2025 Spring: Current Challenges and Opportunities for Basic Sciences in Medical Education

Dr. Candace Chow is Director of Education Research and an Associate Professor in Internal Medicine at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah. Her research examines how physicians understand their social identities within a context of privilege and oppression, and how these self-perceptions influence the formation of professional identities and interactions with patients.

Dr. Emine Ercikan Abali is a distinguished medical educator and researcher with a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. As the Assistant Dean for the Basic Science Curriculum at the CUNY School of Medicine, she led curricular changes in pre-clinical education, emphasizing integrative and active learning strategies. Her expertise spans curriculum development, teaching, and mentorship, focusing on innovative pedagogical approaches and fostering collaboration in medical education.

Dr. Abali has held academic appointments at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and has contributed significantly to biochemistry and pharmacology research. She is the Editor-in-Chief of IAMSE Manuals, serves on the Editorial Board for MedEdPORTAL, and is a prolific author of two books and numerous peer-reviewed articles. Her scholarly focus bridges foundational science and clinical relevance to enhance medical education.

As an advocate for professional development, Dr. Abali has served on multiple committees, including the Professional Development Committee of the Association of Biochemistry Educators. She has received numerous awards, including the NJ Health Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award and a Fulbright Scholarship. Her mentorship and leadership continue to inspire students and educators alike.

Dr. Malvika Kaul is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and the Preclerkship Course and Block Director at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She earned her PhD in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology from Rutgers University and received an NIH Research Fellowship for her postdoctoral training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). With a deep commitment to education, Dr. Kaul is passionate about designing student-centered curricular strategies that empower students to build a strong scientific foundation, which serves as the cornerstone of medical practice.

Robert Lebeau is Associate Dean, Preclerkship Curriculum at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS). He has over 20 years of experience working with medical students and faculty through his work in the Cognitive Skills Program and the Office for Advancing Learning, Teaching and Assessment at RWJMS. He obtained his EdD in Learning, Cognition and Development from the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education followed by postdoctoral training at Educational Testing Service. His research interests are in self-regulated learning, distributed cognition, and learning progressions.

Dr. Kogan is a Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania where she is the Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education. She is the Director of the Measey Medical Education Fellowship for Department of Medicine Fellows and Director of the Perelman School of Medicine Medical Education Certificate Program. Dr. Kogan’s previous roles including being a Clerkship Director for the Internal Medicine Clerkship, the Assistant Dean for Faculty Development in the Perelman School of Medicine and the Associate Dean for Student Success and Professional Development. Dr. Kogan is a general internist who sees patients and precepts students in her office.
Dr. Kogan’s research is focused on assessment in medical education, particularly feedback, competency assessment, and developing and assessing the effectiveness of new approaches for faculty development in workplace-based assessment. She has published in multiple medical education journals and has authored textbook chapters related to assessment in medical education and faculty development. Dr. Kogan previously served as President of Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine (CDIM) and served on the Board of Directors of the Alliance of Academic Internal Medicine. She is currently a Mentor for the National Board of Medical Examiners SEEF Fellowship Program. Dr. Kogan was a recipient of the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2017. She was a faculty inductee in the Penn Gold Humanism Honor Society in 2022.

Darla P. Henderson, PhD is the Chief Publishing, Open Science, & Research Integrity Officer at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). FASEB is a federation of 22 scholarly societies spanning the biological and biomedical sciences representing over 110,000 scientists. Darla brings extensive experience across publishing from prior roles she held at John Wiley & Sons and the American Chemical Society, where she led the development of the general and multidisciplinary chemistry journals and books portfolio, and later was the first head of open access programs. Darla leads collective scholarly societies providing biological and biomedical society policy feedback to US federal funding agencies on open science and research integrity, In 2024, she led a Board of Directors task force focused on Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences, with a January 2025 public report containing recommendations for policy makers, federal agencies, research and educational institutions, corporations, and scholarly societies in this space. She holds a PhD in biological chemistry from Duke University.

Anne Farmakidis is the senior director of digital medical education, leading a portfolio of medical education mission area scholarship, data, and educational technology programs at the AAMC. She also supports the AAMC’s medical education strategy. Previously serving as managing editor of Academic Medicine and senior director of publishing at the AAMC, Anne has focused most of her career on the intersection of medical education scholarship and technology disruptions. She has led major digital strategy and technology initiatives at the AAMC; most recently, co-leading the team building out the AAMC’s strategic response to AI in medical education. Her current portfolio includes both AAMC journals, Academic Medicine and MedEdPORTAL, the Curriculum Resources unit, which administers the largest medical school curriculum survey in the United States, and the MedBiquitous program, which offers the health professions education community a trusted place for guidelines, best practices, and collaborations around data and technology advancement and innovation.

Dr. Jorge Cervantes is an Associate Professor in the Dr. Kiran Patel College of Allopathic Medicine, Medical Education Department. He has extensive scientific and translational research experience in medical microbiology, immunology, and epidemiology consolidating not only his role as a scientist but also as a scholarship mentor.

Dr. Cervantes is passionate about translating scientific findings in Medicine and the dissemination of knowledge. He serves as an associate editor for several renowned journals and holds various leadership positions in scientific and medical organizations.

Dr. Cervantes is an advocate for scientific integration into medical education. As an M.D., Ph.D., and medical educator, he considers his mission to develop medical education experiences that promote cognitive integration of foundational sciences and clinical sciences. Dr. Cervantes believes that the assimilation of basic science and a critical understanding of new technologies are paramount to how medical professionals can base their clinical reasoning.