Junior Faculty Scholars

Yalini Vigneswaran, MD, MS, FACS, is an advanced minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgeon who specializes in esophageal and gastric disorders, including motility disorders, esophageal and gastroesophageal junction cancers, reflux disease and paraesophageal hernias. She has specific clinical expertise in esophageal surgery, including minimally invasive esophagectomy for both benign and malignant disease as well as bariatric surgery and performs various weight loss procedures. Dr. Vigneswaran uses both advanced laparoscopic and robotic-assisted techniques to approach complex gastrointestinal disorders and weight loss surgery. And leads the field in innovative techniques and procedures. Dr. Vigneswaran conducts clinical research and is committed to improving outcomes for patients with gastroesophageal disorders and patients undergoing weight loss surgery. She has been recognized nationally for her research and has received several awards. She continues to advance the field with specific research interests in reflux disease after weight loss surgery and revisional surgery, paraesophageal hernia surgery, esophageal malignancies and health disparities in obesity medicine.

Dr. Shellie Williams is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Section of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. She practices and teaches housestaff both Geriatric and Palliative Medicine in the hospital, clinic, longitudinal care and home settings. She has a commitment to optimizing the care management of complex elderly patients and improving health literacy and decision making of those with acute and chronic serious illness.

Dr. Williams is a respected educator in her roles as Director of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Medicine Education at Pritzker School of Medicine, Coleman Palliative Education Faculty, SHARE network community educator and University of Hawai’i Micronesian community educator. Dr. Williams Co-Developed a geriatric skills curriculum, which has trained over 700 Pritzker students and over 170,000 educators & students nationwide. She has also developed a palliative care communication curriculum, which is offered as a patient simulation experiential for medical students entering internship.

Dr. Williams’ current clinical research focuses on cultural influences on dementia awareness, knowledge, and care decision-making. She is a member of the University of Chicago Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators.

Dr. Yoon is an academic hospitalist and medical educator with research interests in the field of virtue ethics, moral psychology, and the moral and professional formation in medical education. He is currently co-investigator on the Project on the Good Physician, a longitudinal study of medical students funded by the New Science of Virtues Project at the University of Chicago. After completing a Clinical Ethics and Hospitalist Scholars research fellowship at the University of Chicago in 2010, he also completed the MERITS Fellowship in Medical Education devoted to the study of professionalism and moral formation in medical education.

He has recently received grants from the Center of Health Administration Studies at the University of Chicago as well as from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) to support his work. Dr. Yoon also has an interest in global health and recently returned from a trip to Pyongyang, DPRK to promote academic collaboration in the areas of international medical education and public health.

Dr. Yoon is now a Bucksbaum Senior Faculty Scholar.

2012 Pilot Grant Project: Operationalizing the Virtues for Good Doctor-Patient Relationships