2024 Speakers

Michael Dowling is one of healthcare’s most influential voices, taking a stand on societal issues such as gun violence and immigration that many health system CEOs shy away from. As president and CEO of Northwell Health, he leads a clinical, academic and research enterprise with a workforce of more than 83,000 and annual revenue of $16.5 billion. Northwell is the largest health care provider and private employer in New York State, caring for more than two million people annually through a vast network of more than 890 outpatient facilities, including 220 primary care practices, 52 urgent care centers, home care, rehabilitation and end-of-life programs, and 21 hospitals.

Northwell also pursues pioneering research at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and a visionary approach to medical education highlighted by the Zucker School of Medicine, the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies, and one of the nation’s largest medical residency and fellowship programs.

Mr. Dowling’s leadership has been invaluable to Northwell’s consistent expansion and prominence. In 2020, he successfully navigated the health system through the first COVID-19 epicenter in the US, detailing his experiences in Leading Through a Pandemic: The Inside Story of Humanity, Innovation, and Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Crisis. Overall, Northwell has treated more than 350,000 COVID patients, and the health system utilized a strong innovative culture to expand hospital bed capacity (adding 2,000 beds in two weeks), 3D-print nasal swabs for COVID testing, convert bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) machines into mechanical ventilators and take advantage of its large, integrated health system to “load balance” and transport 810 patients from overrun hospitals to those that had bed capacity. Northwell also kept employees safe, investing in critical personal protective equipment to help those working the front lines, one of whom—Sandra Lindsay—was the first person in the US to receive the historic COVID vaccine in December 2020.

Prior to becoming president and CEO in 2002, Mr. Dowling was the health system’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. Before joining Northwell Health in 1995, he was a senior vice president at Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Mr. Dowling served in New York State government for 12 years, including seven years as state director of Health, Education and Human Services and deputy secretary to the governor. He was also commissioner of the New York State Department of Social Services.

Before his public service career, Mr. Dowling was a professor of social policy and assistant dean at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services, and director of the Fordham campus in Westchester County.

Mr. Dowling has been honored with many awards over the years. In 2020, he received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad, which recognizes individuals for their contributions to Ireland and to Irish communities abroad, presented by the President of Ireland. He has received an honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and is a board member of the Foreign Policy Association. In 2017, he was selected as the Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City; received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for Irish Abroad and was inducted to the Irish America Hall of Fame. He also has received the 2012 B’nai B’rith National Healthcare Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the 2011 Gail L. Warden Leadership Excellence Award from the National Center for Healthcare Leadership and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. In 2020, Mr. Dowling received the Deming Cup from the Columbia School of Business.

In 2011, Modern Healthcare magazine awarded Mr. Dowling with the CEO Information Technology Award. He also was ranked first in Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare list in 2022, a list on which he has appeared 16 times.  

Additional awards include the National Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee, the Distinguished Public Service Award from the State University of New York’s Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, an Outstanding Public Service Award from the Mental Health Association of New York State, an Outstanding Public Service Award from the Mental Health Association of Nassau County, the Alfred E. Smith Award from the American Society for Public Administration, the Gold Medal from the American Irish Historical Society and the Foreign Policy Association Medal, which is the highest honor bestowed by the organization. He was also ranked No. 44 among large company CEOs in the US and was the nation’s top-ranking health care/hospital CEO on Glassdoor’s Top CEOs in 2019 list.

Mr. Dowling is past chair of the Healthcare Institute and the current chair of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences and the North American Board of the Smurfit School of Business at University College, Dublin, Ireland. He also serves as a board member of the Long Island Association. He is past chair and a current board member of the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL), the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA), the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) and the League of Voluntary Hospitals of New York. Mr. Dowling was an instructor at the Center for Continuing Professional Education at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Mr. Dowling grew up in Limerick, Ireland. He earned his undergraduate degree from University College Cork (UCC), Ireland, and his master’s degree from Fordham University. He also has honorary doctorates from Queen’s University Belfast, University College Dublin, Hofstra University, Dowling College and Fordham University.

Chris Murphy, the junior United States Senator for Connecticut, has dedicated his career to public service as an advocate for Connecticut families. Senator Murphy has been a strong voice in the Senate fighting for job creation, affordable health care, education, sensible gun laws, and a forward-looking foreign policy.

As a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) Senator Murphy has worked to make college more affordable and ensure that our public education system works to serve all students. Senator Murphy also led a bipartisan effort to reform our mental health system, working across the aisle to craft the first comprehensive reform to our nation’s mental health laws in decades. 

Senator Murphy has laid out a forward-thinking foreign policy vision for the United States. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he has been an outspoken proponent of diplomacy, international human rights and the need for clear-eyed American leadership abroad.  

Following the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012, Senator Murphy became one of the leading proponents of commonsense reforms to reduce gun violence. He has championed a number of bipartisan bills aimed at expanding background checks and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murphy has fought to increase investments in Connecticut manufacturing and promote procurement of world-class national defense products made in the state. He has fought to expand American manufacturing and create jobs through his Buy American initiative, which urges the U.S. government to spend taxpayer dollars on American-made goods. Additionally, Senator Murphy has worked in partnership with local city and town leaders to rehabilitate former brownfields and factory sites so that they can be developed into new community spaces and businesses.  

Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Murphy served Connecticut’s Fifth Congressional District for three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his time in the House, Murphy worked to improve access to housing for homeless veterans, foster job creation and advocate for affordable healthcare for all Americans. Murphy authored the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act to revitalize housing programs for people with disabilities. The bill was signed into law by the president in 2010. 

Before getting elected to Congress, Murphy served for eight years in the Connecticut General Assembly where he was the author of the state’s historic stem cell investment legislation and the state’s workplace smoking ban. Senator Murphy grew up in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and attended Williams College in Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law and practiced real estate and banking law with the firm of Ruben, Johnson & Morgan in Hartford, Connecticut.

He is married to Catherine Holahan, an attorney. They have two young sons, Owen and Rider, and a cat, Ramona.

Jose M. Prince, MD, FACS, FAAP is the Surgeon in Chief of Cohen Children’s Medical Center and Vice Chair of Surgery and system chief of Pediatric Surgery and Acute Care Surgery at Northwell Health.  He is a Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.  As the founding director of the Laboratory of Pediatric Injury and Inflammation in the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, he has pursued pediatric trauma injury prevention research with a focus on firearm safety.  He serves as the executive sponsor for the Northwell Center for Gun Violence Prevention.

A native of Queens, Dr. Prince returned to New York from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to join the founding faculty of the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in 2010.  He completed both his general surgery and pediatric surgery training in Pittsburgh and is board certified in both specialties.  Dr. Prince graduated cum laude from the Yale University School of Medicine and has authored more than 80 clinical and scientific articles.

Dr. Megan L. Ranney is an emergency physician, researcher, and national advocate for innovative approaches to public health. In July 2023, she joined Yale University as Dean of the Yale School of Public Health, where she is also the C.-E. A. Winslow Professor of Public Health.  

 Her research focuses on developing, testing, and disseminating digital health interventions to prevent violence and related behavioral health problems, and on COVID-related risk reduction. She has held multiple national leadership roles, including as co-founder of GetUsPPE during the COVID-19 pandemic and Senior Strategic Advisor to AFFIRM at the Aspen Institute, focused on ending gun violence through a non-partisan public health approach. She was previously the Warren Alpert Endowed Professor of Emergency Medicine, Deputy Dean of the School of Public Health, and Founding Director of the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health at Brown University. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the Aspen Health Innovators’ Fellowship, and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. 

 She earned her bachelor’s degree in history of science, graduating summa cum laude, from Harvard University; her medical doctorate, graduating Alpha Omega Alpha, from Columbia University; and her master’s degree in public health from Brown University. She completed her residency in Emergency Medicine and a fellowship in Injury Prevention Research at Brown University. 

As director of Northwell Health’s Center for Gun Violence Prevention, Chethan Sathya, MD, oversees the health system’s expansive approach to firearm injury and mortality prevention. Northwell, which established the center as the first of its kind in 2019, has taken a public health approach to gun violence, focusing on key areas such as research, education (health care workers, nurses, medical students, residents), advocacy and community engagement.

Dr. Sathya is a powerful voice and advocate for firearm injury prevention. His role as a pediatric trauma surgeon exposed him to the dramatic and irresponsible results of gun violence, which has fueled his passion to find solutions to the national issue. Among his goals, Dr. Sathya is leveraging Northwell’s diverse patient population and wide reach to implement preventative strategies and perform high-level research. He has presented on gun violence prevention in various forums and in top media outlets such as CNN, Scientific American, The Washington Post, CBC and Huffington Post, among others.

Dr. Sathya also serves as associate trauma director at Cohen Children’s and he’s an assistant professor of surgery and pediatrics at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. He completed medical school and general surgery training at the University of Toronto, followed by Pediatric Surgery Fellowship at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. He also holds a master’s in clinical epidemiology from the University of Toronto, in addition to completing a fellowship in global journalism at the Munk School of Global Affairs in Toronto. He is active in trauma research and works closely with the American College of Surgeons on trauma quality improvement initiatives.

During his clinical training in Chicago, he treated numerous children and babies with firearm injuries and now continues to do the same in New York. As a surgeon-journalist with firsthand experience pulling bullets out of children – many of who die – Dr. Sathya has a unique perspective and deep routed passion in telling the stories of children affected by gun violence.

He has been an invited speaker at a number of prestigious events, including the American Hospital Association Leadership Summit on Violence Prevention and the Healthcare Association of New York State symposium on best practices in gun violence prevention, where he was the keynote speaker. He’s also a consultant to the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, serving as a core member of the Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP) taskforce and the national firearm injury data collection initiative. Dr. Sathya also serves as a member of the Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns Executive Committee.

Roseanna Ander serves as the founding Executive Director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab (since 2008) and the University of Chicago Education Lab (since 2011) with offices in Chicago and New York, which work to design, test, and scale data-driven programs and practices that improve the public sector’s approach to public safety and education. Since their inception, Ander has led the Crime Lab and Education Lab’s efforts on violence prevention, criminal justice reform, and improved educational outcomes in Chicago, New York, and around the nation. Ander also helped launch the University of Chicago Urban Labs network, with the creation of three new, independently run labs focused on poverty, health, and the environment.

Early initiatives Ander spearheaded at the Crime Lab include an evaluation of Youth Guidance’s Becoming a Man program and an evaluation of a cognitive-behavioral therapy program delivered in the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center. Recently, Ms. Ander has helped move forward the Crime Lab and Education Lab’s evaluation of Children’s Home & Aid’s and Youth Advocate Programs, Inc.’s Choose to Change program, an innovative effort that engages youth heavily impacted by violence and trauma and connects them with intensive advocate and wraparound supports along with trauma-informed therapy. Ander was also instrumental in helping launch the Rapid Employment and Development Initiative (READI), a program that connects men most at risk for violence involvement and victimization with cognitive-behavioral therapy, jobs, and wraparound supports.

Ander has worked intensively on the Education Lab’s efforts to support Chicago Public Schools on personalized learning and other innovative ways to improve educational outcomes for all children.

David Battinelli, MD, is transitioning from his role as senior vice president and chief medical officer where he was responsible for the overall professional management of clinical, education, research and operational issues related to medical and clinical affairs. He is assuming the role of physician-in-chief in the coming weeks as Northwell Health’s senior physician on all clinical, research and education issues.

While CMO he also served as the chief operating officer for the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research where he oversaw all operational and budgetary issues for Northwell’s research enterprise growing extramural funding and endowments while improving overall efficiency and research productivity.

Previously, he also served as the health system’s chief academic officer and senior vice president of academic affairs, in charge of all undergraduate and graduate educational programs, all continuing medical education, and academic affairs and institutional relationships. Dr. Battinelli is also vice dean and the Betsey Cushing Whitney Professor of Medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine and will be assuming the role of Dean this summer. A founding member of the SOM he previously he served as the dean for medical education and chaired the committee charged with developing the curriculum for the new medical school.

A board-certified internist, Dr. Battinelli came to Northwell Health from Boston Medical Center (BMC), where he served as vice chair for education, program director, internal medicine residency program and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. He was also an active staff physician at BMC and the Boston Veterans Administration.

Dr. Battinelli is a past president of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine. He has worked closely with and served on numerous committees for a variety of national medical organizations including the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, American College of Physicians, and the Accreditation Committee on Graduate Medical Education, among others. In addition, he has lectured extensively on clinical education, faculty development of teaching skills and internal medicine, and is a noted speaker and author on these subjects.

Dr. Battinelli earned his medical degree from the Rutgers School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, NJ, and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Scranton. He completed his residency and chief residency at the Boston City Hospital.

Shawn Brown joined Youth Guidance as the Executive Director for BAM in Boston in April 2017. He brings a strong passion for mentoring high-risk youth populations and more than 20 years of experience in the fields of youth development and nonprofit leadership in Boston.

In his new role, Brown provides leadership and management for the agency’s new Boston location, which is the first installation of the BAM program outside of the city of Chicago. Working in collaboration with the National BAM Director, Brown engages in long and short-term planning for Boston including the creation of strategic plans, operating strategies, and financial management. He also ensures compliance with grant contracts and licensing agencies, and serves as a catalyst for the growth of BAM by leading fundraising and development efforts in Boston.

Formerly, Brown served as Executive Director of Diamond Educators Mentoring, an organization dedicated to improving academic performance of low-income and at-risk youth, and has established effective partnerships with Boston Public Schools and community providers. Brown received a BA in Sociology from Merrimack College and holds a Nonprofit Management and Leadership Certificate from Boston University’s School of Management.

Gloria Cazares is the mother of 3 children, a Marine, an activist, and victim of gun violence. Gloria has been a home health nurse for 13 years and is a co-founder of LivesRobbed, a non-profit organization started following the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde Texas which took the lives of two teachers and 19 children. including Gloria’s daughter, Jackie Cazares.

Jazmin Cazares is 17 years old, and has recently become an activist. Truth be told, this was not something she planned on doing. But on May 24th, tragedy struck.

Jazmin’s sister Jackie was 9 years old when an 18 year-old with an AR-15 walked into her classroom and killed her at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, TX. 

Since then, their families have marched, protested, lobbied, and so much more to fight for meaningful gun safety legislation. Not long after that, the first piece of gun safety legislation passed in almost 30 years. For that, Jazmin’s family is extremely grateful, but they also believe that so much more can be done to potentially save lives.

“Being in this club is something nobody wants, but when our leaders fail to act, somebody needs to make noise.” – Jazmin Cazares, 17

Dr. Rebecca Cunningham is the vice president for research at the University of Michigan, where she is responsible for fostering the excellence and integrity of research across all three campuses.

She has vast experience as a researcher, administrator, educator and clinician, including more than 20 years spent as an emergency medicine physician at U-M and Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan.

Cunningham’s career has focused on injury prevention, opioid overdose, firearm injury prevention and public health. She is the former Director of the U-M Injury Prevention Center, established a national consortium to improve firearms safety, and served as associate vice president for research-health sciences. She currently co-chairs the National Academy of Medicine Firearm Violence Task Force.

Steven M. Dettelbach was appointed by the President and sworn in as the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on July 13, 2022. Mr. Dettelbach is responsible for leading an agency of men and women charged with protecting the public by enforcing laws and regulations related to firearms, explosives, arson, and alcohol and tobacco trafficking.

From 2009 to 2016, Mr. Dettelbach served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. As U.S. Attorney, he oversaw high-profile investigations and both managed and personally handled large-scale, crisis-level litigations. He also supervised a broad docket of complex affirmative and defensive civil matters. After Clerking for the Hon. Stanley Sporkin, Mr. Dettelbach served from 1992 to 2006 as a career federal prosecutor in the Civil Rights Division and at three United States Attorneys’ Offices. He was also detailed as counsel to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Most recently, Mr. Dettelbach was a partner and litigation group leader at a major national law firm.

In his 30-year career, Mr. Dettelbach has been involved in nearly every type of criminal, civil or regulatory investigation. He has also served in senior policy roles at the Department of Justice, having been appointed by two Attorneys General to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC). Mr. Dettelbach also was appointed to Chair the AGAC Civil Rights Subcommittee by both Attorneys General Holder and Lynch, and he was the longest serving Chair in the Obama Administration.
Mr. Dettelbach is the recipient of numerous honors and awards for his service. These include the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Pace Setter Diversity and Inclusion Award for community outreach and hiring as United States Attorney; being named Prosecutor of the Year by the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators; the Community Partner Collaboration Award for leadership in combatting the heroin and opioid epidemic; the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cleveland’s Louis Stokes Paragon Award; Recovery Resources Exemplar Award for leading the multidisciplinary Heroin and Opioid Task Force in 2015; and the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Award for Public Service in 2016.

Mr. Dettelbach received his J.D. from Harvard University in 1991 and his B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1988. He is married with two children.

Fatimah Loren Dreier is the Executive Director of the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI) and a Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Health Equity Leadership at Yale School of Management. The HAVI is a national network of hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) serving violently injured patients by addressing the social determinants of health. Through innovative community/hospital partnerships in over 85 cities in the US and abroad, the HAVI has expanded health-based, trauma-informed care by cultivating a powerful national alliance of ER doctors, trauma surgeons, researchers, violence prevention professionals, and communities impacted by violence. The HAVI strives to support a system that centers racial equity, preventative public health strategies, and trauma-informed care delivery.  

Prior to joining the HAVI, Fatimah was Deputy Executive Director of EJUSA, a national criminal justice reform organization in which she led an award-winning program on community trauma. Fatimah has received numerous honors and distinctions including 2018 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leaders Fellowship. She received her MBA from Yale University and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. Her work at the HAVI has been featured in The Washington Post, TIME Magazine, NY Times, CNN, NBC News, Health Affairs, and The Trace. Twitter @fatimah_loren 

Victor J. Dzau is the President of the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM). In addition, he serves as Vice Chair of the US National Research Council.  He is Chancellor Emeritus and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University and the past President and CEO of the Duke University Health System. Previously, Dr. Dzau was the Hersey Professor of Medicine and Chairman of Medicine at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as well as Bloomfield Professor and Chairman of Medicine at Stanford University.

Dr. Dzau is recognized globally for a long and highly decorated career as a scientist, administrator and leader. He is known for his seminal work on the renin–angiotensin system and pioneering research in gene therapy for vascular disease. His research laid the foundation for development of lifesaving drugs known as ACE inhibitors, used globally to treat high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. Dr. Dzau has served on the Advisory Committee to NIH Director and chaired the NIH Cardiovascular Disease Advisory Committee. 

Dr. Dzau serves as the inaugural president of NAM and led its transition from the Institute of Medicine. At NAM, he leads a strategy of innovation, action and equity. Under his tenure, the NAM has advanced efforts to improve health equity especially through its Culture of Health Program, the Action Collaborative on Countering the US Opioid Epidemic, the Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity, and the Grand Challenge in Climate Change and Human Health & Equity. As NAM President, Dzau has repeatedly urged for adoption of a comprehensive national research agenda to address the impact of firearm violence, and has argued for increased and sustained federal funding in this area. In 2022, he launched an NAM Task Force on Preventing Firearm-Related Injuries and Deaths to mount a cross-sectoral, evidence-based response that leverages the Academy’s uniquely influential network of experts and nonpartisan reputation to address increasing rates of firearm injuries and mortality in the United States.

Leif currently serves as the Executive Director of Community & External Affairs with UChicago Medicine (UCM). His role is to lead initiatives and programs providing community benefit and facilitate processes to build meaningful relationships between UCM and the Southside of Chicago to achieve health equity through the Urban Health Initiative. This scope includes UCM’s comprehensive Trauma and Violence Recovery Model.

Prior to his position at UCM, Leif served as the Executive Director of Urban Options, an entrepreneurship foundation developing young leaders on the west side of Chicago. Prior to his work at Urban Options, Leif was the Program Director of Public Allies Chicago and has done extensive consulting and training around the country as an Adjunct Faculty member for the Leadership Practice, Aguirre International and the National Service Leadership Institute. 

Leif’s career has traveled widely throughout diverse communities, industries, and across the county. Built upon experiences national service; additional leadership roles have included, non-profit management, fundraising, change management, intercultural leadership development, youth development, community economic development, facilitation, training, along with association and policy work on a national level. 

Additionally, Leif served on the Boards of Directors for both national and local not-for-profits, is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow and is certified in community organizing through both the Midwest Academy and the National Training and Information Center. 

Leif holds B.A.’s in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Robert C. Garrett is the CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey’s largest health network with 18 hospitals, 500 patient care locations, 36,000 team members, 7,000 physicians and the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. 

The network has played a major role in the COVID-19 pandemic, including treating more patients than any network in New Jersey and developing major breakthroughs – the state’s first rapid COVID test, reducing wait time from days to just a few hours and developing nearly a dozen clinical trials for COVID therapies, including convalescent plasma therapy. The network also created a rapid COVID variant test to more effectively treat patients and better track the evolution of the virus. Hackensack Meridian also participated in the development of safe and effective vaccines and distributed more than 800,000 doses statewide.

Under Mr. Garrett’s visionary leadership, the network has made major strides in medical education, behavioral health care, cancer care, innovation and research. 

In 2019, the network opened the first private medical school in New Jersey in decades. The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine offers an innovative curriculum that includes a three-year path to residency, a community immersion program and interdisciplinary learning. The nationally recognized school has graduated 81 students, more than half of whom are practicing in Hackensack Meridian hospitals. The School received final accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)in February.

To streamline breakthroughs in care, the network opened the Center for Discovery and Innovation in 2019, which focuses on cancer and infectious disease, multiple myeloma and regenerative medicine. The center recently received a $108 million NIH grant to develop novel therapies to combat COVID and future threats.

In 2019, the network merged with Carrier Clinic, New Jersey’s largest behavioral health provider to expand access to treatment, better coordinate care and innovative therapies. The merger resulted in the opening of the first urgent care behavioral health center in New Jersey as well as a new state-of-the art destination addiction treatment center that opened in February 2021.

Mr. Garrett also serves on several boards in key leadership positions including: chair of the American Hospital Association Systems Systems Council Committee, which provides guidance on key national policy and advocacy; co-chair of the CEO Coalition, a national healthcare organization committed to improving patient safety and the Bank of America Trust Advisory Board. Mr. Garrett also serves on the Seton Hall University Board of Regents and is a member of the executive committee of the New Jersey Symphony Board of Trustees. 

Mr. Garrett’s leadership and strategic vision have garnered much professional praise including being ranked No. 1 two years in a row by the CEO Forum as one of the 10 CEOs Transforming Healthcare In America, 2021 and 2022; Included among CEO Forum’s 10 CEOs Transforming Industry in America 2023; ranked 60th in Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare 2022; ranked No. 6 on ROI Influencers: Power List 2023 and No. 6 on NJBIZ Power 100 list 2022.

Mr. Garrett is also a national healthcare thought leader who has participated in the International Vatican Healthcare Conference, the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland and the Harvard Business School. He has appeared on national and regional media including CBS’s Face the Nation, CNBC’s Squawk Box, CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange, and Fox News Cavuto Live. He is a frequent contributor to USA Today, Fox News, Modern Healthcare and Becker’s Hospital Review.

Ann serves as Chief, Government Relations and leads a team that advocates for the Clinic in Ohio, Florida, Nevada, and at the local and federal level. Her work directs highlighting and furthering the research, clinical and strategic initiatives of Clinic caregivers and extending Clinic expertise to inform discussions and outcomes with stakeholders.

Ann led advocacy efforts for the Clinic’s state and federal pandemic response and served as a member of Governor DeWine’s Coronavirus Task Force and is currently a member of Cleveland Mayor Bibb’s Health Task Force.  In addition, she was part of the team that created the Cleveland Innovation District, establishing $200 million of Ohio and $300 million of Cleveland Clinic investment for the DeWine administration/JobsOhio Innovation District.

Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic, Ann was vice president of communications at The Ohio State University where she was a member of President’s Cabinet.  At Ohio State, she developed strategy and messaging for major campus and national initiatives.

Ann worked for former U.S. Senator Connie Mack (R-FL), focusing on the senator’s cancer initiatives, and as communication’s director for former Ohio Governor Bob Taft where she helped launch the Ohio Third Frontier project.  As former chairwoman of Children’s Hunger Alliance she focused on expanding school and summer meals for Ohio families. 

Ann grew up in Columbus, Ohio and received her bachelor’s degree in international relations from American University and law degree from the University of Dayton. She was a Rotary Youth Scholar in Eskilstuna, Sweden and studied in Cairo, Egypt.

Kathy Hochul is the 57th and first female Governor of New York State. She began her career in public service on her local Town Board, before serving as Erie County Clerk, and then as a member of Congress for New York’s 26th Congressional District.

As Lieutenant Governor from 2015 to 2021, she successfully spearheaded numerous initiatives and lead the administration’s economic development and job creation efforts across the state. She chaired the statewide Regional Economic Development Councils, and served as co-chair of the State’s Heroin and Opioid Task Force, Women’s Suffrage Commission, Child Care Availability Task Force. She also helped New York State manage the COVID-19 pandemic response, while focusing on a recovery that builds back better and more inclusive.

Since being sworn into office in 2021, Governor Hochul has proposed a bold vision for New York’s future. In her first State of the State address, she declared that this was a new era for New York, and worked with the legislature to pass a budget that included historic-level of investments in the people, places, and things that will make that happen – from healthcare workers and middle-class families to infrastructure, education, and workforce development – while funding the State’s reserves to historic levels. And in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reckless decisions to strip away abortion rights and strike down gun regulations, Governor Hochul led the charge in Albany to successfully pass new legislation protecting reproductive health, strengthening New York’s gun safety laws and beginning the charge to add an Equal Rights Amendment to the New York State Constitution. 

Governor Hochul was born and raised in Western New York. She and her husband, Bill Hochul, are the proud parents of two children and recently became grandparents for the first time.

Nicole Hockley chose to transform unspeakable grief and anguish into action after her youngest son, Dylan, was murdered in his first-grade classroom during the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy.

As the co-founder and CEO of the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation (SHPF), Nicole works every day to protect children from gun and school violence.

SHPF is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Under Nicole’s leadership, the research-driven Know The Signs violence prevention programs were created and are now available to schools at no cost.  Nearly 18 million have participated in these life-saving programs in 15,000+ schools and youth organizations nationwide. As a result, countless acts of violence have been averted – including at least 10 planned school attacks – saving precious lives and helping youth get much-needed mental health support.

Nicole is a leading voice on school safety and gun violence prevention, rising above the political divide over gun control, focusing instead on helping young people get the help they need. She is a sought-after keynote speaker and commenter, sharing expertise on recognizing the warning signs of someone who may be in crisis or at risk of harming themselves or others, and how to safely intervene. She has presented several TEDx Talks, her opinion editorials have been published by Newsweek, CNN, USA Today, and InStyle, and her commentary has been featured in CNN, MSNBC, Newsy, ABC, CBS, and NBC news coverage, among countless other media outlets.

Driven by Nicole’s extensive background in strategic marketing and communications for companies in the U.S. and U.K., Sandy Hook Promise is rapidly becoming a household name. The award-winning and provocative PSA campaigns she helped co-create with BBDO New York have amassed hundreds of millions of views worldwide, including “Evan” which generated two billion impressions and 10 coveted Cannes Lions Awards, “Back-to-School Essentials,” which earned a prestigious Emmy Award for Best Commercial of 2019.

Nicole received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Fairfield University in 2022 and was recognized in 2016 by People magazine as one of 25 Women Changing the World. But her favorite recognition is for being the best Mom she can to her surviving son, Jake.

Nicole’s solemn “promise” to honor her son and the other 25 lives taken on December 14, 2012 with action has never wavered. She continues to spread awareness that violence is preventable and that we each have a role – and responsibility – to “know the signs” and get help.

Christopher M. Jones, PharmD, DrPH, MPH (CAPT U.S. Public Health Service), is the director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Prior to becoming the director of NCIPC, Dr. Jones served as deputy director of NCIPC. In this role, he served as the primary scientific advisor to the NCIPC director and other senior staff on science issues in public health, clinical care implementation, epidemiology, biostatistics, economics, and behavioral science. In addition, he provided scientific leadership and strategic direction by overseeing the refinement of the scientific research agenda and the coordination on the NCIPC strategic priorities of drug overdose, suicide prevention, and adverse childhood experiences.

As deputy director, he also oversaw NCIPC’s Office of Science, Office of Informatics, Office of Strategy and Innovation, and Overdose Response Coordinating Unit. Before joining CDC, Dr. Jones served as the first director of the National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Prior to SAMHSA, Dr. Jones served as acting associate deputy assistant secretary for Science and Data Policy and director of the Division of Science Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). During his career, Dr. Jones has served as senior advisor in the Office of the Commissioner at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) drug abuse and overdose activities, where he focused on strategic policy development and implementation, engaging national and state partners, and conducting research to improve policy and clinical practice. In addition, he was detailed to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy as the senior public health advisor, led the FDA’s Drug Safety and Risk Communication team, and served on the Science Team in the CDC’s Strategic National Stockpile.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Reinhardt College, a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Mercer University, a Master of Public Health degree from New York Medical College, and a Doctor of Public Health in Health Policy from The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. Dr. Jones is a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service and has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications on the topics of substance use, drug overdose, adverse childhood experiences, and mental health.

Errol Louis is the Political Anchor of Spectrum News NY1, where he hosts “Inside City Hall,” a nightly prime-time show that focuses on New York politics.

He regularly interviews top political and cultural leaders, and has moderated more than two dozen debates, including the race for mayor, public advocate, city and state comptroller, state Attorney General and the U.S. Senate.  He also was a panelist in a 2016 Democratic presidential debate in Brooklyn between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Additionally, Louis is an adjunct professor of Urban Reporting at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

Prior to joining Spectrum News NY1, Louis served on the Daily News’ editorial board, and he still pens weekly opinion columns for the newspaper. He also hosted a weekday talk show on AM1600 WWRL.

A graduate of New Rochelle High School, Louis attended Harvard College, where he graduated with a B.A. in Government. He also earned an M.A. in Political Science from Yale University and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School.

Dr. Vivek H. Murthy was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March 2021 to serve as the 21st Surgeon General of the United States. He previously served as the 19th Surgeon General under President Obama. As the Nation’s Doctor, the Surgeon General’s mission is to help lay the foundation for a healthier country, relying on the best scientific information available to provide clear, consistent, and equitable guidance and resources for the public. As the Vice Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Dr. Murthy also commands a uniformed service of over 6,000 dedicated public health officers, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations. The first Surgeon General of Indian descent, Dr. Murthy was raised in Miami and is a graduate of Harvard, the Yale School of Medicine, and the Yale School of Management. He also recently launched a new podcast, House Calls with Dr. Vivek Murthy, designed around how conversations have the power to be healing.  A renowned physician, research scientist, entrepreneur, and author, he lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Dr. Alice Chen, and their two children.

Dr. Tara Narula is a board-certified cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, an Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine, Hofstra/Northwell and the Associate Director of the Women’s Heart Program at Lenox Hill Hospital.  She is also a nationally recognized medical journalist. She is the former CNN Medical Correspondent within CNN’s award-winning Health, Medical and Wellness team and previously was the Senior Medical Correspondent at CBS News reporting for all CBS News broadcasts and platforms including “CBS Mornings”, “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell”, “CBS Saturday Morning”, “CBS Sunday Morning” and “CBS Streaming Network”. She has been a past contributor as well to O, Oprah Magazine. She joined Lenox Hill Heart & Vascular Institute of New York in 2010 and provides outpatient consultative care. After graduating from Stanford University with degrees in Economics and Biology, she was founder and CEO of her own small business, Sun Juice Inc. Subsequently she obtained her medical degree at USC Keck School of Medicine where she graduated with Alpha Omega Alpha Society Honors. Dr. Narula completed her residency in internal medicine at Harvard University/Brigham and Women’s Hospital and her fellowship training in cardiology at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Narula is currently a fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC). She serves as a national spokesperson for the American Heart Association and the AHA’s Go Red for Women Initiative. She is a recipient of a 2022 Emmy Award for Outstanding Live News Program CBS Mornings, the 2019 WomenHeart Nanette Wenger Award for Media and the Super Doctors Award for NYC 2014-2023. Her interests include women’s health, prevention and mental health and resilience. 

Dr. Paruk has recently joined Salesforce as Chief Health Officer & SVP Industry Advisory for HLS. She brings her experience as a practicing physician, chief medical officer, and clinical technology strategy consultant to Salesforce’s HLS. Prior to joining Salesforce, Fatima led McKinsey Company’s Clinical Center of Excellence. She has also served as Chief Medical Information Officer for Microsoft US Health & Life Sciences, and Chief Medical Officer of Analytics and Consumer Wellness at Allscripts, where she provided medical leadership to a world-class team of data scientists. Dr. Paruk successfully demonstrated the power of big data in improving health outcomes. Her team facilitated early identification of chronic diseases, successfully quantified impacts of social determinants of health, and worked to deliver such insights to the point of care to clinicians within their workflows, and to consumers.

Dr. Joseph V. Sakran is a trauma surgeon, coalition builder, policy advisor, public health expert, and nationally recognized advocate for gun violence prevention. He is currently Director of Emergency General Surgery, Associate Professor of Surgery, and Associate Chief of the Division of Acute Care Surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. 

A survivor of gun violence himself, Dr. Sakran’s interest in medicine and trauma surgery began after a stray bullet nearly killed him during his senior year of high school. He has subsequently dedicated his life to treating the most vulnerable, reducing health disparities among marginalized populations, and advancing public policy that alleviates structural violence in low-income communities. 

In addition to being an active clinician, Dr. Sakran is widely known for building diverse coalitions and advocacy efforts within public health and policy communities. Following a 2018 comment by the National Rifle Association that doctors should “stay in our lane” with regard to gun violence prevention, Sakran launched This is Our Lane, a community of medical professionals dedicated to reducing firearm injuries and deaths. 

Internationally, Dr. Sakran has delivered care and sustainable solutions throughout numerous countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, with a focus on long-term interventions and capacity building that reduce the global burden of surgical disease. He has responded to a number of international disasters including the Asian Tsunami in 2004, and the Haitian Earthquake in 2010. 

Dr. Sakran has been recognized for his public health expertise, specifically on firearm injury prevention. He has been honored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and Academy Health, and he is a 2020 recipient of Johns Hopkins’ Catalyst Award for pioneering research on physicians’ role in educating patients on safe gun storage. In 2019, Dr. Sakran was named a Presidential Leadership Scholar in which he furthered his research on safe gun storage. Selected by the National Academy of Medicine to be a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow, he was honored to serve in the U.S. Senate in the office of New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, where he worked on health policy and regulatory issues from 2019-2020. 

Dr. Sakran makes frequent appearances in print and on television. He has written numerous opinion pieces for The Atlantic and CNN.com, and his work has been featured on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, MSNBC, CNN, The Israeli Times, O Magazine, and The Pell Center’s Story in the Public Square. He has also testified multiple times in front of Congress on gun violence prevention. 

Dr. Sakran is an active leader in the medical and gun violence prevention communities. He serves on the governing council of the Young Fellows Association of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), and he is vice-chair of ACS’s International Subcommittee for Operation Giving Back. He served on the board of The Brady Campaign from 2018-2019 and frequently collaborates with other gun violence prevention organizations. 

Dr. Sakran received his medical degree from The Medical School for International Health in Israel, a unique collaboration between Ben-Gurion and Columbia University. He completed his general surgery training at Inova Fairfax Hospital, and later completed a fellowship in Traumatology, Surgical Critical Care, and Emergency General Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a Masters in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Dr. Sakran earned his undergraduate degree from George Mason University, where he first trained as a medic and firefighter. He is a first-generation Arab-American, has lived and worked throughout the United States, Israel, Africa, and India, and speaks Arabic and Hebrew.

Anthony Signorelli is Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships for the Ad Council, the national nonprofit that mobilizes the energy and talents of the communications industry to make a measurable impact on the most critical social issues of today. In his role, Anthony identifies and cultivates partnerships and corporate social responsibility initiatives on behalf of the Ad Council and its more than 30 public service campaigns.

Anthony is a disrupter in the social impact marketing landscape, working as a champion for increased brand purpose and advocating for the critical role brands play in enacting social change. His work developing corporate coalitions to fund and support individual campaigns has revolutionized the way the Ad Council works with brands and brings social good campaigns to market, including the iconic and Emmy-winning Love Has No Labels and groundbreaking COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative, which is supported by more than 30 brands including Amazon, Apple, Bank of America, Budweiser, General Motors, Google, Mastercard, Unilever, Verizon, and Walmart.  In addition, Anthony has orchestrated impactful partnerships with leading brands, such as a Nationwide and Ready.gov emergency preparedness campaign and Microsoft and “Empowering Girls in STEM” campaign.

Anthony currently serves on the leadership team of the Health Action Alliance, which helps over 4,000 companies and their employees navigate evolving health challenges and advance health equity, and has been a featured speaker on behalf of the Centers for Disease Control, Beyond Sports United, Brandweek, and bbcon. 

He received his Master’s in Business Administration from Fordham’s Graduate School of Business and has served as an adjunct professor with the Communications & Media Studies Department at Fordham University. 

Anthony lives in Verona, New Jersey with his wife and two children.

Amy L. Solomon was appointed Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Justice Programs. She leads the Department of Justice’s principal funding, research and statistical component, overseeing about $5 billion annually in grants and other resources to support state, local and tribal criminal and juvenile justice activities and victim service programs.

Before she was appointed to lead OJP, Amy was Vice President of Criminal Justice at Arnold Ventures, where she launched and led a corrections reform portfolio. The new investment portfolios aimed to reduce the reach and transform the culture of prisons; spark a fundamental shift in the focus of community supervision from catching failure to promoting success; and expand economic opportunities for people with a criminal record. Amy actively collaborated with other philanthropies, serving on the Executive Committee of the Criminal Justice Funders Forum and the founding Clean Slate Advisory Board.

Prior to joining Arnold Ventures, Amy served for seven years in the Obama administration as director of policy for OJP and as senior advisor to OJP’s Assistant Attorney General. She worked with Justice Department leadership and the White House to shape, launch, and implement a broad range of domestic policy initiatives focused on criminal justice reform, urban policy, and building trust between the justice system and communities of color. Amy was also executive director of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, a cabinet-level body established by President Obama and comprising more than 20 federal agencies. The Council spearheaded substantial policy reforms, including the federal Ban the Box rule, fair housing guidance, the Second Chance Pell initiative, Medicaid guidance for the justice-involved population, and a critical modification related to child support.

Before joining the Obama Administration, Amy spent 10 years at the Urban Institute, where she directed projects relating to prisoner reentry and public safety. Through foundational Reentry Roundtables and seminal reports, Amy was part of the small team to define and establish reentry as a national concern. She previously worked at OJP’s National Institute of Justice where she developed community crime-reduction and reentry initiatives. Amy helped shape and manage the country’s first national prisoner reentry efforts, the Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative (SACSI), Community Mapping, Planning and Analysis for Safety Strategies Initiative (COMPASS), and the Crime Policy for the 21st Century Initiative. Amy has also managed a community service program for justice-involved individuals; developed reentry strategies for a state department of correction; and worked with juveniles in probation, halfway house, and school settings.

Amy has served on numerous advisory councils and boards, helping shape innovative approaches to criminal justice challenges in collaboration with policymakers and practitioners, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders, and the advocacy community. Amy has received several awards for her pioneering work, including the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Leadership to the Cabinet-Level Reentry Council. Amy holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan.

Ramon Soto is a skilled marketing executive with deep healthcare and financial services experience. He has a demonstrated ability to create vision, establish long-term strategies and lead cross-functional teams. Mr. Soto has a proven track record of profitable growth in consumer, business-to-business and direct marketing. He is a passionate thought leader with strong analytic and Six Sigma quality skills.

Mr. Soto is the senior vice president, chief marketing and communications officer for Northwell Health. Mr. Soto is responsible for the development and execution of Northwell’s brand strategy, as well as for all aspects of marketing and communications, including public relations, digital engagement, strategic marketing, clinical marketing and customer acquisition.

Mr. Soto is a member of Northwell Health’s executive leadership, responsible for shaping the growth strategy and execution for the enterprise. Northwell Health is New York’s largest healthcare provider with a network of 22 hospitals, nearly 800 community and research facilities and 81,000 employees. With 5 million patient visits in 2018, Northwell Health is also one of the fastest-growing healthcare providers. Its market reach has expanded principally via acquisition of new hospitals, ambulatory facilities, physician practices and joint ventures.

Mr. Soto was formerly the chief marketing officer for Magellan Health, a healthcare services company focused on the unmet needs of individuals in the fast growing, highly complex and high cost areas of healthcare.

Prior to Magellan, Mr. Soto was a senior vice president with Aetna, managing the commercial marketing function for the Aetna enterprise. Mr. Soto ran the marketing function for Aetna’s national accounts, middle market, small group, specialty product and international business divisions, representing $32 billion in annual revenue.

Before his nine years at Aetna, Mr. Soto spent seven years at GE Capital. He had increasing levels of marketing responsibility in several GE Capital businesses, culminating in his executive leadership responsibilities as vice president of marketing and channel development for GE Capital Small Business Solutions.

In 2006, Mr. Soto was admitted into Yale School of Management’s MBA program for executives. He is also a graduate of GE Capital’s Leadership Interchange, a high potential manager training program. He is Six Sigma certified, was awarded a US government patent for co-development of GE Capital’s product development process and was an instructor at GE’s Small Business College.

Mr. Soto received his B.A. from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1988.

Kevin Sowers is president of the Johns Hopkins Health System and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine. 

As the second person in Johns Hopkins history to hold these dual roles, he oversees the health system’s six hospitals, which are located in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Florida. He sets strategies that align with the organization’s tripartite mission: to deliver outstanding care, train the next generation of leaders, and advance research and discovery. 

He also serves as chair of Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, which has more than 40 primary and specialty care outpatient sites throughout Maryland and the Washington, D.C., area.

Mr. Sowers came to Johns Hopkins Medicine after 32 years with Duke
University Health System. He spent the last eight years at Duke as president and CEO of Duke University Hospital.

He joined Duke Hospital in 1985 as a staff nurse in oncology and held several faculty and nursing leadership positions. His numerous senior leadership posts across Duke Health System included serving as chief operating officer for Duke Hospital and as interim CEO for Duke Regional Hospital.

During his time at Duke, Mr. Sowers oversaw the consolidation of clinical lab services, emergency and trauma services, and managed care and patient care services.

He earned his bachelor of science degree from Capital University School of
Nursing and his master of science degree from Duke University School of Nursing. He is an American Academy of Nursing fellow and has collaborated on numerous research efforts and has served as a consultant internationally. He currently serves as an instructor for the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.

Mr. Sowers has published extensively and speaks nationally and abroad on issues such as leadership, organizational change, mentorship and cancer care. The Maryland Daily Record recently recognized him as one of the top power players in health care, and in 2020, he was recognized by the Columbia School of Business with the prestigious Deming Cup Award, which honors business leaders for outstanding merit in operations and for fostering a culture of continuous improvement within their organizations.