Recent achievements of Feinberg School of Medicine faculty and leaders
Murad Alam, MD, vice chair of the Department of Dermatology; chief of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery; and professor of Outcomes and Measurement Science, of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, and of Organ Transplantation, has been elected president-elect of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). He will officially hold the office of president for one year beginning in March 2026. As president, Alam will lead the world’s largest dermatologic society, representing more than 20,800 physicians who specialize in the diagnosis and medical, surgical, and cosmetic treatment of skin, hair, and nail conditions. He will also hold the same position for the American Academy of Dermatology Association, a sister organization to the AAD that focuses on government affairs, health policy, and practice information.
Debabrata Chakravarti, PhD, the Anna Lapham Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, vice chair for Translational Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and professor of Pharmacology, has been named a 2024 fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest general scientific society in the world. The 2024 class of AAAS Fellows includes 471 scientists, engineers, and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines, recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievement.
Jonathan Chen, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Pathology in the Division of Molecular Pathology, and, Waihay Wong, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Pathology, have been named recipients of the American Society of Clinical Investigation’s 2025 Young Physician-Scientist Award. The annual award recognizes physician-scientists who are early in their first faculty appointment and have made notable achievements in their research. Wong and Chen are among 50 physician-scientists nationwide to receive the award this year.
Allen Heinemann, PhD, professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and director of the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, has been awarded the 2025 Mentor of the Year Award by Feinberg’s Medical Faculty Council. Heinemann will officially receive his award at the 2025 Lewis Landsberg Research Day in September. Heinemann joined the faculty at Northwestern in 1985 after earning his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Kansas with a specialty focus in rehabilitation. For more than 40 years, he has led research focused on health services, psychosocial aspects of rehabilitation including substance use disorders, and measurement issues in rehabilitation. He has dedicated his career to advancing rehabilitation research and training programs, mentoring 58 postdoctoral fellows, 36 pre-doctoral fellows, and five Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residents.
Nilay Shah, ’14 MD, ’14 MPH, assistant professor of Cardiology, Preventive Medicine, and Medical Social Sciences, is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) 2025 Early Stage Investigator Lecture awardee. Shah presented his lecture “Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Asian Americans” on June 4. The award is given annually to early career prevention scientists who have made outstanding research contributions to their fields and are poised to become future leaders in prevention research.
Linda Suleiman, MD, ’17 GME, associate dean for Health Equity, associate professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and of Medical Education, and a founding organizer of the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University’s Health Equity Week, is the recipient of the 2025 J. Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society (JRGOS) Presidents Health Equity & Diversity Award. The award recognizes individuals who exemplify leadership in orthopaedic surgery, advance culturally sensitive care, demonstrate a commitment to diversity and inclusion, contribute to education, achieve clinical and academic excellence, drive innovation in orthopaedic practices, and engage in service and humanitarian efforts.
Katie Watson, JD, professor of Medical Education, of Medical Social Sciences in the Division of Determinants of Health, and of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was named a 2024 Hastings Center Fellow. Watson is among a group of more than 300 fellows who were recognized for their outstanding work in informing scholarship and public understanding of complex ethical issues in health, healthcare, science, and technology. She teaches medical ethics, humanities, and law to medical students at Feinberg and students in Northwestern’s Master of Arts in Medical Humanities and Bioethics program. She is a member of the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities, Center for Reproductive Science, and the Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM).
Jill Weissberg-Benchell, PhD, CDCES, professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, is the recipient of the 2025 American Diabetes Association (ADA) Lois Jovanovic Transformative Woman in Diabetes Award. This award recognizes a female professional in the diabetes field who has made outstanding contributions to diabetes research, clinical practice, diabetes education, public health, and/or other related disciplines.
Feng Yue, PhD, the Duane and Susan Burnham Professor of Molecular Medicine in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, has been inducted into the 2025 class of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows. Yue, who is also director of the Center for Advanced Molecular Analysis and founding director of the Center for Cancer Genomics at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, is one of the 172 engineers in the College of Fellows Class of 2025. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to medical and biological engineers, honoring the top 2 percent of engineers in these fields.
