Medical Staff | Advocate Health Care

Stephen Bennett, M.D.

Dr. Bennett is currently the Interim Program Director. He has been a faculty member with the Advocate Christ Family Medicine Program for 11 years. Dr. Bennett, an Illinois native, earned his bachelor’s degree at Olivet Nazarene University. He attended the University of Illinois at Chicago for his medical training and completed his family practice residency at Methodist Medical Center in Peoria, Ill. He is board certified in family practice, and his professional interests include practice management education, public health and community physician partnerships, health promotion and preventive medicine, and travel medicine. Dr. Bennett has three children.

Jacqueline Bardwell, M.D.

A Chicago area native, Dr. Bardwell joined the faculty of the family medicine residency program at Christ Medical Center in 1992. A graduate of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, she completed her training in family medicine in 1987 in the Rush-Christ Hospital Family Practice Residency Program. Board certified in family practice, Dr. Bardwell’s interests include family practice, obstetrics, women’s health and medical student education. She is a certified instructor in advanced life support obstetrics and has served as co-coordinator for undergraduate medical education at Christ Medical Center, as medical director for Anchor Life Weight Management and as medical director for UIHMO. Dr. Bardwell is married and the mother of five children.

Sangili Chandran, M.D.

Dr. Chandran is a graduate of Madras University, India, and was trained in orthopedics at Madurai University, India. He completed two years of general surgery residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a family practice residency at CMS/Swedish Covenant, serving as chief resident. Board certified in primary care sports medicine, Dr. Chandran is the director of sports medicine/musculoskeletal care. He serves as team physician for area high schools, and provides sports physicals for St. Xavier College. He is fluent in Tamil. Dr. Chandran is married and has three children. He participated in, and finished, the Chicago Marathon.

Rujuta Gandhi, M.D.

Dr. Gandhi is a board certified family medicine physician. She joined the Advocate Christ Family Medicine Residency program as faculty in 2007 after completing her residency and faculty development fellowship training at Advocate. Her focus is on women's health, medical ethics, preventive care and geriatrics. After receiving her bachelor's degrss in biology and philosophy at Illinois Wesleyan University, Dr. Gandhi earned her M.D. at Ross University School of Medicine. Her professional memberships include the American Academy of Family Physicians and Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. The Chicago area native is single and resides in the south suburbs.

Stacey Nickoloff, D.O.

Dr. Nickoloff currently serves as the Director of our Osteopathic Program and as the Family Medicine Center Director. She is a native Chicagoan who completed her residency training at the Pittsburgh Mercy Health System in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her professional memberships include the American Osteopathic Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. Dr. Nickoloff's special interests include Osteopathic Medicine and Women's Health. She is married and resides in Chicago.

Kimberly Townsend-Scott, M.D.

Dr. Townsend-Scott is a board-certified family practice physician. She received her medical school training at Rush Medical College in Chicago, where she graduated in 1994. Dr. Townsend-Scott completed her residency program in 1997 at the West Suburban Family Practice Residency Program in Oak Park, Ill. She remained in Oak Park and served the community for seven years through the PCC Community Wellness Center. The Illinois native has been an active member of the American Academy of Family Practitioners and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. Her special interests include preventive medicine and women's health. Dr. Townsend-Scott has been married for 15 years and has three children.

Robert Zitter, Ph.D

A native of Chicago, Dr. Zitter is a graduate of West Virginia University and completed his internship in clinical psychology at Brown University School of Medicine in 1979. He has been on the faculty of the Advocate Christ Medical Center Residency Program since 1980. He currently holds a teaching appointment at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, and his interests include psychosomatic medicine anxiety disorders and grief. He has served as President of the Board of Directors on a local domestic violence agency. He and his wife have two sons.

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