Rachel Appelbaum, MD

Dr. Rachel Appelbaum is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center as part of the Division of Acute Care Surgery. She completed her Medical School education at the University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine as part of the inaugural class for the SELECT program. This program aims to cultivate compassionate physicians with a heightened awareness for the changing culture of healthcare. Dr. Appelbaum is board certified in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. She completed her General Surgery Residency at Lehigh Valley Health Network and Surgical Critical Care/Acute Care Surgery Fellowship at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. She is an active member of the EAST Quality, Safety, and Outcomes Committee and the AAST Critical Care Committee. She serves as the Co-Director of Quality for the Division of Acute Care Surgery and the Co-Director for Surgical Intensive Care Unit Process Improvement. Additionally, she serves as the Executive Director for the Future is NOW (Non-violent Options Win) Nashville, a new initiative aimed at exposing children to science and healthcare to inspire them to choose a violence free future for themselves, their families, and the community. Dr. Appelbaum plans to continue her research interests in quality improvement and communication, specifically guideline development, process improvement, and handoffs.

Ed Barksdale, MD

Edward M. Barksdale, Jr. MD HMS ‘84 is the Robert J. Izant, Jr. MD Professor and Surgeon-in-Chief at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital/University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve School of Medicine (CWRUSOM). An All-American Athlete and honors graduate of Yale University (1980), Dr. Barksdale received his medical degree from Harvard University (1984). He completed a residency in General Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (1991) and fellowship training in Pediatric Surgery at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio (1994). He was a Visiting Scientist at the Biogen Corporation in Cambridge, MA (1997-99). 

Dr. Barksdale currently works at the nexus of academia, clinical surgery, medical education, public health and social justice as a passionate advocate for child health and healthcare. He endeavors to invest his academic, clinical and service efforts to inspire individuals and transform communities at the precipice of hope.

Aaron Dix, NRP, MBA

Aaron Dix is the Vice President of Emergency Medical Services and Patient Flow for Prisma Health. Dix oversees a large EMS division, a consolidated communications center, a robust Mobile Integrated Health program, emergency management, and patient flow operations for the largest health system in South Carolina. In addition to his role at Prisma Health, he is a Clear Spring Fire Rescue commissioner and an executive board member of the SC EMS Association. He also serves on numerous advisory boards and is a frequent author and speaker.

Prisma Health is a private nonprofit health company and the largest health care organization in South Carolina. The company has 29,754 team members, 18 acute and specialty hospitals, 2,827 licensed beds, 305 practice sites, and more than 5,200 employed and independent clinicians across its clinically integrated inVio Health Network. Along with this innovative network, Prisma Health serves almost 1.5 million unique patients annually in its 21-county market area that covers 50% of South Carolina.

Melissa Ippolito MSN, RN

Melissa Ippolito, MSN, RN, is the Trauma Performance Improvement Coordinator at NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island, an ACS-COT verified Level I Adult Trauma Center in New York. Prior to that role, she had served as an Emergency Medicine and Trauma nurse, where she was the primary provider for multiple different acutely ill or injured patients for more than 10 years. Ms. Ippolito, began her career as an EMT-B immediately out of high school, and continued through her education to become a registered nurse with a BSN. An ambitious and avid learner, she obtained her Masters Degree in nursing administration while being employed as full-time emergency room nurse at a busy ACS- COT verified Level II trauma center. It was there that she developed a passion for trauma care and the quality necessary to obtain optimal patient outcomes.

In her current role as the primary person overseeing quality in the trauma program, she works with a large multidisciplinary team including trauma clinical and non-clinical staff throughout NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island. In conjunction to that, she also is currently a Nursing Adjunct professor at Adelphi University School of Nursing and Public Health.

Jane McCormack, RN, BSN, CSTR, TCRN

Jane McCormack has had a long career as a trauma program manager. She is currently serving in that capacity at Long Island Community Hospital a Level 3 center located on eastern Long Island. Jane has served as an instructor for the ATS Trauma Registry Professionals Course, past Co-Chair for the ATS CSTR Leadership Advisory Council, and in many other capacities supporting Trauma Registry Professionals in their careers.

Chinetta Neal, PhD, LCCP

Chinetta Neal, PhD, Licensed Clinical Christian Psychologist (iBreathe Counseling, Inc.), Injury Prevention Educator (HCA Florida Lawnwood). Dr. Chinetta Neal is a native of Florida, a mother of three – Jayden, Jy’l, and Jorden, a nine-year United States Army veteran. Her degrees include a Bachelor’s in Psychology, a Master’s in Professional Counseling, a Master’s in Mental Health Wellness and Prevention, Post Master’s in Trauma Counseling and a Doctorate in Psychology, specializing in Clinical Christian Psychology. She is also certified in Entrepreneurial Business Management and is a Certified Forensic Interviewer, Master Trainer, and Trauma Prevention Educator for HCA Florida Lawnwood. Dr. Neal has more than 15 years of experience working in the Mental Health field, and is the owner and founder of Changing Faces Consulting, Inc.

Dr. Anna Newcomb, PhD, MSW, LCSW

Dr. Anna Newcomb is a past president of the American Trauma Society, an original architect of the Trauma Survivors Network, and a full time Education Director for Inova Health System’s surgical simulation center. Dr. Newcomb provides leadership to the Inova System regarding patient centered communication research, development, and training. While her primary educational focus began with Inova’s Surgical Residency Program, her work has expanded to include the development of communication curricula for an international audience of medical students, nursing and clinical technicians, and for new hospital resident interns. Dr. Newcomb has worked in the emergency department as a trauma social worker for 30 years, and continues that work part time.

Nicholas S Price, MHA, MLS(ASCP)^CM

Joseph Sakran, MD, MPA, MPH

Dr. Sakran is a trailblazer and nationally respected voice in the firearm injury prevention movement. He is currently the Executive Vice Chair of Surgery, Director of Clinical Operations, Director of Emergency General Surgery, and Associate Professor of Surgery and Nursing at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. As a survivor of firearm-related violence, he was motivated to become a surgeon, researcher, and advocate in firearm injury prevention. At every turn of his career, he has used his personal experience and substantial skills to push a new frontier primarily in service of marginalized communities in the United States. The Academy Health recognized his research on firearm-related injury with the Outstanding Article of the Year Award. Dr. Sakran served as a National Academy of Medicine Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow in the U.S. Senate during the COVID-19 pandemic guiding historic legislation. As a Senior Fellow at the Satcher Health Leadership Institute, Dr. Sakran was instrumental in creation of the Health Equity Tracker. In 2019, Dr. Sakran was named a Presidential Leadership Scholar in which he furthered his research on safe gun storage. He was also a 2020 recipient of Johns Hopkins' Catalyst Award for his pioneering research on physicians' role in educating patients on safe gun storage. He was instrumental in helping shepherd the legislation that led to the passage of the first federal firearm injury prevention legislation in nearly 30 years, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Dr. Sakran was instrumental in laying the foundation for the creation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention that was launched by President Biden in September of 2023.

Dr. Mary Ann Spott, PhD, MPA, MSIS, MBA

Dr. Mary Ann Spott joined the DoD’s Armed Services Blood Program as the Deputy Division Chief of Organizational Optimization/Research and Development in April 2023. She is responsible for increasing the collections of blood and blood products across the DoD globally and ensures continuous improvement among the various activities of the ASBP. She is also coordinating the information technology improvements and has instituted a new donor program which will enhance the donor registration process. She is currently transitioning all reporting into databases and helping to educate the military community on the importance of blood donation through the blood donation centers.

In 2006 Dr. Spott lead the establishment of the DoD's first and only trauma system and trauma patient registry. Dr. Spott was responsible for developing the strategic vision for trauma operations across the DOD and was instrumental in building the trauma system from the ground up. As the Deputy Director, Dr. Spott manages all aspects of the JTS and DoD Trauma Registry and its integrated clinical registries and databases. The U.S. Secretary of Defense awarded Distinguished Civilian Award (DCS) to Dr. Spott in Dec 2016 for her outstanding work at the JTS. The DCS Award is the highest recognition the DOD can award an employee, and it is presented to a small number of civilian employees whose careers reflect exceptional devotion to duty and significant contributions of broad scope of policy, scientific, technical or administrative fields that increase effectiveness and efficiency

Leah C Tatebe, MD FACS

Dr. Leah Tatebe is an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Northwestern University Division of Acute Care Surgery. She serves as the Program Director for the General Surgical Residency and Associate Trauma Medical Director. Before joining Northwestern, she was the Director of Clinical Research at the Cook County Trauma Unit and was able to push the boundaries of prehospital research within Chicago and promote collaborative projects between institutions for the good of all Chicago trauma patients. She is Vice Chair of the ACS Committee on Trauma Injury Prevention and Control Committee, Chair of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma Injury Prevention and Violence Prevention committee, and Chair of the AWS Grants and Fellowship committee. She has won numerous research, teaching, and service awards over her career. She speaks nationally on her research interests including injury prevention, trauma-informed care, prehospital trauma care, posttraumatic stress, resilience, and palliative care.

Beth Torres, PhD, RN, CCRN, TCRN

Beth Torres is a trauma nurse clinician at VCU Medical Center, a Level I trauma center, in Richmond, VA. Dr. Torres almost 40 years experience in critical care and/or trauma nursing. In 2017, she led a rib fracture management process improvement (PI) team, developing a triage algorithm which demonstrated a decrease in ICU bed utilization. She works collaboratively with the Chest Wall Injury Team (CWIT) to improve outcomes in patients with rib fractures. As the lead trauma PI coordinator, Dr. Torres has assisted in VCU Medical Center achieving reverification as a level I trauma center.

Amanda L. Truelove, RHIA, CSTR

Amanda Truelove began her career in trauma in 1996 as a combat medic in the Mississippi Army National Guard. Her healthcare experience also includes work as an EMT and as a revenue cycle director. Amanda is currently an instructor for the ICD-10 course offered by the American Trauma Society; in addition to teaching for Cambridge College. Amanda is the Vice Chair of the ATS Trauma Registry and Data Council and past chair of the ATS CSTR Leadership Advisory Council. Amanda provides registry education as the Data Quality Analyst and Registry Lead in her role at St. Louis Children's Hospital and Regional One Health (Elvis Presley Trauma Center). Amanda serves as an education resource and mentor to trauma registry professionals through her numerous national and state volunteer efforts. Her passion and advocacy for the trauma registry profession inspired her work with the research study on Compassion Fatigue and the Trauma Registry Professional.

Jefferson G. Williams MD, MPH, FAEMS

Dr. Jeff Williams is the Deputy Medical Director for the Wake County EMS System. With the guidance of the Chief Medical Officer and EMS Medical Director, Dr. Williams leads the day-to-day activities of the EMS medical direction team, participating in protocol development, clinical quality assurance, research, and the EMS System’s educational programs