Member Group: Internal Advisory Committee
Michael Stern
ChicagoCHEC Role: Planning & Evaluation Core Co-Leader
Organization: Northeastern Illinois University
Michael Stern is the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Research at NEIU where he provides leadership and oversight for research, creative activities, grant projects, and compliance related to Human Subjects Research and Laboratory Animal Care and Use. He has been a professor of Biology or Genetics for more than twenty years and is a developmental biologist with extensive background in basic cancer research. Prior to joining NEIU, Michael was Director of Admissions and Director of Graduate Studies of the Genetics Graduate Program at Yale University School of Medicine, and Associate Dean of the College of Graduate Studies at the University of Central Florida. Michael is committed to equity in education and cancer health outcomes, and to strengthening and expanding the research enterprise at NEIU through effective collaboration.
David Cella
ChicagoCHEC Role: Planning & Evaluation Core Co-Leader
Organization: Northwestern University
David Cella is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Head of the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He is also the Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control Research, responsible for the development and coordination of the Lurie Cancer Center’s two research programs in Cancer Prevention and Cancer Control, and for fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and inter-programmatic interactions within the division. A top researcher on how to measure outcomes among cancer patients and the quality of life for patients in medical clinical trials, he has authored more than 300 publications in the area of quality of life measurement in clinical trials and clinical practice.
Martha Daviglus
ChicagoCHEC Role: Planning & Evaluation Core Co-Leader
Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Martha Daviglus is a Professor of Medicine, Director of the Institute for Minority Health Research, and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research at UIC. Her research activities have concentrated on the epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular diseases and minority health disparities, for which she has received numerous grants and awards. Martha has been involved in investigating associations of traditional cardiovascular and nutritional risk factors with long-term coronary and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Dr. Daviglus’ other research interests focus on the benefits in older age, in terms of health care costs and health-related quality of life, of favorable (low risk) cardiovascular risk profile earlier in life, and on women’s health. Dr. Daviglus is the principal investigator on a number of longitudinal studies, including on the Hispanic Community Health Study/ Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) Chicago Field Center, the Chicago Healthy Aging Study, and the UIC Cohort of Patients, Family, and Friends. She also serves as Director of a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Research Training Program on Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Prevention.
Moira Stuart
ChicagoCHEC Role: Community Engagement Core Co-Leader
Organization: Northeastern Illinois University
Moira Stuart is Associate Professor in the Department of Health, Physical Education and Exercise Science at NEIU.She has been a leader in expanding the research efforts among NEIU students and faculty to address insufficient research enrichment opportunities for scientists in underserved communities engaged in cancer research. Educated as an exercise scientist, shehas examined the psychosocial predictors and consequences of children’s physical activity participation. She has served as an Exercise Science program director and department Chairperson for the Health, Physical Education and Exercise Science Programs at NEIU. Moira has championed the curriculum development and innovation through the introduction of a first of its kind health disparities course at NEIU within the community health curriculum. She has also coordinated and facilitated several campus wide cancer health disparities workshops.
Christina Ciecierski
ChicagoCHEC Role: Principal Investigator, Planning & Evaluation Core Co-Leader, Research Project PI
Organization: Northeastern Illinois University
Christina Ciecierski is a Professor of Economics at NEIU. Her research focuses on the impacts of price and policy variables on consumer lifestyles, particularly in the area of young adult substance use. The course of her career has centered on promoting health equity among young adults, immigrants, populations of low socio-economic status (SES) in the state of Illinois as well as populations native to less and mid-developed countries in the world. Christina’s expertise, leadership, and motivation stem from a productive university teaching career, a strong record of research in the areas of economics and public health and collaborations with local, state and international health organizations and agencies of policy planning. In 2013, she was elected President of the Illinois Economics Association. Since joining NEIU in 2007, she served as Academic Department Head (Coordinator, 2008-2011) for the Economics Department and received two Faculty Excellence Awards for Research (2009) and Service (2014). Christina received her PhD in economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Rob Winn
ChicagoCHEC Role: Principal Investigator
Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Rob Winn is Professor of Medicine at UIC, Director of the UI Cancer Center and Associate Vice-President for Community-Based Practice within the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System (UI Health). Rob is a nationally renowned translational research clinician-scientist. As Director of the UI Cancer Center, he has developed a focus on going beyond the “bench to bedside” model, which has existed for over fifty years to create a “bench to community” model. Dr. Winn is a seasoned collaborative partner to execute the ChicagoCHEC mission. He also has helped mentor dozens of junior faculty and postdoctoral fellows who currently have independent research careers. Prior to joining UIC, he has increased the scientific workforce of underserved populations in his role as Associate and Assistant Dean of Admissions and the Vice Chair of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Colorado Denver (UCD) School of Medicine. Rob completed his medical degree at the University of Michigan Medical School, internal medicine residency at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, and fellowship in pulmonary critical care medicine at University of Colorado Denver.
Melissa Simon
ChicagoCHEC Role: Principal Investigator
Organization: Northwestern University
Melissa Simon is the George H. Gardner Professor of Clinical Gynecology, Vice Chair of Clinical Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, a Northwestern Medicine physician, and co-program leader for cancer control and survivorship at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. She leads a diverse portfolio of research and directly impacts local, state, and national level thought and policy regarding inclusion and health equity. Her research creates transdisciplinary partnerships focused on improving vulnerable populations’ health and their interface with the health care system. She extends beyond academic institution collaborations and includes immigrant and racially/ethnically diverse communities, minority serving public institutions, local community clinics and hospitals, national academic institutions, and state and national level policy-making bodies. Melissa supports a large group of mentees that span from high school-aged students through junior faculty. She has been recognized with numerous leadership and mentoring awards, including the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Mentor of the Year Award and the Institute of Medicine of Chicago 100th Anniversary Centennial Scholar Award. Raised in Detroit, Michigan, she completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of Chicago, her medical degree at Rush Medical College, her residency at Yale University, and her fellowship in family planning at Northwestern University.