Senior Faculty Scholars

Nicola Orlov is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics.  She is the Program Director for the Pediatric Residency Training Program and is the Associate Chair of Education for the Department of Pediatrics. She is a graduate of the Pritzker School of Medicine and where she stayed to complete her Residency Training and Chief Resident year. She completed an MPH at Columbia University and graduated from The Medical Education Research Innovation Teaching and Scholarship (MERITS) fellowship at the University of Chicago. She currently serves as the Chapter Advisor at the PSOM for the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

Dr. Orlov is a Pediatric Hospitalist. Her clinical research focused on improving the sleep and health of hospitalized children. Educationally, she has a strong interest in coaching, feedback, and humanism in medicine.   

Dr. Aytekin Oto is Professor of Radiology and Surgery, and Interim Chair of Radiology at the University of Chicago. Dr. Oto has expertise in the imaging of diseases affecting the abdomen and pelvis.

Dr. Oto’s research interest is in the development and clinical application of novel prostate MRI acquisition and interpretation to improve the efficiency of prostate cancer treatments including image guided prostate therapy options for select patients. His research has two primary focus areas: “non-invasive and accurate diagnosis of aggressive prostate cancer using MR imaging“ and “eradication of localized prostate cancer with minimal complications using minimally invasive treatment methods”. His research has resulted in more than 200 publications and over 200 scientific exhibits at national and international meetings.

Dr. Oto has also developed novel MR sequences, pilot CAD software for prostate MRI, and tested MR guided therapy methods such as laser and focused ultrasound ablation in clinical and pre-clinical studies. He has several industry, foundation, and NIH grants and serves at the Editorial Board of Radiology. Dr. Oto has received numerous awards including Distinguished Investigator Award, RSNA honored educator award, and Distinguished Senior Clinician Award.

Dr. Monica Peek is an Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago where she provides clinical care, teaches and does health services research in the area of health disparities. She received her medical degree and master’s degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins University, and completed her residency training at Stanford University Hospital. She then worked for the National Health Service Corps for two years at a community health center for the medically underserved in Ohio before relocating to Chicago.

As a member of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) program office Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change, Dr. Peek led the systematic review of health care interventions to reduce disparities in diabetes care and outcomes. She has been funded by RWJF and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to explore racial differences in patient/provider communication and to pilot patient-empowerment interventions to enhance such communication among blacks with diabetes. She is the Co-Principal Investigator of grants from the Merck Company Foundation and NIH/NIDDK to improve diabetes care and outcomes among residents on the South Side of Chicago, a predominantly African-American working class community with significant disparities in diabetes health outcomes such as lower extremity amputations. Dr. Peek was part of the NIDDK strategic planning committee whose 2010 report “Advances and Emerging Opportunities in Diabetes Research” set forth the diabetes research agenda for the next 5-10 years.

Dr. Peek also does research on the development and evaluation of community-based, culturally-tailored interventions to promote healthy behaviors and preventive care, including women’s health (i.e. breast cancer screening), physical activity and diabetes self-management.

Amber Pincavage, MD, specializes in adult internal medicine. She is especially interested in primary care for underserved populations.

A dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Pincavage trains medical students and residents in areas such as physical diagnosis, clinical skills, transitions of care, and health disparities. For example, as a leader in the Chicago Breathe Project, she worked to improve education for physician trainees and minority patients in the use of new asthma inhalers. She also supervises residents in the free clinic at CommunityHealth Englewood.

Amber also was one of the 3 AAMC “Readiness for Reform Healthcare Innovation Challenge Award” winners based on her work on clinic handoffs which was funded in part by grants from the Bucksbaum Institute.

2012 Pilot Grant Project: Engineering Patient-Oriented Clinic Handoffs

Sean Pinney is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Georgetown University where he received both his undergraduate and medical degrees. He completed residency training at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and fellowships in cardiology, heart failure & transplantation at Columbia University. In 2004, he joined the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where he directed the Advanced Heart Failure & Cardiac Transplant Program. In 2015, he was appointed Director of Heart Failure and Transplantation for the Mount Sinai Health System. In 2020, he moved to the University of Chicago where he was appointed Co-Director of the Heart & Vascular Center, Director of Heart Failure & Transplantation and Director of Clinical & Translational Research. Dr. Pinney is an active clinical researcher who has led both NIH and industry-sponsored trials in the areas of heart failure, cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. He serves on the editorial boards of JACC, JACC Heart Failure, the Journal of Heart & Lung Transplantation and the Journal of Cardiac Failure. He serves on the AST Board of Directors, is a member of the Georgetown Medical Alumni Board and is past President of the New York Cardiothoracic Transplant Consortium.

Jayant Pinto, MD, FACS, is a Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. He completed college and medical school at Stanford University, followed by residency training at The University of Chicago. After joining the faculty, he built a research program focused on population studies of olfactory disorders, genetic studies of chronic sinusitis, and translational studies of inflammatory diseases of the airway. Dr. Pinto’s research centers on understanding the causes of chronic inflammatory disorders of the nose and identifying genetic and environmental influences on sensory dysfunction and aging. He is an investigator in the Chronic Rhinosinusitis Integrated Studies Program, supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, funded by the National Institute on Aging. He trains the next generation of clinicians and scientists, in addition to being a busy surgeon and father.

Dr. Polite is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago the Deputy Section Chief for Strategy and Network Development, Executive Medical Director for Cancer Accountable Care and a GI oncologist specializing in the treatment of patients with colorectal anal pancreatic and neuroendocrine cancers. He is a past board member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), is Past-Chair of the ASCO Health Disparities Committee and a two-time chair of the ASCO Government Relations Committee. He served 5 years on the American Cancer Society Cancer Control and Prevention: Health Policy and Health Services (CPHPS) Review Committee including the role of vice-chair and Chair of that committee. He is a graduate of ASCO’s Leadership Development Program, a recipient of an ASCO Career Development Award, and was named a Fellow of the Society in 2018. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Oncology Practice and has received awards recognizing his clinical and teaching efforts and was recently chosen as a Bucksbaum Institute Senior Faculty Scholar. He is actively involved at the federal and local level in developing alternative payment models for cancer care. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. He currently is the CO-PI of a 5-year NCI Moonshot grant, Accelerating Colorectal Cancer Screening and Follow-up through Implementation Science in Chicago (ACCSIS-Chicago) aimed at improving colorectal screening among Federally Qualified Health Centers in Chicago and Northwest Indiana. Dr. Polite earned his Bachelor and Master’s degree in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago, and went on to spend 4 years working on Health Care and Medicare reform policy in Washington DC with the Department of Health and Human Services and with the Office of Senator Bill Bradley. He received his MD from Indiana University and then did his training in Internal Medicine and Medical oncology at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Mitchell C. Posner’s principle clinical and research interests are focused on the management of upper gastrointestinal cancer, the molecular and genetic basis of gastrointestinal malignancy and oligometastases.  The author of more than 250 original articles, published abstracts and book chapters, he has received numerous awards for his investigative efforts and teaching.  These include the Robert J. Baker Award for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Chicago, and both the Basic Science and Clinical Research Award from the Society of Surgical Oncology.  He served as Chair of the Gastrointestinal Committee of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG), the only national surgically focused cooperative group dedicated to clinical trials research.

Dr. Posner serves on the Editorial Board of the Annals of Surgery, Surgery, The Journal of the American College of Surgeons and the American Journal of Surgery. He is Deputy Editor of the Annals of Surgical Oncology. He is Section Editor of Gastrointestinal Diseases for the American Cancer Society journal Cancer. He is a member of many national surgical and oncology organizations including the Society of University Surgeons and the American Surgical Association.  He is a Past President of the Society of Surgical Oncology and past President of the Society of Surgical Oncology Foundation.  He has served as a member of the newly created Surgical Oncology Board of The American Board of Surgery.  In 2002, Dr. Posner was appointed as Professor of Surgery and Cancer Research at the University of Chicago.  In 2004, Dr. Posner was named Chief of the Section of General Surgery, Director of the Surgical Residency Program and Vice-Chairman in the Department of Surgery at the University of Chicago.  In 2007 he was awarded the Thomas D. Jones Professorship, becoming one of only five individuals since 1940 (the first being Lester Dragstedt) to be honored with receiving this endowed chair in surgery at the medical school.  In 2012 he was appointed Professor of Radiation and Cellular Oncology.  In 2015 he was named Physician-in-Chief of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center and in 2020 was appointed as Co-Director of the UCMC Cancer Service line.

Dr. Prabhakaran is Professor and Chair of Neurology at University of Chicago. He trained at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell for Neurology Residency and New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia for Vascular Neurology Fellowship. He also has a MS in Epidemiology from the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. He is stroke researcher with interests in imaging of intracranial stenosis, stroke systems of care, and stroke epidemiology. He leads numerous research programs including the ongoing MYRIAD study of imaging biomarkers of intracranial atherosclerosis, the E-SPEED study focused on prehospital and inter-hospital barriers to timely stroke treatment in Chicago, and the THESIS study targeting diagnostic error for acute stroke in the emergency department. He is an elected fellow of the American Neurological Association and American Heart Association’s Stroke Council and serves on numerous national guideline committees and working groups to advance stroke care.

Dr. Press is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Executive Medical Director Specialty Value Based Care, and Medical Director of the Care Transitions Clinic at the University of Chicago. Dr. Press received her medical degree and master of public health in health management and policy degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She completed her internal medicine and pediatrics residency training and health services research fellowship training at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Press’ research is focused on developing, testing, and implementing patient and system level interventions to improve the quality and value of care for patients with chronic diseases across care transition settings. Her areas of focus include improving communication between patients and clinicians through interventions that are tailored to patients’ health literacy and technology literacy, ensuring interventions meet the needs of diverse patient populations, and optimizing systems to provide resources and interventions to the right patients at the right time. She currently serves as principal investigator for two Research Project grants (R01s) from the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which are both focused on improving care for patients with COPD by utilizing patient and system centered and tailored interventions to reduce revisits to the emergency department and/or hospital after hospitalization for COPD exacerbations.

In addition to these federal grant awards, Dr. Press has an active research portfolio with the Bucksbaum Institute having received several pilot awards focusing on improving the patient and clinician communication and care for patients with low health literacy and e-health literacy, chronic diseases including chronic lung disease and sickle cell, particularly around optimizing technology-based approaches to education and self-management.