top of page
.png){kind=logo}
2022 Speakers
David M. Benedek, M.D, COL (Ret) USA
David Benedek is Professor of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, and Chair of the Uniformed Services University's Department of Psychiatry. He is also an Associate Director of the University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress. Dr. Benedek received his B.A. from the University of Virginia in 1986 and his M.D. from the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine in 1991. He completed a residency in Adult General Psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1995 and returned there for fellowship training in Forensic Psychiatry in 1998 after an operational tour in Germany and a year-long deployment to the former Yugoslavia as the 1st Armor Division Psychiatrist.
Michellene Davis, Esq
Michellene Davis assumed the role President and Chief Executive Officer of National Medical Fellowships, Inc., (NMF) in May of 2021. Founded in 1946, NMF was one of America’s first diversity organizations and remains the only national organization advancing health equity at the intersection of wealth and health. It provides scholarships to Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) medical and health professions students underrepresented in medicine to ensure equity of access to culturally competent, high-quality healthcare. NMF also increases the number of BIPOC clinician leaders to diversify clinical trials.
Jonathan DePierro, Ph.D.
Jonathan DePierro, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is Clinical and Research Director of Mount Sinai’s Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth, where he oversees resilience training and education, clinical care, and research. Dr. DePierro has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the New School for Social Research and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the NYU School of Medicine WTC Health Program. His clinical expertise is in the treatment of trauma-related mental health conditions and promoting resilience. He has published on novel treatment approaches to Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), mental health service needs in WTC and COVID-19 responders, and the physiological impact of psychological trauma.
Dennis Doherty, Ph.D.
Dennis Doherty is a Senior Professional Development Specialist Nursing Professional Development Specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he oversees Nursing Orientation programming, leads the Evidence-based Practice Mentorship Program, and facilitates leadership development workshops. Over the last decade, Dennis has advocated for creating healthy work environments and has studied, presented, and published on HWE in numerous forums. In 2021 , Dennis earned a PhD in Nursing from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Jessica Dudley, MD
As Press Ganey’s Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Jessica C. Dudley is responsible for leading efforts to support organizations in increasing clinician engagement and improving patient care outcomes, particularly among physicians. Her areas of expertise include leadership development, clinical care redesign through outstanding teamwork, addressing clinician burnout, and advancing professional fulfillment.
Rebecca Love, RN, Chief Clinical Officer, IntelyCare
As CCO, Rebecca acts as a company evangelist for nursing professionals, giving them a louder voice by identifying the issues they face and advocating for ways to overcome them. She also oversees clinical operations and compliance. The founder of HireNurses.com, Rebecca is regarded as a pioneer in developing technology solutions that benefit nursing professionals. She is also one of the country’s most prominent advocates for nurses, with her 2018 TEDx Talk marking the first address by a nurse to be featured on the main TED.com platform. Rebecca’s passion has always centered around ways to empower the nursing profession, with the aim of building, scaling, and strengthening nursing’s impact on the future of healthcare. She is President of the Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs & Leaders (SONSIEL), started the nation’s first nurse innovation and entrepreneurship program at the School of Nursing at Northeastern University, and is the co-author of two internationally best-selling books.
Beth Lown, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Beth Lown has been interested in empathy, compassion, collaboration, and relational and communication skills since beginning medical school four decades ago. This interest has deepened over her many years of clinical practice and as a health professional educator and researcher. She has been an active participant in many national organizations dedicated to improving these attributes and skills.
She is the chief medical officer of the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening the relationships among patients, families, and clinicians and advancing compassionate health care. In this role, she develops and implements programs, curricula, and research. She speaks locally, nationally, and internationally about empathy, compassion, and communication, and teaches these attributes and skills to health professionals across the continuum of learning.
She is the chief medical officer of the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening the relationships among patients, families, and clinicians and advancing compassionate health care. In this role, she develops and implements programs, curricula, and research. She speaks locally, nationally, and internationally about empathy, compassion, and communication, and teaches these attributes and skills to health professionals across the continuum of learning.
Chris Macklin
Chris Macklin has been an emergency responder since 1991 when he became an EMT. He gained employment at REED Ambulance in Denver Colorado, a traditional “mom and pop” private ambulance company. In 1992 he graduated from St. Anthony’s Hospital Paramedic Program. Chris was employed as a Denver Health Paramedic for 10 years and was promoted to Field Instructor and Senior Paramedic in 1998. He also held positions as a Bike Medic, Denver International Airport Medic and worked occasionally in the dispatch center while employed there.
Kerri Palamara, MD, Director, Center for Physician Well-being, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Kerri Palamara, MD is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She completed her medical degree at New York Medical College and Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital, and now practices as a primary care general internist at MGH. After 8 years as an Associate Program Director and Primary Care Program Director at MGH, Dr. Palamara was asked to lead the Center for Physician Well-being for the Department of Medicine at MGH as the inaugural director. Her academic work focuses on physician coaching, clinician well-being, and faculty development. Dr. Palamara leads the American College of Physicians “Physician Coach Training Program”, which focuses on training physicians to integrate coaching techniques into their quality improvement and well-being initiatives. For her work, Dr. Palamara has won teaching awards at MGH, Partners Healthcare, Harvard Medical School, MassGeneral Brigham, the Society of General Internal Medicine, and the American College of Physicians; and has been awarded Mastership in the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Palamara created and directs the Physician Coaching Program for trainees at MGH. This program was designed in conjunction with the Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School to improve physician awareness of their growth and development, reduce burnout, and improve their resilience. This coaching program has been recognized by Harvard Medical School for the Culture of Excellence in Mentoring Award, based on the organizational change inspired by this program, and was featured by the AAMC as a model program to reduce resident burnout. Dr. Palamara also directs faculty physician coaching programs at MGH and is currently involved in several randomized controlled trials locally and nationally on the impact of coaching for coaches and their coaches. The MGH Physician Coaching Program has expanded nationally to over 40 residency and fellowship programs and Dr. Palamara is actively involved in onboarding, evaluating and sustaining these programs. Dr. Palamara has developed and run faculty development workshops nationally on this topic and contributes to the dialogue on physician well-being nationally as a member of CHARM (Collaboration for Healing and Renewal in Medicine).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Palamara was a leader in several aspects of Massachusetts General Hospital’s response, including the hospital’s response for staff well-being and clinically as co-director of MGH’s first Respiratory Illness Clinic and co-medical director of the Boston Hope field hospital at the Boston Convention & Expo Center.
Dr. Palamara created and directs the Physician Coaching Program for trainees at MGH. This program was designed in conjunction with the Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School to improve physician awareness of their growth and development, reduce burnout, and improve their resilience. This coaching program has been recognized by Harvard Medical School for the Culture of Excellence in Mentoring Award, based on the organizational change inspired by this program, and was featured by the AAMC as a model program to reduce resident burnout. Dr. Palamara also directs faculty physician coaching programs at MGH and is currently involved in several randomized controlled trials locally and nationally on the impact of coaching for coaches and their coaches. The MGH Physician Coaching Program has expanded nationally to over 40 residency and fellowship programs and Dr. Palamara is actively involved in onboarding, evaluating and sustaining these programs. Dr. Palamara has developed and run faculty development workshops nationally on this topic and contributes to the dialogue on physician well-being nationally as a member of CHARM (Collaboration for Healing and Renewal in Medicine).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Palamara was a leader in several aspects of Massachusetts General Hospital’s response, including the hospital’s response for staff well-being and clinically as co-director of MGH’s first Respiratory Illness Clinic and co-medical director of the Boston Hope field hospital at the Boston Convention & Expo Center.
Lauren Peccoralo, MD, MPH
Lauren Peccoralo, MD, MPH, is the Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Well-Being and Development and an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In her well-being role, Dr. Peccoralo has developed a robust Faculty Well-being Program and curriculum with a network of over 30 Faculty Well-being Champions across MSHS departments and sites.
Charlene Platon, MS, RN, FNP-BC, Director of Ambulatory Nursing, Stanford Health Care; Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellow
Charlene Platon, MS, RN, FNP-BC is Director of Ambulatory Nursing at Stanford Health Care (SHC), where she collaborates with operational and clinical partners to advance, develop, refine, and innovate ambulatory nursing clinical delivery operations throughout the enterprise.
Pamela Katz Ressler, RN, MS, HNB-BC
Pamela Katz Ressler, RN, MS, HNB-BC is the founder of Stress Resources in Concord, Massachusetts, a firm specializing in building resiliency for individuals and organizations through tools of connection, communication, and compassion. Pam is a frequent, sought-after speaker to local, national, and international audiences on strategies of resilience. She is a faculty member at Tufts University School of Medicine in the Pain Research, Education, and Policy Program and is an appointed member of the Consumer Health Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Health Quality Partners. Additionally, Pam is honored to be the first nurse selected to serve on the Executive Leadership Board of Stanford University's Medicine X.
Jonathan Ripp, MD, MPH
Jonathan Ripp, MD, MPH received both his undergraduate and medical degrees from Yale University and completed internship and residency in Internal Medicine (IM) at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. In the role of chief wellness officer, Dr. Ripp oversees efforts to assess and provide direction for system- and individual-level interventions designed to improve well-being for all students, residents, fellows, and faculty in the Mount Sinai Health System.
Jeremy Segall, MA, RDT, LCAT
Jeremy Segall, MA, RDT, LCAT is the System Chief Wellness Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest public healthcare system in the nation. As Chief Wellness Officer he oversees wellness from multiple angles including enterprise wellness via system-wide performance improvement, staff wellness via response efforts, and patient wellness via engagement strategy.
Jo Shapiro, MD
Jo Shapiro, MD, FACS, is an associate professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Harvard Medical School. She is Principal Faculty for the Center for Medical Simulation in Boston and a Consultant for the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Anesthesia, Pain and Critical Care.
In 2008, she founded the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center for Professionalism and Peer Support where she served as the director for over 10 years. During that time the Center became a model for national and international institutions seeking methods to enhance a culture of trust and respect and improve clinician wellbeing. She continues to educate and assist organizations in developing specific programmatic and educational approaches such as peer support, wellbeing programs, professionalism initiatives, and conflict management.
In 2008, she founded the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center for Professionalism and Peer Support where she served as the director for over 10 years. During that time the Center became a model for national and international institutions seeking methods to enhance a culture of trust and respect and improve clinician wellbeing. She continues to educate and assist organizations in developing specific programmatic and educational approaches such as peer support, wellbeing programs, professionalism initiatives, and conflict management.
Eliza Pippa Shulman, DO, MPH – Chief Medical Officer Medically Home
Eliza “Pippa” Shulman, DO, MPH is the Chief Medical Officer of Medically Home, the world’s first virtual hospital. Medically Home is a tech-enabled services company, providing all the necessary capabilities to safely-shift medical care from hospitals to patients’ homes. Prior to joining Medically Home Pippa led the Center for Healthcare Innovation at Atrius Health, charged with identifying, testing, and implementing novel care delivery solutions as part of the largest independent multi-specialty medical group in the Northeast.
Carole Stockmeier, Senior Vice President, Safety & Reliability Solutions, Press Ganey
Carole Stockmeier is the Senior Vice President of Safety & Reliability Solutions, Press Ganey, with a focus on developing and integrating methods and solutions to help healthcare organizations optimize safety and performance excellence.
James C. West M.D., Department of Psychiatry
F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine
Dr. West is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and a Scientist at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and his M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr. West is board-certified in psychiatry and a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He served as an embedded Navy psychiatrist in support of the Marine Corps in Iraq and Afghanistan. His professional interests include sustaining the resilience of disaster workers and promoting embedded systems of care, psychiatric education, and translating understanding of the biological underpinnings of PTSD into more effective treatments.
Peter Yellowlees, MD
Peter Yellowlees, MD is Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Chief Wellness Officer at UC Davis Health. He holds the Alan Stoudemire Endowed Chair in Psychiatry and has conducted research in the areas of psychiatry, telemedicine and physician health. He has written over 250 academic papers and book chapters and 7 books, as well as over 180 video editorials on psychiatry for Medscape. He is regularly invited to present lectures nationally and internationally and is often featured in the media.,
Christopher M. Ziebell, MD, FACEP, Director of Behavioral Health Innovation; Chairman Southwest Region Clinical Governance Board, US Acute Care Solutions
Dr. Chris Ziebell is the Director of Behavioral Health Innovation for US Acute Care Solutions. He took on this role after serving as the Emergency Department Medical Director at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas at Austin. He led the ED at Central Texas’ only Level I adult trauma center (formerly known as University Medical Center Brackenridge) from 2007-2021.
bottom of page