Associate Junior Faculty Scholars

Dr. Rebecca Garza earned her medical degree from the University of Illinois and then went on to complete an integrated plastic surgery residency at Stanford University. She then pursued an additional fellowship year of training in reconstructive microsurgery at the University of Chicago before joining the faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Section of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Dr. Garza’s primary clinical focus is on breast reconstruction, lymphedema surgery, and complex reconstructive surgery of the head and neck, extremities, and trunk. She has additional expertise in cosmetic surgery and is working to strengthen resident education in this facet of plastic surgery.

Dr. Garza’s research interests include clinical outcomes in breast reconstruction and lymphedema surgery, as well as studying gender issues and parenthood in surgery.

Dr. Zhen Gooi is an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. He completed his residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery and fellowship in advanced head and neck surgical oncology at the Johns Hopkins Hopsital. His clinical focus is on patients with head and neck cancers. He has a special interest in the use of minimally invasive surgical techniques to preserve speech and swallowing function in the treatment of these patients. Dr. Gooi believes that head and neck cancer care is most effective when delivered in a multi-disciplinary setting. In this regard, he is an active collaborator in novel treatment de-intensification protocols to reduce the side effects of head and neck cancer treatment with University of Chicago medical and radiation oncologists. He is passionate in raising the profile of head and neck cancer in the larger medical community and is involved in efforts to increase the awareness of national guidelines pertaining to the treatment of head and neck cancers.

Dr. Gustin is a faculty member of the University of Chicago Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care. He is boarded in both Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine. He was a candidate for the Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine boards in 2012. His background is centered on being a physician educator, which is evident from his multiple teaching awards. His research focuses on the use of high fidelity simulation in medical student, resident, and fellow education.

2013 Pilot Grant Project: An Acute Pain Patient with Advanced Stage Cancer AND A Hospice Patient with Respiratory Distress in the ER: Improving Resident Physician Communications with Patients at the End of Life Utilizing Simulation Training

2012 Pilot Grant Project: Improving Patient Perception During Disclosure Conversations if Unanticipated Outcomes

Dr. Gustin joined the faculty at Loyola University in Chicago, IL in 2015.

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. Harmath is a radiologist subspecialized in abdominal imaging, with emphasis in Magnetic Resonance Imaging. She received her medical degree from the Pontifica Universidade Catolica do Parana in Brazil and completed her diagnostic radiology residency at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, where she served as chief resident from 2002 to 2003, and received the 2002 Radiological Society of North America Resident Research award. She holds a fellowship in body imaging/MRI from Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. She has been appointed to the rank of Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Chicago in August 2017, with clinical responsibilities in the Section of Abdominal Imaging, and has become the Abdominal Imaging Section Chief in 2020. Her clinical and research interests include oncologic imaging, CT and MRI imaging of the digestive system and transplant imaging, as well as multidisciplinary contribution to patient care. She is involved in numerous research projects within her department and in collaboration with colleagues in surgery, OBGYN, urology and medicine. Educational interests include learning facilitation and improvement in medical communication, mentoring and goal achievement. She received The Marc Ronald Tetalman Memorial Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2018 and the Senior Class Teaching Award in 2019. She has been invited for several internal educational lectures in the departments of medicine, such as hepatology and nephrology, as well as surgery. She believes that interdisciplinary communication, trust and knowledge share is key to patient care and the collegial approach with other subspecialties contributes to best healthcare outcomes and lower costs. Dr. Harmath has worked extensively with the radiology departmental Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee and BSD the Diversity and Inclusion office developing plans in mentorship, longitudinal DEI goals, and DEI on recruitment.

Jennifer Hofer is an anesthesiologist who specializes in critical care medicine. Jennifer’s affiliation with The University of Chicago has been since college in 1996, through to medical school, residency and fellowship, and now the present as a member of the faculty. She has specific interests in resident education, peri-operative care, and intra-operative coagulopathy including the effects of cell saver administration on bleeding, and outcomes of off-label Factor VII administration.

She has published in Anesthesiology Clinics on “Taking the septic patient to the operating room” and in book chapters on topics including common ICU procedures, electrolyte abnormalities, and pre-operative anesthesia assessments. Jennifer is a Bucksbaum Institute fellow and has an interest in developing the doctor-patient relationship to help physicians become first line responders to identify and stop human trafficking.

2012 Pilot Grant Project: Physicians as First Line Responders Against Human Trafficking

Dr. Walid Hussain is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Section of Neonatology. Dr. Hussain received his medical degree from Creighton University School of Medicine and completed his pediatric residency training at Children’s Mercy Hospital. Following residency, he completed his fellowship in Neonatology here at the University of Chicago. Prior to returning to the University of Chicago in the summer of 2022, he was an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology at Loyola University. While in fellowship he developed an academic interest in quality improvement and patient safety, and has completed extensive formal training in QI.

Dr. Hussain’s academic interests are quality improvement in neonatology, specifically in areas of neonatal sepsis and antibiotic stewardship as well as minimally invasive surfactant administration. He also has a special interest in health-care economics. In addition to his academic work, clinical time spent in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Dr. Hussain is also actively involved in medical education. He serves as the Director of Neonatal Quality Improvement.

Dr. Kelly Hynes earned her medical degree from the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. She then went on to complete her Orthopaedic Surgery residency at the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada. She completed her Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Reconstruction Fellowship at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

Her clinical interests are foot and ankle trauma surgery, adult foot deformity correction and reconstruction and Arthroscopic surgery of the Foot and ankle. She sits on several committees at a national and international level including the Canadian Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Executive Committee, the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society Mentoring Committee and the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Young Physicians Committee.

At the University of Chicago, she is the Ambulatory Medical Director for Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical Director of Informatics and a core member of the Quality Committee for Orthopaedic surgery. She is interested in improving efficiency and quality of care through informatics.

Dr. Issa is an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology, specializing in adult epilepsy. He received his doctoral degrees at the University of Texas – Southwestern, completing a research fellowship at UCSF and his neurology residency and clinical neurophysiology fellowship at the University of Chicago.

His teaching focus is on preclinical neurology education, including neuroanatomy and neural systems, and he directs the medical neurobiology course in the Pritzker School of Medicine. With a background in neuroimaging and cortical physiology, his research centers around developing non-invasive techniques for the early diagnosis of central nervous system disorders like temporal lobe epilepsy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Dr. Shilpa Iyer is an Assistant Professor of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (Urogynecology) in the department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. She first completed a joint degree in medicine and public health with a focus on epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She then completed her residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at the combined program at Massachusetts General Hospital/ Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. She then returned to Chicago to complete a fellowship in FPMRS at the University of Chicago before joining the faculty in July 2017. Her clinical focus is pelvic organ prolapse, overactive bladder, stress incontinence, bladder pain, fistulas, and other complex pelvic floor disorders. She often has medical students, residents, and fellows in her clinic and operating room and enjoys clinical and surgical teaching. Her research interests include the pathophysiology and treatment of overactive bladder and bladder pain as well as long term clinical outcome measures. She has presented at national and international meetings, published in urogynecology journals, and is most proud of mentoring trainees in their research endeavors.