth-year Pritzker School of Medicine students enjoy the presentation during Match Day 2019.

STUDENT RESEARCH

Summer Research Program turns 25 Pritzker’s Summer Research Program gives

rising second-year, non-MSTP students 11 weeks of protected time within the curriculum for research. Students have engaged in research on cancer biology, neuroscience, community health, quality and global health, with some students traveling to China, Nigeria or Greece to complete their research. Students are supported over the summer through grants from the National Institute on Aging, National Cancer Institute and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, among others.

79.6% Students report being “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with career planning services (2018 AAMC Graduation Questionnaire)

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

The 25th annual Summer Research Program award winners.

D I V I S I O N A L A CA D E M I C C E R E M O N Y

Congratulations, Class of 2019

H

olly J. Humphrey, MD’83, who was Pritzker’s dean for medical education for nearly 15 years, returned to Rockefeller Memorial Chapel to give the keynote speech during the 2019 Divisional Academic Ceremony for the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

During Humphrey’s tenure as dean, 1,600 students came through Pritzker — including the

82 graduates of the Class of 2019.

In 2018, Humphrey was named president of the New York-based Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, which has the mission to “improve the health of the public by advancing the education and training of health professionals.” Members of the Class of 2019 are now practicing medicine in residency programs in 20 states and Washington, D.C.

PHOTOS BY LIFETOUCH

Holly J. Humphrey, MD’83, former dean for medical education, addresses the Class of 2019.

W H I T E C OAT C E R E M O N Y

‘Discover, work hard, persist’ PHOTOS BY GRADIMAGES

M

Nora Jaskowiak, MD, professor of surgery, gives the keynote speech.

embers of the Pritzker School of Medicine Class of 2023 walked through the doors of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, smiled at their families and friends, and sat together in the wooden pews. They were about to unite in the common purpose of becoming physicians.

“In the coming years, you will enter into the lives of your patients in ways that few others can,” said keynote speaker Nora Jaskowiak, MD, professor of surgery and director of the surgery clerkship. “Every patient has a story, and I hope that you will embrace the story of each patient that you have the honor to care for over the next four years.”

Jaskowiak encouraged them to “be kind to your patients, be kind to your colleagues and please be kind to yourselves. Think, discover, work hard, persist, care and love what you do.”

After receiving their white coats, the incoming class stood together to recite A Physician’s Oath, led

by Keme Carter, MD, associate dean for admissions, and James Woodruff, MD, dean of students. The students then exited the chapel on the path into medical school.

THE CLASS OF 2023

90 students

48 colleges and

(80 MD, 10 MD/PhD)

uchicagomedicine.org/midway

27 states 31% underrepresented 73% took at least universities in medicine one gap year MEDICINE ON THE MIDWAY

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P R I TZ K E R R E U N I O N W E E K E N D 2 0 1 9

Pritzker News

Back to campus, out on the town PHOTOS BY JOEL WINTERMANTLE

The third annual Women in Medicine Panel featured, from left, moderator Vineet Arora, MD, AM’03, assistant dean for Scholarship & Discovery, and panelists Sarahn M. Wheeler, MD’09, Judith Woll, MD’69, and Sheva Tessler, MD’99.

Alumni chat with Halina Brukner, MD, dean for medical education, center, during the Dessert Reception on the Quad with Deans & Students. The family event featured games, sundaes and a coffee bar.

Back to class: Members of the Class of 2014 toured the Anatomy Lab with course director Callum Ross, PhD, third from left, professor of organismal biology and anatomy.

Warm greetings during the Welcome Breakfast at Reunion Headquarters in the Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery.

PHOTOS BY JOE STERBENC

Members of the Class of 1969 close out their Golden Reunion weekend on the Spirit of Chicago, joining fellow alumni from other classes for a dinner cruise, dancing and fireworks display over Navy Pier.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

PHOTOS BY JEAN LACHAT

PHOTOS BY JOE STERBENC

Graduates from the Class of 2004, 2009 and 2014 started their Reunion weekend celebrating at 10pin Bowling Lounge.

Class of

1974 Class of

2004

Class of

2009

Class of

2014

Marking milestones

Class of

1989

Class of

1979

Milestone Class Celebrations for the Class of 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994 and 1999 were held at ZED451, a Brazilian steakhouse in Chicago’s River North neighborhood.

Class of

1999 uchicagomedicine.org/midway

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P R I TZ K E R R E U N I O N W E E K E N D 2 0 1 9

Pritzker News

1969: A year to remember PHOTOS BY EDDIE QUINONES

Graduates from the Class of 1969 at their Golden Reunion Class Celebration and induction into the Alumni Emeriti Society at the University Club of Chicago.

The Class of 1969 graduated from medical school during a remarkable year in history: The moon landing. Woodstock. Implantation of the first temporary artificial heart.

“Abbey Road.” Chappaquiddick. The Chicago Seven trial.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

ALUMNI PROFILE

Improving health around the world For Kenneth Bridbord, MD’69, getting the lead out of gasoline was the first of many public health successes in a remarkable, half-century career

BY STEPHANIE FOLK

K

enneth Bridbord, MD’69, was drawn to the University of Chicago because of its reputation for rigorous scholarship and research. As a medical student, he also had the opportunity to volunteer in community health projects. And it was those experiences that inspired him to commit his life’s work to global public health.

After earning a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University, Bridbord worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He played an instrumental role in creating regulations limiting the lead content of gasoline. The regulations, which went into effect in 1976, had a dramatic impact.

“In the first four years of implementing the regulation, blood lead levels not only in children, but also in adults, across the United States dropped by 37 percent,” said Bridbord. “That ended up being a much greater impact than I think anyone would have anticipated at the beginning.”

After four years with the EPA, Bridbord spent eight years at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health before moving on to the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In 1987, he co-chaired the third International Conference on AIDS in Washington, D.C. Discussions during the conference convinced Bridbord that Fogarty could assist in the global AIDS crisis by building sustainable medical

uchicagomedicine.org/midway

research capacity internationally, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

To accomplish this, he developed Fogarty’s pioneering AIDS International Training and Research Program. This program and others that grew out of it have supported training for more than 6,000 health scientists worldwide.

In many regions, particularly in Africa, the results have been transformative, helping to establish and expand local scientific, medical and public health knowledge.

Those trained through Fogarty have gone on to train others. They have assumed leadership roles fighting AIDS, responding to Ebola outbreaks and addressing other public health concerns.

Bridbord retired in 2018 after nearly 35 years at Fogarty and nearly 50 years with the federal government, but he remains involved with Fogarty in the capacity of senior scientist emeritus. Looking back on his career, he said his time at the University

motivated him to contribute to science and research, and his work in government offered an amazing opportunity to make a difference in global public health.

“There’s a huge desire on the part of people to contribute to making the world a better place,” he said. “I would still recommend government as one of the places people can make a huge contribution.”

For his contributions, Bridbord has received multiple honors, including the 1975 Silver Medal from the EPA, the 2007 NIH World AIDS Day Award and the 2009 Distinguished Service Award from the University of Chicago Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association.

In retirement, Bridbord is exploring how lead exposure throughout life impacts people as they age and is writing a history of Fogarty’s HIV/AIDS program. For him, public health has been more than a career.

It is a lifelong passion for helping others and improving health around the world.

Kenneth Bridbord, MD’69, left, receives his golden stethoscope from Alumni Council President Paul Rockey, MD’70, during the 50th Reunion celebration.

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P R I TZ K E R R E U N I O N W E E K E N D 2 0 1 9 PHOTO BY JOEL WINTERMANTLE

2019 Distinguished Service Awards Mark S. Anderson, PhD’92, MD’94 Professor of Medicine, Robert B. Friend and Michelle M. Friend Endowed Chair in Diabetes Research, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine Mark Anderson, PhD’92, MD’94, is a leading physician-scientist in the study of autoimmune diseases and the fundamental mechanisms of immune tolerance. He was involved in the seminal discovery of the function of Aire, a key transcriptional regulator in the thymus that promotes the display of a broad array of tissuespecific self-antigens.

Thomas F. Gajewski, AB’84, PhD’89, MD’91 AbbVie Foundation Professor of Cancer Immunotherapy, Departments of Pathology and Medicine and the Ben May Department for Cancer Research, University of Chicago

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS ALBANIS, MD

Thomas F. Gajewski, AB’84, PhD’89, MD’91, investigates and develops new treatments — especially immunotherapies — for patients with melanoma and other cancers. His work spans laboratory discovery through to clinical translation.

One major recent finding is the unexpected role for the gut microbiota in regulating immunotherapy efficacy, which is leading to novel therapeutic interventions.

The 2019 Distinguished Service Award recipients with alumni leaders, from left, Paul Rockey, MD’70, Alumni Council president; Thomas Gajewski, AB’84, PhD’89, MD’91; David Henderson, MD’73; Mark Aschliman, MD’80, Alumni Awards Committee member; Doriane Miller, MD’83, Alumni Awards Committee chair; Mark Anderson, PhD’92, MD’94; and Pat Basu, MD’05, MBA’05. Not pictured, Melina Kibbe, AB’90, MD’94, and Melinda Sharkey, MD’04.

David K. Henderson, MD’73 Deputy Director for Clinical Care, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health David K. Henderson, MD’73, the Clinical Center’s first hospital epidemiologist, focuses his research on preventing transmission of blood-borne pathogens and multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in the health care setting. He provided executive oversight for a team that created a highcontainment clinical unit at the NIH that provided care for patients infected with, or exposed to, Ebola virus.

Melina R. Kibbe, AB’90, MD’94 Colin G. Thomas, Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery, Adjunct Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Melina Kibbe, AB’90, MD’94, right, accepts her Distinguished Service Award from Chris Albanis, AB’96, MD’00, the new Alumni Council president.

Kibbe was unable to attend the luncheon, so she received her award a few weeks later in Chicago.

Accepting nominations for the 2020 Alumni Awards

Melina R. Kibbe, AB’90, MD’94, is an expert in open and endovascular surgery. Her research interests focus on nitric oxide vascular biology and the development of novel and innovative nitric oxide-based therapies for patients with vascular disease. She is the editor-in-chief of JAMA Surgery, and has been a strong advocate for sex inclusion as a variable in biomedical research.

2019 Distinguished Service Award for Early Achievement Pat A. Basu, MD’05, MBA’05 President and Chief Executive Officer, Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) Global, Inc. Pat A. Basu, MD’05, MBA’05, leads thousands of clinicians and stakeholders at CTCA, one of the nation’s largest and leading cancer care organizations. He is a founding faculty director of Health Policy and Finance at Stanford University, served as White House Fellow and senior advisor to the Obama Administration, and has been an entrepreneur and consultant to Fortune 500 firms, venture capital firms and large hospital systems.

Melinda S. Sharkey, MD’04 Attending Orthopaedic Surgeon, Montefiore Medical Center Melinda S. Sharkey, MD’04, is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in pediatric orthopaedic surgery. Her research interests include metabolic bone disease and bone deformity, abusive fractures in young children, and the influence of gender on thought leadership and innovation in orthopaedic surgery.

The University of Chicago Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association annually recognizes alumni who have brought honor and distinction to the Division of the Biological Sciences and the University of Chicago. The UChicago MBSAA Distinguished Alumni Awards recognize alumni who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in — and made significant contributions to — the biological sciences or medicine through research, clinical care, health service administration, public and professional service or civic duties. The UChicago MBSAA Alumni Service Awards recognize alumni conducting outstanding volunteer and/or philanthropic efforts on behalf of the MBSAA, the UChicago Alumni Association, the University of Chicago Medicine, the Division of the Biological Sciences, and/or the University of Chicago.

To nominate a fellow alumnus for a MBSAA Alumni Award, please visit mbsaa.uchicago.edu/alumni-awards.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

JUNE

5-6 2020

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

#PSOMREUNION

#PS

OMR

EUN

ION

All medical alumni are invited back to campus to enjoy the Pritzker Reunion weekend.

Members of the following classes will celebrate a milestone Reunion this year: 1970 | 1975 | 1980 | 1985 | 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015

mbsaa.uchicago.edu/reunion mbsaa.uchicago.edu

uchicagomedicine.org/midway

alumni@bsd.uchicago.edu

(888) 303-0030

MEDICINE ON THE MIDWAY

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Your News

YO U R N E W S 2019-2020 ALUMNI COUNCIL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Chris Albanis, AB’96, MD’00 President Paul Rockey, MD’70 Immediate Past President Doriane Miller, MD’83 Vice President Mark R. Aschliman, MD’80 Alumni Awards Committee Chair and National Reunion Chair Karyl Kopaskie, AB’07, PhD’14 Chicago Partners Program Chair Jeanne Farnan, AB’98, MD’02 Editorial Committee Chair Baruch Solomon Ticho, PhD’87, MD’88 Regional Programs Chair ALUMNI COUNCIL

Lampis Anagnostopoulos, SB’57, MD’61 ✱ Andrew Aronson, MD’69 Juliana Basko-Plluska, AB’04, MD Kenneth Begelman, MD’71 Jennifer “Piper” Below, PhD’11 Michael Boettcher, AB’89, MD’93 Ava Ferguson Bryan, AM’10, MD’18 ✤ Courtney Burrows, PhD’15, MBA’17 Arnold Calica, SM’61, MD’75 ✱ Oliver Cameron, PhD’72, MD’74 Jennifer Ding ✤ Hunter Eason, MD’18 ✤ Gail Farfel, PhD’93 Jonathan Fox, AB’79, PhD’85, MD’87 Jeffrey Goodenbour, PhD’09 Andrew Hack, AB’95, PhD’00, MD’02 Sadia Haider, AB’96, MD’01 Rajiv Jauhar, MD’91 Lucy Lester, MD’72 Daniel Leventhal, SM’13, PhD’16 Howard Liang, PhD’92, MBA’01 Julian Lutze ✤ Jennifer McPartland, PhD’08 Julia Mhlaba, MD’16 Ronald Michael AB’81, SM’84 Michael Prystowsky, MD’81 Steven Server ✤ Coleman Seskind, AB’55, SB’56, MD’59, SM’59 ✱ Abby Stayart, AB’97, PHD’12 Cynthia Thaik, MD’90 Maimouna Traore ✤ William Weese, MD’69 Sydney Yoon, MD’86 Russ Zajtchuk, SB’60, MD’63 ✱

✱ LIFE MEMBER ✤ STUDENT OR RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE

We want to hear from you!

Share news about your life and accomplishments:

tinyurl.com/MBSAAUpdate 42

1960s Kenneth Bridbord, MD’69, received the Leadership Award from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) in June 2019. Bridbord is a senior scientist emeritus at the NIH Fogarty International Center. He recently returned to campus to celebrate his 50th Reunion from medical school.

1970s H. Eugene Hoyme, MD’76, was awarded the 2019 Henry Rosett Award by the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Study Group.

The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of FASD. Hoyme is a clinical professor of pediatrics and medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, and an emeritus professor of pediatrics at the Sanford School of Medicine of the University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls.

Everyone’s invited!

Mark your calendar!

The Pritzker School of Medicine Reunion is June 5-6, 2020. All medical alumni are invited back to campus to enjoy the Pritzker Reunion weekend. Members of the following classes will celebrate a milestone Reunion this year: 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015.

Visit mbsaa.uchicago.edu/reunion to learn more or contact the University of Chicago Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association at alumni@bsd.uchicago.edu or (888) 303-0030.

Follow @UChicagoMBSAA on Facebook and Twitter for Reunion updates and to share your photos using #PSOMReunion.

PHOTO BY JOEL WINTERMANTLE

James Magner, MD’77, published Seeking Hidden Treasures, a collection of mystery and poker stories. Magner was an endocrinologist at Michael Reese Hospital from 1983 to 1992 and worked in the pharmaceutical industry before retiring in 2016.

1980s Louis H. Philipson, PhD’82, MD’86, delivered the keynote address at the 79th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in June 2019. Philipson is the James C. Tyree Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and founding director of the University of Chicago Medicine Kovler Diabetes Center. He is the ADA’s 2019 president for science and medicine.

Laura Roberts, AB’82, AM’83, MD’88, was named editor-in-chief of Academic Medicine, an AAMC peer-reviewed scholarly journal, in June 2019. Roberts is chair and the Katharine Dexter McCormick and Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

2000s Timothy Baker, MD, was named senior associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med). In this role, he will oversee all UNR Med academic programs and support services related to medical student, physician assistant and resident education. Previously, he served as UNR Med’s associate dean for medical education for seven years. Baker completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Chicago, where he served as chief resident.

Amy Derick, MD’02, was elected a trustee of the Illinois State Medical Society in April 2019 and appointed to the Illinois State Medical Disciplinary Board by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

Michael H. Silverman, MD’73, left, past president of the Alumni Council, Paul H. Rockey, MD’70, immediate past president, and Mark R. Aschliman, MD’80, Alumni Awards Committee and National Reunion chair.

Derick recently received the Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 Midwest Award in the Bootstrapper category from Ernst & Young and was honored by the Melanoma Research Foundation with the Excellence in Prevention Award.

Derick is the founder, owner and CEO of Derick Dermatology. She recently completed her service on the Alumni Council of the University of Chicago Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association and is a past recipient of the Distinguished Service Award for Early Achievement.

Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD’04, was appointed director of the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment and senior associate dean at the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Medicine.

Pat A. Basu, MD’05, MBA’05, was named the new CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America. In June 2019, Basu was honored by the University of Chicago Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association with the Distinguished Service Award for Early Achievement.

Amy Cecilia Mogal, PhD’06, MD’07, recently became a clinical instructor in the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care at Stanford University.

Mogal welcomed her third child, Zoya, last summer. Zoya joins older siblings, Fidu, 5, and Veera, 3.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

Megan Young, LAB’95, MD’06, was included as one of the 2019 AMA Women Physicians Sections Inspiration Award honorees. She is an assistant professor at Boston University School of Medicine.

Griffin R. Myers, MD’07, MBA’10, was honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Myers is the co-founder and chief medical officer of Oak Street Health.

Jamile M. Shammo, MD, received the Nobility in Science Award at the inaugural MDS Awareness Run/Walk in Chicago. Shammo completed her fellowship at the University of Chicago Medicine.

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IN MEMORIAM

Ronald R. Wemple, MD’55, died on July 31, 2019. Throughout his career, Wemple practiced medicine in Montana and served as associate professor of mechanical engineering at Colorado State University (CSU).

He worked as a physician at the CSU Student Health Center before retiring in 1987. Wemple is survived by his four children and four stepchildren, as well as nine grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

1960s John T. Bonner, MD’63, died on November 21, 2018. Bonner completed a surgical internship at Duke University and a neurosurgical residency at the University of Washington. He chose to become a neurosurgeon because of University of Chicago professors and neurosurgeons Sean Mullan, MD, and Joseph Evans, MD. During his career, he taught neurosurgery at the University of Missouri, worked in private practice and was a medical consultant for the State of California Disability Determination Service.

Bonner served as a medical ethics consultant at Community Regional Medical Center and was a member

of the Saint Agnes Medical Center Institutional Review Board. He was president of the Fresno Madera Medical Society, California Association of Neurological Surgeons and Western Neurosurgical Society. He received the Fresno Madera Medical Society Lifetime Achievement Award and the California Association of Neurological Surgeons Byron Cone Pevehouse Service Award. Bonner was preceded in death by his wife, Romona, and his parents. He is survived by his three children, Kerry, Cheryl and David.

Daniel S. Blumenthal, MD’68, died on July 25, 2019. Blumenthal was board certified in pediatrics and preventive medicine. He was the first Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) physician in Lee County, Arkansas, where he established the Lee County Cooperative Clinic with his late wife, Janet. He was a longtime faculty member of Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), where he led the MSM Prevention Research Center.

After his retirement in 2014, he continued to serve as professor and chair emeritus of the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at MSM. Blumenthal is survived by his wife, Marjorie, and their children.

1970s Peter A. Trace, MD’71, died on July 30, 2019. Trace completed a surgical internship at the University of Southern California and his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Columbus Hospital. He was an attending physician at Cook County Hospital and an associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Chicago Medical School, before beginning a community practice in Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1984.

He retired in 2017. He is survived by his wife, Konnie, five children and 12 grandchildren.

John Tymoczko, AB’70, PhD’73, died on May 26, 2019. Tymoczko taught biology at Carleton College for 39 years. He is survived by his wife, Alison, two children and three grandchildren.

Merlin Kelsick, MD’76, died on June 22, 2018, on the island of Dominica in the West Indies. He was 72. After teaching elementary school in Dominica and high school in Barbados, Kelsick attended Oakwood College, earning a bachelor of arts degree summa cum laude in chemistry and biology. He was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and completed his residency in general and thoracic surgery at the

University of Chicago, where he was chief resident in surgery. He completed his fellowship in vascular surgery with Emerick Szilagyi, MD, from Henry Ford Hospital and established vascular labs at many Chicago hospitals.

Kelsick received countless awards for teaching, including the Hilger-Perry Jenkins Award from the University three years in a row (1979-1981) for teaching residents. He established a private practice on the South Side of Chicago and continued to educate medical students. Kelsick is survived by his wife, Mary Bahl; son, Adam Kelsick; stepdaughter, Anjali Bahl; and many brothers, sisters and extended family.

In Memoriam

1950s

Stephen J. Barenkamp, MD’77, died on March 17, 2019. Barenkamp completed his residency and research fellowship in pediatric diseases at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Washington University in St. Louis. He was a professor of pediatrics at Saint Louis University and director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Barenkamp was a member of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Society for Pediatric Research and American Pediatric Society. He is survived by his mother, Mary; sister, Deborah; and nieces and nephews.

Faculty emeritus

Jay Goldberg, AB’56, SB’56, PhD’60

J

ay Goldberg, AB’56, SB’56, PhD’60, professor emeritus in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiological Sciences and a leading authority on the vestibular system, died on June 17, 2019, from liver disease. He was 83.

Goldberg’s laboratory was the first to unravel a cluster of previously neglected sensory organs that feed crucial information about spatial orientation, motion, balance and head position to the brain. His colleagues referred to him as a “powerhouse in neurophysiology.”

“Jay established many of the intellectual questions in the field, made pioneering discoveries and trained many of the field’s current leaders,” said Kenneth S. Polonsky, MD, Dean of the Biological Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Medicine. “He continued to make important scientific contributions to that field until the past year.”

In his long and prolific career, Goldberg published more than 70 papers and 30 books, chapters and reviews. He is best known for his studies of inner-ear function that revealed how animals, including dogs and humans, pinpoint where sounds come from and how they are perceived. He edited the first book on vestibular function, cataloguing a wide range of phenomena, ranging from how dancers and spinning iceskaters maintain their balance to how alcohol intoxication

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leads to vertigo. “His work opened up channels that explained all sorts of unexpected results,” said Peggy Mason, PhD, professor of neurobiology and a longtime colleague.

“He had a talent for making complicated ideas accessible, and he wrote beautifully about what he and his colleagues discovered.”

Born November 9, 1935, Jay Myron Goldberg grew up on the West Side of Chicago. In 1952, at age 16, he entered the College at the University of Chicago. He graduated in 1956 with multiple honors in biochemistry, followed by four years in the biopsychology doctoral program. He then enrolled in a postdoctoral program in biopsychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Although his three years at Wisconsin made him a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan, Goldberg returned to Chicago in 1963 as an assistant professor of physiology. He stayed at the University for the rest of his career.

Goldberg is survived by four children from a previous marriage, David, Susan, Nancy and Aaron. His second wife, Florence Bonnick, an administrator in pharmacology and physiology, died in July 2018. A memorial service was held October 17 in Bond Chapel.

“ If you look at the leading vestibular researchers across the country, and to some extent the world, most, if not all, are the scientific children or grandchildren of Dr. Jay M. Goldberg.”

Peggy Mason, PhD Professor of Neurobiology

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In Memoriam

Faculty

Olaf Schneewind, MD, PhD

O

laf Schneewind, MD, PhD, one of the world’s leading authorities on the pathogenic bacteria that cause human disease, died on May 26, 2019, after a long battle with cancer. He was 57 years old. A Louis Block Professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Chicago, Schneewind was a renowned expert on the pathogens Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) and Yersinia pestis (the black plague) and the mechanisms and strategies that enable them.

Schneewind had been working for 15 years on a vaccine that could neutralize the scourge of Staphylococcus aureus, including antibiotic-resistant strains. He often reminded students and colleagues, “Staphylococcus aureus is the infectious disease agent that causes the most morbidity and mortality in the 21st century in the United States.”

One of Schneewind’s major accomplishments was his central role in the discovery of bacterial sortases, which enable bacteria to adhere to other bacterial or animal cells. By understanding sortase activity, Schneewind and colleagues — including his scientific collaborator and wife, microbiology professor Dominique Missiakas, PhD — were able to identify the surface proteins of other bacterial pathogens based on genome sequences and to study these molecules for their contributions to disease establishment.

Born in Germany, Schneewind earned his degree in medicine at the University of Cologne. He came to the United States as a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University.

He joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology in 2001 and was soon named the first chair of the newly created Department of Microbiology. Schneewind also served as the principal investigator of the Great Lakes Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense. He was the key driver behind the National Institutes of Health’s application and construction of the University of Chicago’s Howard T. Ricketts Laboratory, a Level 3 Biosafety facility based at Argonne National Laboratory. He served as an editor for the Journal of Bacteriology and the Annual Review of Microbiology. He was

“ Olaf was always the smartest and hardestworking person in the room, and was ‘holistically responsible’ about his science and how it was conducted. He was devoted to the research, but he focused and insisted upon extensive safeguards for his colleagues and trainees.”

Joseph Kanabrocki, PhD Professor of Microbiology and Associate Vice President for Research Safety

previously selected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and as a member of the American Academy of Microbiology. In 2018, he was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences.

Schneewind is survived by his wife and their daughters, Daphne, Chloe and Penelope.

Fellow Gerald S. Berenson, MD, the New Orleans cardiologist whose research found that the major causes of adult heart disease begin in childhood, died on November 22, 2018, in Houston.

He was 96. Berenson devoted more than six decades to understanding the causes of cardiovascular disease. He was the principal investigator for the landmark Bogalusa Heart Study in his birthplace of Bogalusa, Louisiana. The four-decade epidemiological study of cardiovascular risk — based on a single biracial community — showed that warning signs of future heart problems could be detected even in infants, and led to preventive health initiatives to encourage exercise and a healthy diet.

From 1952 to 1954, Berenson was a research fellow in the Department of

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Pediatrics at the University of Chicago, where he worked with Albert Dorfman, PhD’39, MD’44, chair of pediatrics and director of La Rabida Children’s Hospital, on studies that included the biochemical basis of rheumatic fever. “My experience at the University of Chicago… completely changed my career,” Berenson said in a 1998 interview. “I learned the research of biochemistry and it just opened things up for me.” Berenson was the first physician fellow in Dorfman’s research group. In his first book on the Bogalusa Heart Study, published in 1980, Berenson acknowledged the influential role Dorfman played in his career, supporting and encouraging him over many years to continue in academic medicine.

After receiving his MD in 1945 from Tulane University, Berenson served in the U.S. Navy until 1948. Following his University of Chicago fellowship, he returned to New Orleans, serving on the faculties of Louisiana State University and Tulane. At the time of his death, he was a research professor at LSU, where he was associated with the Center for Healthy Aging and Longevity. He received numerous awards and honors, including the American Heart Association’s Distinguished Scientists Award and Population Research Prize.

Berenson’s wife, Joan, died in January 2019. He is survived by four children, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION

PHOTO BY LESLIE BERENSON

Faculty

William L. Meadow, MD, PhD

W

illiam L. Meadow, MD, PhD, a leading authority on the care of infants born prematurely or with significant health concerns, died on September 14, 2019, after battling leukemia for four years. He was 70. He retired from clinical work but remained an active member of the section of neonatology.

Meadow, working with close colleagues in clinical medical ethics, was a pioneer in the development of neonatal bioethics, the complex set of medical and personal calculations that guide decision making for parents, physicians and nurses who care for infants born too soon or with significant congenital problems or infections. In their book, Neonatal Bioethics: The Moral Challenges of Medical Innovation (2006), Meadow and former colleague John D. Lantos, MD, helped change the way neonatologists weighed the decision to withdraw life support.

Meadow graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College in 1969, and earned his MD in 1974 and his PhD in 1976 from the University of Pennsylvania. He began his pediatrics residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, followed by a year at the University of Chicago in 1975 and a year at Children’s Memorial Hospital, also in Chicago. After completing his residency in pediatrics, he began working as an attending neonatologist and completed fellowships in infectious diseases and medical ethics at the University of Chicago. He joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 1981, and was promoted to associate professor in 1987 and then full professor of pediatrics in 2001. He took over the neonatology fellowship program in 2003 and was co-director of neonatology from 2005 to 2014.

Meadow lectured extensively throughout North America and Europe on medical and neonatal ethics. He published more than 90 academic papers and 48 book chapters on neonatology and medical ethics, as well as more than 200 scholarly abstracts.

“Bill Meadow impacted more people’s lives than anyone I’ve ever met,” said his colleague, UChicago neonatologist Michael Schreiber, MD. One of his strengths was “to show us how to develop a work-life balance. He had a difficult job but he somehow found the time to make it home for dinner with the family and to coach his kids. He inspired us to do the same.”

“But he was also a dedicated physician,” said his wife Susan Goldin-Meadow, the Beardsley Ruml Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Comparative Human Development. “He never complained. When the urgent calls came, when his leadership was necessary for the care for a sick child, he got up and went in. He just did it.”

The Meadows have three children who prefer to go by their nicknames. Xander, a senior database engineer, is married to Jessica Kumar. They have two children, Cody and Zia. Shmug is an internal medicine resident at Loyola Medicine.

Beanie (Jacqueline, LAB’07, MD’16) is training at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital to become a neonatologist.

“ Bill was a teacher in everything that he did. He was absolutely committed to students and education, as well as to his patients. He was the only doctor I have ever met who made rounds on each of his patients twice a day, then came back in the evening to make rounds again.”

John D. Lantos, MD Director of Pediatric Bioethics Professor of Pediatrics University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine

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L A S T LO O K

Exploring thought The painting Valley Peacefulness by artist and retired neuroscientist-

lounge in the University of Chicago Medicine Center for Care and

neurologist Audrius V. Plioplys, MD’75, is based on a photo he took

Discovery. Other works by the artist are on permanent display on

of a tranquil valley scene in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The

campus in the Donnelley Biological Sciences Learning Center, the Gwen

image incorporates Plioplys’ own EEG tracings, recorded while he was

and Jules Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery, Rockefeller Memorial

thinking about the works of artist Johannes Vermeer and listening to

Chapel and the Stevanovich Institute on the Formation of Knowledge.

Handel’s “Water Music.” Valley Peacefulness is installed in a physician

Learn more about the artist and his works: plioplys.com

© AUDRIUS V. PLIOPLYS