Marshall Strome, M.D., M.S., is an otolaryngologist who currently serves as a professor of bioethics and humanism at the University of Arizona College of Medicine ‒ Phoenix. Dr. Strome has held prominent positions, including chair of the Otolaryngology Section at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. He later became professor and chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Head and Neck Institute, achieving national recognition from U.S. News & World Report for having the top program in the country.

In 1998, Dr. Strome performed the world’s first total human laryngeal transplant, achieving a historical milestone with the transplant remaining functional for 14 years. In 2005, he performed the first robotic laser excision of a laryngeal malignancy. His innovative procedures for congenital laryngeal stenosis and new surgical methods for laryngeal cancer and aspiration have saved many lives and advanced the field. 

He has received numerous accolades, including the Medal of the City of Paris and was one of the physicians recognized in a group honored by the American Academy of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery for contributions to medicine over the last 250 years. Dr. Strome was also featured in the “Medical Hero” section of the “Guinness Book of World Records Millennium Edition”, has been noted in “Who’s Who in the World”, and received the Albert Marquis Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Strome has authored more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters, served as a lecturer and visiting professor over 100 times, and participated on the scientific advisory boards of several companies. He has been involved in major TV programs and produced a one-hour TV special that won the Twentieth Anniversary Classic Telly Award. Ten years ago, he founded a medical company whose primary product recently met all benchmarks in a clinical trial.

Catherine Keegan, M.D., Ph.D., is the Charles E. Lytle, Jr. Research Professor of Pediatrics and the director of the Division of Genetics, Metabolism, and Genomic Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics. She is also a professor in the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Keegan completed her pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of Boston, followed by a medical genetics fellowship at the University of Michigan, where she has been a faculty member since 2002. Her research focuses include telomere dysfunction, genetic mechanisms of structural birth defects, rare genetic disease diagnosis and treatment, and emerging therapeutics. 

She has published more than 75 papers and received funding from the National Institutes of Health, March of Dimes, and the American Cancer Society. Dr. Keegan is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Society for Pediatric Research, and the American Pediatric Society. Clinically, she specializes in differences of sex development, Turner syndrome, and KDM5C-related intellectual disability.

Throughout her career, Dr. Keegan has held several leadership roles at the University of Michigan. She served as medical director of the Genetic Counseling Graduate Program, associate director of the Medical Scientist Training Program, and has been the program director for the Medical Genetics Residency Programs since 2017. 

In 2019, she established an ACGME-accredited Medical Biochemical Genetics Fellowship Program and serves as its associate program director. She also co-founded the Michigan Medicine Rare Disease Alliance (MiRARE) and serves as co-director of the Michigan Medicine NORD Center of Excellence. In 2022, Dr. Keegan also became the medical director of the Michigan Medical Genetics Laboratories.

Brian C. Callaghan, M.D., M.S., is the Eva L. Feldman Professor of Neurology at the University of Michigan and a staff physician at the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Hospital. He has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, including more than 40 as first or senior author. His research has been funded by numerous prestigious organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Diabetes Association,  and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. 

His research interests focus on peripheral neuropathy, particularly diabetic neuropathy, health services research, health care inequities, and quality improvement. Dr. Callaghan has been honored with numerous awards, including the AB Baker Teacher Recognition Award from the American Academy of Neurology and the Wolfe Neuropathy Research Prize Award from the American Neurological Association.  He has a profound commitment to the education of medical students, residents, and fellows, providing guidance and mentorship that fosters the next generation of medical professionals.

Dr. Callaghan serves on the editorial board of the Neurology journal and holds multiple leadership positions, including chair of the American Academy of Neurology Health Services Research Subcommittee, chair of the Peripheral Nerve Society’s Education Committee, and board member for the International Diabetes Neuropathy Consortium. Additionally, he is the co-director of the Neuromuscular Division and the associate program director of research for the Neurology Residency Program at the University of Michigan.

His past roles contributing to the medical community included serving as the diabetic neuropathy chair for the Scientific Sessions Meeting Planning Committee of the American Diabetes Association and co-chair for the Health Services Research Special Interest Group for the American Neurological Association.

Brian D. Ross, Ph.D., is the Roger A. Berg Research Professor of Radiology, associate chair for Basic Science Research, and director of the Center for Molecular Imaging (CMI) at the University of Michigan. He also serves as a professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry. Dr. Ross earned his Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of California and completed a three-year fellowship at the University of Minnesota's Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, funded by the American Brain Tumor Foundation (ABTA).

Dr. Ross’ research focuses on developing parametric response mapping (PRM) as an MRI-based quantitative biomarker for early tumor response detection. His lab extended PRM for CT scan detection of lung inflammation in COPD patients, an achievement published in Nature Medicine. It received FDA clearance and global approval as a clinical diagnostic exam. Currently, his team is developing PRM as an MRI biomarker for bone marrow in patients with myelofibrosis, a chronic bone marrow cancer. Dr. Ross has recently created a first-in-class, multi-targeted kinase inhibitor which exhibits therapeutic efficacy for treatment of myelofibrosis.

As director of the CMI, Dr. Ross has established a shared resource providing advanced radiological imaging technologies to support institutional research. He has secured numerous large, multi-investigator grants from the National Institutes of Health. Additionally, Dr. Ross was awarded the National Cancer Institute Outstanding Investigator Award, allowing for extended funding on high-potential cancer research projects.

Not only have Dr. Ross’ contributions to radiological imaging and cancer research made substantial impacts, but his commitment to shaping the next generation of scientists is paying off as well. Many of the students and postdoctoral fellows that Dr. Ross mentored have advanced to significant roles in medical research and clinical medicine.