Daniel Blaney-Koen, J.D., is a senior legislative attorney with the American Medical Association Advocacy Resource Center (ARC). Koen has held several roles at the AMA, including serving as a public information officer, policy analyst and speechwriter.

Currently, his focus is on state legislation and policy, including the nation’s opioid epidemic, treatment and prevention, health care costs, and private payers and market reforms. Prior to joining the AMA in 1999, Koen earned his Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from Colorado State University, his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Arizona, and his law degree from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Wendy A. Coduti, Ph.D is a Regional Director for Health, Productivity, Analytics and Consulting (HPAC) at Prudential Financial, Inc. Wendy works with employers in maximizing productivity and minimizing absence through the development of absence and disability management programs. Wendy has a master’s degree in Labor Relations/Human Resource Management and a doctorate in Rehabilitation Counseling Education.

Prior to joining Prudential in the fall of 2022, Wendy was an associate professor at Penn State University where her teaching and research revolved around absence management, mental health in the workplace and aging workers. Before entering academia, Wendy spent the first half of her career managing leaves of absence for employers, working in human resource benefits, and owning her own private vocational rehabilitation consulting practice.

David Elton, D.C. is co-founder of Arete Healthcare, and CEO of Arete Networks. The thesis of Arete Healthcare is that independent evidence-based high-value outpatient practices serving patients and local communities are essential to a well-functioning healthcare system.  Dave brings a unique perspective to this space after more than 25 years at UnitedHealth Group and Optum leading musculoskeletal (MSK) research & development and launching MSK and type 2 diabetes clinical practices. He also led capitation management, value measurement, clinical operations, clinical/coverage policy development, and legal/regulatory compliance for Optum MSK and Behavioral Health businesses.

Dave has seen first-hand how clinical practices have been fragmented, isolated, and underserved by technology.  In his role with Arete Healthcare, he is committed to supporting practices to achieve their full potential through modern technology, enterprise-level administrative support, better integration with the delivery system, and participation in value-based contracts. 

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Tracy Gaudet, M.D. is a leader in the development of Whole Health through decades of radically re-envisioning and implementing new approaches to address health outcomes and costs.  She most recently served as the founding Executive Director of the Whole Health Institute.  Prior to this position, Dr. Gaudet was the Executive Director of the Veterans Health Administration’s National Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation. This Office led VHA’s transformation to Whole Health, an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and live their most meaningful life. Under her leadership, VA health care delivery has been re-envisioned and is being implemented nationally.

Dr. Gaudet, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, was featured in the PBS nationally acclaimed special entitled “The New Medicine,” and named by Shape magazine as one of the eleven women who shape the world. Dr. Gaudet has been recognized as one of the “Top 25 Women in Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare and featured as a Game Changer in Fortune Magazine.  

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Christine Goertz, D.C., Ph.D. is a Professor in Musculoskeletal Research at the Duke Clinical Research Institute and Director of System Development and Coordination for Spine Health in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Duke University. She is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Spine Institute for Quality and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health at the University of Iowa.

Dr. Goertz’s 25-year research career has focused on working with multi-disciplinary teams to design and implement clinical and health services research studies designed to increase knowledge regarding the effectiveness and cost of complementary and integrative healthcare delivery. She has received nearly $32M in federal funding and has authored or co-authored nearly 100 peer-reviewed papers. Dr. Goertz currently serves on the Board of Governors for the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), recently appointed in September 2019 as Chairperson of the PCORI Board of Governors by the Comptroller General of the United States.

Patricia Herman, N.D., Ph.D., serves as a Senior Behavioral Scientist at the RAND Corporation, specializing in health economics, innovative care models, and the overall impact of health on individuals’ lives. Dr. Herman is an NIH/NCCIH-supported methodologist, resource economist, and licensed naturopathic doctor. In 2003, Dr. Herman received her degree in Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University and she practiced for 5 years at an inpatient facility that treated addiction and chronic pain.

Among Dr. Herman’s many published works and presentations, she has published three systematic reviews of economic evaluations of complementary and integrative medicine, and co-authored a commissioned paper on the economics of integrative medicine for the Institute of Medicine’s 2009 Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public.

Rebecca Kirch, J.D., is Executive Vice President of Healthcare Quality and Value for the National Patient Advocate Foundation (NPAF), providing strategic focus and leadership in bringing the millions of patient and family voices to the forefront of national health care quality improvement efforts.

Prior to her current role, Kirch served 15 years with the American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), as the Society’s first Director of Quality of Life and Survivorship. She serves in several advisory capacities, and has also authored numerous articles and book chapters, including publications in the New England Journal of Medicine, Health Affairs, and other professional journals. She has a law degree from Boston College Law School and an undergraduate degree in Biology from Wells College.

Kate Nicholson, J.D. is the Founder and Executive Director of the National Pain Advocacy Center, She is a civil rights attorney, writer, speaker and advocate on the treatment of pain and addiction in the context of the opioid crisis. Nicholson is a former attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, and graduate of Harvard Law School. She is widely published on the challenges of pain and addiction, including the American Journal of Law and Medicine, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.

Kate developed intractable pain after a surgical mishap left her unable to sit or stand and severely limited in walking for many years. She gave the TEDx talk, What We Lose When We Undertreat Pain, and speaks widely at universities and conferences and to medical groups.

Kate has published academic and opinion pieces related to pain in the American Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, the Washington Post, the LA Times, Washington Monthly, STAT, and others, and is frequently interviewed in the press. 

Bonnie Sakallaris, Ph.D., R.N. most recent position was as TLI Foundation’s Vice President for Optimal Healing Environments. She has conducted research on holistic approaches to health, wellness and chronic conditions.

Bonnie also works with international corporate and not-for-profit leaders on the issue of global well-being and serves as the convener to bring diverse experts together around global wellness issues. Dr. Sakallaris holds a B.S. in Psychology from Northeastern University, B.S.N. from Boston University, M.S.N. from the Catholic University of America, and Ph.D. is from George Mason University.

Eric B. Schoomaker, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.P. served in active duty for 32 years achieving the ranks of Lieutenant General, U.S. Army (Retired) 42nd U.S. Army Surgeon General and Former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command. Dr. Schoomaker committed his military career to meeting the health needs of soldiers, their families and veterans, focusing on soldier medical readiness, enhancing battlefield care, establishing a comprehensive behavioral health system of care, fostering a culture of trust, advancing comprehensive pain management, and promoting health by preventing combat wounds, injury and illness. He recently retired as Professor and Vice-Chair for Leadership, Centers and Programs in the Department of Military & Emergency Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) in Bethesda, MD. Dr. Schoomaker is the recipient of numerous military awards, including the 2012 Dr. Nathan Davis Award from the American Medical Association for outstanding government service, and the Philipp M. Lippe Award from the American Academy of Pain Medicine for outstanding contributions to the social and political aspect of Pain Medicine.

Adam Seidner, M.D., M.P.H., is the Chief Medical Officer for The Hartford insurance, leading strategy and policy across all lines of business with a particular focus on workers’ compensation and disability management. Prior to his current role, Dr. Seidner was Global Medical Director for Travelers Insurance.

He earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from SUNY Health Science Center, a Master’s degree in public health from the University of Connecticut, and an A.B. in Anthropology from Hamilton College. He is also board-certified by the American Board of Preventative Medicine: Occupational and Environmental Medicine and American Board of Family Medicine.

Vanila Singh, M.D. is an American physician, educator, policy maker, and patient advocate dedicated to public health and currently tackling one of the nation’s most widespread, expensive, and devastating epidemics of our time: the opioid and greater drug epidemic. She is an expert in treating and understanding the underlying mechanisms of complex acute and chronic pain. In 2017, Dr. Singh was appointed by the White House administration to serve as the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH). She was later concurrently appointed by the Assistant Secretary for Health as the Acting Regional Director for Region 9 (CA, NV, AZ, HI, and the Pacific Islands) and served dual leadership roles through her HHS tenure. Dr. Singh is double-board certified Stanford physician in both anesthesiology and pain medicine with a background in molecular and cell biology, and economics. She is widely published in various news journals including Time Magazine, Modern Healthcare, and Medscape. Dr. Singh has also received awards for Visionary Leadership Award, Lifetime Achievement award, and Presidential Commendation Award from various organizations.