Religion

Dr. Omar Lateef is President and CEO of RUSH University Medical Center in Chicago. He received his BA in Religion from UF in 1995 and his medical degree from Des Moines University. He then completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at RUSH. Prior to becoming president and CEO of RUSH in 2022, Lateef was its chief medical officer. Under his leadership, the Medical Center has received national attention for its ongoing, effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic. In recognition of his role in Rush’s response to the crisis, Modern Healthcare named him to their 2021 list of the 100 most influential people in health care in the United States. Modern Healthcare again recognized Lateef in October 2022, naming him one of the nation’s top 25 diversity leaders. He is also a nationally recognized leader in the measurement of health care quality and in January 2020 was invited by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to serve on the National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. A former associate dean of medical sciences at Rush University, Lateef has won numerous teaching awards at the University, published extensively on scientific and ethical issues in critical care medicine, and spoken internationally on improving healthcare and its delivery.

Dr. Eric Nelson is a physician scientist who historically researched pathways to better respond to large-scale infectious disease outbreaks, using cholera as a model system. Over his career, he has expanded the scope of his research to target methods to improve access to healthcare during and between infectious disease outbreaks. His approach draws upon a combination of technological, medical and scientific skills-sets. He views access to healthcare as a fundamental human right and advocates nationally and internationally to defend this right for all people.