A Life Free From Digestive Disease
Seventy million Americans live with a digestive disease. The GI Research Foundation is at the forefront of science and discovery, partnering with the nationally-ranked University of Chicago Medicine Digestive Diseases Center to transform their lives.
Board of Directors
A group of passionate individuals, committed to providing relief and hope for digestive diseases patients and their families.
Kathryn Karmin Shafer
President
Principal, Thomas Shafer Architects LLC
Yekaterina Chudnovsky*
Chairperson
Attorney, Executive
Howard A. Grill*
Vice President of Finance/Treasurer
CFO, The Alter Group
Brad Peterson
Secretary
Executive Vice President, Guaranteed Rate
Mark A. Waldeck
Vice President of Marketing
Office President, CRC Group – Chicago
Benjamin Pogofsky
Vice President of Board Development
Vice President, JP Morgan
Biana Lanson, MD
Vice President of Research Grantmaking
Partner, Ear, Nose & Throat Center, LLC
Murray Alscher
DLN Real Estate Advisors
Scott Attar
AMP Outdoor Billboard Advertising
Eric Berlin*
Partner, Dentons US LLP
Michael P. Cogan*
Partner, Cogan & Power, P.C.
Russell D. Cohen, MD
University of Chicago Medicine
Steven R. Davidson*
Partner, Denton’s
Jeffrey A. Fine
Of Counsel, Kirkland and Ellis, LLP
Danny Goldberg
Associates Board President
Peter D. Goldman
President, Reed-Union Corporation
Heidi Henderson
Client Associate, JP Morgan
Karyn Hurwich
Real Estate Professional
Matthew Lebenson
Finance Director
Jonathan Merel
Founder, Law Offices of Jonathan Merel, P.C.
Scientific Advisors
Through their guidance, GIRF is proud to champion breakthroughs in understanding, treating, and curing digestive diseases.
David T. Rubin, MD
Joseph B. Kirsner Professor of Medicine
Chief, Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
University of Chicago Medicine
Eugene B. Chang, MD
Martin Boyer Professor, Department of Medicine
Director, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Center
University of Chicago Medicine
Michael R. Charlton, MBBS
Director, Center for Liver Diseases
Co-Director, Transplant Institute
University of Chicago Medicine
Associates Board
Funding groundbreaking research by digestive disease scientists at the start of their career.
Danny Goldberg, President
Katie Bryan
Courtney Cebula
Kathleen Cipolla
Noa Krugliak Cleveland, MD
Kurt Dziama
Rachel Eagle
Jaclyn Hanley
Carly Hennig
Jordan Hirsh
Joan Lines
Trevor Long
Jacqueline Lopez
Dejan Micic, MD
Sheetal Shah
Carli Thomas
Logan Turban
Katherine Waldeck
Morgan Waldeck
Associate Board Advisors
Sushila Dalal, MD
Medical Advisor
Assistant Professor
University of Chicago Medicine
Ashley Sidebottom, PhD
Scientific Advisor
Metabolomics Platform Director, DFI-HMMF
University of Chicago Medicine
Advisory Council
Assists in the growth of the GI Research Foundation by providing advice and support to the Board of Directors.
Ronald Borden
Ronald J. Borden & Company, Ltd
Kelly O’Connor
StageLight Group
David A. Rubin
Gary Singer
Kobre & Kim
Author and Journalist
B.H. Gerald Rogers, MD
University of Chicago Medicine
Saul Rudo
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Hilary Wolfe
Northern Trust
Erica Matagrano
Amgen
Aaron Rosdal
Prologis
Spencer G. Sachs
SCG Asset Management
Executive Staff
Jackie Casey
Executive Director
jcasey@girf.org
Deborah Barnard
Director of Major Gifts
dbarnard@girf.org
Brittany Zelwin
Fundraising Officer
bzelwin@girf.org
Allison Thielen
Finance and Operations Manager
athielen@girf.org
Join Us
Learn how you can actively support our mission to prevent, treat, and cure digestive diseases.