Assistant Professor, Division of Transplant Surgery.
Departmental Affiliate, Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics. Dr. Danielson is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Transplant Surgery, and a departmental affiliate in the Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at UIC. She received her PhD in Population Health, with a focus in Epidemiology, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and subsequently completed postdoctoral training in Endocrinology at the University of Chicago and Epidemiology & Biostatistics at UIC. Building upon her research on interrelationships between diabetes, bone, and sex hormones in women, her goal is to establish an independent research program in diabetes epidemiology and women’s health at UIC, initially focused on two interrelated and synergistic tracks: the bidirectional association between diabetes and bone and sex-based differences in islet transplantation. For the first aim, Dr. Danielson will describe the prevalence and etiology of sex-based differences in bone fragility due to type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes; and following islet (insulin-producing cells) transplantation to cure type 1 diabetes. In light of recent experimental evidence demonstrating lack of the bone protein osteocalcin leads to diabetes in mice, she will determine whether bone metabolism is prospectively associated with the disease course in humans with type 1 diabetes and islet transplantation outcomes; and if there are sex-based differences. For the second aim, Dr. Danielson will explore whether there are sex-based differences in islet function and clinical outcomes following islet transplant to cure type 1 diabetes. Islets grow during pregnancy and estrogen enhances their function. However, there have been no systematic comparisons of islet function in vitro and following transplant by sex of donor or recipient.
Dr. Danielson focuses on chronic diseases because they encompass major public health challenges, and diabetes and bone fragility are examples of chronic diseases with differences in prevalence and outcomes by sex. Elucidating potential sex-based differences is critical for individualized medicine in preventing, treating, and curing chronic diseases.
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
Dr. Bethany Everett is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Sociology at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2012. During her training at the University of Colorado, Dr. Everett served as a researcher at the Institute for Behavioral Sciences Population Program and was selected as Pre-Doctoral Fellow at the Fenway Center for Population Research in LGBT Health. Her R03-funded dissertation research focused on the social determinants of health disparities and emphasizes the synergistic impact of individual, interpersonal, and contextual factors for shaping health behaviors and outcomes among sexual minorities. Dr. Everett’s research has also received funding the National Science Foundation and the American Psychological Foundation. As a BIRCWH scholar, Dr. Everett will continue to investigate the role of social environments, discrimination, and gender expression on sexual minority women’s health behaviors and outcomes using two longitudinal data sets, the National Study of Adolescent Health and the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women.
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Sadia Haider is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and recently joined the UIC faculty in September 2011. Dr. Haider received her MD from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and her Masters in Public Health in maternal and child health at Harvard School of Public Health. She then completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Harvard Medical School in 2005 which was followed by a two year Fellowship in Contraceptive Research and Family Planning at the University of California, San Francisco. Prior to her arrival at UIC, Dr. Haider worked at BIDMC, Harvard Medical School where she was the Director of the Division of Family Planning and the Ryan residency program in Family Planning from 2007 to 2011.
Dr. Haider has received foundation funding to conduct research during her fellowship and as a junior faculty which has focused on the consequences of unplanned pregnancies in the U.S. and abroad. She has conducted research in Afghanistan evaluating contraceptive practices and decision-making amongst Afghan couples and evaluated the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Mexican abortion providers. She is currently a co-investigator on a qualitative study funded by Boston Children’s Hospital evaluating adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes and use of long-acting reversible contraception and the principal investigator on a study evaluating the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of primary care providers in relation to adolescent contraception.
During her time as a BIRCWH scholar, Dr. Haider plans to focus on the reproductive health disparities that affect adolescent women in the U.S. Her goal is to create effective strategies to prevent adolescent unintended pregnancy focusing on the complex interplay between the health care system, primary care providers and adolescent women’s perspective and behaviors. Dr. Haider plans to investigate adolescent females’ perceived barriers and enhancers in the prevention of unplanned pregnancies and provider’s perspectives on adolescent pregnancy prevention.
Assistant Professor, College of Medicine
Michelle A. Kominiarek, MD returned to UIC in September 2008 after being an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Indiana University. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology (2003) and fellowship training in Maternal-Fetal Medicine (2006) at UIC. She earned her medical degree at Rush Medical College in Chicago. At Indiana University, she was the Principal Investigator of a NICHD-sponsored Consortium on Safe Labor which generated a database of electronic obstetrical medical records from multiple sites. The purpose of the project was to characterize labor and delivery in a contemporary group of women experiencing current obstetrical clinical practices. Dr. Kominiarek’s interest in maternal obesity prompted her to further evaluate the impact of weight on delivery route and labor patterns. She is first author on one of the analysis from this project – “The Maternal Body Mass Index: A Strong Association with Delivery Route.” Her knowledge of maternal obesity is diverse and her focus to date has included surveys of patient knowledge regarding the risks of maternal obesity, publication of review articles including an American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Practice Bulletin on pregnancy after bariatric surgery, addressing the risk of cesarean in a large NICHD multi-centered study, and multiple “grand rounds” presentations regarding maternal obesity, its risks, and implications for clinical practice.
Amidst an epidemic of obesity in the United States, obesity among pregnant women has risen dramatically. The obstetrical patient population at UIC has an alarmingly high number of overweight and obese gravidas (63% based on 2009 data). Everyday we observe the tremendous morbidity that can occur as a result of obesity in our practice including preeclampsia, diabetes, a skyrocketing cesarean delivery rate, and infectious complications. Now as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UIC, Dr. Kominiarek proposes to tackle the problem of maternal obesity with two approaches: (1) Determine the association between morbidities unique to pregnancy (preeclampsia, cesarean delivery, post-term birth) and biomarkers (leptin and other adipokinins) and (2) Develop and pilot a specialized prenatal care program for obese patients at UIC to determine if it helps improve perinatal outcomes.
Assistant Professor, Department of Oral BiologyJulienne Rutherford is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oral Biology. She received her MA and PhD in Biological Anthropology from Indiana University in 2007, conducted a two-year predoctoral research internship at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in Anthropology and the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University in 2009, and is in her second year in a faculty position at UIC. The overarching goal of her research program is to develop a “womb-to-womb” approach to life history studies, finding links between the intrauterine environment experienced by a female fetus and the intrauterine experience that female provides her offspring later in life. Her specific focus is on the placenta as the mechanism that connects maternal physiology to the developing fetus in an intergenerational loop, creating an environment with lifelong and evolutionary consequences for health and reproduction. She is currently exploring how mechanisms of placental nutrient transfer impact reproductive function in women in the Philippines through an R03-funded study of placental morphology and metabolic function from pregnancies of native Philippine women who are part of a birth cohort that has been studied since their mothers were pregnant with them. This study (in collaboration with colleagues at Northwestern University, Wayne State University, and the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, Philippines) seeks to determine whether a mother’s own developmental experience shapes the placental transmission of nutrients to her offspring. Dr. Rutherford is also collaborating with colleagues at UIC to investigate mechanisms of placental invasiveness that may predispose women to postpartum hemorrhage. In addition to working on studies of human biology, Dr. Rutherford has ongoing projects devoted to placental biology and function in two species of nonhuman primates, common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) and vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops).
For more information about Dr. Rutherford's work in biological anthropology, please visit her blog.
Thasarat Vajaranant is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. She received her medical degree from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand in 1996. Since 1999, Dr. Vajaranant has been involved in research focusing on imaging and electrophysiology of the retina and optic nerve. She completed her ophthalmology residency in 2006 and glaucoma fellowship in 2007 at the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. In the fall of 2007, Dr. Vajaranant joined the faculty in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. During the first year as a new faculty member she received two prestigious awards from the American Glaucoma Society: Clinician-Scientist Award and Mentoring for Advancement of Physician Scientists. In addition, she won an award for the best paper presentation at the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2008. In 2009-2010, she has been named one of the Best Doctors in America as recognized by her peers. Dr. Vajaranant’s research focus has been broadened, and as a BIRCWH scholar, her research goal is to build a research program in women’s eye health. Specifically her goals are to determine gender difference in eye diseases and to identify women at risk as well as gender specific risk factors for blindness. Worldwide, blindness is more common in women, and glaucoma is one of major causes of irreversible blindness. Under the mentorship of Rohit Varma, MD, Ronald Hershow, MD and Jacob Wilensky, MD, Dr. Vajaranant is investigating gender difference in eye diseases and glaucoma using a database from the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study (LALES), a large population based study. In addition, she is examining the neuroprotective effect of female sex hormones, and studying the association between the decline in the female sex hormones with aging and the development of glaucoma and glaucoma progression. Under the mentorship of Mahnaz Shahidi, PhD, she will be investigating the effect of female sex hormones on the optic nerve head oxygenation in a glaucoma animal model.
