The 2024 Trailblazers in Health Care
Meet the people helping us feel – and live – better
Donna Bailey, Alina Mateo & James Lin Sam Fritch; Provided; LECOM
From the biotech startups and nationally top-ranked hospitals of Philadelphia’s University City to the osteopathic-medicine empire expanding from its Lake Erie base, Pennsylvania’s health care landscape is without a doubt among the nation’s most dynamic.
Under the leadership of the trailblazers on this year’s inaugural list, the commonwealth remains a place of incredibly diverse and innovative health activity. Social workers are devising new approaches to the behavioral health crisis; lawyers, lobbyists and legislators are fighting to improve care access, workforce development and safety. And many of the world's leading pharmaceuticals are nurtured right here in the commonwealth, along with startups devoted to streamlining everything from vaccine access to prescription benefits.
Here, a look at the people who ensure the well-being of Pennsylvania's residents, medical infrastructure and health workforce.
Nicole Aiken-Shaban
Philadelphia-area clients turn to health care regulatory attorney Nicole Aiken-Shaban to solve operational and business challenges and to close deals. Ranked in Chambers USA for Pennsylvania Healthcare for the past six years, Aiken-Shaban counsels health care providers and suppliers, private equity funds, Medicare and Medicaid managed care organizations and life sciences companies on a variety of transactional and regulatory issues. Celebrating 10 years with the firm, where she is a partner, Aiken-Shaban also serves as chair of its Women’s Initiative Network.
Donna Bailey
As CEO of Community Behavioral Health, Donna Bailey is committed to the partnerships that facilitate access to mental health services. These include a collaboration with the School District of Philadelphia on behavioral health support for all district schoolchildren as well as HAIR, a pilot program to train hairstylists on client interventions around substance use, mental health and suicide prevention. Bailey has also held leadership roles with Public Health Management Corporation, the state Department of Public Welfare and the City of Philadelphia.
Greg Baker
Pharmacist and entrepreneur Greg Baker brings decades of clinical and direct pharmacy experience to his role as CEO of AffirmedRx, the startup pharmacy benefit manager he founded in 2021. His vision is a public benefit corporation that streamlines the pharmacy experience, focusing on patient satisfaction. Baker previously held longtime pharmacy leadership roles with Premise Health and Walgreens and has taught as a pharmacy faculty member at Purdue University.
Ashis Barad
As chief digital and information officer for the Allegheny Health Network, Ashis Barad believes data can transform the patient experience, making so-called virtual health more predictive and therefore proactive. Barad, a pediatric digestive specialist, brings a techie’s idealism to his role at the forefront of medical technology bolstered by a partnership between the Highmark Health division and Google Analytics. He previously headed digital analytics at Baylor Scott & White Health in Dallas, where he also served as chief of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition.
Charles Barbera
In 2022, Charles Barbera became the first physician to lead Reading Hospital in its 150-year history. Barbera first joined the hospital – Tower Health’s flagship institution – in 1996 and chaired its emergency medicine department for more than 20 years. He was instrumental in creating its trauma center, pediatric and psychiatric emergency departments and telemedicine program, and has led the facility to top rankings from Healthgrades – including as one of America’s 50 best hospitals.
Bob Begliomini
As senior vice president at the Lehigh Valley Health Network, Bob Begliomini has steered the health system through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic – and, more recently, through an ongoing merger with Jefferson Health. Begliomini, who holds a doctorate in pharmacy as well as an MBA, has devoted his career to the health system, which he joined 23 years ago. He is also president of the network’s Lehigh Region and of the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest campus.
Samantha Bobila
As chief external affairs officer for Planned Parenthood Keystone since 2020, Samantha Bobila oversees fundraising, advocacy and communications to grow the organization’s public and private partnerships. Her efforts have doubled charitable annual revenue – including six of PPK’s largest-ever charitable contributions – and secured public funding for initiatives including telehealth, LGBTQ+ support and capital improvements. Bobila, who holds a master’s in women’s studies, has over a decade of nonprofit leadership experience, with an emphasis on health care access and social equity.
Leigh Braden
Demand for behavioral health care is soaring, and at Philadelphia-based Mental Health Partnerships, social worker Leigh Braden has mounted a proactive response. As division director of the Institute@MHP, Braden has expanded Mental Health Partnerships’ behavioral health offerings across the commonwealth and into Florida over the past decade; she has also boosted revenue through diversifying funding sources. Known for her compassionate work with LGBTQ+ youth, Braden previously managed a homeless shelter in Philadelphia for this population.
Michelle Garvey Brennfleck
When hospitals look to merge or health systems seek guidance on HIPAA, they frequently turn to Michelle Garvey Brennfleck, who co-leads the health care industry group at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney in Pittsburgh. Named to the Best Lawyers in America’s Healthcare Law category, Brennfleck serves on a team that successfully negotiated a 15-hospital, $5 billion health system merger – the kind of transaction that consistently garners top rankings from U.S. News & World Report and Chambers USA. Brennfleck also co-leads the Buchanan Network of Women.
Michele Brooks
At the helm of the Pennsylvania Senate’s Health and Human Services committee, Michele Brooks most recently co-sponsored successful bipartisan legislation to establish the Women, Infants, and Children State Advisory Board and authored a new law that provides nutrition for medically fragile babies. The three-term Republican also crusades for the health issues affecting her rural constituents in Mercer, Crawford and Lawrence counties – including funding for community health services, measures to ease the state’s health labor shortage and greater awareness of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.
Florastine Byarms
Flo Byarms is the inaugural director of the Community Wellness Initiative for the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she promotes projects like a garden to grow fresh produce for the community. Her approach led the federal Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion to name PCOM a Healthy People 2030 Champion for its commitment to collective wellness. Byarms, who serves on the NAACP PA State Health Committee, shares her personal take on health and Christian inspiration on her YouTube channel, “FloHasFaith.”
Julia Coelho
Attorney Julia Coelho chairs the health care group at McNees Wallace & Nurick – where, since assuming the role in 2020, she has grown the practice in personnel, markets and industry sectors. The Brazil-born lawyer, who joined the firm 15 years ago, routinely represents hospitals and other health organizations on transactions and regulatory compliance. She also works with clients on facility licensing, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, and fraud and abuse issues. Coelho is active with the American Health Lawyers Association, among other industry groups.
Leslie Donato
Leslie Donato is currently executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Cencora, the global pharmaceutical giant formerly known as AmerisourceBergen, where she recently oversaw the $150 million launch of Cencora’s first venture capital fund. After heading strategy for Bayer, Donato joined Cencora in 2019, leading both U.S. and global markets for key pharmaceutical categories. She was previously a founding partner and longtime principal at McKinsey’s Philadelphia office, where her consulting clients included numerous health company executives.
Erin M. Duffy
Attorney Erin Duffy is the new chair of the Health Law Practice Group at Duane Morris, where she has been a partner for a decade. She specializes in corporate health care regulatory matters, including transactions like Temple University Health System’s acquisition of Chestnut Hill Hospital. Duffy also regularly counsels health systems, medical practices, specialized facilities and pharmacies on issues ranging from fraud and abuse and privacy to medical staff relations and Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement.
Nora Dowd Eisenhower
Nora Dowd Eisenhower is one of the commonwealth’s foremost experts on aging. She is currently the volunteer state president at AARP Pennsylvania, the commonwealth chapter of the national advocacy organization for people over 50, where she previously served as Pennsylvania state director. Eisenhower most recently headed the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on Aging; she has also served as secretary of the state Department of Aging and held leadership roles with the federal Office of Older Americans and the National Council on Aging.
George Fernandez
George Fernandez is the Dominican-born social entrepreneur behind Color & Culture, the organization he founded to provide culturally relevant consulting – especially in health care and social assistance for multicultural and LGBTQ+ communities. Under his leadership, Color & Culture won this year’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Health Equity Award for its pandemic-era mobile health care initiative. Fernandez’s Latino Connection initiative also organized this year’s Annual Latino Health Summit and Adelante Health and Wellness Expo in Bethlehem – Pennsylvania’s leading forum for Latino health issues.
John M. Ferretti
When he founded the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine three decades ago, physician John Ferretti was at the forefront of a powerful trend in U.S. medicine. Since then, osteopathic medicine has integrated into America’s health system – and LECOM is now a training powerhouse with five campuses and a statewide economic impact of $1.2 billion annually. In addition to overseeing the nation’s only osteopathic academic health center, LECOM Health, Ferretti has spearheaded schools of podiatric medicine and pharmacy, and he continues to steer the institution’s ongoing national expansion.
Elizabeth Flodin
Elizabeth Flodin delivers babies, counsels patients and advocates for women’s reproductive rights as the first female chief of gynecology for the Lehigh Valley Health Network. She first joined as a resident, helping pioneer a surgical robot program. More recently, Flodin shepherded the health system through novel practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and created a post-surgery protocol to improve outcomes after gynecological interventions – part of her larger effort to ensure patient safety at LVHN through evidence-based medicine.
Dan Frankel
Longtime state Rep. Dan Frankel serves as majority chair of the Pennsylvania House Health Committee, where he leads Democratic efforts to legalize cannabis and preserve abortion rights in the commonwealth. Most recently, he co-sponsored a measure championing the Rural Healthcare Grant Program with his Health Committee co-chair, Republican state Rep. Kathy Rapp. Frankel founded and co-chairs the PA Women’s Health Caucus; he also co-chairs the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus and the PA SAFE Caucus, which addresses gun violence, and serves on the House Rules Committee.
Terry Gilliland
Surgeon Terry Gilliland was recently appointed president and CEO of Geisinger, the Danville-based health system. He oversees nearly 30,000 employees at 13 hospital campuses, a medical college, research facilities and a health plan serving 3 million Pennsylvanians. Gilliland, who holds a management degree from Stanford University’s business school, previously had a long career as a surgeon in Colorado. He more recently served as chief medical officer at Cogitativo, a Berkeley, California health data science organization, and at Sentara Healthcare in Norfolk, Virginia.
Gary Goldenberg
Gary Goldenberg is the chief medical officer of Verrica Pharmaceuticals, a West Chester-based dermatology therapeutics company. A longtime dermatology professor at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine in New York City, he also has a private medical and cosmetics practice. Goldenberg, a graduate of Temple University’s medical school, had logged several years on the Verrica board before stepping up to lead research at the firm – which, a decade in, already counts 50 products for such vexing problems as plantar and genital warts.
Zack Gray
Tackling the commonwealth’s opioid crisis head-on is Zack Gray, the founder and CEO of Ophelia, the company responsible for innovating a home-based and telehealth support model for the lifesaving treatment of opioid use disorder. In Pennsylvania, Ophelia is available to 3 million Highmark Health members; additionally, as of this year, Gray has expanded the company’s reach to Medicaid and other vulnerable patients through a collaboration with Highmark Wholecare. Under his leadership, Ophelia was recently designated Pennsylvania’s First Virtual-Oriented Center of Excellence for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment.
Stacy Gromlich
For over two decades, lobbyist Stacy Gromlich has been an influential voice in the commonwealth’s health policy conversation. She honed her knowledge as a research analyst for the state House Health and Human Services Committee; as an associate at Malady & Wooten, she has promoted recent initiatives around nutrition for chronic disease, as well as access to new gene therapies for Medicaid recipients. Gromlich also serves on the board of Nouri’s Place, a nonprofit supporting families of neurodiverse individuals.
Geoff Gross
Health entrepreneur Geoff Gross is the driving force behind Medical Guardian, a remote health-monitoring device company he built from a Philadelphia startup into an industry leader. Gross’ 20-year-old company enables independence for 600,000 senior Americans and peace of mind for their families – and established the CEO as an authority in the personal emergency response industry (he is currently board president of the Medical Alert Monitoring Association). Gross is also a fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Geoffrey Hale
The commonwealth’s top public health care advocate is Geoffrey Hale, who, since 2019, has served as chief deputy for the state attorney general’s health care section. In this role, Hale fights for Pennsylvanians denied necessary care or reimbursement and advises the governor and legislature on consumer health issues and policy. Hale, who holds a doctorate in German literature, is a seasoned legal health advocate, having previously worked as the senior attorney for the health law unit at the Empire Justice Center in New York.
Anne Hart
With a background that spans state health policy and training as both a physician assistant and a paralegal, Anne Hart brings broad authority to her role leading The Bravo Group’s health care government relations practice. Her efforts have helped integrate telemedicine into the state’s health care system and fund capital projects for hospitals and community health centers. Hart previously served as executive director of the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee and oversaw legislative affairs for the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Kevin Harter
After nearly a decade as Penn State College of Medicine’s chief innovation officer, Kevin Harter is the new CEO of Respana Therapeutics, a therapeutic antibody company. At Penn State, where he was also associate dean of medical innovation, Harter championed commercialization efforts that yielded a tenfold increase in annual royalties. He also spearheaded the Penn State Emergency Response Team to spur production of critical medical devices. Harter previously co-founded The Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central PA, a commonwealth-funded outfit, and was CEO of Saladax Biomedical.
Art Haywood
Philadelphia Democrat Art Haywood is a voice for health equity in the state Senate, where he is minority chair of the chamber’s Health and Human Services Committee. He has recently championed legislation to combat lead in public school water and to waive admission fees for caregivers accompanying the disabled. Haywood was a prominent figure in the commonwealth’s pandemic response, advocating for vaccine access and mobile clinics as a member of the governor’s COVID-19 vaccine task force.
Patricia Higgins
To her role overseeing health care delivery for Capital Blue Cross, Patricia Higgins brings a rich industry background that includes experience as a registered nurse as well as sales and compliance roles. In her current position, Higgins is responsible for provider engagement, clinical programming and pharmacy for the Harrisburg insurance outfit. She joined Capital Blue Cross in 2002 and most recently served as senior vice president for risk management. Higgins also serves on the board of Hospice of Central PA.
Frank Igwe
Frank Igwe is the man behind one of Southeastern Pennsylvania’s most successful health outfits – Moravia Health, a decade-old company that provides home care to nearly 2,000 Medicaid and Medicare patients statewide. Under his leadership, Moravia has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for quality and was named the official home care agency for the Philadelphia Eagles. Igwe’s business success is doubtless informed by a background in management consulting and by his digital savvy (he holds a doctorate in information science and technology).
Kurt Imhof
The commonwealth’s dynamic life sciences industry has a cheerleader in Kurt Imhof, who advocates for medical, pharmaceutical, research and investment outfits as state policy and public affairs chief for Life Sciences PA. He makes the case in Harrisburg on behalf of a coalition that has grown in scope and influence since its 1989 founding by Penn State researchers. Imhof, a Temple University graduate, honed his political skills during a decade of working for the U.S. Senate and in Philadelphia for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
Frank Ingari
Longtime health care executive Frank Ingari currently leads Tandigm, a Conshohocken-based health support outfit. He draws on decades of industry and corporate governance experience, including as a co-founder and the CEO of Lumeris, a health care platform and services vendor. Prior to Tandigm, Ingari steered the turnaround and sale of NaviNet, where he was the chief executive; his career also includes leading Essence Healthcare, a physician-driven health plan, to a half-billion dollars in premium revenue.
Clayton Jacobs
With Alzheimer’s gaining attention nationally, Clayton Jacobs makes an impact as executive director for the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Pennsylvania Chapter. He has thrown his support behind legislation around insurance coverage for biomarkers and Medicare coverage for the first FDA-approved Alzheimer’s treatments, as well as establishing Pennsylvania’s first-ever state Office of Alzheimer’s Disease. In addition to promoting research and health care access, Jacobs also oversees diversity efforts, educational and support programs and fundraising through events like the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
Louis P. Kassa III
Louis Kassa III heads up the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, a nonprofit life sciences incubator, as well as its umbrella organization, the Hepatitis B Foundation, and its research affiliate, the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute. Kassa joined the Doylestown-based organizations in 2014 as COO; he now leads a fast-growing outfit with 90 member companies and recently unveiled a new laboratory complex at Philadelphia’s Schuylkill Yards. Kassa also co-founded the Hatch Biofund, which has thus far raised $30 million to support startups.
Patrick Keenan
For over a decade, Patrick Keenan has helped connect Pennsylvanians with health resources at the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, where he currently oversees policy and partnerships. In this role, he advocates for lower health costs, greater access and more consumer protections, all while advancing efforts to tackle the social determinants of health. Keenan, who holds a master’s in counseling, also spearheaded the Philadelphia organization’s statewide consumer engagement program, including a helpline serving nearly 20,000 people annually.
Brian Kelly
Veteran lobbyist Brian Kelly is the health care practice lead at One+ Strategies. His advocacy has been pivotal in passing recent state legislation on telemedicine, donor milk banks, and eligibility for the state’s prescription assistance program. He has also secured funding for Medicaid, mental health services, and biotech research. A member of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business & Industry’s Health Care Council, Kelly has also worked on the Quality Care Assessment for hospitals and the Opioid Settlement Fund.
Tarik Khan
When he won election to the state House of Representatives in 2022, Philadelphia progressive Tarik Khan became the first advanced-practice nurse ever elected to the Pennsylvania legislature. Khan, a Democrat up for reelection this fall, brings a perspective gained from nearly two decades of nursing – and his pandemic-era vaccine equity campaign – to Harrisburg, where he recently championed measures to reinforce abortion access. He currently serves on the House Health, Human Services and Aging & Older Adult Services committees.
Michael Kornhauser
Physician and health manager Michael Kornhauser is the chief medical officer for United Healthcare Community Plan of Pennsylvania, a Medicaid insurance program. He also serves on the board of trustees for HealthShare Exchange, a Philadelphia-based industry group that promotes data sharing to improve health quality across the tri-state region. Kornhauser began his career as a neonatologist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and has held leadership positions with health organizations in Illinois, New Jersey and Atlanta.
Sherri Landis
Since 2019, Sherri Landis has advocated for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as leader of The Arc of Pennsylvania. She has prioritized reducing health disparities – securing a state grant to address the issue during the COVID-19 pandemic – and to close state institutions and make education more inclusive. Under her leadership, the organization was recognized nationally by the National Network for Public Health Institutes and the CDC. Landis previously led the DREAM Partnership, a nonprofit that promotes post-secondary education for people with disabilities.
Amanda Lapina
Over the past two decades, Amanda Lapina has played an integral role in the advancement of SEIU, the commonwealth’s largest nurse and health care workers union. Lapina, who has served as vice president since 2011, began her career mobilizing and advocating for workers as the lead organizer for SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. With a degree in health policy and administration, Lapina manages human resources, budgets, contract negotiations and other functions critical to the union’s advancement.
Maiya LaVerdure
For the past decade, Maiya LaVerdure has steered operations at Concentra, an occupational health outfit with more than 11,000 employees at hundreds of clinics nationwide. Based in Philadelphia, LaVerdure currently oversees the Texas-based organization’s Northeast region, with services that include onsite occupational and physical therapy as well as telemedicine services. Prior to joining Concentra in 2015, LaVerdure had a retail career that included managing stores for Disney, The Limited and Brooks Brothers.
James Lin
On the vanguard of services for Pennsylvania’s graying Northwest, James Lin leads the LECOM Institute for Successful Aging, the geriatrics division of the LECOM Health osteopathic medicine empire. Lin is himself a product of that empire, having earned his D.O. in internal and geriatric medicine from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. Over nearly two decades heading the institute, Lin has garnered a first-in-the-region national NICHE certification and cultivated a comprehensive resource for primary care and clinical services.
Amy Lowenstein
Amy Lowenstein joined the Pennsylvania Health Law Project in 2018 and is currently director of policy at the nonprofit, which provides legal representation to Pennsylvanians around Medicaid issues. Lowenstein, a Columbia Law graduate, has built her career around health advocacy – including with the Empire Justice Center in New York, where she was a senior attorney for health law and policy. She has also worked as an attorney with Disability Rights New York and with the New York Legal Assistance Group.
Kevin Mahoney
As CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Kevin Mahoney has championed a multi-site approach to care across Penn Medicine’s six hospitals, 13 multi-specialty centers, and hundreds of outpatient facilities in three states, in addition to home and telehealth services. He has promoted a proposed federal law to protect hospital employees from workplace violence. Mahoney also co-launched a partnership with Penn’s Wharton School to invest in health equity, The Fund for Health, which has contributed $1.6 million to early-stage businesses.
Alina Mateo
As one of few Spanish-speaking surgical oncologists in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Alina Mateo heads outreach to communities of color at Pennsylvania Hospital’s Integrated Breast Center and Penn Medicine Radnor, where she is a clinical leader. The Miami native has spearheaded mobile screening for the region’s Hispanic population and works to increase the representation of African American and Latin American women in breast cancer clinical trials. Mateo also champions applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds as a mentor with the Drexel Pathway to Medical School, her medical alma mater.
Lindsey Mauldin
Harrisburg health policy veteran Lindsey Mauldin is Gov. Josh Shapiro’s deputy chief of staff for health and human services. She collaborates closely with two departments where she formerly held policy and administrative roles – Health and Human Services – as well as the Departments of Aging and Drug and Alcohol Programs and the health section of the Insurance Department. Mauldin has championed the Behavioral Health Council as well as increased state funding for disability, autism and maternal health care initiatives.
Maureen May
Last fall, Maureen May jubilantly announced the passage of state legislation facilitating nurse mobility between states – easing a shortage that has been a top priority for the 10,000-strong Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals. As president, May, a Temple University Hospital nurse, has led the profession’s lobbying to make Pennsylvania a part of the Nursing Licensure Compact. She has also galvanized support for better nurses’ contracts that emphasize workplace safety, as well as for greater state investment in health care.
Kate Mohr
Veteran health care administrator and advocate Kate Mohr is the associate director of policy and regulatory affairs at Penn State Health, where she has advocated around drug pricing and hospital payment models. Mohr, who holds a doctorate in health administration as well as a master’s in jurisprudence in health law, also teaches at Saint Joseph’s University in Lancaster (previously the Pennsylvania College of Health Science). She previously worked for The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospitals.
Monique Molloy
For 30 years, Monique Molloy has nurtured the University of Pennsylvania’s commitment to offering medical hope. She currently heads Penn’s Orphan Disease Center, which directs funding and resources to rare-disease research and medical partnerships, as well as support efforts for patients and their families. Molloy, who holds a biology degree from Villanova, first joined Penn in 1994 as a project manager for its gene therapy program.
Donald Moore
Design and construction expert Donald Moore brings a community-centered approach to his role as Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s real estate and facilities chief. CHOP is not only a core West Philadelphia institution; it’s also one of the largest, with a footprint that keeps growing as Moore oversees millions of square feet in new facilities to advance the hospital’s research and clinical services. Moore came to CHOP from Drexel University, where he led master planning and spearheaded partnerships to expand and redevelop multiple campuses.
Kathleen Minnich
For three-and-a-half decades, Kathleen Minnich has presided over Central Medical Ambulance Service, a Lebanon-based outfit where her husband, Larry, is the longtime operations chief. With a staff of several dozen full- and part-time paramedics and EMTs, Minnich oversees a business that has adapted over the years to novel emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic – and has become a staple of the region’s community health landscape.
Kelly Munson
Medicaid expert Kelly Munson is the new CEO of AmeriHealth Caritas, succeeding longtime executive Paul Tufano at the Newtown Square insurance behemoth. Munson was until this year the president of Aetna Medicaid, a CVS Health company where she managed an $18.5 billion Medicaid program with nearly 3 million subscribers. Prior to that, she oversaw Medicaid business for Wellcare Health Plans and held leadership roles with Medicaid Health Plans of America and the Institute for Medicaid Innovation.
Deborah Murdoch
At the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, Community Health Senior Program Manager Deborah Murdoch leads initiatives focused on teen mental health, HIV and other public health issues. Her initiatives have included the PA Youth Advocacy Network and the Teen Mental Health Collaborative in Allegheny County; Murdoch also works with community-based organizations, outreach workers and health systems to promote care access and peer-to-peer learning. Prior to joining the foundation, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa and worked on a national HIV program in Uganda.
Lauren Murray-O’Donnell
They may not realize it, but thousands of Genesis HealthCare patients in the commonwealth and beyond rely on Lauren Murray-O’Donnell’s organizational expertise for the smooth execution of their long-term and rehabilitative care. She supervises operations at the Kennett Square-based outfit where, over a quarter-century, she has held roles from social worker to sales and marketing chief. This year, Murray was inducted into the McKnight’s Women of Distinction Hall of Honor, a top honor.
Sailaja Musunuri
As chief of integrative medicine and psychiatry at Woods Services, Sailaja Musunuri developed and coordinates an integrative health care model for people with autism and intellectual disabilities. Devoted to training the next generation of providers, she is also the faculty and site director for Tower Health – Phoenixville’s Child Psychiatry fellowship program. Musunuri additionally founded and chairs the Shakti Foundation and worked to establish the Mollie Woods Hare Global Center of Excellence to serve neurodivergent populations.
Marnie Oakley
Last year, Marnie Oakley became dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, furthering a relationship that began with her 1992 dental degree and continued when she became a member of the Pitt Dental faculty. As dean, Oakley has guided the school’s ongoing expansion of hybrid and online education and prioritized initiatives to address the national shortage of dental auxiliaries, especially in rural areas. Oakley’s experience includes caring for thousands of service members as a dental officer in the United States Navy.
Sue Perrotty
Four years into the financial turnaround she is masterminding at Tower Health, CEO Sue Perrotty is seeing the results of her efforts. The former banking executive stemmed a pattern of losses at the Southeastern Pennsylvania health system through divestments of several hospitals and clinics, as well as partnerships with Drexel University and Quest Diagnostics. Most recently, Perrotty reorganized the $2 billion system’s executive team, furthering the effort to streamline Tower Health’s operations in a competitive health care landscape.
Garry Pezzano
With more than 40 years of experience in the field of post-acute health care, Garry Pezzano is an industry veteran who currently heads LeadingAge PA, representing 400 aging services providers throughout the commonwealth. In addition to his legislative advocacy, Pezzano is a champion of clinical innovation in the field, recently co-authoring a study on Alzheimer’s dementia care models for nursing home residents. He is an adviser to both the Moving Forward Coalition to improve care in skilled nursing facilities and the commission building a Master Plan on Aging in Pennsylvania.
Nancy Post
From DEI and sustainability to workplace diagnostics, Nancy Post knows there are myriad ways to improve organizational dynamics – and that’s her goal at the Institute for Healthy Leadership, the consultancy she founded in 2020. Post, who holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior, has four decades of experience with strategic planning and change management at organizations ranging from AstraZeneca to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. With her own Philadelphia-based institute, she employs her trademark “human factors benchmark” to help clients assess function and meet goals.
Amit Powar
Amit Powar leads the Medical Group for Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic, a regional health system with hospitals and clinics in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware. Under Powar’s leadership, the organization saw 85 of its physicians named to Philadelphia Magazine’s Top Doctors list last year. The India-trained physician previously oversaw the medical group as well as ambulatory services at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and held a similar position with Pennsylvania’s Tower Health.
John Quirk
Thanks to John Quirk, Pennsylvania health employers have met their staffing needs for decades through GHR Healthcare, which Quirk founded 30 years ago. Since launching the Plymouth Meeting firm as a job placement service for travel nurses, Quirk has grown GHR through a series of mergers, acquisitions and partnerships, expanding the company’s reach to serve both clinical and non-clinical industry positions – including in IT, behavioral health, physical therapy and education.
Srikant Ramaswami
From the Philadelphia office of GSK, the multinational pharmaceutical outfit, Srikant “Sri” Ramaswami oversees commercial communications around the North American pharmaceutical market. His responsibilities include investor relations, employee engagement, diversity and health equity initiatives and strategic partnerships, including with GSK’s philanthropic foundation. Ramaswami, an attorney with a master’s from Columbia School of Journalism, has also held communications and leadership roles with Caris Life Sciences, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.
Matthew Ranauro
Designer, technologist and entrepreneur Matt Ranauro is the founder and CEO of Benefix, a Lancaster company he founded to simplify employee benefits for carriers, brokers and small businesses. Ranauro’s passion for technology dates to elementary school and has led to a 15-year career building campaigns and business solutions for Nike and other corporations – including Crispin, the New York advertising firm where he was a technology director. Prior to Benefix, his other startups included Dibs, a community sales platform, and Ill, a mobile technology outfit.
Kathy Rapp
In her 10th term representing parts of Northwest Pennsylvania, state Rep. Kathy Rapp champions rural issues and a conservative point of view as minority chair of the House Health Committee. While she vigorously opposes the cannabis legalization promoted by her committee co-chair, Democrat Dan Frankel, the pair recently collaborated on a bill to promote the Rural Health Grant Program. Rapp is also the longtime Republican co-chair of the bipartisan Pennsylvania House Pro-Life Caucus, consistently supporting measures to curb both abortion and gun control.
Porsche Reuschling
Attorney Porsche Reuschling is the senior vice president of operations at Logos Medical Supply, a family-run company that has provided Philadelphians with essential home health supplies for 20 years. Reuschling previously served as the global compliance coordinator for CSC, a Wilmington financial outfit, and began her career as a civil case manager for a Delaware state judge. At Logos, Reuschling is back in Philadelphia, the city where she earned her JD at Drexel University’s Kline School of Law.
Michael Rhoads
Twenty-five years ago, Wharton MBA graduate Michael Rhoads founded Pennside Partners to provide business insights to pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms. He remains president and CEO of the Philadelphia-based firm, which was acquired in 2018 by Two Labs/Envision and has expanded its pharmaceutical consultancy to Europe, Asia and beyond. But Rhoads and Pennside remain in Philadelphia, where the biotechnology sector is booming – and nearly every major pharmaceutical outfit is a client.
George Robinson II
Shortly after George Robinson II joined UPMC in 2018 to oversee supplier diversity and inclusion, he spearheaded what became an annual Policy to Prosperity PA Capitol fly-in, engaging state legislators on the impact of diverse-owned companies. A champion of the issue locally as well as nationally, Robinson recruited the National Minority Supplier Development Council – whose health care industry group he co-chairs – to Pittsburgh for its 2024 Business Development Leadership Summit. He’s also currently planning the Federation of American Hospitals’ 2025 National Conference.
Kenneth Rogers
WellSpan Health Vice President Kenneth Rogers, a psychiatrist and experienced health care administrator, also serves as the health system’s chief of behavioral health. With master’s degrees in both public health and medical management, Rogers has led efforts to decrease workplace violence toward health care professionals and, in 2022, provided congressional testimony on the need for geriatric behavioral health care in the U.S. He has also taught psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center and at Parkland Hospital, both in metropolitan Dallas.
Marisa Rogers
In a five-year span, Chief Medical Officer Marisa Rogers has overseen center openings at Oak Street Health, which operates Medicare-centric primary care centers across 25 states. Under her leadership, provider retention is up by 60% and wellness visits have nearly doubled; Oak Street serves 25,000 patients annually in its Atlantic division and 270,000 patients toal. Rogers, a physician, previously served as chief medical officer at Spectrum Health Services; prior to that, she taught at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, where she co-chaired the Health Equity Taskforce.
Michael Rose
As government relations manager for Geisinger, Michael Rose focuses on state legislative and regulatory policy related to the health system’s insurance and clinical operations. He has guided successful efforts around prior authorization reforms and legislation covering telemedicine and breast cancer screening. Rose, who holds an MBA with a focus on health care management, previously held a number of roles with the state House of Representatives, including managing district and standing committee operations and as a policy staff member.
Seun Ross
As executive director for health equity at Independence Blue Cross, Seun Ross conceives and implements the company’s strategy to achieve health justice for employees, members and their communities. Ross, who holds a doctorate in nursing, partnered IBX with area health systems to form the Regional Coalition to Eliminate Race-Based Medicine; she also created and hosts the annual Independence Health Equity Summit. Ross is a recipient of the Health Equity in Business Award from March of Dimes, where she is a member.
Brad Rostolsky
A familiar name on lists of America’s top health care lawyers, Brad Rostolsky is a shareholder and a member of the Health Care and FDA practice at the Philadelphia office of Greenberg Traurig. Pennsylvania clients turn to him for counsel on regulatory and transactional matters ranging from data security and practice acquisitions to Medicare, Medicaid and novel technologies. Rostolsky’s particular area of expertise revolves around the specialization of data privacy in health care, having presented on HIPAA compliance at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s recent annual health law event.
John Ryan
As Temple Health’s executive vice president and chief counsel, John Ryan provides strategic leadership for the 11-hospital network. He joined Temple Health in 2022 and has since reformed its medical malpractice litigation defense – work that resulted in the Legal Intelligencer recognizing him as an Attorney of the Year finalist. Ryan also played a key role in Temple’s acquisition of Chestnut Hill Hospital. A former partner at Duane Morris, he has also served as senior vice president and general counsel for Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Center.
Zach Shamberg
As former government affairs chief and now as CEO of the Pennsylvania Health Care Association, Zach Shamberg advocates for the long-term care industry serving the state’s aging population. He recently led 100 member organizations in a Capitol rally to raise awareness of the challenges facing long-term care providers – including staffing shortages, a top priority for Shamberg’s organization. In recent sessions, his advocacy has yielded increased state funding and Medicaid reimbursement rates.
Jim Sharp
Jim Sharp is the COO and director of mental health policy at Rehabilitation and Community Providers Association, an industry group representing some 400 commonwealth health and human services providers. Sharp’s expertise spans mental health, policy and criminal justice: He was a longtime chief probation officer with the City of Philadelphia and most recently headed operations at Merakey, a behavioral health nonprofit. At RCPA, he leads advocacy around children’s services, working on issues ranging from substance abuse and behavioral health to disability and criminal justice.
Neerav Sheth
Interventional cardiologist Neerav Sheth, a familiar figure in Philadelphia medical circles, most recently brought his perspective to the role of chair of the Health Diversity Task Force at the Pennsylvania Medical Society. The internist and longtime clinician is also known as a champion of health care accessibility, serving as Advocacy Section Lead for the Pennsylvania chapter of the American College of Cardiology. Sheth holds an MBA in health care management and has taught medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
Jane Shull
After 34 years at the helm of Philadelphia Fight, Jane Shull is retiring as chief executive of the Philadelphia health services nonprofit. Her legacy is an organization that serves more than 10,000 people annually through services and programs, including treatment for 7,000 patients at the organization’s federally qualified health center. Shull, a social worker by training, is known for her advocacy for people with HIV throughout the AIDS epidemic.
Nicole Stallings
At a moment of structural transformation and financial uncertainty for the commonwealth’s health institutions, Nicole Stallings recently took over leadership of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania. Collaborating with the Shapiro administration, she has prioritized modernizing hospital regulations and improving rural health care and maternal health, as well as tackling health care’s workforce crisis in partnership with the business community. Stallings was a longtime leader with the Maryland Hospital Association.
Mike Stancil
Mike Stancil leads the Pittsburgh Business Group on Health, an organization that unites corporations large and small on actionable health issues. Under his guidance, the group launched a Maternal and Infant Health Equity project, saw substantial vaccination gains with its HPV Vaccination Taskforce and has been at the forefront of local policy conversations around pharmacy benefit managers. Stancil is the co-founder of Leaficient, an agricultural technology company, and has also consulted for the Centers for Disease Control.
Linda Thomas-Hemak
Few have done more to nurture Northeast Pennsylvania’s health care landscape than Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, the longtime CEO of The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education, which, under her leadership, recently earned the Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike designation. For cultivating the next generation of health professionals, Thomas-Hemak received this year’s Hometown Scholars Advocate of the Year Award from the National Association of Community Health Centers. She is vice president and a founding board member of the American Association of Teaching Health Centers.
Daniel Tropeano
As Southeastern Pennsylvania segment president for Highmark, Dan Tropeano steers the health insurer’s growth in Philadelphia and statewide. He led this year’s regional debut of Highmark Blue Shield, and has guided the company’s community outreach through its support of Philadelphia’s 2026 World Cup and 250th anniversary events and sponsorships of local cultural and charitable organizations. Tropeano joined Highmark after 15 years with UnitedHealth Group, including as health plan CEO for Pennsylvania and Delaware – and, most recently, overseeing UnitedHealth’s pharmacy benefit management company, OptumRx.
Naval Udgiri
Naval Udgiri leads the vascular surgery division at Saint Vincent Hospital - Allegheny Health Network, where he revitalized the vascular department by introducing novel technologies and stenting treatments that Erie patients previously had to travel to access. Trained in renal transplantation in his native India, Udgiri immigrated to the U.S. 20 years ago for advanced surgical studies – and now teaches medical students himself. He is also a member of the Indian Society of Organ Transplantation and volunteers with the Erie Asian Pacific American Association.
Michael Ungvary
Health insurance veteran Michael Ungvary currently supervises $2 billion in annual medical spending at Cigna in Philadelphia, where he is vice president for network management. Drawing on three decades of industry experience, he tracks reimbursement models and sets prices, discounts and cost frameworks for the health insurer. Prior to joining Cigna in 2017, Ungvary, who earned an MBA from Temple University, held a series of leadership roles over two decades at Aetna. While with Aetna, he became known for growing revenue by $10 million for the company’s largest regional account in the mid-Atlantic.
Arun Upadhyay
From gene and cell therapies to novel vaccines, Arun Upadhyay is bullish on the potential of biotechnology to treat and cure diseases. e oversees these efforts at Malvern-based Ocugen, the clinical-stage biotech outfit where he is chief scientific officer. Upadhyay, who studied biotechnology in India and conducted research at the University of Colorado, has long focused on novel therapeutics for infectious, degenerative and ocular disease – work that won him the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists’ Innovation in Nanotechnology Award.
Robert Uzzo
Surgeon, researcher and innovator Robert Uzzo joined Fox Chase Cancer Center in 2000 and currently serves as the renowned institution’s chief executive officer. Under his leadership, the Temple Health division has celebrated record new patient volumes. Additionally, Uzzo was instrumental in the opening of the center’s Urologic Institute that scored Fox Chase a top national ranking for urology in U.S. News & World Report. Uzzo, a urologic oncologist, is the author of nearly 1,000 publications and holds six patents; in 2019, he added an MBA from Temple’s Fox School of Business to his résumé.
Patricia D. Wellenbach
In 2021, Patricia D. Wellenbach brought her health care acumen and a quarter-century of organizational experience to lead the Thomas Jefferson University board – the first woman and first nurse to do so. She led Jefferson’s recruitment of a new CEO in 2022 and, more recently, expanded the organization’s reach through a merger with the Lehigh Valley Health Network. Wellenbach, who was named to the National Association of Corporate Directors Directorship 100 last year, also served on Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s transition committee.
Tia Whitaker
For the past decade, Tia Whitaker has directed outreach and enrollment for the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers, which reach nearly 1 million patients in underserved areas. Drawing on a quarter-century of experience enrolling Pennsylvanians in the marketplace, Medicaid, CHIP and Medicare, Whitaker leads a team of 140 enrollment specialists to help the state’s most vulnerable get insured. She also advocates on Capitol Hill and serves on the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange (Pennie) Board of Directors.
Andrew Wigglesworth
Andrew Wigglesworth manages Wojdak Government Relations’ health care practice, overseeing client engagements with health systems, hospitals and related organizations. Over the past decade, Wigglesworth has steered the practice’s involvement in virtually every major health policy issue considered in the commonwealth, as well as shepherding clients through the budgetary process in a historically challenging operational and financial environment. Wigglesworth’s résumé includes serving as CEO of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council, top health policy adviser to the Maryland governor and a partner at TRG Healthcare.
Malcolm Yates
Malcolm Yates directs government relations for Public Health Management Corporation, the Philadelphia health and human services nonprofit. In addition, he recently served on the transition teams for Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and Chester Mayor Stefan Roots, and is currently the convenor of the Delaware County Black Caucus. Prior to joining PHMC, Yates headed outreach and external affairs for U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon and was state Rep. Brian Kirkland’s district chief of staff.
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