On
-
Fellow Awards & Notable Activity
2025 IDWeek Travel Grant - Samuel Starke, MD
Samuel Starke, Keziah Thomas, Ronald Lubelchek. “Short-Course Tuberculosis Preventive Therapy in a high-migration setting: experience from suburban Cook County, Illinois”. Podium presentation at the Cook County Health Research Symposium—Chicago (May 1, 2025). Abstract accepted for oral presentation at ID Week 2025 (October 20, 2025), session: TB and Beyond: Innovations in Treatment, Resistance, and Real-World Reach.
2025 IDWeek Travel Grant - Hannakate Lichota, MD
Candidozyma (Candida) auris in the United States: Insights from the SHEA Research Network with Dr Sansom, Dr Medernach, Dr Hayden, McKenzi King and Lahari Thotapalli
- 2025 Infectious Diseases Society of America’s Fellows Community of Practice Member - Jahanavi Ramakrishna, MD
- 2025 Top Featured Poster Abstract at the SHEA Spring 2025 Conference - Christine Lucky, MD
Poster presentation: Lucky CW, Thotapalli L, Rusie LK, et al. Impact of Clostridioides difficile Admission Screening in the Hematology-Oncology Unit on Infection Rates and Symptomatic Testing. Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Spring Conference 2025. April 2025; Championsgate, FL.
- 2024 Daniel J Hirsch Scholarship, MIDC - Hannakate Lichota, MD
- 2024 Daniel J Hirsch Scholarship, MIDC - Malika Gill, MD
- 2024 Daniel J Hirsch Scholarship, MIDC - Emily Adochio, MD
- 2019-2020 ACTG Minority HIV Investigator Mentoring Program Awardee - Hemil Gonzalez, MD
- 2019 IDWeek Travel Grant - Sarah Sansom, DO
- 2019 IDWeek Travel Grant - Aamir Kazi, MBBS
- 2019 IDWeek Travel Grant - Laura Hernandez Guarin, MD
- 2018 RUMC Fellow Teacher of the Year - Andrew Simms, MD
- 2018 IDWeek Oral Presentation- Teppei Shimasaki, MD
- 2018 IDWeek Travel Grant - Teppei Shimasaki, MD
- 2018 IDWeek Robert C. Moellering Trainee Award - Teppei Shimaski, MD
- 2018 IDWeek Young Investigator Award - Kyle Popovich, MD
- 2018 RUMC ID Magnanimous Fellow Award - Meredith Coyle, MD
- 2018 SHEA Jonathan Freeman Scholarship - Teppei Shimasaki, MD
- 2017 IDWeek Travel Grant - Hemil Gonzalez
- 2015 AST Fellows Symposium Travel Grant - Yoona Rhee, MD
- 2014 IDWeek Travel Grant - Yoona Rhee, MD
* Data are incomplete before 2018
-
Fellow Publications and Presentations
Papers / Case Reports
- Accepted for publication – August 2025. Samuel Starke, Graeme Forrest. Intracellular Pneumococcal Disease in an Asplenic Patient. New England Journal of Medicine – Images in Clinical Medicine.
- Starke SJ, He Z, Hollamby R, Moloantoa T, Abraham PM, Manabe YC, Hoffmann CJ, Variava E, Martinson NA. Advanced HIV disease and 30-day mortality among hospitalized adults with virally suppressed HIV in South Africa. AIDS. 2025 Sep 18. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000004336. PMID: 40965206.
- Lucky CW, Kelly BJ, Kwon JH, Woodworth MH, Medernach RL. Microbiome Therapeutics for Clostridioides difficile Infection. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2025 Aug 11:S0891-5520(25)00070-4. doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2025.07.007. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40796472; PMCID: PMC12435572.
- Lichota H, Bhaimia E, Forrest G, Moore NM.0.Severe Saprochaete capitata fungemia presenting as micafungin breakthrough hepatosplenic lesions in an immunocompromised patient: case report. ASM Case Rep0:e00071-25. https://doi.org/10.1128/asmcr.00071-25
- Shankaran S, Adochio E, Petrak R, Goldenberg B, Herald F, Lunn C, Hodgson H, Won S. An inpatient antimicrobial stewardship team driven penicillin allergy delabeling protocol for minimal and low-risk penicillin allergic patients. Antimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol. 2025 Feb 17;5(1):e54. doi: 10.1017/ash.2025.7. PMID: 40026768; PMCID: PMC11869059.
- Gill, M; Adochio, E.; Forrest, G. A Case of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in a Young Patient With Rheumatoid Arthritis. Priv. Pract. Infect. Dis., 2024, 4(3): 7; doi: 10.55636/PPID4030007.
- Jung JH, Bhaimia E, Reau N. Use of tecovirimat for mpox infection followed by JYNNEOS vaccination postinfection in a liver transplant recipient. Transpl Infect Dis. 2023;25(3):e14030. PMID: 36864644 doi: 10.1111/tid.14030
- Trubin M, Eichinger SE, Abraham A, Shankaran S. A Rare Case of Locally Contracted Cutaneous Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Cureus. 2023;15(6):e40854. Published 2023 Jun 23. doi:10.7759/cureus.40854
- Abraham A, Moore N, Sansom SE. When dyspnea is a Hickam's Dictum. IDCases. 2023;32:e01786. Published 2023 May 3. doi:10.1016/j.idcr.2023.e01786
- Hua MJ, Gonakoti S, Shariff R, Corpuz C, Acosta RAH, Chang H, Asemota I, Gobbi E, Rezai K. Prevalence and Characteristics of Long COVID 7-12 Months After Hospitalization Among Patients From an Urban Safety-Net Hospital: A Pilot Study. AJPM Focus. 2023 Sep;2(3):100091. doi: 10.1016/j.focus.2023.100091. Epub 2023 Mar 24. PMID: 37131536; PMCID: PMC10036151.
- Jung JH, Cozzi F, Forrest GN. Using antibiotics wisely. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2023 Dec 1;36(6):462-472. doi: 10.1097/QCO.0000000000000973. Epub 2023 Sep 21. PMID: 37732791.
- Dbeibo L, Lucky CW, Fadel WF, Sadowski J, Beeler C, Kelley K, Williams J, Webb D, Kara A. Two-step algorithm-based Clostridioides difficile testing as a tool for antibiotic stewardship. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2023 Jun;29(6):798.e1-798.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2023.02.008. Epub 2023 Feb 19. PMID: 36804907.
- Farooq H, Shankaran S. 1402. Expand accessibility of monoclonal antibody in COVID-19 among different ethnicities and races. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2022 Dec 15;9(Suppl 2):ofac492.1231. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofac492.1231. PMCID: PMC9752574.
- Huhn G, Poorbaugh J, Zhang L, Beasley S, Nirula A, Brothers J, Welbel S, Wilson J, Gillani S, Weber KM, Morack R, Keckler K, Benschop RJ. COVID-19 symptom relationship to antibody response and ACE2 neutralization in recovered health systems employees before and after mRNA BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine. PLoS One. 2022 Sep 9;17(9):e0273323. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273323. PMID: 36083883; PMCID: PMC9462709.
- Bhaimia E, Jung JH, Chan EL, Shah NN, Santos CAQ. Breakthrough Hepatitis B Virus Infection in a Liver Transplant Recipient on Lamivudine Prophylaxis for Donor Hepatitis B Core Antibody Seropositivity: A Review of Practices to Prevent De Novo Hepatitis B Virus Infection After Transplant. Clin Liver Dis (Hoboken). 2021;18(1):22-25. Published 2021 Aug 30. doi:10.1002/cld.1102
- Han A, Rodriguez TE, Beck ET, Relich RF, Udeoji DU, Petrak R, Chundi VV. Persistent SARS-CoV-2 infectivity greater than 50 days in a case series of allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplant recipients. Curr Probl Cancer Case Rep. 2021 Mar;3:100057. doi: 10.1016/j.cpccr.2021.100057. Epub 2021 Jan 16. PMID: 34308401; PMCID: PMC7834336.
- Kim DY, Lin MY, Jennings C, Li H, Jung JH, Moore NM, Ghinai I, Black SR, Zaccaro DJ, Brofman J, Hayden MK; CDC Prevention Epicenter Program. Duration of replication-competent SARS-CoV-2 shedding among patients with severe or critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Clin Infect Dis. 2022 May 24:ciac405. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac405. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35607802; PMCID: PMC9213867.
- Santos, A.C., Varughese, C.A.; Shankaran, S. Something Odd and Something New: A Case of Shewanella Putrefaciens Peritonitis and Bacteremia Treated with Intraperitoneal Cefepime. Priv. Pract. Infect. Dis., 2021, 1(2): 6; doi: 10.35995/ppid1020006.
- Wallace J, Gonzalez H, Rajan R, Narasipura SD, Virdi AK, Olali AZ, Naqib A, Arbieva Z, Maienschein-Cline M, Al-Harthi L. Anti-HIV Drugs Cause Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Monocyte-Derived Macrophages. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2022 Apr 19;66(4):e0194121. doi: 10.1128/aac.01941-21. Epub 2022 Mar 16. PMID: 35293780; PMCID: PMC9017340.
- Sansom SE, Logan LK, Green SJ, Moore NM, Hayden MK. Whole-genome sequencing for neonatal intensive care unit outbreak investigations: Insight and lessons learned. Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology 2021;1(1), E2. doi:10.1017/ash.2021.161
- Bhaimia E, Jung JH, Chan EL, Shah NN, Santos CAQ. Breakthrough Hepatitis B Virus Infection in a Liver Transplant Recipient on Lamivudine Prophylaxis for Donor Hepatitis B Core Antibody Seropositivity: A Review of Practices to Prevent De Novo Hepatitis B Virus Infection After Transplant. Journal of Clinical Liver Disease 2021 Aug 30;18(1):22-25 https://aasldpubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/cld.1102
- Kazi AS, Hart A, Rajakumar, Janardhan S, Dehghan-Paz I, Rhee Y. Primary Epstein-Barr Virus Infection with Marked Cholestasis, Warm Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia and Pancytopenia. Accepted for publication in Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice July 2020
- Santos CAQ, Rhee Y, Czapka MT, Kazi AS, Proia LA. Make Sure You Have a Safety Net: Updates in the Prevention and Management of Infectious Complications in Stem Cell Transplant Recipients. J Clin Med. 2020 Mar 21;9(3):865 doi: 10.3390/jcm9030865. PMCID: PMC7141503.
Oral Presentations
- Samuel Starke, Keziah Thomas, Ronald Lubelchek. “Short-Course Tuberculosis Preventive Therapy in a high-migration setting: experience from suburban Cook County, Illinois”. Podium presentation at the Cook County Health Research Symposium—Chicago (May 1, 2025). Abstract accepted for oral presentation at ID Week 2025 (October 20, 2025), session: TB and Beyond: Innovations in Treatment, Resistance, and Real-World Reach.
- Candidozyma (Candida) auris in the United States: Insights from the SHEA Research Network Dr Lichota with Dr Sansom, Dr Medernach, Dr Hayden, McKenzi King and Lahari Thotapalli
- Lucky CW, Thotapalli L, Rusie LK, et al. Impact of Clostridioides difficile Admission Screening on Subsequent Infections among Hematology-Oncology Patients. Frontiers in Translational and Clinical Research: Insights from Early-Career Medical and Science Researchers Symposium, Rush Medical College. March 2025; Chicago, IL.
- Lucky CW, Thotapalli L, Rusie LK, et al. Impact of Clostridioides difficile Admission Screening on Subsequent Infections among Hematology-Oncology Patients. Rush Trainee Research Day 2025; March 2025; Chicago, IL.
- Christopher Szewcyzk, Hemil Gonzalez. A Severe Case of Lupus Cerebritis. Poster presentation accepted at the AAN Summer Conference on July 15-16, 2022, in San Francisco, CA.
- Sansom SE, Lin M, Schoeny M, Fukuda C, Shimasaki T, Dangana T, Moore N, Yelin R, Rhee Y, Tabith L, Sheng J, Cornejo Cisneros E, Murray J, Chang K, Lolans K, Ariston M, Rotunno W, Ramos H, Li H, Aboushaala K, Iwai N, Bassis B, Bell P, Young V, Hayden MK, for the CDC Prevention Epicenters Program. Admission and Discharge Sampling Underestimates Multidrug-Resistant Organisms (MDRO) Acquisitions in an Intensive Care Unit. SHEA Spring 2021. April 16, 2021.
- SHEA Spring 2021. “SHEA’s Role in Leadership during COVID-19.” Virtual conference, April 13-16, 2021. Invited opening plenary speaker.
- 6th International Conference on Healthcare Associated Infections: Decennial Day. “Attacking healthcare transmission of AMR on multiple fronts: antibiotics, the microbiome, and containment.” Virtual conference, April 12, 2021. Invited symposium speaker.
- Shimasaki T, Rhee Y, Yelin RD, Ariston M, Ollison S, Fogg L, Dangana T, Cornejo-Cisneros E, Weinstein RA, Lolans K, Schoeny M, Lin MY, Moore NM, Hayden MK; CDC Prevention Epicenters Program. The gut: a veiled reservoir for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) below the tip of the iceberg. IDWeek 2018.
- Shimasaki T, Seekatz AM, Bassis CM, Rhee Y, Yelin RD, Fogg L, Dangana T, Cornejo Cisneros E, Weinstein RA, Okamoto K, Lolans K, Schoeny M, Lin MY, Moore NM, Young VB, Hayden MK; CDC Prevention Epicenters Program. High relative abundance of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC-Kp) within the gut microbiota is associated with increased risk of bloodstream infection (BSI) in long-term acute care hospital (LTACH) patients. SHEA Spring 2018 Conference.
Posters
- Lucky CW, Thotapalli L, Rusie LK, et al. Impact of Clostridioides difficile Admission Screening in the Hematology-Oncology Unit on Infection Rates and Symptomatic Testing. Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Spring Conference 2025. April 2025; Championsgate, FL.
- Lucky CW, Thotapalli L, Rusie LK, et al. Impact of Clostridioides difficile Admission Screening on Subsequent Infections among Hematology-Oncology Patients. Rush Trainee Research Day 2025; March 2025; Chicago, IL.
- Hart A, Kazi A, Rajakumar P, Dehghan-Paz, Rhee Y. A Case of Primary EBV Infection Complicated by Pronounced Jaundice with Cholestasis, Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia and Pancytopenia. Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics annual educational conference 2019.
- Kazi A, Sansom S, Varughese C, Hodgson H, Won S. Love Thy Steward – Who Does Not Love Antimicrobial Stewardship. IDWeek 2019.
* Fellows Bolded
-
Where are they now?
Alumni 2025
Name Post Fellowship Emily Adochio, MD (Chief Fellow) Metro Infectious Diseases Consultant (Private Practice) Jeries Alsahoury, MD Metro Infectious Diseases Consultant (Private Practice) Malika Gill, MD (Chief Fellow) Metro Infectious Diseases Consultant (Private Practice) Arizona Ana Istrate, MD Rush Oak Park Hospital Physician Matt McGath, MD Academic Infectious Disease Physician at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria Alumni 2024
Name Post Fellowship Hilary Chang, DO (Chief Fellow) Metro Infectious Diseases Consultant (Private Practice) Francesca Cozzi, MD (Chief Fellow) Metro Infectious Diseases Consultant (Private Practice) Jae Hyung Jung, MD Transplant Infectious Diseases Fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota
Currently Assistant Professor at Rush University Medical Center
Christine Lucky, MD Infectious Diseases Research Fellowship, Rush University Medical Center
Currently at NorthShore University Health System
Robert Petrak, MD Metro Infectious Diseases Consultant (Private Practice) Alumni 2023
Name Post Fellowship Annette Abraham, MD
)Chief Fellow)Franciscan Health, Michicagn City, Indiana (Private Practice) Anum Fayyaz, MD University of Miami, Transplant Infectious Disease Fellowship Ben Goldenberg, MD
(Chief Fellow)St. Mary Medical Center, Hobart, Indiana Raul Rodriguez, MD University of Miami, Transplant Infectious Disease Fellowship
Currently Assistant Professor at Medical College of Wisconsin
Alan Salazar, MD Metro Infectious Diseases Consultant (Private Practice) Alumni 2022
Name Post Fellowship Hina Farooq, MD Infectious Disease & Internal Medicine San Joaquin Hospital in California Haseeba Khan, MD Microbiology Fellowship at University of Indiana Indianapolis Manuela Reyna-Quito, MD Infectious Disease Faculty at Cook County Hospital Thomas Waller, DO Private Practice at Resurrection & Lutheran with Northwest Infectious Disease
Currently Assistant Professor at Cook County Health
James Wilson, DO Critical Care Fellowship at Rush Alumni 2021
Name Post Fellowship Elias Baied, DO Mahidol Bangkok School of Tropical Medicine
Currently at Benefis Health, Great Falls, MT
Eric Bhaimia, DO Transplant Infectious Diseases Fellowship at Mayo Clinic
Currently Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, Rush University Medical Center and Cook County Health, Chicago, IL
Subina Gurung
Chief FellowInfectious Disease Physician at Metro Infectious Disease Consultants (private practice group) in Chicago Do Young Kim, MD
3rd Year Research FellowMedical Director, Healthcare Program, Disease Control Bureau, Chicago Department of Public Health
Currently Assistant Laboratory Director, City of Milwaukee Health Department
Eunsun “Emma” Lee, MD Infectious Disease Physician at Hill Crest Medical Center in Tulsa, OK. Tulsa Hospitalists Inc. Abigail Santos, MD Infectious Disease Physician at Med Center Health in Bowling Green, KY Alumni 2020
Name Post Fellowship Laura Hernandez, MD
Chief FellowAssistant Professor, Rush University Medical Center and Cook County Health, Chicago, IL Aamir Kazi, MD Transplant Infectious Disease Fellowship, University of Texas Houston and MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX Huma Saeed, MD Transplant Infectious Disease Fellowship, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN Nyal Siddiqi, DO Infectious Disease Physician, Metro Infectious Diseases Consultants, Arlington Heights, IL Jolie Guevara-Keenan, MD Infectious Disease Physician, Community Health Center of Snohomish County, Everett, WA Alumni 2019
Name Post Fellowship Sarah Sansom, DO
(Chief Fellow)Assistant Professor, Rush University Medical Center and Cook County Health, Chicago, IL Will Stoecker, MD Infectious Disease Physician, Metro Infectious Diseases Consultants, Arlington Heights, IL Marc Schulman, MD Infectious Disease Physician, Dupont Circle Physicians Group, Washington, DC Lorrance Majewski, DO Hospitalist, Guam Alumni 2018
Name Post Fellowship Andrew Simms, MD
(Chief Fellow)Assistant Professor, Rush University Medical Center and Cook County Health, Chicago, IL Hemil Gonzalez, MD Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at UTMB, TX Julie (Akright) Kehdi, DO Infectious Disease Physician, Spectrum Health Medical Group, Grand Rapids, MI Meredith Coyle, MD Infectious Disease Physician, Ascension St. John Hospital & Medical Center, Detroit, MI
Currently Assistant Professor at Cook County Health, Chicago, IL
Taeyong Sim, MD Infectious Disease Physician, Clinical Infectious Diseases Specialist, Las Vegas, NV
Second Year
Image
Image
I chose Rush because of the diversity in training experience, patient population, and learning opportunities. The fellowship program creates an incredibly unique training experience and allows me to explore my interests in public health, outreach, and medical education. - Sagel Dubey, MD
First Year
Image
Image
I was inspired by the program’s collaborative spirit and its strong commitment to patient-centered care. I was confident that this environment would best support my clinical development and help me achieve my goal of becoming a well-rounded physician. The opportunity to learn from and be mentored by the program’s many renowned faculty leaders was even more compelling. Additionally, RUSH’s partnership with Cook County Hospital and their shared mission to care for a diverse and underserved population deeply resonated with my own values and aspirations in medicine. - Bushraa Shamshuddin, MD
I chose RUSH University because it fosters a “Think Upstream!” mindset—uniting people committed to driving real change in medicine and public health, which resonates with my own aspirational goals. With its strong specialty networks, inspiring mentors, and close-knit, supportive community, RUSH offers the ideal environment to begin my journey. - Akiho Iizawa, MD