Faculty

Our faculty present a diversity of expertise to assist you with building your skills in Family Medicine and in discovering your own areas of special interest.

William W. Briner, Jr, MD, FACSM is a graduate of the Ohio State University School of Medicine. He completed his Family Medicine Residency at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois, and a Sports Medicine fellowship at Marshall University in West Virginia. Dr. Briner is the Medical Director for the Sports Medicine Center at Lutheran General Hospital and director of the Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship. He was Indoor Volleyball Venue Physician during the Atlanta and Athens Olympics. He has also served as the team physician for the U.S. National Soccer and Volleyball Teams, as well as for local high school and college teams. Dr. Briner’s research interests include sports pre-participation examinations, ankle sprains, volleyball injuries and allergic conditions related to exercise. He has written several articles on sports medicine topics, and a book on exercise and allergy. Dr. Briner and his wife, Christine, a pediatrician, enjoy outings with their daughter Jillian. Bill’s main avocation is sand volleyball.

Brian Chicoine, MD is a graduate of Lutheran General’s Family Medicine Residency program and Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. After completing his residency, he practiced in a small community in Northwest Illinois prior to joining the faculty. Through his work as medical director of the Adult Down Syndrome Center of Lutheran General Hospital, Brian enjoys providing health care for adults with developmental disabilities, working with a community and research and education in this field. He has a strong interest in psychosocial issues as they relate to health and delivering health care. He and his wife, Kathy, have three daughters, Emily, Caitlin and Laura.
The Adult Down Syndrome Center, of Lutheran General Hospital, is one of only a few centers in the United States specifically focused on delivering health care to adults with Down syndrome. Developed through a joint effort through the Lutheran General Hospital. Department of Family Medicine, Advocate Medical Group, The National Association for Down Syndrome. The staff of the center has provided care for and over 3000 adults with Down Syndrome and have given presentations at numerous local, national and international meetings.

Erin Dominiak, MD attended Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and recently graduated from Lutheran General’s Family Medicine Residency Program. She is excited to be a part of the Adult Down Syndrome Center of Lutheran General Hospital, where she first trained with Dr. Chicoine as a medical student. Erin enjoys running, biking, in-line skating, and rock climbing.

Inna Gutman, MD is a graduate of the Lutheran General Hospital Family Medicine Residency and New Jersey Medical School. Her interests include prevention medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics, gynecology, and curriculum development.
Stuart Goldman, MD graduated from St. Louis University School of Medicine. He currently is a Clinical Associate Professor in Family Medicine at the University of Illinois. He recently accepted the position of Family Medicine clerkship Director at the Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University. Dr. Goldman is also Board Certified in Quality Assurance and Utilization Review and has a CAQ in Geriatrics. He serves as Medical Director of Nesset Family Medicine Center. He directs the Family Medicine Quality Assurance Program at Lutheran General Hospital. His research interests include health maintenance, ambulatory utilization review and chronic disease management. His previous work includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation education and evaluation. Dr. Goldman’s clinical interests include geriatrics, health promotion and colposcopy. He enjoys finding time to jog, bike, and bowl regularly. Dr. Goldman is the recipient of the 2002 Illinois Academy of Family Physicians Educator of the Year award.

Judi Gravdal, MD is the Morris M. Goldberg, MD endowed Chair of Family Medicine at Lutheran General Hospital and Residency Program Director. She also currently holds the position of Chair of Family and Preventive Medicine at Rosalind Franklin University Chicago Medical School. Prior to joining the faculty in 1987, she served on the faculty of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford. Her clinical practice interests include geriatrics, adolescent medicine, and women’s health. She has been actively involved in the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. Her areas of research activity include patient perceptions of the doctor-patient relationship and geriatrics. Dr. Gravdal lives in Evanston. She enjoys playing clarinet, listening to good music, reading good books, and travel.

Debra Haley, PhD is the director of Behavioral Science. She is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and is a graduate of Loyola University. She has practiced at several hospitals in the Chicago area. Her clinical interests include family therapy, marital therapy, women’s issues and adjustment to illness. Dr. Haley and her husband have a son, and her personal interests include biking, walking, traveling, and reading.

Greg K. Kirschner, MD, M.P.H. is a graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine and completed his Family Medicine residency at Lutheran General Hospital. He initially joined the faculty in 1986 after completing graduate work in public health. He has served as a Family Medicine Residency Director for several years in Nigeria, and participated in many shorter projects in Latin America. Dr. Kirschner is an Associate Director of the residency, and chairs the curriculum committee. In 2007 Dr. Kirschner received the Illinois Academy of Family Physician’s full-time Teacher of the Year Award. Dr. Kirschner’s clinical interests include community health, missionary medicine, and cross-cultural issues in health care. His wife is a gynecologic oncologist and they have four children. His personal interests include jogging, basketball, piano, and banjo.

Robert Moss, MD is the director of Geriatrics in the department of Family Medicine at Lutheran General Hospital (LGH). He is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Medicine and completed his residency at LGH. After practicing in rural Wisconsin for five years, he completed a Geriatric Fellowship at the Minneapolis Geriatric Research Center and a Clinical Ethics Fellowship at LGH. He joined the faculty in 1987. His research interests and publications are in the fields of medical ethics and geriatrics. He and his wife, who is a family nurse practitioner, have three children. In his spare time he puts on his track shoes and tries to keep up with the rest of his family.

Donald Novey, MD graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and completed residency training at Ravenswood Hospital in Chicago. He joined the faculty in 1993 and is a board certified family physician. His previous work involved computer applications in medicine at the American Medical Association and many years of medical teaching in clinical and lecture settings. Dr. Novey's areas of special interest include the instruction of physical diagnosis skills, biopsychosocial aspects of medicine, complementary medicine, computer applications in medicine, and medical videoproduction and computer graphics. He also really enjoys being a good old fashioned family doctor. In his spare time, he likes to play classical guitar, take walks, work on his pond and be with his wife Judy. They live in Evanston and their son Miguel lives in San Francisco.
    As medical director for the Center for Complementary Medicine, Dr. Novey also provides residents with opportunities to learn firsthand about non-traditional methods of healing and the productive interfacing between conventional and "alternative" medical practitioners. The Center offers a one-month block elective in complementary medicine which is attended by medical students and residents from throughout the Chicago area and beyond. The Center also offers CME-accredited training in complementary medicine for physicians.

Robin S. O’Meara, MD graduated from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in 2001. She than completed her residency at Lutheran General’s Family Medicine Residency Program, where she was chief resident during her third year. Her clinical interests include obstetrics, well childcare, and international medicine. She is an avid reader of mysteries, historical fiction, and classic literature. She and her husband enjoy travel, golf, and watching football (GO BEARS!!).Robin and her husband Mike now have a beautiful baby girl named Penelope and a brand new baby boy named Gavin.

Bruce Perlow, MD is a graduate of Rush Medical College. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at MacNeal Memorial Hospital in 1989. Prior to joining the faculty in 1991, he enjoyed serving the diverse population of Rogers Park in a small Family Medicine group. He presently serves as director of residency recruitment. His clinical interests include medical students and resident education, patient education, ambulatory and acute care medicine. He also has a special interest in pediatric/adolescent medicine. He enjoys playing basketball, reading, Judaic studies, and spending time with his wife Tamar and their children.

Tamar Perlow, MD is the director of undergraduate medical education and a faculty member at Lutheran General Hospital, Family Medicine Residency Program. Her arrival to the teaching team followed practicing ethnically diverse medicine in Rogers Park, while serving as a community faculty member to the St. Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency Program. In 1988-1989 she served as Chief Resident for Mac Neal Memorial Hospital’s Family Medicine residency. She possesses a strong interest in women and children’s’ health care and greatly enjoys all aspects of medical education. She enjoys classical piano, interior design, photography, and gardening, in addition to spending time with her husband, co-faculty member Bruce Perlow and their family.

Patrick Piper, MD is a recent addition to the Family Medicine Faculty after completeing his residency here. His route to a career in medicine was a bit circuitous having obtained an MBA and working in the filed of finance. He tries to draw on all of his past education and experience to deliver the best care for his patients. He sees himself as an educator and strives to develop strong working relationships with all of his patients.
Mayank Shah, MD is of the recent graduates of the program. He graduated from Northwestern University Medical School and has a special interest in spirituality and health. He is a holistic provider caring for diverse patient populations. He is a part-time Hindu priest and enjoys spiritual activities in his spare time. He specializes in Obstetrics and office based procedures. He is also medical director for Advocate Hospice North. His hobbies include woodworking and gardening. He enjoys outdoor activities including biking, roller skating, and playing tennis. The most rewarding part of living around the Park Ridge neighborhood for him is the variety of ethnic foods and cultures he gets to experience.