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Healthcare Burnout Symposium
2023 Distinguished Faculty

Alfred Atanda, MD
Alfred Atanda Jr. is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware where he serves as the Chief of the Center for Sports Medicine, the Director of Clinician Experience, and is also an Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University.

Jeffrey M. Bates, PhD
Dr. Jeffrey Bates is the VCL Deputy Director for Crisis Operations. He previously served as the Acting Director of Associated Health Education in the Office of Academic Affiliations for the Department of Veterans Affairs. In this role, he was responsible for the oversight of VA Health Professions Training programs in over 60 professions representing a budget of approximately $140 million.

Xavier Becerra
Xavier Becerra is the 25th Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the first Latino to hold the office in the history of the United States.

Alice Benjamin, MSN, APRN, ACNS-BC, FNP-BC, CCRN, CEN, CV-BC
“Nurse Alice” Benjamin is a board-certified Clinical Nurse Specialist and Family Nurse Practitioner with over 25 years nursing experience specializing in cardiovascular, emergency medicine and critical care. She currently works on the frontline in the emergency department and is also the Chief Nursing Officer at Nurse.org

Nancy Blake PhD, RN, CCRN-K, NEA-BC, NHDP-BC, FACHE, FAONL, FAAN
Nancy Blake is the Chief Nursing Officer at LAC+USC Medical Center. She was the Chief Nursing Officer at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center from March of 2019 until June of 2021. Prior to that she was the director of critical care services at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) for over 30 years where she helped CHLA achieve Magnet designation.

Daniel Cavanaugh
As the Vice President of Membership Development at the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. (CAP), Dan leads the business development efforts of one of the largest medical malpractice carriers in California. Over his 35-year career in the insurance industry, he has also worked as an insurance broker specializing in reinsurance and liability protection for medical providers, managed care organizations and health plans. In addition to his work at CAP, Dan served as president of the California MGMA and as a member of the Marketing Section of the Medical Professional Liability Association. He has been published and quoted in media outlets including Medscape, the Journal of Medical Practice Management and Medical Economics.

Tammie Chang, MD
Dr. Tammie Chang is the Medical Director of MutliCare Provider Wellness in Tacoma, Washington, a board-certified Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist, and co-founder of Pink Coat, MD an innovative, digital platform designed to help women physicians thrive...

Gabe Charbonneau, MD
Gabe Charbonneau, MD is a rural family physician and high-tech entrepreneur. He co-founded the EHR automation software company, Fluent Systems. He serves as EHR faculty at Practicing Excellence, and has been a physician advisor to the AI scribe companies, Tenor and Saykara. He is the founder of the #FightBurnout movement on social media, and FightBurnout.org. He is also a fierce advocate for the patient-physician relationship and the co-creator of the grassroots doctors' organization, Medicine Forward. Gabe lives and practices in Stevensville, Montana.

Katie Cole, DO
Dr. Cole is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and pursued
additional post-graduate training in Functional and Integrative Medicine, Transformational
Coaching, and Physician Leadership. She is also certified in Neuro-Behavioral Programs,
Masters in Reiki Energy Healing and is currently pursuing her Certified Physician Executive
Credential through AAPL. Dr. Cole is also an active member in American College of
Healthcare Executives.
additional post-graduate training in Functional and Integrative Medicine, Transformational
Coaching, and Physician Leadership. She is also certified in Neuro-Behavioral Programs,
Masters in Reiki Energy Healing and is currently pursuing her Certified Physician Executive
Credential through AAPL. Dr. Cole is also an active member in American College of
Healthcare Executives.

Reid Conant, MD
Dr. Conant is a CMIO for Nuance Healthcare and a practicing, board-certified physician and CMIO of Tri-City Emergency Medical Group in Oceanside, CA.

Scott A. Cook, MD. MPH
Scott A. Cook, MD, MPH. is an author, physician, businessman, and international lecturer. Currently, Dr. Cook is Medical Director & Chief Medical Officer at multiple addiction & mental health organizations. Dr Cook lectures on avoiding professional burnout and creating world-class corporate cultures. An avid traveler, Dr. Cook has visited more than 50 countries and lectured in many. He has published brain exercise books for both adults and children.

Paul DeChant, MD, MBA
Dr. DeChant advises C-level leaders on transforming organizations to enhance clinician well-being, based on his experience as CEO of a 300-physician group. He speaks internationally on the subject and is co-author of Preventing Physician Burnout.

Omer Deen, MD
Omer J. Deen, MD graduated from medical school at Ross University School of Medicine and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Nevada-Reno. He went on to fellowship training in Digestive Disease and Clinical Nutrition at Cleveland Clinic, graduating in 2012. He stayed on staff at Cleveland Clinic following his fellowship prior to moving his practice in Clinical Nutrition to Los Angeles County in 2013.

Jessica Dudley, MD
Jessica leads 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. Jessica also leads Press Ganey’s Workforce Well-Being Collaborative, an initiative designed to help healthcare organizations identify, understand, and respond to the varied and disparate needs of their workforce.

Heather Farley, MD, MHCDS, FACEP
As the first Chief Wellness Officer for ChristianaCare in Newark, DE, Dr. Farley’s focus is on advancing the professional fulfillment and wellbeing of healthcare workers. She leads advocacy programs and initiatives aimed at optimizing the caregiver experience and fostering WorkLife meaning, connection, and joy.

Hector Flores, MD
Dr. Hector Flores is a founding member of the Adventist Health White Memorial (AHWM) Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program in Los Angeles. The Residency Program was established in 1988 with the expressed purpose of providing a high-quality education to prepare physicians and PA/NPs for practice in shortage areas and to contribute to diversity in the health professions. Dr. Flores also serves as Chairman of the AHWM Department of Family Medicine.

Jackie Fortiér
Jackie Fortiér is the Senior Health Reporter for National Public Radio member station KPCC and LAist.com. In a reporting partnership with Kaiser Health News and NPR, Jackie covers health in Southern California for local and national audiences. She’s won two regional Edward R. Murrow awards while in California.

Nigel Girgrah MD, PhD
Dr. Girgrah is the Chief Wellness Officer at Ochsner Health. He leads the efforts of the
Office of Professional Well-Being (OPW) at Ochsner Health which is charged with
improving the professional fulfillment of their employed physicians and APPs focusing
on enhanced practice efficiency and personal and team resilience and building an
organizational culture that promotes provider well-being.
Office of Professional Well-Being (OPW) at Ochsner Health which is charged with
improving the professional fulfillment of their employed physicians and APPs focusing
on enhanced practice efficiency and personal and team resilience and building an
organizational culture that promotes provider well-being.

Karen A. Grimley, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE
Dr. Karen Grimley serves as the Chief Nurse Executive, UCLA Health and Assistant Dean, UCLA School of Nursing. She is responsible for the overall delivery and management of patient care and professional nursing practice, clinical education, profession development, research and clinical services. Dr. Karen Grimley received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts before earning a Doctorate in Nursing from Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University.

Waguih William IsHak, MD, FAPA
Waguih William IsHak, MD, FAPA, is a professor and clinical chief of psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai and clinical professor of psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Danisha Jenkins PhD, RN
While pursuing her PhD, she worked as the Director of Critical Care and Emergency Services at a hospital that was intensely affected by COVID-19 and has been on the frontlines of the pandemic since it began in 2020. She was also at the forefront of the protests following the death of George Floyd and traveled to San Diego County to provide supplies and first aid support to activists. Amidst her work, research, and activism, Jenkins has been raising her three lovely children.

Stephanie Jones-Wood, MPH
Stephanie has a Masters of Public Health from UCLA. After graduating from UCLA, Stephanie joined the CDC in Atlanta, GA as Public Health Fellow were, she gained expertise strategic planning, organizational development, and management of national and international chronic and infectious disease programs. While working on public health systems issues, Stephanie was introduced to quality improvement which in time became the bridge for her transition to healthcare.

Jeffery Lee, MD
Dr. Jeffery Lee is a board-certified physician in Internal Medicine and has practiced primary care in the San Fernando Valley for the past 18 years. He serves as the Assistant Medical Director for Facey Medical Group where he serves on the Board of Directors. He serves as chair of the group's Fee and Coding Compliance Committee and is a Certified Professional Coder. He also has experience in areas of information technology, quality improvement and improving the patient experience

Diana Londoño, MD
Dr. Diana Londoño is a Board-Certified Urologist and one of the 10% of urologists in the US who is a woman, and the 0.5% that are Latinx and a woman. Dr. Londoño is originally from Mexico City, and she received all her education in the Los Angeles Area, going to Claremont McKenna College for her undergraduate studies, then attending UCLA for her medical school training. She finished a 6-year residency in Urology at Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles.

Christina Maslach, PhD
Christina Maslach is Professor of Psychology, Emerita, at the University of California, Berkeley, and the co-creator of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, a widely used metric. In 2020 she received the Scientific Reviewing award from the National Academy of Sciences for her writing on burnout.
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