Clinic Staff

Leah McClellan (Assistant Director) is a Nurse Practitioner who started working with WIHS in 2014. Prior to WIHS, she worked as a RN and NP in various local emergency departments. Her interest in health care started when she worked as an anthropologist in Guatemala and volunteered in a local clinic. She soon began coordinating surgical teams, while returning home to study nursing. She has studied at both Boston University and University of Illinois at Chicago. She is honored to be a part of the WIHS team and enjoys working with investigators, staff, and the women.

Ralph Morack (Director of Laboratory and Data Management) began working on the WIHS study in 1997 as a laboratory technician and currently manages the Chicago WIHS laboratory and specimen repository. In addition to the laboratory duties Ralph also oversees the data quality for the national WIHS study. Ralph has an MS in Biotechnology from Roosevelt University and a BS in Biology from Loyola University Chicago.

Kim Miller (Consortium Administrator) began working with the WIHS in 2014. She has a BS degree in Industrial Psychology from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. She ensures successful and efficient WIHS fiscal, administrative, and personnel management to meet the program needs of the Chicago Women’s HIV Research Consortium including its primary center and collaborating sites and institutions. Kim manages WIHS consortium related expenditures and income for primary and subcontract budgets as well as orders all clinical and lab supplies.

Sandy Micci (Physician Assistant) has a MS in Neurobiology and Physiology from Northwestern University and completed her PA degree at Cook County Hospital/City-Wide Colleges. She has worked as the lead clinician and colposcopist for the Chicago WIHS since its inception in 1993. Sandy is also a primary care/OB-GYNE provider at the CORE Center which is part of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, power walking, baking and spending time with her family & friends. Sandy values the relationship she has made with the WIHS ladies over the years and feels she has learned a great deal from them.

Calvine Thompson (Research Associate) has been with WIHS for 22 years. Prior to starting at WIHS, she graduated from Bryman school. She previously worked with Infants and Children, dedicated 19 years to Rush Medical Center, as well as worked for MACS (Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study).

Darlene Johnson (Research Associate) has worked with WIHS for 15 years. She assists with multiple parts of the WIHS visit. She is an interviewer as well as the lead neurocog tester. She frequently assists with phlebotomy tasks, as well as assists the clinicians with body measurements and BIA. Prior to working with WIHS, she spent 5 years working with the Howard Brown Clinic.

Elizabeth Daubert (Research Associate/Data Analyst) joined the WIHS staff in 2017. She is a recent graduate from the University of Illinois at Chicago with an MPH focused in Epidemiology. Prior to WIHS, she worked as a research assistant at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Elizabeth has a BS in Biology from the University of South Carolina. She is very excited to be a member of the WIHS team.

Caitlin Bond (Research Associate/Data Analyst) is a recent MPH graduate that began working at WIHS in 2017. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with an MPH and specialization in Global Health. Prior to working at WIHS, she worked as a research fellow in Global Development at Washington University. Caitlin has a BA in Anthropology and Human Biology from Indiana University Bloomington, with a concentration in Human Health and Disease.

Joan Swiatek (Nurse Practitioner at Rush University Medical Center) is the WIHS coordinator at Rush working with Dr. Beverly Sha and Sylvia Villicana, the team phlebotomist. She has been a nurse since 1977, and a nurse practitioner since 1981. She has always been involved in women’s health; but the highlight of her career has been working with the WIHS study since 2003. Says Swiatek “I am very honored to have been invited into the lives of “my” women who have inspired me in many ways.”

Sylvia Villicana (phlebotomist at Rush University Medical Center) feels lucky to be on the Rush WHIS team, working with Joan and Dr. Bev Sha since the beginning. She has had the ultimate experience, getting to know her patients and learning even more about co-workers. She states “I am honored to have been involved with this project and hope to continue on for as long as it lasts! The experience has been amazing!”