CMSS - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Staff Team
• Program Manager
• Certified Project Manager

Ashlan Ruth manages CMSS' Specialty Societies Advancing Adult Immunization (SSAAI) and Driving Measurable Improvement in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Physician Workforce programs. Ashlan's work helps CMSS and member societies to address emerging issues and to channel member contributions that advance healthcare for all. In addition, Ashlan lends her expertise to oversight of CMSS' learning management system and to facilitation of the annual meeting. Ashlan is a Certified Project Manager. Prior to CMSS, she worked in a variety of management roles, including as project manager at the National Quality Forum. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in business administration from the Darden School of Business.

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Staff Team
• Member Engagement Manager

Brian Stevenson serves as CMSS' primary liaison to current and prospective member organizations, in addition to overseeing the organization's Professional Peer Groups (PPGs). Brian is responsible for enhancing the member experience by ensuring that CMSS delivers value to each member. He is recognized for his deep expertise in membership engagement, marketing management, association management systems, and data analysis. Prior to CMSS, Brian held a variety of leadership roles in associations, managing multi-million-dollar membership dues and collaborating with vendors to enhance operations. He holds a bachelor's degree in business management from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

Job Titles:

• Strategic Communications Consultant

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Board of Directors
• Secretary
• FASCO / Secretary
• Trustee of Drexel University and of the East Hampton Health Care Foundation

Clifford Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, is the CEO of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and serves as Executive Vice Chair of its foundation (Conquer Cancer). He oversees a staff of more nearly 500 who serve a global membership of more than 50,000 members in 170 countries as they seek to reduce the burden of cancer through research, education, and promotion of the highest quality, equitable patient care. ASCO holds the largest annual global meeting focused on cancer research and care, publishes the high impact Journal of Clinical Oncology, defines optimal quality of care, and advocates for access to it. ASCO's foundation, Conquer Cancer is the largest philanthropic funder of early career cancer researchers through its Young Investigator Award (YIA) and other programs. Prior to assuming his roles at ASCO in 2016, Dr. Hudis was the Chief of the Breast Cancer Medicine Service, Solid Tumor Division, and an Attending Physician at the Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases and a Professor of Medicine at the Joan & Sanford Weill Medical College of Cornell University Medical College both in New York City. Over nearly three decades, his team identified novel risk factors for cancer linked to inflammation and obesity and developed new drugs (G-CSF, taxanes, anti-HER2 agents) and regimens that raised the global standard of care across all stages of breast cancer. In 1983 Dr. Hudis received his medical degree from The Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania through a 6-year combined BA-MD program with Lehigh University. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at The Hospital of the Medical College of Pennsylvania where he then served as Chief Medical Resident. He completed a fellowship in medical oncology and hematology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York in 1991 and then joined the faculty where he continues to volunteer as a clinical consultant. Dr. Hudis is a Trustee of Drexel University and of the East Hampton Health Care Foundation.

Job Titles:

• Education Consultant

Job Titles:

• CEO
• Coordinator
• Executive
• Advanced Executive Support

Darlene Wyatt provides advanced executive support for the CEO as well as administrative support for CMSS team members to ensure effective operations. Darlene also coordinates activities of CMSS Governance and Leadership Groups. Darlene is a seasoned executive coordinator, having held previous roles at the National Quality Forum and Verizon.

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Board of Directors
• Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Liver Institute
• Public Board Member

Donna R. Cryer, JD is Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Liver Institute, the only patient-driven liver health nonprofit operating across the US, EU, and UK. GLI convenes the NASH, Liver Cancer and Pediatric and Rare Liver Disease Councils, as well as the Liver Action Network, collectively more than 200 organizations. Mrs. Cryer has channeled her personal experience as a patient with inflammatory bowel disease and a 27-year liver transplant recipient into professional advocacy across a career in law, policy, consulting, public relations, clinical trial recruitment, and nonprofit management. She is the recipient of the 2021 Global Genes RARE Champions of Hope Founder's Award and the 2021 AASLD Distinguished Advocacy Service Award. At GLI, Mrs. Cryer has raised more than $10 million for liver health initiatives. Among her many accomplishments with GLI, she developed a program featured by the White House on Solving Organ Shortage/Transplantation. She has launched numerous other successful programs at GLI, including the Cure Campaign, Advanced Advocacy Academy (A3), Liver Matters Blog, Liver Matters Health Policy Memo, the NASH Council, the Liver Cancers Council and the Pediatric and Rare Liver Diseases Council. She is a frequent speaker on the topic of patient-centeredness and patient engagement in healthcare transformation and created a unique model for advocacy that mobilizes patients, influences policy, and coalesces clinicians to improve patient outcomes. In May 2021, she testified before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, in a pivotal hearing on reforming the broken organ procurement system. Her testimony highlighted the racial disparities in organ transplantation. Thanks to consistent, fact-based advocacy from GLI, other allied groups, the media, and Congress, meaningful reforms to improve the system are finalized and forthcoming. Her advocacy for better representation of people of color in the organ procurement system includes urging the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to implement three concrete steps she identified to facilitate more transplants for people of color and an elevated performance for the entire system, benefiting all patients. For almost a decade, Mrs. Cryer founded and led CryerHealth, a healthcare consulting firm providing strategic counsel to top biopharmaceutical companies, patient advocacy organizations and emerging technology firms on patient engagement in health information technology, drug discovery and clinical decision making. Earlier in her career, Mrs. Cryer worked at the United Network for Organ Sharing in Richmond, Va., where she negotiated organ allocation regulations with the Department of Health and Human Services as part of the special executive staff/board member team. She also organized an immunosuppressive coalition of pharmaceutical companies, transplantation groups and key congressional offices, resulting in increased coverage of immunosuppressive medications under Medicare. Mrs. Cryer serves on the Boards of Directors for the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, Sibley Memorial Hospital/Johns Hopkins Medicine, the Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI), and the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative. She was the first patient to serve on the ABIM Gastroenterology Specialty Board, was one of the founding members of the AASLD Patient Advisory Committee and is the Community Representative on the AASLD NASH Task Force. Previously, Mrs. Cryer served on the Executive Committee of the People-Centered Research Foundation. She was appointed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office to serve as the patient and consumer representative on the Health Information Technology Policy Committee, the federal advisory body to the National Coordinator for HIT. In addition, she served as a patient representative to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Group to the NIH Learning Health System Research Collaboratory, as well as on the ABIM Gastroenterology Specialty Board and on an American Society of Clinical Oncology Guidelines Committee. Mrs. Cryer was proud to serve as a member of the White House Task Force on e-health Equity in 2013. As part of the task force, she worked with a summit of experts on health disparities and health information technology to establish a framework to ensure that underserved populations benefit from advances in health technologies. She has been named one of the Top Blacks in Healthcare by the Milken Institute at GW School of Public Health and BlackDoctors.org, one of the Top 10 Patients Who Make An Impact by Health 2.0 and one of PharmaVoice's 100 Most Inspiring People. She is a frequent speaker on patient centricity in research and healthcare delivery at meetings of Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), National Quality Forum (NQF), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Mrs. Cryer received an undergraduate degree from Harvard and a Juris Doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Job Titles:

• President

President, FD NOW, a national foundation Ken created with his spouse, Ann, to find treatment and cure for their son's illness, familial dysautonomia

Job Titles:

• Quality Consultant

Job Titles:

• Chief Executive Officer
• Member of the CMSS Board of Directors
• Member of the CMSS Staff Team
• MACP / Chief Executive Officer

Helen Burstin, MD, MPH, MACP is the Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS), a coalition of more than 50 specialty societies representing more than 800,000 physicians. As the national organization of specialty societies, CMSS advances the expertise and collective voice of medical specialty societies in support of physicians and the patients they serve. Representing specialties, from primary care to surgery, CMSS addresses critical issues across specialties through shared learning and innovation, convening, collaboration, and collective action. Dr. Burstin formerly served as Chief Scientific Officer of The National Quality Forum (NQF). Prior to joining NQF, she was the Director of the Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Prior to joining AHRQ, Dr. Burstin was an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and served as Director of Quality Measurement at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She is the author of more than 100 articles and book chapters on quality, safety, equity, and measurement. She serves on the American Society of Hematology Research Collaborative Board of Directors and the Oversight Committee of the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) of the American College of Cardiology. She is the Vice-Chair of the Gender Equity in Academic Medicine and Science (GEMS) Alliance. A graduate of the State University of New York at Upstate College of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Burstin completed her residency training in primary care internal medicine at Boston City Hospital and fellowship in General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She is a volunteer preceptor and Clinical Professor of Medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Job Titles:

• Exhibits Manager

Job Titles:

• Project Administrator

Job Titles:

• Clinical and Data Consultant

Job Titles:

• Chief Operating Officer
• Member of the CMSS Staff Team

As chief operating officer, Julia Peterson is responsible for partnering with CMSS' CEO to devise and implement strategy; overseeing all operational and financial performance; and building systems to support organizational growth and capacity. In addition, she oversees all CMSS member-facing programs and implementation functions, including communications, meetings, governance, finance, human resources, and IT. Julia's experience lies in helping medical associations realize and achieve their missions. Prior to CMSS, she worked as manager of association management for the American College of Surgeons, a program that provides professional management services for over 30 component and affiliate medical organizations. Julia is a Certified Association Executive, a credential of distinction from the American Society of Association Executives. She received a bachelor's degree in communications and French from Hope College.

Job Titles:

• Treasurer of the CMSS Board of Directors

Dr. Slaw received his masters and doctoral degrees in educational psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Ken has over 35 years of executive leadership experience in the medical society arena. He currently serves as the Executive Director, of the Society for Vascular Surgery, an organization of 6,500 members dedicated to the prevention and treatment of vascular disease. Prior to this he served on the Executive Staff of the American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization of 67,000 members dedicated to optimizing the health and well-being of children. In his various roles Ken has developed and led implementation of 200+ organizational visioning and strategic plans, including the Vision of Pediatrics 2020 project. He also has a strong passion for leadership development. Ken served on the Steering Committee of the AAP Pediatric Leadership Alliance from its inception, and has been a principal curriculum architect, and lead faculty for Leadership programs reaching over 3,000 thousand physicians and allied health professionals with the message and skills to lead. Ken has an impressive history of volunteer service and leadership in his profession as well as his community including: President of the American Association of Medical Society Executives(AAMSE) Founder, AAMSE Leadership Academy Finance Committee Member, Council on Medical Specialty Societies Founder and past Chairman, Membership Directors Consortium of the Council on Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) Chairman of the Board, of the Make a Wish Foundation of Illinois Chairman, National Chapter Leadership Council of Make a Wish of America Dr. Slaw is the recipient of 2013 University of Illinois Humanitarian Award Dr. Slaw is the recipient of the 2015 University of Illinois-College of Education Distinguished Educator Award

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Board of Directors
• at Large Member

Mark Del Monte, JD serves as the CEO/Executive Vice President of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In this capacity, Mark leads a strong executive team for the organization which serves 67,000 pediatrician, pediatric medical subspecialist, and pediatric surgical specialist members. Prior to this role, Mark served as the AAP's Chief Deputy and Senior Vice President for Advocacy and External Affairs where he directed the organization's communications, public relations and advocacy activities. Before joining the AAP's Washington, DC office in 2005, Mark served as Director of Policy and Government Affairs for the AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families, a national organization advocating for children and families with HIV/AIDS. Mark began his career working as a lawyer in his home state of California, providing direct legal services to low-income children and families affected by HIV. Mark holds a law degree from the University of California (Berkeley) and a bachelor's degree in economics from Gonzaga University.

Job Titles:

• Accounting Manager

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Board of Directors
• at Large Member
• CAE

Mary E. Post, MBA, CAE, is the chief executive officer of the American Academy of Neurology, the world's largest association of neurologists with more than 40,000 members. Leading a team of more than 200 staff with locations in Minneapolis, MN, and Washington, DC, Post is responsible for the AAN achieving its mission of enhancing member career fulfillment and promoting brain health for all., as well as the AAN's vision of being indispensable to its membership. Post began her position as CEO of the AAN in April 2020. She is the fourth CEO since the AAN was established in 1948. Post was selected for the role based on her extensive experience leading a major nonprofit medical specialty organization as well as her broad prior experience at the AAN, where she served for 16 years in many leadership roles, including as deputy executive director. Post is a Certified Association Executive (CAE), the highest credential in the association management industry. She also holds a Post-Master's Certificate in organizational leadership, a Master of Business Administration Degree in human resources, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in business administration. She has over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit medical specialty industry. She has led meaningful, sustainable, programmatic, operational, and financial growth within organizations while increasing value for stakeholders and creating an award-winning, resilient culture. In Post's most recent position as the executive director for the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA), she established a strong and collaborative partnership with its board of directors and 700 volunteer physicians to innovate and transform the organization's programs. Under Post's leadership, the ABA became the first US medical specialty certifying board to successfully implement an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) into the ABA's initial certification program. In 2014, the ABA also reimagined its Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology Program (MOCA) and incorporated learning and assessment of knowledge into its physicians' daily practice through MOCA Minute®.

Job Titles:

• Registration Coordinator

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Board of Directors

Mike Sheppard is a business professional with over 25 years of corporate leadership experience. As the Chief Executive Officer of the AUA, he is responsible for AUA's four corporate entities, including the Urology Care Foundation, AUA's official foundation for urologic patient education and research. In over 23 years with the AUA, Mr. Sheppard has held several executive level positions and has served as AUA's CEO since 2005. Prior to joining the AUA, Mr. Sheppard served in senior level business positions at USF&G Realty Advisors, Inc., as a real estate portfolio controller, and C.W. Amos and Company, LLC as a senior independent public auditor. In addition, he is a retiree of the U.S. Naval Reserves Service. He has numerous professional affiliations, including memberships with the American Society of Association Executives, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Greater Washington Society of Association Executives and Institute of Management Accountants Association. Mr. Sheppard received his MBA from Loyola College's Sellinger School. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Association Executive. Mr. Sheppard is the recipient of several awards, including many military honors. He has written a number of published articles and participates on several committees for medical-related organizations, including a past Treasurer and Board member of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies.

Job Titles:

• Meeting Planner

Job Titles:

• Civic Science Fellow

Ndifreke Ikpe collaborates with specialty societies on shared learning programs and best practices that support health equity, clinical guidelines and algorithms, research, informatics, and publishing. Ndi's work helps CMSS and member societies to build capacity around race-conscious clinical guidelines, and algorithms to better inform equitable clinical practice and clinical decision-making.  Previously, Ndi served as a senior associate at the Aspen Institute, where she supported the development and strategy for the institute's Health Innovators Fellowship. She also served as a Maternal Mental Health Clinical Care Coordinator at the Joseph J. Peters Institute on developing strategies to improve mental health outcomes. Ndi holds a Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Maryland.

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Board of Directors
• President Elect

Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS is the executive director and chief executive officer of the American College of Surgeons and a clinical professor at the University of Chicago Medicine. She was previously director of the Division of Member Services at the American College of Surgeons, and before joining the College, Dr. Turner spent eight years in full-time academic practice on the University of Maryland School of Medicine faculty, where she was the surgery residency program director. Roles in national professional organizations or institutions include member of the Boards of Directors of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies and OceanFirst Bank (OCFC), Corporate Member CEO of The Joint Commission, Specialty Society CEO Coalition member, 2024 president-elect of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, and past chair of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons Foundation Fund, the American College of Surgeons' Delegation to the AMA House of Delegates, AMA Council on Medical Education, and Surgical Section of the NMA, past president of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons and past member of the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Board of Directors. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University, Dr. Turner continued her training as an intern and resident in surgery at Howard University Hospital in Washington, DC. Her fellowship training in minimally invasive and laparoscopic surgery was completed at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Weill-Cornell University School of Medicine, and Columbia University School of Medicine in New York City. Her MBA was completed at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. Dr. Turner is board-certified in surgery, is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and is a member of the American Surgical Association, American Medical Association, National Medical Association, Southern Surgical Association, Southeastern Surgical Congress, Society of University Surgeons, Society of Black Academic Surgeons, Association of Women Surgeons, Latino Surgical Society, and an honorary member of EAST, the Excelsior Surgical Society, and Asociación Colombiana de Cirugia.

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Staff Team
• Project Director
• Senior Program Director

Sarah Imhoff serves as project director of two large multi-year programs funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Specialty Societies Advancing Adult Immunization program advances immunization for high-risk adults in specialty settings. The Public Health System Components Strengthening Public Health Systems and Services through National Partnerships to Improve and Protect the Nation's Health program bridges the gap between the health care and public health systems. Sarah also directs the Encoding Equity Alliance, a three-year initiative to address the problematic use of race in clinical algorithms. Sarah is an expert in learning systems design and implementation. Prior to joining CMSS, she was a consultant with The Lewin Group, where she managed large-scale national learning systems to accelerate quality improvement in healthcare in hospital and ambulatory care settings. She holds a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Job Titles:

• Project Administrator

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Staff Team
• Operations Manager

Shaniece Rigans serves as the primary liaison to the CMSS Annual Meeting Program Committee, overseeing proposal submissions and reviews. In addition, she supports various educational functions, including CAE accreditation, the CMSS Learning Center, and member services. Shaniece also helps to manage office operations and offers administrative support to CMSS' COO, Board, and Executive Committee. Prior to CMSS, she worked as the leadership support and board specialist at the Federal Bar Association, where she provided operational support to national leadership, committees, and affiliated organizations. She also held positions with the American Financial Services Association and the Society for Pediatric Radiology. Shaniece received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Saint Paul's College.

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Board of Directors
• at Large Member
• Chief Executive Officer for the American Academy of Ophthalmology

Dr. McLeod is Chief Executive Officer for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Professor and Chair Emeritus in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco. He pursued his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College, followed by his medical doctorate degree at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed ophthalmology residency at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary of the University of Illinois in Chicago, followed by fellowship training in cornea, external disease and refractive surgery at the Doheny Eye Institute. Dr. McLeod's clinical specialty is in refractive surgery, cornea and external disease. His research interests include the study of improved strategies for diagnosis and management of eye infections both in the U.S. and in the developing world, as well as the development of advanced cataract and refractive surgery technology. Dr. McLeod is former Chair of the Ophthalmic Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration. He has served as a member of the National Advisory Eye Council of the National Institutes of Health, on the Council of the American Ophthalmological Society, and on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Ophthalmology and the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Research to Prevent Blindness. Dr. McLeod is former Editor-in-Chief for the AAO's flagship peer review journal Ophthalmology.

Job Titles:

• President of the CMSS Board of Directors

Susan (Sue) Sedory, M.A., CAE, is a retired chief executive who dedicated her 40-year career to improving health care through research and organizational leadership working in association, corporate and federal government sectors.

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Staff Team
• Senior Advisor

Suzanne Pope works with medical specialty societies on CMSS programs that address AI/ML, health equity, medical misinformation, and patient engagement. She directs the PCORI-funded CMSS and NHC Patient-Centered Partnerships Summit: Building Meaningful Collaboration to Advance Patient Care and Research. Suzanne also manages CMSS' Diagnostic Feedback in Clinical Registries grant program. In 2023, she worked on the Reconsidering Race in Clinical Algorithms, and in 2024 she helped launch the Encoding Equity Alliance. Suzanne's career includes both advisory and leadership roles. Prior to CMSS, she consulted with healthcare organizations on health policy and performance, medical writing, and guidelines development. She also served as the director of quality and the director of guidelines for the American Urological Association (AUA). Suzanne holds a Master of Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University.

Job Titles:

• Member of the CMSS Board of Directors
• at Large Member
• CAE

Tracy Sereiko, MBA, CAE is a medical association executive with a passion for guiding transformation and innovation in mission-driven organizations amidst dynamic healthcare changes. She leads multidisciplinary teams to deliver results with emphasis on understanding member needs and driving member value. Her 20+ year career extends across strategic planning, governance facilitation, market and brand strategy, membership engagement strategy, educational product development, and technology strategy. Tracy is currently the Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director at the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R). Tracy has previously held senior leadership roles at SmithBucklin and worked with other non-profits. Tracy has an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA, Political Science with Honors and International Studies from Northwestern University.