Advocacy Grand Rounds

Zach Marcus is campaign manager for South Dakotans Decide Healthcare. He has been managing political campaigns around the country for the last 10 years. He is excited about the chance to make meaningful direct change with Constitutional Amendment D.

Peg O’Connell is the chair of Care4Carolina, a coalition of 146 organizations committed to finding a North Carolina solution for closing the health insurance coverage gap.  She has over 25 years of experience in legislative, public, regulatory and governmental affairs, healthcare, media and grassroots advocacy at the state and federal levels and has been active in North Carolina working to improve the public health by improving access to healthcare and reducing smoking and obesity. 

An attorney by profession, O’Connell has spent most of her career in government affairs and communications.  She graduated magna cum laude from Marietta College, earning a BA in history and political science, and received her law degree from the Ohio State University College of Law.

Joseph S. Ross, MD, MHS, is a Professor of Medicine (General Medicine) and of Public Health (Health Policy and Management) at the Yale School of Medicine, an Associate Physician of the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation at Yale-New Haven Health System, and Co-Director of the National Clinician Scholars Program at Yale. With expertise in health services and outcomes research and the translation of clinical research into practice, his research examines the use and delivery of higher quality care and issues related to pharmaceutical and medical device regulation, evidence development, postmarket surveillance, and clinical adoption. Dr. Ross co-directs the Yale-Mayo Clinic Center for Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI), the Yale Open Data Access (YODA) Project, and the Collaboration for Research Integrity and Transparency (CRIT) at Yale Law School, and leads efforts at Yale-New Haven Health System in collaboration with the National Evaluation System for health Technology (NEST). He has published more than 500 articles in peer-reviewed biomedical journals, co-founded the preprint server medRxiv, and is currently the U.S. Outreach and Research Editor at BMJ.

Holly Fernandez Lynch, JD, MBE, is Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics and Law at the University of Pennsylvania. Her scholarship focuses on clinical research ethics and regulation, priority setting in research, access to investigational medicines outside clinical trials, FDA pharmaceutical policy, and the ethics of gatekeeping in health care. She is founder and co-chair of the Consortium to Advance Effective Research Ethics Oversight (www.AEREO.org), an organization working to evaluate and improve IRB quality and effectiveness, and an active member of the NYU Working Group on Compassionate Use and Preapproval Access (CUPA). She serves as a member of the boards of Public Responsibility in Medicine & Research (PRIM&R) and the American Society for Law, Medicine, and Ethics, and as “ethicist in residence” at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Professor Fernandez Lynch has worked as an attorney in private practice, a bioethicist serving NIH’s Division of AIDS, a senior policy analyst with President Obama’s Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, and executive director of Harvard Law School’s bioethics and health law research program. She was named a Greenwall Faculty Scholar in 2019 and elected a fellow of the Hastings Center in 2021.

Alister Martin is a practicing ER physician and former Chief Resident at Massachusetts General Hospital. He currently works in the White House as an advisor on voting rights in the Office of the Vice President and as an advisor on health equity in the West Wing Office of Public Engagement as a White House Fellow. He is on sabbatical from Harvard where he is dually appointed as an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and as Research Faculty at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is the founder of Get Waivered, a program that is converting our nation’s ERs into the front door for opioid addiction treatment. He also co-founded GOTVax, an initiative aimed at leveraging a get out the vote framework to deliver vaccines to vulnerable communities via hyper-targeted vaccine clinics. In 2019, he founded Vot-ER, with a team of healthcare providers and behavioral science experts to help patients vote like their health depends on it.

Dr. Rachel Madley is a legislative assistant to Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. Dr. Madley leads the Congresswoman’s work on health and environmental policy. Before joining the office she completed her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Madley has also held leadership roles in multiple health justice organizations including Physicians for a National Health Program and Students for a National Health Program. Her work has been published in multiple outlets including Business Insider and The New York Times. Dr. Madley received her Bachelor’s of Science Degree from the University of Michigan.

Alice T. Chen, MD is an internal medicine physician and national leader in physician advocacy and public health.  She currently serves as Senior Advisor to Made to Save, a national grassroots public education and outreach campaign on getting the COVID-19 vaccines to hardest hit communities. She previously served as Executive Director of Doctors for America, where under her leadership, the organization published hundreds of op-eds, reached tens of millions of people through media interviews and events, and played an important role in the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Anne Schuchat, MD was Principal Deputy Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2015-2021 and served twice as acting Director.  Schuchat was Director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases from 2006-2015 and played key roles in the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, 2019 outbreak of vaping associated lung injuries, and the COVID-19 pandemic.  She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2008.

Jiore Craig is an expert in communication, strategy, policy, and public opinion relating to disinformation and online harms. She presently serves as the Head of Digital Communication and Integrity at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. She has nearly a decade of international experience helping elected officials, political leaders, media, academic institutions donors, and civic society organizations measure the impact of digital communication and influence campaigns on public opinion and communicate effectively in the wake of disinformation online.

Taneeza is a first-generation American Muslim immigration lawyer who has called Sioux Falls home since 2012. She began her private immigration law practice in 2013 after receiving a Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship, and in 2017 she co-founded South Dakota Voices for Justice and its sister organization, South Dakota Voices for Peace. SDVFP is an education, legal service, advocacy and rapid response organization lifting the voices of immigrants, refugees and Muslims in SD. 

In July of 2021, SDVFP received several grants, including one from the CDC’s VEAP program to provide multilingual vaccine education and organize pop up clinics. As of December 2021, SDVFP has partnered with SD Urban Indian Health and Lewis Drug to administer over 300 vaccines to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color” communities. In October 2020, Taneeza received national recognition “Muslims Making Change” for her COVID-19 efforts in SD by Muslim Advocates. 

Jen Dreiske is the Deputy Director of South Dakota Voices for Peace. Her background includes over 19 years of experience as a leader in the criminal justice system. Jen has been presenting and leading complex conversations on inclusion, purpose, and the spiritual tapestry of South Dakota for many years. She is the president of Mt. Zion Congregation synagogue in Sioux Falls, a Billie Sutton Leadership Fellow, and a board member of South Dakota Faith in Public Life. Jen is a mom to a very precocious 7-year-old Jakob and bonus daughter, 15-year-old Sophia.

Ted Hamilton is chief mission integration officer and senior vice president of mission and ministry for AdventHealth and board chairman of the Coalition for Physician Well-Being. In his role at AdventHealth, he provides direction and oversight of mission and ministry, developing and implementing strategy and incorporating mission across all the organization’s inpatient and outpatient areas. As board chairman of the Coalition for Physician Well-Being, he leads in directing the mission and vision in support of physician well-being nationally to all healthcare organizations and individual physicians. Dr. Hamilton previously served as vice president of medical mission for Adventist Health System.  His experience also includes serving as senior medical officer for Florida Hospital, director of Florida Hospital’s family practice residency, executive director of the Loma Linda Faculty Medical Group and medical director for HMO Georgia.  During his years working as a family physician, he delivered more than 500 babies. A graduate of the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Hamilton completed his family practice training at Florida Hospital.  He also earned a master’s degree in business administration from the Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business.  Hamilton is an active participant in AdventHealth’s community involvement program, which supports several Central Florida nonprofits, and has served on the boards of the Orlando Healthcare Center for the Homeless, Shepherd’s Hope and Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.  A published author, Hamilton’s book, Building Bridges: A Guide to Optimizing Physician-Hospital Relationships, was released in 2010.  He is co-editor of Transforming the Heart of Practice: An Organizational and Personal Approach to Physician Wellbeing published in 2019.

Dianne McCallister, MD, MBA is President of Diagnosis Well, Inc, which is dedicated to the improvement of wellbeing for physicians and other healthcare personnel. She is a board-certified Internist with over 25 years of experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings and a hospital executive with leadership, process improvement, patient safety and quality improvement expertise. Dr. McCallister speaks nationally and internationally on topics regarding physician wellbeing, quality and patient safety, advanced cardiac surgical program development and other administrative and medical topics. Dianne is co-founder of the Coalition for Physician Wellbeing, a national organization dedicated to physicians and strategies to improve their wellbeing. She is co-editor of the books, Transforming the Heart of Practice, An Organizational and Personal Approach to Physician Wellbeing (Springer 2019), and Physician Well-Being During Sustained Crisis(AdventHealth Press 2021). She is an expert in Quality, Medical Staff Issues and Patient Safety, having taken three hospitals to excellent quality based on national benchmarks. In addition, she is the author of multiple chapters on quality, patient safety and EMCO program development. She has served as a Chief Medical Officer at several Denver area Hospitals, taking them to top decile quality and physician satisfaction. Dianne is a medical media expert, with 20 years of experience as both a physician broadcaster on the Denver ABC affiliate for 5 years and years of interviews for the local medial. Dianne was an instructor at the AMA’s Media in Medicine Conference. In her personal life, Dianne is active in the community and has served on numerous boards of directors for not-for-profit organizations and physician groups.  She has a passion for child advocacy, physician wellbeing and improvement of healthcare for the elderly and underserved.  She was honored to serve as the Honorary Commander of the Buckley Air Force Base Medical Unit for two years.

​​DeAnna Santana is the Executive Director of Physician Well-Being and Engagement for AdventHealth and of the Coalition for Physician Well-Being. In her role at AdventHealth, she focuses on the development of mission specific initiatives, such as, the development of a mission fit behavioral interviewing program, as well as onboarding, mentor and integration programs to increase the well-being and engagement of physicians and Advanced Practice Providers (APPs).  As Executive Director of the Coalition for Physician Well-Being, she oversees the operations of the non-profit organization, operationalizes the vision of the board, leads and supports multiple committees, develops partnerships to create research and publication opportunities as well as program development. Programs she has led includes the publication of two books, planning and deployment of the annual national conference, identifying fundraising and sponsorship opportunities and driving key initiatives that support the mission of the organization in an effort to create brand recognition. DeAnna graduated from Walden University with her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, where she focused her research on Physician Well-Being. The focus of her Master’s was Health Psychology, prior to that, earning her Bachelors in Organizational Behavior from Rollins College, Hamilton Holt School.

Kameron Matthews, M.D., J.D., FAAFP, as Assistant Under Secretary for Health (AUSH) for Clinical Services, is the Chief Medical Officer of the Veterans Health Administration. She formerly served as the AUSH for Community Care where she was responsible for the community-based provider network that expanded Veteran access to care. Dr. Matthews is a board-certified family physician, advocate and policy maker with a career focused on underserved patient populations. She joined the VA in 2016 after multiple leadership roles in Chicago, Illinois in correctional medicine, federally qualified health centers, and managed care. As a passion outside of work, she co-directs the Tour for Diversity in Medicine, an initiative seeking to bring premedical enrichment activities to underrepresented minority high school and college students across the country.

Marion Henry, MD, MPH,  is a Professor of Surgery at the University of Chicago, having recently moved there from the University of Arizona in Tucson. A former Commander in the US Navy, Dr Henry served as the Ship’s Surgeon on the aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson, the chief of Pediatric Surgery at Naval Medical Center San Diego and the Director for Surgical Services during Pacific Partnership 2015 on the USNS Mercy.  Dr. Henry is very active nationally in Pediatric Surgery and in Surgical Advocacy as a member of the Gun Violence Prevention Collaborative, and she serves on the National Steering Committee for Gun Violence Prevention with Doctors for America. She is passionate about addressing the gun violence pandemic in the US through collaborative approaches at prevention, response and recovery while also addressing inequities in the health care system.

In 2014, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was in crisis. Long waits, lack of funding, heavy caseloads, and the whole process lacked transparency. While not perfect, the turnaround of the Department of Veterans Affairs has been transformative! Today’s VA demonstrates a completely integrated health care system driven by an information system motivated by patient outcomes rather than reimbursements, incentives to save money by avoiding unnecessary procedures, and the power of mass purchasing. Discover the lessons we can learn from the VA Health System and uncover what the VA has left to learn. You will also walk away with how to advocate and support your veteran and active duty patients from conflicts past and present.

Join us to explore the following:

1) Recognize and understand the key challenges to the VA healthcare system today

2) Learn how the VA has changed their approach in order to better address the healthcare needs of veterans

3) Understand the ways the VA system is meeting the rising mental health care needs of veterans

4) Understand how the VA system has improved to meet the needs of a more diverse veteran population including women and LGBTQ veterans

Joia Mukherjee, MD, MPH, is a physician, educator, and activist, trained in Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and public health. Since 2000, Dr. Mukherjee has served as the Chief Medical Officer of Partners In Health, an international medical organization with programs in the United States, Haiti, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Peru, Mexico, Russia, Kazakhstan, the Navajo nation and now, in the COVID-19 pandemic, in cities and states across the U.S. Dr. Mukherjee coordinates and supports PIH’s efforts to provide high quality, comprehensive health care to the poorest and most vulnerable. She is an Associate Professor at the Division of Global Health Equity at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Mukherjee is also on the faculty at the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda. Joia teaches infectious disease, global health delivery, and human rights to health professionals and students from around the world and directs the Masters degree program in Global Health Delivery at Harvard Medical School. She is the author of Introduction to Global Health Delivery: Practice, Equity, Human Rights, a textbook published in 2017 by Oxford University Press. Her scholarship focuses on the health delivery, Universal Health Coverage, and human rights. Joia is a mother and a singer.

Isabel is a passionate advocate dedicated to amplifying the voices of consumers and marginalized communities to promote equity and wellness in Colorado. Originally hailing from Brooklyn, NY, Isabel earned her BA in Sociology from Yale University with a certificate from the Multidisciplinary Academic Program in Human Rights. With over 6 years of experience in nonprofits across New York, New Haven, and Denver, she has dedicated her career to building power and nurturing leadership across diverse stakeholders to advance social change. In her role as Policy Manager at CCHI, Isabel is committed to bringing people together to advocate for policy solutions that ensure all Coloradans can access affordable and affirming healthcare. In her free time, you can find her exploring on her bike, taking her dog Mariposa on hikes and walks, and playing Ultimate Frisbee!

Join us to:

• Emphasize the importance of building partnerships with like-minded organizations who can help to build and support advocacy efforts
• Understand the components that make strong, successful, and lasting partnerships
• Dissect how organizations can use successful partnerships to share the workload and effort of advocacy to their best advantage and in the face of obstacles such as limited funds and volunteer capacity

Ed Weisbart, MD, CPE, FAAFP is a family physician in St. Louis MO and chairs the Missouri chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, a non-profit non-partisan research and education organization in support of providing an improved form of Medicare to all Americans. After practicing family medicine for 20 years at Rush Medical Center in Chicago, he moved to St. Louis in 2003 to serve as chief medical officer of Express Scripts until retiring in 2010. He volunteered as an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Washington University in St. Louis MO from 2004 until retiring clinically in 2021. He received his medical degree at the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1979 and completed his family medicine residency and a fellowship in family medicine education at Michigan State University in1982. Dr. Weisbart is a national speaker with several articles published in both national medical journals and local media regarding the healthcare needs of the uninsured.

Bevin McLeod, Co-Founder & Board President, assisted in the drafting and advocacy processes that realized the passage of the 2019 Pathway to Universal Healthcare Workgroup whose recommendations lead to Alliance for a Healthy Washington’s drafting and advocacy on the newly enacted permanent Universal Healthcare Commission. She has worked with a multitude of diverse stakeholders including tribal partners throughout WA State over the past five years to assist in passing legislation that increases affordability on the Exchange, increases access to maternal Medicaid patients in the postpartum period, expands health systems transparency, requires cost transparency for drug manufacturers, improves the Indian behavioral health system, and more. Previously, she was the Program Director for Health Care for All-WA, and comes from a diverse background of non-profit management, agricultural and economic development work, and advocacy on behalf of refugee and migrant communities. She is passionate about and committed to working on social justice and equity issues, and is focused on fulfilling projects that make our communities more sustainable and equitable for current and future generations. Bevin holds degrees in economics and international political economy from the University of Washington.

Cedric Dark, MD, MPH, FACEP is Founder and Executive Editor of Policy Prescriptions®. A graduate of Morehouse College, Dr. Dark earned his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. He holds a master’s degree from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. He completed his residency training at George Washington University where he served as Chief Resident. Currently, Dr. Dark is an Assistant Professor in the Henry J. N. Taub Department of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Dark is the 2017 recipient of the Texas Medical Association’s C. Frank Webber Award, a 2019 American College of Emergency Physicians Choosing Wisely Champion, one of emergency medicine’s Top 45 Under 45, and on Elemental’s List of 50 Experts to Trust in a Pandemic. He currently is on the Board of Directors for Doctors for America and is the Medical Editor-in-Chief for the monthly publication ACEP Now. Dr. Dark’s policy experience includes work for the United States House of Representatives, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Joe Biden Campaign. Among his policy interests include the study of health reform at the intersection with international health systems on which he has spoken on this topic nationwide. Dr. Dark’s media experience includes print, radio, and television – including outlets such as NPR, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and BBC World News.ped countries.