Research and scholarship
Mission statement
Internal Medicine Residency Research Program
Division of Research and Scholarship Advancement
The Internal Medicine Residency Research Program at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital offers residents a dynamic and highly mentored pathway to develop original research projects with real-world clinical relevance. Under the direction of Dr. Eli D. Ehrenpreis, the program emphasizes collaborative, data-driven inquiry designed to enhance patient care and resident scholarship.
Residents in the program work closely with Dr. Ehrenpreis, who serves as principal investigator or co-investigator on most projects. Together, they explore research questions across a wide spectrum of topics including gastroenterology, clinical pharmacology, drug safety, outcomes analysis, and environmental health. Projects are selected based on feasibility, relevance, and potential for publication or presentation. Dr. Ehrenpreis mentors residents through every phase: hypothesis generation, study design, data collection and statistical analysis, manuscript writing, and submission.
As a result of the structured academic research activities under guidance and mentorship of Dr. Ehrenpreis our internal medicine residency program has become a hub of scholarly productivity. Our residents have authored and co-authored peer-reviewed publications, presented posters and oral abstracts at major national meetings (including ACG, DDW, and SGIM), contributed to book chapters and reviews, and collaborated on editorials. Many projects use large-scale public health and regulatory datasets such as FAERS, SEER, and CMS, allowing residents to conduct high-impact research with relatively low overhead.
The program also includes guidance on career development, especially for residents interested in pursuing fellowships or academic medicine. The success of this research pathway reflects both the depth of Dr. Ehrenpreis’ expertise and the enthusiasm of our residents, many of whom have used their research experience to strengthen fellowship applications, gain national recognition, and enter academic career tracks.
Internal Medicine Residents at Lutheran General - Scholarly Output - Advocate Health - Midwest
Eli D. Ehrenpreis, MD
Research Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
Professional Biography
Dr. Eli D. Ehrenpreis is a nationally recognized academic gastroenterologist and clinical pharmacologist with over 30 years of experience in patient care, translational research, and medical education. He currently serves as the Research Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, where he oversees a flourishing resident research program focused on meaningful, data-driven inquiry.
Dr. Ehrenpreis earned his medical degree from the Chicago Medical School and completed residency training at the University of Illinois Hospital in Internal Medicine. He then completed fellowships in both Gastroenterology and Clinical Pharmacology at Northwestern University.
Dr. Ehrenpreis has held academic appointments at the University of Chicago, where he served as Fellowship Director in Gastroenterology, and at Rosalind Franklin University, where he was Professor of Medicine. He has trained and mentored scores of residents, fellows, and junior faculty who have gone on to academic and leadership positions across the country.
He has published more than 180 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 20 textbook chapters, and six medical books. His research has led to the development of new therapies for difficult-to-manage conditions such as Crohn’s disease, mesenteric panniculitis, radiation proctopathy, oral mucositis, and anal pruritus. He holds multiple U.S. and international patents for diagnostic and therapeutic innovations and is founder and CEO of E2Bio Life Sciences and E2Bio Consultants.
Dr. Ehrenpreis has been the principal investigator on numerous clinical studies, including NIH- and FDA-funded trials, and has served on editorial boards of leading journals in gastroenterology and pharmacology. He has received numerous honors for his work, including election to Alpha Omega Alpha and repeated inclusion in Best Doctors in America.
Jacob Bitran, MD
Associate Director Research and Scholarship