I am a practicing Gastroenterologist with a clinical focus in hereditary GI diseases. My research centers on the mechanisms of GI epithelial cell growth and motility and specifically the modulation of growth suppressive and pro-migratory signaling by TGFβ family members. Previous work from my lab has demonstrated the importance of the primary receptor of the growth suppressive TGFβ family member activin in GI epithelia. Currently, my group investigates canonical and non-canonical activin signaling including activation of AKT and downstream targets enhancing epithelial to mesenchymal transition and cell migration. In addition, we have explored their respective effects on colon epithelia and the surrounding stroma. We have also brought our expertise in activin signaling to the problem of acute pancreatitis and observed that worse disease is associated with elevated serum activin. In mouse models of acute pancreatitis, blocking activin with a neutralizing antibody decreased disease severity without reducing pancreas regeneration. As the Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington, I am committed to promoting translational research. I also directly interact with the GI fellows while being on clinical service and through educational activities. I have developed a research team leveraging the collection of clinical data from acute pancreatitis patients (Papachristou and Yazici), manipulating murine models of acute pancreatitis to understand the potential for translation of activin inhibition to the clinical setting (Jung and Bialkowska laboratories) and delving into the molecular mechanisms of activin in acute pancreatitis to develop new clinical targets (Jung laboratories). Under my leadership at UIC, we have competed for and been awarded National Pancreas Foundation Designation. My clinical practice allows us to formulate clinically relevant questions with near future impact as in the proposed studies. My role as Department Chair while involved, permits me to leverage resources to support translational studies in my Department as well as protect time for my own studies.

Dr. Lewis, the John Murray Professor of Orthopaedic Oncology, attended Yale University and graduated with a degree in Psychobiology.  She then matriculated at Harvard Medical School, graduating with honors. Dr. Lewis completed her Orthopaedic training at the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program in Boston, MA and her fellowship in Musculoskeletal Oncology at the University of Chicago. In 2000, Dr. Lewis joined The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center.  She matriculated through the ranks and in 2010, she was named the Dr. John Murray Professor in Orthopaedic Oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. She was the first African American woman to be awarded the MD Anderson Faculty Achievement Award in Patient Care and in 2014 she was named the inaugural Chair of Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Lewis is very active nationally and internationally within Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Oncology. She is a strong advocate of education, and as such, served as the Chair of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) Education Committee, Chair of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery (AAOS) Instructional Course Lecture Tumor Subcommittee, Chair of the Musculoskeletal Oncology Content Committee for the AAOS Council on Education and Chair of the International Society of Limb Salvage (ISOLS) Education Committee. 
In 2014-2015 Dr. Lewis served as President of the Western Orthopaedic Association.  She has served on the board of directors of the American Orthopaedic Association, the AAOS, the Western Orthopaedic Association,  the MSTS and ISOLS.  She is currently serving a Chair of the AAOS Membership Council. Dr. Lewis’ expertise is with treating both children and adults with bone and soft tissue sarcomas of the pelvis and extremities. In 2011 she started the Multidisciplinary Pelvic Sarcoma Program at MD Anderson Cancer Center that not only addresses the clinical needs of this unique group of patients but works to improve both the clinical and functional outcome of patients with pelvic sarcoma.   Her research works to investigate the gene functions tied to osteosarcoma and the development of treatments that might interrupt this process. Married for 29 years, Dr. Lewis is the mother of two wonderful 21-year-old twins.

Dr. Michelle Caird is the Harold W. and Helen L. Gehring Professor and Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Michigan. She received an engineering degree from The University of Michigan, followed by medical school at The University of Michigan where she earned Alpha Omega Alpha honors. Dr. Caird completed her internship and residency in orthopaedic surgery at The University of Michigan, and fellowship training in Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Caird is Board Certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Dr. Caird joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 2004 at the completion of her fellowship. Clinically, she is a leading expert on multiple pediatric orthopaedic conditions, treating children with fractures, spinal deformity and unequal or bowed legs. She is the director of the U-M osteogenesis imperfecta multidisciplinary clinic, which cares for dozens of children and adults with the genetic disorder each year.

Dr. Caird is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) and represented POSNA in Northern Europe as one of the 2012 POSNA Traveling Fellows; where she studied and taught at major European centers.  Dr. Caird is one of a handful of women in the U.S. to be appointed chair of an orthopaedic surgery department.

Dr. Constance R. Chu is Professor and Vice Chair Research, in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Stanford University. She is also Director of the Joint Preservation Center and Chief of Sports Medicine at the VA Palo Alto. Previously, she was the Albert Ferguson Endowed Chair and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. She is a clinician-scientist who is both principal investigator of several projects funded by the National Institutes of Health and who has been recognized as a Castle-
Connelly/US News and World Report “Top Doctor” in Orthopedic Surgery as well as on Becker’s list of Top Knee Surgeons in the United States. Her clinical practice focuses on the knee: primarily restoration and reconstruction of the ACL, menisci and cartilage. She graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School.