UIC OBGYN

Congratulations to Liese, Kylea Laina Phd, RN, CNM, and Erica, Hinz MD, MPH, for being one of the recipients of the IDPH Office of Women’s Health & Family Services awards – April 2024. Part of this program the UIC – College of Nursing in collaboration with the Department of OBGYN at UIC College of Medicine will establish a training program to expose new APRNs to abortion care through the Reproductive Advocacy and Diversity in Advanced Nursing Training (RADIANT) Fellowship.

Congratulations to UIH for being redesignated a Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care. This designation is a national recognition of healthcare centers that demonstrate excellence in delivering quality maternity specialty care in a cost efficient fashion.

UI Health Redesignated Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care | UI Health (uillinois.edu)

Residency Program - Class of 2028

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Illinois at Chicago is pleased to welcome our newest members, the newly matched Class of 2028!

Congratulations to Bani Medegan Fagla, our MD PhD (MSTP) candidate, for successfully defending her PhD Thesis part of GEMS: Integrative and Translational Physiology concentration
A warm thank you to the members of Bani’s Thesis Committee members.

From left to right:
Dr. Almudena Veiga Lopez, Dr. Dorothy Sojka (Loyola), Bani Medegan Fagla, Dr. Irina Buhimschi, Dr. Carlos Stocco, Dr. Olusola Ajilore and Dr. Leon Tai

Congratulations to Drs. Lopa Pandya, Erica Hinz and Jonah Fleisher for wining the 2023 Department for OBGYN Rising Star and Faculty of the Year awards, respectively.

Successful conclusion of the 15th Annual Scommegna Symposium: Pearls for Practice in OBGYN held October 27, 2023. Thank you to all who participated and presented at the symposium. All the talks were well received by the audience.
https://chicago.medicine.uic.edu/annualconference2023/

Dr. Jonah Fleisher was featured in the NYT article describing his role as Co-director as the CARLA program in coordinating the care of mothers seeking complex family planning service across the state of Illinois. Thank you for your focus and devotion to women’s health.

As Abortion Access Shrinks, Hospitals Fill in the Gaps Hospitals are playing a growing role in abortion access, as pregnant women with certain health issues travel to seek care that clinics can’t provide.

The Perinatal Research Lab (https://chicago.medicine.uic.edu/departments/academic-departments/obstetrics-and-gynecology/research/buhimschi-lab/) at UIC is seeking a Research Technologist to perform a) PCR, Immunohistochemistry, b) Western blotting, c) Immunoprecipitation , d) RNA/DNA extraction , e) ELISA. Must have experience working on mice. For full consideration apply at: https://uic.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/5750?c=uic

Research Technologist II - Obstetrics & Gynecology Assist the Principal Investigator in conducting research focused on issues relevant to perinatal medicine, especially those related to elucidating mec...

Congratulations to our incoming fellows for 2024!! Welcome to UIC

Congratulations to our residents for a wonderful fellowship match!!

Congratulations to Dr. Irina Buhimschi for being elected to the UIC Provost's Faculty Equity Committee!!

We are very proud the new coordination service for hospital-based abortion care (CARLA) program in IL was announced at UIC by Governor Pritzker, and is coordinated by Dr. Jonathan Fleisher (UIC) in collaboration with Dr. Laura Laursen. https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.26807.html

UIC is recruiting for an Obstetrician and Gynecologist (Open Rank Faculty) position. Interested applicants should submit applications via the UIC jobs portal:

Obstetrician and Gynecologist (Open Rank Faculty) Position SummaryUIC has a large medical school and OB/GYN faculty are actively involved with teaching of medical students, residents and fellows. In a...

Congratulations to Dr. Shannon MacLaughlan for being elected to serve along with another 19 representatives as a member of the state of Illinois' Special Commission on Gynecologic Cancers. This Committee is charged with key tasks including establishing a mechanism to ascertain the prevalence of gynecologic cancers in the State of IL, determining how to best effectuate early diagnosis and treatment and identifying the best practices for closing disparities in outcomes for gynecologic cancer patients. This is a well-deserved recognition for Dr. Shannon MacLaughlan.

We are announcing that the ACGME has confirmed Dr. Wheatley’s appointment as OBGYN Residency Program Director at UIC. She will be assisted by Dr. Alexis Braverman and Dr. Catherine Ford as Associate Program Directors. Congratulations and keep climbing!!!!! We are very proud of you all!

Congratulations to Dr. William Ackerman for having his manuscript entitled : “Transcriptomics-based subphenotyping of the human placenta enabled by weighted correlation network analysis in early-onset preeclampsia with and without fetal growth restriction.", accepted for publication in the Journal of Hypertension. This work provides evidence of large molecular heterogeneity in the placenta of fetuses with FGR. Molecular subphenotype consistent with a glycolytic metabolic shift occurs more frequently but not universally in placental specimens of women with early onset preeclampsia and FGR.

For a pre-publication reading of the article please access: on medRxiv:

Transcriptomics-based subphenotyping of the human placenta enabled by weighted correlation network analysis in early-onset preeclampsia with and without fetal growth restriction Background Placental disorders contribute to pregnancy complications, including preeclampsia (PE) and fetal growth restriction (FGR), but debate regarding their specific pathobiology persists. Our objective was to apply transcriptomics with weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA) to furth...

Congratulations to Dr. William Ackerman for having his manuscript entitled : “Transcriptomics-based subphenotyping of the human placenta enabled by weighted correlation network analysis in early-onset preeclampsia with and without fetal growth restriction.", accepted for publication in Hypertension. This work provides evidence of large molecular heterogeneity in the placenta of fetuses with FGR. Molecular subphenotype consistent with a glycolytic metabolic shift occurs more frequently but not universally in placental specimens of women with early onset preeclampsia and FGR.

For a pre-publication reading of the article please access: on medRxiv: https://medrxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2023.03.08.23286998v1

Congratulations to Dr. Shannon MacLaughlan for co-authoring the JAMA Network Open, March 10 manuscript entitled: “Mediation of Racial and Ethnic Inequities in the Diagnosis of Advanced-Stage Cervical Cancer by Insurance Status”. This analysis demonstrated insurance status was a substantial mediator of racial and ethnic inequities in advanced-stage cervical cancer diagnoses. Expanding access to care and improving the quality of services rendered for uninsured patients may significantly improve the quality of life and survivability of this population.

For a full read of the article:

Abuse Notice

Congratulations to Dr. Erica Hinz for co-authoring the JAMA, March 21 manuscript entitled: “Early vs Interval Postpartum Intrauterine Device Placement: A Randomized Clinical Trial”. This trial demonstrated early IUD placement at 2 to 4 weeks postpartum compared with 6 to 8 weeks postpartum was noninferior for complete expulsion.

Many thanks Erica to you and your team for providing us with scientific evidence in this very relevant area of clinical research.

For a full read of the article:

Early vs Interval Postpartum Intrauterine Device Placement: A Randomized Clinical Trial - PubMed ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03462758.

Congratulations to all our candidates who matched at UIC Department of OBGYN Residency Program! We are looking forward to continuing our journey together during the next 4 years of your residency and beyond! We are very proud of you!

Dr. Alexis Braverman received the 2022 Department of OBGYN Rising Start Award, which is designed to acknowledge the value of exemplary skills, leadership, creativity, kindness, resilience and other intangible aspects of the work needed to deliver exceptional care to our patients. We can think of no person at UIC OBGYN who better satisfies these criteria for the 2021-2022 academic year.
It is not surprising to anyone that Alexis is a star. For all what you do, thank you! You make us proud!

Welcome to Dr. Stephanie Chen, who joined our Academic Specialists group. Dr. Stephanie Chen is passionate about practicing general OBGYN and complex family planning. Stephanie will be a constant presence at our University Village office. We wish Stephanie the best as she makes a smooth transition at UIC – thank you again for joining us!

Congratulations to our chief residents, Dhanu Thiyang, Charlotte ter Haar, Nada Hussein, Keemi Erme and Sarah Edwards on matching in Global Health (Univ of Michigan), Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (University of California -Irvine), Gynecologic-Oncology (Albert Einstein College of Medicine Montefiore), Complex Family Planning (University of Washington) and Maternal Fetal Medicine (Mt. Sinai – New York), respectively.

We are thrilled Dr. Meera Thakkar matched in our MFM fellowship program. Meera obtained her MD degree from University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in 2016. She further continued at UIC as Research Associate for one more year (2015-2016) after which she completed her residency training at Mount Sinai. Meera will join our MFM division July 1, 2023. Welcome back, Meera!

Congratulations to Dr. Irina A. Buhimschi, for being selected at the 2022 annual meeting as the Perinatal Research Society (PRS) next President Elect! PRS is comprised of a selected group of obstetricians, neonatologists and basic science researchers, who through their interaction attempt to provide clinical and research answers in the area of perinatal medicine and developmental biology

Congratulations to Dr. Erica Hinz for being elected as a member of the College Committee on Continuing Medical Education. Dr. Hinz has worked diligently at UIC OBGYN to promote long-ranging education for healthcare trainees and professionals alike.

Congratulations to our wonderful group of Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM), Nicole Camardo, Chelsia Love, Karie E Stewart, Cythnia Jacinthe, Amber Rideout, Crystal Stamps, and Chenyi Zheng who completed Melanated Group Midwifery Care training (MGMC) for the PCORI research grant. The goal of this research is to examine whether a culturally adapted, patient-centered maternity care model, attenuates the impact of racial bias on Black pregnant and postpartum women. Recruitment is underway and the first group session is to start in September 2022.

Drs. Wheatley, Goba, Gonzales and Gokhale have personified the Department of OBGYN UI Health mission through their exceptional and compassionate clinical care. Congratulations to all of you for being designated the FY22 – Q4 Top Box Docs. This quarterly institutional recognition is awarded to the physicians that are ranked the highest by their patients. The OBGYN department is very proud of you!

Congratulations to Dr. Ayesha Hasan! Dr. Hasan was recently named the Medical Director of Perinatal Diabetes Clinic and Program at University of Illinois at UIC OBGYN. Since her arrival, our high-risk pregnancy program registered significant success in improving medical care for cases of diabetes in pregnancy. This personalized program helps providers and patients meet their accessibility and health care needs. Come to UIC!

Welcome to Dr. Nathan King, who joined our faculty in August. Dr. King is a fellowship-trained minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon. Dr. King specializes in
the medical and surgical treatment of complex gynecologic conditions.