Ramsey-Goldman Built Legacy of Success as CRU Medical Director
Peters named NM CRU Medical Director, effective January 15
For more than a decade, Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, MD, DrPH, has played an invaluable role in Northwestern’s clinical research enterprise. As medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Clinical Research Unit, she’s championed thousands of research teams in their quest for pathbreaking discoveries to improve human health.
“We are tremendously grateful for all that Roz has contributed to building the Clinical Research Unit over the years,” says Richard D’Aquila, MD, director of the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute, the Howard Taylor Ricketts, MD, Professor of Medicine, and associate vice president of Research. “Without her input and expertise, the NM CRU at Northwestern Memorial Hospital would not have been able to grow so substantially, or been as responsive in meeting the needs of our clinical research community.”
A committed advocate for clinical trials, Ramsey-Goldman, the Solovy/Arthritis Research Society Research Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology, recently stepped down from her role as medical director of the NM CRU. She will enhance her renowned translational research — at the intersection of immunology and rheumatology — studying problems in lupus, an autoimmune disease with no known cure, that are important to patients.
Dr. Stern is a great mentor and role model and I was most fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with her and honor her legacy as one of her protégés.”
“It was an honor and a privilege to have Dr. Landsberg appoint me as medical director for the General Clinical Research Unit (predecessor to the NM CRU),” says Ramsey-Goldman, who joined the NUCATS Institute’s leadership team in 2008. “It has been equally rewarding to work alongside NUCATS Directors Drs. Greenland, Lloyd-Jones, and D’Aquila as medical director of the CRU. I am grateful not only for their mentorship, but their friendship, as well.”
The NM CRU is managed by the NUCATS Institute’s Center for Clinical Research and represents a critical part of the University’s translational research infrastructure, providing support for continuous physiologic measures in health and disease states, first in human studies, drug dosing studies, and much more.
In 2019, the NM CRU went through a time of immense growth that included the opening of Northwestern Medicine’s new 10,000 square foot Clinical Research Hub. The dedicated outpatient research space on the 15th floor of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Galter Pavilion is designed to enhance the University’s investigative scope and infrastructure while improving research participant experiences. The NM CRU now operates in two spaces — Feinberg 10 for overnight visits and Galter 15 for outpatient visits. The CRU provides research nursing support ( in the two CRU spaces, or anywhere within Northwestern Memorial Hospital), space, and lab services for observational studies, clinical trials, device studies, and more.
Anju Peters, MD, MSCI, professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy and director of clinical research in Allergy and Immunology, will become medical director of the NM CRU, effective January 15.
This is a wonderful and exciting opportunity for me. I welcome the challenges and new responsibilities this leadership role will bring.”
A Career Helping Others
Ramsey-Goldman joined the Northwestern faculty in 1991, receiving a First Independent Research Support & Transition (FIRST) Award from the National Institutes of Health the same year. In the 30 years since, she has become an international leader in clinical and translational investigations of lupus. Her research examines risk factors to minimize complications of the disease, which include osteoporosis, malignancy, fatigue, and cardiovascular issues.
Among her earliest accomplishments at Northwestern, Ramsey-Goldman launched the Chicago Lupus Database, a registry of individuals with lupus who are willing to be contacted about future research studies for which they might be eligible. She has also collaborated with several Chicago communities throughout her career to explore lupus-related health disparities. More recently, Ramsey-Goldman’s research team began enrollment in the Lupus Intervention for Fatigue Trial, which is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of one-on-one counseling sessions on reducing symptoms of fatigue in patients with lupus. In bringing cutting edge research to Northwestern, Ramsey-Goldman is one of seven site investigators for a Phase II Sequential Dose-escalation Study Evaluating the Safety and Feasibility of Allogeneic Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells for the Treatment of Adults with Refractory Lupus.
Her international collaborations have led Ramsey-Goldman to study the genetic risk factors for lupus severity and susceptibility, among other topics. During the past 30 years, Ramsey-Goldman has published more than 300 manuscripts and received numerous honors, including: the 2016 Lawren H. Daltroy award for health communication, the 2017 Evelyn V. Hess Award from the Lupus Foundation of America, and the 2018 Paula Stern Award for Outstanding Women in Science and Medicine presented by the Women Faculty Organization (WFO) at Feinberg. In 2019 she was awarded the Master Designation in recognition for lifetime achievement in research and service by the American College of Rheumatology.
“Of all these accolades the one that is most meaningful is the local recognition conferred at Feinberg from the WFO. I had the chance to work with Dr. Stern 20 years earlier, and the fruits of that collaboration resulted in a publication the year that they honored me,” says Ramsey-Goldman. “Dr. Stern is a great mentor and role model and I was most fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with her and honor her legacy as one of her protégés.”
Peters Named Medical Director
Peters, who joined the faculty at Northwestern in 1999, is a national expert in the field of sinus disease and asthma. Her research focuses on chronic rhinosinusitis — inflammation of the sinuses and nasal cavity — and its associated comorbidities including allergic rhinitis, asthma, and immunodeficiencies.
She has published extensively in these areas and is currently involved in a number of clinical trials. As a national leader in the field, Peters was asked to chair the development of practice guidelines on chronic rhinosinusitis, which were established in 2014 and are currently under revision.
“I look forward to working alongside Dr. Peters as she brings experience and excitement that will help her excel in this new role,” says Michael Ison, MD, MS, CCR director and professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and of Surgery in the Division of Organ Transplantation. “Anju will be an excellent point person for faculty working with the CRU and she will undoubtedly develop new ways to embolden our strengths while developing innovative solutions to move us forward.”
Peters was instrumental in formalizing the Northwestern Sinus Center, a joint interdisciplinary clinic between the Division of Allergy-immunology and the Department of Otolaryngology. The Sinus Center model is now being emulated elsewhere in the country and is nationally regarded for excellent clinical care and internationally recognized for clinical and basic science research.
“This is a wonderful and exciting opportunity for me,” says Peters, a member of the NUCATS Institute and Institute for Public Health and Medicine. “I welcome the challenges and new responsibilities this leadership role will bring.”
Peters is also a member of numerous professional societies and among a litany of teaching awards, she was named the 2019-20 Mentor of the Year within the Department of Medicine. She is currently the principal investigator or co-principal investigator of more than a half-dozen large-scale studies.
“I am fortunate to have spent my entire professional career at Northwestern. Beginning with residency, fellowship training, and now as a professor in the Department of Medicine, I have learned that collaboration, communication, and teamwork lead to individual, team, and global success,” she says. “My interactions with mentors, colleagues, and trainees have taught me that a strong work ethic, listening and exchanging ideas, and a coordinated effort lead to successful innovation. I look forward to bringing this spirit of collaboration and collegiality to the NM CRU.”
