Health IT: New Horizons in Medicine

Jonathan Alboum is the CTO and Principal Digital Strategist for the Federal Government at ServiceNow. In this role, Jonathan works with federal agencies to deliver digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity.

Before joining ServiceNow, Jonathan was the Public Sector CTO for Veritas Technologies. In addition, Jonathan has held a variety of senior executive positions in the federal government. His Federal government tenure includes serving as the Chief Information Officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he led the development of USDA’s IT Modernization strategy, including Cloud computing, network modernization, and enhanced information security protections for a $3 billion annual technology spend. In addition, he served as a leader in USDA’s Acquisition community, supporting the oversight, assessment, and strategic planning of an acquisition portfolio of more than 70,000 awards, worth $6 billion annually. Jonathan also worked at GSA as the Associate CIO for Enterprise Governance and Planning and led the creation of GSA’s consolidated IT organization. He began his federal career at the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), where he served as Deputy CIO and CIO. Before government, Jonathan worked as a management consultant for both PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ventera Corporation.

Jonathan earned a MS in the Management of Information Technology from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce and a BS in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Jonathan lives in Arlington, VA with his wife and three children. He enjoys practicing yoga, watching the Yankees, and listening to Bruce Springsteen.

Christina M. Armstrong, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist at the Office of Connected Care in the Department of Veterans Affairs. She is involved in the development and implementation of education and training programs that facilitate increased adoption of digital health applications and tools throughout the VA enterprise. Previously, she served as Program Lead for an interdisciplinary Education and Training Program Lead at the Connected Health Branch of the Defense Health Agency, United States Department of Defense. Dr. Armstrong does research in clinical psychology, neuropsychology, and the implementation and dissemination of technology in clinical practice. Dr. Armstrong also serves as adjunct faculty in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University.

Marquis Barefield served in the Army from May 1991 to August 1998 as a combat engineer with Company A, 65th Engineer Battalion, at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Barefield then reenlisted to become a military intelligence analyst and served as a member of the 4th Infantry Division’s brigade S2 personnel and physical security office before his medical retirement.

Barefield began his DAV career in 1998 as a national service officer apprentice in Atlanta, Georgia. He also served as the national service office supervisor and a senior national appeals officer at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, both in Washington, D.C.

In 2020, Barefield was appointed assistant national legislative director at DAV’s National Service and Legislative Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Christy Choi has been the Deputy Director of Communications for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) since June 2019. She oversees HRSA’s digital communications and social media activities, publication and contract clearance, electronic media productions, and the agency’s external e-newsletters. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Christy has coordinated HRSA’s communication efforts and increased transparency by providing timely updates to HRSA’s stakeholders.

Christy joined HRSA in 2015 as the Director of the Web & Social Media Group overseeing HRSA websites and social media channels. Prior to joining HRSA, Christy was the Web Manager at the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, where she was responsible for launching HealthIT.gov. She also led the launch of the Office’s Twitter efforts and LinkedIn group. Christy has worked in different offices within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the last 20 years, supporting the launch of major government programs, IT governance, and communication initiatives.

Peter F. Garrett is director of NCI’s Office of Communications and Public Liaison, where he oversees the institute’s activities in digital communications and social media, science writing for professional and lay audiences, clearance, stakeholder outreach, media relations, and internal communications, as well as the NCI Contact Center.

Prior to joining NCI, Peter was the director of the Office of Communications and Public Affairs in the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (HHS ONC)—which, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was responsible for transitioning physicians and hospitals to electronic health record keeping. At HHS ONC, he was responsible for overseeing all communications and public affairs related to this program.

Earlier in his career, Peter served in the Clinton Administration as press chief for the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and represented a large variety of clients—including NCI—on diverse health care communications and policy projects. With more than 25 years of experience in public service and consulting, Peter has focused his career on helping organizations and individuals communicate effectively with decision makers, including public officials and stakeholders.

Peter recently received both the NCI and NIH Director’s Awards for communications leadership supporting the Cancer Moonshot. He graduated from Bowdoin College with an A.B. in European History and Western Philosophy.

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.

Mr. Justin T. Meyer is a member of the Senior Executive Service and serves as the Deputy Director of Acquisition Programs. In this position, he is responsible for supporting the Coast Guard’s Program Executive Officer (PEO) in providing management oversight of all Coast Guard acquisition programs and projects for the modernization and recapitalization of surface, air, command and control, and logistics assets in support of the Coast Guard’s multiple maritime missions.

Prior to his joining the Coast Guard in May 2020, Mr. Meyer supported the U.S. Navy in managing shipbuilding production, maintenance and weapon system testing, as well as fleet introduction training programs, budget policy and procedure, acquisition, strategic planning, and translation of strategic vision into concrete action. In his most recent position, he served as the Deputy Program Manager for the U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship Mission Module major defense acquisition program (PMS 420); his civilian and military career with the U.S. Navy includes more than 17 years of acquisition experience across foreign military sales, major shipbuilding and Acquisition Category I weapon system development programs, including the $22 billion DDG-1000 Zumwalt class Destroyer program (PMS 500). In 2014, he was selected to participate in the Department of Defense Legislative Fellowship program and served on Senator Collins’ staff working all aspects of national defense and intelligence issues.

He has served in a variety of key leadership positions throughout his civilian and military career and has been recognized for his efforts to identify cost inefficiencies and take action to deliver critical national defense assets on schedule. Mr. Meyer joined the civil service in 2010 after a distinguished career as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy. He received his Surface Warfare Officer qualification aboard the USS Stethem (DDG 63) where he served as the ship’s Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer and Combat Information Center Officer. After graduating from Naval Nuclear Power School, Mr. Meyer served onboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) as the Reactor Mechanical Division Officer. During his tour, the USS Roosevelt completed a deployment to the Persian Gulf in support of the Global War on Terrorism, an Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination and a shipyard availability period.

Mr. Meyer is a native of Danville, California, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the California Maritime Academy and a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management from The Catholic University of America. Mr. Meyer is a member of the Acquisition Professional Community and has a Level III Certification in Program Management. He also holds Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act certifications in Systems Engineering and International Program Management.

Mr. Meyer’s military and civilian decorations include the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Navy Meritorious Achievement Commendation, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service and Expeditionary Medals and a Flag Level of Commendation. He and his wife, Jennifer, of Newport News, Virginia, daughter Adalyn and son Ryland reside in Springfield, Virginia.

Maheen Mirza, Sales Director of Dell Federal, leads the team that is responsible for the full portfolio of Dell Technologies spanning across enterprise systems, client solutions, software, and services aimed at the U.S. federal healthcare customer. Maheen’s responsibilities include the go to market leadership for the segment, which includes Defense Health Agency, Department of Veteran Affairs, Health and Human Services and the Social Security Administration. Maheen relies on her extensive experience in the public sector space to lead her team’s efforts to provide our customer’s mission critical IT solutions with innovation.

Prior to her current role, Maheen served as the Sales Director for Dell’s 3rd party software business in support of Federal, State and Local government and Enterprise customers. Her responsibilities in this role included leadership for the sales and strategy of enterprise software across strategic software providers.

Maheen brings over a decade of management experience serving our government and military customers. Prior to Dell, Maheen spend 9 years at GTSI, a leading systems integrator in roles of ascending responsibilities in business development, partner management and sales. As Director, Strategic Partnerships, she was a key leader in driving change and leading GTSI through its transformation to a leading Systems Integrator serving the Public Sector market. Under her leadership, GTSI received industry recognition and awards from market leaders such as VMware, Citrix and Microsoft.

Maheen is active in the community and is the co-lead for the DC/VA Women in Action chapter for Dell Technologies. She also sits on the board of AFCEA Bethesda. Maheen graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and a Master of Business Administration. She is active in the community and proponent of diversity in the workplace.

As the Director of the Office of Communications, Ms. Charissa Pallas provides leadership in the development of SAMHSA’s priorities, strategies, and practices for effective communications to targeted public audiences, including relations with the media.

In this role, Ms. Pallas is responsible for public affairs and public relations, disseminating products and supporting campaigns, managing the web presence and social media content, and providing communications support to the rest of the agency.

Charissa is a communications strategist with more than a decade of leadership experience in strategic planning, employee engagement, crisis communications, reputation management and team building. Previously, she served as the Deputy Assistant Director of the Office of Public Affairs at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security. In this role, she managed a team of more than 60 communications experts located around the country as well as the agency’s messaging strategy for external and internal audiences.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Management from the Johns Hopkins University.

Lauren Thompson, Ph.D., serves as Interoperability Director for the Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) program office. Dr. Thompson is responsible for interoperability strategy and planning, health interoperability standards and engagement with federal and industry partners to ensure the highest levels of interoperability between the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Defense (DOD) and the private sector.

Dr. Thompson served as Director of the DOD/VA Interagency Program Office (IPO) during the critical years before it was re-chartered as the FEHRM. Under her leadership, the DOD/VA IPO established itself as a leader in health data standards and interoperability, driving the development and adoption of national and international health data standards that enabled interoperability across the Departments and with private sector partners and having measurable impact on health industry interoperability.

Dr. Thompson holds a doctorate in health policy and strategic management and a Master of Health Services Administration in Health Services Management and Policy and Information Management from The George Washington University. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Colgate University. She is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and is a certified leadership and team coach. Dr. Thompson also serves as adjunct faculty in the Key Executive Leadership Program in the American University School of Public Affairs.

Mr. William J. Tinston serves as the Director for the Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) program office. In this role, he oversees the FEHRM’s efforts in implementing a single, common federal electronic health record (EHR) with the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). The FEHRM enables joint decision-making and drives federal solutions for optimizing EHR implementation and operation.

Mr. Tinston has three decades of experience in defense acquisition program management, portfolio and investment management, and enterprise information technology. He previously served as the Program Executive Officer for the Program Executive Office, Defense Healthcare Management Systems (PEO DHMS). In this role, he led the deployment of DOD’s EHR. Additionally, he worked with VA and USCG to assist their transition to the same EHR as DOD, ensuring progress toward a single, common record for every beneficiary.

Prior to PEO DHMS, Mr. Tinston held senior executive positions at the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), most recently serving as the Program Executive Officer. In this role, he was responsible for the management and oversight of DLA’s Major Automated Information Systems programs and special interest programs and was the milestone decision authority for DLA’s less-than-major programs. He was the corporate provider of acquisition management services and provided overall direction and guidance for the development, acquisition, testing, systems integration, product improvement and fielding for assigned DLA programs.

Mr. Tinston holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and Information Systems. He is Defense Acquisition University-certified at level three in Program Management and Information Technology. His honors include the DLA Meritorious Civilian Service Award and a Federal Computer Week Federal 100 Award. As a testament to his work, the Defense Information Systems Agency recognized him as an Outstanding External Contributor.

Jacob C. Warren, Ph.D., MBA, is a behavioral epidemiologist in the Mercer University School of Medicine, where he serves as the Rufus C. Harris Endowed Chair and Director of the Center for Rural Health and Health Disparities, as the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and as the founding director of the Ph.D. in Rural Health Sciences program. He has received more than $12 million in federal funds to support his rural health equity-focused work, including being one of only two NIH Centers of Excellence focused on rural health issues. He has published five books (including the texts “Rural Mental Health” and “Rural Public Health”) and over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters focused on rural mental health issues including depression and anxiety risk, child and adolescent substance abuse, access to mental health care, opioid overdose prevention, and telehealth. He was named the 2016 National Rural Health Association Researcher of the Year, is a Health Equity Ambassador for the American Psychological Association, and is Chair of the Board for the State of Georgia’s Farmworker Health Program.

Dr. Jonathan P. Weiner is a professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. He holds a joint appointment in health sciences informatics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Dr. Weiner’s research focuses on health care services and evaluation, health care policy analysis and the application of information technology (IT) to public and population health. This includes the application of electronic health records and health information technology in population-based performance measurement and predictive modeling and analytics.

A pioneer in the use of health care data, Dr. Weiner is an internationally renowned researcher, policy analyst and speaker. He is the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Population Health Information Technology, director of the Bloomberg School’s Public Health Informatics Certificate Program and the co-developer of the Johns Hopkins ACG® System, a sophisticated tool used to measure patient morbidity.

His areas of expertise include managed care and integrated health care delivery systems, predictive modeling, risk adjustment and healthcare analytics, health care IT and health system integration, quality of care measurement, health workforce deployment and planning and cross-national comparisons in the primary care sector.

Dr. Weiner has authored or co-authored more than 150 peer-reviewed scholarly articles. A frequent guest and commentator on national and local National Public Radio radio shows and local PBS television, he often serves as a consultant to integrated delivery systems and managed care organizations nationally and worldwide.

Dr. Weiner earned his DrPH in health services research from the Bloomberg School of Public Health and his MS in health administration from the University of Massachusetts. He also holds a BA in human biology from the University of Pennsylvania.

He is a Fellow of AcademyHealth – formerly known as the Academy for Health Services Research and Policy – and a member of a number of quality- and health IT-related expert panels at the National Quality Forum, the National Committee for Quality Assurance and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Christina Wong has a diverse background in regulatory affairs and marketing, and she now leads the healthcare and life sciences product marketing vertical at DocuSign. Before DocuSign, Christina began her career in the public sector where she covered healthcare issues for former California State Senator Christina Kehoe. Later, she advocated for improved local government ordinances, which her efforts contributed to the creation of one of the SF Bay Area’s largest East Bay Regional Parks.

Christina’s regulatory experience also includes being a product manager at Advanced Sterilization Products, a medical device subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. Additionally, she spent over four years as the 2nd marketing hire at a water focused tech startup that sought to bring big data to water utilities. When she isn’t working, Christina goes on long urban walks with her family. Christina has a MBA from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Policy from UC Berkeley where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.