About Us

Quality Initiatives

The Department of Pediatrics is committed to continuous improvement in all domains and focuses on the Institute of Medicine's six domains of healthcare quality. We perform, support and train in improvement science and partner with Northwestern University for more comprehensive training. We will consider our program a success when we view everything as an opportunity for improvement.

Healthcare quality and safety initiatives are critical to providing optimal healthcare as well as reducing variations of care that will facilitate greater learning in all forms of research. Faculty involved in these initiatives help train medical students, residents and fellows in quality and safety.

The Department of Pediatrics is looking to expand the number of faculty members with healthcare quality and safety expertise. We offer several opportunities for faculty to expand their expertise in these areas:

Certificate Course for Improvement Scholars

This six-month course involves multidisciplinary faculty and participants including physicians. Scholars learn in didactic sessions and initiate an improvement project in their microsystem to accelerate their learning.

Journal Writing Club

We have initiated an Improvement Writers group that will advance optimal utilization of SQUIRE guidelines in September 2018. Graduates of this program are expected to submit healthcare quality and safety manuscripts, help teach the ensuing session and serve as mentors for other colleagues working in these areas.

Value in Healthcare

Faculty involved in quality and safety initiatives are currently developing a method for quantifying value in healthcare. This will enable the institution to prioritize work based on metrics that matter most to our patients and their families.

Mary Eileen McBride

Professor of Pediatrics (Cardiology) and Medical Education

I am interested in using high-fidelity simulation to analyze and assess teamwork behaviors, communication and medical decision making during critical events. I am primarily interested in studying these areas in the field of congenital heart disease and the cardiac intensive care unit.

David O Walterhouse

Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation)

As a member of the soft tissue sarcoma committee of the Children's Oncology Group (COG), my primary clinical research interest lies in the area of clinical trials for pediatric patients with soft tissue sarcomas. I have served as study chair for a group-wide phase III COG clinical trial for rhabdomyosarcoma. I also serve as Institutional Principal Investigator for COG. My primary basic research interest lies in understanding the regulation and function of the GLI1 oncogene, as well as understanding the role of Hedgehog-GLI1 signal transduction in pediatric solid tumors.

William J Muller

Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases)

My primary clinical interest is in infections in immunocompromised patients, including stem cell and solid organ transplant recipients. I am involved in numerous clinical trials involving anti-infectives, in both the immunocompromised population and in situations involving other pediatric infections. I also study the pathogenesis of viral encephalitis, using models which focus on host-pathogen interactions in neurologic disease due to herpes simplex virus in newborns.

Dana Aronson Schinasi

Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Emergency Medicine)

My primary clinical and academic interests align in the development, implementation, and assessment of Telehealth programs at Lurie Children's Hospital. My additional research interests lie in medical education and simulation, specifically in using immersive simulation to train health care providers for difficult conversations encountered during clinical care.

Suja Anne Joseph

Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Neurology and Epilepsy)

My primary clinical intersest is in pediatric neurodegenerative disorders and pediatric movement disorders.

Nazia Husain

Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Cardiology)

I am an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and an attending physician in Cardiology at Lurie Children’s Hospital. I completed a post-graduate degree in public health from Yale University with a focus in epidemiology and biostatistics; clinical fellowship in pediatric cardiology from Nationwide Children’s Hospital (Ohio State University) and non-invasive cardiac imaging at Children’s Hospital Boston (Harvard Medical School). My interests include clinical pediatric cardiology and non-invasive cardiac imaging; including echocardiography and ca...

Susan M Fuchs

Professor of Pediatrics (Emergency Medicine)

My research and clinical interests include topics in pediatric emergency medicine such as analgesia and sedation, pediatric resuscitation, prehospital (EMS) care of children, and education of those involved in emergency care of children. I am the Co-PI of the Illinois Emergency Medical Services for Children program, now based at Lurie Children's and have helped to establish prehospital pediatric protocols, and criteria to assure that emergency departments throughout Illinois are equipped to care for children (facility recognition).

Wendy J Brickman

Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Endocrinology)

Currently I am an associate professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and an attending physician at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, splitting my time between research and clinical care. I have been fortunate to train and practice and Lurie Children's. Prior to practicing medicine I pursued advanced degrees in secondary education and biochemistry, both of which have enhanced my skills as a pediatrician.