Associate Junior Faculty Scholars

Dr. Edens is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago where she is an adult and pediatric rheumatologist and the pediatric rheumatology fellowship program director. She is originally from New Mexico where she graduated from medical school. She completed her combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residency at the University of Michigan and adult and pediatric rheumatology fellowship at University Hospitals/Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. Her clinical and research concentration lies in the interplay between the pregnancy, sexual health, contraception, and rheumatic diseases across ages but particularly in teens and young adults. She is active in the American College of Rheumatology Reproductive Health Initiative and the co-leader/founder of the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance Reproductive Health Work Group. She is also interested in health care transition for those with pediatric-onset rheumatic diseases.

Dr. David A. Hampton earned Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a Minor in Writing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He graduated from Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis and completed General Surgery Residency at Oregon Health & Science University, and Trauma-Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery Fellowships at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. He performed additional trauma training at Groote Schuur Hospital at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Dr. Hampton is currently an Assistant Professor of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and a Commander in the US Naval Reserves assigned to the 4th Marine Logistic Group, Surgical Company Bravo.

Dr. Hampton’s research interests include improving surgical outcomes in austere environments, trauma-critical care resuscitation, compassion fatigue and medical education. He has extensively published and presented at numerous national and international conferences on these topics. Dr. Hampton also serves as the Associate Program Director for the Adult Surgical Critical Care Fellowship and as the Third-year Medical Students’ Associate Surgical Clerkship Director.

Dr. C. Maxwell Medert is an ophthalmologist, who will serve as a Glaucoma specialist in the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Science at the University of Chicago as an Assistant Professor. He completed his medical degree at Emory University School of Medicine before completing his residency in Ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida. He has dedicated himself to a fellowship in Glaucoma and Advanced Anterior Segment Surgery at Washington University in St. Louis. He is interested in creating educational tools for patients with Glaucoma to help them understand their disease, their care, and the surgical options available to them. He also has an interest in education and hopes to develop the first Glaucoma fellowship at the University of Chicago.

Brandon Jackson Baird, MD, is a laryngeal surgeon specializing in a wide range of laryngeal diseases with an emphasis on medical and surgical management of voice and swallowing disorders.  He completed residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Stanford University and fellowship at Harvard University – Massachusetts General Hospital.  He has spear-headed the office-based laryngology practice at the University of Chicago. His research interests include adjuvant therapy for early glottic cancer and laryngeal dysplasia.

Dr. Stanford is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Emergency Medicine and the Director of ED HIV and STI Screening at the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination (CCHE). Dr. Stanford received her Doctor of Medicine at Columbia University, followed by a residency in emergency medicine at Harvard MGH/Brigham & Women’s, and then a Master of Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Stanford is active in social emergency medicine, chairing both state and national Social EM committees. She runs a robust ED HIV screening program and developed an innovative universal syphilis screening program. Her research focuses on the use of the emergency department visit to address the social determinants of health, including infectious diseases, sexual and reproductive health, homelessness, and human trafficking. Utilizing implementation science methods to inform program development, implementation, and expansion, Dr. Stanford hopes to improve early diagnosis and access to care through innovative ED screening and referral programs.

Katie Rowland is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, Section of Pediatric Surgery, at the University of Chicago.  She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Baylor University, majoring as a University Scholar with an emphasis in biology and the medical humanities.  She earned her Doctor of Medicine and Master of Population Health Science degrees from Washington University in Saint Louis.  She completed her general surgery residency training at Washington University in Saint Louis and fellowship training in pediatric surgery at Oregon Health and Science University.  At the University of Chicago she is a pediatric surgeon with a clinical emphasis on minimally invasive techniques.  She has an interest in quality improvement in the delivery of pediatric surgical care.  She has an academic research focus in moral and professional formation in medical education.  She is a Faculty Fellow at the Hyde Park Institute and the course director of the Scholars in Ethics and Medicine program, where she teaches University of Chicago medical and undergraduate students in the cultivation of character, using a virtue ethics framework to promote flourishing as a physician and in life. 

Yousuf Kyeso is a clinical transplant nephrologist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago. He earned his medical degree from the University of Jordan in 2011 then completed his internal medicine residency at Rochester Regional Health/University of Rochester in 2017. Soon after, he joined the Johns Hopkins Hospital where he finished his fellowship training in nephrology and kidney transplantation. His academic work has been focused on studying noninvasive methods of detecting kidney transplant rejection and predicting long-term survival. His clinical interests include evaluation of multi organ transplant recipients and management of incompatible kidney transplant recipients. 

He has presented his research at several national meetings including the American Society of Nephrology, the National Kidney Foundation, and the American Transplant Congress. He has published several peer reviewed papers . Dr. Kyeso is heavily involved in the teaching program of his fellows at the University of Chicago and he was awarded by his department for his excellence in education.

Sarah Shubeck, MD, MS, is a breast surgical oncologist who specializes in the care of patients with benign breast conditions and breast cancer. In addition to Dr. Shubeck’s commitment to her clinical practice, she is also passionate about using research to improve healthcare. Some of her research has included studying the value, variation and quality of surgical care. Dr. Shubeck’s research interests are focused on defining value in breast surgical care and understanding the impact of de-escalation on care delivered to patients with breast cancer.

Dr. Perez-Gutierrez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, specializing in kidney and liver transplantation.

Dr. Perez-Gutierrez received her medical degree from the University of Veracruz in Mexico, where she graduated summa cum laude. She then completed her General Surgery residency at the National Institute of Medical Science and Nutrition in Mexico City.

Dr. Perez-Gutierrez then spent three years at the Thomas Starzl Transplantation Institute at the University of Pittsburgh performing translational research, focusing on tolerance induction models using cell immune therapy.

She completed an abdominal transplant fellowship and pancreatic islet transplantation fellowship at the University of Chicago and has played an important role in the clinical growth of the Abdominal Transplant Program.

Due to her experience in pediatric transplant surgery acquired during her fellowship, Dr. Perez-Gutierrez is the primary pediatric kidney transplant surgeon at the University of Chicago.

As a Spanish-speaking transplant surgeon, Dr. Perez-Gutierrez is dedicated to helping Hispanic patients and their families who seek the highest-quality transplant care, and she is part of the newly established Hispanic Transplant Program. Her academic work has focused on transplant outcomes and biomarkers. Dr. Perez-Gutierrez has been instrumental in the development of the biorepository of the University of Chicago Transplantation Institute, which has the goal of fostering transplant research and collaborations. At the same time, she continues her own translational efforts, which are demonstrated in her multiple peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals.

Andrew Benjamin, MD, a board-certified surgeon, specializes in trauma and acute care surgery, and is an expert in quickly diagnosing and treating patients with traumatic and critical injuries.

Along with his commitment to his clinical practice, Dr. Benjamin is also devoted to improving outcomes for trauma patients through clinical and translational research, with a special interest in machine learning and bioinformatics related to resuscitation for hemorrhagic shock.