Senior Faculty Scholars

Karen Bernstein, MD, is a board-certified pediatrician who specializes in comprehensive adolescent medicine. Dr. Bernstein has a passion for helping children navigate the challenges of adolescence by promoting their physical, emotional and mental well-being, and she is dedicated to providing quality care and personalized treatment plans for her patients. Her practice focuses on diagnosing and treating a wide range of complex conditions impacting young adults, such as adolescent gynecology, risk taking behaviors and mental health, in addition to offering primary care for adolescents. Dr. Bernstein also treats eating disorders in children, collaborating closely with our psychiatry eating disorders program to ensure her patients receive multidisciplinary care.

Her goal is to build strong relationships with her patients and their families so that she can deliver the best possible outcomes. Dr. Bernstein is looking forward to helping adolescents thrive during this important stage of development. 

Lilly Cheng Immergluck is a physician-scientist who studies the impact of antibiotic-resistant infections and vaccine-preventable illnesses in children. Her research focuses on clinical vaccine and infectious disease–related therapeutic trials, and public health matters related to the prevention of infectious diseases among medically underserved populations, including how social determinants of health influence the spread of infection.

Her work has been published in Antibiotics, PLoS One, Nature Medicine, Journal of Infectious Diseases, Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, Clinical Infectious Diseases, JAMA Network Open, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, and Pediatrics in Review.

Immergluck received her BA in biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell biology from Northwestern University, and an MD from The Ohio State University College of Medicine, followed by an MA in clinical research from Morehouse School of Medicine. She completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Chicago, where she received the Pediatric Scientist Development Award. Most recently, she was a professor and physician-scientist at Morehouse School of Medicine, as well as director of its Pediatric Clinical Translational Research and Vaccine Trial Units, and site principal investigator for its participation in the US Covid-19 Prevention Network.

Board-certified surgical oncologist, Cristina O’Donoghue, MD, MPH, specializes in treating cancer surgery, particularly melanoma, breast cancer and sarcomas.

Dr. O’Donoghue has extensive experience in managing complex cancer conditions, and she is dedicated to providing individualized care to her patients using the latest advancements in surgical techniques and technology to ensure the best possible outcomes. Her expertise includes performing advanced robotic surgery, cutaneous oncology regional therapies, intralesional injection therapies, oncoplastics and more. She works closely with a multidisciplinary team of experts to develop comprehensive treatment plans tailored to each patient’s unique needs, and is committed to supporting her patients through every step of their cancer journey.

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. O’Donoghue is actively involved in research focused on improving care with clinical decision making and healthcare costs for cancer patients. She has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, such as Annals of Surgical Oncology, Journal of the American College of Surgeons and JAMA Surgery.

Debra Stulberg, MD, provides comprehensive primary care for patients of all ages, including infants and senior citizens. Dr. Stulberg is also has a special interest in women’s health and family planning in addition to supporting LGBTQ health. 

As part of Dr. Stulberg’s commitment to her patients, she remains an avid researcher who investigates ways to improve primary care and reproductive health. Dr. Stulberg has been published as several peer-reviewed journals, including Family Medicine, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Contraception and more.

As an orthopaedic oncologist, Tessa Balach, MD, provides comprehensive surgical care for bone and soft tissue tumors. She treats a broad range of benign and malignant tumors in adults and children. As a member of the medical center’s multidisciplinary physician team, Dr. Balach works closely with other experts to provide highly specialized, individualized care for patients with common and rare bone and soft tissue tumors. She also provides surgical care for metastatic bone disease, often stabilizing weak bones to prevent fractures associated with breast, lung, prostate or kidney metastases.

Additionally, Dr. Balach specializes in joint replacement surgery, with particular expertise in hip and knee replacement.

Also an active researcher, she currently leads and contributes to clinical studies designed to advance the comprehensive treatment and management of bone diseases and injuries. Dr. Balach serves as a mentor and instructor to medical students, residents and fellows. She has also authored several articles in peer-reviewed journals and medical publications, in addition to delivering presentations at numerous professional meetings.

Board-certified surgeon, Virginia Shaffer, MD, specializes in colon and rectal surgery. Dr. Shaffer is an expert is treating colorectal cancer, complex anorectal disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulitis and more. She is highly trained and experienced in performing minimally invasive, laparoscopic and robotic colon surgery, allowing her to provide customized care that best addresses each individual’s needs.

Dr. Shaffer understands how personal colorectal diagnoses are, so she takes a compassionate and patient-centered approach to care, working closely with each patient to develop their tailored treatment plan. Whether she is recommending common procedures or complex surgical techniques, Dr. Shaffer is dedicated to delivering the highest quality care to all her patients.

Along with her commitment to her clinical practice, Dr. Shaffer is also passionate about using research to look for ways to improve both the quality of care and patient experience. Her work has been published in a wide range of highly respected, peer-reviewed journals, such as Clinics in Colon and Rectal Surgery, Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, American Journal of Surgery and more.

Lakshmi Warrior, MD, MPH, a board-certified neurologist, specializes in diagnosing and treating a wide range of neurology conditions, such as migraines, concussions, stroke, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, dementia, neuropathies and demyelinating disease such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Dr. Warrior is known for her compassionate bedside manner and dedication to providing personalized care to is focused on relieving symptoms and offering long-term condition management. Her clinical practice emphasizes the importance of preventive care and lifestyle interventions in managing neurological disorders, and is committed to providing comprehensive care to her patients.

In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Warrior is actively involved in research, staying up-to-date on the latest advancements in neurology. Her work has been published in several, respected journals, including Neurology, Stroke, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and more.

Lainie Friedman Ross, MD, PhD, is the Carolyn and Matthew Bucksbaum Professor of Clinical Medical Ethics; Professor, Departments of Pediatrics, Medicine, Surgery and the College; Co-Director of the Institute for Translational Medicine, and Associate Director of the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago Clinically, Dr. Ross is a primary care pediatrician at The University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital and provides inpatient care of newborns in the Mother-Baby Unit.

Dr. Ross earned her undergraduate degree in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University, her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, and her doctorate in philosophy from Yale University. She trained in Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Ross’ research portfolio concentrates on ethical and policy issues in pediatrics, organ transplantation, genetics, and human subjects protections. She has published four books and over 200 articles in the peer-reviewed literature. Her fifth book, The Living Donor as Patient was funded by a Robert Wood Johnson Award in Health Policy and will be published by Oxford University Press in 2021. She is currently writing a 6th book examining the ethical issues related to siblings in health care that is funded by the National Library of Medicine. She is a frequent lecturer both nationally and internationally and actively involved in teaching ethics to trainees and staff at the University of Chicago Medicine.

Dr. Ross has served on a wide range of professional organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Bioethics, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Ethics Committee, the International Pediatric Transplantation Association Ethics Committee, the HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP) and the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC).

Dr. Ross was a 2014 recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and a 2015 recipient of the American Academy of Pediatrics William G. Bartholome Award for Ethical Excellence.

As of January 2023, Dr. Ross is Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Humanities and Bioethics at The University of Rochester.

Dr. Kiran K. Turaga is a renowned surgical oncologist with a specific expertise in metastatic cancers. He grew up in India and completed his medical training from the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He completed his surgical residency from Creighton University and his fellowship from The Moffitt Cancer Center. He also holds a Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

Dr. Turaga is interested in the patient centered management of patients with complex malignancies. Prior to joining the University of Chicago, he was the Sharon Wadina Endowed Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Some of his initiatives have included patient navigation, trimodality prehabilitation for patients undergoing complex cytoreductive surgery and early use of supportive oncology in the management of patients. Along with the regional therapies team, he has successfully created one of the premier programs for cytoreductive surgery and regional therapies in the nation which attracts patients from across the country.

Dr. Turaga’s research has focused on patient outcomes with oligometastatic cancers and he has published over 110 journal articles. He has contributed scholarly works to foremost oncological textbooks about peritoneal surface malignancies and is currently the section editor for the Annals of Surgical Oncology for the regional therapies section. He is interested in disease prediction, modeling and delivery of optimal care for his patients.

He is also the fellowship director for the Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship program at the University of Chicago/Northshore program. He has been awarded the Department of Surgery Excellence in Teaching award in 2016-17.

As of 2023 Dr. Turaga joined the faculty at Yale School of Medicine