Associate Junior Faculty Scholars

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. Mak has expertise in providing surgical care for children of all ages. She specializes in the surgical treatment of neonatal diseases and congenital malformations, anorectal malformations, inflammatory bowel disease, and pediatric oncology. Dr. Mak is also highly skilled in pediatric minimally invasive surgery.

Her academic interests include surgical education, particularly involving the pediatric surgical fellows. As the Program Director of the Pediatric Surgery Fellowship, she has worked with many national committees to improve the education of pediatric surgical fellows and develop the new Milestones for Pediatric Surgery.

Dr. Mak’s research interests include advancement in minimally invasive techniques, innovations in surgical education, and health care disparities. Specifically, she is currently developing a curriculum for the families and care givers of patients with complex anorectal and colorectal malformations. The goal is to improve the education and understanding of these families to provide not only better overall patient care but also enhance the physician patient relationship and allow the families more autonomy.

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.

David Dickerson, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care (DACC) and Director of the Acute Pain Service. He is board-certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine. Dr. Dickerson’s clinical interests are acute postoperative pain, peripheral nerve injury, autonomic pain syndromes, and cancer pain. His research interests include continuous neural blockade for joint replacement, patient-centered pain care, and using the electronic health record to track patient postsurgical pain experience. Dr. Dickerson teaches medical students, residents, and fellows in the outpatient pain clinic, on the inpatient acute pain service, and in the operating room. He received the DACC’s teacher of the year award in 2015.

Dr. Dickerson is now the Medical Director of Anesthesia Pain Management Services at NorthShore University Health System in Evanston, IL.

Audrey L. Tanksley MD was born and raised on the south side of Chicago in the Roseland community. She attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale and received a Bachelor of Arts in Biological-Sciences. Following this she attended Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, IL and completed studies in general medical education. During the time in Springfield, Dr. Tanksley, was vice president of the class of 2009, served as a student representative to the AAMC, assisted with LCME accreditation and received a grant to provide health and oral screenings to the people of Sangamon County. Dr. Tanksley returned to the Chicagoland area to complete her Internal Medicine residency training at UIC/ Advocate Christ Medical Center where she also served as chief resident. Upon completion of chief year, Dr. Tanksley transitioned into a 2 year Medical Education Research Fellowship at The University of Chicago Medical Center.

As a Medical Education, Research, Innovation, Teaching and Scholarship (MERITS) fellow at the University of Chicago, Dr. Tanksley’s academic work focused on healthcare disparities, communication, professionalism and resident supervision. She also assisted with investigations of the TEACH pipeline program for high school students. Her scholarly work has been presented at various regional and national conferences, including the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Society for General Internal Medicine. She is currently conducting an analysis of a novel curriculum created to teach residents how to obtain Informed Consent using a culturally sensitive approach. She has also worked on improving patient safety through resident supervision in the ambulatory environment.

As a General Internist, Dr. Tanksley supervises internal medicine residents and students caring for patients in the primary care clinics and general medical floors. She has worked closely with Drs. Arora and Farnan on qualitative research with high school students using focus groups, and is experienced with the use of Atlas software. She has also worked on quantitative projects as well and is experienced with the use of STATA software.

Dr. Tanksley now practices with ACCESS Community Health in Chicago, IL.

Dr. Verma is a general internist who specializes in the comprehensive care of adult patients in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. After earning her undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Public Policy Studies from Duke University, she received her medical training at UNC-Chapel Hill and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago. She then joined the section of Hospital Medicine as part of the Comprehensive Care Program.

Dr. Verma’s academic interests include health care delivery innovation and quality improvement. She is especially interested in ways to reduce costs and improve clinical outcomes for frequently hospitalized and medically complex patients. Dr. Verma is also active in medical education, and spends time precepting both residents and medical students.

Dr. Verma now practices at the Johnston-Willis Hospital in Richmond, VA.

Dr. Landon Mawdsley’s research is focused on improving care, specifically reducing the risk of healthcare-associated infection and optimizing antimicrobial utilization. She seeks to study interventions to reduce risk for HAI including use of the novel electronic hand hygiene monitoring system to evaluate the impact of direct, individual-level feedback on hand hygiene behavior compared with currently employed aggregate feedback based on limited human observations as a strategy to improve compliance with hand hygiene policies and prevent HAI. Additional opportunities exist in contributing to the rational and appropriate prescription of antimicrobials.

2013 Pilot Grant Project: Quality Improvement vs. Research: Controversies and Confusion

Tamar Polonsky, MD, MSCI, an Associate Professor and is a general cardiologist. She treats a wide range of cardiac conditions, including coronary artery disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol), and valve disease.

Dr. Polonsky also specializes in the management of heart disease in cancer patients. She works closely with oncologists and surgeons to take care of patients with preexisting heart disease and to help monitor for potential cardiac complications from chemotherapy and radiation. Dr. Polonsky has research expertise in cardiovascular epidemiology and prevention. She has experience analyzing data from large cohort studies, with the aim of finding novel ways to predict a person’s risk of developing heart disease.