Faculty Development Leads in the Department of Pediatrics Office of Faculty Development provide infrastructure and guidance to support on-boarding, advising sessions, promotion readiness reviews, faculty development workshops, and more. Their holistic approach is designed to assist faculty with professional growth and pursuing paths to successful and fulfilling careers.

They are now offering monthly drop-in sessions to answer your questions about career development. We encourage faculty to drop in for questions that may come up at different points in the year. These sessions may have other faculty members present to encourage peer learning as well. Example of topics that may be of interest for discussion at a drop-in session:

•    Building an efficient workflow for clinical and academic responsibilities.
•    Navigating the transition from trainee to attending physician.
•    Creating and implementing a plan for research and scholarly activities.
•    Establishing a mentorship team or finding a sponsor.
•    Ensuring your chosen domain aligns with your efforts and promotion goals.

Sign up for a session Here

The Faculty Development Leads also offer one-on-one advising sessions, which require advance preparation, are individualized, and are more comprehensive. These new drop-in sessions are meant to supplement the one-on-one advising sessions. For individualized advising or for topics that are more appropriate for a 1-on-1 consultation, please contact ofd@luriechildrens.org to schedule one-on-one advising.

Valeria Cohran, MD

- B.S. in Chemistry at Tougaloo College

- MD from Washington University School of Medicine

- Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine

- Executive Committee for Admissions

- Associate Chair of DEI

- Medical Director of Intestinal Rehabilitation/Transplant at Lurie Children’s Hospital

- 2022 Professionalism Award recipient

- Contact: vcohran@luriechildrens.org

Lavanya Shankar, MD

- Clinical Assistant Professor in the division of Hospital-Based Medicine

- Pediatric Health Systems Clinician

- Active member of the Faculty Affairs Board

- Contact: lshankar@luriechildrens.org

Irini Kolaitis, MD

- Assistant Professor/Associate Clinician in the Division of Hospital-Based Medicine

- Associate Division Head of Hospital-Based Medicine

- Active member of the Faculty Affairs Board

- 2019 Department of Pediatrics Faculty Excellence Award in Leadership recipient

- Co-Chair of the Awards and Visibility Committee

- Contact: ikolaitis@luriechildrens.org

Mary McBride MD, MEd

- Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Education

- Pediatric cardiac intensivist

- Director of the Feinberg Academy of Medical Educators

- Chair of the Faculty Affairs Board for the Department of Pediatrics

- Contact: mmcbride@luriechildrens.org

Angira Patel, MD, MPH

- Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Education

- Pediatric and fetal cardiologist

- Leadership roles at the Heart Center, the cardiac imaging fellowship, Ethics Advisory Board, and more

- Mentorship and coaching of medical students, trainees, and faculty

- Contact: anpatel@luriechildrens.org

Shawn Smith, MD

- Neonatal ICU Hospitalist at Prentice Women's Hospital

- Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine

- Director of Health, Equity, Learning and Development in the Department of Pediatrics

- Facilitates implicit bias training with faculty, trainees, and staff

- Leadership roles in various committees and organizations

- 2021 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow

- Contact: shsmith@luriechildrens.org

The sessions occur regularly every 3rd Tuesday from 12 pm to 1 pm and every 1st Thursday from 4 pm to 5 pm starting January until the end of June.