All times are in Eastern Time unless otherwise noted.
2024 National Leadership Conference
June 6–June 8
$99.00 – $500.00Run of Show
FDA Preconference
| Breakfast and Hill Visit Orientation & Training | |
| Check-In and Light Breakfast | |
| Food and Drug Administration 101 | |
| Break | |
| The impact of litigation on the FDA, and physician | |
| Networking lunch | |
| The absence of progress: why clinical trial diversity still lags behind, and still matters | |
| Break | |
| Reclaiming your voice: the value of clinical perspectives “inside the beltway” |
Day One
| Registration & Check-In | |
| Plenary – A New Call to Action with Kavita Patel, MD, MS | |
| Concurrent Sessions #1 | |
| Lunch (Featuring Copello Fellowship Presentations) | |
| Plenary – Restoring Compassion and Integrity in Medicine with Ellana Stinson, MD, MPH, MBA | |
| Break | |
| Concurrent Sessions #2 | |
| Hill Visit Orientation & Training |
Day Two
| Breakfast and Hill Visit Orientation & Training | |
| Travel to DC | |
| Legislative Visits | |
| Lunch on Your Own | |
| Advocacy Activities | |
| Travel Back to Hotel | |
| Break | |
| Social with DFA Founder and Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy | |
| Plenary – How Individual and Collective Advocacy Can Make Powerful Impacts with Vivek Murthy | |
| 6:30 pm – 7:15 pm | Dinner |
| 7:00 pm – 7:30 pm | The Founders Awards |
| 7:30 pm – TBD | Party Time! |
Day Three
| Breakfast with the Doctors for America Board | |
| Plenary – An ER Doctor’s Cure for America’s Gun Epidemic with Cedric Dark, MD, MPH | |
| Break | |
| Concurrent Sessions #3 | |
| Lunch | |
| Plenary – Proximity to Power and Powerlessness: Organizing for Change with Alister Martin, MD, MPP | |
| Door Prizes | |
| DFA Board of Directors, Staff & Leaders Meeting | |
| DFA Board of Directors, Staff & Leaders Dinner |
Conference Speakers
U.S. Senator for Vermont
Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders is serving his third term in the U.S. Senate after winning re-election in 2018. Sanders remains on the veterans committee and was tapped by Senate leadership to be the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
U.S. Surgeon General
Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA
Dr. Vivek H. Murthy is the founder of Doctors for America and is currently serving as the 21st U.S. Surgeon General.
Primary Care Physician
Kavita Patel, MD, MS
A primary care physician with extensive health policy expertise and experience working on Capitol Hill and in the White House.
President of New England Medical Association
Ellana Stinson, MD, MPH, MBA
A board-certified, emergency medicine physician and the president of the New England Medical Association.
ER Physician and Associate Professor
Cedric Dark, MD, MPH
An ER physician and Associate Professor in the Henry J. N. Taub Department of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
ER Physician and Associate Professor
Alister Martin, MD, MPP
An ER physician and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Kennedy School.
Charles Gaba
Founder of ACASignups.net
Cynthia Cox
VP & Director of the Program on the ACA
Zachary Baron
Director of the Health Policy and the Law Initiative
Aliya Bhatia
Executive Director at Vot-ER and Civic Health Month
Hussain Lalani, MD, MPH, MSc
Practicing Primary Care Internist
Anand Parekh
Chief Medical Advisor at the Bipartisan Policy Center
Cecilia Spitznas, PhD
Senior Science Policy Analyst
Andrew Kolodny, MD
Medical Director for the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative
Gretta Gardner
Chief Legal Officer
Tiffany Garner
Policy Advocate for Children & Health
Jennifer Jones-Vanderleest, MD
Senior Science Policy Analyst
Sabrina Talukder
Director of the Women’s Initiative at Center for American Progress
Sanjay Jumani, MD
First-Year Clinical Fellow
Skye Perryman
President and CEO of Democracy Forward Foundation
Britt Walsh
Director of Gender Affirming Care at Whitman-Walker Health
George Chochos
Senior Program Associate with Vera’s Unlocking Potential Initiative
Traci Kurtzer, MD
Health System Clinician/OBGYN
Reshma Ramachandran, MD, MPP, MHS
Family Physician and Health Services Researcher
Christopher Morten, JD
Founding Director of Columbia Law School’s Science, Health, and Information Clinic.
Matt Tracy, JD
Columbia Science, Health and Information Clinic
Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD
Professor of Pharmacology & Physiology at Georgetown University
Nicole Damari
Chief Resident at University of Cincinnati Internal Medicine-Pediatrics
The Conference
Reclaim Your Voice of Medicine
Join us in Washington, DC where we will be Reclaiming the Voice of Medicine at our 2024 National Leadership Conference. Learn from national and regional experts to hone your advocacy skills on topics like reproductive rights, gun violence prevention, strengthening the FDA, Medicaid expansion, drug pricing, gender affirming care and more!
Programming and Activities
Our 2024 National Leadership Conference (NLC) is IN PERSON this year and we are excited to share all the great programming and activities we have in store! Conference attendees will receive:
- CME*
- Work on an advocacy project with community based organizations in DC
- Solidarity with other like-minded people like you
- FUN!
Your Stay
Relax and recharge in comfortable, modern rooms and suites featuring fresh, inviting décor and light-filled living spaces.
*The AAFP has reviewed National Leadership Conference 2024 and deemed it acceptable for up to 24 Live AAFP Prescribed credits. Term of Approval is from 06/05/2024 to 06/08/2024. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
AAFP Prescribed credit is accepted by the American Medical Association as equivalent to AMA PRA Category 1 credit(s)TM toward the AMA Physician’s Recognition Award. When applying for the AMA PRA, Prescribed credit earned must be reported as Prescribed, not as Category 1.