Faculty
Carla M. Pugh, MD, PhD
Dr Carla Pugh is currently Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of the Center for Advanced Surgical
Education at Northwestern University. Dr Pugh obtained her undergraduate degree at U.C. Berkeley in Neurobiology
and her medical degree at Howard University School of Medicine. Upon completion of her surgical training at
Howard University Hospital, she went to Stanford University and obtained a PhD in Education. Her research
interests are in the use of simulation technology for medical and surgical education. Dr. Pugh holds a method
patent on the use of sensor and data acquisition technology to measure and characterize the sense of touch.
Currently, over one hundred medical and nursing schools are using one of her sensor enabled training tools
for their students and trainees. The use of simulation technology to assess and quantitatively define hands-on
clinical skills is one of her major research areas. In addition to a recent NIH R-01 (to validate a sensorized
device for high stakes clinical skills assessments), her work has received numerous awards from various medical
and engineering organizations. Dr Pugh is also the developer of several decision-based simulators that are
currently being used to assess intra-operative judgment.
Clinical Interests
Debra DaRosa, PhD
Dr. DaRosa is a professor of surgery and vice-chair of education at Northwestern University Feinberg
School of Medicine in Chicago, IL. She has been a medical education specialist since 1980 and has
dedicated the majority of that time developing and delivering faculty development programs, consulting
with departments of surgery and professional organizations, and pursuing educational research. She has
published numerous papers and book chapters, and has presented her research and faculty development
programs at regional, national, and international forums. Dr. DaRosa is on the editorial boards of
several surgical and medical education journals including Academic Medicine.
Dr. DaRosa was the first non-clinician elected as president of the Association for Surgical Education,
an organization comprised of over 800 academic surgeons across North America. She is the Course Director
of the American College of Surgeon’s Surgeons as Educators Course and Co-Director of the Surgeons as
Leaders Course. She has also served as chair of the Association of American Medical College’s Central
Group on Educational Affairs. Dr. DaRosa has served as a consultant for numerous surgical specialty
societies, the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Johns Hopkins Program on International Education
in Reproductive Health, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and several international
professional organizations.
She also engages in the roles of mother, wife, chef, home manager, professional shopper, daughter, sister,
home finance specialist, interior designer, gardner, friend, neighbor, and Chicago winter survival therapist
for her California-born husband. In her spare time she enjoys the three R’s, that is Reading, Roller Blading,
and Rock and Roll.
Other Interests
Alberto de Hoyos, MD, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Alberto de Hoyos MD, is a thoracic surgeon at Northwester Memorial Hospital and is the Director of the Center
for Robotic and Minimaly Invasive Thoracic Surgery. He is also Co-Director of the Center for Complex Airway Surgery
and is an assistant professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine. His areas of interest and expertise include
airway/esophageal surgery and stenting, interventional airway procedures, thoracic oncology, video assisted
thoracic surgery (VATS), minimally invasive lung resection for lung cancer, minimally invasive esophagectomy,
laparoscopic repair of diaphragmatic hernias and complex repairs of giant diaphragmatic hernias and reoperations
for gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Clinical Interests
Mark Eskandari, MD
Dr. Eskandari is currently an Associate Professor of Surgery and Radiology in the Division of Vascular Surgery.
He completed his undergraduate and medical schooling at the University of Michigan, general surgery residency at
the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and vascular fellowship at Northwestern University Medical School.
His bibliography includes more than 60 peer-reviewed publications, 17 chapters and numerous lectures given to
regional, national, and international groups. He has received several awards for excellence in research and
teaching and is the 2005 recipient of the prestigious American Vascular Association’s E. J. Wylie Traveling Fellowship.
Dr. Eskandari has a special interest in endovascular surgery, particularly carotid stent technology, and developed
the carotid stent program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He currently serves as the Northwestern site PI for 6
carotid stenting trials and 3 thoracic aortic aneurysm stent graft trials.
Dr. Eskandari clinical responsibilities include Director of Northwestern’s Vascular Surgery Fellowship Program,
Director of the Department of Surgery M&M Conference, Assistant Director of the Vascular Laboratory, Co-Director
of the Northwestern Endovascular Center, and Director of Carotid and Peripheral Artery Interventions.
Clinical Interests
Research Interests
Eric Hungness, MD, Division of General Surgery
Eric S. Hungness, M.D. is a Chicago native who matriculated medical school at University of Illinois-Chicago
and completed his surgical residency and minimally invasive surgery fellowship at the University of Cincinnati
and Northwestern University respectively. Having spent time on the faculty at the University of Chicago,
Dr. Hungness returned to Northwestern and joined the faculty as Assistant Professor of Surgery in July 2006.
His clinical interests include bariatric surgery and minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery.
Dr. Hungness’s research interests include surgical education and surgical innovation, including Natural Orifice
Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES). NOTES is an exciting new area of surgery that is being investigated by
Dr. Hungness and colleagues as the next frontier of minimally invasive surgery. This potentially “incisionless”
surgery is only being developed in a few centers across the country including the Northwestern Center for Advanced
Surgical Education (N-CASE). His education research focuses on the use of simulation technologies in the acquisition
of laparoscopic surgical skills.
Alan Koffron, MD, Division of Organ Transplantation
Alan Koffron, MD is an Assistant Professor Surgery, in the Division of Organ Transplantation. He completed his
transplant and hepatobiliary surgery training at Northwestern, and has remained on faculty focusing on surgical treatment
of liver disease. Clinical interests include live-donor liver transplantation, hepatobiliary surgery, and
minimally-invasive approaches in the treatment of hepatic lesions and liver donation. Clinical research centers
on these same subjects, particularly the analysis of outcomes in over 300 laparoscopic liver resections, and
participation in an NIH-sponsored live-donor liver transplant multicenter study.
Jason Koh, MD, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Magdy Milad, MD, MAM, Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Following his fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, he joined the faculty at Northwestern.
In 1995, he was appointed Director of Gynecologic Endoscopy and focused his efforts on revising the Northwestern Memorial
Hospital endoscopic privileging program. In 1997, he returned to school while working full-time to obtain a Masters
in Academic Medicine at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. In 1999, he was promoted to Associate Professor and
in 2000 became the Residency Program Director. In 2004 he was promoted to full professor. He as 46 peer reviewed
article and 56 scientific abstracts. He serves as a reviewer for Fertility and Sterility, Obstetrics and Gynecology,
International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Human Reproduction and Lancet. He has served as the scientific
director for the International Society of Gynecologic Endoscopy and Chairman of the Abstract sub-committee for the
American Society for Reproductive Medicine. He currently is on the board for the Society of Reproductive Surgeons,
research committee of the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists and faculty instructor for the American
Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics. . In 2004, he received the prestigious APGO Abbott Medical Education grant
for a project designed to study the efficacy of a high-fidelity patient simulator curriculum in medical students
undergoing their obstetrics and gynecology clerkship. In 2006, he received a $90K grant from the Northwestern Women’s
Board to study Acupuncture and IVF outcome.
Ferdinando (Sandro) Mussa-Ivaldi, PhD, Department of Physiology, Feinberg School of Medicine
Dr. Mussa-Ivaldi’s research combines experimental and theoretical elements. The experimental work has included
the study of oculomanual coordination in primates, the study of upper arm mechanics and motor adaptation in human
subjects and, more recently, the study of motor primitives in the frog’s spinal cord. The theoretical work has
included the analysis of kinematic redundancy in humans and robots, the generation of a variety of control patterns
from the superposition of a set of basis fields – a vectorial homologue of basis functions- and the first
demonstration that the directional tuning properties of motor cortical cells need not be a consequence of a high
order representation of space but may be a side effect of controlling muscle behavior. More recently, Dr. Mussa-Ivaldi
begun to investigate the application of brain-machine interfaces for the understanding and facilitation of motor
learning and remapping. His research team created the first hybrid system, in which neural tissue from the Lamprey’s
brain stem was bidirectionally connected with a small mobile robot. Dr. Mussa-Ivaldi is also studying the mechanisms
of motor learning and remapping in a clinical context.
Sandro Mussa-Ivaldi has a degree (Laurea) in Physics from the University of Torino (1978) and a PhD in biomedical engineering
the Politecnico of Milano (1987). He is Professor of Physiology, Physical medicine and Rehabilitation and Biomedical
Engineering at Northwestern University. He is director of the Robotics Laboratory and of the Neural Engineering Initiative
of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
Clinical Interests
Robert Nadler, MD, Department of Urology
Alexander Nagle, MD, Division of General Surgery
Alexander Nagle, MD is a general surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in the Division of GI and Endocrine
Surgery. He is an Assistant Professor of Surgery and the Director of Bariatric Surgery. His areas of interest include
minimally invasive surgery, advanced laparoscopic surgery, obesity surgery, colon/rectal surgery, gastroesophageal reflux
disease, achalasia, hernias, gallbladder disorders and splenectomy.
Clinical Interests
More
Nathaniel J. Soper, MD
In December, 2003, Dr. Soper assumed the position as Professor of Surgery, Vice-Chair for Clinical
Affairs and Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of
Medicine. He was awarded the James R. Hines Professorship in July, 2004 and became Chief of the
Division of GI and Endocrine Surgery in September, 2005. Dr. Soper was named Chair and
Residency Program Director for the General Surgery Program in July, 2006.
Dr. Soper's research interests have revolved around the applications of laparoscopic surgery for
gastrointestinal disease, alternative treatments for gallstones and motility of the gastrointestinal
tract. He has published more than one hundred manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, edited nine
textbooks and authored more than fifty book chapters. Dr. Soper is on the editorial boards of
Annals of Surgery, Surgical Endoscopy, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Journal of
Gastrointestinal Surgery, Journal of Laparoendoscopic and Advanced Surgical Techniques, and Surgical
Laparoscopy and Endoscopy. Dr. Soper has been named in "The Best Doctor's in America" from 1991
through the present and has lectured extensively throughout the world. He is a member of numerous
professional societies, including Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Surgeons, American Surgical
Association, Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, Society of University Surgeons, Southern
Surgical Association, and is actively involved in the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic
Surgeons (SAGES), in which group he is Past-President. He is also the immediate Past-President of the
International Society of Digestive Surgery.
Clinical Interests
S. David Stuhlberg, MD, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Dr. S. David Stulberg is Professor of Clinical Orthopaedic Surgery at Northwestern University
Medical School and founder and director of the Joint Reconstruction and Implant Service at Northwestern
Memorial Hospital. David earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan School of Medicine
and served his residency in orthopaedic surgery at the Harvard University Combined Orthopaedic Residency
Program. He is a member of the Hip Society of America, a founding member of the Knee Society of America,
a co-founder of the International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty, and a fellow of the American
Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery. David is the author of numerous publications related to arthritis and
joint reconstruction of the hip and knee, and he lectures frequently on these topics in America and abroad.
He is a member of the Board of Directors at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
Michael A. West, MD, Division of Trauma and Critical Care