KL2 & Affiliate Scholars

Perry Tsai, MD, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow and Clinical Instructor, Department of Psychiatry, UIC College of Medicine

Mentor Team:

Olusola Ajilore, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Director, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Department of Psychiatry, UIC College of Medicine

Alex Leow, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Bioengineering, Departments of Psychiatry and Bioengineering, UIC Colleges of Medicine & Engineering

Neil Pliskin, PhD, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology, Department of Psychiatry, UIC College of Medicine

Jerry Krishnan, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Medicine, UIC College of Medicine, Associate Vice Chancellor for Population Health Sciences, UIC

Dr. Tsai is pursuing a career as a physician-scientist studying the role of inflammation in mental illness. He seeks to better understand PASC (AKA “Long COVID”), specifically Post-COVID Cognitive Dysfunction (PCCD), leading to better diagnosis and treatment. Nearly half of patients with PASC report cognitive difficulties, including “brain fog”, memory problems, word-finding difficulty, etc. While blood and imaging biomarkers for PCCD are under investigation, a gap exists for the use of digital biomarkers for this condition. Dr. Tsai’s KL2 project, Investigating Digital Biomarkers for Post-COVID Cognitive Dysfunction, will use digital mental health technologies pioneered at UIC to evaluate the feasibility and validity of mobile cognitive tests and keystroke dynamics in PASC subjects with or without PCCD.

Julia Bauer, PhD

Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UIC School of Public Health

Mentor Team:

Mary Turyk, PhD, Professor, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UIC School of Public Health

Orly Lazarov, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, UIC College of Medicine

David Bennett, MD, Professor of Neurology, Director, Rush University Alzheimer’s Disease Center

Robert Sargis, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, UIC College of Medicine

Marc Weisskopf, PhD, ScD, Professor of Environmental Health, TH Chan Harvard School of Public Health

Dr. Bauer is an environmental neuroepidemiologist who hopes to significantly impact aging research by studying the interface between exposures in the environment and the brain across life stages. Given the lack of preventative measures or effective treatments, there is a critical need to uncover environmental influences of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) at early stages of development. Exposure to neurotoxicants occurs across the course of an individual’s life. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), like pesticides and industrial chemicals, are stored in the body for long periods of time. Measuring these stored chemicals in the body can unlock decades of past exposure before AD symptoms occur. Dr. Bauer’s KL2 project, Persistent organic pollutants and early signs of Alzheimer’s disease in U.S. Latinos, will use POP and AD blood biomarkers as well as measured brain volumes from a longitudinal health study of U.S. Latinxs to investigate more AD specific outcomes in this population.

David Tofovic, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, UIC College of Medicine

Mentor Team:

Dawood Darbar, MBChB, MD, Professor and Chief, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Director, Center for Cardiovascular Research, UIC College of Medicine

Santosh Saraf, MD, MS, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Director, Sickle Cell Center, UIC College of Medicine

Edwin K. Jackson, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburg School of Medicine

Dr. Tofovic is a clinician-scientist with a background in advanced cardiovascular imaging, heart failure, precision medicine, informatics, and translational research methodology. His research aims to merge the power of informatics and data science with translational mechanistic studies to advance the understanding of rare or difficult to analyze diseases. Dr. Tofovic’s KL2 project, Atrial Fibrillation in Sickle Cell Disease, seeks to identify factors that may cause atrial fibrillation in sickle cell disease and if the presence of atrial fibrillation causes early death in these patients. It will also examine how the breakdown of red blood cells affects the cardiac and vascular systems in sickle cell disease.

Charles Gaber, PhD MPH

Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacy Systems Outcomes & Policy, UIC College of Pharmacy

Mentor Team:

Todd Lee, PhD PharmD, Professor, Department of Pharmacy Systems Outcomes & Policy, UIC College of Pharmacy

Natalie Reizine, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology & Oncology, UIC College of Medicine

Lisa Sharp, PhD, Professor and Associate Dean for Research, Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science, UIC College of Nursing

Trevor Royce, MD, Clinical Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Wake Forest University, Senior Medical Director, Artera AI

Dr. Gaber is a pharmacoepidemiologist and cancer outcomes researcher. His research focuses on evaluating the use, safety, and comparative effectiveness of cancer treatments in older adults diagnosed with advanced malignancies. His work largely draws upon epidemiologic methods and real-world databases, such as administrative claims data and population-based cancer registries, to produce robust observational evidence. As a CATS Affiliate Scholar, his project, Leveraging Data Science Methods to Deliver Individualized Treatment Effects in Advanced Prostate Cancer, will estimate predicted individualized treatment effects of androgen receptor antagonists amongst men diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. The project will leverage existing randomized clinical trial data, machine learning algorithms, and a causal inference framework to predict person-to-person variability in the benefit of adding androgen receptor antagonists as treatment intensification to androgen deprivation therapy.

Ariel Smith, PhD, RN

Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health Nursing Sciences, UIC College of Nursing

Mentor Team:

Rohan Jeremiah, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Illinois Chicago, College of Nursing, Human Development and Nursing Sciences Department

Phoenix Matthews, PhD, Professor of Behavioral Sciences, Columbia University School of Nursing

Wendy Bostwick, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Population Health Nursing Science, UIC College of Nursing

Spyros Kitsiou, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Health Information Sciences, Director, mHealth Innovation Lab, UIC College of Applied Health Sciences

Dr. Smith’s overarching research and career goal is to become an expert in developing, implementing, and evaluating digital tools aimed at reducing violence and adverse mental health outcomes among minority youth. Over the course of her career, she has consistently sought training on strategies to enhance health outcomes among minority adolescent populations through the creation and execution of evidence-based interventions. The study associated with her CATS Affiliate award aims to pilot a prototype of the serious learning game, Reducing Adverse Dating Outcomes” (RADOS!). RADOS! is a social media simulation game designed to equip LGBTQ+ young adults with skills to maintain healthy relationships, reduce dating violence, and improve mental health. The intervention content is guided by the Behavioral Theory of Dating Violence, which includes risk and protective factors that contribute to dating violence victimization and perpetration.

Jessica Rothstein, PhD, MSPH

Assistant Professor, Division of Community Health Sciences, UIC School of Public Health

Mentor Team:

Reshma Shah, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UIC College of Medicine

David DuBois, PhD, Professor, Division of Community Health Sciences, Associate Dean for Research, UIC School of Public Health

Kate Zinsser, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Community and Applied Developmental Psychology, UIC College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Dr. Rothstein is a social and behavioral scientist who uses mixed methods with the goal of reducing health inequities that emerge from experiences in early childhood. She is particularly interested in leveraging formative research to develop feasible and acceptable interventions to improve responsive parenting, including the use of mobile health and digital health technologies to promote behavior change. Interventions that target responsive parenting practices and the home learning environment have great potential to improve long-term outcomes, but implementation in pediatric primary care settings often fails due to reliance on child development specialists or volunteers. Dr. Rothstein’s CATS Affiliate project, Implementation and Evaluation of a Responsive Parenting Intervention for Latine Families in Chicago, will assess the feasibility of training pediatric medical assistants at Esperanza Health Centers to deliver a responsive parenting intervention called Sit Down & Play (SDP). Grounded in a community-research partnership, this study will assess the integration of SDP into routine care from both parent and staff perspectives.

Mayra Guerrero, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Mentor Team:

Robin Mermelstein, PhD, Professor of Psychology, LAS Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago

Yamile Molina, MPH, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Guerrero’s scholarship aims to advance equitable health and wellbeing outcomes for marginalized populations by examining the social, contextual, and systemic factors that impact their wellbeing. Her work includes evaluating interventions targeting social determinants of health and identifying ways to address systemic challenges that perpetuate health disparities. As a community-engaged researcher, Dr. Guerrero employs a diverse array of methodologies, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches. Her CATS Affiliate Project, A Multilevel and Mixed Methods Examination of Pathways to Recovery, will assess the feasibility and utility of a multilevel and mixed-method approach using social network analysis, geographic information systems, photovoice, and grounded theory to study Recovery Capital (RC) among racial and ethnic minoritized populations with substance use disorders. This project will work closely with a community advisory board to inform every stage of the research process to leverage the expertise of community members, increase cultural validity, and aid the translation of findings.

Stephanie LaBedz, MD

Instructor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, UIC College of Medicine

Mentor Team: Lisa Sharp, BSN, MA, PhD, Professor, Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science, UIC College of Nursing

Dr. LaBedz is a physician-scientist in pulmonary and critical care medicine. She investigates racial differences in medication adherence among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), ascertains barriers and facilitators to COPD medication adherence, and identifies targets for behavioral interventions to improve adherence in disadvantaged persons with the disease.

Sara Kelly, PhD, MPH

Research Assistant Professor, Department of Research Services, University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria

Mentor Team: Niranjan Karnik, MD, PhD, Visiting Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, UIC College of Medicine

Dr. Kelly is a psychiatric epidemiologist by training and Research Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria. She joined the program to obtain mentorship in a mixed methods approach to obtain a deeper understanding of polysubstance use and treatment among adolescents.

Hema Krishna, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Department of Medicine, UIC College of Medicine

Mentor Team: Dawood Darbar, MBChB, MD, FACC, FAHA, FHRS, Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology Chief, Division of Cardiology, UIC College of Medicine

Dr. Krishna is a cardiology imaging faculty at the UIC College of Medicine and has developed her clinical and research focus in echocardiography, artificial intelligence (AI), and valvular heart disease. While in the program, she hopes to create and validate an AI model which accurately defines AS severity, first trained to expert cardiologist assessment, and subsequently trained to relevant clinical outcomes.

Elizabeth Papautsky, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences, UIC College of Applied Health Sciences

Mentor Team: Lisa Sharp, BSN, MA, PhD, Professor, Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science, UIC College of Nursing

Dr. Papautsky transitioned as a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences in the UIC College of Applied Health in 2020. Her career goal is to become an established independent researcher in low socioeconomic status breast cancer patient populations. While in the program, she aims to characterize both patient-caregiver and surgeon work of infection surveillance and co-design a culturally appropriate education and support tool prototype.