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Sheila A. Dugan, MD

Sheila A. Dugan, MD
Chair, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, RUSH Medical College
Director, Rush Program for Abdominal and Pelvic Health
Education

MD, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago
Internship, University of Chicago
Residency, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

Research Areas

Health disparities, pain and menopause, physical activity and menopause, intra-abdominal fat and exercise in women, vulvodynia and multidisciplinary care, diastasis rectus abdominus, low back pain in pregnancy, knee pain in female athletes, female athlete triad: prevalence in collegiate athletes, bone health in girls and women

Contact Info:

1725 W. Harrison St.
Suite 118
Chicago, IL 60612
Phone: (312) 942-8905
Fax: (312) 942-2384
Links:
Biography

Sheila Dugan, MD is a professor in the Rush departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Preventive Medicine and Neurological Surgery. She is a co-investigator on the SWAN study, the ALIVE! project and the WISHFIT study and served as the Career Development and Training Core Director for the Rush Center for Urban Health Equity. After serving as interim chairperson of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation since 2019, Dugan was named permanent chair in 2023.

Dugan is the Medical Director of University Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation where she sees patients with pain and musculoskeletal disorders and performs EMG/nerve conduction studies. She co-directs the Rush Program for Abdominal and Pelvic Health. Dugan is board certified in PM&R, Electrodiagnostic Medicine, Pain Medicine and Sports Medicine. At Rush, she chairs the Rush Women’s Leadership Council and serves on the ADA Committee and Diversity Leadership Committee.  

Dugan serves on the board of the Foundation for PM&R and the Women’s Health Foundation. Past positions include President of PASSOR and board member of ACSM. Her research interests include health equity; health benefits of physical activity, in particular in underserved populations; pain, function and visceral fat in women at menopause; and pelvic wellness. She has published numerous book chapters and articles, and lectures locally and nationally. 

Dugan received her bachelor’s degrees in Biology from the University of Chicago and Physical Therapy from Northwestern University and her MD from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She did her internship at the University of Chicago in Internal Medicine and her residency at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in PM&R. Prior to coming to Rush, she was on faculty at the Harvard Medical School. 

Honors and Activities

Medical School

  • President Elect, University of Illinois, 1994
  • Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society 1994
  • William J. Grove Outstanding Student, 1994
  • Tom C. Reeves Memorial Award, 1993
  • Nathan O. Noah Scholarship, 1991-1994
  • Mary Amanda Anderson Scholarship, 1991-1992

Residency

  • Chief Resident, RIC, 1997-1998
  • Scholl Foundation Research Fellowship, 1996
  • Meyer S. Gunther Award, 1996

Attending

  • Outstanding Teacher 2006, 2008- Rush Dept of PM&R
  • Partners In Excellence Award 2000-Partners Healthcare
  • Teacher of the Year 1999 – Harvard Department of PM&R
  • Susan B Anthony Aetna Award for Excellence in Women’s Health Research, 2011 APHA Annual Meeting
Publications

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=7003865256

Grants

Grant No: 1R24MD007994-01 (Lynch)                                                
Source: NIH/NIMHHD                                                                        

Project Dates:   01/01/2013-11/30/2015          
Effort on study:  5%
Title: Partnership for Congregational Wellness
A partnership of academic investigators and African American pastors from the Chicagoland area will plan, develop, and test a behavioral health intervention to be conducted in black churches.

Grant No.: P50 CA148111-01 (PI – Powell)
Source:  NHLBI

Project Dates: 06/30/2010-4/30/2015
Effort on the study: 15%
Title:  Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities (CPHHD) (P50): Rush Center for Urban Health Equity
The center has as its mission the reduction of health disparities in cardio-metabolic risk and cardiopulmonary diseases.  The Center fulfills its mission by conducting rigorous community-based behavioral clinical trials to test multilevel interventions to reduce the physiologic burden associated with lifetimes of exposure to major and traumatic life stressors. It includes a Training and Career Development Core, Stress Core and Administrative Core along with 3 inter-disciplinary, multi-level studies.

Grant No.:U01 HL 097894-01 (PI – Powell)
Source:  NHLBI

Project Dates: 09/30/2009-4/30/2014
Effort on the study: 10%
Title: Obesity Related Behavioral Intervention Trials (ORBIT)
The major goals of this study are to develop and perform an intervention to increase physical activity and reduce stress in midlife black and white women to reduce development of menopause related visceral fat.

Grant No.: U01 AG 12505 (PI - Powell)
Source:  NIH/NIA

Project Dates: 09/30/1994-4/30/2014
Effort on the study: 10%
Title: The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN)
The major goals of this study are to examine biobehavioral and cultural aspects of the Menopausal transition in women from five racial/ethnic groups as they transition from premenopause to postmenopause.

Grant No.: 1 R01 HL 67128-01 (PI – Powell)
Source: NIH/NHLBI

Project dates: 04/01/2002-03/31/2007
Effort on the study: 10%
Title: A Longitudinal Study of the Menopause and Fat Patterning
The primary aim of the trial is to determine the distribution of fat while women go through the menopausal transition.

Grant No:  Pfizer IIR GA9001TS (PI-Dugan)
Source:  Pfizer Global Investigator-Initiated Research

Project Dates: 04/17/08-04/16/09
Effort on the study:  .05%
Title: Adaptation of Fitness Class to Women in Assisted Living with Overactive Bladder (OAB)
The major goals of the study are to study the capacity of a seated pelvic and trunk exercise program and educational program to improve bladder control in elderly women living in an assisted environment/nursing home setting.

Grant No:  RRF 1424 (PI-Dugan)
Source:  Research Retirement Foundation

Project Dates: 03/17/08-03/16/09
Effort on the study:  .05%
Title: Development and Feasibility Study of a Chair-Based Bladder Health Program for a Limited-Mobility Senior Population
The major goals of the study are to adapt a previously validated floor based pelvic and trunk exercise program and educational program to improve bladder control to a seated program for older women with limited mobility.

Harvard Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Mini-Grant.

Study Number R10983 (PI – Dugan)
Title:  “A Pilot Study of Functional Outcome Measures of Musculoskeletal Outpatients Treated in the Spaulding Network” 09/98 – 10/00

CINN Foundation Grant (PI - Dugan)

Title:  “The Relationship Between Physical Activity and
Back Pain During Pregnancy”
Co-investigators with Drs. McElroy and Pombar,
Rush Department of Obstetrics and Gyn
Presented at ObGyn Graduation Awards 2006