Associate Junior Faculty Scholars

Edwin K. McDonald IV, MD, is dedicated to improving the health of individuals and communities through nutrition education. He works with patients with small bowel diseases, obesity and other conditions affecting the digestive system.

Dr. McDonald’s interest in the effects of nutrition on health and disease stem from his experience with Project Brotherhood — an innovative clinic dedicated to providing accessible, affordable care for black men on Chicago’s South Side. While training barbers to serve as health educators, he became keenly aware of the impact of social determinants of health, including the role of nutrition. In 2012, Dr. McDonald received a certificate in professional cookery from Kendall College School of Culinary Arts.

Dr. McDonald also is an active researcher. He recently investigated the effects of vitamin deficiency in patients requiring parenteral nutrition (intravenous feeding) and studied the usefulness of fecal calprotectin in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. He also created a web-based mobile program to assess the utility of applications in managing inpatient hepatology patients. Dr. McDonald’s work has been funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

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.

Pamela McShane, MD, is a skilled lung specialist with particular expertise in the treatment and study of bronchiectasis.Dr. McShane’s research interests include the origin, microbiology, and treatment of bronchiectasis. She developed a large registry of patients who have bronchiectasis in order to learn more about the natural history of this disease, and to provide opportunities for patients to participate in research trials. Dr. McShane is also investigating the roles of individual factors — such as immune deficiency, autoimmunity, and ethnicity — in the cause and natural history of bronchiectasis.

In 2019, Dr. McShane joined the faculty at the University of Texas Health East Texas in Tyler, TX.

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.

Diana Mitchell, M.D. is an Instructor of Pediatric Critical Care. She cares for critically ill patients in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Dr. Mitchell received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Indiana University. She worked for several years as a youth education director for AmeriCorps in Denver, Colorado before entering medical school at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. Dedicated to working with children from the Southside of Chicago, Dr. Mitchell completed her Pediatric residency, Chief Residency, and subspecialty training in Pediatric Critical Care at The University of Chicago.

Dr. Mitchell’s research interest focuses on multidisciplinary medical education using medical simulation. Simulation based training uses high fidelity computerized mannequins to train members of the pediatric critical care team. Dr. Mitchell implemented and currently runs a curriculum for pediatric residents and nurses that focuses on caring for a critically ill pediatric patient. The goal of this curriculum is to train all members of the medical team to provide competent and compassionate care to the most critically ill children.

2012 Pilot Grant Project (joint project with Dr. Alisa McQueen): Communications During Pediatric Resuscitation

Dr. Mitchell practices at Advocate Children’s Medical Group in Illinois.

Dr. Perry Morocco is a pediatric hematologist and oncologist at the University of Chicago, where he cares for children with blood disorders and cancers, including leukemia and lymphoma. His clinical focus includes benign bleeding disorders and anemias, and he performs procedures such as lumbar punctures and bone marrow biopsies as part of his comprehensive approach to patient care.

A member of the Children’s Oncology Group, Dr. Morocco is actively involved in clinical trials aimed at improving and optimizing treatments for pediatric cancer patients. His research interests center on medical education, reflecting his dedication to advancing both clinical practice and physician training.

Driven by a passion for patient-centered care, Dr. Morocco emphasizes guiding families through what he calls “a marathon, not a sprint.” He takes a holistic view of each patient’s journey, considering not only medical needs but also personal goals—whether returning to sports or attending meaningful family events—helping young patients and their families navigate cancer treatment with compassion and support.

Dr. Tomas Ignacio Munoz is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Section of Neonatology at the University of Chicago. He is board-certified in Pediatrics, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, and Adult and Pediatric Sleep Medicine.

He received his medical degree from Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Ureña in the Dominican Republic, completed his pediatric residency at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in New York, and his fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Loyola University Medical Center. He later completed fellowship training in Adult and Pediatric Sleep Medicine at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Science System.

At the University of Chicago, Dr. Munoz provides clinical care in neonatology and pediatric sleep medicine. His research focuses on sleep and respiratory control in premature infants and infants born with craniofacial malformations, including the Premature Recovering Infant Sleep Metrics (PRISM) study, supported by a grant from the Little Giraffe Foundation. His scholarly contributions include peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and invited editorials on neonatal and pediatric sleep medicine. He also serves as a reviewer and editor for pediatric and sleep medicine journals.

Elizabeth A Murphy, MD, SFHM, completed her medical school and residency at the University of Michigan and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Section of Hospital Medicine at the University of Chicago. She serves as Director of Clinical Service Development for the section and her main responsibility is to develop and mentor multiple clinical service leaders. She broadly champions professional and leadership development, job satisfaction and retention within the section. She collaborates closely with the QI Director to embed QI priorities into clinical services and service leader responsibilities. Elizabeth is Director of Hiring for the section and partners with section leadership to recruit, hire, orient and onboard new hospitalists. Elizabeth co-created and runs the Passport to Clinical Teaching with the section’s Medical Education Director—a program designed to develop excellent clinical teachers and support developing clinician educators. She is a member of the SHM Academic Hospitalist Committee, the SGIM Academic Hospitalist Commission and the SGIM Women and Medicine Commission.

Michele Nassin, MD, MS, is an Assistant Professor in Pediatrics in the Section of Pediatric Hematology Oncology and the Clinical Director of the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Program. Her academic and clinical work focuses on curative strategies in treatment of sickle cell disease and understanding immune reconstitution post stem cell transplant. She has worked closely with mentors to develop a novel haploidentical stem cell transplant approach for patients with sickle cell disease and that investigator initiated study is currently underway. A dedicated educator, Dr. Nassin also serves as the associate program director for the pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship. Today, Dr. Nassin is an attending physician at The University of Utah Health.

Dr. Rochelle Naylor is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics with a secondary appointment in Medicine, Section of Adult and Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism. Dr. Naylor completed medical school training at Mayo Clinic in 2005. She has been at the University of Chicago since that time, completing pediatrics residency training, a chief resident year and pediatric endocrine fellowship prior to joining the faculty at the University of Chicago in 2012.

Dr. Naylor is a co-Investigator of the US National Monogenic Diabetes Registry housed at the University of Chicago. Her research focuses on maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) – addressing delays in accurate genetic diagnosis and appropriate management of various subtypes, and racial and ethnic inequities in who benefits from diabetes precision medicine. She has an interest in other forms of atypical diabetes, and is an investigator in the Rare and Atypical Diabetes Network (RADIANT). She has mentored all levels of trainees, from undergraduate to post-graduate, in diabetes research.

Dr. Naylor also serves as an Associate Program Director for the Pediatrics Residency Program. She is actively involved in resident and fellow education and training. She additionally serves as an advisor to medical students, resident and fellows.