Faculty Ambassadors
Purpose:
The SSOM Faculty Ambassadors program is an SSOM dean’s office initiative established to enhance bi-directional faculty communication. The Faculty Ambassadors main responsibility is communicating SSOM updates provided at the meeting to their department.
Membership:
Each department in the SSOM maintains at least one faculty ambassador representative. Additional representative slots may be allocated given the number of faculty in a department. Roughly this will equate to 1 ambassador per 25 faculty in a department.
Faculty Ambassadors will be appointed by their department Chair to serve a 2-year term beginning July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2027. Current Ambassadors are eligible to be re-appointed by their Chair.
Eligibility:
Faculty Ambassadors must be full-time SSOM faculty members who are willing and able to:
- represent the concerns of their constituent group of faculty members
- present the Faculty Ambassador report at their Department Meetings
- collaborate on ways to improve faculty communication
- communicate group discussions and SSOM activities, as appropriate
- attend Faculty Ambassador meetings or arrange for a substitute
Meetings:
Meetings are held bi-monthly on a Monday from 5 - 6 p.m.
Contact:
If you have questions regarding the SSOM Faculty Ambassadors program, please contact the SSOM Dean’s Office at SSOMDean@luc.edu.
New Faculty Ambassador Members as of July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2027
| Department | Faculty Ambassador | |
|---|---|---|
| Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine | Umar Kamal, MD | Umar.Kamal@lumc.edu |
| Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine | Eric Pedone, MD | eric.pedone@lumc.edu |
| Cancer Biology | Maurizio Bocchetta, PhD | Mbocche@luc.edu |
| Cell and Molecular Physiology | Daniel Hu, PhD | dhu1@luc.edu |
| Emergency Medicine | Chantel Hilliard-Watts, MD | Chantel.Hilliard@luhs.org |
| Emergency Medicine | Jeffrey Heiferman, MD | Jeffrey.Heiferman@luhs.org |
| Family Medicine | Dennis Nwachukwu, MD | DNWACHU@lumc.edu |
| Medical Education | Cynthia Chaidez, PhD | cchaidez@luc.edu |
| Medicine | Margaret Tsien, MD | margaret.tsien@lumc.edu |
| Medicine | Vasil Peev, MD | Vasil.Peev@lumc.edu |
| Microbiology and Immunology | Makio Iwashima, PhD | MIWASHIMA@luc.edu |
| Molecular Pharmacology and Neuroscience | Eric Villalon Landeros, PhD | evillalon@luc.edu |
| Neurological Surgery | Joseph Serrone, MD | Joseph.Serrone@lumc.edu |
| Neurology | Eugene Schnitzler, MD | eschnitzler@lumc.edu |
| Neurology | Rick Gill, MD | Rick.Gill@lumc.edu |
| Obstetrics and Gynecology | Anne Peiffer, MD | anne.tjaden@lumc.edu |
| Ophthalmology | Felipe de Alba, MD | fdealba@lumc.edu |
| Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation | Nate Jones, MD | jonen@lumc.edu |
| Otolaryngology | Andrea Ziegler, MD | andrea.ziegler@lumc.edu |
| Pathology | Robert Pooley, Jr., MD | Robert.Pooley@lumc.edu |
| Pediatrics | Almas Syed, MD | almas.syed@lumc.edu |
| Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences | Elizabeth Simmons, PsyD | Elizabeth.simmons@luhs.org |
| Radiation Oncology | Tamer Abdelrhman, MD, PhD | Tamer.Abdelrhman@lumc.edu |
| Radiology and Medical Imaging | Atul Mallik, MD, PhD | Atul.Mallik@lumc.edu |
| Radiology and Medical Imaging | Emad Allam, MD | emad.allam@lumc.edu |
| Surgery | Jacqueline Kalmoe, MD | Jacqueline. Kalmoe@luhs.org |
| Surgery | Khalil Qato, MD | Khalil.Qato@lumc.edu |
| Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery | Zaid Abdelsattar, MD | Zaid.Abdelsattar@lumc.edu |
| Urology | Ahmer Farooq, DO | AFAROOQ@lumc.edu |
| HSC Library Representative | Elizabeth Huggins, MALIS | ehuggins@luc.edu |
| Vice Dean of Research | Sonny Singh, PhD | msingh@luc.edu |
| Chair, Dean, SSOM | Sam J. Marzo, MD | smarzo@luc.edu |
Purpose:
The SSOM Faculty Ambassadors program is an SSOM dean’s office initiative established to enhance bi-directional faculty communication. The Faculty Ambassadors main responsibility is communicating SSOM updates provided at the meeting to their department.
Membership:
Each department in the SSOM maintains at least one faculty ambassador representative. Additional representative slots may be allocated given the number of faculty in a department. Roughly this will equate to 1 ambassador per 25 faculty in a department.
Faculty Ambassadors will be appointed by their department Chair to serve a 2-year term beginning July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2027. Current Ambassadors are eligible to be re-appointed by their Chair.
Eligibility:
Faculty Ambassadors must be full-time SSOM faculty members who are willing and able to:
- represent the concerns of their constituent group of faculty members
- present the Faculty Ambassador report at their Department Meetings
- collaborate on ways to improve faculty communication
- communicate group discussions and SSOM activities, as appropriate
- attend Faculty Ambassador meetings or arrange for a substitute
Meetings:
Meetings are held bi-monthly on a Monday from 5 - 6 p.m.
Contact:
If you have questions regarding the SSOM Faculty Ambassadors program, please contact the SSOM Dean’s Office at SSOMDean@luc.edu.
New Faculty Ambassador Members as of July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2027
| Department | Faculty Ambassador | |
|---|---|---|
| Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine | Umar Kamal, MD | Umar.Kamal@lumc.edu |
| Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine | Eric Pedone, MD | eric.pedone@lumc.edu |
| Cancer Biology | Maurizio Bocchetta, PhD | Mbocche@luc.edu |
| Cell and Molecular Physiology | Daniel Hu, PhD | dhu1@luc.edu |
| Emergency Medicine | Chantel Hilliard-Watts, MD | Chantel.Hilliard@luhs.org |
| Emergency Medicine | Jeffrey Heiferman, MD | Jeffrey.Heiferman@luhs.org |
| Family Medicine | Dennis Nwachukwu, MD | DNWACHU@lumc.edu |
| Medical Education | Cynthia Chaidez, PhD | cchaidez@luc.edu |
| Medicine | Margaret Tsien, MD | margaret.tsien@lumc.edu |
| Medicine | Vasil Peev, MD | Vasil.Peev@lumc.edu |
| Microbiology and Immunology | Makio Iwashima, PhD | MIWASHIMA@luc.edu |
| Molecular Pharmacology and Neuroscience | Eric Villalon Landeros, PhD | evillalon@luc.edu |
| Neurological Surgery | Joseph Serrone, MD | Joseph.Serrone@lumc.edu |
| Neurology | Eugene Schnitzler, MD | eschnitzler@lumc.edu |
| Neurology | Rick Gill, MD | Rick.Gill@lumc.edu |
| Obstetrics and Gynecology | Anne Peiffer, MD | anne.tjaden@lumc.edu |
| Ophthalmology | Felipe de Alba, MD | fdealba@lumc.edu |
| Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation | Nate Jones, MD | jonen@lumc.edu |
| Otolaryngology | Andrea Ziegler, MD | andrea.ziegler@lumc.edu |
| Pathology | Robert Pooley, Jr., MD | Robert.Pooley@lumc.edu |
| Pediatrics | Almas Syed, MD | almas.syed@lumc.edu |
| Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences | Elizabeth Simmons, PsyD | Elizabeth.simmons@luhs.org |
| Radiation Oncology | Tamer Abdelrhman, MD, PhD | Tamer.Abdelrhman@lumc.edu |
| Radiology and Medical Imaging | Atul Mallik, MD, PhD | Atul.Mallik@lumc.edu |
| Radiology and Medical Imaging | Emad Allam, MD | emad.allam@lumc.edu |
| Surgery | Jacqueline Kalmoe, MD | Jacqueline. Kalmoe@luhs.org |
| Surgery | Khalil Qato, MD | Khalil.Qato@lumc.edu |
| Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery | Zaid Abdelsattar, MD | Zaid.Abdelsattar@lumc.edu |
| Urology | Ahmer Farooq, DO | AFAROOQ@lumc.edu |
| HSC Library Representative | Elizabeth Huggins, MALIS | ehuggins@luc.edu |
| Vice Dean of Research | Sonny Singh, PhD | msingh@luc.edu |
| Chair, Dean, SSOM | Sam J. Marzo, MD | smarzo@luc.edu |