Associate Junior Faculty Scholars

Dr. Ahn is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Emergency Medicine and is faculty for the GME Scholars Training Program. He attended medical school at Jefferson Medical College and completed his emergency medicine residency and medical education fellowship at the University of Chicago. As Associate Director for the Emergency Medicine Residency Program, he has worked on multiple regional and national panels focusing on technology in education and milestone assessment. Dr. Ahn’s research interests focus on medical education, specifically in the areas of curriculum assessment, millennial education, and procedural competency.

Trissa A. Babrowski, MD, is a vascular surgeon who specializes in limb preservation. Since her appointment, Dr. Babrowski has been instrumental in spearheading the innovative UChAmPP (University of Chicago Amputation Prevention Program) to afford patients an opportunity to save their limbs in the face of aggressive peripheral vascular disease. This multi-disciplinary team focuses on all aspects of patients’ health essential for limb preservation. Her work has earned her national coverage. Dr. Babrowski is also an active researcher, exploring the role the microbiome plays in the development and expansion of abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Ram Krishnamoorthi, MD, MPH, is an Internal Medicine physician in the Comprehensive Care Program at the University of Chicago. His clinical work focuses on care for people with complex medical and social problems and behavioral health in primary care. His academic interests include medical education, health services research, and health policy. As Illinois state director for Doctors for America, a non-profit organization of physicians who advocate for improved access to quality health care for all Americans, he has given talks and written on the topic of health care reform. At the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, he co-directs a course for medical students on the American health care system.

Dr. Neil Sengupta is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition. He completed his medical degree at the University of Florida College of Medicine, and his residency training in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He subsequently completed his fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Dr. Sengupta’s research interests lie in optimizing the care and outcomes of patients hospitalized with gastrointestinal bleeding. He has conducted work defining the role of endoscopic and radiologic testing in patients with lower gastrointestinal bleeding, and has specific interests in complications of patients who have bleeding while on systemic anticoagulation. In addition, Dr. Sengupta serves as the Quality Improvement director for the Section of Gastroenterology, and has several active projects focusing on improving the quality of colorectal cancer screening at a local and institutional level. He is currently mentoring medical students, residents, and fellows in outcomes research, as well as quality improvement research initiatives.

Dr. Zeytinoglu’s clinical practice emphasizes management and prevention of endocrine disorders, including diabetes, osteoporosis, and obesity, in older adults.

Individuals’ risk of acquiring these conditions rises substantially with aging, and older adults represent the largest demographic with these diseases. Unlike many younger adults, as individuals age and acquire different medical conditions, their health status often begins to look very different from that of their age-matched peers.

Despite this, there is limited evidence to guide health-care providers and patients in how to optimize care for metabolic diseases in geriatric patients with heterogeneous health conditions — a group which has frequently been excluded from randomized clinical trials. Dr. Zeytinoglu’s research interests are focused on helping to improve this gap and studying methods and treatments for optimizing management of chronic metabolic conditions such as diabetes and osteoporosis in older adults. Dr. Zeytinoglu is now the Executive Medical Director at Eli Lilly and Company.

Dr. Kavitt is an Associate Professor in the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and Medical Director of the Center for Esophageal Diseases. He received his MD at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed internal medicine residency at the University of Chicago. He received his gastroenterology fellowship training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and also earned a Master of Public Health degree while at Vanderbilt.

Dr. Kavitt’s clinical and research interests focus on benign esophageal disorders, including eosinophilic esophagitis, GERD, esophageal motility disorders including achalasia, and the evaluation of patients with dysphagia.

Dr. McNeer is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Section of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Stem Cell Transplant. She attended medical school at New York University School of Medicine, and completed her residency and fellowship training at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in 2009.

Her clinical and research interests are in the treatment of children, adolescents and young adults with hematologic malignancies, especially those with high-risk or relapsed disease. She is an active member of the Children’s Oncology Group, and co-directs the Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Clinic at the University of Chicago.

Dr. McNeer has been involved in the leadership of the Fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the University of Chicago since 2011, and assumed the role of Fellowship Director in 2013. She is dedicated to the education of future hematologists/oncologists, not only in terms of medical knowledge and procedural skills, but also as it relates to excellent communication between providers, patients, and families.

Melissa Tesher, MD is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, in the Section of Pediatric Rheumatology. She cares for children with juvenile arthritis, lupus, and a wide variety of other complex chronic diseases. Dr. Tesher has a long-standing commitment to caring for underserved children. Following her residency in Social Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx, Dr. Tesher came to the University of Chicago as a pediatric rheumatology fellow, then joined the faculty in 2011. She has a particular interest in helping patients navigate the psychosocial aspects of coping with chronic disease, especially chronic pain. In addition to providing patient care, Dr. Tesher serves as the director of the Pediatric Rheumatology fellowship training program at the University of Chicago and also directs the rheumatology elective rotation.

Dr. Zisman is an Associate Professor in the Section of Nephrology and the Clinical Director of the Kidney Stone Prevention Program at the University of Chicago. She also serves as the Ambulatory Clinic Director for the Nephrology clinic. She received her MD at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and completed internal medicine residency training at the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University. She received her nephrology fellowship training at the University of Chicago where she has remained on faculty.