If you asked anyone at Chicago’s University of Illinois College of Medicine who best exemplifies what it means to be a physician with impact, chances are one name would come up again and again: Dr. Evelyn Figueroa.
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) alumna, family physician, and community advocate splits her days between treating patients at her university practice, leading her anti-poverty nonprofit, and connecting with community members at her Pilsen-based food pantry.
Given her decades of advocacy work, it’s no wonder the Chicago native was selected for the 2025 Dr. Tai R. Shin and Mrs. You H. Shin Humanitarian Award.
Shin Award honorees receive $50,000 to allocate to a department or program in the University of Illinois System to further impactful humanitarian work. Figueroa will receive the Shin Award at a special ceremony at UIC on November 19.
“Dr. Figueroa’s exemplary work, both in her career and her life as a volunteer, has touched so many people across Chicago and saved so many lives. Her impact in communities across the city, at the Pacific Garden Mission, the Pilsen Food Pantry she co-founded, and at UIC makes her an outstanding recipient for this year’s Shin Humanitarian Award,” system President Tim Killeen said. “Her commitment to serve people is deeply inspiring and a challenge to all of us. Chicago and the world undoubtedly need many more Evelyn Figueroas.”
A physician with community impact beyond the clinic
A faculty member committed to teaching students about the many facets of quality care, Figueroa has held a myriad of leadership titles since joining the College of Medicine in 2005. Just four years into her role, she was appointed Associate Residency Program Director and later served as Residency Program Director from 2014 to 2020. She also served in the College of Medicine as Assistant Dean for Outpatient Affairs from 2016 to 2018.
In these roles, Figueroa had the “ability to shape things,” learn more about program design, including several aspects of the curriculum, all while helping develop a health equity-focused mission for her department.
“Dr. Figueroa looks cross-sectionally at problems, understands their intersections, finds people and ways to get things done that others can’t,” said Dr. Mark Potter, a Department of Family and Community Medicine associate professor. “She is fearless, dedicated, highly skilled, highly motivated, and has consistently found people, resources, funding, space, buildings, and collaborations to deliver extraordinary services.”
Building bridges to better health — across the globe and here at home
Late in 2017, Figueroa, alongside her husband and fellow physician, Dr. Alex Wu, established the Figueroa Wu Family Foundation.
Formed in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria's devastation in the Caribbean, the foundation focused on helping communities in Puerto Rico access basic necessities, amassing over $100,000 of supplies and funding.
Since then, the foundation’s focus has expanded to include a food pantry in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood.
“My real motivation to start a food pantry had to do with a patient I took care of,” said Figueroa, speaking of a patient whom she later learned was living in unstable conditions. “Although I could be sympathetic toward my patients, I didn’t routinely screen for housing, food access, or finances. Missing my patient’s housing instability changed how I interviewed patients.”
Asking questions brought different answers, and Dr. Figueroa realized the need for emergency food was much greater than she had anticipated.
What began as a small initiative became a lifeline. The pantry served 6,600 clients in its first year and, just seven years later, it will serve more than 66,000. In total, it has supported over 250,000 households with fresh produce, clothing, and other essentials.
Figueroa also tied the pantry’s mission to student learning, helping launch a social work internship with Northeastern Illinois University in 2020 that gives students valuable hands-on experience.
“Her food pantry is emblematic of what a community engagement should be,” said Dr. Masahito Jimbo, head of Figueroa's department. “We throw out the words, ‘community engagement,’ a lot, but we haven’t fully grasped what that means; I'm really looking forward to her defining what that means and defining what a Director of Community Engagement, an inaugural departmental role for which she had been appointed in 2023, does.”
Leading with courage through COVID-19
When COVID-19 sent many into quarantine, Figueroa sprang into action. Leading a team caring for over 440 people — especially residents of Pacific Garden Mission (PGM), the Midwest’s largest homeless shelter — Figueroa directed four COVID-19 isolation units.
“Dr. Figueroa is one of the people who leads from the heart and her mind,” said Dr. Memoona Hasnain, professor and Associate Head for Faculty
Development & Research in Figueroa’s department. “And she is also one of those people who, when she sees a problem, she doesn't hesitate to step out of the traditional, narrowly defined professional lanes to find a solution. Her work has consistently centered on humanism and improving the human condition, exemplifying compassion in action. She is a leader who will continue to integrate advocacy, community engagement, and scholarship to address the needs of marginalized populations and, in doing so, inspire everyone around her.”
Figueroa’s leadership earned her several honors — including the Crain’s Business Chicago Notable Healthcare Heroes Award, Chicago Health Magazine Mask Hero Award, UIC College of Medicine Faculty of the Year Award, and the UIC Chancellor’s COVID-19 Response Award.
A bright future ahead
UIC Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda celebrates Figueroa’s work both in the College of Medicine and in the surrounding Chicago communities.
“Dr. Figueroa’s work is a powerful example of how medicine and healthcare can advance justice, equity, and inclusion for those who need it most,” said Miranda. “Her leadership reflects a rare combination of intellect, integrity, and heart — qualities that have improved health outcomes, dismantled barriers to care, and uplifted families across Chicago at a time when compassion and courage are urgently needed.”
Figueroa is excited to continue dismantling barriers, using the Shin Award funding to create an even larger impact.
“The Shin Award is unique in that it comes with resources for its winner. Being able to further my department’s mission to address barriers in marginalized communities is so important to me,” said Figueroa. “The generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Shin will undoubtedly lead to many positive systemic changes.”
Though Figueroa has already impacted the lives of hundreds for the better, she doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
“I am privy to all the student evaluations of our faculty, and she always gets outstanding evaluations,” said Jimbo. “The way she leads by example, that she’s actually doing what she’s preaching, resonates very well with students.”
Figueroa chose to direct funding from the Shin Award to her Department of Family and Community Medicine.
Part of the $50,000 will help fund medical student education, particularly recruitment efforts encouraging prospective students to pursue family medicine and residencies through UIC. Figueroa also plans to use the gifted funds to advance her research on food disparities — including a three-year project investigating children’s food choices and how to expand their palates — and support student involvement in patient-centered care.
“Those students are the ones who are going to change my diapers when I’m old, and they’re going to take care of me because they have great hearts,” said Figueroa. “The work I get to do at UIC allows me to pursue the issues I care about most.”
