Senior Faculty Scholars

Dr. Kress is a Professor of Medicine, Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit and Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship. He has clinical expertise in the management of respiratory failure and shock. He is internationally recognized in patient outcomes research in critical care. He has published on strategies to improve the mental and physical function of patients who require mechanical ventilation in the ICU.

Dr. Kress is a distinguished teacher and clinician, and has received several Outstanding Teacher Awards from the University of Chicago Internal Medicine Residency Program.

Dr. Vinay Kumar is the Alice Hogge and Arthur Baer Distinguished Service Professor and former Chairman of the department of Pathology at the University of Chicago. He has made seminal contributions in the field of medical education and basic research. In 1974 his laboratory identified Natural Killer (NK) cells as a distinct population of lymphocytes with anti-tumor activities. Continuation of this work has led to discovery of NK cell receptors and the immunotherapeutic use of NK cells. He was elected to the American Association Advancement of Science for this “pioneering work on discovery of NK cells”. He is a passionate medical educator and has influenced medical education across the world for the past 35 years as the editor/author of Robbins Pathology text books. He is the senior editor of these books now in their 9th edition. Robbins Pathology is the most widely used medical text in the world with translations into 13 languages. He has served on the US National Board of medical Examiners as test writer and he recently coauthored a report on competency based education commissioned by AAMC/HHMI. He has played an active role in curricular reforms globally with special interest in his native India. He believes that technology can be a powerful democratizing force in medical education and is developing innovative ways to use technology for educating health science professionals.

Dr. Michael Kurz is a Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Section of Emergency Medicine at the University of Chicago. Previously, Dr. Kurz served as a Professor in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Dr. Kurz earned his MD from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, along with an MS in Health Evaluation Sciences. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Chicago and a fellowship in Emergency Cardiac Care at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). At VCU, he directed Emergent Cardiac Care and the ARCTIC program.

In 2013, Dr. Kurz joined UAB, where he held several leadership roles, including Vice Chair for Research and Director of the Alabama Resuscitation Center. His multidisciplinary UAB Post Arrest Service achieved a remarkable 31% survival rate for cardiac arrest patients, vastly surpassing the statewide average of 3%.

Dr. Kurz’s research focuses on sudden cardiac arrest, intra- and post-arrest care, novel biomarkers, and resuscitation systems of care. He has led research teams enrolling over 20,000 subjects and has conducted NIH, Department of Defense, and foundation-funded studies. He has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications and serves as a guest editor for Circulation.

Nationally, Dr. Kurz has contributed to AHA Emergency Cardiac Care guidelines since 2010 and will chair the 2025 AHA advanced life support guidelines. He has trained numerous residents and fellows, many of whom have become successful physician-scientists. His vision for Emergency Medicine includes advancing education, research, and clinical collaborations to enhance emergency medicine at UChicago Medicine.

Dr. Neda Laiteerapong is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of General Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago and Associate Director of the Center for Translational and Policy Research of Chronic Diseases.

Dr. Laiteerapong attended medical school at Boston University. She then completed an Internal Medicine residency and a Masters of Science in Health Studies at the University of Chicago. In 2012, she joined the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Laiteerapong is a productive clinical investigator who is committed to improving physical and mental health outcomes for people with chronic diseases. Her research focuses on individualizing care for adults with diabetes with a special emphasis on dissemination and implementation of evidence for the long-term benefits of early glycemic control. She is also interested in the role health policy and clinical guidelines play in the care of patients with chronic diseases. In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Laiteerapong serves as a mentor for residents and medical students.

Richard Larson, MD, is a Professor of Medicine in the Section of Hematology/Oncology and Director of the Hematologic Malignancies Clinical Research Program at the University of Chicago. Dr. Larson received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and completed a one year fellowship in nucleic acid chemistry at King’s College, University of Cambridge, UK. He received his medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1977, and completed postdoctoral training in Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology at the University of Chicago. Dr. Larson was a Fellow of the Leukemia Society of America and was granted a Clinical Oncology Career Development Award from the American Cancer Society. He has been a member of the faculty in the Section of Hematology/Oncology and the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Chicago since 1983. Dr. Larson was Director of the Leukemia Clinical Research Program at the University of Chicago from 1983 to 2000, during which time he established the adult allogeneic bone marrow transplant program at the University of Chicago Medical Center in 1986. He is Board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology, and has served as a member of the Hematology Subspecialty Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Larson is a former Councilor on the Executive Committee of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and served as the Treasurer of ASH from 2011-2014. He was awarded the Henry M. Stratton Medal for Clinical Science by ASH in 2019, and was the co-chair of the Education Program at the 2004 ASH annual meeting. Dr. Larson has been a faculty member at ASH’s Clinical Research Training Institute, and an invited speaker at the Highlights of ASH in North America, Latin America, Asia, and the Mediterranean. He has represented ASH as a member of the National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine), and is a panel member of the ASH Consult a Colleague program.

During 1997-2011, Dr. Larson was the chair of the Leukemia Committee of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB), funded by the National Cancer Institute, NIH, to conduct multicenter clinical trials in patients with cancer. He is currently a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Leukemia Steering Committee.

Dr. Larson is also a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and an emeritus member of the American Association for Cancer Research. He is a member of the European LeukemiaNet working groups on chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Dr. Larson has published more than 500 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and book chapters on clinical and laboratory studies in human leukemias, and in addition, has served on the editorial boards of Blood, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Leukemia. He is a Section Editor for Leukemia and one of two Editors-in-Chief for Hematology for UpToDate, the most widely used point-of-care clinical decision resource for physicians.

Dr. Larson continues to maintain an active clinical practice at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He teaches medical students, nurses, medical residents, and trainees in Hematology and Medical Oncology in the Clinic and at the bedside. Dr. Larson is an attending physician on the inpatient Leukemia Service and the Transplant and Cellular Therapy Service. Throughout his career, his research interests have included clinical trials in acute and chronic leukemias and stem-cell transplantation, experimental therapeutics, the determinants of response to therapy in leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, and the etiology of therapy-related leukemias.

Dr. Nita Karnik Lee is a Gynecologic Oncologist in the University of Chicago Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of women with gynecologic cancers. Her focus is on providing comprehensive and compassionate surgical, chemotherapy and survivorship care to women diagnosed with ovarian, uterine, cervical, vulvar or vaginal cancers throughout their cancer journey. She is skilled in open and minimally invasive surgery, including robotic surgery for gynecologic cancers and complex benign gynecologic conditions. Dr. Lee believes in a personalized approach to treatment that includes tailored surgery, chemotherapy, clinical trials and supportive care. Her dedication to her patients is one of the many reasons she has been named a Top Doctor in Gynecologic Oncology by Chicago Magazine.

Dr. Lee’s interests include patient centered research in cancer survivorship, supportive oncology and cancer disparities. Areas of interest include: promoting patient survivor advocacy; HPV and cervical cancer patient navigation and education; lifestyle change and weight management after cancer diagnosis; psychosocial and needs of gynecologic cancer survivors to promote quality of life. She also leads the University of Chicago Woman to Woman Program, a peer-to-peer mentoring program for gynecologic cancer survivors.

Dr. Lee serves as the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Assistant Director of Community Engagement. Through this role, she supports ongoing community collaborative education and research to reduce cancer disparities in the surrounding Chicago communities with a personal focus in gynecologic cancers. She is a passionate patient advocate and partners with organizations and survivors in their advocacy and education efforts. At the national level, Dr. Lee served as the Chair of the Patient Education Committee of the Foundation for Womens’ Cancer and a member of the American Society for Clinical Oncology Survivorship Committee.

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

2012 Pilot Grant Project: Endometrial Cancer Survivorship in African-American Women

Dr. Michael Lee is an accomplished orthopaedic spine surgeon who treats a broad spectrum of pathology from a simple disc herniation to complex tumor and deformity of the spinal column.

Dr Lee’s research interests are similarly broad. His oft-cited publications include shared decision-making with patients to the stability of the spine using biomechanical cadaveric models to models predicting the safety of spine surgery based on individualized patient and surgical factors. His work led to the SpineSage web model for predicting complication after spine surgery (SpineSage.com). He has presented his research internationally. He has authored 2 textbooks, chaired 4 courses, acquired several grants to support his research and has more than 80 peer-reviewed publications. He also writes a regular column in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research focusing on patient safety.

In addition to his research accomplishments, he has been an invited speaker at several national courses teaching surgical spine techniques to other practicing spine surgeons. He serves as manuscript reviewer for several journals including Spine and The Spine Journal.

Dr. Wei Wei Lee is an Associate Professor in the Department of General Internal Medicine. She completed her medical degree at New York University School of Medicine and earned a Masters of Public Health from Harvard. She received her training in Internal Medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell and completed the MERITS Faculty Fellowship in Medical Education at the University of Chicago. She is a clinician in the primary care group and serves as a core faculty member for the internal medicine residency program. Dr. Lee is interested in developing curricula that focus on improving the quality of patient-doctor communication and patient-centered outcomes. She was recently awarded the Gold Foundation Humanism Scholarship to attend the Harvard Macy Institute Program for Educators where she will develop a curriculum to teach patient-centered use of the electronic medical record.

Dr. Raphael C. Lee is the Paul and Allene Russell Professor at the University of Chicago in Surgery (Plastic), Medicine (Dermatology), Translational Medicine and Organismal Biology & Anatomy (Biomechanics). He is a Fellow of the Institute for Molecular Engineering also a cofounder the Chicago Electrical Trauma Rehabilitation Institute. Dr. Lee completed general surgery residency at the University of Chicago and plastic surgery residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He has served on the faculty of Harvard University and M.I.T. Dr. Lee’s research is recognized for characterization of the molecular biophysics of tissue damage by electrical forces, ionizing irradiation and thermal trauma. His laboratory has developed synthetic chaperones to recover denatured and aggregated proteins, which have important implications in tissue preservation and thermal trauma. Dr. Lee was the first to describe obturator sensate fasciocutaneous flaps for congenital and acquired perineal deformities. Dr. Lee has been a Schering Scholar, MacArthur Prize Fellow, and a Searle Scholar. Notable awards include the James Barrett Brown Award for “advancing knowledge in the field of Plastic Surgery” and the American Electrical Power Association Award for “Advancing Electrical Safety and Health”.

Dr. Royce Lee is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago Medicine. His clinical interests include major depression, personality disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Lee’s research and scholarly interest include borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, paranoid personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. He has also been engaged with working to understand the complex causes of physician burnout.