Alumni Scholars

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.

Laurie Nosbusch graduated with highest distinction in 2013 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with majors in Biology and Spanish and a certificate in Global Health. She was captain of the Division 1 women’s soccer team for two years and earned numerous awards, including the Big Ten Medal of Honor. In medical school, Laurie served as a board member for the Washington Park Children’s Free Clinic and a co-president of the Diabetes Prevention and Management Group. Under the mentorship of Kristen Knutson, Ph.D, Laurie investigated the impact of sleep extension on diabetes risk and earned Honorable Mention of Excellence in the Pritzker Summer Research Forum.

Dr. Nosbusch is an Emergency Medicine Resident at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL.

Jamila Picart graduated with honors in Psychology and a minor in Biology from the University of Chicago in 2017, where she was selected as a student marshal. Jamila participated in the 3-year Clinical Excellence Scholar Tract (CEST), which is a collaboration between the College and the Bucksbaum Institute. As an undergraduate, Jamila researched the impact of emotion on memory recollection accuracy.

At Pritzker, Jamila is the Physician/Student Volunteer Coordinator for the Maria Shelter Clinic, a student-run clinic that serves homeless women and children on the South Side. She also was the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) Pritzker chapter Vice-President. As Vice-President, she began a dinner series that created spaces for students of color to seek mentorship from faculty of color and helped to plan the 2018 Midwest Regional Medical Education Conference.

Under the mentorship of Dr. Matthew Churpek, Jamila has also conducted epidemiological research to identify differences in characteristics and outcomes of high-risk ward patients evaluated by rapid response teams.

Dr. Picart is currently a surgical resident at University of Michigan Medicine.

Dr. Neethi Pinto received her Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from Stanford University. She completed the Jane Addams fellowship in Philanthropy and directed an enrichment program for at risk youth before returning to Stanford for medical school. In 2001, she came to The University of Chicago where she completed a pediatric residency, chief residency, critical care fellowship and a Masters of Science in Health Studies and then joined the faculty. Dr. Pinto cares for patients in the pediatric ICU and on the Pediatric Sedation Service. She serves as a resident faculty advisor and directs a monthly journal club. She has established an evidence based medicine curriculum for pediatrics. She leads a cohort of undergraduate students in the Bucksbaum Institute Clinical Excellence Scholars track. Dr. Pinto’s research interests focus on the long-term outcomes of children who survive critical illness.

Dr. Pinto was appointed as a Senior Faculty Scholar in 2018.

In 2019, Dr. Pinto joined the faculty at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Pinto is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Comprehensive Solid Tumor Clinic at the University of Chicago and a member of the Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics. Dr. Pinto’s research focuses on the role of genetic variation in ethnic disparities and responsiveness to chemotherapy. Dr. Pinto directs the GREAT KIDS research program, an effort to comprehensively sequence the genomes of patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed pediatric cancer in order to gain a broader understanding of gene-environment interactions as well as actionable genetic alterations. Future research goals include improving communication of complex genetic traits and inheritance to patients and families affected by cancer.

Dr. Pinto is a physician at the Seattle Children’s Hospital in Seattle, WA.

Matt Present graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in American History. He taught English for a year in a Japanese fishing village. Upon his return stateside, he wrote advertising and managed a creative team at Groupon for two years before leaving to become the founding editor of Grid, the Chicago Sun-Times Sunday business magazine. He has also worked as a ghostwriter, with work appearing Forbes and USA Today. Matt completed his post-baccalaureate education at Goucher College. At Pritzker, Matt is an executive board member of the Health Professions Recruitment and Exposure Program, works as a mentor in the Chicago Youth Partnership, teaches science to third-graders, and counsels students on human anatomy and healthy living. He also serves on the Pritzker Editorial Committee and the Service of Gratitude Planning Committee. Matt participated in Pritzker’s annual REMEDY medical service trip to Peru. Currently, he is conducting research with Dr. Neda Laiteerapong on individualization of glycemic control goals in patients with Type-II Diabetes Mellitus.

Dr. Present is a Pediatric Resident at the University of Rochester, Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester, NY.

Liese graduated from Stanford University in 2010 with a BA in anthropology and a BS in biology. She received numerous honors as an undergraduate, including graduation with distinction in biology and anthropology, departmental honors for her senior thesis, and election to Phi Beta Kappa.

As a medical student, under the mentorship of Funmi Olopade, MD, director of the Cancer Risk Clinic and professor of medical and human genetics, Liese has conducted qualitative research on cultural and social barriers to effective breast cancer care in southern Nigeria.

Liese also was selected to serve as a Teaching Assistant for The Human Body course. She is a member of the Pritzker School of Medicine student board and a translator at the Community Health Clinic, a volunteer-run free clinic on Chicago’s west side. Liese also is one of the co-chairs of the International Medicine Interest Group at Pritzker.

Liese received a Doris Duke Clinical Research Mentorship Grant and spent the 2013-14 academic year abroad where she conducted a breast cancer knowledge assessment of healthcare workers near Ibadan, Nigeria.

Dr. Pruitt is a Surgery Resident at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT.

Mary Qiu, MD, is an ophthalmologist who specializes in glaucoma and cataract surgery. She completed her ophthalmology residency at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins and her glaucoma fellowship at the Cole Eye Institute at Cleveland Clinic. Her clinical practice focuses on the surgical and medical management of complex glaucoma patients, and she has brought new minimally invasive glaucoma surgical techniques to the University of Chicago. In addition to her clinical roles, Dr Qiu is initiating a clinical trial and editing a textbook about neovascular glaucoma. Her other academic work is related to glaucoma residency education, outcomes after both minimally invasive as well as traditional glaucoma surgical techniques, and interdisciplinary collaborations with pharmacy and bariatric surgery. Dr. Qiu has authored numerous articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented her work nationally and internationally. Dr Qiu is also dedicated to resident and medical student education; she directs the resident glaucoma rotation, volunteers as a longitudinal preceptor for the first-year medical students, and teaches medical students on the ophthalmology clerkship.

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.