2024 Archives - CMSS

Andrea L. Benin, MD

Tom Couteau — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 14:27:03 +0000

Andrea Benin, MD is Chief, Surveillance Branch, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging Zoonotic and Infectious Diseases. In this position, Dr. Benin has a leadership role for the National Healthcare Safety Network, the nation’s largest, most widely used online surveillance system for tracking healthcare-associated infections, conditions, and patient-safety events as well as antimicrobial use and resistance.

Dr. Benin is a pediatrician with background and training in informatics, public health, epidemiology, and infectious diseases. Dr. Benin is also an expert in quality and safety in healthcare and in developing, validating, and measuring metrics of quality of care. In her prior positions, Dr. Benin held senior leadership roles driving patient-safety and quality in healthcare (2006-2012: System Executive Director, Performance Management for the Yale New Haven Health System and Quality and Safety & Officer, Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, New Haven; 2012-2018: Senior Vice-President, Quality and Patient-Safety, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford).

Dr. Benin’s early-career positions at CDC – as an Officer in the Epidemic Intelligence Service in the Respiratory Diseases Branch, National Center for Infectious Diseases and subsequently as a Medical Officer at the National Immunization Program – began her journey using electronic data to drive public health as well as the safest, highest quality healthcare.

Dr. Benin received her A.B. from Dartmouth College and her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. In addition to training in Pediatrics (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center) and in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program (Yale University School of Medicine), Dr. Benin completed fellowships and board certification in Pediatric Infectious Diseases (Yale University School of Medicine) and Medical Informatics (Yale University School of Medicine). Dr. Benin is on the informatics faculty at the Yale School of Public Health.

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Kavitha Neerukonda, JD, MHA

Tom Couteau — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 13:11:07 +0000

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Mark Engle

Tom Couteau — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 05:51:57 +0000

Mark is a principal with Association Management Center in Chicago, IL; headquarters to 32 associations with a staff of over 230 talented professionals. Engle received his Doctor of Management degree in 2011 from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH) with his study in nonprofit governance. Mark is continually striving to develop and share new research that leads to advancing the association management profession. He is a frequent author and speaker on governance and high performing organizations and is a faculty member of ASAE’s Exceptional Boards program. Engle serves on four Boards of Directors. He was recently honored with the Samuel Shapiro Award – Outstanding CEO – Association Forum of Chicagoland and was inducted into the Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Association Executives and the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Leadership (Case Western Reserve University) and is a BoardSource Certified Governance Trainer. Engle formerly served as a chief staff executive for trade associations and professional societies for 29 years. He has participated in over 300 Board meetings during his career.

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Sonia Ramamoorthy, MD

Tom Couteau — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 05:50:21 +0000

Sonia Ramamoorthy, MD, is a board-certified colon and rectal surgeon. She specializes in treating colorectal and anal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and diverticulitis. She also leads the colorectal cancer team at Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health.

Dr. Ramamoorthy is an expert in open and minimally invasive colorectal surgical procedures, and has a special interest in robotic approaches. She was the first surgeon in San Diego to perform robotic colorectal procedures. She was recently elected into the American Surgical Association, the oldest and most prestigious surgical organization in the country.

As a professor in the Department of Surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine, she teaches students and residents and trains fellows in minimally invasive surgery. Her research has focused on colorectal and anal cancer, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and pelvic floor disorders. She has authored numerous papers and chapters about colon and rectal surgery, and is an enthusiastic innovator and educator in the fields of minimally invasive surgery and translational oncology.

Dr. Ramamoorthy completed a research fellowship and a general surgery residency at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and a colon and rectal surgery fellowship at Washington University’s Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. She earned her medical degree at Boston University School of Medicine. She is board certified in general surgery and colon and rectal surgery. Dr. Ramamoorthy is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (FASCRS).

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Anne Edwards, MD, FAAP

Tom Couteau — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 22:23:31 +0000

Anne Edwards, MD, FAAP is the Chief Medical Officer at the American Academy of Pediatrics; previously holding the titles of Chief Population Health Officer and Senior Vice President of Primary Care and Subspecialty Pediatrics. As Chief Medical Officer. In this role, Dr Edwards provides strategic direction for AAP policy and clinical guidance development, healthcare delivery programs, public health programs, child health finance, and quality initiatives including the CHILD Registry. Dr Edwards served as co-lead of the COVID-19 response for the AAP.

Currently, Dr Edwards serves as a member of the Medicaid and CHIPRA Quality Measure Core Set Work Group and as co-chair of the pediatric measures set for the Core Quality Measures Collaborative. She also has served on the Measures and Metric Committee of the Collaborative for the Well-Being of Children and Families of the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

Prior to her role at the AAP, she was co-chair of Children’s Health Initiatives at Health Partners, the largest non-profit consumer governed health care organization in the nation, as well as chair of pediatrics at Park Nicollet Health Services, practicing hospital-based and community general pediatrics serving an urban, immigrant community. Dr Edwards received her medical degree and completed her pediatric residency at the University of Minnesota.

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Jennifer Jones

Tom Couteau — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 22:21:39 +0000

Jennifer Jones, USMC, Retired, received her first transplant from a living donor in 4/2015 and her second from a deceased donor in 11/2021. While forward deployed to Afghanistan in 2011, serving as a Combat Camera Videographer, she experienced a sudden rapid kidney decline. After being medically evacuated back to the United States, she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis, Type 1 Idiopathic (MPGN).

Despite facing numerous health challenges, Jennifer has pursued her passions and advocacy work with the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) and launched a business as a certified Resilience Practitioner. Currently, as the Vice President of AAKP, Jennifer is actively involved in various advisory boards and organizations, advocating for policies that enhance the quality of life for kidney patients and their families. She is deeply passionate about patient-centered education, community building, and removing barriers to living organ donation and innovation.

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Laura Vera, MSW, LSW

Tom Couteau — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 05:36:49 +0000

Laura Vera is the Associate Director, Quality Innovation at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). A strategic operations executive who leverages a foundation in social work and people-focused, evidence-based leadership to engage teams and create meaningful work that drives revenue. An innovative leader who breaks down silos and builds partnerships that transform organizations and industries, and an esteemed collaborator acknowledged for enhancing organizational culture.

As an executive leader, Laura has close to 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector and highly complex healthcare related business operations including program and product development; quality measurement and performance improvement; accreditation and standards setting; clinical data registries, regulatory compliance, cultivating and maintaining strategic relationships; budgeting and fiscal oversight, and creating exceptional workforce through effective team development.

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Chris Presta, BS, FACEHP

Tom Couteau — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 05:36:01 +0000

Christine Presta, BS, FACEHP has been a part of the CME community for over 25 years. She currently serves as the Director, Digital Learning at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). She has served as a speaker at various meetings including the CMSS as well as the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (ACEhp) Fundamentals Course and Annual Meeting. Chris volunteers as a member of the ACEhp Professional Development Committee and as an ACCME surveyor.

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Salandra Thomas

Tom Couteau — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 05:35:11 +0000

Salandra Thomas, M.S. is a non-profit executive with extensive leadership experience in diversity, equity and inclusion, human resources and organizational development. She currently serves as the Vice President of Talent and Organizational Development for the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) where she also leads the Society’s inclusion, diversity, access and equity strategy.

Before joining IDSA, Salandra held roles at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC. Salandra holds a Master of Science in Organizational Development and Knowledge Management from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Management from the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University.

Having led award-winning advancements and strengthened diversity, equity and inclusion outcomes, Salandra thrives on opportunities to facilitate groundbreaking shifts to operationalize DEI principles.

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Jack King, MBA

Tom Couteau — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 05:33:54 +0000

Jack King is an accomplished technology executive with extensive experience as CIO in diverse environments, including his current role at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and previous roles with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the State of Illinois. His career reflects a unique intersection of expertise in public, private, and nonprofit sectors, leveraging technology to drive efficiency, innovation, and operational excellence. Jack’s passion for professional growth extends to those he leads, encouraging a culture of curiosity and agility. He envisions a future where technology breaks down barriers, providing everyone—regardless of background—access to the tools, resources, and opportunities they need to thrive.

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