Dr. David Asch

David Asch is Executive Director of the Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation. He is the John Morgan Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He practices internal medicine at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where he created and from 2001 to 2012 directed the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion. From 1998 to 2012 he was Executive Director of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. His research is in the area of behavioral economics and aims to understand and improve how physicians and patients make medical choices. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and he has received awards for teaching, mentorship, and scholarship.

Dr. Sam Butler

With eight years of senior-level experience in multi-specialty medical group management, along with fourteen years of clinical practice experience, Sam brings a wealth of knowledge to Epic’s Clinical Informatics Team. In his 17 years at Epic, he has helped guide the direction of Epic’s applications, and is heavily involved in the creation and development of Epic and third party content for use in clinical applications. Sam has a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Science, and received his M.D. from the University of Florida.

Dr. Preston B. Cline (Ed.D)

Preston currently serves as both the Director of Mission Critical Team Initiative and the Director of the Leadership Venture Program at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. The MCTI Program is focused on improving research and practice related to the Screening, Training, and Education of Mission Critical Teams which are small (4-12 agents) integrated groups of indigenously trained and educated experts that leverage tools and technology to resolve complex adaptive problems in an immersive, but constrained (five minutes or less), temporal environments, where the consequence of failure can be catastrophic. The WLV program, operated under the umbrella of the McNulty Leadership Program provides experiential and expeditionary educational programs to Wharton undergraduate and graduate students in remote settings around the world.

Preston received his undergraduate from Rutgers University, a Masters of Education from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and a Doctorate in Education from the University Of Pennsylvania Graduate School Of Education. Preston continues to focus his research in the area of human interaction with uncertainty, with a specific focus on supporting Instructor Cadre Collaborative Inquiry Communities within Military Special Operations, Emergency Medicine, Tactical Law Enforcement and Urban and Wilderness Fire Fighting Organizations.

Kelsey Crowe, PhD

Kelsey Crowe, Ph.D. is the founder of Help Each Other Out. Crowe earned her doctorate in social welfare at the University of California, Berkley and teaches social work at California State University. Crowe's first book, There Is No Good Card for This: What To Say and Do When Life Gets Scary, Awful, and Unfair To People You Love (HarperOne), coauthored with Emily McDowell, debuted January 2017. 

Written in a how-to, relatable, we've all-been-that-deer-in-the-headlights kind of way, There Is No Good Card for This isn't a spiritual treatise on how to make you a better person or a scientific argument about why compassion matters. It is a helpful illustrated guide to effective compassion that takes you, step by step by step, past the paralysis of thinking about someone in a difficult time to actually doing something (or nothing) with good judgement instead of fear. 

Crowe's organization Help Each Other Out is a growing collective of people embracing the idea that being there for others is often easier than we think, it can be learned, and that it matters. Taking the principles  found in There Is No Good Card for This along with her many years of experience in the field and organization, a presentation with Crowe is not one to miss. From universities to health care organizations, every audience member will walk away feeling inspired. 

Dr. Zubin Damania

Zubin Damania,MD is an internist and founder of Turntable Health, an innovative healthcare startup that was part of an ambitious urban revitalization movement in Las Vegas spearheaded by Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh. During a decade-long hospitalist career at Stanford, Dr. Damania won clinical teaching awards while simultaneously maintaining a shadow career performing stand-up comedy for medical audiences worldwide. His videos and live shows, created under the pseudonym ZDoggMD, have gone epidemically viral with over a quarter billion views on Facebook and YouTube, educating patients and providers while mercilessly satirizing our dysfunctional healthcare system.

Jonathan Godfrey, RN, CMTE

Jonathan Godfrey RN, CMTE From 200 feet and speeds of more than 140 miles per hour, a medivac helicopter slammed into the ice-cold waters of the Potomac River the night of January 10, 2005, leaving only one survivor, Jonathan Godfrey. The impact propelled Godfrey to make waves of change in the medical transport industry, and ripples that will continue to carry a message of resilience and what it is like to go from trauma nurse to a trauma patient. Godfrey became a well-known advocate for safety and has continued his work as a critical-care transport nurse in the Washington, DC Area. He is the Chief Operating Officer for the award-winning safety initiative LZControl, a partner at, both, Protean LLC and Vision Communications Media, and an author of “Max Impact: A Story of Survival.” For more than 12 years, Godfrey has presented his story to audiences all over the U.S. and abroad highlighting safety culture, crash prevention, survivability, and resiliency touching on other education to keep transport and medical professionals’ perspectives fresh and hearts vigilant. Godfrey has served on many boards and committees over the years since then and is currently a director on the board of the National EMS Memorial Service. He is involved in many other projects such as Survivor’s Network, Vision Zero, Digital Safety Stories, and U.S. Helicopter safety team. His efforts have afforded him honors receiving the Jim Charlson Award, AAMS President’s award, and the Vision Zero Award. In early 2017, Godfrey co-authored the book "Max Impact: A Story of Survival" with journalist MJ Brickey. Godfrey is a proud father of three, but a Dad to six, always working to guide his children to make a difference and be a bright part of the future.

Michael Hebb

Michael Hebb is the founder of Death over Dinner, a non-profit that convenes dinners around the world to facilitate open and empowering conversation about end-of-life. Since it launched in 2013, more than 100,000 dinners have been held in 30 countries. His second book, Let's Talk About Death, will be published on October 2nd in the US, UK, India, Australia and New Zealand. Michael is a partner at the digital health and wellness company RoundGlass.

Dr. Thomas Lee

Dr. Thomas Lee is Chief Medical Officer of Press Ganey, and an internist and cardiologist, who practices at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He is a Professor of Medicine, part time, at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. Prior to joining Press Ganey, he served as Network President for Partners Healthcare System and CEO for Partners Community HealthCare, Inc., the integrated delivery system founded by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Geisinger Health System, and chairman of the Board of Directors for Geisinger Health Plan. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Health Leads; the Board of Overseers of Weill Cornell Medical College; the Special Medical Advisory Group (SMAG) of the Veterans Administration; and the Panel of Health Advisors of the Congressional Budget Office. He is a member of the Editorial Board of The New England Journal of Medicine. He is the author of more than 260 academic articles and three books, Chaos and Organization in Health Care, Eugene Braunwald and the Rise of Modern Medicine, and An Epidemic of Empathy in Healthcare.

Dr. Tomislav Mihaljevic

Tom Mihaljevic, MD, is CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic. He leads an $8 billion medical system that includes a main campus, 10 regional hospitals, 18 family health centers, and facilities in Florida, Nevada, Toronto, Abu Dhabi and London. Representing a new generation of leadership for American’s #2 ranked hospital (U.S. News & World Report), Dr. Mihaljevic seeks to build on Cleveland Clinic’s reputation for medical expertise, to enhance the patient experience, and expand access to clinical services. Dr. Mihaljevic joined Cleveland Clinic in 2004 as a surgeon in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. He has performed almost 3,000 operations over the course of his career, specializing in minimally invasive and robotic-assisted procedures, valve replacement and repair, image-guided surgery, heart failure and cardiac transplantation. He earned his medical degree at the Medical School, University of Zagreb, Croatia. He trained in cardiac surgery at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. In the United States, he did residencies in general and cardiothoracic surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and was chief resident in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. Before coming to Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Mihaljevic was director of the Cardiac Surgery Research Laboratory and an associate surgeon in the Division of Cardiac Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Mihaljevic held a seven-year academic appointment to Harvard Medical School as a Clinical Fellow in Surgery. He was also Assistant Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. From 2015-2017, Dr. Mihaljevic served as CEO of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD). He oversaw the opening of the 365-bed hospital and clinic, with 3,000 caregivers, in 2015. Under his leadership, CCAD expanded its treatment capabilities, built relationships in the private and public sector, and established its growing reputation for clinical excellence, research and education. From 2010 to 2015, Dr. Mihaljevic was Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Heart & Vascular Institute at CCAD. He led a recruitment effort that drew 5,500 applications for 175 physician posts, and went on to launch the most advanced cardiovascular program in the Middle East. Dr. Mihaljevic has been on the editorial review board for prestigious medical journals. He is the author or co-author of more than 130 articles in peer-reviewed publications, and is the author of textbook chapters on robotic and minimally invasive mitral valve surgery, and valvular heart disease. In 2005, Dr. Mihaljevic received a patent for a novel system for minimally invasive cardiac surgery. His research has focused on minimally invasive cardiac surgery, robotic-assisted cardiac surgery, intracardiac imaging systems and analysis of beating heart intracardiac surgery, among other research studies. He has been an invited speaker at medical symposia and conferences worldwide. Dr. Mihaljevic is a member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, American College of Cardiology, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Heart Association, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation and the American Medical Association. A native of Croatia and U.S. citizen, he speaks English, German and Croatian

Dr. Harold Paz

Harold L. Paz, M.D., M.S., is executive vice president and chief medical officer for Aetna. A member of the company’s executive committee, he leads clinical strategy and policy for of all of Aetna’s domestic and global businesses. Before joining Aetna in 2014, Dr. Paz served as CEO of Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Health System, senior vice president for Health Affairs and dean of the College of Medicine at Penn State University where he led to the formation of an integrated healthcare system of four hospitals, 64 ambulatory care practices and 18 affiliated hospitals. Prior to Penn State he was dean of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Group. Dr. Paz has focused his research on clinical outcomes, health care effectiveness and personalized health. A pioneer in the field of quality management, Dr. Paz was among the first to study clinicaloutcomes in the ICU and in 1993 started the first fellowship of its kind in quality management. Currently, he is professor adjunct of internal medicine at Yale University School of Medicine and remains clinically active at the West Haven VA Hospital. He serves on several boards and is the recipient of numerous awards and an honorary degree. Dr. Paz received his bachelor's and medical degree from the University of Rochester and a master of science in life science engineering from Tufts University. He completed his residency and was chief medical resident at Northwestern University. Dr. Paz was a fellow in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical School and a fellow in environmental health science at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.

Leilani Schweitzer

Leilani Schweitzer is Assistant Vice President for Communication and Resolution at TRA Stanford. Leilani did not choose a career in healthcare; it chose her. In 2005 her son, Gabriel, died after a series of medical mistakes. Now she works in risk management at the same hospital where those errors happened. In her work with Stanford Health Care, she uses her own experience with medical errors to navigate between the often insular, legal and administrative sides of medical error, and the intricate, emotional side of the patient and family experience. Her work at Stanford Health Care and the PEARL program gives her a unique view of the importance and complex realities of disclosure and transparency in healthcare.

Christine A. Sinsky, MD

Dr. Sinsky is the Vice President of Professional Satisfaction at the American Medical Association. A board certified internis, she also practices at Medical Associates Clinic and Health Plans in Dubuque, Iowa.

Dr. Sinsky has worked to elevate national awareness of health professional well-being as an important driver of health system performance. From 2011 to 2012 she led “In Search of Joy in Practice: A Report of 23 High-Functioning Primary Care Practices,” a project of the ABIM Foundation. She also co-authored the 2013 paper “From Triple to Quadruple Aim: Care of the Patient Requires Care of the Provider.” At the AMA she leads the development of initiatives to improve clinician well-being and reduce burnout.

Dr. Sinsky is a fellow of the American College of Physicians (ACP) and is the recipient of the Iowa ACP 2013 Laureate Award

A frequent invited lecturer on practice innovation, redesign and physician satisfaction, Dr. Sinsky has presented widely, both nationally and internationally.

Dr. Sinsky received her bachelor’s and medical degrees from the University of Wisconsin, and completed her post-graduate residency at Gundersen Medical Foundation/La Crosse Lutheran Hospital in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where she served as chief medical resident.

Dr. Brennan Spiegel

Dr. Brennan Spiegel is the Director of Health Services Research for Cedars-Sinai Health System and Director of the Cedars-Sinai Master’s Degree Program in Health Delivery Science. Dr. Spiegel directs a multidisciplinary team that investigates how digital health technologies, including wearable biosensors, smartphone applications, virtual reality, and social media, can strengthen the patient-doctor bond, improve outcomes, and save money.

His team developed the largest and most widely-documented medical virtual reality program in the world at Cedars-Sinai. Dr. Spiegel has published numerous best-selling medical textbooks, editorials, and more than 170 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is listed in the "Top 100 Influencer" lists for digital health (where he is #13) and virtual reality (#14). His digital health research has been featured by major media outlets, including Bloomberg, CBS News, Forbes, Huffington Post, LA Times, NBC News, Reuters, and the Wall Street Journal. His virtual reality research won the 2017 “Webby Award” for best technology on the internet.

His research team receives funding from the NIH, PCORI, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Hearst Foundation, Veterans Administration, California Initiative for the Advancement of Precision Medicine (CIAPM), and industry sources. Dr. Spiegel is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology – the leading clinical gastroenterology journal in North America.

Charity Tillemann-Dick

Charity Tillemann-Dick is an American-born soprano and top-selling classical recording artist. She is also a recipient of two double lung transplants. Her memoir, The Encore, was published by Atria Books / Simon & Schuster in October 2017. Charity has performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia in venues as diverse as the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City; the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; the National Palace of the Arts in Budapest, Hungary; the American Embassy in Beijing, China; and the National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. She has collaborated and performed with noted conductors and musicians including Éva Marton, Bruno Rigacci, Joela Jones, Marvin Hamlisch, Bono, Zoltán Kocsis, Joan Dornemann, and former Secretary of State Dr. Condoleeza Rice. Some of her operatic roles have included Titania in A Mid Summer’s Night Dream, Gilda in Rigoletto, Violetta in La traviata, and Ophelia in Ophelia Forever. Charity has also performed for numerous presidents, prime ministers, members of Congress, and world dignitaries.

In 2014, Charity released her debut album, American Grace, which reached #1 on the Traditional Classical charts on Billboard. Charity was accompanied by Joela Jones and Richard Weiss, principal pianist and cellist for the Cleveland Orchestra.

After receiving a diagnosis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in 2004, Charity served as the national spokesperson for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA), working to raise awareness, increase federal research funding, expand stem cell research, and promote preventative and alternative medicine. In September 2009, she received a double lung transplant at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. After complications from rejection, she received a second double lung transplant in January 2012.

Since receiving her transplant, Charity has shared her amazing story and vocal talents at numerous conferences and events around the country, including: TEDxMidAtlantic in Washington, D.C.; TEDMED 2010 in San Diego, CA; the 6th National Learning Congress on Organ Donation in Dallas, TX; and the EG Conference in Monterey, CA. Charity was named a Glamour Hero in October 2005, and she has been featured on NPR Weekend Edition with Scott Simon, CBS Evening News, CNN with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, TED.com, The Wall Street Journal Post, The Washington Post, and BBC Radio.

Charity was raised in Denver, CO with her 10 brothers and sisters. She later studied music at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. She currently resides with her husband in Washington, DC.