Briefcase

Dr. Anne Marie Morse is the Director of Child Neurology and Pediatric Sleep Medicine at Geisinger, Janet Weis Children’s Hospital. She has significant clinical and research experience and interest in children, adolescents, and adults with sleep wake disorders, particularly central disorders of hypersomnolence. In addition, her research interests extend more broadly to include investigating the relationship between sleep and neurologic and neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr Morse’s commitment to sleep health extends into the community. She has developed a school-based sleep education and surveillance program called Wake Up and Learn.  This program was developed to provide education about sleep health and perform school-based sleep screening to improve recognition of pediatric sleep disorders in middle and high school students. It has now expanded to include learners in college, medical school, and medical residency programs with a clinical and health plan delivery, called Sleep to Be Well. Dr. Morse envisions a world where sleep can be acknowledged as the vital sign of health, wellness, and performance that it is designed to be.

Dr. Thorpy is a Professor of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Director of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center in the Department of Neurology at Montefiore Medical Center, both in New York. In addition to treating patients with sleep disorders, he conducts research in narcolepsy, insomnia, and sleep apnea. He is President of the New York State Society of Sleep Medicine, Past President of the Sleep Section of the Academy of Neurology, and Past Secretary of the National Sleep Foundation. In 1993 Dr. Thorpy received the Nathaniel Kleitman Award from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, one of the field’s highest honors, and in 2012 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Sleep Foundation.

Born in New Zealand, Dr. Thorpy earned his medical degree from the University of Otago Medical School. After receiving postgraduate training in Dunedin, New Zealand; Bombay, India; and London, England, he completed his residency in neurology at the State University of New York in Syracuse and a neuroendocrinology fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center. Dr. Thorpy is board certified in sleep medicine.

He has published extensively on narcolepsy, insomnia, and sleep disorders. He chaired the first International Classification of Sleep Disorders and has published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, including publications in journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine. His numerous books include The Encyclopedia of Sleep and Sleep Disorders, Parasomnias (2010), Sleepiness (2011), Neuroimaging of Sleep and Sleep Disorders (2012), Genetics of Sleep and Sleep Disorders (2013), Narcolepsy: a Clinical Guide (2016), and SleepMultiMedia, The Computerized Textbook of Sleep Medicine (v12).0 (2023).

Dr. Thorpy has given more than 100 television, radio, and print interviews on sleep disorders.

Debbie P. Hagins, MD, FAPCR, AAHIVS, is the Medical Director and Principal Investigator for Coastal Health District’s CARE clinics in Savannah, Georgia, and surrounding counties, and has more than 30 years of experience as a family medicine doctor. Dr. Hagins received her HIV Specialist certification from the American Academy of HIV Medicine and is a Fellow of the Academy of Physicians of Clinical Research, a designation reserved for Academy members who have shown significant commitment to, and achievement in, clinical research. Dr. Hagins graduated from Morehouse School of Medicine and completed her residency at Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia. She has been recognized as Unstoppable Woman of the Year, received the Georgia State Public Health Primary Care Leadership award, and the Hero in Medicine award. She has been featured in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, local papers, and has been a guest on several radio and television outlets. Dr. Hagins has been involved in community health events for more than 30 years, presenting on a range of health topics.

Sorana Segal-Maurer, MD is Director of Infectious Diseases at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens in Flushing, NY and Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, NY. She has published extensively, as author of peer-reviewed articles on HIV treatment adherence, diagnosis, and treatment of metabolic and morphologic changes in HIV infected patients, and is an author of the section, “Nutritional Metabolism and Support in the Setting of HIV Infection“, in the Adult Nutrition Support Core Curriculum textbook. She is actively involved in HIV research, serving as principal investigator or co-investigator in phase II, III, IV clinical trials as well as investigator-initiated trials. Currently, she is the lead author on the 2022 NEJM publication of the CAPELLA trial where the use of lenacapavir was evaluated in a cohort of heavily treated persons living with HIV. She has been in clinical practice for nearly 30 years.

Dr. Segal-Maurer is board-certified in infectious diseases and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Medical Examiners. She received her medical degree from Icahn School of Medicine in New York, NY and completed an internship, residency, and infectious diseases fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, NY.

Milena Murray, PharmD, MS, is an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Midwestern University College of Pharmacy, Downers Grove campus and a System-Level HIV/ID Clinical Pharmacist at Northwestern Medicine. Dr. Murray completed her Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and her Master of Science in Clinical Investigation at Northwestern University. Her post-graduate training consisted of a PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and an Infectious Diseases Pharmacotherapy Fellowship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital through Midwestern University. Her primary research interests are drug shortages and HIV/Hepatitis C pharmacotherapy. Dr Murray is a Board-Certified Infectious Diseases Pharmacist and an AAHIVM HIV Pharmacist.

Carlos Malvestutto, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Dr. Malvestutto completed his undergraduate degree at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and his master’s in public health at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned his medical degree from the Ponce Health Sciences University in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He then completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, New York and his Infectious Disease Fellowship at New York University Medical Center-Tisch Hospital in New York, New York.

Dr. Malvestutto’s research has focused on cardiovascular complications of HIV as well as HIV cure strategies using broadly neutralizing antibodies. He is a member of the HIV Reservoirs and Viral Eradication  (Cure) Transformative Science Group of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group and serves in the Ending the HIV Epidemic Working Group of the HIV Medical Association.

Sandra M. Quezada, MD, MS, received her medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, where she also completed her post-graduate Residency training in Internal Medicine and Fellowship training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She is passionate about Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity, and brings this lens to her work in academic medicine. She is Associate Dean for Medical School Admissions and Associate Dean for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (SOM) and has worked locally, regionally, and nationally to amplify physician workforce diversity and to impact the climate in which future and current physicians train and practice.

Dr. Quezada is a practicing Gastroenterologist who subspecializes in inflammatory bowel disease and is recent past-Chair of the Diversity Committee and current co-Chair of the Equity Task Force for the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). She is also a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s National Scientific Advisory, member of the Association of American Medical Colleges Intersectionality Women of Color Workgroup, and Chair of the Intersociety Group on Diversity in Gastroenterology. She is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) National Honor Medical Society, recipient of the Leonard Tow Gold Humanism Award for Humanism in Medicine, and recipient of the AGA Distinguished Award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Ray Mendez, MD, MA is a family physician from Chicago, IL dedicated to serving the global Latinx community. Dr. Mendez founded MiMedico, a primary care clinic located in Chicago’s predominantly Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen. Dr. Mendez also works at the Ingalls Memorial Hospital Emergency Department Extension and serves as a clinical educator for both Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Rush University Medical College. Dr. Mendez is honored to serve on the Executive Board of Directors at the Health & Medicine Policy Research Group, an organization that advocates for equitable health policies impacting health systems. He also completes annual volunteer urgent care and health education stints in Nicaragua with aspirations of creating a sustainable, community-run primary care clinic in the country.

Dr. Otis Kirksey received both his B.S. and Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Florida A&M University. He is a retired Professor of Pharmacy with over 25 years of experience in academia with specific focus in the area of pharmacy practice, diabetes, and primary care. His experience as a practicing pharmacist spans over almost 35 years and encompasses a variety of practice settings including hospital, community, and ambulatory pharmacy practice. Currently, he serves as the Director of Pharmacy Services for Neighborhood Medical Services, a federally qualified health center. Dr. Kirksey was recently awarded with the distinction of Professor Emeritus of Pharmacy Practice by Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

He is Board Certified in Advanced Diabetes Management (BC-ADM) as well as a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES). He is also a certified Lifestyle Coach as well as a Master Trainer for the National Diabetes Prevention Program.

Dr. Kirksey has received funding for research from federal and private sponsors including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, the National Library of Medicine, and the Minority Health Professions Foundation. Dr. Kirksey has authored or co-authored over 20 manuscripts published in refereed and un-refereed journals and newspapers.

He currently serves as President-Elect of Health Care and Education for the American Diabetes Association. He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, and serves as the director of the Prince Hall Shriners National Community Health Initiative.

Utibe R. Essien, MD, MPH, is an assistant professor and health equity researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, recently recruited there after an outstanding tenure as a junior faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Essien’s research focuses on racial disparities in the use of novel medications and technologies in the management of cardiovascular diseases. He is a fierce advocate for diversity and equity in medicine and is a highly sought-after speaker on racism and health. He also co-directed a podcast series on “Antiracism in Medicine.” Dr. Essien’s leadership in advancing health equity has resulted in several national awards, including the National Minority Quality Forum’s 40-Under-40 Leaders in Minority Health Award and the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Herbert W. Nickens Faculty Fellowship Award. He was also named one of the “30 Leaders Under 40 Transforming Healthcare” by Business Insider and one of the “20 Top Black Physician Social Media Influencers in 2020” by Medscape.

Rachel M. Bond, MD, FACC is a board-certified attending cardiologist in Arizona who has devoted her career to the treatment of heart disease through early detection, education, and prevention. She is a women’s heart health & prevention specialist and the author of several review papers referencing maternal health, sex and gender differences and cardiovascular conditions that predominantly affect women, along with opinion pieces aimed at addressing health equity, reducing health disparities, and promoting the professional development of women and minorities in the health-science profession. She has a passion for advocacy of education and mentorship and has advised as an expert source through news and media outlets. Her clinical interests include heart health prevention and maternal health. Dr. Bond is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a member of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology, Association of Black Cardiologists, and the American Heart Association, where she is a national spokesperson for the “Go Red for Women” campaign and sits on the board of directors.