Senior Faculty Scholars

Dr. Spitz is the Residency Training Director and Education Mission Director for the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience. She has been a national leader in psychiatric education, serving as President of the Association for Academic Psychiatry, and in educational leadership positions on the program committee of the American Psychiatric Association, and within AADPRT, the Psychiatry Training Directors’ Association. Her clinical interests include the treatment of refractory bipolar and unipolar affective disorders, management of psychiatric disorders in pregnancy, and in psychodynamic psychotherapy. She teaches courses on psychotherapy and on educational methodology for residents, and has received numerous teaching awards.

Dr. Spitz obtained her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and completed her residency training and fellowship in inpatient psychiatry at the University of Chicago. She was Residency Training Director and Director of the Inpatient Service at Tufts-New England Medical Center, and spent three years in Norwich, England as a Consultant Psychiatrist for the National Health Service, where she led the Psychiatry Service in Norwich and redesigned the delivery of psychiatric services for that city’s population of 170,000 adults. She is interested in the impediments to delivery of psychiatric services, and a supporter of a single payer system of care.

Dr. Sarah Stein is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics in the Department of Medicine, Section of Dermatology, where she is the Director of Pediatric Dermatology. She is an expert in the diagnosis and management of childhood skin diseases, including dermatitides, pigmentary disorders, birthmarks, vascular anomalies, disorders of hair and nails, infectious skin conditions, and cutaneous manifestations of internal diseases.

Dr. Stein has a special interest in the presentation of skin disease in children of color. She is a member of the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance and collaborates on research initiatives to better characterize and manage pediatric skin disorders.

Dr. Stein is the Dermatology Residency Program Director and has developed initiatives to improve resident continuity of care experiences and adoption of the milestone evaluation process. She is a fellow in the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators and she has received the Department of Medicine’s Excellence in Education and Clinical Care Award and the Department’s Postgraduate Teaching Award.

Dr. Scott Stern is Professor of Medicine and Assistant Dean for Technology at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Stern is Co-Director of the Clinical Pathophysiology and Therapeutics, one of the most highly regarded courses in the Pritzker curriculum. Dr. Stern served as Co-Director of the Junior Clerkship in Internal Medicine from 1995-2013. Drawing upon his experiences as clerkship director, Dr. Stern served as the lead author of the textbook, Symptom to Diagnosis: An Evidence Based Guide, now in its 3rd edition.

Dr. Stern’s teaching has been recognized with numerous honors, including twelve-time receipt of a “Favorite Faculty Award”, three time recipient of The Robert and Susan Doroghazi Clinical Teaching Award for outstanding clinical teaching and two-time recipient of the Larry Wood Award for “selfless, tireless, and excellent teaching of medical students.” Dr. Stern was named as one of the six inaugural members of the University of Chicago Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators.

Dr. Christopher Straus M.D. is a board certified radiologist with special interest in musculoskeletal and interventional radiology. He attended the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago and then completed his residency and fellowship training at the same institution. He now practices as an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology. He initially incorporated an administrative interest when first hired when his first chair asked him to preserve his general radiology skills and assist in meeting the more broad departmental needs by interpreting images in numerous departmental subspecialties beyond his initial post graduate training in IR. This more global outlook has led to administrative leadership positions, serving concomitantly as Radiology Medical Director of patient services, Associate Medical Director of Radiology Operations and as the Director of Student Education.

Recently efforts have been concentrated in the realm of education and expanding the role as Radiology Director of education by serving on various committees and task forces, including the invitation to serve on the board of the Alliance of Medical Student Educators in Radiology (AMSER) and board of the Association of University Radiologists (AUR). The radiology department’s role in basic education of medical students has increased significantly with efforts to change how medical imaging is not only taught to medical students but clear attempts to improve patient understanding and effective optimal allocation of these imaging resources.

Administratively, Dr. Straus has a specific interest in patient safety and issues of communication. He has served as a consultant for numerous years and looks forward to expanding these important issues with relative national radiology professional organizations. At the University of Chicago Medical Center he serves on many related committees pertaining to his interests including Forms and Medical records, Patient Safety, Housestaff outreach and the Claims and Review Committee to name a few.

Dr. Mary Strek is Professor of Medicine, Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program, and Director of the Pulmonary Medicine Consult Service at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Strek is a pulmonary doctor who studies clinical phenotypes, natural history, outcomes, and therapy in chronic non-malignant lung diseases. Her contributions include the recognition of the role of autoimmunity in airway and parenchymal lung disease and the comprehensive multidisciplinary evaluation of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and bronchiectasis. Her investigations have elucidated the role of ethnicity in patients with ILD and bronchiectasis and mediastinal lymphadenopathy as a “biomarker” prognosticating ILD. Ongoing investigations study the genetic and environmental risk factors associated with chronic lung disease.

Dr. Strek has been an investigator on research supported by the NIH, the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, and the Duchossois Family Institute. Honors include the international CHEST Distinguished Educator Award, the Authur H. Rubenstein Mentorship in Academic Medicine Award, and selection as a Fellow of the American Thoracic Society and the American College of Chest Physicians. She has mentored numerous junior colleagues and trainees to independent academic careers.

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.

Dana Suskind, author of the upcoming book, Thirty Million Words: Building A Child’s Brain, (Dutton, September 2015), is Professor of Surgery at the University of Chicago, Director of the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program and Founder and Director of the Thirty Million Words Initiative. Based on scientific research that shows the critical importance of early language exposure on the developing child, Thirty Million Words helps parents enhance their home language environment in order to optimize their child’s brain development and, therefore, his or her ability to learn. An evidence-based intervention, Thirty Million Words is supported by a broad coalition of public and private partnerships and is an extension of Dr. Suskind’s Project ASPIRE, which she created to assure that her patients from disadvantaged backgrounds reached their full listening and spoken language potentials. Dr. Suskind’s ultimate goal, and that of her dedicated team, is to help all children reach their full potentials and to close the ever-widening achievement gap.

Dr. Helen Te is a Professor of Medicine and the Medical Director of the Adult Liver Transplant Program. She earned her Medical Degree from the University of the Philippines and pursued residency training in Internal Medicine at Rush University Medical Center. Dr. Te completed her fellowship training in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the University of Chicago and stayed on to join the faculty.

Her primary clinical interests are in dealing with the complications of cirrhosis to allow for optimal patient management and health restoration following liver transplantation.

Dr. Te serves on the committees of national societies and has gained a reputation for being a compassionate and astute hepatologist. She has been recognized by her peers with the Department of Medicine Clinical Service Award in 2016 and in 2017, and externally as one of America’s Top Doctors consistently since 2011.

Dr. Te’s passion lies foremost in patient care and she finds ways to deliver the optimal personal care that is essential for each patient by earning their trust and placing herself in their shoes.

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. Alison Tothy is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and the Associate Chief Medical Officer for the University of Chicago Medicine. Dr. Tothy serves as the physician leader responsible for working to improve the patient experience at the University of Chicago Medicine. Dr. Tothy provides physician leadership and oversight in development, implementation, and execution of the vision and strategy of the Patient Experience and Engagement Program. Dr. Tothy’s works seeks to promote a culture of patient centered care that emphasizes compassion and outstanding service.

Dr. Tothy’s clinical practice is in Emergency Medicine at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital where she is the Section Chief and Medical Director of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Please join me in congratulating Alison Tothy on her appointment as a Bucksbaum Institute Senior Faculty Scholar.