2021-2022 AAHPM Board of Directors

Goldstein has been a physician in the department of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York for 15 years. His clinical work includes inpatient attending, precepting fellows in outpatient practice, and serving as hospice medical director on the inpatient unit. He also is a clinician investigator whose research examines ways that clinicians and patients communicate about advanced cardiac technologies. In addition, he is the site-chair for the department of geriatrics and palliative medicine for Mount Sinai Downtown.

Disclosures: None

Dr. Friedman is HPM fellowship trained and board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She serves as Regional Medical Officer of Aspire Health, providing clinical leadership for Aspire's research, advocacy, orientation and training, and clinical projects. She also serves as the lead physician for Aspire's Mid-Atlantic market, guiding the clinical care of community-dwelling patients with serious illness across the Philadelphia area, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and DC.

Before joining Aspire, Dr. Friedman spent 10 years working at the full time medical director of a large urban hospice program and five years as the medical director of national palliative care practice, developing hospital-based consultative services. She is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine.

Disclosures: None

Ruth has had the privilege of practicing full-time in Hospice and Palliative Medicine since 2001. She has achieved Internal Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and Hospice Medical Director Board Certification and is recognized as a fellow of the AAHPM and the ACOI. She is known for her expertise in hospice care – particularly in regulations, quality, and inpatient hospice care. She served 16 years at Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton, rising to the level of Chief Medical Officer. In that role, she led a team of over 30 physicians and nurse practitioners caring for more than 5,000 hospice patients and 1,800 palliative care patients annually. Ruth joined the faculty at Dartmouth-Hitchcock in 2017, serving as Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and as the Medical Director for the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care. She championed the successful opening and directs ongoing clinical operations of the Center, which offers a unique model of providing hospice care in an academic medical center setting. She is now the Chief Medical Officer for Agrace in Madison, WI. An Academy member since 2006, Ruth has eagerly volunteered in numerous capacities over the years. She is passionate about increasing access to palliative and end-of-life care for those facing serious and terminal illness. She is also an ally to the LGBTQ community and an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Disclosures: Scientific Advisory Board, P & C Pharma

Kollas is the medical director, palliative and supportive care, at Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center in Orlando, FL, where he has lived for more than 20 years. In addition, he serves as a clinical assistant professor of medicine at both the Florida State University College of Medicine and University of Florida College of Medicine. Kollas is a longstanding and active member of AAHPM and has served as the AAHPM delegate to the AMA House of Delegates since 2008 and on the Board of Directors from 2017–2020.

Disclosures: VitalTalk Partner

Rodney O. Tucker, MD MMM is Director and Christine S. Ritchie, MD Endowed Chair in Palliative Care Leadership of the Center for Palliative and Supportive Care at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In this role, he is active in the development of a comprehensive clinical, educational and research program in palliative care. Dr. Tucker completed his Masters in Medical Management at the University of Southern California in 2009. At UAB, Dr. Tucker has provided leadership in the opening of a 12 bed inpatient palliative care unit in 2006 as well as development of an ambulatory HIV palliative care clinic. The UAB Center provides care for over 2000 new patients annually and is currently a Palliative Care Leadership Center. Dr. Tucker has been an active member of AAHPM and CAPC for over fourteen years, having served in several leadership roles in the Academy. He has participated in the education and mentorship of over 300 fellow learners and health care systems over the past fourteen years. In 2013, Dr. Tucker also began in the role of Chief Experience Officer for UAB Medicine. In this role Dr. Tucker works with stakeholders numbering over 14,000 at Alabama's largest employer in the practice of evidence based leadership and enhancing the patient experience in the setting of a changing healthcare environment.

Disclosures: None

Joe Rotella served as Chief Medical Officer for Hosparus, a community-based hospice in Louisville, KY for 15 years. During his tenure, he helped establish hospice inpatient units, palliative care consultation services, and a palliative medicine fellowship. Heeding a call to leadership and innovation, Rotella earned an MBA in Entrepreneurship from the University of Louisville. His work with the Academy includes serving on the Quality and Practice Standards Committee, Choosing Wisely Task Force and co-chairing the AAHPM and HPNA Measuring What Matters initiative and the AAHPM Hospice Medical Director Conference.

Joe knew he was bound for medicine when he entered college, but majored in English because he believed medicine belongs as much to the humanities as to the sciences. During his 12 years practicing primary care internal medicine in rural New Hampshire, he witnessed significant suffering in his sickest patients and their families and dedicated himself to finding ways to make their healthcare more human and compassionate. Rotella also founded an oncology support clinic at his local hospital and attended a seminar in England where he was inspired by the work of Dame Cicely Saunders.

Disclosures: Employed by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Barnett has been program director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship since 2013 and serves as associate director of education for the UAB Center for Palliative and Supportive Care. He has been a communication consultant for the United States Medical Licensing CS exam and is a senior faculty member for VitalTalk. Barnett also served as vice-chair of the Palliative Individual Health Plan Task Force for the Alabama Board of Education and is past chair of the AAHPM Fellowship Directors SIG.

Bernacki is the director of quality initiatives in the department of psychosocial oncology and palliative care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She combines clinical practice in palliative care, training initiatives, and quality improvement research in serious illness that has broad impact. She also is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, where she teaches medical students, residents, fellows, and other faculty both clinically and through the HMS Center for Palliative Care. She is a founder of the Serious Illness Care Program at Ariadne Labs.

Carey is assistant professor of Medicine and Palliative Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She began practicing hospice and palliative medicine (HPM) at the University of California, San Francsico in 2004, where she was the founding director of the inpatient palliative care consult service at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. She subsequently joined the Mayo Clinic in 2007 to advance its palliative care program. Carey led efforts to transform a low-volume palliative medicine service into a nationally recognized program with three inpatient teams, a full-time outpatient clinic, an accredited HPM fellowship, and educational programs that support 80 new learners annually.

Disclosures: None

Curseen is director of outpatient palliative care for the Emory Palliative Care Center. She also is an associate professor of internal medicine at the Emory School of Medicine. In 2010, Curseen was a recipient of a US Health Resources and Services Administration grant for her work on educating community members and healthcare providers in rural Arkansas in the practice of geriatric palliative care. She has been a member of AAHPM for more than a decade and was the founding chair of the Outpatient Palliative Care SIG. Most recently, Curseen served as chair of the AAHPM Membership & Communities Strategic Coordinating Committee..

Disclosures: None

Kamal is the physician quality and outcomes officer at Duke Cancer Institute. He also is an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology at Duke School of Medicine and an outpatient attending physician in Duke’s Palliative Care Program at the Duke Health System. He has published more than 80 original research articles, clinical reviews, and editorials, and is a recipient of an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality K08 grant to study quality measurements in palliative care. Kamal was the first hospice and palliative medicine fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, in 2009. He is the founder and co-chair of the Global Palliative Care Quality Alliance, a leading palliative care quality improvement and learning collaborative. He received the Cambia Sojourns Scholar Award, Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), and the Top Overall Junior Investigator Award. Kamal is the co-chair of the AAHPM Technical Specifications for Electronic Clinical Quality Measurers Working Group and a current member of the Quality Committee. He also is one of the recipients of the AAHPM 40 Under 40 award (2015).

Disclosures: None

 Tammy Kang received her medical degree from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and completed her pediatric residency at University of California, San Francisco and a fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is board certified in pediatric hematology/oncology and hospice and palliative medicine. Kang is the inaugural chief for palliative care at Texas Children’s Hospital, associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, and Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs for the Department of Pediatrics. She has given numerous lectures across the country and authored articles and chapters on topics related to the care of children with serious illness.

Kang serves as co-chair for the National Pediatric Hospice and Palliative Care Collaboration. She is a member of the Supportive and Palliative Care Board of the National Cancer Institute PDQ and a founding member of the Pediatric Palliative Care Research Network. She also serves on the technical advisory panel for the Joint Commission Certification in Advanced Palliative Care and the NCP Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care.

Disclosures: None

Dana Lustbader is triple board certified in hospice and palliative medicine, critical care medicine, and internal medicine. She founded the division of palliative medicine, created the HPM fellowship and developed the nation’s third progressive care unit for Northwell Health, a 22-hospital health system in New York. After 20 years of inpatient focus at Northwell, Lustbader subsequently launched a home-based palliative care program that serves 1,800 patients in the New York City metro area with plans to scale through partnership with Optum. She also served as senior medical director for Aspire and launched its Northeast market. Most recently, her focus has been to create home-based and outpatient palliative care services in the home and in their cancer center. A member of the Academy since 2005, Lustbader also has served on numerous AAHPM committees. She is currently working with NCQA and RAND to develop quality metrics and a patient survey for the field and has been involved with developing an Alternative Payment Model for Palliative Care.

McPherson has practiced hospice and palliative care as a clinical pharmacist since 1985. She is a professor at the University of Maryland and executive program director of the online Master of Science in Palliative Care program. She has served as a resource to medical staff for pain and symptom consultations, opioid conversion calculations, methadone dosing, and other drug information queries. She attends hospice team meetings, writes and reviews policies related to medication use, and reviews medical error data and trends. She publishes a monthly newsletter, PharmSmart, and a monthly column, "PharmFlash," and has authored five books and more than 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts.

Morrison has been a palliative care clinician and educator for more than 15 years. She leads the palliative care clinical and educational program development at Yale University. She is a founding director of Yale University's palliative care fellowship, has developed numerous palliative care curricula for learners across disciplines and training levels, and has advocated to raise the bar for national palliative care training standards for physicians through AAHPM and ACGME committees by working on competencies and milestones.

Parker Oliver is a hospice and palliative care researcher and social worker. She has directed three hospice programs and served as president and board member for the Missouri Hospice and Palliative Care Association. A strong advocate for hospice certification in Missouri, Parker Oliver helped write the original regulations for certification. She now teaches first-year medical students as an associate professor at the University of Missouri in Columbia. In her roles as a former hospice manager, a state leader, and now as a teacher and researcher, her passion always has been improvement in the care of the dying and the health of those caring for them.

Dr. Shaida Talebreza MD, AGSF, FAAHPM, HMDC serves as Associate Professor at the University of Utah and is board certified in in family medicine, geriatric medicine, hospice and palliative medicine, and is hospice medical director certified.  Dr. Talebreza serves as a palliative care specialist and geriatrician for the George E. Wahlen, Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Medical Center and as a national leader for the VA National Center for Ethics in Health Care VA Life-Sustaining Treatment Decisions Initiative (VA LSTDI).  The goal of the VA LSTDI is to develop and implement new practices to ensure that the values, goals, and life-sustaining treatment decisions of seriously ill Veterans are elicited, documented, and honored.  Dr. Talebreza strives to promote geriatric, hospice and palliative medicine education nationally.  She serves as one of the leaders of AAHPM’s Hospice Medical Director Leadership Council and is the creator and lead editor of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Geriatrics Evaluation and Management Tools, a web-based educational resource and smartphone clinical app.  She is the recipient of the American Geriatrics Society Outstanding Junior Clinician Educator of the Year Award, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources Geriatric Academic Career Award (GACA), and the Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award.  Dr. Talebreza is passionate about providing comprehensive, compassionate, evidence-based care to people with serious illness and educating and inspiring others to do this important work.

Disclosures: none

Waldman is division head of palliative care at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, where he participates in clinical duties, education, program development, and research. In addition to receiving training in and actively practicing medicine stateside, Waldman also spent a total of 5 years serving as an assistant attending physician at Hadassah Medical Center in Israel. He has been an active member of the Academy since he joined in 2012 and was named an Emerging Leader in Hospice and Palliative Medicine in 2019.

Disclosures: None

Eric Widera is a clinician-educator in the Division of Geriatrics at the University of California San Francisco. His main goal is to improve the care provided to elderly patients with severe chronic and/or terminal conditions through program development and educational innovations. Eric accomplishes this through various leadership roles, including Director of the Hospice & Palliative Care Service at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and Program Director for the Geriatrics Fellowship at UCSF. Eric received his medical school training at UCSF and his internal medicine training at Mount Sinai Hospital. He returned to UCSF to complete a fellowship in Geriatric Medicine. He joined the faculty at UCSF in August of 2006. Since then, Eric has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards including a Geriatric Academic Career Award (GACA), the Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award, AAHPM Hospice and Palliative Medicine Leaders Under 40 award, and the AAHPM PDIA Palliative Medicine National Leadership Award, and the AAHPM Visionary Award. He is also a co-founder of GeriPal, a Geriatrics and Palliative Care blog and podcast, as well as ePrognosis, an online set of prognostic calculators for the elderly.

Disclosures: None

Professor of Palliative Care at MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) and board certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) and Medical Oncology, Dr. Zhukovsky has over 30 years of experience in HPM, starting before the formal inception of our specialty. An institutional leader of Advance Care Planning, the Psychosocial Council and former chair of the Clinical Ethics Committee, Dr. Zhukovsky maintains a strong focus on the provision of adult and pediatric clinical care, while conducting clinical trials and promoting evidence-based care in the field of Palliative Medicine through research, education and advocacy. Recently, she was named the physician lead of an institutional operational priority committee tasked with integrating end of life care into a culture where aggressive efforts at anti-cancer treatment predominate.

Nationally and internationally, she has played an active role on the NCI PDQ Supportive Care Board and has served as a palliative care grant reviewer for the ACS, NCI-Canada and the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute. First and foremost a clinician, Dr. Zhukovsky is the recipient of competitive research grants (American Cancer Society, MDACC institutional awards, industry) that have focused on pediatrics and advance care planning. She has authored multiple peer-reviewed papers, chapters and editorials, is the past Editor-in-Chief of PC FACS and has lectured extensively at AAHPM, ASCO, and in international venues including India and China. Through her efforts, Dr. Zhukovsky has impacted the development of a generation of AAHPM members and future HPM leaders.

Disclosures: None