Health IT Summit

Thomas Engels (Tom) is the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, he oversees HRSA’s extensive portfolio of health care services, focusing on improving health care for people in underserved and rural communities.

Mr. Engels previously led the agency from 2019 to 2021 and brings a wealth of experience, including his work on the White House COVID-19 Task Force and the implementation of the Provider Relief Fund, providing critical support to hospitals and other health care professionals on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. During his initial tenure, Tom managed programs addressing the opioid epidemic by integrating behavioral health into primary care and HIV care settings. He returns to HRSA from his recent role as Sergeant at Arms at the Wisconsin Senate.

Prior to joining HRSA in 2019, Mr. Engels served as the Deputy Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, where he managed a department with over 6,000 employees and a budget of $12 billion. His leadership led to the expansion of state mental health services, and the establishment of a statewide electronic health record system.

Michael Tartakovsky, MSc, is a recognized expert and pioneer in bioinformatics, cyber and information technologies, renowned for developing innovative strategies at the intersection of life sciences and technology with a distinctive combination of executive and technical expertise. Since 2003, he has served as a Chief Information Officer and Director of the Office of Cyber Infrastructure and Computational Biology (OCICB) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (USA).

Mr. Tartakovsky leads his organization in delivering state-of-the-art scientific IT infrastructure, custom software, bioinformatics, and business intelligence solutions to the NIAID and NIH staff and their collaborators worldwide. His primary focus is on fostering scientific cooperation by applying modern informatics to facilitate discovery process.

Under Mr. Tartakovsky’s guidance, his teams created numerous unique solutions to enhance research capabilities collaborating with computer and life scientists across the globe. His Office supports multiple domestic and international sites to promote universal scientific participation by providing key technology infrastructures to enable on-site clinical research and scientific data analysis.
Mr. Tartakovsky is a recipient of the 2021 Distinguished Executive and 2015 Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Awards, and author of numerous prestigious keynote addresses, influential presentations, and instrumental scientific publications on the application of cutting-edge technologies to advance biomedical science.

CDR Scott Miller is a U.S. Public Health Service Officer and Physician Assistant who currently serves as the Director of the Office of Health Services (OHS) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In this role he directs a comprehensive health program portfolio encompassing Marine Medicine, Aviation Medicine, Diving Medicine, Behavioral Health, and Medical Affairs. Populations served include NOAA Corps Officers, civilian wage mariners, aviators, divers, health scientists, researchers, and other personnel aboard NOAA-controlled ships and aircraft.

Prior to his assignment at NOAA, CDR Miller served the Indian Health Service (IHS) for 18 years in varied leadership positions, primarily in Fairbanks, Alaska. His roles in the large Tribal Health Organization included Director of Telemedicine and Health Innovation, Deputy Medical Director, Air Ambulance Service Director, Primary Care Team Lead, and Advanced Practice Provider Supervisor.

CDR Miller holds a Master of Science (MCMSc) in Clinical Medical Science from Barry University (2002) and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Illinois Chicago (2024). In specialized training, he completed the Joint Hyperbaric Medical Officer Program (2024) and the NOAA Diving Program (2025) to earn the Diving Medical Officer (DMO) credential, and graduated from the US Army Flight Surgeon Program (2025), acquiring the Aeromedical Physician Assistant (APA-C) credential.

Dr. Erika Kim holds dual appointments at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), where she is a Program Manager, and at the National Cancer Institute, where she serves as Senior Program Director. She leads high-impact programs that advance data science, interoperability, and cancer research, with a particular focus on developing transformative tools and platforms for biomedical research and healthcare data ecosystems.

With over two decades of experience at the interface of data science and biomedicine, Dr. Kim specializes in translational informatics, large-scale data integration, and the design of interoperable, cloud-native infrastructures. Her work at the ARPA-H emphasizes enabling new computational capabilities and scalable systems that convert complex biomedical data into actionable insights, accelerating discovery and improving clinical and population health outcomes.

Dr. Kim earned her doctorate in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed postdoctoral training at the National Human Genome Research Institute, where her research focused on the molecular mechanisms of leukemia.

Bonnie Barti has dedicated nearly 25 years to federal service and currently serves as a Simulation Technician at the VA Medical Center in Las Vegas, where she has worked for nearly seven years. Although she entered the role without prior experience in healthcare or simulation, she brought a strong foundation in training and education. Coming from a family with multiple generations of military service, veteran care is deeply personal to her and has been a driving force throughout her career.

Committed to advancing the field of healthcare simulation, Bonnie has a Master’s degree in Education and has earned several professional certifications through the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH), including Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Advanced (CHSOS-A), Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE), and, through Naval Postgraduate School, the Certified Healthcare Modeling and Simulation (CHMS). She also holds certification in AI, CFEN AI. Naturally curious and passionate about continuous learning, she embraces the philosophy that “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take “a mindset that inspires her to pursue new opportunities and challenges.

Katherine Hennessey brings more than 25 years of experience at the intersection of technology, policy, and national security. As Head of U.S. Government Strategy at Everpure (formerly Pure Storage), she helps federal, state, and local agencies modernize with a unified data and storage platform built to store, manage, and protect data across on-premises, cloud, and hosted environments—supporting mission readiness, resilience, and AI-driven innovation.

Previously, Katherine served as Head of Government Services at NightDragon, where she led public sector strategy in support of a portfolio of cybersecurity and defense technology companies, helping bring cutting-edge technologies to government operators in the U.S. federal, state, local, and allied markets.

Earlier in her career, Katherine led government affairs for CrowdStrike and Forescout Technologies, founded and ran her own government relations consulting firm, taught at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, and served as Subcommittee Staff Director on the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations.

A recognized voice on cybersecurity, emerging technology, and national security issues, Katherine has appeared in or been quoted by Bloomberg, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, among other major media outlets. She serves on the Board of Directors of Cyber AB, on the Advisory Board of the Technology Advancement Center, and as a Senior Fellow at the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security at Auburn University.

Monica Rosser is the Executive Managing Director of Federal Health at Maximus. Since joining Maximus in 2023, she has been focused on driving the company’s strategic vision, growth, and customer expansion across the federal health landscape. As a seasoned executive and thought leader, Monica brings over 15 years of experience in driving transformational change, leveraging expertise in business growth, strategic leadership, business development, emerging technology, healthcare management, and customer experience. Her mission is to enable our nation to meet the evolving health challenges of citizens, soldiers, and Veterans by enabling a whole health view that provides equitable, positive, connected outcomes in all areas of life.

Previously, Monica served as Chief Growth Officer at Tria Federal and was the first female Chief Growth Officer at Favor Tech Consulting, achieving a remarkable 27% year-over-year revenue acceleration and contributing to a cumulative career impact of $4 billion.

Prior to these positions, Monica served in high-impact roles at SBG Technology Solutions, Deloitte, and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Monica earned her bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her law degree from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, and master’s certificate in Health Information Security and Privacy from George Washington University.

Christine Pacheco is a highly accomplished professional, and currently serves as the Director of Federal Civilian Sales at Equinix. In this role, she leads a team of sales professionals focused on driving digital transformation at federal civilian agencies, including Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, and Treasury.

Prior to her current position, Christine held the role of Director Client Executive at AT&T, where she led the financial vertical sales team within the public sector division. She successfully managed a $150M book of business, which included the Department of Treasury, Department of Commerce, and various financial independent agencies. Throughout her tenure at AT&T, Christine served in leadership roles, including leading the Contract Modifications team and serving as Chief of Staff supporting the President of AT&T Government Solutions and National Business.

Christine currently resides in Alexandria, VA, with her husband, two active children, and their rescue pup, Sonny. She values the importance of work-life balance and finds joy in spending time with her family.

For two decades, Ben Cushing has been a leader in emerging technology solutions across multiple industries and is committed to radical innovation in healthcare. Before joining Red Hat, he served as the Chief Technology Officer for MDLogix, a behavioral health IT firm supporting Johns Hopkins Medicine. There he architected and brought to market a behavioral health cloud platform for use with employer, healthcare, and education markets.

In addition to supporting analytics and operations at the National Institutes of Health for 6 years, Cushing had the opportunity to practice a scaled agile framework with Accenture where he led the technical architecture and design for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Electronic Health Management Platform, an industry leading Health Management and Care Coordination platform serving 9 million patients.

His tenure at Accenture began with the acquisition of Agilex, where he designed LSI solutions, developed systems to automate the Post-9/11 GI bill, and supported in-theater data collection and analytics tools. While at Agilex, Ben architected and led the development of a mobile Software Development Kit, still in use today by the VA to produce more than 60 applications.

Nelson Carreira brings over 22 years of experience as a healthcare technology leader to his role at CDW, where he serves as a Healthcare Industry Strategist supporting provider organizations in navigating complex digital transformation and cybersecurity challenges. With a background as both a healthcare customer and a lead technology executive, Nelson provides a unique perspective that aligns clinical, operational, and technology priorities to drive measurable outcomes.

With strong alignment to CTO to CISO leadership priorities, Nelson is recognized for his executive advisory capabilities across cybersecurity strategy, risk management, and enterprise architecture. He has led and supported critical initiatives such as the implementation of Meditech electronic health records systems while designing the supporting security architecture and infrastructure required to ensure resilience, compliance, and scalability across healthcare environments.

Nelson’s expertise spans multi-tiered enterprise environments, including cloud platforms, hypervisors, operating systems, databases, and enterprise infrastructure. His specialties include identity and access management, cybersecurity governance, Zero Trust strategy, enterprise architecture, and systems integration—enabling healthcare organizations to modernize securely while maintaining operational continuity.

He partners closely with healthcare executives to address industry challenges such as cybersecurity threats, interoperability, workforce constraints, and the increasing demand for data-driven care. Through these engagements, Nelson helps organizations align people, process, and technology to improve patient outcomes and enhance the overall healthcare experience.

Nelson continues to collaborate with cross-functional teams and strategic partners across the CDW ecosystem, representing the evolving needs of healthcare organizations while driving innovation and delivering impactful solutions tailored to the industry.