Celeste Wallander: Executive Director of Penn Washington
Provost John L. Jackson Jr. and Vice Provost for Global Initiatives Ezekiel Emanuel have announced that Celeste A. Wallander will join the University of Pennsylvania as the inaugural executive director of Penn Washington, effective June 1.
Dr. Wallander will be responsible for the programmatic leadership and operational management of Penn Washington, working to fulfill Penn’s academic mission and bridge Penn research with policy discussions on a broad range of issues. Vice Provost Emanuel will continue to support Penn Washington as its inaugural faculty director, and Amy Gadsden, associate vice provost for global initiatives, will continue to serve as its deputy director.
Dr. Wallander brings to Penn Washington two decades of experience working at the highest levels of the federal government and three decades of experience in academic research and policy engagement. From February 2022 to January 2025, she served as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs at the Department of Defense, where she advised on all aspects of defense and security policy related to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Before this role, she served as a special assistant to the president and senior director for Russia and Central Asia on the National Security Council (2013-2017) and deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia policy (2009-2012).
Dr. Wallander has also held faculty positions at Harvard University, American University, and Georgetown University and has advised on Russia and Eurasia policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. She was president and CEO of the U.S. Russia Foundation from 2017 to 2022 and founded the Program on New Approaches to Russian Security, which continues today as a network of more than 140 academics around the world who are advancing innovative research on security and geopolitics related to Russia and Eurasia.
“Dr. Wallander brings deep experience to Penn and Penn Washington at a critical moment,” said Provost Jackson. “Her wide expertise in shaping foreign policy and building programs and institutions will be invaluable as we expand the work of Penn Washington in the years ahead.”
“We are fortunate that Celeste will build Penn’s program in Washington and are excited about this important new chapter for the University,” Vice Provost Emanuel said. “Celeste will make the University more engaged in helping to address the world’s most pressing problems—key ideals of In Principle and Practice.”
In June 2024, Penn President J. Larry Jameson and Provost Jackson announced the creation of Penn Washington as Penn’s programmatic and physical presence in the nation’s capital (Almanac June 18, 2024). As executive director of Penn Washington, Dr. Wallander will work closely with Penn’s academic community—including schools, centers, faculty, staff, and students—to connect research and policy, establish and expand partnerships, develop educational programming, and strengthen connections between Penn Washington and Penn’s campus in Philadelphia.
“I am excited to join the University of Pennsylvania to advance the public service mission inherent in education,” said Dr. Wallander. “Penn Washington will be a resource and partner for current and future U.S. leaders navigating our complex world by connecting them to Penn faculty who are tackling these very same challenges in their research and seeking the answers we need.”
Dr. Wallander received a PhD and master’s degree in political science from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Northwestern University.
Erica Baller is an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), where she engages in clinical care, research, and didactic teaching. She completed her undergraduate studies in computer science and psychology at Yale, earned a master’s degree in physiology from Georgetown, and received her medical degree from Drexel University, where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. She completed her psychiatry residency at Penn, followed by a consultation-liaison psychiatry fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and a neuropsychiatry T32 fellowship at Penn. At HUP, Dr. Baller teaches residents to care for medically ill patients with neuropsychiatric disorders. As PI of the Baller Lab, she focuses on applying neuroimaging methods to study mood, anxiety, and cognition in patients with intracranial diseases, particularly multiple sclerosis. She also serves as director of neuroscience education for the department of psychiatry’s residency program. Since her residency, Dr. Baller has been deeply involved with the National Neuroscience Curriculum Initiative (NNCI). A 2016 NNCI Scholar, she now serves on its Assessment Task Force and Brain Trust, a leadership group shaping the initiative’s vision. Her teaching materials have been used in 178 countries and are now incorporated into primary care training in Canada. She has contributed over 15 educational modules to the NNCI—more than any contributor aside from the founders—and has mentored Penn residents in developing neuroscience teaching materials used internationally.
This award was established by the department of anesthesia in 1984. As a pioneer in the specialty of anesthesia and chair of the department from 1943 to 1972, Dr. Dripps was instrumental in the training of more than 300 residents and fellows, many of whom went on to chair other departments. This award recognizes excellence as an educator of residents and fellows in clinical care, research, teaching, or administration.
Created in 1987 by the Blockley Section of the Philadelphia College of Physicians, this award is given annually to a member of the faculty at an affiliated hospital for excellence in teaching modern clinical medicine at the bedside, in the tradition of William Osler and others who taught at Philadelphia General Hospital.
Judy Chertok is an associate professor and director of addiction medicine in the department of family medicine and community health at the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Chertok earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University in 2003 and her medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2007. She completed her residency and chief residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital in 2010. After spending six years as the associate program director of family medicine, she started the Fellowship in Addiction Medicine in 2023 and serves as its program director. She is a family medicine and addiction medicine specialist and maintains an active practice at Penn Family Care, Prevention Point Philadelphia, and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. She initiated and continues to lead the medication for opiate use disorder program at Penn Family Care and co-founded the addiction consult service at Penn Medicine. She also works with Prevention Point Philadelphia in the mobile overdose surge bus program to provide mobile community outreach, including harm reduction services and addiction care in communities throughout Philadelphia. She has developed educational programs in addiction medicine for fellows through the fellowship in addiction medicine; for residents, including a robust experiential curriculum in family medicine including community work; for medical students, including a now-universal shadowing program in outpatient addiction medicine and an elective on the consult service; and for practicing physicians through her work providing coninuing medical education (CME) in opioid use disorder.
Mona Al Mukaddam received her medical degree from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and her master’s degree in translational research from the University of Pennsylvania, where she also completed her endocrinology fellowship. She is an associate professor in the departments of medicine and orthopaedic surgery, and she directs the Penn Bone Center, which is based in the division of endocrinology. Under her leadership, the Penn Bone Center serves as a comprehensive educational resource for learners at all levels, including patients, nurses, pharmacists, medical students, residents, and fellows. Dr. Al Mukaddam’s commitment to teaching has been recognized with the Edward Rose Teaching Award, which she received twice, in 2017 and in 2021. She is a world-renowned expert in fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) and is the principal investigator on industry-sponsored clinical trials in FOP, which led to the first and only FDA approved treatment for FOP. She is a founding member of the International Clinical Council (ICC) on FOP, which was established to consolidate a global voice and publish guidelines for the best practices for clinical care and research in FOP. She has received the Radiant Hope Foundation Clinician Scientist Award in FOP and is involved in the development of CME programs at the Clinical Endocrinology Update, at the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), and at various nonprofit organizations.
Ashok Linganna is an associate professor of medicine and an academic hospitalist in the Perelman School of Medicine. He came to Penn in 2015 after completing his internal medicine residency and chief residency at the University of California, Irvine and obtaining his medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine. Since arriving at Penn, he has focused his energy on the needs of undergraduate and graduate learners. He currently serves as the co-director of the sub-internship for internal medicine and the associate director of undergraduate medical education in the Perelman School of Medicine. Recently, he has taken on roles relating to psychological safety as the head of the wellness group in the division of hospitalist medicine and as a pathway mentor for students matriculating into internal medicine residencies. He obtained his master’s degree in medical education from Penn in 2018 and has won multiple institutional awards for his educational skills. 
Elizabeth Moore is an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry. She graduated from Harvard College in 2009 with a degree in human evolutionary biology and attended medical school at Penn, then completed her psychiatry residency at UCLA. During her residency, she was a resident informaticist and chief resident of medical education. She has published research on social determinants of health and graduate medical education, including a curriculum for psychiatry residents who are caring for people experiencing homelessness and a wellness initiative in a homeless clinic that is staffed by interprofessional trainees. She then stayed at UCLA for the National Clinician Scholars Program, during which she completed her master of health policy and management and pursued quality improvement and research projects focused on homelessness and serious mental illness. Her first attending job was at the VA in West Los Angeles. In 2022, she moved back to Philadelphia and became an inpatient psychiatrist on the Spruce 6 floor at Pennsylvania Hospital, where she leads the QI curriculum for the psychiatry residents. She is also the medical director of quality improvement in the department of psychiatry. In 2024, she was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society by her medical students. She loves discussing the complexities of mental illness, the healthcare system, patient preferences, and social determinants of health with medical students.
Jennifer Olenik practices at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center as an academic hospitalist and at HUP as a palliative care attending physician. She also serves two roles in PSOM—as co-director of the internal medicine sub-internship and as the direct patient care curriculum director of CARE-7, PSOM’s novel four-year palliative care curriculum, which she helped create, implement, and evaluate. Dr. Olenik is passionate about helping students and residents become the best doctors they can be, focusing on skillful communication, clinical reasoning, and patient-centered humanistic care. She has translated her unique dual clinical training into a medical education career focused on advanced communication skills for trainees across the undergraduate and graduate curricula. On clinical service, her learners celebrate her efficient, yet effective use of the Socratic method to facilitate clinical reasoning reflection, as well as her use of spaced repetition to reinforce on-the-fly teaching. Dr. Olenik earned her medical degree from the Perelman School of Medicine and completed her internal medicine residency, chief residency, and palliative medicine fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. 
Colin Quinn received his medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and completed his internship and residency training in neurology at Penn. Subsequently, he completed his fellowship training in neuromuscular neurology at Brigham and Women’s/Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. After completing his fellowship, he served as a clinical instructor and research fellow at the University of Massachusetts, where he worked to design and perform clinical trials for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He returned to Penn as a faculty member in 2014. Dr. Quinn has won awards for his teaching as a neurology resident and, twice, as a faculty member at Penn. He led the creation of the Philadelphia VA ALS clinic, which provides care for veterans with ALS throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. The neurology department has expanded its resident and neuromuscular fellow rotations at the VA specifically to allow students to work with Dr. Quinn. His enthusiastic and compassionate approach has raised the bar for neurological care and teaching within the VA medical center and beyond.
Anna Weiss is an associate professor of clinical pediatrics in the Perelman School of Medicine and an attending physician in the division of emergency medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Dr. Weiss received her BA in history and literature from Harvard University and an MSc in Russian and East European studies at Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She received her MD from the Perelman School of Medicine and later her MSEd in medical education at Penn’s Graduate School of Education. Dr. Weiss completed her residency and chief residency in pediatrics and her fellowship training in pediatric emergency medicine at CHOP. She has held numerous roles in medical education at CHOP and Penn, including as associate director of education and director of research in education in the CHOP division of emergency medicine, as associate program director of the CHOP pediatric residency program, and as an academic director of the master’s program in medical education at Penn GSE. She directs and co-founded the Center for Leadership and Innovation in Medical Education (CLIME) at CHOP. 
This award was established in 1997 to recognize outstanding teaching by allied health professionals (e.g. nurses, physician’s assistants, and emergency medical technicians). The recipient is selected on the advice of a committee composed of faculty and students.
The Dean’s Award for Excellence in Basic Science Teaching was established in 1988 to recognize teaching excellence and commitment to medical student teaching in the basic sciences. One or more Dean’s Awards are given annually, the recipients being selected on the advice of a committee of faculty and students.
This award was established in 2015 to recognize clinical teaching excellence and commitment to medical education by outstanding housestaff. One award is given annually. The recipient is selected on the advice of a committee of faculty and students.
DaCarla Albright is the associate dean for student affairs and wellness and a professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine. As an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Albright completed a dual degree in biology and French, then completed a master’s degree in French there. Dr. Albright received her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School, followed by a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. She has been a practicing academic obstetrician and gynecologist for nearly 25 years. As a member of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics, her academic interests are strongly focused on medical education, formerly serving as the associate clerkship director for the core clinical ob/gyn clerkship at the Perelman School of Medicine. In 2019, before her appointment in Penn’s division of student affairs, Dr. Albright was appointed to serve as its assistant dean for wellness. As a result of her excellence in teaching and her empathetic approach to medical care, Dr. Albright was awarded a Perelman School of Medicine Penn Pearls Teaching Award in 2017 and a Gold Humanism Honor Society Faculty induction in 2018. She was a 2021 AOA Honor Society faculty inductee and became a fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia the same year. Dr. Albright has been recognized annually since 2018 as a Philadelphia Top Doc and as one of Castle Connolly’s Exceptional Women in Medicine. Dr. Albright currently serves as a member of the department of ob/gyn faculty and resident wellness committees, and is passionate about physician wellness and professional development.
Nadia Bennett is an associate professor of clinical medicine and an academic hospitalist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. She also serves as the associate dean of the clinical and health systems sciences curriculum at the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Bennett earned her undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University and her medical degree from the University of Maryland, and then completed her residency in internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center. Her academic focus is undergraduate medical education, with particular interests in curriculum development, health systems sciences, clinical reasoning, and bedside teaching. From 2013 to 2019, she served as the internal medicine clerkship director before assuming her current leadership role. She also serves as director of the clerkship practicum and associate director of the Introduction to Health Systems Sciences course. She has won numerous teaching awards during her tenure at Penn, including the Provost’s Award, Penn Pearls Award, Blockley-Osler Teaching Award, and Maurice Attie teaching award. She has also been inducted into AOA, the PSOM Minority Hall of Fame, and the Gold Humanism Honor Society.
Anna Delaney is the chief operating officer of undergraduate medical education and holds a BS in psychology from Saint Joseph’s University and an MBA from West Chester University. With over two decades of experience in academic operations, Ms. Delaney oversees human resources, facilities, and financial management for the Academic Programs Office. She has played a key role in major institutional initiatives, including curriculum reform, implementation of digital learning platforms, and the development of simulation and standardized patient programs. Previously, Ms. Delaney served as chief administrative officer and director of the curriculum office, where she led scheduling, educational support, and strategic initiatives that improved the efficiency and consistency of medical education delivery.
Horace DeLisser is a professor of medicine in the pulmonary, allergy and critical care division of the department of medicine and the Perelman School of Medicine’s associate dean for community engagement, networking, and enrichment. He has been deeply involved for a number of years in advancing medical student, resident, fellow and faculty presence and opportunity at Penn. Additionally, he has developed and overseen the professionalism and humanism curriculum in PSOM.
C. Jessica Dine is an associate professor in the division of pulmonary, allergy, and critical care and associate dean of assessment, evaluation, and medical education research at the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Dine’s clinical focus is on consultative pulmonary medicine. Her education role focuses on learner assessment and evaluation, faculty evaluation, and program evaluation across the medical education continuum.
Dennis Dlugos is a professor of neurology and pediatrics in the Perelman School of Medicine; associate dean for the science and discovery curriculum at PSOM; and director of the epilepsy program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He received his MD from Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. He went on to complete his internship in pediatrics at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland; a residency in neurology/child neurology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and CHOP; and his fellowship in epilepsy at CHOP. Dr. Dlugos is an international leader in translational epilepsy therapeutics, a field that has progressed due to advances in neurogenetics, neuropharmacology, neurophysiology, neuroimmunology, and clinical trial design, and he uses this cutting-edge experience when designing curricula and teaching at PSOM. Articles authored or co-authored by Dr. Dlugos have been published in Neurology, Annals of Neurology, Lancet Neurology, Epilepsia, Lancet, Nature, the New England Journal of Medicine, and other journals. Dr. Dlugos has received NIH and other research funding since 2001 and has helped train more than 30 pediatric epilepsy fellows. He has lectured extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia.
Jennifer Kogan graduated summa cum laude with a BA in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1991, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She graduated from Penn’s School of Medicine in 1995. She then completed her internship and residency in internal medicine and a general internal medicine clinician-educator fellowship at Penn. She remained at Penn as a faculty member and became a professor of medicine in 2016. Dr. Kogan serves as the senior associate dean for undergraduate medical education in the Perelman School of Medicine. In this role, she helps oversee all aspects of the undergraduate medical education program, including curriculum and assessment. Her prior roles at Penn have included clerkship director of the internal medicine clerkship, director of undergraduate medical education in the department of medicine, assistant dean of faculty development, and associate dean of student success and professional development. She is the founder and director of the Measey Medical Education Fellowship at Penn and founder and director of the PSOM medical education area of concentration, and she founded and directed the Perelman School of Medicine’s primary care pathway program. Dr. Kogan is a general internist who sees patients and preceptor 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 is a national leader in medical education; she 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 collaborated for more than 10 years with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), conducting research focused on rater training faculty development, and has regularly taught in the ACGME’s assessment course for residency and fellowship program directors. She is also a mentor with the National Board of Medical Examiners SEEF Fellowship Program and is on the research advisory board of Intealth. Dr. Kogan was a recipient of the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2017 and was inducted into the Penn Gold Humanism Honor Society in 2022.
Jon Morris is the Ernest F. Rosato–William Maul Measey Professor of Surgical Education and vice chair of education in the department of surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine. A graduate of Saint Joseph’s University (summa cum laude, 1979) and Georgetown University School of Medicine (1983), Dr. Morris completed his surgical training at Case Western Reserve University and a research fellowship at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. Dr. Morris has dedicated his career to surgical education, serving as program director of the general surgery residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (2003–2018) and as associate dean for student affairs at the Perelman School of Medicine (2005–2020). A past president of the Association of Program Directors in Surgery, he is also a ten-time Philadelphia Magazine “Top Doc” and the recipient of numerous awards for teaching excellence, including the Lindback Award, the Blockley-Osler Award, and the Dripps Memorial Award. In recognition of his enduring impact, the department of surgery established the Jon B. Morris Faculty Teaching Award in 2021. He currently serves as director of the Center for Surgical Health, continuing his commitment to mentorship, equity, and clinical education.
The late Judy A. Shea was a member of the division of general internal medicine and the department of medicine and was associate dean for assessment and medical education research in the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Shea earned a BS in psychology from Kearney State College, an MS in family and human development from Utah State University, and a PhD in human development and family studies from Pennsylvania State University. She went on to build a distinguished career at Penn Medicine, where she ultimately became the Leon Hess Professor of Medicine in the division of general internal medicine. Dr. Shea received numerous prestigious honors throughout her career. At Penn, she was awarded the Special Dean’s Award (2007), the FOCUS Award for the Advancement of Women in Medicine (2009), the Arthur K. Asbury Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award (2018), and the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching (2020). Nationally, she was recognized with the Society of General Internal Medicine Career Achievement in Medical Education Award (2011), the Hubbard Award from the National Board of Medical Examiners (2011), the AAMC NEGEA Distinguished Educator Award (2016), and the AAMC Merrell Flair Award (2018). Throughout her career, Dr. Shea was deeply committed to mentoring faculty and fellows in designing and executing impactful research projects. Her work focused on psychometric evaluation tools and the development of measures assessing aspects of health, including health literacy, patient satisfaction, and quality of life. She was widely regarded as the Perelman School of Medicine’s expert in quantitative survey research and qualitative methods, including focus groups and interviews. Her contributions were instrumental in Penn’s leadership in medical education research.
Neha Vapiwala earned her undergraduate degree with a double major in biology and Hispanic studies from Johns Hopkins University, then taught high school science and algebra for a year before coming to the Perelman School of Medicine as a 21st Century Scholar. She completed her residency training at Penn, serving as chief resident before joining the faculty. Dr. Vapiwala is currently the Eli Glatstein Professor in Radiation Oncology and vice chair of education in the department of radiation oncology, and associate dean of admissions at the Perelman School of Medicine. She specializes in the management of patients with genitourinary (GU) cancers, serving as the department’s first chief of GU oncology. Her research interests focus on biological and technological improvements in radiation therapy, and she has led multiple prospective clinical trials. Dr. Vapiwala also holds leadership positions in multiple societies and committees, including the NCI Prostate Cancer Task Force, the JAMA Oncology editorial board, and the ECOG-ACRIN cooperative trial group. Dr. Vapiwala is also president-elect of the American Society for Radiation Oncology and an elected member of the nominating committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. In addition to her work in GU oncology, Dr. Vapiwala is a recognized leader in undergraduate and graduate medical education. She previously served as president of the Association of Directors of Radiation Oncology Programs and as chair of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Residency Review Committee for Radiation Oncology.
The Michael P. Nusbaum Graduate Student Mentoring Award was established in 2017 to honor Dr. Nusbaum as he stepped down from his role as associate dean for graduate education and director of biomedical graduate studies.
The Jane M. Glick Graduate Student Teaching Award was established in 2009 by the Glick family in remembrance of Jane Glick and her dedication to the biomedical graduate studies (BGS) programs.
Molly McGlone has been promoted to deputy dean of undergraduate studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. Dr. McGlone, who has been at Penn since 2010, most recently served as associate dean and director of academic affairs in the College.
The American Library Association recently awarded Lapis Cohen, a library specialist in resource sharing at the Penn Libraries, the STARS Virginia Boucher Distinguished ILL Librarian Award. The award, sponsored by OCLC, “recognizes an individual for outstanding professional achievement, leadership, and contributions to interlibrary loan and document delivery.”.png)