Meet Our Team

Leadership

David Meltzer, MD, PhD
Program Director, Comprehensive Care Physician (CCP) Program and Comprehensive Care, Community, and Culture Program (C4P); Co-Director, UChicago Health Lab; Chief, Section of Hospital Medicine; Professor, Medicine, Economics, and Public Policy
Dr. Meltzer is Director of Comprehensive Care Physician (CCP) Program at the University of Chicago, where he is the Fanny L. Pritzker Professor in the Department of Medicine, Department of Economics and the Harris School of Public Policy Studies. He also serves at the University as the Chief of the Section of Hospital Medicine, Director of the Center for Health and the Social Sciences, and Director of the Health Lab within the Urban Labs. He has practiced as a hospitalist and primary care physician at the University of Chicago for over 20 years and grew up on the South Side of Chicago. Trained both as an MD and a PhD in Economics, Dr. Meltzer developed the CCP program based on economic principles and a commitment to bringing sustainable patient-centered care to complex patients of diverse socioeconomic means on the South Side and in communities nationally and internationally. He currently leads several studies assessing the effects of the CCP model on health care outcomes and costs. He is thrilled to be able to support the University of Chicago CCP clinical team and others like them who are seeking to improve the care and outcomes of patients at increased risk of hospitalization while minimizing the burden of health care costs to individuals and society.

 

Harold Pollack, PhD
Co-Director, UChicago Health Lab Helen Ross Professor, School of Social Service Administration; Co-Director, University of Chicago Crime Lab
Dr. Pollack is Co-Director of the Comprehensive Care, Community, and Culture Program (C4P), Co-Director of the Health Lab, and Co-Director of the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago. He is the Helen Ross Professor at the School of Social Service Administration, a committee member of the Center for Health Administration Studies (CHAS) and an affiliate professor in the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division and the Department of Public Health Sciences. He has published widely at the interface between poverty policy and public health.

Administration

Emily Perish, MPP
Director of Operations & Business Development
Emily joined the CCP team while pursuing her Masters of Public Policy at the University of Chicago where she focused on health policy, inequities and economics. After graduating, she was selected to participate in the Administrative Fellowship at University of Chicago Medicine, continuing to work with the CCP program around development and expansion. Before graduate school, Emily managed district operations and strategic development within the Illinois House of Representatives and performed independent research about the use of mobile health interventions to improve maternal health outcomes. Emily is passionate about increasing access to high quality, holistic health care for all people.

Comprehensive Care Physicians (CCPs)

Grace Berry LaShore, MD
Clinical Associate of Medicine
Director of Clinical Operations

Dr. LaShore joined the CCP Program in July 2015, shortly after completing her Internal Medicine residency at Columbia University in NY. As a physician who was born and raised in the medically underserved area of central Brooklyn, NY, her mission has always been to work in medical settings in areas of great medical need. Joining the CCP program gave her the opportunity to do this, as well as the opportunity to care for some of our sickest patients. She values the deep relationships she has built with her patients through this program. Dr. LaShore is also the course director for the CCP 4th year medical student elective, and is the Director of Clinical Operations for the CCP Program.

 

Keona Brown-Goodson, NP
Nurse Practitioner, Home Based Primary Care
Keona Brown-Goodson joined the CCP team in June 2019. She has worked for 10+ years in homecare combined as a nurse and now as a Nurse Practitioner. A lifelong resident of Chicago, she can relate firsthand with the complex needs of the community she serves.  Having worked in both the inpatient and emergency room setting, she has seen both sides of the healthcare system and decided that she can make the most difference in homecare. She was drawn to the CCP program for its multidisciplinary team based care and resources for the community.

Rachel Cohen, MD
Clinical Associate of Medicine
Dr. Cohen joined the CCP Program in November 2023,  after working as a hospitalist at UChicago for a year and a half. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at Barnes Jewish Hospital through  Washington University in St. Louis, with a focus in primary care. Dr. Cohen is interested in the intersection of social justice and medicine as well as obesity medicine. She deeply values continuity of care and the close relationships she has been able to build within the CCP program. Dr. Cohen also precepts for the first year med school AIM ambulatory students as well as volunteers as a preceptor for the StreetMed group and frequently takes medical student shadowers.  

V. Ram Krishnamoorthi, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Krishnamoorthi has been with the Comprehensive Care Physician (CCP) Program since 2014, after spending many years caring for veterans and underserved populations at the Hines Veterans Hospital and Loyola University Medical Center. Like the other CCP physicians, he provides primary care and inpatient care for patients with medically and socially complex situations. Given the impact that medical problems have on people’s overall lives, he is particularly interested in holistic health and wellness and strategies to integrate behavioral health into the primary care setting. As an Assistant Professor with the Pritzker School of Medicine, he also teaches healthcare policy and has given talks around the Chicago area on healthcare reform and advocacy.

 

Justin Porter, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Porter joined the CCP Program in August 2021 after completing an internal medicine fellowship at the University of Chicago.  He is drawn to the challenge of providing inpatient and outpatient care to patients with complex medical and social needs.  His research interests include the efficient utilization of physician time, new models of hospitalist care, and improving continuity of care between inpatient and outpatient providers.

 

 

Joyce Tang, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine
Dr. Tang joined the CCP Program in July 2015, after spending seven years as a primary care physician and health services researcher at Northwestern University. She was drawn to CCP because of the program’s team-based, patient-centered design, with continuity of the patient-provider relationship across care settings. She enjoys working collaboratively with patients and their families to meet patients’ health goals. Within the Comprehensive Care Program, Dr. Tang leads the group’s Patient and Family Advisory Council and also co-leads qualitative research efforts. In addition, she co-directs the Clinical Skills and Reasoning course for first and second year medical students.

 

Megan Riddle, MSW

Ciara Smith, LSW

CCP Clinical Team

Matthew Bachman
CCP Nurse
I have been with the Comprehensive Care Program since March of 2020. I received my BA in Nursing from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut in 2017. I have been a nurse since 2017 and in Chicago since 2018. My current role includes phone triage, ordering durable medical equipment, preparing patients for appointments, vaccines, health maintenance, and point of care testing. I am passionate about providing the best care for our patients and resolving issues in a timely manner. I love working hand-in-hand with our patients, providers, and rest of the CCP team!

 

Nancy Galvez, LCSW ACM-SW
CCP Social Work Manager
Nancy is a Bilingual Licensed Clinical Social Worker who joined our team in June 2022. She brings with her 11 years of experience working in the field of Social Work ranging from Child Protective Services, Medical Case Management for Adults living with HIV, Inpatient Neurology & Neurosurgery Social Work and Care Coordination. Nancy received her BSW at the University of Wisconsin-Madison 11’ and a Masters in Clinical Social Work at The University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy in Practice 16’. Nancy also holds an American Case Management Association Certificate for Social Work, which specifically addresses Case Management in health delivery system settings. Although Nancy has worked across many distinguished healthcare systems in Chicago, she is very excited to join our CCP team and serve our community. A native of the Gage Park Neighborhood herself, Nancy is passionate about making meaningful connections with the patients and families she serves and strives to take a respectful, strength based collaborative approach.

 

Nicole Gier, LCSW
Senior Advisor for Social Work and Behavioral Health
Nicole received a Masters in Social Work from Indiana University in 2009 and joined the CCP program in 2014 with experience working in interdisciplinary teams across the healthcare continuum. She manages the provision of social work services within CCP. After completing the Contextual Behavior Therapy Fellowship at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration in 2016 , she developed and adapted behavioral health treatments for program participants. She is passionate about the intersection of medicine, mental health/wellness, & community building. In addition to her clinical work within CCP, Nicole is a Field Instructor and Lecturer at the School of Social Service Administration where she teaches courses on behavioral therapies and provides clinical supervision to graduate social work students.

 

Justine Kabre
C4P Community Health Worker
Justine is a Community Health Worker (CHW) for the Comprehensive Care, Community, and Culture Program (C4P). She has a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in Community Health from DePaul University. She has experience in home care assistance and has previously owned a business. Justine loves working with people and enjoys assisting C4P patients and their families with identifying their needs and finding resources to meet those needs. Additionally, the multi-cultural experiences she has acquired living and working in various continents including Africa, Europe, and North America afford her the ability to adapt to the scope of patients’ backgrounds and the unique experiences that they bring to the clinical and community settings.

 

Alicia Roberts, MS
Project Coordinator
As a project coordinator for the program, Alicia works on both clinical and programming teams. As the program began, she joined the CCP team, as a member of the research team. In her roles, Alicia has enjoyed serving patients and fulfilling the goals of the program.

 

 

Felicia Roberts, MS
Project Coordinator
Felicia is a project coordinator for the program. She has been a member of the CCP team since the beginning stages. As a former member of the research team and current member of the programming and clinical teams, she has been privileged to serve patients in a variety of ways.

 

 

Anitra Thomas, RN BSN
CCP Nurse
Anitra has been a Registered nurse for the comprehensive care program since 2014.she has previously held positions as a Medical assistant and LPN. she received her Bachelor’s degree of Nursing from Grand Canyon University. Overall, she has a total of twenty years of experience in the medical field. her current role is providing medical advice, preparing patients for their appointment, POC testing and ordering medical durable equipment. She is a dedicated nurse with exceptional clinical, didactic and leadership skills as well being very passionate about continuity of care and providing excellent care to her patients.

 

Anna Zonderman, LCSW, MPH
CCP Social Worker
Anna received her master’s degree in public health from Yale University and her master’s degree in social work from New York University. Before joining the CCP team, Anna worked in a variety of capacities with medically complex children and adults, as well as with refugee and immigrant families, both in the US and in international settings. In addition, Anna has designed and implemented interventions to improve access to health, education and social services and to build healthy, safe and inclusive communities. Anna has a strong interest in the role of culture as a social determinant of health and wellbeing, and in the use of the visual and performing arts to promote wellness among people of all ages and backgrounds.

CCP Research Team

Andrea Flores, MA
Senior Statistical Programmer
Andrea has over 10 years of experience in health services research and has been part of the CCP team since its beginning in 2012. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Chile and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago. She has extensive experience working with large and complex data sets and is skilled in assembling, linking and analyzing data to evaluate results of observational studies and randomized control trials. As a Sr. Programmer Analyst for the CCP study, Andrea has a leading role in managing data collection and processing procedures for data analysis. Andrea’s interests include program evaluation, survey methodology, health assessment tools and geographical information systems.

 

Anissa Jayathilake, BA
Clinical Research Coordinator
Prior to joining CCP, Anissa graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in Global Health and Economics. She is excited to work with the local Chicago community.

 

 

McKenna Paulik, BS
Clinical Research Coordinator
McKenna graduated from Duke University in May 2024 with a dual major in Psychology and Global Health. Her undergraduate research focused on mobile health interventions to improve hypertension care in rural Nepal. McKenna is deeply passionate about breaking down barriers to care and addressing health disparities and was drawn to C4P because of its interdisciplinary and holistic approach to patient-centered care.

 

 

Sydney Steinbach, BA
Clinical Research Coordinator 
Prior to joining CCP, Sydney worked at a nonprofit urban farm where she spearheaded the organization’s grant writing, community outreach, and oversaw the launch of a brick-and-mortar fresh market. While working to make fresh food more accessible across Chicago’s South Side, Sydney became interested in how policy impacts health at both the individual and community level. This interest led her to CCP where she is able to develop clinical research skills, gain insight into healthcare systems, and engage with hundreds of patients at UChicago Medicine.

 

 

James Zhang, PhD
Director, Medicare Innovation Analysis
A health economist and health services researcher, Dr. Zhang has conducted scientific investigations and published first-author original research in a number of fields including the following: (a) cost-related non-adherence to medical care; (b) disparities in quality and costs of care; (c) Medicare Part D policy impact; and (d) risk adjustment in Medicare claims data. His first-author publications have been well cited in the literature. In the CCP Program, Dr. Zhang is mainly responsible for research analytics with a focus on costs, utilization, and quality of care metrics.