Alumni Scholars

Kathryn Thompson graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a BS in pre-professional science and theology. As an undergraduate, Kathryn worked as a caretaker for a neighbor with cerebral palsy and was as a mentor-in-faith through the Institute for Church Life. She conducted audiology research at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and was a part-time surgical technician. She also performed piano bi-weekly at the Holy Cross House retirement home in South Bend, Indiana.

At Pritzker, Kathryn is a laboratory coordinator for the Community Health Clinic and volunteers as a minister of spiritual care at the hospital. She participated in Pritzker’s annual REMEDY service-learning trip to Peru. Under Dr. Bree Andrews and the Preeme+You project, Kathryn researched parent engagement at the NICU bedside. Under the mentorship of Dr. John Yoon, Kathryn conducts a focus group at Montgomery Place, exploring how seniors process aging through the lens of the Christian faith.

Kathryn Colby, MD, PhD was the Louis Block Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science and the Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Science.

Dr. Colby is an internationally renowned ophthalmologist with expertise in managing complex medical and surgical diseases of the cornea and ocular surface. Dr. Colby has a particular interest in Fuchs’ dystrophy, the most common cause for corneal transplantation in the United States, and is currently pioneering novel treatments for this condition. In addition, she has specific expertise in the management of ocular surface tumors, including conjunctival melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

Dr. Colby is an active researcher whose contributions have enhanced outcomes for patients who require keratoprosthesis (artificial cornea) surgery. She has an ongoing interest in corneal infections and has published extensively in this area. Dr. Colby was instrumental in determining the optimal surgical techniques for placement of the implantable miniature telescope, a vision-rehabilitative device for patients with macular degeneration.

Dr. Colby is a passionate educator who trained hundreds of medical students, ophthalmology residents and cornea fellows during the two decades she spent at Harvard Medical School prior to coming to the University of Chicago to lead the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science. She lectures around the world on numerous corneal and clinical research topics. She has leadership roles in various national and international societies, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Cornea Society.Dr. Colby is now the Elisabeth J. Cohen, M.D. Professor of Ophthalmology and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

In 2020, Dr. Colby was appointed chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at NYU Langone Health.

Deirdre De Ranieri, MD,RhMSUS is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, in the Section of Pediatric Rheumatology. She completed her undergraduate degree in Mathematics at Washington and Lee University, graduated from Tulane University School of Medicine in 2008, and did her medical training, including residency and fellowship, at the University of Chicago. She is currently serving as the Director of the Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship Program. Dr. De Ranieri has a large clinical practice, mostly comprised of children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), and has been involved in several clinical trials which focus on the treatment of children with JIA. Dr. De Ranieri’s main research interest is in using musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSK US) to diagnose, monitor and treat children with JIA. She is involved in an international collaboration designed to standardize views of children’s joints. This year, she received a grant from CARRA (Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance) to help identify subclinical disease in children with JIA, in the hopes of providing earlier more aggressive therapy (that is currently limited to polyarticular JIA) to these children, with the goal of minimizing disease sequelae, such as joint deformity, limitation, and pain. She is involved in teaching MSK US to her colleagues and fellows, as well as the Peds ER fellows, and is a part of the American College of Rheumatology MSK US examination certification program, which certifies rheumatologists in MSK US.

In 2020, Dr. deRanieri became an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Rheumatology), Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Dr. Patrick Reavey is an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Section of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed his general surgery residency at Columbia University Medical Center. During general surgery residency he also completed a two-year Outcomes Research Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and obtained a Masters in Biostatistics. He subsequently went on to complete a residency in plastic surgery at New York University and an orthopedic hand fellowship at the University of California-Irvine. Dr. Reavey joined the University of Chicago after completing his training. His clinical focus is on hand surgery and lower extremity reconstruction, including diabetic limb salvage. He is committed to providing patient-centered care and involving patients in shared-medical decision-making to tailor the best treatment plan for each patient. His research interests include the development and utilization of patient-reported outcome measures to evaluate and guide patient care. Dr. Reavey is respected clinical educator, and is actively involved in both resident and medical student training. He is the director of the plastic surgery medical student student clinical clerkship and the Associate Residency Program Director for Plastic Surgery.

In 2012, Dr. Reavey joined the faculty at the University of Rochester in New York.

Nicole Dussault graduated summa cum laude and with honors in Economics from Columbia University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. As an undergraduate, Nicole volunteered as an Emergency Department patient advocate for survivors of sexual assault. After graduation, she conducted healthcare economics research at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Her work on the financial impact of the Affordable Care Act was featured in Liberty Street Economics.

At Pritzker, Nicole is a Quality Improvement Coordinator for the Maria Shelter Clinic, a founding member of Pritzker TECH, and a part of the University’s Hotspotting team. Nicole and fellow medical students also spearheaded a project to improve patient care for survivors of sexual assault in the University of Chicago ED, working with Drs. Keme Carter and Sonia Oyola. Under Dr. Matthew Churpek, she is also developing a machine learning algorithm to identify infection in hospitalized patients.

Dr. Dussault is currently an internal medicine resident at Duke Health.

Tyrone Johnson graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2015 with a BS in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics. He is a former coordinator of the UCLA Mobile Clinic Project, an interdisciplinary street-side free clinic that provides medical and social services to the homeless of West Los Angeles.

As a 2017 Schweitzer Fellow, Ty developed a holistic wellness curriculum for underserved and housing-insecure adults in Chicago’s Uptown. At Pritzker, Ty has served as co-director of the Maria Shelter Clinic, as a board member of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), and as a member of the Identity & Inclusion Committee.

Under the mentorship of Dr. Lolita Alkureishi, Ty has conducted research on methods of improving patient-centered communication in the Electronic Medical Record era. He is also working with Dr. Elizabeth Tung to investigate the impact of community violence on chronic disease in Chicago’s West and South Side neighborhoods.

Dr. Johnson is a Medicine Resident at the University of California, San Francisco.

Nzuekoh Nchinda graduated from Harvard University in 2014 with an AB in Chemistry and a secondary field in Global Health and Health Policy. During college, Nzuekoh served as the National Region II Vice-President of HOSA-Future Health Professionals. Prior to medical school, Nzuekoh performed translational HIV immunology research at the Ragon Institute and served as a medical scribe at Cambridge Health Alliance. She was also a Crisis Services volunteer for Samaritans, Inc.

As a medical student, Nzuekoh is a co-director of Maria Shelter Free Clinic. She is a co-founder and co-leader of Docs and Debates, which hosts documentary viewings and peer-to-peer dialogue on important social issues. She taught third-grade students through South Side Science Scholars and participated in the JOURNEES service-learning trips to rural Mississippi and South Dakota. Under the mentorship of Dr. Jennifer Moriatis Wolf, Nzuekoh is conducting research on tendinopathy risk factors and treatment decision-making in orthopedic care.

Dr. Nchinda is a Surgery Resident at the University of Washington.

Robert Nolan graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a BS in Chemistry. As a medical student, Bobby has served as a curriculum coordinator for the South Side Science Scholars program, where he helped foster interest in the basic sciences within the Chicago Public School system.

Bobby also served as a co-coordinator of the Washington Park Free clinic, where he was able to incorporate developmental screenings and a program with Reach Out and Read into clinic flow. A Bucksbaum grant helped to support his research this summer, which assessed communication and empathy techniques with patients during conscious procedures.

With the honor and opportunity that this scholarship entails, he hopes to continue to pursue this research while also delving into topics of pre-operative transparency. He also hopes to continue to strengthen Washington Park’s outreach and education programs, as well as to extend support to programs treating PTS within the south side of Chicago.

Dr. Agnieszka Ardelt is trained in Neurology with sub-specializations in Vascular Neurology and Neurocritical Care. She cares for critically ill patients with brain and spinal cord injuries and participates in clinical trials involving this patient population. In May 2014, Dr. Ardelt became the Director of the Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit and Co-Director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at the University of Chicago. Her work and research recognize the need to develop comprehensive multidisciplinary and longitudinal approaches to the care of patients. Dr. Ardelt is currently enrolled in a health care MBA program. Dr. Ardelt is committed to educating patient care-providers and is interested in real-time problem solving and communication in order to improve patient outcomes. She hopes to develop a system-wide, high-quality, longitudinal (pre-hospital to post-acute care) multidisciplinary delivery of care to patients with acute catastrophic neurologic conditions.

Dr. Ardelt is now a physician at MetroHealth in Cleveland, OH.

Dr. Melanie Brown is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics with a focus on Critical Care, Palliative Care, Integrative Medicine and Clinical Medical Ethics. She is the medial director of the Comer Pediatric Comfort Team that has a primary mission of improving the quality of life of children with complex medical conditions. Dr. Brown’s research interests include a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute funded project, which examines ways to improve communication in the PICU for patients facing life-changing decisions. Dr. Brown is active in medical education and has leadership roles in the Pediatric Residency Program, the medical school, and the South Side community. She is a former Associate Program Director for the pediatric residency program, and currently is Chair of the parallel admissions committee at the Pritzker School of Medicine as well as Chair of the BSD Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s Trainee Committee. Dr. Brown is helping to develop and evaluate novel international curricula in Integrative Medicine.

Dr. Brown is now a physician at Children’s Hospital of Minneapolis in Minneapolis, MN.