Advisory Committees.

Bob Knox Jr., SAR ’10, SPH ’12, Product Manager, American Well Bob works to apply new technology to population health with American Well, one of the top telemedicine and digital health companies in the world and is located in Boston. Prior to joining American Well, Bob was a product manager at DCT. With DCT Bob managed design and development of new products that use digital signals to detect cognitive impairment. Prior to joining DCT, Bob was a Senior Analyst at Opera Solutions where he designed and deployed machine learning platforms focused on revenue capture and operational improvement in hospital systems across the country. Bob also has experience as a health policy analyst with the New England Journal of Medicine and has worked closely with non-profit organizations like the American Diabetes Association in the U.S. and abroad. Bob earned his B.S. in Health Science and M.P.H. in Health Management and Policy from Boston University.

Mireille Aramati, SPH ’86 MET ’87

Mireille (Mickey) Aramati is a former Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and global health consultant with over 25 years of experience providing management, technical assistance, and oversight to large-scale health and reproductive health programs. She has worked with health ministries, public and private-sector institutions, non-government organizations (NGOs), universities, and training centers in Asia, Africa, Middle East/Near East, and the United States.

Bahby Banks, SPH ’05, CEO of Pillar Consulting

Dr. Bahby Banks, CEO of Pillar Consulting, a global program evaluation research firm, helps organizations assess the impact of their initiatives. In her role, Dr. Banks partners with non-profit, academic, corporate, and philanthropic organizations to provide consultation on the development, implementation, evaluation and dissemination of their efforts.  A scholar-activist committed to equity and inclusion, Dr. Banks actively engages leaders in strategic thought and action to create and sustain diverse workplaces.  Under Dr. Banks’ leadership, Pillar Consulting has spearheaded efforts funded by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, DuPont Foundation, and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

Dr. Banks’ work has led to a career that has spanned the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Australia, including contributions to the World Health Organization, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto Promundo, and prestigious universities across the United States. She currently serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Public Health Leadership Program at UNC at Chapel Hill, and continues to invest in the next generation of public leaders through mentorship, training and practical experiences in their communities.

In her spare time, Dr. Banks enjoys trying new cuisine, traveling, spending time with family and friends, drumming, dancing and karaoke.  And of course, vision boarding!  Learn more at www.bahbybanks.com.

Sera Bonds, SPH’04, Founder and Executive Director, Circle of Health International

Sera is a social justice, grassroots activist committed to working towards balancing the scales of access, equity, and availability in women’s reproductive healthcare. She has training in midwifery, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Women’s Studies, and a Master’s Degree in Public Health. Her community organizing background ranges from reproductive rights to violence against women to welfare and poverty issues to anti-war campaigns. She has worked on women’s health issues with teenage and minority mothers in rural areas of the Western U.S.; with refugee communities in Boston, Massachusetts; and with midwives in Northern India, Guatemala, Tibet, Palestine, tsunami-affected Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Jordan, Haiti, Afghanistan, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, and Israel; with commercial sex workers on issues of HIV/AIDS in Vietnam; with female evacuees from hurricanes Rita and Katrina in Louisiana; with survivors of natural disasters in Oklahoma; with the social service and healthcare provider community in Central Texas to stop human trafficking; and with refugees arriving in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, traveling from Latin America.

Barbara Buell, SPH ’94, Partner, Smith Duggan Buell & Rufo, LLP

Barbara Hayes Buell is a partner at Smith Duggan Buell & Rufo, LLP where she concentrates her practice on representing health care professionals and hospitals in medical malpractice and regulatory matters.  She has also developed a vibrant practice in representing several Massachusetts charter schools. Barbara earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Brandeis, her JD from Northeastern and a Master’s in Public Health from Boston University.

Barbara has been a pioneer in prosecuting the rights of women, starting with her own efforts to join the JayCees when it was an all-male organization, before she went to Law School. As a new lawyer in the seventies, Barbara represented many straight men, gay men and lesbians seeking child custody.

Barbara has tried several hundred civil cases, almost half to a jury verdict. She has taught in the Lawyering Process Course at Harvard Law School and has taught Women’s Rights, Fair Trial/Free Press, and Constitutional Law to undergraduates at Boston University. Barbara has contributed to many continuing legal education courses and manuals in the area of trial practice. She continues to give Grand Rounds-type presentations at hospitals and long-term care facilities.

James Chen, SPH ’09, Manager of Business Analysis, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

James has over 10 years of experience in healthcare management and financial services combined, through progressively professional advancement with substantively increased responsibilities.  At his current position, James provides oversight of an operational budget approximately $55 million annually and millions in discretionary funds and is responsible for negotiating and finalizing dozens of inter-organizational professional services agreements with internal and external stakeholders.  In addition, he provides analytical support and develops solutions for effective and efficient allocation among and between different funding resources, as well as identifies indirect patient care expenses for cost reductions to meet institutional and departmental strategic targets. James has been an adviser to Barry & Martin America since 2010 and a participant of “The Partnership Inc” 2013 Fellows Program and “LeadBoston” 2010 Class, selected by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He received his BA in Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and graduated with an MPH from Boston University School of Public Health concentrating in international health.

Dhayana Dallmeier-Rojas, SPH’15, Head Research Unit on Aging, AGAPLESION Bethesda Clinic Ulm, Geriatric Center Ulm/Alb-Donau, Ulm University

Dhayana Dallmeier leads the research unit on Aging at the Bethesda Clinic at Ulm University. Her research focuses on biomarkers such as high sensitive Troponins, Brain Natriuretic Peptides, Growth Differentiation Factor 15 and Cystatin C, as risk predictors for secondary cardiovascular events, aging related comorbidities (falls, fractures, cognitive dysfunction), and mortality in different populations. She is also Associate Study Leader at The Activity and Function in the Elderly in Ulm Study (ActiFE Ulm), a population based study including 1506 participants older than 65 years followed over 7 years. As part of the faculty she also mentors medical students on their doctoral thesis. During the academic period 2014-2015 she was also member of the Gender Equality Commission at the Ulm University, Germany.

Dhayana was born and raised in Venezuela. With medical education in Germany and medical training in the US, she has had the opportunity to interact with different educational and health settings, identifying the positive aspects of each one and gaining skills to work effectively across cultures. During her residency in preventive medicine at Boston University she also collaborated with the Massachusetts Department of Public health in the development of a survey for food directors directed to evaluate the execution of nutritional guidelines at the Massachusetts public schools in preparation to the 2011 law regulating the implementation of nutritional standards for competitive foods and beverages. She also worked as volunteer in the steering committee of Nuestra America e.V., promoting the bilingual education (Spanish-German) of children with Hispanic background  living in Freiburg, Germany.

Dhayana Dallmeier holds a PhD in Epidemiology from Boston University School of Public Health. She graduated from medical school at the Ruprecht- Karls University of Heidelberg, Germany, trained in Internal Medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, and was fellow at the academic fellowship in General Internal Medicine at Boston University Medical Center. Dhayana is a member of the Society of Epidemiologic research, the German Society of Epidemiology, the German Society of Internal Medicine, and the German Geriatrics Society.

Robyn Sterling Eckerling, SPH ’06, Chief Privacy and Security Counsel, Allscripts

Robyn Sterling Eckerling serves as Allscripts’ Vice President & Chief Privacy and Security Counsel where she regularly counsels on a wide range of matters that include state and federal data privacy and security compliance, data breach response, and international privacy and security.  Prior to joining Allscripts, Robyn served as a HIPAA specialist and Chief Privacy Officer for a Fortune 250 Company.  Additionally, Robyn worked for large international law firms where she worked on transactional matters including representing hospitals, dental management companies, and pharmaceutical, medical device and nutritional supplement companies. She also represented private equity funds and other health care company investors in mergers, acquisitions and other complex health care transactions. In addition to transactional work, she regularly advised clients on regulatory and compliance matters, including data privacy, data breach preparedness, HIPAA, fraud and abuse laws, as well as the promotion of pharmaceutical products and medical devices.Robyn began her career at the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. She holds a BA from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in History and Pol itical Science, a JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law, a Master of Public Health from Boston University where she served as the Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights Fellow and a Certificate in Business Practices from Northwestern University.

Bryan Eustis, SPH ’04, Global Good and Research at Intellectual Ventures

Bryan Eustis works to develop and deploy new global health technologies with Global Good and Research at Intellectual Ventures in Seattle, WA. Prior to this, he was the Executive Director of Partners In Health Liberia, an international NGO focused on global health equity and supporting governments in their goal to provide access to high quality health care for their citizens. He additionally served as PIH’s Chief Operating Officer for Ebola Response in West Africa. Bryan is also the Founder and Executive Director of BME Strategies, a public health consulting firm in the United States specializing in public health emergency preparedness, response, and project management since 2004. He received his Master’s in Public Health from Boston University and his Master’s of Business Administration from Oxford University.

Adam Falcone, LAW ’99, SPH’01, Partner, Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP

Adam J. Falcone is a partner in FTLF’s national health law practice group, where he counsels a diverse spectrum of community-based organizations that render primary and behavioral healthcare services. Adam counsels clients on a wide range of health law issues, with a focus on fraud and abuse, reimbursement and payment, and antitrust and competition matters.Adam leads the firm’s health care corporate compliance practice, offering proactive counsel to avoid costly legal missteps that can jeopardize vital health services within communities. To that end, he has championed the development of online compliance support services to assist clients in the development of effective corporate compliance programs. He also conducts compliance trainings and internal investigations, defends clients in audit proceedings, and negotiates settlements related to fraud allegations.

Drawing on his extensive knowledge of health care policy and markets, Adam regularly speaks to groups across the country on managed care contracting, value-based payment methodologies, and health reform opportunities. In particular, he brings strategic counsel to clients that are responding to changes in their local marketplace, negotiating participating provider agreements, and seeking to establish provider networks such as Accountable Care Organizations.

Prior to joining the law firm, Adam served as Program and Policy Counsel at the Alliance of Community Health Plans, a national association of non-profit and provider-owned health plans advocating federal policies to improve health care quality. Working at the intersection of law and policy, he represented the Alliance before the Congress and Executive Branch.

Adam began his legal career in Washington, DC as a trial attorney in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. As a member of the Health Care Task Force, he led and participated in civil antitrust investigations and litigation of anticompetitive activity among health care providers.

After graduating with a BA from Brandeis University, Adam received his JD and MPH from Boston University.

Mary-Lynn Fulton, SPH ’99, Head, Clinical Operations Study Management, Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Mary-Lynn Fulton has more than 25 years of experience in clinical trials operations/management in the biopharmaceutical industry. She joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. in January 2016 as the Head of Study Management (Clinical Operations). Prior to this, Mary-Lynn had a 23 year career at PAREXEL (top global Contract Research Organization) in positions of increasing responsibility within Clinical Operations and Project Management. Prior to joining Vertex, she was Corporate Vice President and Head of PAREXEL’s Clinical Operations department in the Americas region, with responsibility for 1400 employees located throughout North and South America.

During the course of her career, Mary-Lynn has successfully led large regional and global operational departments to achieve strategic and business goals. She has extensive experience with personnel management, optimizing organizational effectiveness and change management.

Mary-Lynn holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Public Health degree from Boston University. She is based in Vertex’s corporate headquarters in Boston, MA.

Kara Guerriero, SPH ’05, President, Incite Consulting Solutions

Kara Guerriero serves as the chief liaison for the National Council for Behavioral Health members. She has helped the National Council become a leading source for community mental health providers by fostering relationships between members, the board, corporate and community partners. She manages membership recruitment, retention and engagement including growth and maintenance of corporate partners, affiliate members and industry partners across healthcare. Kara has helped to establish connections between different organizations by engaging them in networking opportunities whether it is at the National Council’s annual conference or through various meetings and events.

Kara’s dedication to the National Council members has more than doubled membership in eight years. Her commitment to these relationships continues to help the National Council align efforts in building a robust array of membership benefits. She also manages the National Council’s Awards of Excellence program – the industry’s most prestigious awards recognizing individuals and organizations that nurture hope and recovery from mental illness and addictions.

Prior to joining the National Council, Kara worked at both the national office of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and at the Massachusetts chapter, developing staff and volunteer leadership, engaging in strategic planning, advocacy, and grassroots organizing. Kara is a graduate of the Boston University School of Public Health with a concentration in health services.

Christie Hager, SPH ’91, Senior Fellow in Health Policy, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Christie Hager, a public health lawyer, is an Associate Vice Chancellor and Managing Director of health law and policy research and evaluation at Commonwealth Medicine, the public service consulting and operations division of University of Massachusetts Medical School. She has spent most of her career in state and federal government service. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the Regional Director of Region I of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she oversaw the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in the six New England states from 2010-2014. Prior to her service in the Obama Administration, she was Chief Health Counsel to the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives during the development, drafting, and first three years of implementation of the Massachusetts health reform law enacted in 2006. She also previously served in senior executive roles at Beacon Health Options, a national managed behavioral health organization, focusing largely on behavioral health and substance use disorder services for publicly insured populations. Christie’s first post-graduate position was Research Assistant to the editorial leadership at the New England Journal of Medicine, and since then she has held research and operations positions at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the Division of Public Health Practice, and at the Schneider Institute for Health Policy at Brandeis University’s Heller School, where she was appointed the first Senior Fellow. She has served as Chair of the American Public Health Association’s Health Law Forum, President of the Massachusetts Public Health Association, and Co-Chair of the Health Law Section of the Boston Bar Association.

Christie has held appointments on the faculties of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Suffolk University Law School.  Her work has appeared in such publications as the New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Law and Medicine, and Journal of Legal Medicine.

Chris holds an A.B. from Smith College, a M.P.H. from the Boston University School of Public Health, and a J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Usman Iqbal, SPH ’03, Questrom ’07, Chief Medical Officer, Julz Pharma

Usman is a medical executive with a portfolio career entailing 15 years of diverse experience spanning R&D, Medical Affairs and End-to-End evidence and value development, across both large and small cap biopharmaceuticals. His experience spans a number of therapeutic areas including Neuroscience, as the Senior Medical Affairs Leader at AstraZeneca Innovative Medicines Group, and in Oncology, as former Head of Sanofi Oncology, Global Evidence and Value Development. With positions of increasing responsibilities across both R&D and Medical Affairs in different organizations, Usman has successfully lead several development programs with a strategic focus on innovation and end in mind approach driven by medical value and patient centricity.
As part of his work and delivery, Usman developed and published the first of its kind “pipeline engagement model” in R&D to link “proof of concepts to proof of medical value” and successfully operationalized across several therapeutic areas including oncology, neuroscience and rare diseases. As a medical leader he has led numerous organizational transformations, built integrated and transversal platforms, and led the development and execution of integrated R&D-Medical affairs strategy for seven launched products.
His area of expertise also includes harnessing big data science, real world evidence, advanced analytics and digital medicine to optimize R&D portfolios, Trial designs, Medical Affairs delivery, and patient outcomes.

Prior got working in the industry that also includes Amgen, Trevena, and Acer Therapeutics, Usman was at the Boston University Health Outcomes Technology Group where he served as a senior research fellow at the Center for Assessment of Pharmaceutical Practices and Veterans Affairs Pharmacy Benefit Management.
Usman serves as advisor to several academic and health care think thanks as an industry thought leader on R&D innovation designs and value based medical affairs operating models. He received his MD from Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan and MPH and MBA degrees from Boston University.

Pawandeep Kaur, SPH ’15, Clinical Trial Director, Boston University School of Public Health, Department of Global Health

Pawandeep Kaur, Clinical Trial Director at the Center for Global Health and Development at Boston University, holds a MPH from Boston University School of Public Health. She is currently working on clinical trials assessing the efficacy and safety of Levofloxacin for the treatment of multi-drug resistant Tuberculosis in Peru and South Africa.

In the past, Pawandeep worked as a clinical trial administrator at Janssen, Inc. and as a research coordinator at LMC Endocrinology Centres and Cetera Research. She has also been actively involved in community level organizing and education on social justice issues with a special interest in women’s health.

Jared M. Kutzin, SPH ’07, Director of Emergency Medicine Simulation, Mount Sinai Hospital & Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dr. Jared Kutzin is an educator, simulationist, and patient safety advocate. Jared is currently the Director of Emergency Medicine Simulation at Mount Sinai Hospital and Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Over the past 15 years he has held leadership positions in both academia and hospital administration. Jared is a registered nurse with advanced degrees in health policy and management, public health, leadership, healthcare interior design, and medical education.

In 2018, Jared served on the Baldrige Board of Examiners and was recognized as a fellow by the New York Academy of Medicine. In 2017, Jared was in the inaugural group of people inducted as fellows into the Society for Simulation in Healthcare’s Simulation Academy. Previously, Jared completed the Clinical Quality Fellowship Program (CQFP) offered by the Greater New York Hospital Association and the United Hospital Fund and the Comprehensive Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship (CPSLF) offered by the National Patient Safety Foundation and American Hospital Association.
Jared is certified in healthcare quality (CPHQ), patient safety (CPPS), simulation operations (CHSOS), and as a Nurse Executive – Advanced (NEA-BC). Jared currently serves as the Society for Simulation in Healthcare’s (SSH) Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE) Committee Chair and as an Accreditation Committee Site Reviewer. Jared is a member of the New York State EMS Council, an Associate Editor for MedEdPORTAL, the American Association of Colleges Journal of Teaching and Learning Resources, and is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Emergency Nursing.

Russ Lopez, SPH ’03, Senior Research Associate, Northeastern University

Russ Lopez, a native of California, received his Master of City and Regional Planning degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Doctorate in Environmental Health from Boston University. Lopez is the author of Boston’s South End: The Clash of Ideas in a Historic Neighborhood, Building American Public Health: Urban Planning, Architecture, and the Ouest for Better Public Health in the United States, and The Built Environment and Public Health. His current book project is a history of Boston from 1945 to 2015.

In addition to his work on the history of the built environment, Russ’ research interests include the environmental factors associated with learning and education, urban environmental health, and the contribution of the social and built environments to public health outcomes and social disparities. Current and past studies include an evaluation of schoolyard greening projects and student academic performance, a study of the role of neighborhoods in diet and exercise, an evaluation of transportation services in low income communities, and the social and environmental history of racial disparities. He has published articles on racial segregation, income inequality and urban sprawl. Currently, he is Senior Research Associate at Northeastern University and teaches in the University’s Master of Public Health program.

Prior to an academic career, Russ worked for a number of state and city agencies where his responsibilities included developing housing for low income families and managing environmental programs. His non-profit experience includes community organizing and providing technical and management assistance to community based groups. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of LivableStreets Alliance and the Board of Overseers of the Boston Lyric Opera.

Sean Lunde, Questrom ’10, SPH ’10, Director of Finance, Sema4

Sean has over 10 years of experience in healthcare: payer, provider, pharma and life sciences in both domestic and international markets.  He is currently the Principal Consultant, Digital Health, at Wipro Technologies. He was previously the Manager, Strategy and Business Development at Beacon Health Strategies.

Sean graduated with his MBA and MPH from Boston University.  He did his undergraduate studies at University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Jessica Malenfant, SPH’06, Health Informatics Analyst, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute

Jessica Malenfant is a Health Informatics Analyst in the Dept. of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School & Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute in Boston, MA She provides informatics and software development leadership and expertise to support socio-technical platforms used in large-scale research and public health surveillance initiatives. Prior experience includes working as a surveillance epidemiologist at the MA Dept. of Public Health and implementing Electronic Health Records (EHRs) tools to help radiologists meet quality metrics. She focuses on using public health experience to interpret and apply data, standards, & technologies to projects. Jessica holds an MPH from BUSPH and Certificate in Clinical Informatics from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Heather Pierce, SPH ’02, Senior Director, Science Policy & Regulatory Counsel, Association of American Medical Colleges

Heather Pierce is Senior Director for Science Policy and Regulatory Counsel at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), a not-for-profit association representing all 141 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools and nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems. She serves as AAMC’s staff leader on legal and regulatory issues related to basic science and clinical research, and interactions between industry, government, and academia in biomedical research.  She is the program leader for the AAMC’s Forum on Conflict of Interest in Academe and co­ director of Convey, the global financial interest disclosure system developed by AAMC at the request of an Institute of Medicine-convened working group.Heather is a member of the Board of Directors for Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) and has served on committees, task forces, and working groups convened by organizations including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation and Roundtable on Translating Genomic­ Based Research for Health, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the National Dialogue on Healthcare Innovation. She regularly speaks at national conferences on issues related to the protection of human subjects, conflicts of interest, data sharing, privacy, and the regulation of research.Prior to joining AAMC, Heather was an attorney in the Health Care Group of the law firm of Ropes & Gray in New York. Her practice focused on regulatory compliance in medical research and clinical care, working with academic medical centers, hospitals, and pharmaceutical and device manufacturers.

Heather has previously worked as a freelance medical and scientific writer and in development and public education. She received her law degree from New York University and her MPH in Health Law from Boston University (Delta Omega Honorary Society).

Mark Roseman, SPH ’88, ’97, Senior Vice President, Operations at Aurvant

Dr. Mark Roseman is currently the Executive Vice President of Global Scientific Operations at ICON Clinical Research. In this role, he oversees multiple departments, including medical writing, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance and safety services, biostatistics and programming, medical affairs, medical imaging, event adjudication, and interactive response technologies (IRT). Mark joined the clinical research industry 1997 as a director of project management at PPD and has since held a number of senior level positions at PPD, Kendle, INC, and ICON. Prior to joining PPD, he spent five years as a research optometrist at the Framingham Eye Study and six years managing the product development group at CIBA Vision.

He attended Miami University as an undergraduate and received a BS degree in engineering physics. He then went to The Ohio State University where he earned an MS in physiological optics and a Doctor of Optometry. Mark completed his formal education at Boston University School of Public Health where he studied epidemiology and received MPH and DSc. degrees.

Julie Ross, SPH ’00, Branch Chief, Data Operations, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Julie Ross is currently a Branch Chief for Data Operations at the Consumer Product Safety Commission where she oversees injury surveillance and data quality efforts that inform the agency’s regulatory work. Julie has more than 15 years of experience in public health, with three spent internationally. Before coming to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, she provided oversight and administrative leadership to a $5 billion Affordable Care Act home visiting program.

Julie is proud to be a returned Peace Corps volunteer, having served as a health education volunteer in the Dominican Republic. She is a graduate of Cornell University and the Boston University School of Public Health.

Amaru Sanchez, SPH ’09,  Associate, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, LLP

Amaru J. Sanchez is a Law Clerk within the Food and Drug Administration Practice Group at the law firm of Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius in Washington, D.C. In his role, he provides substantive legal research and strategic advice to clients of the Practice Group in matters concerning regulatory compliance, enforcement issues, and public policy.

Amaru previously served as a Project Manager/Senior Analyst at the National Quality Forum (NOF) Measure Applications Partnership, established to provide multi­ stakeholder input to the Department of Health and Human Services on the selection of performance measures for public reporting and payment reform programs. Prior to joining NOF, Amaru served as the Senior Health Policy Research Analyst and Acting Committee Director for the bicameral Public Health Committee at the Massachusetts Legislature. At the legislature, he influenced the passage of several novel public health and healthcare related laws as well as drafted legislative proposals relative to medical debt, chronic disease management, health disparities, and health care transparency.

He is a graduate of the Boston University School of Public Health (MPH, Social Behavioral Sciences/Health Policy and Management) and the University of Florida (BS, Integrative Biology). Amaru is currently pursuing law degree from the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law in Washington, DC.

Elizabeth Sommers, SPH’ 89, SPH ’10,  Senior Acupuncturist and Researcher, Integrative Medicine and Health Disparities Program, Boston Medical Center

Senior Acupuncturist and Researcher in the Integrative Medicine and Health Disparities Program of Boston Medical Center. She holds degrees from Boston University School of Public Health (1989, 2010) and New England School of Acupuncture (1979). She also coordinates an acupuncture clinic at Tufts Medical Center that provides care for individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Sommers has been on the research faculty of New England School of Acupuncture (1990 – 1994) and served as adjunct faculty in Health Policy and Management at Boston University School of Public Health (2015 – 2018). As an acupuncture researcher, she has published and lectured internationally in the areas of acupuncture detoxification, health economics, and treatment of individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Her book “Acupuncture as an Adjuvant in the Treatment of HIV/AIDS” was published in 2014. Dr. Sommers is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine and also serves as the public health editor of the journal Meridians: Journal of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. She co-edited the special public health issue of the European Journal of Integrative Medicine (2013) and also co-edited a 2018 special issue of Medicines on acupuncture and cancer care. She is currently contributing a chapter on health disparities and social justice in the context of integrative and traditional approaches to an international reader Public Health And Health Services Research In Traditional, Complementary And Integrative Health Care: International Perspectives.

She is former chair of the American Public Health Association’s Section on Integrative, Complementary and Traditional Health Practices (2008 to 2013), and currently serves on APHA’s Governing Council and Intersectional Council Steering Committee. A public health advocate, Dr. Sommers is committed to ensuring that healthcare including wellness is a right not a privilege.

She tweets #PublicHealthHaiku with the handle @AcuOxPhD and loves to follow colleagues from all avenues of public and planetary health.

Sonja Tong, SPH ’05, Executive Director, Regulatory Affairs, Gilead Sciences

Sonja Tong is the Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs at Gilead Sciences, a pharmaceutical company in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she currently heads the Labeling and Regulatory Intelligence functions. Since joining Gilead in 2008, her responsibilities include influencing on strategic labeling considerations for global product approval and during label negotiations with FDA and leading cross-functional teams in the development and maintenance of prescription drug labeling for physicians and for patients across all of Gilead products, which includes products for the treatment of HIV, hepatitis C, and hepatitis B; and unmet medical needs in the areas of oncology, inflammation, and cardiovascular disease.

Prior to joining Gilead, Sonja led the global labeling teams for osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis products at Amgen in Thousand Oaks, CA  Sonja has also previously held Regulatory Affairs positions at two pharmaceutical companies in Lexington, MA: lndevus Pharmaceuticals, where she supported the clinical development of products in the areas of overactive bladder, stuttering, and HIV (including a clinical trial of an antiviral vaginal gel conducted in Africa); and Cubist Pharmaceuticals, where she supported the regulatory maintenance and clinical development of products for MRSA. From a summer internship opportunity, Sonja started her career in the Regulatory Affairs department of Genzyme in Cambridge, MA supporting early clinical development of a monoclonal antibody for scleroderma and a xenotransplantation product for Parkinson’s disease and Huntington disease.

Sonja earned a BS from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an MPH from Boston University School of Public Health with concentration in Epidemiology/Biostatistics.

She lives in San Francisco with her husband, and in her free time enjoys traveling.

Scott Troppy, SPH’98, Surveillance Epidemiologist at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Scott Troppy, MPH, PMP, CIC is a Surveillance Epidemiologist within the Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences, Office of Integrated Surveillance and Informatics Services at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) in Boston, MA. His work is primarily focused around surveillance issues as they pertain to Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance. Scott received his B.B.A in Management from The University of Texas in Austin. He moved to Boston in 1990 to pursue a master’s degree. Through several full time and volunteer positions he made  his way to the field of Public Health. He worked full time at Boston University, in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations while pursuing his MPH part-time. He finished his degree in 1998 with a dual concentration in Epidemiology/Biostatistics & Health Policy and Management. After graduation he worked at the Veterans Affairs Center for Health Care Quality and Economic Research leading a large veteran survey around health outcomes. He then joined the Boston Public Health Commission as an Epidemiologist in 2001 and later moved in 2005 to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. While at MDPH Scott lead the project management effort to procure and develop the state surveillance and case management system, MAVEN (Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network).

Rodney VanDerwarker, SPH ’08

Rodney VanDerwarker is an accomplished healthcare executive with over 15 years experience leading and participating on multidisciplinary teams through strategic initiatives and business development in clinical, research and training environments.  He most recently served as Vice President for Primary Care, Behavioral Health and Institute Operations at Fenway Health in Boston, Massachusetts. Fenway Health is a federally qualitied community health center which provides high-quality primary care services to those who live and work in its surrounding neighborhoods as well as to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities of New England and beyond.  Fenway Health is also home to The Fenway Institute, an interdisciplinary center focused on research, education and health policy issues related to LGBT health and HIV/AIDS prevention and care. In his role, Rodney oversaw operations and administration for Fenway’s core clinical departments. He also oversaw the union between AIDS Action Committee, New England’s largest and oldest AIDS service organization, and Fenway Health. Rodney joined Fenway Health in 1997 after working in higher education and then directing an AIDS service organization in southwest New Hampshire.  Rodney earned his Master’s in Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health in 2008. Over the years, he has co-authored several peer-reviewed articles and conference abstracts with colleagues in the areas of LGBT health and HIV prevention and care.

Steven Ward, SPH’95, Founder, Public Health Solutions, LLC

Steve Ward if the Founder of Public Health Solutions, LLC. Public Health Solutions provides regulatory and non-regulatory services to local Boards of Health. The firm provides instruction for relevant public health curricula to undergraduate and graduate students seeking public health careers while participating in internships, practicum(s) and cumulating experiences.

He is the former director of public health for Marlborough, Framingham, Watertown, and Braintree and former deputy director of public health, City of Worcester. Steven is an adjunct professor at Worcester State University and member of the Worcester State University Foundation Board. He is past president of the Massachusetts Environmental Health Association (MEHA) and past president of the Worcester State University Alumni Association Advisory Board.

Steven is certified as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist and a Massachusetts Health Officer. He was appointed to the Board of Certification of Health Officers by Governors Mitt Romney and Deval Patrick. Steven has mentored numerous interns and graduate students from various colleges and universities including Boston University School of Public Health and Worcester State University.

Steven is recipient of the 2016 Distinguished Professional Achievement Award from Worcester State University for a career in public health and for mentoring students. He is recipient of the 2015 Bradley Award for recognition of an outstanding career in environmental health and of the 2002 Robert C. Perriello Memorial Award from MEHA for outstanding work as a sanitarian. Steven is also recipient of the 2004 National Environmental Health Certificate of Merit Award for contribution to the field of environmental health and the 2006 Boston University School of Public Health, Dr. David M. Ozonoff Unsung Hero Award.

Susan S. Garfield, DrPH, SPH ’11

EY Chief Public Health Officer, Americas and Global Client Service Partner, Ernst & Young

Dr. Garfield brings together the latest thinking on public health, industry trends, incentive systems, technology innovations and opportunities, stakeholder engagement, and change to drive health system transformation. She leads EY’s Public Health practice and helps companies drive towards greater health equity, resilience, and overcoming the social determinants of health. She also leads one of EY’s largest Life Sciences accounts, helping on strategy, commercial operations, and leveraging data and analytics to drive growth.  She is leveraging her background in Public Health and Infectious disease to lead EY’s Covid-19 response with governments, employers, and public health/NGOs. Her recent work has focused on commercial transformations, behavior economics’ impact to driving change in healthcare, patient centric strategies, cross-sector collaborations, innovative pricing models, digital strategy, and patient service excellence. 

Dr. Garfield has published numerous articles, chapters and several books on public health, health disparities, commercial strategy, healthcare payment issues, and women’s health; and regularly speaks at conferences and symposiums. She has worked across all major markets, helping clients to navigate complex healthcare systems. Named one of the PharmaVoice 100 top influencers in 2019. 

Dr. Garfield holds a Doctorate of Public Health from Boston University, a Master of Science Health in  Policy and Management from Harvard University, a Master of Science in Population and Development from London School of Economics, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.  Dr. Garfield sits on the boards of Boston University, School of Public Health and Temple Shir Tikva.

Emily Bajcsi, SPH ’03
Partner, Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Emily is a member of the firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice in the firm’s Boston and Washington, DC, offices. Her practice focuses on fraud and abuse, federal and state regulatory, and compliance issues affecting a broad range of health care stakeholders, including home health agencies, hospices, rehabilitation agencies, and other post-acute and long-term care providers, hospitals, and health systems, medical transportation providers; pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, physician organizations; and investors and other financial institutions that invest in or support the health care industry.She represents and defend health care entities in connection with government audits and investigations relating to health care fraud and abuse; assists clients in responding to government inquiries, including subpoenas and audit requests, and manages all phases of discovery from preservation and e-discovery to production; counsels clients and conducts internal investigations related to federal and state health care fraud, abuse, billing, and regulatory compliance issues; assists clients with preparing voluntary self-disclosures; and advises clients on legal and regulatory matters arising under Medicare, Medicaid, and other third-party reimbursement programs, including provider enrollment and participation.Emily received a BS from the University of Denver where she graduated magna cum laude. After graduating with her MPH from Boston University as a member of the Delta Omega Honor Society, she received her JD from Boston College and received the William J. O’Keefe Award for Outstanding Contribution to the law school. She is admitted to the Bar in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Emily is a member of the Boston Bar Association, Health Law Section and the Massachusetts LGBTO Bar Association.

 Jean b. Charles, MD, MED ’85, CAS ’81

Ophthalmologist and Owner, Eye Service Consultants

Jean b. Charles, MD is an ophthalmologist (Eye Specialist) and owner at Eye Services Consultants in Roxbury Crossing, Massachusetts. He has been in practice for 32 years.

Dr. Charles earned a Doctor of Medicine from Boston University School of Medicine in 1985 and a Bachelor of Arts from Boston University College of Arts and Sciences in 1981. He completed a residency at King Drew Medical Center.

Dr. Charles’ spouse is Maureen A. Alphonse-Charles. Ms. Alphonse-Charles is a managing director at Koya Leadership Partners, a Boston-based executive search and consulting firm that partners with mission-driven clients and higher education institutions. She has held this position since 2018.

Ms. Alphonse-Charles earned a Bachelor of Arts from Boston University College of Arts and Sciences in 1985 and a Master of Arts focused in law and diplomacy form Tufts University in 1987.

Dr. Charles and Ms. Alphonse-Charles reside in Hyde Park, Massachusetts.

Kevin B. Churchwell, MD, Par SPH ’18

Executive Vice President of Health Affairs and Chief Operating Office, Boston Children’s Hospital

Kevin B. Churchwell, MD, is the executive vice president of health affairs and chief operating officer at Boston Children’s Hospital. He provides leadership, direction, integration and oversight for the medical delivery system, while partnering with the chief executive officer on a full range of research, clinical, academic, operational and strategic issues.

Prior to joining Boston Children’s, Dr. Churchwell was chief executive officer for Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware. As the lead administrator in the Delaware Valley, Dr. Churchwell was actively driving efforts to increase the quality and affordability of care for all children. Under his leadership, the Leapfrog Group recognized Nemours duPont as one of the 12 safest children’s hospitals.

Dr. Churchwell also served as the CEO and Executive Director for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, part of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. He previously served in several other capacities, including Chief-of-Staff, Medical Director for the Children’s Health and Injury Prevention Program, Medical Director for the Pediatric Critical Care Services, and Transport Director.

A graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Vanderbilt Medical School in Nashville in 1987, Dr. Churchwell completed his pediatric residency and a clinical fellowship in Anesthesia and Pediatric Critical Care at Boston Children’s Hospital. Since 1993, Dr. Churchwell has been a clinician and faculty member at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is a diplomat for the National Board of Medical Examiners and is board certified with the American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Churchwell was recently appointed the Robert and Dana Smith Associate Professor of Anesthesia at the Harvard Medical School.

Mr. Churchwell and his spouse, Gloria Respress-Churchwell, reside in Newton Center, Massachusetts. They have four children: Katherine, a 2018 SPH graduate; Alexandria, Arthur, and John.

Gary A. Cohen, Esq., SPH ’06

Co-Founder, Senior Advisor and Director, Humantics

Gary A. Cohen is co-founder, senior advisor and director at Cambridge-based Humatics, a company that is developing microlocation sensors and human-robot interaction technologies. He is also a founding board member at The Possible Project, a nonprofit youth entrepreneurship program that teaches high school students to start and run their own businesses.

Mr. Cohen has 30 years’ experience as a corporate executive, lawyer, and intellectual property strategist. He has worked with leading life sciences and technology companies focusing on early-stage and advanced research and development and has held significant positions at paradigm-changing organizations, including Genetics Institute, Genzyme Transgenics, Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Foundation Medicine.

Mr. Cohen earned a Master of Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health in 2006, a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 1986, and a Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis in 1982.

He resides in Boston, Massachusetts.

Sally Jan Deane, Wheelock’71, SPH ’88

Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Public Health

Sally Jan Deane has led the transformation and governance of several of the most widely recognized community health service, education, policy, and advocacy organizations in Massachusetts. She is perhaps best known for her strategy and leadership roles at Fenway Community Health Center and Outer Cape Health Services, where she served as CEO; as Board Chair of Boston Women’s Health Book Collective; and for her longstanding role as a consultant/advisor to health, government, and policy clients.

Ms. Deane previously served as vice president of government relations returning to Fenway Community Health Center, an LGBT health care, research  and advocacy organization founded by Northeastern University students. Fenway Health now serves over 30,000 patients annually with a budget exceeding $115 million. She is principally responsible for developing and managing strategies to build the health center’s presence in the city, state, and federal level on issues of interest to Fenway Health and LGBT and neighborhood communities they care for. Fenway Health is a Federally Qualified Health Center and includes AIDS Action Committee and The Fenway Institute.

Ms. Deane served as CEO to Outer Cape Health Services from 2009 to 2016, leading the rural health center’s turnaround, era of doubling of patients served, quadrupling of patient revenues and scope of services, and achieving top quality and cost scores on Medicare Pioneer ACO in the Beth Israel Deaconess Care Organization. An innovative Navigator program, begun under her tenure, partnering the health center’s mental health services with the town of Provincetown’s public safety program to triage and de-escalate what had been police interventions to people needing human service providers instead of incarceration has now been adopted and financially supported by eight of the 16 towns on Cape Cod.

Ms. Deane has been an adjunct assistant clinical professor in Health Law, Policy & Management at Boston University School of Public Health since 1993 where she earned Excellence in teaching award over a dozen times. She has served on the Advisory Board to the Health Law, Policy & Management Department since its formation in 2009.

Ms. Deane earned a Master of Public Health in health services administration from Boston University School of Public Health in 1988, a Master of Education in Counselor Education from Boston University School of Education in 1971, and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and education from Whittier College.

Ms. Deane resides in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Charles L. Donahue, Jr., Par SPH ’12

Former President and Co-Founder, HealthCare Value Management

Charles L. Donahue, Jr., is the former president and co-founder of HealthCare Value Management in Norwood, Massachusetts, which he helped build into New England’s largest network of health care providers used by self-funded preferred provider organization (PPO) plans. After a rich 40-year career in health care system planning and management, he joined Boston University School of Public Health’s Dean’s Advisory Board and will help the Dean and senior school leaders evaluate strategy, provide advice on financial matters, and aid in securing philanthropic support during the School’s development campaign.

Mr. Donahue began his career with an interest in international health as a Peace Corps Volunteer with a tuberculosis control program in Malaysia. He accumulated an encyclopedic list of contacts as his career ascended through the Massachusetts Health Research Institute, where he organized a framework for planning perinatal health services; through the BU Center for Health Planning, where he was the Director of Health Plan Development; and the Health Planning Unit of the Public Health Service of the HHS, where he oversaw the health planning agencies in three states.

While working at those agencies, Mr. Donahue became interested in ways that science-based policy changes—grounded primarily on solid epidemiological techniques—could improve maternal and child health. As a researcher, he co-authored multiple studies, published notably in the Journal of the American Medical Association, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, and The New England Journal of Medicine.

Mr. Donahue eventually became the executive director of the Health Planning Council for Greater Boston, returning to the organization that gave him his professional start. It also brought him back to one of his key interests, tackling the myriad challenges inherent in health care planning for a diverse urban area.

“I have always had a great interest in the City of Boston and working in its neighborhoods, as well as learning about the health care in the neighborhoods and advising people who live there. And I am very interested to see the role the School of Public Health plays in that,” Mr. Donahue said.

Mr. Donahue earned a Master of Arts in sociology from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts in classics from Brown University.

Mr. Donahue and his spouse, Nancy T. Donahue, reside in Westwood, Massachusetts. They have one daughter, Caroline, a 2012 graduate of Boston University School of Public Health.

Jacqueline Fawcett, SON ’64

Professor, Department of Nursing, University of Massachusetts Boston, College of Nursing and Health Sciences

Dr. Fawcett is recognized nationally and internationally for her meta-theoretical work in nursing. Dr. Fawcett received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Université Laval in Quebec, Canada, in 2012.

Dr. Fawcett and an international team of colleagues conducted a Roy Adaptation Model-based program of research focused on adaptation to life events for more than 30 years. She and her colleagues have published more than 200 journal articles and book chapters. She has authored or co-authored several texts focused on nursing knowledge and nursing research. Her most recent book (2017) focused on application of nursing conceptual models to nursing practice, nursing quality improvement projects, and nursing research.

She received her BS in Nursing from BU, her AM in Parent-Child Nursing from New York University, and her Ph.D. from New York University.

Robert E. Flaherty, Jr. 

Operating Partner, Behrman Capital

Robert (Bob) E. Flaherty, Jr., is an operating partner at Behrman Capital, a middle market private equity firm. He has held this position since March 2009. Mr. Flaherty has more than 35 years of operating experience in the healthcare field, with particular expertise in the clinical laboratory and medical device environments.

Previously, Mr. Flaherty was President and CEO of Athena Diagnostics, an early and ultimately the leading provider of genetic testing services to physicians and now part of Quest Diagnostics. Prior to joining Athena, he held a series of senior management positions at Becton Dickinson & Company, a multinational medical technology company, serving as President of Becton Dickinson Medical from 1984 through 1992.

Mr. Flaherty earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1971 and a Bachelor of Science in engineering from Lehigh University in 1968.

Mr. Flaherty resides in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Laurel A. GormleyPortfolio Manager and Equity Analyst, Adage Capital Management, LP

Laurel (Laurie) A. Gormley is a portfolio manager and equity analyst at Adage Capital Management. The Boston-based money management firm primarily provides services to pooled investment vehicles, managing assets for endowments and foundations at organizations including Harvard University, Dartmouth College, the American Red Cross, and the Getty Foundation.

Previously, Ms. Gormley was a senior vice president and research analyst at Essex Investment Management Company, which she joined in 2002. Prior to this, she was a vice president and analyst at John Hancock Advisors for two years and first vice president and analyst at Schroder Capital Management for one year. Ms. Gormley was a portfolio manager and analyst at Dewey Square Investors Corporation for 12 years.

Ms. Gormley holds the Charted Financial Analyst designation and is interested in healthcare investing. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in finance from Boston College in 1984.

Ms. Gormley resides in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

John P. Howe, III, MD, MED ’69

Former President and CEO, Project HOPE

John P. Howe III, MD, is the former president and CEO of Project HOPE, an international health education and humanitarian assistance foundation which operates more than 70 programs in 35 countries on five continents. He held this position for 14 years, from 2001 to 2015.

Before Project HOPE, Dr. Howe held the Distinguished Chair in Health Policy at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and had served as the Center’s chief executive for fifteen years, providing leadership to the University’s Medical School, Dental School, Nursing School, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences, and Doctor of Pharmacy programs. Dr. Howe is board certified in both internal medicine and cardiovascular disease and was a tenured professor in the University’s Department of Medicine.

Dr. Howe earned a Doctor of Medicine from Boston University School of Medicine in 1969 and a bachelor’s degree from Amherst. He served two years in the Army Medical Corps and later completed the Health Systems Management Program at Harvard Business School. Dr. Howe is chair of the Harvard College Board of Overseers Committee to Visit the Medical School and School of Dental Medicine.

Dr. Howe and his spouse, Tyrrell E. Flawn, reside in Washington, DC. He was previously married to Jill O. Howe, a 1968 graduate of Boston University College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Howe has three children, Brooke, John, and Lindsey

Christine S. Hunter, MD, MED ’80, CAS ’80

Chief Medical Office, US Office of Personnel Management

Christine S. Hunter, MD, joined the U.S. Office of Personnel Management as chief medical officer in December 2011, bringing over 30 years of experience in federal health care. In this role, Dr. Hunter serves as medical director for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and Multi-State Plans available through the Health Insurance Exchanges in 36 states. She oversees health care quality for 8.2 million employees, retirees, and families; and co-chairs the National Committee for Quality Assurance Committee on Performance Measurement, working to improve health outcomes for Americans. As a navy rear admiral and deputy director of TRICARE Management Activity from 2009-2011, she coordinated health care for 9.6 million military beneficiaries and managed a $22 billion portfolio.

Dr. Hunter is a Distinguished Alumna of Boston University, where she earned both her Bachelor of Arts and medical degrees. After beginning her career as one of the first women to serve on Navy ships, she completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Hematology-Oncology at Naval Medical Center San Diego. Her clinical practice afforded opportunities to advance care coordination, including the establishment of the Navy’s first multidisciplinary breast cancer clinic. Serving as director, medical services at Naval Medical Center San Diego; executive assistant to the Navy Surgeon General; and then as commanding officer of Naval Hospital Bremerton, Dr. Hunter focused on enhancing primary care delivery; while her tour as Pacific Fleet Surgeon offered an opportunity to redesign resuscitative surgery at sea. Following promotion to rear admiral, Dr. Hunter organized medical support for tsunami and hurricane relief, and led the development of the Navy’s Pandemic Flu Response Plan. Assuming command at Navy Medicine West/Naval Medical Center San Diego, she launched a nationally acclaimed center for wounded warrior care and energized her team to achieve the highest ranking among military hospitals for combined quality, population health, and business performance.

Dr. Hunter is a Fellow and Laureate of the American College of Physicians. Her work has been recognized with a National Association of Government Communicators Competition Award, Athena Chairman’s Award for Community Leadership, and San Diego Business Journal Award.  During her military career, she received the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (six awards), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and Meritorious Service Medals. Dr. Hunter also received the 2010 Humanitarian Award from Boston University School of Medicine. She speaks regularly on leadership and achieving the Triple Aim in health care, and serves on the Boston University Board of Overseers

Dr. Hunter resides in Arlington, Virginia. Her deceased spouse is Robert H. Hunter. They have one daughter, Jennifer.

Joel H. Lamstein

Co-Founder and President, John Snow, Inc. (JSI) and JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., President, World Education

Joel H. Lamstein is the co-founder and president of John Snow Inc. (JSI) and JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., international public health research and consulting firms. Founded in 1978, JSI now has more than 2,100 employees worldwide working to enhance the lives of underserved and vulnerable populations. He is also president of World Education, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of the impoverished through education, economic and social development programs.

Mr. Lamstein is a senior lecturer at both the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is a frequent lecturer on organizational strategy, nonprofit management, international development and strategic management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Kennedy School, and MIT Sloan School of Management.

In addition, Mr. Lamstein serves as the vice-chair of the Global Health Council’s Board of Directors, and is a member of the board of advisors at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health and the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. He is also on the board of Physicians for Human Rights.

Mr. Lamstein co-founded Management Sciences for Health (MSH) in 1973. He has served as an advisor to numerous public health programs throughout the world on issues of public health management.

Mr. Lamstein earned a Bachelor of Science in math and physics from the University of Michigan in 1965.

Mr. Lamstein and his spouse, Sarah Lamstein, reside in Newton Center, Massachusetts. They have three children.

Elizabeth A. Olek, DO, SPH ’02

Infectious Disease Physician and Executive Medical Director, Loxo Oncology Inc

Elizabeth (Liz) Olek, DO previously was the senior medical director at Puma Biotechnology Inc., a pharmaceutical company located in South San Francisco, California.

Dr. Olek served as the senior vice president of clinical development and chief medical officer of Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where she joined from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation having served as global brand medical … director and principal medical science expert in the Infectious Disease, Transplant and Immunology Group. Prior to joining Novartis Pharmaceuticals in 2004, she was director of clinical research at InterMune Inc. from 2002-2004, and director of clinical research at Genetics Institute/Wyeth Research from 1998-2002. In her roles, Dr. Olek was responsible for clinical research and advancement of various infectious disease drug candidates.

Dr. Olek earned a Doctor of Osteopathy from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, a Master in Public Health in epidemiology and biostatistics from Boston University School of Public Health in 2002, and a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of the Sciences Philadelphia.

Dr. Olek resides in San Francisco, California.

Philip R. Reilly, Esq., MD

Venture Partner, Third Rock Ventures

Philip R. Reilly, Esq., MD, joined Third Rock Ventures, a Boston-based venture capital firm that invests in biotechnology startups, in 2009. He supports the firm’s founding and advancement of new ventures, with a particular focus on seeking to nurture and grow transformational companies dedicated to breakthrough treatments for genetic disorders. Dr. Reilly is an accomplished entrepreneur, and has a long standing interest in genetic testing and in developing new therapies for genetic diseases.

Dr. Reilly is a trustee of Cornell University and an overseer of Weill Cornell Medical College. He has served twice, in 2000 and 2003, as president of the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics. He is a founding fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics, the author of seven books, and frequently speaks about genetics, the future of medicine, and bioethics. Dr. Reilly has also held numerous teaching positions at Tufts University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Cornell University, and has served as adjunct professor of both legal studies and biology at Brandeis University.

Dr. Reilly earned a Doctor of Medicine from Yale University, a Juris Doctor from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar and is board certified in internal medicine and clinical genetics.

Dr. Reilly and his spouse, Nancy L. Reilly, reside in Concord, Massachusetts.

John E. Rosenthal

President, Meredith Management

John E. Rosenthal is the president of Meredith Management Corp, a real estate management and development company. Mr. Rosenthal joined the company in 1983 and specializes in the development, management, and renovation of market and affordable housing, as well as commercial properties. His father, Sidney Rosenthal, founded Meredith in 1951. Meredith Management currently employs over 150 people and its portfolio includes 800 apartments and over 250,000 square feet of commercial space. In recognition of Meredith Management’s corporate responsibility, Meredith was awarded the Massachusetts 2001 Governor’s Employer of the Year Award, the Business Partnership Award for 2000 from the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, and the 1996 Employer of the Year from The Employers Association..

Meredith also received a major community service award from MassHousing for creating a housing and treatment program in Southbridge, Massachusetts, for formerly homeless women with children who are in recovery from substance abuse. Under Mr. Rosenthal’s leadership, Meredith Management continues to be an innovator both in providing comfortable living and working environments as well as being an active and socially responsible business.

Mr. Rosenthal is also the founder of two Boston-area nonprofits: Stop Handgun Violence (co-founded by the late Michael Kennedy) and Friends of Boston’s Homeless. Stop Handgun Violence works to prevent gun violence through public awareness, education, policy advocacy and law enforcement strategies. Mr. Rosenthal was awarded the 2015 Wainwright Social Justice Award for his commitment to violence prevention through his work with Stop Handgun Violence. Friends of Boston’s Homeless provides education, employment, housing, and life skills for homeless people.

Mr. Rosenthal and his spouse, Maureen Berkley, reside in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Cheryl L. Scott, MD, MED ’82

Community Health Services Medical Consultant, SC Department of Health and Environmental Control

Cheryl Scott, MD, MPH graduated from Boston University School of Medicine in 1982, just two years after the first cases of HIV/AIDS defined a pandemic whose impact is greater than smallpox. She observed early in her career how healthy communities are interdependent upon race, education, socioeconomics and related social determinants.

Dr. Scott’s wide-ranging interests led to early work examining reproductive outcomes of women affected by the Three Mile Island meltdown, managing complications among HIV-infected patients enrolled in early clinical trials in Roosevelt Island NYC, and providing care to homeless shelter residents in Harlem. Shortly after she began an assignment with the National Health Service Corps in St. Croix, USVI, Hurricane Hugo devastated the territory. After delivering primary healthcare and post-disaster recovery services, Dr. Scott joined CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service and the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHS) in 1993. During her twenty-years as a USPHS Medical Officer, Dr. Scott helped shape maternal and child health state and national policies, contributed to building a global prevention, treatment and care infrastructure for HIV/AIDS, provided leadership to interrupt transmission of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, and responded to multiple global disasters.

Dr. Scott’s international work focused on strengthening health systems and supporting reform in Côte d’Ivoire, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Ecuador, Jamaica, Haiti and Tanzania. She strategized on prevention for uterine rupture-associated infant and maternal mortality in rural Côte d’Ivoire, examined delayed puberty in malnourished schoolgirls in rural Kenya, and delivered in-home care services to villagers residing near the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. Her relief work has supported communities impacted by conflict and disasters including post-earthquake technical assistance to restore Haiti’s tuberculosis program, responding to suspected anthrax contamination in Tanzania and delivering clinical services to newly-displaced Kosovar and African-Colombian refugees. In the early 80s she joined Brigada Venceremos on a mission to Cuba where she visit Cuba’s polyclinics and an HIV sanitarium. These visits complemented Cuba’s medical diplomacy priority, whereby Cuban physicians served alongside Dr. Scott and other nation partners combatting Africa’s AIDS epidemic. From 1993-95 Dr. Scott served as a CDC member of the UN High Commission on Refugees.

Dr. Scott was seconded to the US Department of State in 2000-2005 as the inaugural CDC Director for the United Republic of Tanzania. With an HIV prevalence of nearly 10% in 2000 and no AIDS treatment in a country of 43 million residents, the Tanzanian government sought to develop a coordinated, sustainable approach to reduce disease and poverty. Dr. Scott established a CDC office and $34M HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment program, which laid a cornerstone for the rapid scale-up of national services on Tanzania’s mainland and islands of Zanzibar. She collaborated with multilateral and Tanzania’s European donor partners on founding sixteen national HIV treatment sites, organized technical assistance from several US university antiretroviral treatment partners, and played a critical role in negotiating for the use of FDA-approved second-line antiretroviral drugs for treatment sites in 2004. Her collaborations resulted in Tanzania initiating their first no-cost national antiretroviral therapy program, which provided AIDS treatment and monitoring to more than 10,000 Tanzanians by 2005.

From 2005-2010 Dr. Scott joined the California Department of Public Health Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Service (MDR TB), where she served as the physician lead for prevention, detection, treatment and management of California’s MDR TB cases, the highest in the nation. Dr. Scott retired at the rank of CAPT from USPHS in 2010. She most recently joined the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control as a Medical Consultant working in areas of women’s health and HIV/AIDS. Her work has been awarded throughout her career, and she continues to advise efforts that support her passions of education, history, health equity and civil/human rights.

Dr. Scott grew up in Oakland and Berkeley, CA. She graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz, Boston University School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. She completed residencies in internal and preventive medicine. She enjoys writing and spending time with her husband and twenty-something daughter, a second-year medical student at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Reverend James Peter Sherblom, DMin

Transcendentalist Author

Reverend Dr. James (Jim) Sherblom has had many professional lives as an author, theologian, international strategy consultant, biotechnology entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and ordained clergy. He began his career at Bain & Company in Boston, joined its growing London office, and helped found Bain’s first European office in Munich, Germany. In 1984 he joined Genzyme Corporation as senior vice president and chief financial officer and led their initial public offering. Subsequently, Reverend Jim served as chairman and chief executive officer of Transgenic Sciences in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was the founding managing partner of the small biotechnology venture capital firm Seaflower Ventures for 15 years before he was called to ordained ministry as senior minister of First Parish Unitarian Universalist in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he served for 11 years. Since his retirement from the First Parish Unitarian Universalist in 2015, Reverend Jim devotes his time to writing.

Reverend Jim was a founder, board member, and president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. He also served for three years as a director of the Industrial Biotechnology Association, which is now the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Reverend Jim served over the last 15 years on the President’s Council of the Unitarian Universalist Association, including eight years on the Investment Committee of the UUA Common Endowment Fund, the last four of which he served as chair. Reverend Jim also has served on the Board of Andover Newton Theological School for the last 10 years, first as a special adviser to the President, then as investment committee chair, and most recently as chair of the Board of Trustees.

He was ordained in May 2004 and holds Doctor of Ministry and Master of  Divinity degrees, both with honors, from Andover Newton Theological School. Reverend Jim earned a Master of Business Administration with high distinction from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in history from Yale University.

Reverend Jim and his wife of 36 years, Loretta Ho Sherblom, reside in Concord, Massachusetts. They have two grown children, Sarah and Robert.

Zubeen Shroff, CAS ’86

Managing Partner, Galen Partners

Zubeen Shroff is a managing partner of Galen Partners, a leading health care growth equity investment firm founded in 1990. With over 25 years of experience in building health care companies, Mr. Shroff has acquired deep expertise, and demonstrated strong leadership in working with entrepreneurs to maximize shareholder value in the following areas: specialty pharmaceuticals, medical imaging, therapeutic devices, diagnostics, capital equipment, specialty supplies distribution, consumer driven healthcare, homecare based solutions and technology enabled services.

Prior to joining Galen in 1997, Mr. Shroff was a principal at The Wilkerson Group, a leading medical products management consulting firm, with a client base including pharmaceutical, diagnostic, device, and biotech companies, as well as a few select venture capital firms. He played a major role in developing several of The Wilkerson Group’s practice areas, including outcomes research, strategy formulation, and disease management initiatives. He is the co-author of the book, Integrated Healthcare: Pharmaceutical Company Roles in a Seamless System of Patient Care.

Mr. Shroff started his career at Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals, where he directed marketing, sales, and Phase IV clinical development for the company’s high growth biotech business in France and was responsible for the launch of alpha-Interferon in several new indications.

Mr. Shroff serves as an advisor to several nonprofit institutions. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the $2 billion Westchester Medical Center Public Benefit Corporation (WMC Health), as well as Chairman of its Foundation. Since 2004, he has served on Advisory Committees to Boston University Medical School and The Center for Global Health & Development. He is a frequent speaker on health care market trends, winning medical product and service business models, and the private equity investment climate. Additionally, Mr. Shroff was a founding member of the Wharton Private Equity Network and a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine.

Mr. Shroff earned a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1988 and a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Boston University College of Arts and Sciences in 1986.

Mr. Shroff and his spouse, Anahaita N. Kotval, reside in Tarrytown, New York. They have two sons, Kaivan and Zal.

Sheldon N. Simon, Par BUA ’15
Partner and Equity Analyst, Adage Capital Management, LP

Sheldon N. Simon is a partner and equity analyst at Adage Capital Management LP, a Boston-based money management firm. In this position, Mr. Simon is responsible for investments in energy infrastructure as it relates to electric power and natural gas. Prior to joining Adage in 2002, he spent 18 years at Putnam Investments as an analyst and portfolio manager.

Mr. Simon is a member of the Board of Trustees at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston where he co-chairs the Research Oversight Committee. He is also co-chairman and founder of the Men’s Collaborative to Cure Women’s Cancers at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He most recently served as chairman of the National Advisory Board of the Netter Center for Community Partnership at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, Mr. Simon is an advisor to Boston University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy.

Mr. Simon earned a Master of Business Administration in 1984 from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979.

Mr. Simon resides in Boston, Massachusetts, with his spouse, Ruth A. Moorman, EdD, a member of the Board of Trustees at Boston University, a 1989 and 2009 graduate of Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, and a 1988 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences. Mr. Simon and Dr. Moorman have two daughters. Sarah is a 2015 graduate of Boston University Academy.

John L. Sullivan, MET ’82
Senior Managing Director, Director of Equity Research and Healthcare Investment Strategist, SVB Leerink

John L. Sullivan is the senior managing director of Equity Research and Healthcare Investment Strategist at SVB Leerink, an investment bank specializing in healthcare and life sciences. Mr. Sullivan joined SVB Leerink in 2004. As a sector analyst, he ranked third in The Wall Street Journal’s 2008 “Best on the Street” analysts’ survey. As a stock picker in 2007, Mr. Sullivan earned a #2 ranking among the life sciences tools and services analysts ranked by StarMine in Forbes.com and a #3 ranking among the same group for accuracy of his earnings estimates.

Prior to SVB Leerink, Mr. Sullivan was vice president, senior equity research analyst at Stephens Inc. where his primary focus was on companies possessing enabling technologies for health care-related products for research and drug discovery.

Mr. Sullivan earned a Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies degree and a Government concentration from Harvard University in 2017, in 2017, a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 1983, and a Bachelor of Science in finance from Boston University Metropolitan College in 1982. He became a Chartered Financial Analyst in 2000.

Mr. Sullivan and his spouse, Margaret T. Sullivan, reside in Quincy, Massachusetts.

Michael J. Taylor

Senior Vice President, Aon Hewitt

Michael J. Taylor is the senior vice president at Aon Hewitt, a strategic health care consulting firm. Mr. Taylor has been at Aon Hewitt since 2002 and serves as a strategist and thought leader to Fortune 500 clients. Utilizing his extensive domestic and global experience delivering actionable insights, he advances C-suite level relationships for Aon Hewitt. Additionally, he leads a Delivery Transformation Team within Aon designed to create and offer business solutions for employers and providers as they navigate the changing landscape of health care delivery under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

Mr. Taylor has 35 years of senior management and consulting experience in the health care industry. Prior to joining Aon Hewitt, Mr. Taylor was a senior vice president at OptumHealth where he evaluated OptumHealth growth strategies and advisory capabilities and aligned them with the current and future strategic needs of the major healthcare stakeholders. Before OptumHealth, he was a principal at Towers Perrin in Boston where he headed up the Global Healthcare Practice, the Health and Welfare Specialty Practice, and was a member of the Health and Welfare Leadership Group. He also served as director of managed care at John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company and has more than 13 years of extensive HMO operational experience.

He has taught extensively at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, St. Johns University, Queens College, and the University of Southern California; has been a faculty member of several AHIP educational sessions; and has made numerous presentations to audiences at conferences and business meetings. He authored the chapter on “Employer View of Managed Care” in The Managed Care Handbook—5th Edition, published by Jones and Bartlett in 2006, and is a member of the board of Minuteman Health, a member governed, nonprofit health insurance plan operating in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Mr. Taylor was educated in England and the United States. He earned a Master of Arts in health care administration from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1977, a Master of Science in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1973, and Bachelor of Science in molecular biology from Kings College London in 1970.

Mr. Taylor resides in Newton, Massachusetts.

Donato J. Tramuto

Chairman and Founder, Health eVillages; Chairman of the Board, Aptus Health

Donato J. Tramuto is an author, activist and the CEO of Tivity Health®, Inc., a leading provider of nutrition, fitness and social connection solutions.

A transformational leader and a Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope laureate, Tramuto is widely recognized for his commitment to social change and healthcare innovation. A passionate champion of cutting-edge approaches to healthcare access, drug safety, as well as addressing the social determinants of health (SDOH), The New York Times deemed him a ‘global health activist.’

Tramuto is credited with the turnaround of the Tivity Health’s business performance and adding nearly $1 billion of valuation to the company. In March 2019, under Donato’s leadership, Tivity Health completed its acquisition of Nutrisystem®, Inc.

Tivity Health impacts the lives of millions through its integrated portfolio of pioneering, scalable programs, including SilverSneakers®, Nutrisystem®, South Beach Diet®, Prime® Fitness, Wisely Well™ and WholeHealth Living®. Learn more at TivityHealth.com

Tramuto serves on multiple boards, is the founder of Health eVillages, the founder and chair of The Tramuto Foundation, and the author of Life’s Bulldozer Moments: How Adversity Leads to Success in Life and Business.

He is also the mastermind behind a groundbreaking 360° public service campaign and annual summit addressing challenges unique to older adults, including the too-often overlooked issues of social isolation and loneliness.

In 2018, in tandem with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, his Foundation committed to funding a three-year, $1 million grant to address workplace bullying, launching in 2019 a National Workplace Dignity Program.

Tramuto serves on several executive leadership boards, including the Dean’s Advisory Board of SPH.

In 2013, the Tramuto Foundation endowed a scholarship fund at SPH to provide support for outstanding international students close to completing the MPH degree.

Lawrence W. Vernaglia, Esq., SPH ’94, LAW ’94

Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP

Lawrence (Larry) W. Vernaglia is a partner and health care lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP as well as department chair of the firm’s Industry Teams Department. Foley & Lardner is regularly named Health Law Firm of the Year by U.S. News.

Mr. Vernaglia is responsible for overall strategy and leadership across all industry teams. He has over 20 years’ experience representing hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, and a variety of other health care providers. His practice involves regulatory and transactional matters, including Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement compliance advice and appeals; mergers, acquisitions and financings; state regulatory issues including licensing, fraud & abuse/Stark law analyses, managed care contracting, and general corporate and business planning in health care. He runs strategic planning programs for senior management and governing boards and represents both nonprofit and for-profit/publicly traded companies.

He has served for over 10 years as chair of the New England Region for the Health Care Compliance Association’s Annual Meeting.  Mr. Vernaglia has published more than 70 articles and book chapters on various topics in law and medicine, including the chapter on the health care legal system in the United States for the treatise The Health Care Law Review (in press 2017). He is the editor of two in print health care law treatises: Massachusetts Health & Hospital Law Manual and The Clinical Research Compliance Manual. Mr. Vernaglia serves on editorial boards for several journals and treatises including Medical Economics, JONA’s Journal of Healthcare Law, Ethics, & Regulation and Medicine & Health/Rhode Island, the Journal of the Rhode Island Medical Society and Brown University School of Medicine.

Mr. Vernaglia earned a Juris Doctor in health law from Boston University School of Law in 1994, a Master of Public Health in health law from Boston University School of Public Health in 1994, and a Bachelor of Arts in history from New College of Florida in 1991. He is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, New York, and New Hampshire.

Mr. Vernaglia and his spouse, Dr. Elizabeth Rudow-Vernaglia, reside in Medford, Massachusetts.

Paul Weisman, GRS ’84

Co-Portfolio Manager, Ironwood Investment Management, LLC

Paul Weisman is co-portfolio manager for the Value Investment Partners (VIP) strategies at Boston-based Ironwood Investment Management, LLC. Prior to joining Ironwood in 2009, Mr. Weisman was a portfolio manager at Evergreen Investment Management, a division of Wachovia Bank, for seven years. He was also chief investment officer at J.L. Kaplan Associates which he joined in 1986. From 1983 to 1986 he was an investment analyst at Delphi Management.

Mr. Weisman earned a Master of Arts in industrial organization (applied microeconomics) from Boston University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1984 and a Bachelor of Arts from Haverford College.

He and his spouse, Susan, reside in Sherborn, Massachusetts. They have three children: Krista, Alexa, and Noah.

Arra Yerganian, Questrom ’85

President, The Laurel Springs School

Arra G. Yerganian serves as the President of The Laurel Springs School. Laurel Springs School is the largest private online K-12 school in the US, with students from 50 states and 110 countries.

Prior to joining The Laurel Springs School, Yerganian served as the Group Chief Experience and Brand Officer at Tivity Health where he drove overall brand strategy for the company, created a member-driven, comprehensive, differentiated and unified brand voice, while raising brand awareness and familiarity. He was also responsible for Tivity Cares, company’s corporate social responsibility strategy.

Prior to Tivity Health, Yerganian served as Chief Marketing / Branding Officer at Sutter Health, One Medical and University of Phoenix. He began his marketing career in 1985 at Procter & Gamble, serving as International Market Manager for multiple international markets. He later worked as Managing Director – International, for the Dial Corporation. Providing innovative, market-driven and value-added solutions has been his focus for the past 25+ years.

Yerganian graduated from Boston University’s Questrom Undergraduate School of Business and Harvard Business School’s Executive Education Strategic Marketing Management program. He is an active volunteer and Board Chair Emeritus of the Silicon Valley American Red Cross, and a Board Trustee of St. Andrew Armenian Church in Cupertino. Mr. Yerganian also mentors several entrepreneurs in various fields ranging from brand and performance marketing to expanding one’s personal capacity to effectively lead organizations.

Arra and his wife Taline live in San Jose and have three children, Alec, Talar and Shant, ages 18, 14, and 9. Alec is a 1st year student at Cal Poly University in. San Luis Obispo.