Illinois Medicine

improving the health outcomes for vulnerable populations in racially and ethnically diverse nearby communities. Daviglus ar- rives from Northwestern University, where she had been professor of preventive medicine and medicine (geriatrics) and principal investiga- tor on the NIH-sponsored Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. At the College of Medicine, Daviglus will encourage collabora- tion among researchers working to improve the health of underserved populations, establishing the institute as the focus for studies on the epidemiology and prevention of asthma, obesity, diabetes, hyper- tension, heart disease and other high-risk health problems. She will lead the institute in developing new methods of prevention and treat- ment to improve health care qual- ity and reduce health disparities. Daviglus received an MD from the University of St. Simon School of Medicine, an MPH in epidemiology and biostatistics from the Univer- sity of South Florida and a PhD in epidemiology from the University of Illinois. Martha Daviglus ERICKSON NAMED ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR FACULTY AFFAIRS Timothy B. Erickson, MD, has been named associate dean for faculty affairs at the College of Medicine after 20 years as a faculty member at the University of Illinois. In this new role, he will take on such responsibilities as faculty appointment, promo- tion, tenure and the development of mentoring programs for junior faculty. Erickson will continue to serve as director of the Center for Global Health, and he will bring the leadership skills gained during former stints as interim head of the department of emergency medicine and chief of the division of medical toxicol- ogy. A recipient of Health Resources and Services Administration grants related to global preparedness and bioterrorism, Erickson has published more than 120 book chapters, abstracts and journal articles as well as given more than 100 invited lectures related to emergency medicine, toxicology and wilderness/expedition medicine. He received the College of Medicine's Faculty of the Year Award in 2008 and the American College of Emergency Physicians Teaching Award in 2003 and Speaker of the Year Award in 1997. Erickson is a fellow of ACEP, the American College of Medical Toxicology, American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and the National Geographic Explorers Club. Timothy B. Erickson SWEISS APPOINTED ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE Nadera J. Sweiss, MD, has joined the College of Medicine as an associate professor of medicine in the sections of rheumatology and pulmonary medicine. She will direct the Cold Hand Clinic and serve as rheumatology director of the Sar- coidosis and Scleroderma Transla- tional Advanced Research Program. She also has joined the sarcoidosis team at the Insti- tute for Personal- ized Respiratory Medicine, led by Joe G.N. "Skip" Garcia, MD, which is dedi- cated to finding the causes and identifying novel therapies to treat this enigmatic and refractory disease. Sweiss sees a variety of patients with autoim- mune disease, and she is principal investigator of clinical trials focusing Nadera J. Sweiss on finding treatments when disorders fail to respond to traditional therapies. Her recent scholarship has examined how translational sarcoidosis research might bridge basic science and clinical research to provide the best patient care. SLAUCH ELECTED MICROBIOLOGY FELLOW, SELECTED AS UNIVERSITY SCHOLAR WALDEN INSTALLED AS ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION William E. Walden William E. Walden, PhD, has become the College of Medicine's first-ever associate dean for diversity and inclu- sion. He will work to increase the diversity of resident and fellowship programs across all College of Medicine sites, designing, coordinating, implementing and evaluating efforts to diversify the academic pipeline. A faculty member in the department of microbiology and immunology since receiving his PhD in molecular biology from Washington University in St. Louis in 1987, Walden performs research in cellular iron regulation and iron-related gene expression in eukaryotes. He has served as director of the University of Illinois at Chicago's Office of Graduate Diversity Programs and as special assis- tant to the Provost for Diversity, and he has been a member and co-chair of the UIC Campus Promotion and Tenure Committee. Walden established and directed the Bridge to the Doctorate program, securing National Science Foundation funding from the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participa- tion, through which he increased the numbers of underrepresented minorities in PhD programs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Lastly, Walden has served as a reviewer on a number of national com- mittees including the Leukemia Research Foundation and federal agencies like the National Institutes for Health, National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Jim Slauch, PhD, profes- sor of micro- biology and director of the Medical Scholars Program, has received two recent honors: election as an Academy Fellow to the American Academy of Microbiology, and selection as a University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. His peer-elected ap- pointment to the American Academy of Microbiology came as a nod to his research on the pathogenic contami- nation of salmonella. Shortly there- after, he received a letter from the chancellor, Phyllis Wise, PhD, making official his appointment as one of only six University Scholars, in recognition of his work in education, research and service. The distinction provides a three-year, $10,000 grant. Jim Slauch ILLINOIS MEDICINE | 11

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