Women We Admire is pleased to announce The Rising Star Women of Healthcare for 2024. The healthcare industry is made up of several sub-sectors, including preventative care, rehabilitation, emergency services, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and many more. Each of these areas has the same goal – to provide the highest quality services to patients in need.
Women make up nearly 70% of the global health workforce, providing services to about five billion people across the world. So when it's time to tap the next rising star, there is plenty of talent to choose from amongst the women in healthcare.
An excellent example of that talent is awardee Sarah Ohlinger, the Director of Patient and Customer Experience at Northwell Health. Ohlinger puts her advanced education and practical knowledge to good use, focusing on enhanced patient care, improved operational efficiency, and a family-centered approach to medicine for New York State’s largest healthcare provider and private employer.
In the academic realm, we recognize the amazing work of Maryanna Klatt, the Director of the Center for Integrative Health and a professor in the College of Medicine at Ohio State University. Her evidence-based integrative medicine combines mindfulness meditation, yoga, and breathwork to significantly reduce stress for at-risk populations, which Klatt has shown to also provide annual cost savings in healthcare of $4,000 per individual for up to five years after her program.
Finally, we acknowledge the fine work of honoree Toyin Lawal, the Director of Ambulatory Care Nursing for UCLA Health. Lawal not only serves her community through her professional role, but also as an avid and enthusiastic volunteer, caring for vulnerable populations, people with special abilities, people experiencing housing insecurities, and women and children affected by domestic violence, as well as her work with the Legacy Voice Widows project, a part of her mission with the United Nations Economic Social Council, which she has grown to 3,000 members.
Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of The Rising Star Women of Healthcare for 2024.
Toyin Lawal
Director Specialty Unit UCLA Health / Executive Director Widows Project / Humanitarian Services
Toyin Lawal is a distinguished experiential leader in healthcare, boasting over four decades of expertise in healthcare administration, clinical management, education, and community outreach. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice and a Master of Science in Nursing Leadership and Health Care System Management from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.
Currently, as the Director of a Specialty Unit at UCLA Health, Toyin Lawal offers clinical oversight for various departments, including Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre Community practices, In-patient Specialty care units, Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, observation units, and specialized units such as Plastic, Ortho, Trauma, and COVID units. Her leadership extends to supporting other healthcare practices and initiatives, including fall prevention programs, staff recruitment and retention, finance and budget programs, shared governance structures, and DEI programs. Patient Acuity and patient satisfaction, shift management, workplace violence prevention, and staff wellness.
Throughout her career, Toyin Lawal has remained dedicated to advancing nursing education, as evidenced by her role as a clinical instructor and her involvement in curriculum development for leadership, mental health programs, the practice of patient advocacy, clinical pathways, workflows, and competencies. Her primary strength lies in advancing clinical practice and clinical management strategies, while her secondary focus is on staff capacity building through education. As a Coach and Mentor, she is passionate about teaching Leadership development and serving as a role model for the next generation of healthcare professionals. She has garnered numerous awards for her contributions to the Healthcare industry and social change, including recognition from the Mayor's Office in Los Angeles for her work during the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations Commission on Status of Women Power of Dreams Award, and the Barco Nightingales Foundation Nursing Excellence Award.
Beyond her clinical and educational roles, Toyin Lawal is an accomplished solutions strategist, author, and presenter, contributing to numerous publications and presenting at national and international conferences on topics such as ambulatory care nursing, women's health, digital health, and social change. Her evidence-based projects encompass a wide range of topics, including protocols for Gestational Diabetes and Pediatrics Immunization, as well as initiatives focused on telehealth delivery for achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
Committed to community and international service, Toyin Lawal has led numerous outreach programs focused on healthcare access, women's empowerment, youth development, prevention of domestic violence, and peace and gender equality initiatives in countries such as Nigeria, India, and the United States. Toyin Lawal serves on the Advisory board for Cranium Digital Health, AONL research Committee, AAACN Advocacy committee, UNESCO, Real Estate Advisory and Credit Union financial institution.
Her dedication to improving healthcare outcomes and promoting social change has earned her prestigious awards and honors, including recognition from the United Nations and the President Biden Volunteer Service Award. She serves as the President of Tabernacle and 1000 Women in Religion for Global Peace and organizes the Widows’ Retreat, a grassroots empowerment program aligned with the United Nations' 2030 agenda. Through her efforts, she has provided support to orphanages in Africa and India, empowered over 3000 widows, and engaged in medical outreach programs globally. Toyin Lawal's career exemplifies her unwavering commitment to nursing excellence, leadership, and service to humanity. Through her tireless efforts, she continues to make a positive impact on the nursing profession and the communities she serves, embodying the values of compassion, integrity, and dedication to improving healthcare for all.
Dr. Amy Waterman, Ph.D.
Director, Patient Engagement, Disparities & Research, Houston Methodist
Dr. Amy D. Waterman is a national transplant innovator and the Deborah C. and Clifton B. Phillips Centennial Chair for Clinical Research in Transplant Medicine, a Full Professor, and the Director of Patient Engagement, Diversity, and Education, representing both J.C. Walter Transplant Center at Houston Methodist Hospital and the Houston Methodist Research Institute. As a Health Services Researcher and Social Psychologist, Dr. Waterman conducts research in areas including how best to expand access to optimal treatments, reduce racial disparities, ensure informed decision-making, ensure patient-centered care, and improve health outcomes.
She has published over 125 journal articles encompassing many components of clinical and translational research, including patient-oriented research, clinical trials, behavioral and multilevel interventional studies, development of new educational technologies, outcomes and health services research, and implementation of best practices. She has designed and tested the efficacy of a suite of innovative educational resources including mobile decision aid applications, a digital storytelling application, and texting interventions about living donation.
She has been the Principal Investigator on over 10 grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Her award-winning educational resources have been translated into multiple languages and delivered to patients in thousands of clinical settings in the United States, Canada, and online. Her research has been supported by almost $30 million in grants and, in 2019, she received the American Society of Transplantation Clinician of Distinction Award for national influence in transplantation by a non-physician. Prior to joining the faculty at Houston Methodist Research Institute, she was a faculty member at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine in Nephrology and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in General Medical Sciences. Fundamentally, she is a Patient Advocate.
Karleen Giannitrapani
Co-director (Quality Improvement Resource Center for Palliative Care), US Department of Veterans Affairs
Karleen Giannitrapani is the Co-director of the Quality Improvement Resource Center for Palliative Care (QuIRC) for the US Department of Veterans Affairs. QuIRC is a national resource center that supports the VA’s geriatrics and extended care service. Giannitrapani is also an instructor at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Her research focuses on improving the processes that interdisciplinary teams can leverage to improve pain and symptom management among high-risk high-need patients. Methodologically, she specializes in organizational theory, implementation science, rapid analysis methods, sustaining quality improvement, and co-designing research with provider and patient stakeholders. She previously served the VA as an investigator for the Center for Innovation to Implementation and as a researcher in the Center for Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation, and Policy.
Giannitrapani has a Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management and Organizational Behavior, a Master of Public Health, and an MA in African studies, all from UCLA. She received her undergraduate degree from Boston University.
Nicole Green
Senior Director of Strategic Alliance and Virtual Care Channels at MinuteClinic, CVS Health
Nicole Green is a healthcare executive with over 25 years of experience in strategic planning, healthcare operations management, and organizational change management. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Strategic Alliance and Virtual Care Channels for CVS Health Retail Health/MinuteClinic. She leads business strategy, implementation, and relationship management for over 70 strategic relationships, many with integrated delivery systems nationwide. With a focus on population health, her team works to bring forth the full potential of clinical relationships to support patients, promote health and wellness, and reduce the risk of chronic disease. In this role, Green proudly leads the first-of-its-kind MinuteClinic VA access program and national virtual care strategy, driving CVS Health and MinuteClinic to practice with telehealth. She runs the national MinuteClinic telehealth practice and CVS Health Virtual Primary Care practice.
Before joining MinuteClinic in 2012, Green was the Director of Business Transformation for Massachusetts General Hospital Physicians Organization and Partners Healthcare Revenue Cycle. With four teams and over 100 projects, she created a department to lead and hardwire strategic change management initiatives to support the patient experience, improve operational efficiency, and drive revenue growth. She held additional leadership positions during her 14-year career at Mass General Brigham. Green graduated from Saint Anselm College.
Xuan Ta
Director, Quality and Patient Safety, CommonSpirit Health
Xuan Ta is the Director of Quality and Patient Safety of CommonSpirit Health, a nonprofit, Catholic health system dedicated to advancing health for all people. With approximately 175,000 employees and 25,000 physicians and advanced practice clinicians, CommonSpirit operates 140 hospitals and more than 2,200 care centers serving sites across 24 states.
Ta is a highly motivated and innovative healthcare leader with 30 years of inpatient and ambulatory experience in initiative development, establishing, and managing systematic processes that drive organization performance, quality of care, risk management, patient safety, physician education, employee/leadership education, and employee competency development. She is highly respected for her work products and commitment to quality outcomes.
Practicing the Transformational and Situational Leadership models, Ta is especially skilled with a collaborative approach to problem-solving, project management, development, and implementation of global and standardized programs. She has a proven ability to work successfully and collaboratively with leadership, physicians, managers, and multi-disciplined teams across the organizations to analyze problems, identify strategic solutions, make recommendations, and develop structural processes, that improve the quality of care and patient outcomes. Before accepting her current roles, held multiple leadership positions at Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente. Ta graduated from the University of Phoenix with a doctoral program in healthcare administration and MSN in nursing education and from San Francisco State University with an undergraduate degree in nursing.
Denise Hickerson
Director of Specialty Clinics, Providence Health & Services
Denise Hickerson is the Director of Specialty Clinics at Providence Health & Services, a healthcare system of 120,000 caregivers (all employees) serving in 52 hospitals, 1,085 clinics, and a comprehensive range of health and social services across Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. Before this role, Hickerson was a practice manager for Providence Health & Services, where she was responsible for the management of clinical and non-clinical teams in four specialty clinics (GI, ENT, urology, and orthopedics) and the WW University Clinic.
Hickerson is a change-oriented and process-driven healthcare operations leader with in-depth clinic management experience. She is highly skilled in process improvement, project management, implementations, strategic planning and forecasting, and development of policies and procedures, with vast knowledge of employee training and engagement and acquisition onboarding. She is a forward-thinking and engaged leader who cares about her team and strives to help her organization exceed its goals.
Previously, Hickerson was a director of operations at Adventist Health. Before that, she was a manager of support services at Blue Mountain Medical Group. Earlier in her career, she worked with Family Practice Associates as a front office supervisor. Hickerson earned an MS in management and leadership from Western Governors University and an undergraduate degree in business administration and management from the University of Phoenix.
Esther Pollack
Director, MedTech Health Economics and Market Access for the Lung Cancer Initiative, Johnson & Johnson
Esther Pollack is a Director of MedTech Health Economics and Market Access for the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson. Pollack is an experienced nurse, consultant, and team leader. She brings over ten years of various healthcare industry experiences, from both Canada and the United States, which spans hospitals, ministries, agencies, and the private sector. She has specific expertise in medical solutions, chronic disease management, public health, provincial programs, clinical information systems, and clinical technology tools.
Pollack previously served Johnson & Johnson as an associate director and as a manager. Before that, she was a manager at PwC, where she focused on health system strategies, healthcare information technology solutions, and hospital operations. Other healthcare roles include senior business analyst, public health nurse, staff nurse, and patient care technician. She also briefly served as a research associate for the Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation.
She received her MBA from the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, as well as a BScN from Thomas Edison State College. Pollack has been a registered nurse for over ten years and continuously builds on her front-line clinical experience to deliver exceptional value to patients across the healthcare continuum.
Aviva Zupancic
Director of Healthcare Analytics Offerings, IQVIA
Aviva Zupancic is the Director of Healthcare Analytics Offerings of IQVIA, a leading global provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions, and clinical research services to the life sciences industry. IQVIA is the ‘The Human Data Science Company,’ a multinational company of over 65,000, serving the combined industries of health information technology, biopharmaceutical, and clinical research.
Zupancic was recruited back to IQVIA to grow the custom analytics business. In her previous role there, she served as the associate director of client services, having been recruited into a new division focused on the healthcare provider market (hospitals and health systems) to support a new business intelligence product to provide high-touch client relationship management and technical support, bringing her unique value add, customer advocacy, philosophy. She expanded beyond simply supporting the product to managing clients across the payer and provider business and delving into custom analytics, providing insights to clients. Additionally, she had the opportunity to mentor a dynamic team of four talented account managers.
In between these roles, she was the senior product manager at VigiLanz, where she was recruited to support the development of new product offerings, leveraging VigiLanz’s rich data assets, data mining engines, and advanced forms solutions, developed over the past 20 years, to enhance the existing suite of products offered. Earlier in her career, she worked as a senior account manager and product manager at HIMSS Analytics, which provided quantitative market research on the adoption of healthcare information systems and technology. Zupancic graduated from DeVry University with an undergraduate degree in technical management, healthcare administration, and management.
Reshma Patel
Digital Solutions Director - Virtual Care Ecosystem, Elevance Health
Reshma Patel is the Digital Solutions Director - Virtual Care Ecosystem at Elevance Health, where she develops and refines virtual care product strategies near-term and long-term for each commercial employer segment (individual, small group, large group, and national). The products include virtual primary care, women’s health, behavioral health, EAP, diabetes, and condition management. She is also a member of the board of directors for Birth in Color RVA, a women-led reproductive justice nonprofit organization dedicated to maternal and reproductive health and policy and removing biases and barriers for people of color.
Throughout her career, Patel has developed a deep understanding of the healthcare landscape. Her knowledge base runs deep on healthcare topics pertaining to value-based care, commercial payer products, and whole health strategy. She has launched virtual-first products in all 14 Anthem states, as well as modernized network solutions around provider enablement. Her extensive healthcare management consulting experience has enabled her to quickly perform discovery and evaluate partnership opportunities for strategic growth. She is comfortable communicating and presenting to executive leaders and building relationships across the enterprise.
Patel first got her start in 2012 as an associate in health policy and payment reform at Applied Policy. From there, she went on to ESAC, Inc., before eventually rising to engagement lead in healthcare payer operations at Veracity Consulting Group, LLC, her most recent position prior to joining Elevance Health. Patel graduated from MIT Sloan School of Management with an EMBA, from George Mason University with a Master’s degree in Health Policy, and from James Madison University with an undergraduate degree in public health.
Katie Taylor
Director, Internal Medicine and Hospital, Field Medical Outcomes, and Analytics, Pfizer
Katie Taylor is the Director of Internal Medicine and Hospital, Field Medical Outcomes, and Analytics at Pfizer, a leading research-based biopharmaceutical company.
Her background is 14 years of experience as a critical care and cardiology inpatient clinical pharmacist, coupled with years of management consulting for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device clients. She has been a Board-Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) since 2015, and she holds a Clinical Informatics, Pain Management, and Substances of Abuse Specialty Pharmacist certificate. Her previous adjunct faculty appointments include the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions (MGHIHP) Physician Assistant program (instructing pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, infectious disease), Worcester State University (instructing Drugs & Society), and Husson University (instructing Medical Terminology). I am also a certified immunizer.
Previously, Taylor was a clinical pharmacist at Maine Medical Center. Before that, she was a principal at Gore & Company. Earlier in her career, she worked with AtomicTangerine as a research analyst. Taylor earned a PharmD from Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and an undergraduate degree in biotechnology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She is currently enrolled in the MBA program at UMASS Isenberg School of Management, with expected graduation in 2026.
Ashley Ackerman
System Director, Patient Experience, Baptist Health System Kentucky and Indiana
Ashley Ackerman serves as the System Director of Patient Experience for Baptist Health System Kentucky and Indiana. With a strategic focus on expanding, aligning, and elevating Baptist Health's commitment to clinical excellence and compassionate care, Ackerman plays a pivotal role in spearheading patient experience strategies and initiatives across more than 400 points of care spanning two states. With close to 18 years of dedicated experience in the healthcare sector, her journey has been marked by significant contributions.
One of Ackerman’s most notable achievements is her development and implementation of the highly acclaimed Tiered Performance Structure, a patient experience support model that has been embraced and implemented across the entire Baptist Health system. This model has been instrumental in standardizing and enhancing patient experiences within their hospitals, medical practices, urgent care facilities, and home care agencies. Ackerman also successfully led the integration of patient experience data onto the Baptist Health website for over 1,000 providers, offering patients the opportunity to make more informed decisions about the care they receive.
Most prominently, under Ackerman leadership, Baptist Health Medical Group achieved top-quartile national patient experience performance, a testament to her commitment to driving excellence and fostering a culture of patient-centered care. Her relentless dedication and transformative leadership have been instrumental in advancing Baptist Health's mission to deliver exceptional healthcare services, while continually raising the bar for patient experience standards in the healthcare industry. Ackerman has a BS in clinical leadership and management from the University of Kentucky.
Angela Fielding
Director, Network Operations and Provider Engagement/Medicaid Health Plan Ohio, Humana
Angela Fielding is the Director of Provider Experience and Network Transformation for Humana’s newly awarded Ohio Medicaid Plan, Healthy Horizons, Inc. In this role, she is responsible for the development and oversight of the Ohio Medicaid provider end-to-end (e2e) strategy and experience, including provider quality and value-based engagement, practice transformation, and provider service and resolution. She is also responsible for partnering on health equity and population health strategy for diverse populations to ensure the provider experience strategy is anchored in improving health equity and supporting Humana’s Bold Goal initiatives.
At Humana, Fielding has served in both market and corporate leadership roles leading Medicare and Medicaid service operations, network management, provider engagement, and strategy implementation. Throughout her tenure in the healthcare industry, she has earned a reputation for being a compassionate leader with an acute ability to develop, lead, and inspire teams and organizations. Fielding is active in her community and is a champion for DEI. She leverages this passion by serving as co-president of Humana’s Office of Inclusion and Diversity’s African American Network Resource Group (NRG), IMPACT NRG. Humana was recently ranked 9th by Diversity, Inc. among employers with NRGs/ERGs.
Fielding is the Immediate past president of the Associate Board of Directors for Circle Health Services, formerly, The Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland. She previously served on the board of directors for The Community Foundation of Lorain County, The French Creek YMCA, and The Area Agency on Aging and is presently serving on the board of directors for The Centers. A native of northeast Ohio, Fielding earned an MBA from The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor’s degree from Cleveland State University.
Sarah Ohlinger
Director of Patient and Customer Experience, Northwell Health
Sarah Ohlinger is the Director of Patient and Customer Experience of Northwell Health. She first joined the company in 2011 as a registered dietitian. Northwell Health is New York State’s largest healthcare provider and private employer, with more than 20 hospitals, over 890 outpatient facilities, and more than 18,500 affiliated physicians.
In this role, Ohlinger supports patient experience and cultural transformation efforts across the hospital and healthcare system. She focuses on enhancing the care delivered to patients, improving operational efficiencies, and driving workforce engagement to support a culture dedicated to patient and family-centered care. She is also an active member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Ohlinger is a passionate, transformational healthcare leader with a strong background in food service management operations, hospitality, and clinical nutrition. She is a Registered Dietitian who earned her Master’s degree in Nutrition from Stony Brook University and an undergraduate degree in dietetics and clinical nutrition services from the University of Rhode Island.
Kate Zhong
Chief Executive Officer, CNS Innovations LLC
Kate Zhong – an adjunct professor in UNLV’s Department of Brian Health – is a geriatric psychiatrist, pharmacologist, and brain health advocate. Zhong is the founder of Brainnovation Initiative and CEO of CNS Innovations LLC, a company that provides consultation services to advance the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Before joining UNLV’s faculty, Zhong served as the chief strategy officer for the Global Alzheimer’s Platform, a foundation devoted to improving and accelerating clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease. From 2010 to 2016, she was the senior director of clinical research for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, where she led the development of programs treating patients with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease. She is a founding member of the AARP Global Council on Brain Health and serves on multiple boards in Nevada and beyond.
Zhong is a worldwide respected expert on brain health, having served as a scientific consultant for multiple pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the United States, Canada, and Asia. She was named a “Woman to Watch” and ”Alzheimer’s Ambassador” by Vegas Inc. Magazine, as well as honored with the “Healthcare Headliner Research Award” for her creation of Cleveland Clinic's healthybrains.org and the Health Brain Index. Zhong was featured in the PBS documentary “MAKERS: Women Who Make America,” profiling her as one of Nevada’s most influential women.
Zhong received her MD degree at age 22 from West China University of Medical Sciences in Sichuan, China. She earned her Master’s degree in Pharmacology and completed her residency training in psychiatry at the University of Toronto.
Jennifer Thackray
Director, PGY2 Pediatric Oncology Pharmacy Residency Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Jennifer Thackray is the Manager of Pediatric Pharmacy Clinical Services and the Director of a PGY2 Pediatric Oncology Residency Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Kids (MSK Kids) in New York. Thackray earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from The University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy and went on to complete an ASHP-accredited PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and a PGY2 Pediatric Pharmacotherapy Specialty Residency at the University of North Carolina Health Clinics in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is board-certified in pharmacotherapy and pediatric pharmacotherapy.
Thackray joined the MSK Department of Pharmacy in 2011, initially practicing in the pediatric oncology inpatient setting. Over her tenure at MSK, she has assisted in developing pediatric clinical services in the outpatient leukemia clinic and the outpatient sarcoma clinic, precepted residents in these services, and served as a resident mentor and research mentor for PGY2 resident research projects. Thackray's clinical interests and research efforts include pediatric oncology supportive care measures (i.e., chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting) pharmacogenomics, and clinical guideline development within international organizations. She is passionate about increasing and improving interdisciplinary efforts to optimize pediatric oncology care across the healthcare system.
Thackray received the 2021 Ralph D. Bienfang Outstanding Practitioner Award from The Alumni Affairs Board of The University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy. She is an active member of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC), the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA), and The Pediatric Pharmacy Association (PPA).
Maggie McIntee
Director of Clinical Innovation - Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic
Maggie McIntee is the Director of Clinical Innovation in the Department of Medicine of Mayo Clinic, one of the top-ranked hospitals in the nation. In this role, McIntee focuses on innovation management, project planning, health outcomes, strategic initiatives, and clinical strategy. She previously served the Mayo Clinic as the international operations manager and an administrative fellow, a two-year post-graduate fellowship in healthcare administration.
Before that, McIntee was a teaching fellow and assistant to the Principal Giving Staff-Development Office at Yale University, a summer fellow at the Health Policy Commission, and a strategic planning intern at Yale New Haven Health. She also served as administrative director for Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, a nonprofit organization in Cuernavaca, Morelos Mexico that creates a loving and safe family environment for vulnerable children living in extreme conditions.
McIntee graduated from Yale School of Public Health with an MPH in healthcare management and from Boston College with an undergraduate degree in biology and psychology.
Jennifer Pinkins
Director of Health Plan Claims and Contract Support, Centene
Jennifer Pinkins is the Director of Health Plan Claims and Contract Support at Centene, a leading healthcare enterprise committed to helping people live healthier lives. Pinkins is an energetic, transformational leader, equally experienced in managing insurance operations (health insurance claims, call center, enrollment, and billing) and a wide scope of projects from a strategic and process improvement perspective.
She has demonstrated skills in strategic and tactical execution with over 25 years of experience focused on leadership, insurance operations management, organizational change management, business process engineering, vendor relationship management, and strategic and operational project management. Since the introduction of PPACA, Pinkins has spent the last three years focused on multiple systems and process implementation projects for ACA compliance, demonstrating exemplary leadership, communication, execution, and results-oriented skills.
She has over two decades of experience in the health insurance industry serving in various roles, including operations management, business analyst, project management, quality improvement agent, and business process and development engineer. Pinkins earned an undergraduate degree in business from the University of Phoenix.
Maryanna Klatt
Director of Integrative Health, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Maryanna Klatt is the Director of the Center for Integrative Health and a professor in the College of Medicine at Ohio State University in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Her focus is the exploration of evidence-based integrative medicine.
Klatt has been trained in mindfulness meditation, an approach that comes out of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in addition to being a certified Integrative Yoga Therapy instructor. She combines yoga and mindfulness meditation, along with diaphragmatic breathing, in her practice, teaching, and research. Specifically, her research has shown that nurses working in a surgical intensive care unit reduced their stress by 40% (shown in their salivary amylase); university and hospital faculty and staff slept better; and bank employees significantly reduced their perceived stress. Plus, cancer survivors and their caregivers became significantly more resilient, while inner-city third graders significantly improved in hyperactivity and cognitive inattention- behaviors often related to stress. Her goal is to reduce healthcare costs via preventative stress reduction worksite programming. She has shown that mindful awareness interventions produce an average of $4,000 annual cost savings for participants up to five years post-intervention.
Klatt has published several articles and book chapters, given a TED talk, and presented her work at national and international scientific conferences. Her stress reduction program has been a fully covered benefit for faculty and staff at the University of Minnesota. Klatt believes that there is an unexplored mine of low-cost, high-yield movement and meditation practices that have broad pragmatic value. Her research-based program has reached over 700 adults in need of stress reduction, demonstrating the real-world impact of translational research. Her goal is to expose people to yoga, meditation, and breathing techniques that can be utilized during the day, helping them achieve the life and balance they desire. Klatt has a Bachelor’s in psychology from Kenyon College, a Master’s in religious studies from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in Education Policy and Leadership from Ohio State University.
Rachel Bond
System Director, Women's Heart Health, Arizona, Dignity Health
Rachel Bond is a board-certified attending cardiologist who has devoted her career to the treatment of heart disease through early detection, education, and prevention. She is the System Director of Women’s Heart Health at Dignity Health, in Chandler, Arizona, co-chair of the Women in Cardiology Committee, and chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the Arizona Chapter of the American College of Cardiology. She was recently appointed to serve on the Women in Cardiology Section Leadership Council for the National Chapter of the American College of Cardiology. She holds a faculty position as assistant professor of Internal Medicine at Creighton University School of Medicine.
Bond is the author of several review papers referencing sex and gender differences and cardiovascular conditions that predominantly affect women, along with opinion pieces aimed at addressing health equity, reducing health disparities, and promoting the professional development of women and minorities in the health science profession. She has a passion for advocacy of education and mentorship and has served as an expert source for multiple news and media outlets. Her clinical interests include heart disease prevention, pregnancy-related heart conditions, and cardio-oncology and lipid disorders. Her research interests currently include the heart-mind connection, cardio-rheumatology, and gender disparities in valvular heart disease. Bond earned an MD from New York Medicine Jobs and an undergraduate degree in biomedical education from The City College of New York.
Jenna Kelly
Enterprise Director of Patient Experience, Lifepoint Health®
Jenna Kelly is the Enterprise Director of Patient Experience of Lifepoint Health®. Lifepoint Health is a leading healthcare provider that serves patients, clinicians, communities, and partner organizations across the healthcare continuum. Since 2010, Kelly has also worked as a marketing consultant for the Transplant Management Group.
With over a decade of experience in the healthcare field, Kelly has served multiple healthcare systems. She started at Vanderbilt University Medical Center as a marketing intern at the Heart Institute. She then completed an internship in design and marketing at the Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitors Bureau. From there, she worked as a graphic designer and then as an administrative intern for UC Health’s Neuroscience Institute. At UC Health, she was promoted to administrative resident in charge of patient experience and then to manager of service improvement. In 2018, she was appointed system director of patient experience at Saint Thomas Health, her first role before joining Lifepoint Health.
Kelly graduated from Xavier University with a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration and Management and an undergraduate degree in communication arts (advertising), graphic design, and printmaking.
Shaunda Grisby
Associate Regional Medical Director of Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Doctors, Ochsner Lafayette General
Shaunda Grisby is a general surgeon who is fellowship-trained in breast surgical oncology. Her training includes advanced skills in the treatment of breast cancer, benign breast-related diseases, and the management of individuals at high risk for the development of breast cancer. Her first introduction to breast cancer was in high school. A friend's sister was diagnosed with breast cancer during her last year of law school. The cancer was very aggressive and unfortunately, she succumbed to the disease. This left a lasting impression on her career and future direction; so much so, that breast cancer has become her life’s passion and mission. She believes in providing the highest quality of compassionate care while making sure her patients and their loved ones are supported.
Grisby attended medical school at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA/Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science, and she completed her general surgery residency at Easton Hospital in Easton in the Allentown area of Pennsylvania. She completed a fellowship in breast surgical oncology at Beaumont Health System in Royal Oak, Michigan. Highly trained in cutting-edge surgical techniques, such as oncoplastic breast-conserving surgery, nipple-sparing mastectomy, and skin-sparing mastectomy, Grisby’s experience exceeds expectations. She is employed with Ochsner Lafayette General Health System and holds a dual role by also serving as the Associate Regional Medical Director for Lafayette General Medical Doctors Physician group in Lafayette, Louisiana, where she now resides.
In a selfless effort to give back to her community, Grisby holds an academic appointment as a clinical assistant professor of surgery with the School of Medicine at LSU Health Science Center. In this role, she instructs residents and medical students in their quest for careers as surgeons. She is also currently a member of the Commission on Cancer Committee for Ochsner University Hospital and Clinics and serves as the Cancer Liaison Physician for the committee.
Grisby is a member of the American Society of Breast Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the American College of Surgeons. She is actively involved in research studies on breast cancer and community outreach programs, spreading awareness for breast cancer. In her free time, she enjoys painting, listening to music, and spending time with her cockapoos.
Deedra Geniesse
Director of Clinical Nutrition, Stanford Health Care
Deedra Geniesse had a midwestern upbringing, and as the daughter of educators, learning and growth has always been a priority in her life. She received her Bachelor of Science in Dietetics and Nutrition from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Missouri. She completed her Master of Science and thesis, along with a dietetic internship, at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. Her career in healthcare now spans 24 years, with the vast majority in leadership positions.
From 2006 to 2020, her leadership was devoted to food service management and clinical nutrition operations in acute care hospitals as director of food and nutrition, including Trinity Health, Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa, AdventHealth Avista, Colavria Hospitality, and UC Health Highlands Ranch (through ISSI contract management). In 2020, Geniesse became the director of clinical nutrition at Children's Hospital Colorado, overseeing approximately 75 registered dietitians. In September 2022, she became the director of clinical nutrition at Stanford Health Care, currently overseeing a team of 88 registered dietitians in the inpatient and ambulatory setting.
In 2015, Geniesse was awarded the Association for Healthcare Foodservice Partnership in Leadership award. She was the conference planning co-chair for the 2017 Association for Healthcare Foodservice Annual Conference. She has served as Director-at-Large for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Management in the Food and Nutrition Services dietetic practice group. Geniesse also volunteered as the Meet-Up Coordinator for the International Down Syndrome Community Meet-Up Weekend in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from 2018 to 2020.
Sophie Davis
Patient Care Solutions Operations Director, GE Healthcare
Sophie Davis is the Patient Care Solutions Operations Director of GE Healthcare. In this role, she serves as an operations liaison between the value delivery and the value creation teams. She also leads the operations support for the business president as his commercial operations leader and collaborates with PCS leadership teams to develop pacing, reporting, and analytics across all national regions and segments for their business to support the national and global business leadership teams.
She previously served GE Healthcare as an LCS operations leader and Commercial Leadership Program (CLP). CLP is a two-year rotational program designed to not only develop the future leaders of GE Healthcare but also cultivate strong customer-facing sales representatives for the field. Earlier in her career, she worked as a data analyst specialist for Spectrum Employee Services. She started her career at GE Healthcare with an internship in commercial leadership.
Davis graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in industrial engineering. Additionally, she pursued an Engineering in Healthcare Certificate, as well as the Distinguished Communicator Certificate. Completed the GE Healthcare Commercial Leadership program, which is a two-year rotational program aimed at developing professional skills. During her time in the program, she worked in California, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, and New Orleans.
Shefali Chudgar
System Director of Ambulatory Ventures, Bon Secours Mercy Health
Shefali Chudgar is the System Director of Ambulatory Ventures of Bon Secours Mercy Health, the fifth largest Catholic healthcare ministry in the US and one of the nation’s 20 largest healthcare systems. With 48 hospitals, thousands of providers, over 1,000 points of care, and over 60,000 employees Bon Secours Mercy Health serves communities across seven states and Ireland. In this role, Chudgar leads strategic and operational efforts to grow outpatient imaging centers, ambulatory surgery centers, and urgent care networks. She supports the strategic growth of the BSMH portfolio companies, Conduit Health and Harness Health, to expand those businesses.
Chudgar is a collaborative and transformational ministry leader with over 10 years of healthcare experience She has an excellent reputation for performance improvement, strategic program and project management, acute and ambulatory care operations, and financial management and data analytics. Her previous healthcare leadership roles include a director of labor performance improvement, a director of performance management, and a project manager.
Chudgar graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Master's degree in Healthcare Administration and Management and from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an undergraduate degree in biology and economics.
Alicia Rasmussen
Director of Rehabilitation, South Pacific Rehabilitation
Alicia Rasmussen is the Director of Rehabilitation, South Pacific Rehabilitation, an experienced full-service rehabilitation provider with over 40 years of experience providing physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Rasmussen is focused on helping seniors have the most fulfilling life possible, assisting with their functional and life goals, while keeping them safe and independent to get the most out of all their years.
Before rising to the role of director, Rasmussen was an occupational therapist for South Pacific Rehabilitation, working in both inpatient and outpatient services. She concurrently works as an occupational therapist for Ensign Services, where she also served as director of rehabilitation until early 2023. She was also the director of clinical services outpatient for about eight months in 2023. In all her leadership roles, she employs her humanistic management style and approach to direct the delivery of rehab services. Earlier in her career, she worked in product development.
Rasmussen has a Bachelor of Business Administration, with a focus on marketing and marketing management, from Sonoma State University, and she has a Master of Occupational Therapy from Samuel Merritt University, where she earned a 3.66 GPA.
Daniela Januario
Clinical Trial Diversity and Innovation Director, Aesthetic Medicine, AbbVie
Daniela Januario is the Clinical Trial Diversity and Innovation Director of Aesthetic Medicine at AbbVie. AbbVie is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on creating medicines and solutions that put impact first – for patients, communities, and their world. They aim to address complex health issues and enhance people's lives through their core therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, neuroscience, eye care, aesthetics, and other areas of unmet need. Januario, with 21 years of experience in drug development, is a seasoned professional in overseeing global interventional and non-interventional studies, as well as large-scoped, cross-functional innovation and process improvement initiatives with significant business impacts. Her expertise extends across various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and rare diseases, as she has worked for both pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations.
Throughout her career, Januario has held leadership positions, managing clinical research teams and global projects. Her diverse background has equipped her with a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies involved in conducting complex projects on a global scale. In her current role, she is focusing on diversity and inclusion in aesthetics medicine, integration of new endpoint tools, and clinical process improvement.
Januario's educational background further complements her extensive experience. Holding both a PharmD degree and an MBA, she possesses a strong foundation in both pharmacy and business management. This unique combination of expertise allows her to approach clinical innovation projects from a holistic perspective, considering both scientific and strategic aspects. In her pursuit of continuous growth and professional development, Januario recently graduated from Harvard Business School with a Business Analytics certificate, demonstrating her commitment to leveraging data-driven insights for project management and process improvement. This accomplishment showcases her dedication to staying at the forefront of industry trends and utilizing cutting-edge techniques to drive performance and innovation.
Heather Sojourner
Community Medical Director Utah, WellBe Senior Medical
Heather Sojourner is a board-certified family physician and a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Sojourner is on a mission to help patients lead meaningful lives and improve access to care for the highest-risk populations. After 16 years of creating and owning a thriving five-physician privately owned medical practice in Utah and being the former US medical director for an international digital health technology company, she is now focusing on making healthcare easier for Utah’s highest-risk Medicare population as the WellBe Senior Medical Utah Medical Director. As an advocate for digital healthcare and other innovative care models, Sojourner is proud to work within the WellBe care model, providing concierge-level home-based primary care to patients struggling with the traditional models of care. She believes in an interdisciplinary team approach to healthcare, so leading the Utah WellBe team of nurse practitioners, social workers, pharmacists, and other clinicians is a natural fit for her leadership.
Sojourner was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville for her undergraduate degree and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock for medical school. She then completed the Virginia Commonwealth University Riverside Regional Family Medicine Residency Program in Newport News, Virginia. Sojourner moved to Utah in 2005, where she happily resides with her husband, kids, and three dogs.
Sojourner currently serves on the American Academy of Family Physicians Commission for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness and the Utah Academy of Family Physicians Board of Directors. Other notable roles for Sojourner include a four-year term as the Intermountain Medical Center Department of Family Medicine chairperson, Salt Lake County Medical Society president, and an active member of both the American Medical Association and Utah Medical Association.
Ashlee Edwards
Director of Wellness, 10X Health System
Ashlee Edwards is the Director of Wellness for 10X Health System. She stands as a distinguished Doctor of Chiropractic, fortified by a Master’s in Clinical Neuroscience. Her professional journey is distinguished by a unique fusion of clinical prowess and profound business acumen. Remarkably, Edwards has been instrumental in the success stories of various businesses under Grant Cardone’s 10X umbrella, guiding them from their inception through substantial growth, with revenue reaching and exceeding $60 million. As a leader in healthcare, Edwards brings not only a strategic vision but also a profound understanding of business operations and scaling to the forefront. Beyond financial milestones, she places a premium on patient-centric values on their path to optimal wellness.
In the realm of business, Edwards is not only a healthcare professional; she is a compassionate leader, merging clinical expertise with a commitment to holistic well-being. In doing so, she redefines the standard of patient-centered care, leaving an indelible mark on the intersection of health and business.
Victoria Cordova
Director of Behavioral Health Services, Banner Health
Victoria Cordova is the Director of Behavioral Health Services at Banner Health. She first joined the company in 2012 as a crisis and intake therapist. Headquartered in Arizona, Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit healthcare systems in the country. The system owns and operates 28 acute-care hospitals, Banner Health Network, Banner – University Medicine, academic and employed physician groups, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers, and an array of other services, including Banner Urgent Care, family clinics, home care and hospice services, pharmacies, and a nursing registry.
Cordova has worked in the forensic and acute mental health field for over 16 years as a licensed professional counselor. She has worked within a number of psychiatric acute and outpatient service lines, supporting the introduction of high-reliability health care, just culture, and high-impact leadership within service lines. Cordova has expanded her clinical and administrative leadership roles to take responsibility for access to care across the continuum to ensure that within her psychiatric service lines, the home hospital system, and with strong community agency partnership support, she could be accountable for ensuring that the teams reporting up through her could evidence that every patient was supported within the constructs of medical necessity and the Quadruple Aim.
She held multiple leadership roles before working at Banner Health. She was a chief clinical officer, a clinical access manager, and a lead mental health case manager. Cordova also had clinical roles as a mental health therapist, a psychiatric therapist, a crisis and intake therapist, and a case manager. Cordova earned an MS in marriage, family, and child therapy from the University of Phoenix and an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Northern Colorado.
Maren Fragala
Director of Population Health and Client Analytics, Quest Diagnostics
Maren Fragala is the Director of Population Health and Client Analytics of Quest Diagnostics, the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services. In this role, she develops and applies evidence-based analytics and actionable insights to drive population health outcomes to help large employers drive improvements in the health of their workforces.
As an award-winning and published medical and scientific affairs leader with over 15 years of experience, she discovers, practices, and inspires health. Previously, she advanced measurable health outcomes for Quest Diagnostics’ nearly 50K employees and earned Quest Diagnostics distinction as a Best Employer for Healthy Lifestyles, among institutions like the American Heart Association and the National Business Group on Health, and earned the prestigious C. Everett Koop Award for exemplary work in health and disease prevention.
Having held academic positions at Harvard School of Public Health, University of Connecticut Health Center, and University of Central Florida, publishing over 130 scientific manuscripts, serving on the Biomarkers Consortium of the Foundations of the NIH, and receiving multiple academic and professional awards and grants, she is considered a leading researcher and practitioner in population health. Fragala graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Ph.D. in Kinesiology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with an MS in kinesiology and an undergraduate degree in exercise science.
Lauren McCue
Director of Emergency Medicine Nurse Practitioner Residency Program, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Lauren McCue is the Director of Emergency Medicine Nurse Practitioner Residency Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, a world-renowned hospital with clinical & treatment expertise across all specialties. She started at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in 2019 as an acute care nurse practitioner resident. She completed her residency in 2021 and still serves the hospital as an acute care nurse practitioner.
McCue is a trained ER nurse and ER tech. She has a love for critical care and trauma medicine and believes in providing compassion, empathetic patient care during times of stress. She is passionate about mental health and holistic medicine and tries to always promote overall general wellness.
McCue first got her start in 2008 as an administrative assistant at Middletown Medical Imaging. From there, she went on to Trinitas Regional Medical Center, before eventually rising to the registered nurse emergency department at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, her most recent position prior to joining NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. McCue graduated from Rutgers University with an undergraduate degree in biological sciences.
Daniela Montalto
Clinical Director, Institute for Learning and Academic Achievement, NYU Medical Center
Daniela Montalto is the Clinical Director for the Institute for Learning and Academic Achievement at the NYU Medical Center, one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers. She joined the NYU Child Study Center in 2001 as a pediatric neuropsychologist and an assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry. She moved into her current role in 2010.
Montalto provides neuropsychological, psychological, and educational assessments to children, adolescents, and adults with learning disorders, psychiatric conditions, and various neurological complications that affect learning and cognitive functioning. She also helps families navigate educational systems and determine appropriate school placements, accommodations, and supports. In addition to assessment, Montalto also provides individual and family cognitive behavioral therapy, academic remediation, school-based consultation, dialectical behavioral therapy, and behavioral parent training.
Montalto earned a Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology from Fordham University and a Master’s in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Patricia Lavin
Senior Director of Nursing Quality, Outcomes, and Professional Development, NYU Langone Health
Patricia Marie Lavin is the Senior Director of Nursing Quality, Outcomes, and Professional Development at the NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital. This position is accountable for nursing quality, Magnet designation, professional practice, community outreach programs, the EBP Academy, and nursing research.
Lavin is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, with past professional positions in the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses Evidence-Based Practice and Research Committee, member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives, NYONEL the American Nurse Association. In addition, she is a peer reviewer for the Journal of Nursing Economics and spearheaded the development of the M2M (Montauk to Manhattan) Regional Alliance for Evidence-based Practice and Research. She has presented at local, state, and national conferences as a podium and poster presenter on Magnet, evidence-based nursing practice, patient experience, professional nursing practice, and quality initiatives. She has authored several manuscripts that have been published in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality, Nursing Management, and the Journal of Orthopedic Nursing. Lavin has co-authored a chapter on Teaching Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing.
Her professional work includes multiple nursing research studies, and she was a member of a research team that received an AORN Research Grant in 2022. Lavin developed the NYU EBP Academy and has led and supported over a hundred nurses in over 42 evidence-based projects. She has appeared on cable television in a roundtable discussion on the value of evidence-based nursing practice and patient care. Her current research is on resilience, the lived experience of nurses during COVID-19, programs for the care of older adults, and mentorship for nursing leadership.
Lavin has a Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) from Case Western Reserve, Frances Payne Bolton (FPB) School of Nursing, an MS in health administration, and a BSN. Her doctoral research study was on trauma survivors and the use of protective and risk behaviors and resilience.
Vicki Nolen
System Director, Clinical Excellence and Virtual Care, CHRISTUS Health
Vicki Nolen is the System Director of Clinical Excellence and Virtual Care at CHRISTUS Health. CHRISTUS Health is a Catholic, not-for-profit system made up of more than 600 centers, including long-term care facilities, community hospitals, walk-in clinics, and health ministries.
In her current role, Nolen develops virtual care programs for delivering care to patients at the right place and at the right time that require clinical services by way of technology solutions. She designs clinical improvements for process development and re-engineers to fulfill enterprise clinical strategic initiatives. Previously, she served CHRISTUS Health as the director of virtual care and clinical innovation. Before that, she was the director of the project deployment office for the Methodist Health System. The majority of her 20 years in healthcare have been in process improvement, operational excellence, strategy, operations, and digital/virtual strategic development.
Nolen has led the development of new models for providing innovative care through telemedicine both within the hospital setting and for outpatient ambulatory visits. She is a licensed vocational nurse and was her school’s valedictorian. She then went on to get a number of advanced degrees. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology in 2023. In 2021, she received the award for Outstanding Healthcare Innovator by D Magazine’s CEO Excellence in Healthcare awards.
Dina Walker
National Director of Case Management, Encompass Health
Dina Walker is the National Director of Case Management of Encompass Health. Encompass Health is the largest owner and operator of rehabilitation hospitals in the United States. With a national footprint that includes 161 hospitals in 37 states and Puerto Rico, the Company provides high-quality, compassionate rehabilitative care for patients recovering from a major injury or illness, using advanced technology and innovative treatments to maximize recovery.
Walker began her career at Encompass Health in 2016 as a regional director of case management and assumed the role of national case management director in 2018. She oversees case management documentation and processes, discharge planning, utilization review processes, and the readmission avoidance program for the Encompass Health network of over 150 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals.
Walker received her undergraduate nursing degree from Troy University and holds a Master’s degree in Nursing Leadership and Administration. She has been a registered nurse for over 30 years. The bulk of her clinical background is in cardiac critical care. In addition to critical care, Walker has healthcare experience in outpatient care, clinical informatics, and legal nurse consulting, as well as in the physician practice setting. She has held many leadership roles, including managing both inpatient and outpatient clinical departments and leading multiple facets of case management for a large Medicare Advantage insurance company.
Sally Peterson
Senior Director of Clinical Technology Solutions, Optum
Sally Peterson is the Senior Director of Clinical Technology Solutions of Optum. Optum is a health services and innovation company on a mission to help people live healthier lives and to help make the health system work better for everyone. Optum, part of the UnitedHealth Group family of businesses, is powering modern healthcare by connecting and serving the whole health system across 150 countries.
Peterson has over 20 years of experience in healthcare consulting and technology, with a strong background in large healthcare program implementations, reporting and analytics, system assessments, and process analysis. She has established a reputation for leading complex programs that exceed project and organizational goals, working with progressively more challenging projects and more diverse clients.
As the operations lead for a large ICD-10 implementation, she was responsible for revenue cycle/coding preparations, physician readiness, clinical operations, clinical documentation improvement, training, and communications. More recently, Peterson was the strategic lead in the development of a clinical documentation integrity and coding center of excellence for a 100+ facility national health system. She established a healthcare provider-managed services program management office (PMO), where she is responsible for multiple threads of program development, including sales support, program financials, and day-to-day delivery activities.
Peterson graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with a Master’s in Health Systems and Industrial Engineering and from the University of Southern California with an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering.
Shannon Oates
Staff Endocrinology and Director Clinical Informatics at Arnett, Indiana University Health
Shannon Oates is the Staff Endocrinology and Director of Clinical Informatics at Arnett of Indiana University Health, the largest network of physicians in the state of Indiana. A unique partnership with Indiana University School of Medicine, one of the nation’s leading medical schools, gives patients access to leading-edge medicine and treatment options that are available first, and often only, at IU Health. Oates has many professional accomplishments in this role, including integrating virtual visits with their EMR (electronic medical records), rolling out an inpatient diabetes tool, enhancing the patient portal, working on more robust patient engagement tools, and optimizing the patient portal.
She also works as an assistant clinical professor at Purdue University. Earlier in her career, she served Clarian Arnett Hospital as a physician. She completed her internal medicine residency at the Indiana University School of Medicine along with an endocrinology fellowship at Northwestern University’s Department of Medicine. Oates graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine with an MD and from Indiana University Bloomington with an undergraduate degree in biology and religious studies.
Brooke Tomblin
Senior Director of Health Equity, Cigna Healthcare
Brooke Tomblin is the Senior Director of Health Equity of Cigna Healthcare, a health benefits provider that advocates for better health through every stage of life. She first joined the company in 2009 as a clinical program senior manager in health equity and social determinants of health. After about 12 years of service, she accepted a role as director of health equity in 2022 and was quickly promoted to senior director in 2023.
Previously, Tomblin was a healthcare consultant and health educator, including a role in health education and disease management for Universal Care, where she conducted group needs assessments, disease management survey assessments, and NCQA quality assessments and wrote health education materials, and a role as a health educator for Health Net and Cigna Health. Earlier in her career, she worked with Upham's Corner Health Center as a development officer and researcher at Tufts University. Tomblin earned an MPH in health education and health administration from Boston University and an undergraduate degree in European studies from Scripps College.
Karen Owens
Senior Director, Clinical and Customer Education, STERIS
Karen Owens is a Senior Director of Clinical and Customer Education for STERIS Corporation. She has 35 years of nursing, management, and operational experience in healthcare. Her holistic approach to understanding and addressing the issues facing today’s central sterile and perioperative environments combines clinical requirements, lean philosophies, management systems, and cultural change factors to improve patient outcomes while meeting business objectives.
Owens is highly adaptable to change and demonstrates strong communication, leadership, and project management skills. She is comfortable engaging in complex challenges and working collaboratively with customers to develop and execute the necessary improvement plans. She joined the STERIS instrument management team as a senior professional consultant in April 2015. Beginning in April of 2017, Owens was appointed senior national director of OR/SPD operations. Less than two years later, she moved into her current role.
She is quadruple certified in Sterile Processing, CRCST, CIS, CER, and CHL, along with completing a fellowship in Central Processing (FCS) through the International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materials Management (IAHCSMM). She’s been a speaker on various CS-related topics and is quoted as a CS expert in multiple publications. She’s a Registered Nurse with a Master’s in Nursing Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University. She was voted “Who’s who in Infection Prevention,” Infection Control Today in 2008, and led her previous CS department to be ranked third in the world for number of technicians holding triple certification, as well as CS/SPD of the year for Healthcare Purchasing News, May 2016. Owens was the President of the Kentuckiana IAHCSMM Chapter from 2016 to 2018.
Cara Milianti
Senior Director, Behavioral Health Clinical Operations Government Programs, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas
Cara Milianti is the Senior Director of Behavioral Health Clinical Operations Government Programs at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. In this role, she is responsible for directing, planning, and organizing the behavioral health clinical operations. She provides leadership on clinical matters with respect to behavioral health products and behavioral health integration throughout the enterprise and to external key stakeholders, such as providers, regulatory bodies, members, and customers.
Milianti has held multiple leadership roles in healthcare throughout her career, including director of clinical operations, manager of outpatient enterprise care management, and director of communication. She has also held multiple clinical roles, including a managed care therapist and a psychotherapist, and she taught social work with groups and communities for a semester at Elmhurst College as adjunct faculty in the sociology department. Milianti graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago with an MSW and from Indiana University Bloomington with an undergraduate degree in social work.
Claudia Fields
Senior Director of Operations in Riverside Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth
Claudia Fields is the Senior Director of Operations in Riverside Methodist Hospital at OhioHealth, a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, faith-based health system of 35,000 associates, providers, and volunteers. They lead with their mission to improve the health of those they serve throughout their 14 hospitals and over 200 urgent, primary, and specialty care sites spanning 50 Ohio counties.
Fields first joined the company in 2012 as an administrative fellow. In a short time, she was promoted to strategic planning consultant and then strategic partnership consultant. In 2018, she was appointed a senior advisor in business development and then clinical operations at Riverside Methodist Hospital. In 2022, she started her current role at Riverside.
As a healthcare provider, patient, and administrator, she’s seen challenges facing the healthcare industry and wants to be a part of the solution. She’s passionate about transforming the industry. Fields is a market expert and operations leader who is always looking for ways to do more.
Previously, Fields was an audiologist and clinical instructor at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. She earned an MHA, a Doctorate of Audiology, and an undergraduate degree in speech and hearing science from The Ohio State University.
Valsamo Anagnostou
Co-director, Thoracic Oncology Precision Medicine Center of Excellence, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Dr. Anagnostou is an Associate Professor of Oncology, director of the Thoracic Oncology Biorepository, leader of Precision Oncology Analytics and co-leader of the Molecular Tumor Board and the Thoracic Oncology Precision Medicine Center of Excellence in the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. She graduated from the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, and received a PhD from the same institution. After completing her internal medicine residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital, she subsequently trained in Medical Oncology at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Anagnostou is a translational cancer investigator, focusing on large-scale genomic and liquid biopsy analyses in human cancers.
Her group has discovered novel genomic mechanisms of response and resistance to immunotherapy and her research is particularly focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of response and resistance to these therapies, capturing these by minimally invasive methods, and translating this knowledge into novel technologies and innovative therapeutic approaches for cancer patients.
She is the international study chair of the first ctDNA-based molecular response adaptive immuno-chemotherapy clinical trial for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Her long-term goal is to transform medical oncology into personalized molecular oncology, where treatment decisions are tailored to cancer genomics and molecular real-time response assessments informed by liquid biopsies.
Gina Witko
Associate Chief Nursing Officer (ACNO), The Christ Hospital Health Network
Gina Witko is the Associate Chief Nursing Officer (ACNO) of The Christ Hospital Health Network. She first joined the company in 2018 as a clinical risk and patient safety manager. The Christ Hospital Health Network is a regional system of care that extends The Christ Hospital's 130 years of exceptional care and leadership to more than 100 locations in the Greater Cincinnati area.
Witko is a results-oriented healthcare leader who has acted as a frontline manager leading the efforts to open UC Health West Chester Hospital, a benchmark hospital that has earned multiple awards for customer and employee satisfaction, as well as safety and quality of care. For the last six years at West Chester Hospital, she was responsible for ensuring regulatory compliance at both local and corporate levels. She was also the UC health director and chief privacy officer.
She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Cincinnati and a Master of Science from Northern Kentucky University. Witko is an avid community volunteer and has given her time to worthwhile causes, including leading fundraising efforts for the Cincinnati Mini-Heart Marathon, benefiting the American Heart Association.