Olusimbo (Simbo) Ige, MD, MS, MPH

Commissioner, Chicago Department of Public Health

Dr. Olusimbo (Simbo) Ige's public health career spans nearly two decades. Before her appointment as the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, she served as the Managing Director of Programs at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Ige oversaw partnerships with health organizations nationwide who were working to make public health and health care systems accountable and equitable. She also previously served as the Assistant Commissioner for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where she provided oversight to a wide range of programs, including the city's pandemic response, food security programs, housing and health initiatives, mental health programs, violence prevention, and the Public Health Corps initiative. Dr. Ige received her Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and her Master of Science in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. She received her Master's in Public Health from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.

David Kern

Deputy Commissioner, Syndemic Infectious Disease Bureau, Chicago Department of Public Health

Dave Kern started his professional career at the Chicago Department of Public Health in the Office of LGBT Health and now serves as its Deputy Commissioner for the Syndemic Infectious Disease Bureau. Mr. Kern previously worked as the Director of Prevention with NASTAD in Washington, D.C. and Manager for Infectious Disease Prevention with the State of Washington. Mr. Kern serves as chair elect of NASTAD and as a member of the Internal Advisory Board for the Third Coast Center for AIDS Research.

Rev. Nilsa Irizarry

Senior Equity Officer, Office of Racial Equity and Belonging (OREB)
Bureau of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access, Chicago Department of Public Health

Rev. Nilsa Irizarry serves as CDPH’s Senior Equity Officer and oversees the Office of Racial Equity and Belonging (OREB). She has been a passionate leader in the public health field for two decades; she answered God’s call to serve in love with a liberating, interfaith lens for equity and justice. Rev. Nilsa holds a Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary. She is an ordained clergywoman with the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC). As a jewelry artist, she creates necklaces and earrings as a faith practice—pieces that dance with the spirit and bring joy to others. The loves of her life are her three adult children and six grandchildren. She values sharing cultural traditions, creating memories, and building a legacy of service with them.

Irina Tabidze, MD, MPH

Director of Program Operations, Syndemic Infectious Disease Bureau, Chicago Department of Public Health

Dr. Irina Tabidze serves as the Director of the Division of Public Health Services within the Bureau of Syndemic Infectious Diseases at the Chicago Department of Public Health. She oversees HIV/STI/Viral Hepatitis and mpox Surveillance, Public Health Interventions, Epidemiology, Research, and Evaluation teams and led the development and implementation of new web-based surveillance and case management system.

Dr. Tabidze's research focus and interests are in STI/HIV, (including perinatal infections) surveillance, research, and prevention, and serves as a Principal Investigator on numerous grants funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Tabidze serves as an Adjust Assistant Profession in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health and mentored numerous master and doctoral level students, including Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officers. She published in peer-reviewed articles in prominent journals, including JAMA, JID, Lancet, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Clinical Infectious Diseases, and MMWR.

Dr. Tabidze trained clinically as a gynecologist and completed a full-time residency program at the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center, Zhordania Institute of Human Reproduction, in Tbilisi, Georgia. She subsequently trained in clinical, immunological, and epidemiological aspects of sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, HIV, and herpes simplex viruses at the Division of Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology, and Immunology in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine and subsequently obtained a master's in public health degree in epidemiology/maternal/child health at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

Hilary Reno, MD, PhD, FIDSA

Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease - Washington University in St. Louis
Medical Consultant, Division of STD Prevention - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Hilary Reno, MD, PhD, FIDSA is a Professor of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, Division of Infectious Disease. She focuses on the care of patients with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV prevention. Her current research is working to build a Regional Sexual Health Data Platform to improve evaluation of sexual health care, center communities most affected by STIs, and affect change in access to sexual health care and the quality of that care on a regional level. Dr. Reno has been the medical director of the St. Louis County Sexual Health clinic for over 15 years. She is the primary investigator of the St. Louis STI/ HIV Prevention Training Center and a medical consultant with the CDC, Division of STD Prevention.

Amy Nham, PharmD, MPH

Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer, Centers for Disease Control

Amy Nham is a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officer currently assigned to Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) Syndemic Infectious Disease and Maternal, Infant, Child, and Adolescent Health bureaus. Prior to CDPH, she worked for CDC in the Division of HIV Prevention and Indian Health Service in Arizona. Amy is a board-certified pharmacist with a master's in public health and pharmacy doctorate from University of Southern California.

Aniruddha (Anu) Hazra, MD

Associate Professor — Infectious Diseases and Global Health
Director of STI Services at the Chicago Center of HIV Elimination
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago

Dr. Aniruddha (Anu) Hazra is an Associate Professor in the Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health at the University of Chicago; he is Director of STI Services at the Chicago Center of HIV Elimination and director of the University's Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program. In addition to his work at UofC, he works at Howard Brown Health, the largest LGBTQ+ health provider in the Midwest. His clinical and research interests center on sexually transmitted infections and their impact on sexual and gender minorities as well as other vulnerable populations living on the South Side of Chicago. These interests are complemented by his clinical work in complex HIV management, PrEP care, hepatitis C management, gender affirming hormone therapy, high-resolution anoscopy, treatment of opioid use disorder, and medical education. As a clinical ambassador of CDC's Let Stop HIV Together Campaign, he is passionate about equitable health care delivery to LGBTQ people of color.

Mathew Golden, MD, MPH

Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy & Infectious Diseases
Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology
Director, Public Health Seattle King County HIV/STI/HCV Program
Director, University of Washington Center for AIDS & STD

Dr. Golden is the Director of the Public Health - Seattle & King County HIV/STI/Hepatitis C Program and the Director of the UW Center for AIDS & STD (CFAS). His work integrates public health practice, clinical medicine, and research. Dr. Golden's research focuses on clinical and public health issues related to the treatment and control of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. Over the last 20 years, he has provided public health capacity building assistance to health departments around the United States in and sub-Saharan Africa.

Andrew Trotter, MD, MPH

Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Andrew Trotter is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Illinois Chicago and an attending physician at UI Health. Dr. Trotter's clinical, teaching and research interests focus on the care of people living with HIV/AIDS and HIV Primary Care, HIV prevention including PrEP, sexually transmitted infections, LGBTQIA+ health, and general infectious diseases. He provides care within and clinical administrative support to the UI Health Community Clinic Network, UIC’s Ryan White Program. He also serves on the Ryan White Medical Providers Coalition Steering Committee of the HIV Medicine Association. He provides infectious disease expertise for UI Health’s HIV clinical screening and linkage to care programs and efforts to increase access and uptake of PrEP at UI Health and UIC’s affiliated Mile Square Health Centers. Dr Trotter also serves or has served as a co-investigator on several clinical research projects evaluating new HIV PrEP medications and an HIV vaccine candidate. He also teaches many of these subjects to medical students, residents and fellows.

Moira McNulty, MD, MS

Assistant Professor of Medicine - Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health
Chicago Center for HIV Elimination, University of Chicago Medicine

Dr. Moira McNulty, MD, MS (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health and Director of HIV Testing in the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination. She completed her MD at the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in 2010, followed by her residency in Internal Medicine (2013), Infectious Diseases fellowship (2016), and Masters in Public Health Sciences (2018) at the University of Chicago. She is an NIH-funded researcher and leads the health department-funded Expanded Testing and Linkage to Care program for routine HIV screening in healthcare settings. Her research incorporates implementation science and health services research methodologies to understand approaches to optimize HIV care continuum outcomes.

Sancta St. Cyr, MD, MPH

Medical Officer, Division of STD Prevention (DSTDP), Centers for Disease Control

Sancta St. Cyr, MD, MPH is a medical officer in the Division of STD Prevention (DSTDP). She joined DSTDP's surveillance team in 2017 as the project officer for the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP), the national sentinel surveillance system for antimicrobial-resistant gonorrhea. Additionally, she regularly collaborated on internal and external antimicrobial-resistant gonorrhea projects. Dr. St. Cyr co-led the CDC's 2021 STI Treatment Guidelines gonorrhea subcommittee and helped establish the Suspected Gonorrhea Treatment Failure Consultation Form, an online technical assistance and reporting platform. In 2023, she transitioned to the DSTDP clinical team and contributes to different STIs projects involving antimicrobial-resistant gonorrhea, syphilis, and herpes.

Dr. St. Cyr earned her medical degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans, trained in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and completed her infectious diseases fellowship and Master of Public Health in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Monique Rucker, MPH

Director for the FOCUS Program, Government Affairs, Gilead Sciences Inc.

Monique Rucker, MPH - Monique Rucker currently serves as a Director in Gilead’s FOCUS program. She partners with organizations and government agencies in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio to implement innovative approaches to HIV and hepatitis diagnosis and linkage to care. Prior to her role at Gilead, she assisted with routinizing HIV and HCV screening and linkage to care at Sinai Health System in Chicago and co-led efforts to change the Illinois law to better allow for people to be screened for HIV according to the CDC’s recommendations. Ms. Rucker is from Maryland where she held multiple roles at the Baltimore City Health Department including Ryan White program officer where she launched the first HIV linkage to care program for persons reentering the community from jail and prison in Maryland, Senior Advisor for HIV and Harm Reduction to the Health Commissioner, and Bureau Chief for HIV/Harm Reduction where she managed and expanded the only legal syringe exchange in Maryland and one of few drug overdose prevention and response programs in the country at the time, and she also served as an acting Legislative Director during her tenure. She has held numerous other roles including serving as an epidemiologist and a lobbyist for HIV/AIDS issues.

Bijou Hunt, MA

Director, Sinai Infectious Disease Center

Bijou Hunt is the Director of the Sinai Infectious Disease Center (SIDC) at Sinai Chicago. Bijou has been part of the Sinai Health System since 2008, when she joined the Sinai Urban Health Institute as an Epidemiologist. Bijou began working with the infectious disease team in 2016 as the evaluator and data manager, and moved into the Director role in 2017.

Teresa Gonzalez

Senior Lead Navigator, Sinai Infectious Disease Center

Teresa joined Sinai Chicago in 2001, initially working with Sinai Community Institute's Early Childhood Development Program and eventually moving to the Sinai Infectious Disease Center (SIDC) team as an Early Intervention Specialist and HIV/HCV navigator. As a Lead Navigator, her role serves as a bridge between medical providers and social services to assist people newly diagnosed with HIV and/or HCV, as well as lost to care patients, with removing barriers to improving their health. The assessments Teresa completes with patients aid her in linking patients to care to address their medical, insurance, transportation, and other needs. Teresa is of Mexican descent and is a bilingual Spanish and English speaker. She has a passion for serving the community to improve their lives and overall health which brings a lot of value to her team with her experience and skills. Teresa is also certified as a Mental Health First Aid Responder, Early Childhood Development Trainer, and Rapid HIV Tester. Teresa enjoys reading in her free time.

Beverly E. Sha, MD

Infectious Diseases Care; LGBTQ+ Care
Specialty: Infectious Disease, RUSH University Medical Group

Beverly E. Sha, MD is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Disease at Rush University Medical Center.  She is the Rush site principal investigator of the NIH-funded ACTG Clinical Research Site and the NIH-funded MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study of HIV-infected men and women.  She is the Clinic Director of the Mark Weiss Memorial Outpatient Clinic for Infectious Diseases at Rush.  She has devoted her career to advancing the treatment and understanding of HIV and has spear-headed HIV/HCV screening and linkage to care in the Rush Systems of Health.  

Helen E. Cejtin, MD, MPH

Associate Professor Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine
OB/GYN, Cook County Health System

Helen E. Cejtin is an Associate Professor at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine and an OB/GYN generalist with extensive experience taking care of vulnerable populations with a primary focus on people living with HIV and on cervical cancer screening at John H. Stroger Hospital, the safety net hospital for Cook County, Illinois. Dr. Cejtin is a frequent collaborator and researcher investigating perinatal conditions, primarily focusing on perinatal HIV and congenital syphilis.

Maura Quinlan, MD MPH

Women's Health Medical Advisor, Illinois Dept of Public Health

Maura Quinlan, MD, MPH is Women's Health Medical Advisor for IDPH. She is board certified in obstetrics/gynecology and has been in clinical practice since 1996, most recently at Northwestern University. She received her MD at Loyola University, Stritch School of Medicine, completed her obstetrics and gynecology residency at the University of Chicago and her MPH at Yale University in Maternal and Child Health Policy. Her clinical area of expertise is general obstetrics and gynecology, with a special interest in pediatric and adolescent gynecology, vulvar dermatoses, and menopause management. She has also been active in legislative advocacy for women's health at the state and national level in her previous role as Legislative Chair for Illinois ACOG.

John (Jack) Flores, MD

Internal Medicine | Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellow (2021 - 2025)
Department of Pediatrics, University of Chicago Medicine

John "Jack" Flores is currently an intern within the Syndemic Bureau of the Chicago Department of Public Health. He is also an Adult & Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellow at the University of Chicago Medicine & Comer Children's Hospitals. Prior to this he completed his undergraduate education at the University of Notre Dame, medical school at University of Texas Health at San Antonio, and residency in Internal Medicine & Pediatrics at the University of Illinois-Chicago. His clinical & scholarly interests lie within HIV, HIV prevention, and other sexually transmitted diseases (STI's). In particular Jack focuses on epidemiology and health services research project related to STI's within the adolescent & young adult population, and congenital infections transmitted from mother to infant in utero during pregnancy. Jack is originally from Chicago, IL and calls the city his home.

Laurie Ayala, MPH

Administrator, IL Perinatal HIV Hotline and Syphilis Warmline, Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Laurie Ayala, MPH is the statewide Administrator for Illinois's 24/7 Perinatal HIV Hotline and Perinatal Syphilis Warmline. She is responsible for the operation of both statewide clinical consultation services and spearheaded the development of the new Perinatal Syphilis Warmline. Laurie manages a team of clinical experts responding to medical and social service providers' questions about the management of HIV and syphilis in pregnancy. In her role, Laurie advocates to strengthen the perinatal care system in IL for pregnant people living with HIV and syphilis. She has presented on her work at numerous conferences including the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National HIV Prevention Conference, and the International AIDS Conference. Additionally, she has co-authored peer-reviewed articles describing the successes of Illinois's perinatal HIV safety net of care. Laurie received her bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and her Master of Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has over 25 years of experience in public health focused on chronic and infectious disease prevention and care in underserved communities.

Kiki Ogu, MD

Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellow, Northwestern University

Dr. Kiki Ogu is a trained obstetrician gynecologist, currently pursuing subspecialty training in maternal fetal medicine. She plans to subsequently complete a second fellowship in fetal surgery. Her collegiate background in poverty, justice and human capabilities served as the impetus for her focus on health equity. She completed formal education in global health and health disparities in both medical school and residency training via certificates of education. In her fellowship, she serves as one of six maternal fetal medicine providers managing the perinatal HIV hotline and Syphilis warmline for the state of Illinois. Her research career is in the early stages with many ongoing works focused on racial disparities, health equity, global health, HIV, trichomonas, obstetrical outcomes, fetal surgery, maternal mental health, and perinatal health.

Keith Green, PHD, MSW

Executive Director, Chicago Black Gay Mens Caucus

Dr. Green is a native Chicagoan with strong community roots and an extensive history as an organizer, educator, researcher, and advocate. He currently serves as Executive Director for the Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus, a grassroots community-based organization focused on advancing health equity among Black gay, bisexual and same gender loving men through community-centered leadership and innovative programs. As a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, Dr. Green earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a PhD in social service administration from the University of Chicago. He previously served as an associate editor for Positively Aware magazine and as director of federal affairs for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Dr. Green is also an award-winning spoken word artist and was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame by Mayor Rahm Emmanuel in 2012.

Kathleen Ritger, MD, MPH

Medical Director, Syndemic Infectious Disease Bureau, Chicago Department of Public Health

Dr. Ritger has practiced public health at the state and local levels since 2004, first as a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer assigned to the Illinois Department of Public Health, and later as a medical director at the Chicago Department of Public Health. In her current role as Medical Director of the CDPH Tuberculosis Program she ensures safe and effective treatment for people with tuberculosis, directs contact investigations, addresses issues of TB infection control, and develops policy and partnerships to improve TB awareness. She received her bachelor and medical degrees from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, completed residency in pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, and earned a Master’s in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina.

Jessica Deerin, PhD, MPH

Viral Hepatitis Policy Advisor, Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP)
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Jessica Fung Deerin, PhD, MPH, serves as a Viral Hepatitis Policy Advisor in the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this capacity, Dr. Deerin leads the development of the Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan, while also coordinating viral hepatitis initiatives across the federal government.

Dr. Deerin has previously served as an epidemiologist in local, state, federal, and global levels of public health. She was an epidemiologist with the Florida Epidemic Intelligence Service in Orange County, Florida and a regional epidemiologist and epidemiology manager in Health Service Region 8 in San Antonio, Texas. Her international experience includes work in Sub-Saharan Africa with the International Vaccine Institute. Additionally, Dr. Deerin assessed global infectious disease trends with the Defense Health Agency. Dr. Deerin earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida, her Master of Public Health from Emory University, and her Doctor of Philosophy from George Washington University.

Andrew Arohnson, MD

Professor, Interim Chief of Hepatology, Program Director of the GI Fellowship
Faculty - MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics
University of Chicago Medicine Center for Liver Diseases

Andrew Aronsohn, MD, is a specialist in the diagnosis and treatment of liver disease, including medical management of liver transplantation. He is an associate professor at the University of Chicago Medicine Center for Liver Diseases, Interim Chief of Hepatology and the program director of the GI fellowship. He is also a faculty member at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics.

Dr. Aronsohn's research interests involve development and implementation of strategies for Hepatitis C Elimination. He leads the hepatitis curriculum of ECHO Chicago, which aims to educate and empower primary care providers to effectively manage hepatitis C in a local primary care setting. Dr. Aronsohn served as a committee member on the National Academy of Sciences report for hepatitis B and C elimination and is currently serving as a co-chair for the AASLD/IDSA guidance for hepatitis C treatment.

Emily Faherty, PhD

Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer, Centers for Disease Control
Communicable Disease Program, Chicago Department of Public Health

Dr. Faherty is an infectious disease epidemiologist and CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer assigned to the Chicago Department of Public Health Bureau of Disease Control. Her research interests include vaccine-preventable disease and sexual and reproductive health.