Featured Speakers

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Dr. Ngozi Ezike is the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), the first Black woman appointed to lead the 143-year old state agency. During her tenure with IDPH, she has gained recognition as she leads the state through the COVID-19 pandemic, providing televised daily updates and guidance for Illinoisans, and collaborating with businesses, community organizations and healthcare institutions. Under her leadership, Illinois has successfully vaccinated more than 70% of its population, developed rapid- response, in-school COVID-19 testing protocols, and established a voluntary Ambassador program composed of more than 1,200 state residents who take the messages of COVID awareness and good health to their respective communities. Dr. Ezike is the former medical director at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, and a nationally recognized expert in the area of healthcare within the juvenile detention and justice systems. Prior to this, Dr. Ezike worked for Cook County Health (CCH), the hospital and healthcare system addressing the needs of the residents of Cook County, for more than 15 years. In that capacity, she served as the Austin Health Center medical director, where she actively engaged with the community on a variety of health initiatives. She also has delivered inpatient care at Stroger Hospital and primary and preventive care in community and school-based clinics. A board-certified internist and pediatrician, Dr. Ezike is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. She is a Certified Correctional Health Professional and Diplomate of both the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics. She is also an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Rush Medical College. She is the recipient of numerous awards including honorary doctorates from Southern Illinois University, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, and Knox College, the University of St. Francis’ Sister Clare of Assisi Award, and the 2020 Excellence in Public Service Award from the Motorola Solutions Foundation. An advocate for maintaining work-life balance, particularly in challenging times, Dr. Ezike is an avid tennis player and reader, and is fluent in Spanish and French.

Dr. Hartselle is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology; board certified in pediatric and adult psychiatry. Dr. Hartselle received her MD from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. She completed her adult psychiatry training at New York University/Bellevue Hospitals and her child psychiatry training at Brown University where she served as chief resident. Dr. Hartselle treats all ages and all disorders with particular expertise in sleep disorders and OCD. She is trained in evidence based psychotherapy, holistic approaches to healing and advanced psychopharmacology. Her awards include two Dean's Awards for Excellence in Teaching at Brown University where she is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, the National Association for Social Work Nancy Gerwitz Award for Social Justice and two consecutive national Junior Scholar Awards. She is a Distinguished Fellow with the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Hartselle consults with directors and screen writers from Netflix to Warner Brothers, working to improve the portrayal of mental illness in television and film. She is an expert speaker sought out for commentary in newsprint, on radio, and on television across the country.

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.

Dr. Alison Escalante is on a mission to eradicate the epidemic of anxiety that impacts us as professionals and parents. Professionals operate on the edge of burnout, and parents (caught in a culture of criticism and perfectionism) are increasingly raising the most anxious generation of kids ever seen. Dr. Escalante developed a method rooted in neuroscience so we can take affection action under the pressure. She presented her Sigh, See, and Start method at TEDx. A Board Certified Pediatrician, and an Adjunct in Pediatrics at Rush University, Dr. Escalante publishes widely for a national audience. She writes on the science of human performance as a Forbes Contributor, and on the culture of anxiety as a Contributor for Psychology Today. Having studied the Cultural and Ideological History at Princeton, Dr. Escalante has unique insight into the way both organizational and social cultures impact our performance. As a speaker, Dr. Escalante has two audiences. Professionals find her innovative perspective on leadership actionable and eye-opening. Parents and teachers find their interactions with children improve dramatically when they apply her method.

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.

Dr. Disha Spath is a board certified Internal Medicine Physician for Dartmouth Hitchcock Putnam Physicians and Saint Peters Hospital in Upstate, New York. She is the founder and CEO of The Frugal Physician, a site focused on providing money saving tips and discounts for healthcare professionals, as well as education on personal financial principles. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia Honors program, Medical College of Georgia, and The University of Tennessee-Nashville Internal Medicine residency program. She is a contributor to NBC Universal, and has been featured on CNBC and Forbes. She is passionate about teaching basic finance principles to physicians so that they can find the freedom to create their ideal lives.

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”.

Suzanne Koven is a primary care physician and the inaugural writer-in-residence at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her writing has appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Boston Globe, the Lancet, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and other publications, and has been featured on National Public Radio. Her memoir, Letter to a Young Female Physician: Notes from a Medical Life, was published by W.W. Norton & Co. on 5/4/21 and called by the Wall Street Journal a "warm and wry epistle, the endless and near-perfect email you wish your mother, your mentor and your therapist would sit down and type out together.”

Andrea Paul, MD is a physician entrepreneur, business consultant, and venture capitalist in the digital health space with over a decade of experience. The co-founder of several healthcare companies and startups, including BoardVitals (an Inc. 500 company). She is also the founder at Health Media Experts and an active investor in the healthcare sector. Her speaking and teaching experience includes virtual and in-person speaking engagements ranging in topic from startups, digital health, healthcare business, medical marketing, venture capital, medical education, and leadership in the healthcare and education spaces.

Darilyn V. Moyer, MD, FACP, FRCP, FIDSA is the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Physicians (ACP). Board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases, Dr. Moyer has been a Fellow of ACP (FACP) since 2007. FACP is an honorary designation that recognizes ongoing individual service and contributions to the practice of medicine. She has served on ACP’s Board of Regents, which manages the business and affairs of ACP and is the main policy-making body of the College, chaired ACP’s Board of Governors, and served as Governor of ACP’s Pennsylvania Southeastern Chapter. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Council of Medical Subspecialty Societies and is the President, and also serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Primary Care Collaborative. Dr. Moyer is a member of Women of Impact and is the 2020 Recipient of the American Medical Women’s Association Elizabeth Blackwell Award, as well as the recipient of the 2020 Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University Alumni Achievement Award. Prior to becoming ACP’s EVP and CEO, Dr. Moyer was a Professor of Medicine, Executive Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Medicine, Internal Medicine Residency Program Director and Assistant Dean for Graduate Medical Education at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. She was previously the Co-Faculty Advisor for the Temple University School of Medicine Internal Medicine Interest Group and for the Temple University School of Medicine Student Educating About Healthcare Policy Group. She received the Temple University School of Medicine Women in Medicine Mentoring Award in 2012. Dr. Moyer’s research and scholarly activity interests and presentations have been in the areas of medical education, high value care, patient safety, professionalism and digital media, gender equity, and HIV/infectious diseases. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in the Biological Basis of Behavior, Biology and Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and attended medical school at Temple University School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency at Temple University Hospital and served as a Chief Resident/Clinical Instructor of Medicine. She went on to complete an Infectious Diseases Fellowship at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, CA. Dr. Moyer currently practices part time at the Temple University Internal Medicine Associates.

Christy Harris Lemak, PhD, FACHE teaches and conducts research in the areas of health care management and leadership, with an emphasis on how leadership and organizational factors can lead to high performance. She currently focuses on developing organizations where all leaders can thrive. Christy is on the boards of Community Hospital Corporation (Plano, TX), the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame and the National Center for Healthcare Leadership. She is the Past Chair of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration and the Academy of Management Health Care Management Division and was previously a board member of the Commission on Accreditation of Health Management Education. Before coming to UAB, Christy was on the faculty of the University of Michigan where she directed the Griffith Leadership Center and was the Michael O. and Barbara Bice Professor of Health Services Research, Management and Policy at the University of Florida.  Christy holds a PhD from the University of Michigan, MHA and MBA degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a BS in Health Planning and Administration from the University of Illinois. 

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.

Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez is an accomplished academic Physiatrist and Professor and Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio. She previously was the Medical Director of the Brain Injury and Stroke Program at a top two US News and World Report Best Hospital for Rehabilitation. Dr. Gutierrez grew up in South Texas, then moved to Houston where she earned her undergraduate degree at Rice University, her medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine, and completed her PM&R residency training at the Baylor College of Medicine-UT Houston Rehabilitation Alliance. She excitedly moved to San Antonio to lead the distinguished Department of Rehabilitation Medicine in 2020. Her area of clinical expertise is the care of patients with traumatic brain injury, stroke rehabilitation, and interventional spasticity management. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has developed a Post-COVID Recovery Clinic to aid in the rehabilitative recovery of patients with functional, mobility, and cognitive deficits after infection with coronavirus.

Dr. Mehta is a radiologist, keynote speaker, physician community builder, and physician advocate. Her missions include addressing the physician burnout epidemic through physician empowerment and cultural change in medicine, as well as increasing business and financial literacy amongst physicians in order to promote career longevity and career satisfaction. She has built online communities of over 167,000 verified physician members where these topics are routinely discussed. Her work has been featured in numerous international media outlets, including Forbes, CNN, the Washington Post, Bloomberg, and PBS NewsHour. She was named a 2020 Top Voice in Healthcare by LinkedIn, and has led grassroots physician efforts to fight for legislation on behalf of healthcare workers and patients. She lives and works in Charlotte, NC with her husband, who is a plastic surgeon, and her two sons.