Featured Speakers

Laura J. Zimmermann, MD, DipABLM, MS, FACP is a primary care internist and lifestyle medicine physician. She is an associate professor of Internal Medicine and Family and Preventive Medicine and is currently the Division Chief of General Internal Medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Dr. Zimmermann founded the Physician Mommies Chicago Facebook group, which includes over 3,200 physician mothers from the Chicagoland area. She is also co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of the Illinois Medical Professionals Action Collaborative Team (IMPACT), an organization leveraging social and other media to fight misinformation and advocate for science-based policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Zimmermann has served as the Medical Director of the Rush University Prevention Center, building a multidisciplinary lifestyle medicine clinic that integrates medical and behavioral care to prevent and manage cardiometabolic illness. Dr. Zimmermann also served as the Rush University Medical Group's Director of Clinical Preventive Medicine, leading interdepartmental quality improvement initiatives in hypertension control, cancer screening, and tobacco cessation. She has presented this work in national venues, including invited talks and webinars for the National Minority Quality Forum and the American Medical Association. Additionally, Dr. Zimmermann holds leadership roles in clinical trials targeting cardiometabolic risk, including the multisite behavioral trial Enhanced Lifestyles for Metabolic Syndrome and the NIH-funded Heart 2 Heart, a community-based participatory research trial partnering with churches to improve health on Chicago’s West Side. She lives in Oak Park, IL, with her husband, science and music writer Rob Mitchum, and their two young sons.

Dr. Oyler is a Professor and Associate Program Director at the University of Chicago Internal Medicine Residency Program. She completed her undergraduate education at Stanford University and her medical degree and internal medicine residency and chief residency at the University of Chicago. She developed the University of Chicago Medicine’s Quality Assessment and Improvement Curriculum, a two year curriculum which has been used to teach over 500 Internal Medicine residents Practice-Based Learning and Improvement and Systems- Based Practice. Along with colleagues in General Surgery, Pediatrics and Hospital Administration, Dr. Oyler leads a Graduate Medical Education introductory course for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety. She is currently co-director for the HealthCare Delivery Science Track at the U Chicago’s Pritzker, School of Medicine, which was developed to train medical student leaders in quality improvement and patient safety. Dr. Oyler also teaches quality improvement and patient safety for the AAMC Teach for Quality program, the Society of Hospital Medicine’s Quality and Safety Educator Academy, and the American College of Physicians Advance QI program. She practices as a primary care provider on the south side of Chicago. She has been the Chair of the University of Chicago, Department of Medicine Women’s Committee since 2017 and has led initiatives like increasing the presence of “Women on the Walls” and “Increasing Awards Given to Female Faculty in Academics”.

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Dr. Shikha Jain is a board-certified hematology and oncology physician. She is a tenured associate professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Illinois in Chicago. She is the Director of Communications Strategies in Medicine and the Associate Director of Oncology Communication and Digital Innovation for the University of Illinois Cancer Center. Dr. Jain is the founder and President of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Women in Medicine® and founder and chair of the Women in Medicine Summit. She is the CEO and Co-Founder of the action, advocacy and amplification organization IMPACT. Dr. Jain was named one of Medscapes 25 Rising Stars in Medicine in 2020, one of Modern Healthcare's Top 25 Emerging Leaders in 2019, and was also awarded the Rising Star award by the LEAD Oncology Conference in 2019. She is also a member of the prestigious AOA society. She is a nationally renowned keynote speaker and has written for several national publications including USA Today, CNN, Good Morning America, Scientific American, The Hill, US News, Newsweek and has been interviewed in the New York Times and Washington Post. She is a regular tv contributor to FOX 32 and has also been a guest on ABC7, CBS, WGN, Yahoo Finance, and other national media outlets. Dr. Jain has also published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Scientific American, JAMA, and numerous other high impact academic journals. She continues to see oncology patients clinically at the University of Illinois Cancer Center in Chicago.

Linda McGhee is a clinical psychologist and nationally recognized moderator, mental health expert and speaker. McGhee has been featured in the Washington Post, New York Times, Huffington Post, and Grown and Flown. She hosts “Good Mental Health on Radio One” which raises awareness around mental health. She is a mental health expert for the Steve Fund, an organization devoted to mental health for college students of color, and is a regular contributor to the Son Rise Project, an Oprah Winfrey Network podcast that supports families of black teenagers and young adults with mental illness. She is known for speaking nationally on mental health, education, anxiety and trauma, racial trauma and disparities. McGhee has recently provided commentary on the intersection of racial trauma, COVID-19 and the mass protests. She currently serves as the President of the Maryland Psychological Association. Dr. McGhee’s motto is, “Building strong, healthy leaders starts from a solid foundation.” She is a compassionate leader who seeks to bridge differences and shed light. Her strength lies in her ability to promote healthy discussions on sensitive issues.

Dr. Merlin is a physician-investigator and behavioral scientist whose research focuses on chronic pain and opioid misuse/use disorder across populations and settings, including primary care, palliative care, and individuals with serious illness such as HIV and cancer.

Karen J. Nichols, DO, MA, MACOI, FACP, CS-F is most recently Chair of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. She was also dean of Midwestern University/Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine from 2002-2018. She had previously served as Assistant Dean of Postgraduate Medical Education and Chair of Internal Medicine at the Midwestern University/Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine since 1997. She holds a Master’s Degree in Management with a specialty in Healthcare Administration. Dr. Nichols has served as President of the American Osteopathic Association and the American College of Osteopathic Internists, being the first woman to hold both positions. She has received the premier awards from both the American Osteopathic Association and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. She speaks nationally and internationally on Physician Leadership, having just published a book of the same title. Dr. Nichols holds 9 honorary degrees.

Dr. Lipi Roy is an internal medicine and addiction medicine physician, a keynote speaker, as well as a sought-after media medical commentator. During the pandemic, Dr. Roy served as Medical Director of COVID Isolation and Quarantine Sites for Housing Works in New York City. She also serves as clinical assistant professor at NYU Langone Health. Dr. Roy’s work spans clinical medicine, media, academia, homeless health, social and criminal justice and public speaking. As the former Chief of Addiction Medicine for Rikers Island, Dr. Roy oversaw substance use treatment and recovery services at the nation’s 2nd-largest jail complex. Previously, Dr. Roy was a primary care doctor to Boston's homeless population among whom the leading cause of death was drug overdose. She also served as an attending physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and as faculty at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Roy is a strong advocate for public service, caring for incarcerated and homeless men and women, serving the underserved in Nicaragua and India, as well as treating New Orleans residents affected by Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Roy has also provided medical relief to earthquake victims in Haiti, and volunteered in the medical tent at the Boston Marathon. Dr. Roy is a dynamic public speaker and media personality whose mission is to educate and empower the public to make healthy decisions. She is a Forbes contributor and former MSNBC and NBC News Medical Contributor whose appearances include CNN, Dr. Oz, The Tamron Hall Show, Charlie Rose and CBS New York. Her articles have been published in STAT, The Huffington Post and Psychology Today; and she has been featured in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, Cooking Light and Oprah.com. She can be followed on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Ankita Sagar, MD, MPH, FACP is a board-certified Internist and physician executive leader with expertise in quality improvement, clinical program building, healthcare delivery, and health policy. Dr. Sagar is the System Vice President of Clinical Standards and Variation Reduction for Physician Enterprise at CommonSpirit Health. She is an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Creighton University. Dr. Sagar's clinical interests include standardization of clinical quality, ambulatory antimicrobial stewardship, post-COVID sequelae, and continuum of care for cancer survivors. She serves as the current co-Chair of the Early Career Physician Committee for the New York Chapter of the American College of Physicians (NY-ACP) as well as a Council Member of the Council of Early Career Physicians for the ACP. She was awarded the 2020 Laureate Award for the New York Chapter of the American College of Physicians in recognition of her contributions in leading programs addressing physician well-being, physician advocacy for responsible public policy, as well as medical education. In 2021, she was the recipient of the INSPIRE Award by the American Medical Women's Association, which honors women physicians who are inspirational and demonstrate vision, integrity, collaboration and service. She has been an invited speaker at national conferences by professional organizations including the American College of Physicians and the Society of General Internal Medicine. She has served as a panelist at regional conferences and national conferences on topics including women in medicine, career development for early-career physicians, burnout, and mentorship.

Dr. Andrea K. Boggild is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and Medical Director of the Tropical Disease Unit of Toronto General Hospital. She is a licensed Medical Microbiologist and Infectious Diseases physician with additional certifications in Tropical Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine, who provides care to patients with travel-acquired illnesses in her medical practice. As a Clinician Scientist in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, she has graduate supervisory privileges through the Institute of Medical Science and leads a research program in tropical medicine and travel and migration health. She serves in many leadership capacities nationally and internationally, including on advisory groups to the Public Health Agency of Canada and World Health Organization, and as the Editor-in-Chief for Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines. Dr. Boggild is heavily engaged in the EDIIA space and creation of novel pathways to representation across the academic enterprise. She has a longstanding interest in the intersection of human and ecological health, as well as how socioeconomic and demographic inequities drive health disparities globally.

Dr Eve Bloomgarden is a board-certified Endocrinologist at NorthShore University Health Systems in the Chicagoland area, where she is the Director of Thyroid Care and the Director of Endocrine Education and Innovation. Her clinical expertise is in the diagnosis and management of thyroid dysfunction and thyroid cancer. Dr. Bloomgarden received her medical degree from New York University and completed residency and fellowship training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is the Chief Development Officer of Women in Medicine® NFP and a founder and the Chief Operating Officer of the grassroots advocacy organization IMPACT (www.impact4hc.com). Through leadership roles with IMPACT and WIMS, she advocates for her patients, for women in medicine and for her fellow healthcare workers. She speaks on a wide range of topics ranging from endocrinology to advocacy to empowering healthcare professionals to tackle misinformation on social media. Dr Bloomgarden has written for multiple national publications including the Washington Post, US News, the Chicago Tribune, The Hill, KevinMD, and others, and has been interviewed and featured in articles in the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun Times, Forbes, InStyle, and Romper. She has been featured on multiple podcasts including Track the Vax, The Curbsiders, Get Real Health, and the Unbiased Science Podcast. She loves spending time with her husband, also a physician, and their two young children.

Susan Pories, MD, FACS is the Immediate Past-President of the Medical Staff, the Medical Director of the Hoffman Breast Center, and Chief of Breast Surgery at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and an Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. She is on the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Board of Governors, representing the Association of Women Surgeons. She was the Chair of the ACS Women in Surgery Committee (WiSC) and a Past-President of the Association of Women Surgeons. Dr. Pories is an Associate Co-Director of the Arts and Humanities Initiative at Harvard Medical School and is dedicated to enriching medical education with the arts and humanities. Dr. Pories went to medical school and completed her surgical residency at the University of Vermont. She completed a surgical oncology research fellowship at the New England Deaconess Hospital and a Medical Education Fellowship at Mount Auburn Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Books by Dr. Pories include The Soul of a Doctor: Harvard Medical Students Face Life and Death, The Soul of a Patient: Lessons in Healing for Harvard Medical Students, Navigating Your Surgical Career: The AWS Guide to Success, and Cancer: Biography of a Disease, and In the Kitchen with Your Favorite Chefs: Celebrating Julia Child.

Sandi Lam MD MBA Division Chief, Pediatric Neurosurgery, Ann and Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago IL Dr. Lam's clinical focus encompasses pediatric epilepsy surgery and cerebrovascular surgery with a focus in surgical innovation, neuroendoscopy, minimally invasive surgical techniques, and development of multidisciplinary patient-centered clinical programs. Her academic program is based on health services research with aspects of quality improvement and outcomes research, and using big data analytics to understand and improve health care utilization and delivery. This focus intersects with health policy and advocacy for elevation of pediatric health, improving access to care, and advancing pediatric neurosurgery. She is dedicated to education and mentorship, with interest in the gaps in traditional surgical training curricula such as socioeconomic issues, quality and process improvement, health services and policy research, business of medicine, and leadership development. Dr. Lam contributes to building sustainable global pediatric neurosurgery services and clinical training collaborations in Kenya and Uganda along with other international neurosurgery efforts in Asia. In organized neurosurgery, she is on the executive committee of the Joint Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurosurgeons, the executive committee of the American Academic of Pediatrics Section on Neurosurgery, as well as the executive board of the International Federation of Neuroendoscopy. She serves on the editorial board of Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics. She is a native of Canada and Hong Kong. Dr. Lam received her undergraduate degree at Northwestern University, her neurosurgery residency training at University of California Los Angeles, her pediatric neurosurgery training at University of Pittsburgh/Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Prior to assuming the division chief role for pediatric neurosurgery at Lurie Children's Hospital, she had contributed to building a thriving clinical and academic program at Texas Children's Hospital. Before her career in medicine, she was the founding director of business development at a consumer tech startup. She continues to be active in the early stage startup space, especially in helping teams in life sciences develop and articulate their vision and value proposition, and in helping with early stage funding. She is a role model for those in business, medicine, and academics.