CMSS Annual Meeting

Past Annual Meetings

CMSS Annual Meeting 2023 

In-Person
cmss annual meeting 2023
November 8-10, 2023
Driving Meaningful Change Together

CMSS 2024 Annual Meeting

In-Person & Virtual
CMSS 2024 Annual Meeting
November 20-22, 2024
Shaping the Future of Medicine Together
Ashley Bentley, MBA, CAE

Ashley Bentley, MBA, CAE

Ashley Bentley, MBA, CAE, manages student initiatives for the American Academy of Family Physicians, leading programs to increase and diversify the primary care workforce in the U.S. Her portfolio includes oversight and administration of the national Family Medicine Interest Group Network and the Family Medicine Champions program, management of the AAFP’s leadership programs for medical students and residents, national collaborations to expose high school and college students and educators to family medicine, publication of materials and resources on family medicine specialty choice, best practices for medical schools to increase primary care specialty choice, national funding and recognition initiatives, and advisement for residency application and transition. Ashley has contributed to and published articles in peer-reviewed journals, conducted research, and presented at conferences on topics of family medicine and primary care workforce development, leadership, special interests and careers in family medicine, premedical advising, workforce diversity, Family Medicine Interest Groups, and effective communication and engagement strategies for medical students.

Helen Burstin, MD, MPH, MACP

Helen Burstin, MD, MPH, MACP

Helen Burstin, MD, MPH, MACP is the Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS), a coalition of more than 50 specialty societies representing more than 800,000 physicians. As the national organization of specialty societies, CMSS advances the expertise and collective voice of medical specialty societies in support of physicians and the patients they serve. Representing specialties, from primary care to surgery, CMSS addresses critical issues across specialties through shared learning and innovation, convening, collaboration, and collective action.

Dr. Burstin formerly served as Chief Scientific Officer of The National Quality Forum (NQF). Prior to joining NQF, she was the Director of the Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Prior to joining AHRQ, Dr. Burstin was an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and served as Director of Quality Measurement at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is the author of more than 100 articles and book chapters on quality, safety, equity, and measurement. She serves on the American Society of Hematology Research Collaborative Board of Directors and the Oversight Committee of the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) of the American College of Cardiology. She is the Vice-Chair of the Gender Equity in Academic Medicine and Science (GEMS) Alliance.

A graduate of the State University of New York at Upstate College of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Burstin completed her residency training in primary care internal medicine at Boston City Hospital and fellowship in General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She is a volunteer preceptor and Clinical Professor of Medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Candice Chen, MD, MPH

Candice Chen, MD, MPH

Acting Associate Administrator for Health Workforce
Health Resources and Services Administration
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Candice Chen is the acting associate administrator of the Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). BHW’s mission is to improve the health of people by strengthening the health workforce and connecting skilled health care providers to communities in need.

BHW administers over 70 workforce programs with a budget of more than $1.8 billion, with the goal of improving access to quality health care by developing, distributing, and retaining a diverse and culturally competent health workforce. BHW supports the health workforce across the entire education and training to service continuum.

Dr. Chen is rejoining HRSA, having served as the BHW director of the Division of Medicine and Dentistry from 2014 to 2018. From 2018 to 2024, she was an associate professor of health policy and management at the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. Her work focused on primary care, health workforce for underserved communities, and health professions education research and policy.

Dr. Chen received her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, completed her pediatrics residency and community pediatrics fellowship at Children’s National Hospital, and her master’s in public health at the George Washington University. She is a board-certified pediatrician and has continued to practice primary care in Southeast Washington, DC through her career.

Mark Del Monte, JD

Mark Del Monte, JD

Mark Del Monte, JD serves as the CEO/Executive Vice President of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In this capacity, Mark leads a strong executive team for the organization which serves 67,000 pediatrician, pediatric medical subspecialist, and pediatric surgical specialist members. Prior to this role, Mark served as the AAP’s Chief Deputy and Senior Vice President for Advocacy and External Affairs where he directed the organization’s communications, public relations and advocacy activities.

Mark chairs the board of the directors of the Primary Care Collaborative, and is a member of the board of directors of Reach Out and Read, and the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, and a member of the advisory board of the Morgan Stanley Alliance for Children’s Mental Health.

Before joining the AAP’s Washington, DC office in 2005, Mark served as Director of Policy and Government Affairs for the AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families, a national organization advocating for children and families with HIV/AIDS. Mark began his career working as a lawyer in his home state of California, providing direct legal services to low-income children and families affected by HIV.

Mark holds a law degree from the University of California (Berkeley) and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Gonzaga University.

Anne Edwards, MD, FAAP

Anne Edwards, MD, FAAP

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.

David Gross, PhD

David Gross, PhD

David Gross, PhD, Director of the CAP’s Policy Roundtable since 2011, directs the collection of economic and demographic data to understand issues facing pathologists and pathology practices. Dr. Gross has produced several reports while at the CAP, most recently CAP’s 2024 Practice Characteristics Survey, and has co-authored published articles on pathologist supply, the job market for pathologists, the role of pathologists in population health, and building an evidence base for developing pathologist training curricula,.

Prior to joining the CAP in 2011, Dr. Gross was a Senior Policy Advisor at AARP.  He has previously worked with the US General Accounting Office (now the US Government Accountability Office), The World Bank, and private consulting firms.  A former faculty member at Louisiana State University, Dr. Gross holds a PhD in Economics from Syracuse University and received his BA in Economics from the University at Albany.

Jennifer Jones

Jennifer Jones

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.

Adaira Landry, MD MEd

Adaira Landry, MD MEd

Adaira Landry is an award-winning mentor, Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School, and Emergency Medicine physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and contributor at Forbes magazine. At age 16 she attended University of California, Berkeley to study Molecular Cell Biology. She then attended University of California, Los Angeles for medical school. She completed residency at New York University as a chief resident. She attended Harvard Graduate School of Education for a Masters in Education and earned a fellowship in ultrasound in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She has held various positions that foster career development: Assistant Residency Director for the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine residency, Ultrasound Fellowship Director for Harvard Emergency Medicine fellows, and Society Advisor to Harvard Medical Students. She is the Co-Chair of her department’s Diversity and Inclusion committee. She was previously a lead consultant for EchoNous, an AI-driven ultrasound start-up.

She is co-author of MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact with Harper Collins, a book for early-career professionals to navigate the workplace. She has published in Vogue, Teen Vogue, Nature, Science, New England Journal of Medicine, British Medical Journal, Fast Company, and Harvard Business Review and has been featured in Women’s Health and New York Times and The New Yorker magazines.  Since 2019 she has been awarded thirteen awards related to mentorship and education including Brigham and Women’s Junior Faculty Mentor Award, Harvard Medical School Excellence in Mentoring Award, Emergency Medicine Residency Association Mentor of the Year, and Mass General Brigham Educator Award. She speaks nationally on topics related to career development and the experience of being a woman of color in the workforce..

Adaira Landry is also a mother to three children (7, 5, and 3 years old). She hopes to raise her 3 children to understand and value the importance of supporting others in need.

Resa E Lewiss MD

Resa E Lewiss MD 

Resa E Lewiss MD is a Professor of emergency medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, TEDMED speaker, TimesUp Healthcare founding member, designer, entrepreneur, and award winning educator, mentor, and point-of-care ultrasound specialist. She studied at Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the NIH Howard Hughes Research Scholars Program, Harvard Emergency Medicine, and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Roosevelt. She hosts the Academic Emergency Medicine Education & Training podcast, and her own The Visible Voices Podcast, amplifying content in the healthcare, equity, and current trends spaces. Her writing is widely published in science journals and the popular press. She has written for CNBC, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Nature, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Slate. Her podcast has been featured in the Guardian, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Brown Alumni Monthly. With co-author Adaira Landry, her debut book, MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact, (HarperCollins) was published in April 2024.

Darilyn V. Moyer, MD, MACP, FRCP, FIDSA, FAMWA, FEFIM

Darilyn V. Moyer, MD, MACP, FRCP, FIDSA, FAMWA, FEFIM

Charles Cutler, MD, FACP
Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer American College of Physicians

Darilyn V. Moyer, MD, MACP, FRCP, FIDSA, FAMWA, FEFIM, is the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Physicians (ACP).

Board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases, Dr. Moyer was elected into Mastership (MACP) in ACP in 2022, which recognizes outstanding and extraordinary career accomplishments. Prior to that she was awarded Fellowship in ACP, an honorary designation that recognizes ongoing individual service and contributions to the practice of medicine. She serves on ACP’s Board of Regents, which manages the business and affairs of ACP and is the main policy-making body of the College, chaired ACP’s Board of Governors, and served as Governor of ACP’s Pennsylvania Southeastern Chapter. She is a Founding Board Member of the Gender Equity in Medicine and Science (GEMS) Alliance, Past President of Council of Medical Subspecialty Societies and former member of the Board of Directors, and Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Directors for the Primary Care Collaborative and is a member of Women of Impact. Dr. Moyer is the recipient of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) 2023 Inspire Award, the American Medical Association (AMA) Women Physicians Section (WPS) 2022 Inspiration Award and the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Courage to Heal 2021 Award. She is also a recipient of the 2020 American Medical Women’s Association Elizabeth Blackwell Award, as well as the recipient of the 2020 Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University Alumni Achievement Award.

Prior to becoming ACP’s EVP and CEO, Dr. Moyer was a Professor of Medicine, Executive Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Medicine, Internal Medicine Residency Program Director and Assistant Dean for Graduate Medical Education at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. She was previously the Co-Faculty Advisor for the Temple University School of Medicine Internal Medicine Interest Group and for the Temple University School of Medicine Student Educating About Healthcare Policy Group. She received the Temple University School of Medicine Women in Medicine Mentoring Award in 2012.

Dr. Moyer’s research and scholarly activity interests and presentations have been in the areas of medical education, high value care, patient safety, professionalism and digital media, gender equity, and HIV/infectious diseases.

She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in the Biological Basis of Behavior, Biology and Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and attended medical school at Temple University School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency at Temple University Hospital and served as a Chief Resident/Clinical Instructor of Medicine. She went on to complete an Infectious Diseases Fellowship at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, CA. Dr. Moyer currently practices part time at the Temple University Internal Medicine Associates.

Kurtis A. Pivert, MS

Kurtis A. Pivert, MS

Kurtis Pivert is the Director of Data Science for the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the world’s largest organization of kidney health professionals. He oversees ASN Data Science, an in-house consultancy dedicated to supporting informed strategic decision-making, and helping to advance the society’s strategic goals. Kurtis earned a MS in Analytics from—and was awarded the Bartley Medallion by—the Villanova University School of Business in 2020.

Kurtis has leveraged his experience in peer-reviewed publishing, media relations, and scientific writing to communicate data-driven insights. He has coauthored 13 peer-reviewed publications and numerous abstracts and poster presentations that have been cited >250 times. An avid R user, he has designed and deployed numerous dashboards and online analyses, including a dedicated online repository for the society’s workforce research—ASN Data (data.asn-online.org). Mr. Pivert attained the INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) Certified Analytics Professional certification in 2023.

Dr. Mary B. Rice MD MPH

Mary B. Rice MD MPH

Dr. Mary B. Rice MD MPH is the Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate Professor of Environmental Respiratory Health and director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE) at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is a pulmonary critical care physician and director of research for the division of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) at Harvard Medical School.  

Rice’s area of investigation focuses on the influence of environmental exposures, especially air pollution and climate change, on the respiratory health of children and adults, and the development of interventions to mitigate these health effects. She is the principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trial of home air purification for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and she leads the environmental health research program of the American Lung Association Lung Health Cohort. She also co-leads a new NIH-funded P20 Center at Harvard Chan School, which aims to bring sustainable climate solutions to heat-stressed, low-income communities around the globe.

Rice chaired the American Thoracic Society’s Environmental Health Policy Committee 2018-2021 and in 2024 she was elected as chair of the Environmental, Occupational and Population Health Assembly of the ATS. In 2024, she was appointed by the EPA administrator to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), an independent scientific committee that advises the U.S. EPA on National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

Sue Sedory, MA, CAE

Susan Sedory MA CAE

Susan (Sue) Sedory MA CAE is a retired chief executive who has dedicated her entire nearly 40-year career to improving health care, from research through organizational leadership in the association, corporate and federal government sectors.

Most recently, Ms. Sedory served the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) as its fourth (and first female) Executive Director. Previously, Ms. Sedory was the Executive Director of the Society of Interventional Radiology from 2011 to 2020 and worked for 14 years at the American Academy of Otolaryngology at various positions, including Chief Strategy Officer. She started her career in research first at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders at the National Institutes of Health and later with The MEDSTAT Group (now Merative MarketScan). 

Ms. Sedory has a Master’s Degree in Speech Science from the University of Maryland, and has authored numerous peer-reviewed papers. She earned her Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation in 2008 and is serving as the elected President of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies through November 2024.

Salandra Thomas

Salandra Thomas

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.

Patricia L Turner

Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS

Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, is the executive director and chief executive officer of the American College of Surgeons and a clinical professor at the University of Chicago. She was previously director of the Division of Member Services at the American College of Surgeons, and before joining the College, Dr. Turner was in full- time academic practice on the University of Maryland School of Medicine faculty, where she was the surgery residency program director. Roles in national professional organizations or institutions include member of the Boards of Directors of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies and OceanFirst Bank (OCFC), member of CEO Council of The Joint Commission, Specialty Society CEO Coalition member, and the 2024 president-elect of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies. Dr. Turner has served as past chair of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons Foundation Fund, the American College of Surgeons’ Delegation to the AMA House of Delegates, AMA Council on Medical Education, and Surgical Section of the NMA, past president of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons and past member of the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Board of Directors.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University, Dr. Turner continued her training as an intern and resident in surgery at Howard University Hospital in Washington, DC. Her fellowship training in minimally invasive and laparoscopic surgery was completed at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Weill-Cornell University School of Medicine, and Columbia University School of Medicine in New York City. Her MBA was completed at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. Dr. Turner is board-certified in surgery, is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and is a member of the American Surgical Association, American Medical Association, National Medical Association, Southern Surgical Association, Southeastern Surgical Congress, Society of University Surgeons, Society of Black Academic Surgeons, Association of Women Surgeons, Latino Surgical Society, and an honorary member of EAST, the Excelsior Surgical Society, and Asociación Colombiana de Cirugia.

Suzannah Alexander, MS

Suzannah Alexander, MS

Suzannah Alexander earned a BS in Biology from Oklahoma Christian University and an MS in Learning Technologies, with an emphasis on instructional design, from the University of North Texas. She also holds professional certificates in editing, technical writing, and science illustration. Ms. Alexander served as a text, art, and multimedia development editor for life science textbooks for over 17 years with Cengage Learning and other higher education publishers. For the past 7 years, she has served as Managing Editor, Editorial Director, and Director of Educational Publishing, producing residency program education and continuing medical education in emergency medicine for the American College of Emergency Physicians. She has extensive experience producing high-quality content for magazines, books, question banks, online courses, podcasts, webinars, and multimedia libraries.

Andrea L. Benin, MD

Andrea L. Benin, MD

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.

Lea G. Binder, MA

Lea G. Binder, MA

Lea G. Binder, MA is the Chief Learning Officer at the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and has over 17 years of experience with nonprofit healthcare organizations. Prior to joining ASAM, Lea worked at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) for 12 years. In her most recent role as Director of Education Grants, she led the development of a robust collection of 15 online courses. Previously, Lea served as the Director of Physician Clinical Pathways and Policy where she established Heart House Roundtables and modernized Expert Consensus Documents to focus more on clinical algorithms and guiding clinical decision making. She worked on the development of 6 Expert Consensus Decision Pathways, 4 of which were translated into mobile apps. A key component of Lea’s work at the ACC was developing a strong understanding of complex clinical issues and leading a team in various projects to tackle these issues in collaboration with member experts. She has worked on numerous high-profile initiatives and used her clinical knowledge to identify opportunities for funding and build strategic relationships with ACC members, industry partners, and other organizations. Lea began her career at the Institute of Medicine, where she worked on comparative effectiveness research and consequences of uninsurance.

Lea holds a BS in Communications from Boston University and an MA in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University. She lives with her husband and son in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Megan Brunner, MBA

Megan Brunner, MBA

Megan Brunner, MBA, leads strategic engagement efforts as the Associate Executive Director of Marketing and Membership at the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Megan completed her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Illinois Gies School of Business and her Master of Business Administration degree from North Park University with focuses in nonprofit management and operations management.  Early in her career, she developed a user experience focus while guiding nonprofit and for-profit clients in digital projects. She has brought this UX focus to her association work for the past 10 years at AAPM&R, now leading marketing and membership for the Academy.

Stephen Carnall

Stephen Carnall

Stephen Carnall is a Technical Director at PA Consulting and leads the data engineering and data science effort for PA’s Medical Registry business. Stephen has experience designing, building, and supporting large scale data platforms in the Healthcare industry both in the USA and UK and he brings a substantial breadth of expertise to help clients extract value from their data in order to transform patient care.

Davoren Chick, MD, FACP

Davoren Chick, MD, FACP

Dr. Chick is an internal medicine physician and is Chief Learning Officer and Senior Vice President of Medical Education for the American College of Physicians (ACP). She is responsible for ACP’s medical education strategy, products, services, and advocacy. Her ACP portfolio includes the national Internal Medicine Meeting, the Internal Medicine In-Training Examination, clinical skills training, instructional design, educational multimedia, virtual and on-location live courses, CME accreditation, and research. She is also Editor-in-Chief of ACP’s Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP). Dr. Chick earned her MD from Columbia University and performed internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. She has served on the medical school faculty of Harvard University, Michigan State University, and the University of Michigan, holding multiple leadership roles relating to clinical medicine, medical education, hospital administration, and physician coding education. Dr. Chick’s many national roles have included Councilor of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine, co-author of the Internal Medicine Milestones, membership with the ACGME Review Committee for Internal Medicine, and member of the American Board of Medical Specialties Vision Commission. She has authored over 100 peer reviewed articles, peer reviewed curricula, and book chapters. She currently practices internal medicine working with residents at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, where she is Adjunct Professor of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Christopher Cross, PhD, MSc

Christopher Cross, PhD, MSc

Dr. Christopher Cross is a seasoned leader in global health equity, oncology, and biomedical research, with over a decade of experience spanning academia, industry, and health organizations. Currently serving as the Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategies at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Cross spearheads initiatives that integrate health equity into oncology research, education, and patient care, impacting a global network of more than 50,000 oncology professionals.

Throughout Cross’s career, a strong commitment to advancing health outcomes for underserved populations has been a driving force. As the Founder and Chairman of Cross River Strategies, LLC, he led national efforts to increase minority representation in clinical trials, successfully partnering with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and healthcare institutions to diversify clinical research. This work resulted in the successful recruitment of over 240 African American participants, directly contributing to precision medicine efforts.

Dr. Cross’s experience extends into the biopharmaceutical industry, where, as a PhD Intern at BioMarin Pharmaceuticals Inc., he played a key role in developing strategies to integrate patient experience data into regulatory submissions, including Investigational New Drug (IND) and Biologics License Applications (BLA). This role honed his expertise in navigating complex regulatory frameworks, ensuring that real-world evidence (RWE) and patient insights were effectively utilized to support therapeutic approvals.

In academia, Cross served as a Principal Investigator at the Center for Community Engagement and Health Equity at Yale Cancer Center, where he taught community research fellows and led innovative community based participatory research efforts to address health equity issues in cancer.

Cross holds a Ph.D. in Population Genetics from Howard University, where his research focused on genomic evolutionary biology and bioinformatics. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University, specializing in cancer biology and human computational genetics. Over the years, Cross has published peer-reviewed articles, presented at international conferences, and has been a prominent advocate for health equity and diversity in clinical research.

With a diverse skill set that spans strategic program development, stakeholder engagement, and regulatory expertise, Cross continues to lead transformative

initiatives that drive innovation in global health equity and oncology. His work has not only advanced scientific understanding but also brought tangible benefits to communities and healthcare systems worldwide.

Mandy Davis-Aitken

Mandy Davis-Aitken 

Mandy Davis-Aitken joined ASCO in 2001. She began her career in ASCO program support and joined the Meetings Services department in 2006. From 2006 to 2017, she oversaw all aspects of ASCO’s Annual Meeting, including exhibits, registration, housing, and logistics. In 2017, she assumed the role of Vice President and is responsible for overseeing ASCO’s meetings program, including the ASCO Annual Meeting and six symposia, as well as their in-house conference center. Her focus is on ensuring that ASCO meetings follow current best practices and consistently incorporate member feedback and innovative technologies that adapt to the evolutionary needs of ASCO members.

Terri Dickinson Creasey, Esq. JD

Terri Dickinson Creasey, Esq. JD

Director, Diversity Equity & Inclusion
College of American Pathologists

As an attorney, Terri has experience practicing in both the private and public sectors as an advocate for social justice.

Terri is a staunch well-being advocate, particularly for those in marginalized communities. She has extensive experience overseeing employer driven well-being programs for large international organizations. She has a particular niche for developing employee programs in emerging markets where her passion for cultural exploration delves beyond the surface, crafting inclusive culturally informed programs. Terri currently serves as the inaugural DE&I Director for the College of American Pathologists (CAP) where she leads their strategic diversity initiatives and supports the member diversity committee. In 2024, the CAP was awarded national recognition by the ASAE (American Society of Association Executives) for three DEI initiatives under Terri’s leadership. She has served as keynote and moderator of numerous panels and led discussions on critical equity in the workplace and beyond.

Terri is admitted to the Illinois Bar and holds a Juris Doctor with certification in Public Interest Law from Chicago Kent College of Law. She holds a BA in Communications from Northern Illinois University and DEI certifications from Northwestern University. She is also trained in intercultural competence as a Qualified Intercultural Development Inventory Administrator. Terri was named the 2024 Public Relations Society of America Chicago Chapter D & I Champion of the Year.

Terri is a proud and longstanding member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the nation’s oldest Black sorority, through which she supports their international service initiatives.

Mark Engle

Mark Engle

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.

Stephen Epstein, MD

Stephen Epstein, MD

Dr. Epstein is an emergency physician in Boston, Massachusetts. He has been involved in clinical data registries at the American College of Emergency Physicians for over a decade. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Governors for ACEP’s Emergency Medicine Data Institute and represents emergency medicine within the American Medical Association as chair of both the Section Council for Emergency Medicine and the AMA Council on Medical Service. His volunteer activities include non-profit consulting with Community Action Partners of Boston, serving as an elected member of his town’s Board of Health, and providing medical support to the United States Ski and Snowboard teams.

Omar A. Escontrias, DrPH, MPH

Omar A. Escontrias, DrPH, MPH

Dr. Omar A. Escontrías’ expertise is centered in the areas of community and patient engagement, coalition building, health policy, and evidence-based research. Over the span of his career, Dr. Escontrías has worked with local and state governments, as well as non-profit organizations in the areas of public policy, disease prevention, and health promotion to improve the health and lives of patients and communities. By the time he joined the National Health Council (NHC) in April 2022 as its Senior Vice President of Equity, Research and Programs, he had already spent 15 years building a career on fighting systemic health care inequalities in historically underrepresented communities. Dr. Escontrías is a proud first-generation immigrant and is honored to be contributing to the NHC’s patient-centered advocacy, health equity, and policy engagement efforts. Dr. Escontrías earned a Bachelor of Science in molecular and cellular biology, a Master of Public Health in epidemiology, and a Doctor of Public Health in health policy and management, all from the University of Arizona.

Gabriel Escontrías, Ed.D

Gabriel Escontrías, Ed.D

I serve within the senior leadership role at APA and as a critical partner to the Medical Deputy Director and Chief of the Division of Diversity and Health Equity in shaping the overall vision of the division portfolio and increasing the effectiveness and capacity of its operations. I am responsible for managing the internal day-to-day operations in a strategic manner focusing on personnel, planning, and serving as the operational lead for the creation, development, and advancement of mental health equity initiatives, as well as supporting the Chief with oversight of the division’s budgeting and business operations, and facilitating a collaborative, strategic, and efficient workflow. In addition, I continue to lead the development of health equity with our members and APA administration to build health equity as a core competency through collaboration with APA departments, the development of health equity related programs, and the creation of member-facing materials that promote health equity as a component of improving mental health outcomes.

Over the span of my 20-year career, I have served in various higher education and public health professional capacities with a commitment to increase diverse, inclusive, and equitable pipelines to postsecondary education, health care, and workforce opportunities. As a champion for diversity and inclusion, I have collaborated with partners such as President Barack Obama’s White House Council on Women and Girls and the Office of Science and Technology Policy to advance the National STEM Collaborative, a consortium of higher education institutions and non-profit partners focused on scaling research evidence-based skills and knowledge, resources and practices on access, completion, and workforce development for women of color in STEM. I am an alumnus of ASU having earned a Bachelor of Arts (2003) in Sociology with a minor in Chicana/o Studies, a Master of Education (2006) and Doctorate in Education (2012). The principles of diversity and inclusion were well rooted in my academic research as my dissertation examined Enhancing the Math and Science Experiences of Latinas and Latinos: A Study of the Joaquín Bustoz Math-Science Honors Program at ASU.

Caryn Etkin, PhD, MPH

Caryn Etkin, PhD, MPH

Director of Clinical Registries and Quality Sciences

Dr. Etkin currently serves as the Director of Clinical Registries and Quality Sciences at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD).  Dr. Etkin oversees the AAD’s qualified clinical data registry, DataDerm. DataDerm is the leading US national repository for clinical data on dermatologic care, with over 15 million unique patients and over 59 million encounters.  Dr. Etkin also directs the AAD’s Quality Innovation team which develops performance measures, guideline derived products and approaches to quality improvement and care improvement in dermatology. 

Dr. Etkin was previously the Administrative Director of the Surgical Outcomes and Quality Improvement Center (SOQIC) at Northwestern University and Research Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery.  Prior to her time at Northwestern, Dr. Etkin was Director of Analytics for the American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR).  With her previous roles, Dr. Etkin led collaborative efforts with registry partners and stakeholders, including surgeons, patient groups, industry, hospitals, and government agencies such as the FDA and CMS.  Dr. Etkin holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and a PhD in Community Health Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. 

Mark Fleury, PhD

Mark Fleury, PhD

Mark Fleury, PhD is a policy principal for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), where he has worked since 2013. He specializes in research, drug development, and regulatory policies along with other science and technology related projects. He has worked on reform of diagnostic testing oversight, drug shortages, helped lead a coalition in 2016 that authored a landscape report on drug development challenges in pediatric cancer, and led another coalition in 2017 that created a report and recommendations focused on overcoming cancer clinical trial enrollment barriers. He is currently the principal investigator on a clinical trial testing the effectiveness of a new clinical trial screening tool. Throughout his work, Mark has striven to incorporate patient perspectives into inherently science-based issues, advocating for the inclusion of patients as partners throughout the bench to bedside translation of science. He holds a PhD in bioengineering from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland, conducted post-doctoral research at MIT, and previous policy experience includes time as a staffer to a U.S Senator.

Erica Flynn, MBA, MS, CAE

Erica Flynn, MBA, MS, CAE

Erica Flynn been with the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgery (ASCRS) since 2021 and serves as Associate Executive Director with oversight of Membership, Education and Meetings.

She is a visionary leader with an emphasis on strategic development and innovative content engagement who empowers teams and strives for continuous improvement, creativity, innovation, and professionalism.

Erica received her BA in Journalism with a minor in Business from The Pennsylvania State University, a MS in Education from the University of Pennsylvania, and a MBA from the George Washington University. She started her career as a teacher for two years before beginning her 20-year tenure in nonprofit society management.

Crystal Gadegbeku, MD, FASN

Crystal Gadegbeku, MD, FASN

Dr. Crystal A. Gadegbeku, Chair of the Diagnostic Excellence eGFR Toolkit Steering Committee, is Chair of the Department of Kidney Medicine in the Medical Specialties Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Health System.

Dr. Gadegbeku has been involved in NIH-funded clinical and translational research ranging from epidemiologic studies to clinical trials in kidney disease and hypertension including serving in leadership roles for multi-centered national research collaborations. She also has an interest in exploring research engagement of diverse populations, especially among racial and ethnic groups overburdened with kidney disease. Her areas of clinical interest include the management of hypertension and cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Dr. Gadegbeku has served two terms as Chair of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Policy and Advocacy Committee, also served on the ASN Council and as a member of the National Kidney Foundation-American Society of Nephrology Task Force on Reassessing the Inclusion of Race in Diagnosis Kidney Diseases. Most recently, she served as co-moderator of the Ending Disparities in Chronic Kidney Disease in Ohio Leadership Summit sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and continues to play an active role on the local NKF board.

Elizabeth Groothuis

Elizabeth Groothuis, MD, MPH

Dr. Elizabeth Groothuis is a pediatric hospitalist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and focuses her clinical work on neonatal/NICU care. She is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Associate Clinician at Lurie Children’s Hospital. Dr. Groothuis is the Assistant Program Director for Northwestern’s McGaw Global Health Clinical Scholars Program, an interdisciplinary global health training program for graduate medical trainees. She also leads the global health elective and education program for pediatric trainees at Lurie Children’s Hospital. Her academic interests are in global health education, pre-departure training, and incorporating concepts of decolonization and anti-racism into pre-trip preparation.

Anne Grupe, MS Ed.

Anne Grupe, MS Ed.

Ms. Grupe currently serves as the Senior Director of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)’s Continuing Education division and has been with the Society since 2000.   She currently serves as Chair of the CPD Directors Professional Peer Group of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies. She has served as a volunteer surveyor for the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education since 2013, and currently serves as Chair of the ACCME Accreditation Review Committee and has served on the Steering Committee of the ACCME 2017 and 2021 Meetings.   Ms. Grupe is also an ACEHP Fellow and has received both the Rising Star Award and a President’s Award. Educationally, her graduate work focused on adult education, with a Master of Science in Education from Virginia Tech, specializing in Vocational and Technical Education.    She has served as faculty for multiple ACCME workshops and meetings, ACEHP sessions, CMSS meeting sessions and CMEPalooza sessions.

Mary Halicki

Mary Halicki

Mary Halicki currently leads the Careers in Medicine (CiM) program at the Association of American Colleges.  In this role she works on several partnerships to increase the reach and value of the program as well as serve the needs of medical students, and medical school advisors, with critical career decision-making tools, resources, and information. Prior to her work with CiM she’s worked extensively on constituent engagement activities with medical student affairs staff and medical students.  Mary has over 20 years of experience working in program, client, and membership management roles in both the healthcare and education fields solving problems, improving programs, and developing new services.

Todd Ibrahim, MLA

Tod Ibrahim, MLA

Tod Ibrahim is Executive Vice President of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), which represents more than 21,000 kidney care professionals in 141 countries. Prior to this position, he was founding Executive Vice President of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine, Director of Public Policy for the Association of Professors of Medicine, Director of Communications for Robert Betz Associates, and Staff Assistant for US Representative Thomas C. Sawyer (D-OH). A two-time recipient of George Washington University’s Jenny McKean Moore scholarship for poets, Tod has a master’s degree in liberal arts from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Maryland at College Park.

A recipient of the President’s Award from the American Association of Kidney Patients, Tod is also a former President of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, a coalition of more than 50 societies representing over 800,000 US physician members. He is the author or coauthor of many articles, including “Stepping into the Void: Remunerating, Valuing, and Understanding Nephrologists”; “Maintenance of Certification, Self-Regulation, and the Decline of Physician Autonomy”; “Overcoming Barriers in Kidney Health—Forging a Platform for Innovation”; “The Kidney Research Predicament”; “The Future Nephrology Workforce: Will There Be One?”; “Globalization: A New Dimension for Academic Internal Medicine”; and “Centers, Institutes, and the Future of Clinical Departments.” Tod also coauthored a chapter for the Guidebook for Clerkship Directors entitled “Understanding, Navigating, and Leveraging US Medicine.”

ndifreke ikpe

Ndifreke Ikpe, MHA

Ndifreke Ikpe is the Civic Science Fellow for Race and Clinical Algorithms at the Council of Medical Specialty Societies. In this role, Ndifreke supports the health equity work of CMSS by collaborating with our member societies to support shared learning and best practices across society stakeholders, including staff and volunteer leaders that oversee equity, clinical guidelines and algorithms, research, informatics, and publishing. Ndifreke’s activities empower CMSS and specialty societies to build capacity to enable race-conscious clinical guidelines and algorithms that inform equitable clinical practice and clinical decision-making.

Previously, Ndifreke served as a Senior Associate at the Aspen Institute where she supported the development of program strategy and work plans for the continuous improvement of the Health Innovators Fellowship program. Ndifreke also served as a Maternal Mental Health Clinical Care Coordinator at the Joseph J. Peters Institute. As the primary liaison across multiple partnerships, she communicated strategies for the improvement of mental health outcomes. She later developed a centralized intake system to improve clinical care coordination of services. 

Ndifreke received a Master of Health Administration from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from West Chester University of PA.

Sarah Jacquier

Sarah Jacquier

Sarah Jacquier is currently the marketing manager of Cook Biotech, an RTI Surgical company, leading the team that manages trade shows, print pieces, corporate communication, and digital marketing and lead generation. She previously spent time in the start-up world working with real estate and mortgage clients, where she gained deep experience with lead generation and digital marketing. Additionally, her training as an editor brings added value to her work in the marketing field.

Regina James, MD

Regina James, MD

Regina James, M.D. serves as the APA’s Deputy Medical Director and Chief of the Division of Diversity and Health Equity responsible for ensuring that diversity and mental health equity objectives are valued and operationalized as vital components of the organization’s mission. Dr. James is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with over 25 years of experience, providing leadership and direction in the planning, policy development and implementation of national and international health disparity programs and initiatives for children and families.

Prior to joining APA, Dr. James served in numerous leadership positions including Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President at 2M Clinical, a clinical research organization and consultancy, where she was responsible for strategic medical leadership and content expertise for commercial and federal clients; Director of Clinical and Health Services Research at the National Institute on Minority Health & Health Disparities, where she received the National Institutes of Health Directors Award for exceptional leadership in the promotion and development of scientific programs that address gaps in minority health and healthcare disparities; and the Director of the Office of Health Equity at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute on Child Health & Human Development, where she led domestic and international programs addressing maternal and child health disparities.

Dr. James was also a member of the Child & Adolescent Workgroup for the development of the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual Version Five (DSM-V) for Psychiatric Disorders. Dr. James completed an NIH research fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Child Psychiatry Branch, where she conducted clinical trials in children and adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavioral disorders; her work was recognized by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as the recipient of the Reiger Award for Scientific Achievement. She also served as a Special Expert at the NIMH providing child psychiatric and clinical research consultation.

Dr. James received both her Bachelor of Science in Psychology/Biology and her MD from the University of California, Los Angeles. She completed a residency in general psychiatry and fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and completed leadership training at the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Program. Dr. James also serves on the Board of Trustees for the George Washington University.

She has lectured and published in the areas of health and healthcare disparities and has appeared on national media outlets addressing stigma surrounding mental illness in communities of color, improving access to care and the importance of demonstrating cultural humility when providing mental health care to individuals from diverse backgrounds.  

Bozidar Jovicevic, MD, MBA

Bozidar Jovicevic, MD, MBA

Bozi is the CEO and cofounder of Evermed, a company that enables associations to launch their personalized, Netflix-style content library within 90 days without hiring additional staff or managing IT complexities.

Bozi holds MD and MBA degrees. Before founding Evermed, Bozi spent 17 years in the life sciences industry, launching products globally and leading digital initiatives under the Chief Digital and Chief Medical Officers at two major Fortune 500 companies, Novartis and Sanofi.

Outside of work, Bozi enjoys playing “bullet” chess, (he used to play chess semi-professionally). He is passionate about the convergence of AI, technology, and education. Recently, Bozi became a father for the first time to baby Zoya.

Beena Kamath-Rayne, MD

Beena Kamath-Rayne, MD

Beena Kamath-Rayne is a neonatologist and global health professional with expertise in neonatal resuscitation, global health and medical education.  She has worked at the American Academy of Pediatrics since 2019 and currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Global Health and Clinical Skills. In her role at the AAP, she oversees the team responsible for global health portfolio, which covers topics such as early child development, mental health, essential newborn care, tobacco cessation, vaccine hesitancy, among others.  Her team is also responsible for global health education, often directed at members or other health care professionals who have decided to undertake global health work.  She has technical experience working in countries in Latin American/Caribbean, Asia and Africa on education and implementation of programs relating to maternal and newborn health. 

Jason Keith, CAE

Jason Keith, CAE

Associate Executive Director
American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons

In a diverse career spanning more than 25 years, Jason has traversed a variety of disciplines to identify solutions bringing society engagements to life. Through an array of traditional and non-traditional mediums, he has developed sponsorship initiatives on the association, corporate, agency and property sides of business focusing on aligning strategic and brand fits as the key to successful marketing alliances.   

Currently, Jason serves in a senior leadership capacity for the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) and is responsible for Revenue Development, Marketing and Communications and Operations. Additionally, he has provided counsel and evaluation guidance for clients nationally and globally in his leadership role with an association management company. Prior to ASCRS, Jason oversaw corporate engagement for one of the top health focused charities in the United Sates and managed corporate partnerships for major sponsor brands headquartered in the Midwest United States.

Jason specializes in creating mutually beneficial messaging and partnership strategies with a key focus on creating and understanding ways to leverage relationships to differentiate the sponsor from competitors and generate business through these partnerships. These leveraging initiatives include identifying unique ways in which to target supporters of the sponsored properties.

It’s this diverse background that gives Jason the ability to see projects from multiple angles and the skill that continues to prove itself vital in continuously evolving times.  

Jack King, MBA

Jack King, MBA

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.

Mary Kratz

Mary Kratz

Mary has more than 20 years of experience leading efforts in medical technology, health information technology and data standards with extensive work in health informatics, health infrastructure, interoperability, and sustainable public-private partnerships. As the Executive Vice President of the Interoperability Institute, she is responsible for communicating with stakeholders, government entities, and the public as well as leading development of short- and long-term innovation strategies. Mary is the Advisory Board Chair of the Interop. Community, an industry coalition dedicated to advancing interoperability through open platforms and open-source software.

Mary is a member External Advisory Committee for the Institute for Augmented Intelligence in Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, the Advisory Board of the US Aging Center of Excellence, and Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Board.
Mary extensive experience managing complex public-private collaborations. As a member of a U.S. Department of State interagency leadership board, she helped coordinate collaboration among public and private entities and Health Information Technology deployment teams. As a Senior Health Informatics Advisor to the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program, she implemented health information systems in over 40 countries, primarily low and middle-income countries in sub- Saharan Africa. Today, she partners with the Health Management Information System Society (HIMSS) to enable Health Interoperability Virtual E-labs (HIVE) for academic training, CME and workforce skill building programs.

Alice Kuaban, MS

Alice Kuaban, MS

Director, Scientific Affairs
American Society of Hematology

Biosketch: Ms. Kuaban is the Deputy Director of Scientific Affairs at the American Society of Hematology. With a background in biochemistry, and passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, she leads ASH’s strategic initiatives focused on clinical trials, emerging gene and cell therapies, and invited scientific content for the Society’s Annual Meeting.

Vince Loffredo Ed.D.

Vince Loffredo Ed.D.

Vince Loffredo Ed.D. is the Chief Learning Officer with the American Society of Anesthesiologists with over 25 years of experience working in Higher Education Medical Centers and Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Vince specializes in content development and learner preferences, he is responsible for the development of accredited continuing medical education, medical publications, national conferences and meetings. Dr. Loffredo’s research centers on the evolution of leaner preferences, adult learning theory. His passion is leveraging the evolving artful use of technology and its application in CPD.

Bonnie Simpson Mason

Bonnie Simpson Mason, MD, FAAOS

Dr. Bonnie Simpson Mason is a nationally recognized educator, innovator, author, and speaker. She is a Clinical Professor of Surgery at Creighton University, an alumna of the Kellog School of Management of Northwestern University, Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery and the inaugural Medical Director of Inclusive Excellence for the American College of Surgeons, the largest professional organization of surgeons in the world. Throughout her career, she has developed groundbreaking DEI educational programs, worked to increase diversity in medicine, and prepared thousands of aspiring orthopedic surgeons for successful careers.

Prior to joining the American College of Surgeons, she served as the vice president of diversity and inclusion for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) where she was the primary lead for the development and implementation of Equity Matters— a 10-year continuous learning and process-improvement initiative in DEI and antiracism designed for specialty societies, hospital systems, and GME faculty, learners and leaders.

After a career in private practice, Dr. Simpson Mason wanted to devote her time to increasing the pipeline and success of diverse of physicians. She founded and served as the executive director of Nth Dimensions, Inc., a non-profit organization that develops and facilitates scholarship and internship programs focused on increasing diversity in medicine, decreasing gender and health disparities, and promoting the professional development of aspiring physicians in orthopedic surgery and other specialties. Currently, Nth Dimensions is the most successful US pipeline program for women and diverse medical students and residents having awarded millions of dollars in scholarships and program grants and exposing thousands of students to orthopaedic surgery over the past 20 years.

Dr. Simpson Mason is also an accomplished author, penning over 20 peer-reviewed articles, textbook chapters, and her self-published Amazon best seller, “The Doctor’s Ultimate Guide to Contracts and Negotiations: Power Moves.” She earned her Bachelor of Science in chemistry with honors from Howard University and her medical degree from Morehouse School of Medicine. She completed a general surgery internship at the University of California, Los Angeles, and returned to Howard University to complete her residency in orthopaedic surgery, where she was named Chief Resident of the Year.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery recognized her ongoing commitment to physician development by awarding her the 2015 Diversity Award, one of the Academy’s highest recognitions. In 2023, Dr. Simpson Mason’s extended mentoring efforts were acknowledged by the J. Robert Gladden Society, which commissioned the Bonnie Simpson Mason, MD Impact Award and her alma mater recognized her with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Most recently, her orthopaedic surgery peers have elected her to the American Orthopaedic Association, the society which honors leaders in orthopaedics, and for inspiring students to impact others, she was one of eleven awardees nationwide to receive the 2024 Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award.

Dr. Simpson Mason’s personal mission is to teach, facilitate, and empower future and current physicians to reach their maximum potential as comprehensively prepared medical professionals and equity practitioners. She attributes her ability to fulfill this mission to having the enduring support of her parents, physician sister, Dr. Sherri Simpson Broadwater, and her own Chicago Bears, her husband, Dr. Thomas Mason, and her two teenage sons, Thomas Jr. and Paul David.

Stephen McLeod, MD

Stephen McLeod, MD

Dr. McLeod is Chief Executive Officer for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Professor and Chair Emeritus in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco. He pursued his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College, followed by his medical doctorate degree at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed ophthalmology residency at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary of the University of Illinois in Chicago, followed by fellowship training in cornea, external disease and refractive surgery at the Doheny Eye Institute.

Dr. McLeod’s clinical specialty is in refractive surgery, cornea and external disease. His research interests include the study of improved strategies for diagnosis and management of eye infections both in the U.S. and in the developing world, as well as the development of novel techniques for pragmatic clinical trials. He has published over 150 peer reviewed scientific papers and delivered over a dozen named lectures.

Dr. McLeod is former Chair of the Ophthalmic Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration. He has served as a member of the National Advisory Eye Council of the National Institutes of Health, on the Council of the American Ophthalmological Society, and on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Ophthalmology and the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Research to Prevent Blindness. Dr. McLeod is former Editor-in-Chief for the AAO’s flagship peer review journal Ophthalmology.

Cindy Mendez-Hernandez

Cindy Mendez-Hernandez

Cindy Mendez-Hernandez is a Senior Manager and Learning Experience Designer at the American College of Emergency Physicians. In her role, she spearheads innovative educational initiatives and crafts impactful learning experiences tailored for healthcare professionals. With a bachelor’s degree in social psychology from Trinity Washington University in Washington, DC, Cindy possesses a deep understanding of human behavior and learning dynamics. Currently pursuing a master’s degree in education, she is committed to advancing emergency medicine education through state-of-the-art strategies and the integration of modern technologies.

Eileen M. Murray, MM, CAE

Eileen M. Murray, MM, CAE

Eileen M. Murray, MM, CAE has been CEO of the American Epilepsy Society since December 1, 2013.  Murray’s strategic, goal-focused mindset and results-oriented execution have been instrumental in driving organizational growth and impact for the Society.  This in turn has accelerated AES’ ability to fulfill its mission to support those who seek to understand, diagnosis, study, prevent, treat, and ultimately cure epilepsy.

Eileen has led the organization during a transformative period in its evolution, building a diverse, high-performing, professional staff team and partnering with AES’ Board of Directors on significant governance and programmatic advances.  In partnership with elected leadership, she has guided three strategic planning cycles, including the most recent, which centers on organization commitments to improving the lives of people with epilepsy through cross-disciplinary work, inclusivity, and equity, and expanded investment in research and evidence-based practice and education. Supporting the organization to increased visibility, credibility, and influence in the epilepsy and larger medical community is instrumental in advancing knowledge and improving outcomes for persons with epilepsy and their families.

In addition to service with AES, Ms. Murray served on the National Advisory Council to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the Advisory Council for the American Academy of Pediatrics Center for Children and Youth with Epilepsy, and was the recipient of the Association Forum of Chicagoland Samuel B. Shapiro Award for Chief Staff Executive Achievement.

Kavitha Neerukonda, JD, MHA

Kavitha Neerukonda, JD, MHA

Miguel A. Paniagua, MD, FACP, FAAHPM

Miguel A. Paniagua, MD, FACP, FAAHPM

Vice President, Medical Education
American College of Physicians
Adjunct Professor of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, The University of Pennsylvania

(he/him/él)

Dr. Paniagua has served as a course director, clerkship director and internal medicine residency program director at various points during his career in academic medicine prior to joining the staff of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), where he served as Associate Vice President, Assessment Operations & Medical Education. After eight years at NBME Miguel assumed the role of Vice President of Medical Education at the American College of Physicians (ACP). Miguel received his undergraduate degree from Saint Louis University before earning his MD at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago. Dr. Paniagua completed his internal medicine residency and gerontology & geriatric medicine fellowship at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Paniagua practices consultative Hospice and Palliative Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and is Adjunct Professor of Medicine in the faculty of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.  He is the co-editor of the fifth & sixth edition of “Constructing Written Test Questions for the Basic and Clinical Sciences,” The chapter on “Writing High-Quality Constructed-Response and Selected-Response Items” in Assessment in Health Professions Education (2nd ed.), and the fifth edition of “Essential Practices” (UNIPAC) palliative medicine book series.

julia peterson

Julia Peterson, CAE

As chief operating officer, Julia Peterson is responsible for partnering with CMSS’ CEO to devise and implement strategy; overseeing all operational and financial performance; and building systems to support organizational growth and capacity. In addition, she oversees all CMSS member-facing programs and implementation functions, including communications, meetings, governance, finance, human resources, and IT.  

Julia’s experience lies in helping medical associations realize and achieve their missions. Prior to CMSS, she worked as manager of association management for the American College of Surgeons, a program that provides professional management services for over 30 component and affiliate medical organizations. Julia is a Certified Association Executive, a credential of distinction from the American Society of Association Executives. She received a bachelor’s degree in communications and French from Hope College. 

Paul Pomerantz, FASAE, FACHE

Paul Pomerantz, FASAE, FACHE

Paul Pomerantz served as CEO of several health and medical associations before ‘retiring’ at the end of 2023. His last full-time position was with the American Society of Anesthesiologists, a 55,000-member, $50 million association based in Chicago and Washington, DC. While there, Paul led the organization through a turnaround and a period of growth and heightened influence.

Paul has been active in the professional association community, having served as chair of ASAE Business Services, Inc., chair of the ASAE Foundation, and treasurer of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies. He is a frequent writer and speaker on association leadership topics.

In 2024, Paul received his certification in Leadership Coaching in Organizational Performance and formed Pomerantz Consulting. In his consulting practice, Paul works with executives on professional and career development as well as team building and mediation. He also currently works with ASAE as Managing Director of the new Association Governance Institute.

suzanne pope

Suzanne Pope, MBA

Suzanne Pope works with medical specialty societies on CMSS programs that address AI/ML, health equity, medical misinformation, and patient engagement. She directs the PCORI-funded CMSS and NHC Patient-Centered Partnerships Summit: Building Meaningful Collaboration to Advance Patient Care and Research. Suzanne also manages CMSS’ Diagnostic Feedback in Clinical Registries grant program. In 2023, she worked on the Reconsidering Race in Clinical Algorithms, and in 2024 she helped launch the Encoding Equity Alliance. 

Suzanne’s career includes both advisory and leadership roles. Prior to CMSS, she consulted with healthcare organizations on health policy and performance, medical writing, and guidelines development. She also served as the director of quality and the director of guidelines for the American Urological Association (AUA). Suzanne holds a Master of Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University. 

Matthew Popovich, PhD

Matthew Popovich, PhD

Matthew Popovich is the Chief Quality Officer (CQO) at the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). In this role, he oversees the Quality Division, including Analytics and Research Services, the Center for Perioperative Medicine, Payment and Practice Management, Practice Guidelines, and Quality and Regulatory Affairs. He works out of the Washington, D.C., office. Popovich joined ASA in May 2013 and over the years, he has worked with physicians responsible for federal and regulatory policy development, measure development, health equity, hospital accreditation, departmental administration, occupational health, environmental health, and health IT. Popovich received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History from Purdue University. He received his Master of Arts degree and Doctor of Philosophy degree in American Urban History at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Mary E. Post, MBA, CAE

Mary Post, MBA, CAE

Mary E. Post, MBA, CAE, is the chief executive officer of the American Academy of Neurology, the world’s largest association of neurologists with more than 40,000 members. Leading a team of more than 200 staff with locations in Minneapolis, MN, and Washington, DC, Post is responsible for the AAN achieving its mission of enhancing member career fulfillment and promoting brain health for all., as well as the AAN’s vision of being indispensable to its membership.

Post began her position as CEO of the AAN in April 2020. She is the fourth CEO since the AAN was established in 1948. Post was selected for the role based on her extensive experience leading a major nonprofit medical specialty organization as well as her broad prior experience at the AAN, where she served for 16 years in many leadership roles, including as deputy executive director.

Post is a Certified Association Executive (CAE), the highest credential in the association management industry. She also holds a Post-Master’s Certificate in organizational leadership, a Master of Business Administration Degree in human resources, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in business administration. She has over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit medical specialty industry. She has led meaningful, sustainable, programmatic, operational, and financial growth within organizations while increasing value for stakeholders and creating an award-winning, resilient culture.

In Post’s most recent position as the executive director for the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA), she established a strong and collaborative partnership with its board of directors and 700 volunteer physicians to innovate and transform the organization’s programs.

Under Post’s leadership, the ABA became the first US medical specialty certifying board to successfully implement an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) into the ABA’s initial certification program. In 2014, the ABA also reimagined its Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology Program (MOCA) and incorporated learning and assessment of knowledge into its physicians’ daily practice through MOCA Minute®.

Chris Presta, BS, FACEHP

Chris Presta, BS, FACEHP

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.

Priya Radhakrishnan, MD

Priya Radhakrishnan, MD

Dr. Priya Radhakrishnan is the VP of Health Equity and Chief Academic Officer at HonorHealth. She is an internal medicine physician with an interest in treating patients with chronic complex illness. As a physician leader with extensive medical education experience, her philosophy centers on integrating the needs of learners, patients, and community. She has a passion for health equity and serves as the network leader for the HonorHealth Social Determinants of Health Collaborative. She has completed the ACGME Equity Matters fellowship and leads diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at HonorHealth and nationally.

Her health equity work includes her role as principal investigator of Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)’s Health Systems Implementation (HSII) Capacity Building Project at HonorHealth. This project aims to support, develop, and implement viable strategies to encourage evidence-based health care delivery. Dr. Radhakrishnan has held several leadership positions including Chair of the Board of Governor of the American College of Physicians (ACP) and is currently a member of ACP’s Board of Regents. She is also a Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. Her work has been recognized by numerous awards by organizations such as the AAMC, AIAMC, and ArMA.

Sonia Ramamoorthy, MD

Sonia Ramamoorthy, MD

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).

Miquella (Kelly) Chavez Rose, Ph.D.

Miquella (Kelly) Chavez Rose, Ph.D.

Dr. Chavez Rose assumed the role of Chief Scientific Officer at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in July 2022, prioritizing scientific excellence across the organization. Collaborating with volunteer leaders and external partners, she drives strategies for scientific education, policy, and special projects to advance ASH’s mission. Previously, at the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) in North Carolina, she oversaw programming for Interfaces in Science and Regulatory Science. With a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of New Mexico and a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California San Francisco, Dr. Chavez Rose brings a wealth of scientific expertise to her role.

ashlan ruth

Ashlan Ruth, PMP

Ashlan Ruth manages CMSS’ Specialty Societies Advancing Adult Immunization (SSAAI) and Driving Measurable Improvement in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Physician Workforce programs. Ashlan’s work helps CMSS and member societies to address emerging issues and to channel member contributions that advance healthcare for all. In addition, Ashlan lends her expertise to oversight of CMSS’ learning management system and to facilitation of the annual meeting.

Ashlan is a Certified Project Manager. Prior to CMSS, she worked in a variety of management roles, including as project manager at the National Quality Forum. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in business administration from the Darden School of Business.

ajit sachdeva

Ajit Sachdeva, MD

Dr. Sachdeva is the Founding Director of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Division of Education.  He is also Adjunct Professor of Surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.  Dr. Sachdeva previously served as Leon C. Sunstein, Jr., Professor of Medical and Health Sciences Education, Associate Dean for Medical Education, and Professor and Vice Chairman for Educational Affairs, Department of Surgery, at MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine.  He also served as Chief of Surgical Services at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Dr. Sachdeva is Founding Member of the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators. He has been the recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award (Lifetime Achievement Award) of the Association for Surgical Education, the Dave Davis Research in Continuing Medical Education Award of the Society for Academic CME, the Margaret Hay Edwards Achievement Medal of the American Association for Cancer Education for Outstanding Contributions to Cancer Education, the Theodore McGraw Medal of the Detroit Surgical Association, the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, and the Blockley-Osler Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching.  He has published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers on surgical and medical education topics. He has delivered invited presentations and conducted courses on educational topics in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan. Dr. Sachdeva has served on the Boards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. 

Dr. Sachdeva has served as President of the following organizations: Association for Surgical Education; Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education; American Association for Cancer Education; Council of Medical Specialty Societies; and Alliance for Clinical Education.

Kenna Sheak

Kenna Sheak, MD, PhD

Kenna Sheak is a dedicated physician of Muscogee and Cherokee heritage, along with European descent. Born and raised in New Mexico, she pursued her medical education at the University of New Mexico, where she completed her medical school, pediatric residency, and served as chief resident at the University of New Mexico Hospital.

Following her training, Kenna relocated with her husband and son to Cincinnati, Ohio, to join the Pediatric Hospital Medicine division at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Her professional interests lie in Native American health education, particularly focusing on training healthcare professionals to better understand and address the unique health needs of Indigenous communities. Additionally, she is committed to improving the screening processes for health-related social needs within the inpatient unit, striving to enhance patient care and outcomes.

Through her work, Kenna aims to bridge cultural understanding in healthcare, advocate for vulnerable populations, and foster an inclusive approach to pediatric medicine.

Karen Dorsey Sheares, MD, PhD

Karen Dorsey Sheares, MD, PhD

A recognized health technology executive, physician, and epidemiologist, Dr. Sheares is passionate about applying advanced analytics and product engineering to improve outcomes and to drive health equity for millions of beneficiaries across the U.S. She is currently the Vice President of Quality Sciences at NCQA where she leads quality science research programs and supervises the generation of content for the HEDIS measure set and other metrics created by and stewarded by NCQA. Previously Dr. Sheares worked as a senior-level executive with the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), a physician-led contracting firm within Yale New Haven Health. CORE serves clients including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Systems, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, private Medicare Advantage payers, and large health systems. In that role, Dr. Sheares drove quality content development for federal and commercial clients, created vision and actively guide a large multi-disciplinary team in the design, testing, and dissemination of tools to drive healthcare improvement. Dr. Sheares has deep expertise navigating complex client stakeholder relationships, leading multi-year funded research programs, and managing public and peer review of our high-visibility and high-impact products. Dr. Sheares remains an adjunct Associate Professor at Yale School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics.

Samantha Shugarman, MS

Samantha Shugarman, MS

With twenty-two years of professional experience in quality improvement, Samantha Shugarman, MS, has participated in numerous projects and activities concentrated on improving patient care and physician behavioral change. During her five years with the American College of Radiology, preceded by 18 years in psychiatric quality improvement (e.g., American Psychiatric Association, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, etc.) she has developed quality measures for national improvement and accountability programs, in addition to leveraging society-led clinical quality data registries to inform practices on their quality performance and how to make improvements when their performance falls below national or internal benchmarks.

Working in clinical areas comprising illnesses that ranked among the highest causes of death in the US (i.e., lung cancer and suicide), she is attuned to the vital need to engage radiology practices in population-based quality improvement like the Expanding Capability for Early Detection of Lung Cancer. As ACR’s lead in the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Diagnostic Excellence Initiative-funded Closing the Radiology Recommendation Follow-up Loop measure development project, as well as a learning facilitator in the Recommendations Follow-up Quality Improvement Collaborative under the ACR Learning Network, she works closely with multi-stakeholder experts and those participating in improving these efforts in real-time. She understands the clinical, technical, and other barriers that may prevent patients with incidentally found pulmonary nodules from completing their evidence-based radiology-recommended follow-up care.

Dana H. Smetherman, MD, MPH, MBA, FACR, FSBI

Dana H. Smetherman, MD, MPH, MBA, FACR, FSBI

Chief Executive Officer
American College of Radiology

Dr. Dana Smetherman is the Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Radiology.  She is a Diagnostic Radiologist who specializes in breast imaging and previously served as the Chair of the Department of Radiology and Associate Medical Director for the Medical Specialties at Ochsner Medical Center – New Orleans.  Previously, Dr. Smetherman held the office of Secretary/Treasurer for the American College of Radiology (ACR) and on the organization’s Board of Chancellors.  She has held multiple other leadership positions in national and regional organizations, including Chair the Breast Commission the ACR, President of the Radiological Society of Louisiana, ACR Councilor from Louisiana, Board Member for the National Accrediting Program of Breast Centers, Chair of the Technical Exhibits Committee of the Radiological Society of North America, Advisor to the Current Procedural Terminology Panel of the American Medical Association, Chair of the Breast Economics Committee of the ACR, and Physician Director on the Board of Directors of Ochsner Health. Dr. Smetherman has given numerous presentations and has multiple publications in the areas of breast imaging and health care economics.

Lauren Sunderland

Lauren Sunderland

Lauren Sunderland is the Manager of Corporate Relations at ASCRS, where she oversees the development and implementation of an annual sales and marketing plan focused on corporate partner engagement and revenue growth. She has been with ASCRS since 2023, bringing nearly a decade of experience in development and corporate partnership.

Laura Vera, MSW, LSW

Laura Vera, MSW, LSW

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.  

David Westman, MBA, CPA, CAE

David Westman, MBA, CPA, CAE

David Westman has over 20 years of experience serving as a CEO at international professional healthcare societies and a trade association. In addition to association leadership, Mr. Westman has nearly 15 years of experience serving as CEO of Westman & Associates Consulting. His primary areas of expertise are governance enhancement, strategic planning, operations improvement, and human resources program development.

Mr. Westman received his undergraduate degree in Political Science, History, and Education from Augustana College and his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Association Executive.

He has been active with the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Association Forum of Chicagoland, the Michigan Society of Association Executives, and other organizations. This includes serving as a speaker at various meetings, writing numerous articles on performance improvement topics, and facilitating CEO Circle groups.

The ASAE published a book written by Mr. Westman titled “Board and CEO Roles for Association Goals”. The book addresses best leadership practices in associations. In 2013 he received the Association Forum’s Inspiring Leader of the Year award.

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