Hal Harry Shaffner Jr., MD

Dr. David Valle is a professor of pediatrics and ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and former director of the Johns Hopkins Department of Genetic Medicine. He also serves as a geneticist for the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.Dr. Valle holds a bachelor’s degree and medical degree from Duke University. He completed a pediatric residency at Johns Hopkins University before joining the Johns Hopkins faculty. He is interested in the genetic contributions to health and disease. He is the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Inherited Disease Research. Over the years, his laboratory has discovered the genetic causation for more than 20 diseases, including those responsible for inborn errors of metabolism, inherited retinal degeneration, disorders of cellular organelle biogenesis and genetic variations that contribute risk for common disorders such as schizophrenia.Dr. Valle also serves as director of the Predoctoral Training Program in Human Genetics, as well as co-director of the Genes to Society program. He was a 2014 recipient of the annual Victor A. McKusick Leadership Award from the American Society of Human Genetics, which recognizes individuals whose professional achievements have fostered and enriched the development of human genetics as well as its assimilation into the broader context of science, medicine and health.

Dr. Guryildirim is an Assistant Professor in Pediatric Radiology and Pediatric Neuroradiology. She earned her medical degree from Hacettepe University and went on to complete her radiology residency at the Gazi University School of Medicine. After residency, she completed a two-year-long fellowship in Neuroradiology at Rush University Medical Center where she was the chief fellow. She then completed a one-year-long fellowship in Advanced Imaging before joining the Rush University Medical Center Neuroradiology faculty. Dr. Guryildirim's research interests focus on functional brain imaging of epilepsy patients, hydrocephalus and headache.

Dr. Deborah Ann Schwengel is an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her areas of clinical expertise include pediatric anesthesiology.Dr. Schwengel is a former program director of the Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine Training and Residency Program. She is interested in innovative ways of teaching adults in residency programs and invented the “College Days” Program for Residency Education.She received her undergraduate degree in nursing from Duke University. She earned her M.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. She completed her residencies at Yale–New Haven Hospital and Johns Hopkins. She performed a fellowship in pediatric critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins. She completed the Master of Education in the Health Professions at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Schwengel joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1994.Dr. Schwengel's research interests include graduate medical education, innovative curriculum development, neurophysiologic assessment of learning and hospital disaster preparedness.Dr. Schwengel has been recognized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education with the Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award, the Johns Hopkins Institute for Excellence in Education Outstanding Achievement for an Educational Innovation, The American Society of Anesthesiologists with the Distinguished Educator Award and The Society for Education in Anesthesia Philip Liu Award for best Research Abstract.