I am currently an Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Service of UI Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Professor of Medicine at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science in North Chicago, Ill.

 

In 1980, I received my medical degree from the Chicago Medical School.  I then completed a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine at Northwestern University (1984) followed by a three-year preceptorship/fellowship training in Medical Toxicology at Cook County Hospital and University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. I am currently Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Medical Toxicology and Addiction Medicine. 

 

I served as the Associate Director of the Emergency Department at Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago from 1998-2001.  During this time, I was also the Medical Director of the Rush Poison Control Center and served as Medical Director of the United States Drug Testing Laboratory (from 1991 -1996).  I was also the Medical Director of PROSAR (located in St. Paul, MN); a national call center devoted to industrial exposures and product safety issues, up until December 2013.

 

I have presented over 200 research abstracts at national meetings (primarily to the North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology) and have published over 200 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals.  I am the co-editor of the Poisoning and Toxicology Handbook (now in its fourth edition), published by CRC Press, and the American Medical Association Handbook of First Aid and Emergency Care, and published by Random House (New York).  I am also the co-editor with Dr. Robin McFee for the Toxico-terrorism book (McGraw Hill) and the Handbook of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Agent Exposure (CRC Press) both published in 2007.  I was also the co-editor of the American Medical Association Complete Medical Encyclopedia, published by Random House in 2003.  I am presently the Editor-in-Chief of the primary care journal, Disease-a-Month, published by Elsevier.  I was on the Illinois State Board of Health from 2016 through 2019. In October 2021, I received the Harm Reduction Award from the GBF Foundation based in Lake Forest, Illinois.

 

I am interested in running for a Board position to provide a Medical Toxicology perspective to ISAM. The overlap between Medical Toxicology and Addiction Medicine is quite extensive – as a result, I have worked with the ISAM Board on several resolutions & policy statements for the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS). My most recent interest and advocacy activity focus upon cannabis legislation (and its consequences to vulnerable populations) along with expanding addiction services to the adolescent population. I hope to incorporate my clinical & forensic toxicology expertise into future activities within ISAM.