Digital Health Modernization

Mr. del Vecchio is Director of the Office of Management, Technology, and Operations. In this role, works in partnership with SAMHSA and the Department of Health and Human Services to manage, provide leadership, and ensure SAMHSA’s needs are met.

Previously, Mr. del Vecchio served as the Director of SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), providing executive leadership for Federal efforts to improve the nation’s mental health service systems. This included management of the federal/state mental health block grant program and directing a range of programs and activities that address topics such as suicide prevention, children’s mental health, homelessness, disaster mental health, HIV/AIDS, and others. Mr. del Vecchio also previously served as the CMHS Associate Director for Consumer Affairs where he directed SAMHSA’s precedent-setting programs and activities that advanced consumer participation and education, a recovery orientation for the mental health system, peer support and the adoption of certified peer specialists, wellness and primary care integration, understanding of trauma histories and the social determinants of health and mental health, and led programs to reduce discrimination and prejudice associated with mental illnesses.

Prior to joining SAMHSA, Paolo worked for the Philadelphia Office of Mental Health in the areas of policy formulation and the planning of a comprehensive system of community-based mental health services addressing homelessness, HIV/AIDS, and many other issues.

A self-identified mental health consumer, trauma survivor, and person in recovery from addictions, Paolo has been involved for over 40 years in behavioral health as a consumer, family member, provider, advocate, and policy maker. He graduated summa cum laude with a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Temple University, has published widely, and is a highly sought after national leader and speaker. Paolo has been a leader in many Federal efforts including the Federal Advisory Planning Board for the Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health, the HHS Multiple Chronic Conditions Initiative, the HHS Living Community Initiative and numerous others.

Ivor Leonard D’Souza is the Director of Information Systems and Chief Information Officer at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health.  In this capacity, he oversees the development of NLM’s organizational IT strategy and federal IT compliance.  He is also the Director of NLM’s Office of Computer and Communications Systems responsible for IT operations and software development programs that serve online content to health care professionals, researchers, and patients worldwide.  Mr. D’Souza was formerly a partner and Vice-President at AAC Inc., an IT consulting firm in Vienna, VA.

Mr. D’Souza has a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, India.

Kevin Duvall is the HHS Acting Deputy Chief Data Officer. In his current role, he has been heavily involved with the Department’s planning for the Evidence Act and the development of the HHS Protect COVID-19 data sharing ecosystem. Prior to joining HHS, Kevin worked at the University of Virginia (UVA) in various capacities. He was responsible for acquiring and implementing cloud products serving the faculty, staff, and students of the university, and leading change through smarter, consolidated IT acquisition. In addition, he also worked directly for the UVA Chief Information Officer driving forward critical actions in audit response, continuity of operations planning, strategic planning, and staff development/learning. Kevin holds a M.S. in Management of Information Technology and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Physics, both from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Andrew Gettinger serves as chief clinical officer for ONC. He is a professor of anesthesiology emeritus at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and was formerly the chief medical information officer (CMIO) for Dartmouth-Hitchcock and associate dean for clinical informatics at Geisel.

Dr. Gettinger has extensive experience in the field of health information technology. He led the development of an electronic health record (EHR) system at Dartmouth and subsequently was the senior physician leader during Dartmouth’s transition to a vendor-based EHR. Dr. Gettinger’s clinical practice and research has been focused both on anesthesiology and critical care medicine, and on information technology as it applies generally to health care.

Dr. Gettinger founded the clinical informatics group at Dartmouth. He has been an active participant in the policy debates regarding patient privacy at both the state and federal level, testifying before the senate HELP committee and participating as a member of the New Hampshire legislative taskforce on privacy. He served in Senator Orrin G. Hatch’s office as a Robert Wood Johnson health policy fellow.

He is board certified in anesthesiology, critical care medicine and was among the inaugural cohort of physicians certified in clinical informatics by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in 2013.

Dr. Simon Pincus is the chief of the Defense Health Agency’s Connected Health Branch, Clinical Support Division, Medical Affairs.

Connected Health is the branch of the Defense Health Agency responsible for reviewing, evaluating, coordinating, and integrating the use and development of health technology supporting Military Health System beneficiaries.These technologies include telehealth, mobile apps, mobile web, virtual reality, augmented reality, and wearable devices.

Dr. Pincus comes from the Army’s Regional Health Command-Pacific, where he was responsible for execution of behavioral health programs spanning eight time zones. In that role, he led tri-service behavioral health efforts to optimize the MHS GENESIS electronic health record, represented the Department of Defense at the Veterans Affairs’ EHR-Modernization workshops, and presented at the Annual Cerner Health Conference.

His civilian service includes director, Installation Behavioral Health, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and chief, Behavioral Health, Madigan Army Medical Center (the Army’s largest behavioral health department); chief, Tele-Behavioral Health, Western Region Medical Command; and chief, McChord Mental Health.

Dr. Pincus is the recipient of the Superior and Commander’s Awards for Civilian Service and led teams that received the Madigan Swan Award for Teamwork for two consecutive years.

Dr. Pincus retired from the U.S. Army as a Medical Corps officer in 2008 after 25 years ofservice, having had the opportunity on active duty to lead at many levels.

As director of Psychiatry and the Combined Family Medicine/Psychiatry Programs, Dr. Pincus was responsible for the education of residents at Tripler Army Medical Center. During Operation Joint Endeavor, Dr. Pincus commanded the 84th Combat Stress Control Detachment, the first-ever fully deployed CSC unit.

Dr. Pincus’ military awards include the Order of Military Medical Merit, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal (6th Award), the Army Commendation Medal (2nd Award), and the Army Achievement Award (3rd Award), and the Expert Field Medical Badge.

Dr. Pincus received his bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He completed his psychiatric residency at Letterman Army Medical Center, and his fellowship training in psychopharmacology at the University of Colorado.

Dr. Pincus has several publications on combat and operational stress. His paper on “The Emotional Cycle of Deployment: A Military Family Perspective” has almost 500 citations and has been widely referenced during redeployment briefings.

Dr. Pincus grew up in New York, Toronto, Canada, and London, England. In England, he successfully completed 11 Ordinary “O” Level examinations from the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and London. He remembers his time in England fondly due to Harry Potter and the “Owl” Exams.

Jose Ramos serves as the Wounded Warrior Project’s (WWP) Vice President of Government and Community Relations and has been helping post-9/11 veterans as a member of the WWP team since 2018. Prior to joining WWP, Jose served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as the Special Assistant for Constituent Inquiries and as an appointed Commissioner on President Bush’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors. Jose’s background as a combat-wounded Navy corpsman informs his current role and helps guide WWP’s efforts to promote policies that support the needs of America’s wounded warriors and their families. Jose served three combat tours during his Navy service while assigned to a Marine Corps infantry battalion. Jose holds his BA from George Mason University. He is a native of the Great State of Texas.