Senior Faculty Scholars

Dr. Haraf is the Professor of Radiation & Cellular Oncology and the Medical Director of Radiation Oncology. Dr. Daniel Haraf is an expert in the treatment of lung, esophageal, and head and neck cancer. He was instrumental in pioneering the use of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)—a highly precise form of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy. IMRT uses computers to accurately plan and deliver radiation with the fewest possible side effects for patients.

He has become a nationally recognized leader in the treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC). Dr. Haraf has been a major force in developing a program using chemotherapy together with IMRT in the treatment of patients with HNC—reducing or eliminating the need for extensive, debilitating, or mutilating surgery. This program has a long track record curing cancer with preservation of normal organ function as documented in the medical literature. Dr. Haraf is proud that we can actually discuss the expected results with our patients based on detailed analyses of our own treatment program.

Dr. Haraf has also pioneered re-irradiation for patients with recurrent cancer of the head and neck. People with recurrent cancer after radiation often have limited treatment options and little chance of cure. Most radiation oncologists will not consider offering a second round of radiation treatment. Dr. Haraf has found that re-irradiation is possible and offers these people their only chance of cure.

He is active in developing new methods of radiation delivery for patients with lung and esophageal cancer. Cancers in the chest can move while people breathe during treatment. We now have the technology to time the delivery of radiation to a specific part of respiration. The result is greater accuracy in treating the cancer while limiting the amount of normal lung tissue exposed to radiation.

Dr. Philip Hoffman is an expert in cancers of the lung and breast, and sees patients with all stages of these cancers. The author of more than 80 medical journal articles, Dr. Hoffman’s research interests include clinical trials in small cell and non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer. Dr. Hoffman has been recognized for many years for his teaching skills in the medical school, as well as the internal medicine residency and hematology/oncology fellowship programs. He has appeared most years on the Pritzker School of Medicine’s graduating class composite portrait as one of their honored faculty, has recently won the Postgraduate Teaching Award of the Department of Medicine, and has been named a Master of the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators at Pritzker.

Dr. Klafta is a Professor of Anesthesia & Critical Care and the Vice Chair for Education & Academic Affairs. Dr. Klafta graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Physics from Loyola University in Chicago and received his MD degree from the Pritzker School of Medicine in 1989. He completed his anesthesiology residency at Harvard’s Brigham & Women’s Hospital before joining the University of Chicago faculty in 1993.

Dr. Klafta served as the Director of the Anesthesiology Residency Program from 1997-2006, and was the Clerkship Director for Perioperative Medicine and Pain Therapy from 1997–2002. In recognition of his outstanding teaching skills, he received the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care Teacher of the Year Award in 1994, ’98, ’03, and ’04, and was elected into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society in 2000. Two years later he received the International Anesthesia Research Society’s Annual Teaching Recognition Award.

2013 Pilot Grant Project: Improving Professionalism for Physicians in Training: A Curriculum based Approach.

Dr. Rubin is a Professor of Medicine, Co-Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, and Associate Section Chief for Educational Programs. Dr. David Rubin specializes in the treatment and assessment of digestive diseases. His clinical expertise includes inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis) and high-risk cancer syndromes.

Dr. Rubin performs clinical research related to outcomes in inflammatory bowel diseases, with particular interest in prevention of cancer associated with these diseases. He is also interested in new therapies for inflammatory bowel diseases; better screening tools for colorectal cancer, and the genetics of inflammatory bowel diseases.

(1945-2013)

Dr. Joel Schwab was a Professor of Pediatrics. Dr. Schwab graduated from the University of Michigan in 1967 and received his MD degree from New York Medical College in 1971. He completed his pediatric residency at Northwestern University’s Children’s Memorial Hospital and was an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern until 1986 when he came to the University of Chicago. Dr. Schwab maintained a private pediatric practice, the Child Life Center, until 1996. For nine years, Dr. Schwab served as co-director of the Pediatric Clerkship. His outstanding teaching and contributions to humanism in medicine earned him numerous awards and accolades. He was selected as an honoree in the Pritzker School of Medicine’s class composite photograph for nine consecutive years. In 1998 he received the Faculty Teaching Award from the Faculty Dean of Medical Education and was voted Teacher of the Year by Pediatric Residents. In 2002, the Pritzker School of Medicine students nominated him for the American Association of Medical Colleges Humanism in Medicine Award. He also received the Pritzker School of Medicine Outstanding Clinical Teaching Award and the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award in 2006.

Dr. Schwab’s dedication to medical education spanned the medical career spectrum to include both medical students and undergraduate students. In addition to serving on the Pritzker School of Medicine’s Admissions Committee and Committee on Promotions, for ten years, he was the Faculty Director of the Health Professions Advising Office at the University of Chicago Collegiate Division. And in honor of Dr. Schwab’s contributions to medical education, the Clinical Excellence Track program “On Being a Doctor” has been renamed “The Joel Schwab, M.D. Program On Being a Doctor.”

Joel Schwab, Doctor and Mentor

Dr. Marie Tobin is an Associate Professor and is the Director of Consult-Liaison and Emergency Psychiatry. In particular, her practice focuses on the delivery of psychiatric services to medically ill hospitalized patients, and treating the psychiatric morbidity in cancer patients. Additionally, Dr. Tobin is the director of the Emergency Psychiatry Course and the Consult-Liaison Case Conference for residents and fellows, as well as a lecturer for medical students in their clerkship. She is also on the Committee of Task Force to Review Professionalism in the Medical School at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Lisa Vinci is an Associate Professor in the Section of General Internal Medicine. She has a longstanding interest in quality improvement and medical education. She received her medical degree from Washington University and completed her residency in internal medicine at Northwestern Medical Center. She is currently the Director of the Primary Care Group, the primary practice site for Internal Medicine resident and general internal medicine faculty at the University of Chicago. In addition, she is the Associate Vic-Chair for Ambulatory Operations for the Department of Medicine. Dr. Vinci is actively involved in medical education and has co-directed the Quality Assessment and Improvement Curriculum (QAIC), a required 2 year longitudinal course in quality improvement for Internal Medicine residents for the last 6 years. She is also Co-Director of the Pritzker Scholarship and Discovery Track in Quality and Safety, a longitudinal 4 year program to develop medical students to become future leaders in quality improvement and patient safety.

In addition she serves as a quality advisor to a collaborative of four community health centers and 2 academic practices focused on improving diabetes care on the South Side of Chicago. Her primary clinical focus is on developing care coordination and care management programs for complex patients across settings of care. She recently completed the Master’s Degree in Healthcare Quality and Safety at Northwestern University.

Dr. Anderson is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Director, Advanced Heart Failure Program, and Medical Director, Cardiac Transplant Service. Dr. Anderson is a highly skilled specialist in heart failure and the care of patients before and after heart transplant. He has extensive expertise in the medical management of heart failure and cardiac transplant recipients.

Dr. Anderson is currently researching promising new therapies and techniques to treat the condition. He is actively involved in national studies involving mechanical circulatory support. Here at the University of Chicago, Dr. Anderson works side by side with other medical and surgical heart failure experts to determine the best treatment plan for each patient. Dr. Anderson is known for his excellent patient care and teaching skills.

In 2013, Dr. Anderson joined the faculty at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL.

Dr. Culbertson is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Vice Chairman of Clinical Affairs. Dr. Culbertson is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of urogynecologic conditions, including: urinary incontinence; prolapse of the vagina, bladder and/or uterus; and other disorders of the pelvic floor. She specializes in vaginal and minimally invasive surgical treatment of urinary incontinence and prolapse, including robotic surgery. She is part of an interdisciplinary care team in the Center for Pelvic Health.

Dr. Culbertson often lectures on the surgical treatment of urinary incontinence and prolapse at universities and scientific meetings. She has been recognized for outstanding resident teaching and has won the Golden Apple Award for teaching excellence three times at the University of Chicago. Dr. Culbertson is actively involved in increasing public awareness of female pelvic floor disorders through her work with the American Urogynecologic Society.

2013 Pilot Grant Project: Predictors of satisfaction with surgical decision-making in elderly women undergoing gynecologic surgery

Dr. Culbertson is now a physician at Geisinger Caring in Danville, PA.