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Chicago Medical School Distinguished Alumnus Award
2023 Award Recipients
Nancy Klauber-DeMore, MD ’91
Nancy Klauber-DeMore, MD ’91, received the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award for Achievement recognizing significant impact in the field of medicine and efforts that have brought distinction to the Chicago Medical School.
Dr. Klauber-DeMore is a board-certified breast surgical oncologist and BMW-endowed chair in cancer research at the Medical University of South Carolina. She was named a 2020 fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) by MUSC.
Dr. Klauber-DeMore has extensive research experience in developing new therapies for breast cancer that have led to clinical advances in patient care, particularly for those with metastatic disease. She has been a principal or co-investigator on more than 30 active and completed clinical trials and has contributed to five patents or patents pending. She is also developing novel surgical devices to aid in breast surgery.
Her lab focuses on discovering novel factors that stimulate the growth of new capillary blood vessels that provide tumors with oxygen and nutrients with a goal of developing new drugs to block these factors, therefore inhibiting tumor growth.
She has also played an integral role as a surgeon in the evaluation of surgical clinical trials as well as clinical trials evaluating the role of natural products in cancer treatment. With a focus on discovering less toxic therapies, Dr. Klauber-DeMore is leading investigator-initiated trials that look at the effects of natural products on tumor biology in humans.
Most recently, research by Klauber-DeMore helped to lead to the development of IVT-8086, a new innovative cancer therapy for the treatment of osteosarcoma. In September of 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted the drug both the rare pediatric disease designation and orphan drug designation, highlighting the significant unmet medical needs of patients with this life-threatening disease.
Brian Rubinstein, MD ’96
Brian Rubinstein, MD ’96, received the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award for Service recognizing Chicago Medical School alumni who have unselfishly devoted time and service in a professional capacity or in the broader community.
Dr. Rubinstein is founder and director of Faces of Tomorrow, a nonprofit organization that provides medical and surgical services to children with facial deformities around the world (www.facesoftomorrow.org).
Dr. Rubinstein grew up in Los Angeles and is assistant clinical professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at University of California, Davis.
Dr. Rubinstein joined The Permanente Medical Group in 2001 and is the chief of the Pediatric Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Department and is board certified in facial plastics and reconstructive surgery. His practice is devoted to pediatric head and neck surgery, including cleft lip and palate and craniofacial surgery, microtia surgery, facial plastic and reconstruction, airway (laryngeal and tracheal) reconstruction, and vascular malformations.
He is part of the Northern California Kaiser Regional Craniofacial Panel, as well as a local satellite panel in Sacramento, California. These panels are comprised of specialists taking care of children with cleft lip, cleft palate and craniofacial problems. The craniofacial/cleft panel is a multidisciplinary group of medical providers geared toward comprehensive and coordinated care for the patient.
2022 Award Recipients
Kimberley Darey, MD ’04
Kimberley Darey, MD ’04, received the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award for Service recognizing Chicago Medical School alumni who have unselfishly devoted time and service in a professional capacity or in the broader community.
Dr. Darey was named president of Elmhurst Hospital (Elmurst, Ill.) and will assume her new role in January 2023. Dr. Darey is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology and has been on the medical staff at Elmhurst Hospital since 2010. She previously held positions of medical director of the Elmhurst Hospital Family Birthing Center and chief medical officer/VP of medical affairs.
Dr. Darey is the first African American medical director at Elmhurst Hospital in obstetrics and gynecology. She also serves as chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council and the Health Equity Taskforce. Dr. Darey also serves on the Board of Trustees for Elmhurst Hospital Foundation.
Dr. Darey is active in civic and humanitarian organizations where she holds several leadership roles. She is a charter member of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Chicago Metropolitan Chapter, and she supports African American women experiencing infertility. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
In 2017, Dr. Darey received the Chicago Defender’s Women of Excellence Award. This year, Crain's Chicago Business recognized her among its 2022 Most Notable Executives of Color in Healthcare.
Alan Blank, MD, MS, ’11
Alan Blank, MD, MS, ’11, received the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award for Early Career Achievement. The award celebrates alumni who have achieved early distinction in the past 15 years, proudly reflecting the power of a Chicago Medical School education.
Dr. Blank, a fellowship trained orthopedic oncologist, is an assistant professor at Rush University Medical Center. He specializes in malignant and benign musculoskeletal growths and performing limb-salvage surgery in adults and children.
Blank served as class president at Chicago Medical School and earned both his MD and a master’s in biomedical sciences and research. After medical school, he completed his orthopedic surgery residency at New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases (New York City). While there, he received the Resident Research Award for his work on prophylactic surgical treatment for metastatic bone disease.
Dr. Blank also completed a year of training in adult and pediatric musculoskeletal oncology and sarcoma surgery at the renowned Huntsman Cancer Institute and Hospital in Salt Lake City.
Dr. Blank has published many peer reviewed scientific articles in the field of orthopedic oncology, co-authored a number of textbook chapters, and presented at internationally attended academic conferences. He also treats a comprehensive set of non-tumor related conditions such as joint reconstruction, fractures and other general orthopedics.
Dr. Blank has received a number of honors, including Crain's Chicago Business Magazine 40 under 40 Award Winner in 2019 and the Golden Apple Teaching Award.