Fall 2023 investiture to celebrate endowed professorships to four faculty
Four University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine faculty members will receive endowed professorship appointments during an investiture ceremony beginning at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15, in the Urmila Sahai Auditorium (room 2117) in the Medical Education and Research Facility (MERF).
UI Health Care faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend the ceremony celebrating the endowed professorships and the faculty members receiving the appointments. The event will also be available via a Zoom broadcast.
The Chakraborty Family Professorship in Pediatric Genetic Retinal Diseases
Alina Dumitrescu, MD
Alina Dumitrescu is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and serves as the department’s quality assurance director. She also holds a secondary faculty appointment in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics. A Carver College of Medicine faculty member since 2015, Dumitrescu specializes in pediatric ophthalmology and inherited eye disorders.
The Chakraborty Family Professorship in Pediatric Genetic Retinal Diseases was established by Sayan Chakraborty and Julia Franklin. In addition, Charkraborty’s colleagues at the system software company Workday—including company co-founder and co-CEO Aneel Bhusri, co-founder and CEO emeritus David Duffield, and chief operating officer Jim Bozzini—contributed to the family’s gift commitment. Chakraborty and Franklin’s son, Jag, inspired this gift to support researchers focused on advancing diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic treatments for juvenile X-linked retinoschisis.
The Trudy and Lester Reed Professorship in Child Psychiatry
Laura Fuller, PhD
Laura Fuller is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry. She also holds a secondary faculty appointment in the Department of Urology. Fuller joined the Carver College of Medicine faculty in 2012. Her work includes teaching psychotherapy skills to fellow physicians in child psychiatry, treating voiding dysfunction in a specialty clinic she helped establish, and increasing the availability of evidence-based therapy to families across Iowa.
The Regan Giesinger Professorship in Neonatology
Patrick McNamara, MB, BCh, BAO, DCH, MSc, MRCP, MRCPCH
Patrick McNamara is a professor and vice chair for inpatient acute care in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics, and he serves as director of the department’s Division of Neonatology. He also holds a secondary faculty appointment in the Department of Internal Medicine. McNamara established the hemodynamics screening program after joining the UI in 2018. Hemodynamics involves using ultrasound to obtain detailed images of a premature baby’s heart, valves, and blood vessels that allows doctors to assess heart function and blood flow to all parts of the body, including the brain and lungs. McNamara and Giesinger, who joined him at Iowa, previously helped make hemodynamics a standard care protocol across Canada. Giesinger died in May 2023; her work in collaboration with McNamara has shown the effectiveness of hemodynamics in increasing survival rates and reducing complications in preterm babies.
The Trudy and Lester Reed Professorship in Child Psychiatry and the Regan Giesinger Professorship in Neonatology were established by Tim White and Michelle LeCompte, based on their personal experience with a neonatal intensive care unit and its dedication to service. With these professorships, they hope to extend essential services and improve access to care—from foundational care for neonates to comprehensive developmental, behavioral, and emotional support that helps children thrive.
The Dr. Roger I. Ceilley Professorship in Dermatology
Ali Jabbari, MD, PhD
Jabbari is an associate professor and serves as chair and departmental executive officer in the Department of Dermatology. A UI alumnus and a Carver College of Medicine faculty member since 2017, his research and clinical interests focus on alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition characterized by episodic hair loss that can progress to more severe forms affecting the skin and body. He also studies cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, a type of skin cancer that starts in the immune system’s while blood cells known as T-cells.
Roger Ceilley, MD, earned his medical degree and completed residency training in dermatology at Iowa, and he is board-certified in dermatology, dermatopathology, and micrographic dermatologic surgery. He also is a fellow of the American College of Mohs Micrographic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology. He has served as president of the American Academy of Dermatology and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, and he is a diplomat of the American Board of Dermatology. He currently serves as the director of the training program in Mohs surgery and dermatologic surgery at Dermatology P.C. in West Des Moines, Iowa.
For more information about the Sept. 15 investiture ceremony, contact Mackenzie Krob, associate director for events, health sciences, at the UI Center for Advancement at mackenzie.krob@foriowa.org.