Program Faculty

Course Directors

    Matthew Wynia, MD, MPH, FACP
    Director of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities-University of Colorado

Dr. Wynia’s career has included developing a research institute and training programs focusing on bioethics, professionalism and policy issues (the AMA Institute for Ethics) and founding the AMA’s Center for Patient Safety.  His research has focused on novel uses of survey data to inform and improve the practical management of ethical issues in health care and public policy.  He has led projects on a wide variety of topics related to ethics and professionalism, including understanding and measuring the ethical climate of health care organizations and systems; ethics and quality improvement; communication, team-based care and engaging patients as members of the team; defining physician  professionalism; public health and disaster ethics; medicine and the Holocaust (with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum); and inequities in health and health care. He has served on committees, expert panels and as a reviewer for the Institute of Medicine, The Joint Commission, the Hastings Center, the American Board of Medical Specialties, federal agencies, and other organizations. Dr. Wynia is a past president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH), and has chaired the Ethics Forum of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the Ethics Committee of the Society for General Internal Medicine (SGIM).

    Ira Bedzow, PhD
    Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University

Ira Bedzow, PhD is the Executive Director of the Emory Purpose Project, one of the signature elements of Emory University’s Student Flourishing Initiative, whose mission is to unite diverse partners across the Emory community in providing opportunities for students to develop a muscle for reflection on purpose and meaning. Bedzow is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, a core faculty member of Emory’s Center for Ethics, a senior fellow in the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, and the unit head of the International Chair in Bioethics at Emory University. Bedzow is also Senior Scholar of the Aspen Center for Social Values, co-director of the Ferencz Institute for Ethics, Human Rights and the Holocaust, and a regular contributor in Forbes. He is also an Orthodox rabbi (yoreh yoreh, yadin yadin).

Keynote Presenters

   Phil Weiser, JD
   Attorney General of the State of Colorado   

  Phil Weiser is Colorado's 39th Attorney General, currently serving his second term. He has a longstanding
  interest in the intersections of law, health care, and public health. He is involved in active litigation against the
  U.S. Food and Drug Administration to defend access to mifepristone, he fought successfully for the Affordable
  Care Act at the U.S. Supreme Court, and he successfully fought to protect Title X funding for women’s health
  and reproductive health care. Under Weiser’s leadership, the Department of Law established several histor
                                    settlement dollars for addiction treatment, recovery, and prevention programs across Colorado. 

 

   Dayna Bowen Matthew, JD, PhD
   Dean and Harold H. Greene Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School  

   Dean Matthew is a leader in public health and civil rights law who focuses on disparities in health, health
   care, and the social determinants of health, Dean Matthew joined GW Law in 2020.  She is the founder and
   inaugural faculty director of GW’s new Equity Institute, an interdisciplinary research hub dedicated to
   addressing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic injustice. A prolific writer, Dean Matthew is the author of two
                             bestselling books, “Just Medicine: A Cure for Racial Inequality in American Health Care,” and the recently
                             released “Just Health: Treating Structural Racism to Heal America.”

   Charisse Madlock-Brown, PhD
   Associate Professor of Informatics, University of Iowa College of Nursing

  Charisse Madlock-Brown, PhD is an Associate Professor of Informatics at the University of Iowa College of
  Nursing.  She was formerly an Associate Professor in health informatics and information management at the
  University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). Dr. Madlock-Brown is at the forefront of exploring
  the impact and power of data management, data mining, and visualization techniques. At the UTHSC
  Research Pipelines Lab, she led a groundbreaking initiative that harnessed the power of distributed
                                    computing and storage through an innovative online interface. Her research explores electronic health
                                    records with a focus on analyzing data through an AI-driven lens. Her pioneering work encompasses the
                                    exploration of social determinants of health, health disparities, and multimorbidity, illuminating crucial insights
                                    that foster equitable health care practices.

Planning Committee / Faculty

     Peter Angood, MD, FRCS(C), FACS, MCCM, FAAPL (Hon)
     CEO and President of the American Association for
     Physician Leadership

Peter Angood, MD, is currently CEO and President of the American Association for Physician Leadership. Previously, Dr. Angood was the inaugural Chief Patient Safety Officer at The Joint Commission, Senior Adviser for Patient Safety at the National Quality Forum, and Chief Medical Officer for the Patient Safety Organization of GE Healthcare. Prior to this, he enjoyed 25-years of academic surgery practice ranging from McGill University in Canada to the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University and Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Angood completed his academic career as a full professor of surgery, anesthesia, emergency medicine, and is an author in over 225 publications. His recent book, “All Physicians Are Leaders,” has been critically well received.

      James Block, MD (Emeritus Faculty)
      President of J.A. Block Health Associates

J.A. Block Health Associates is a consulting firm working with the Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation, the Commonwealth Foundation, The Center to Advance Palliative Car, and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, among others. Dr. Block is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Johns Hopkins Health System and the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of University Hospitals of Cleveland, Case Western Reserve University, and President of Rochester Area Hospital Corporation. Dr. Block also served as Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Clinical Associate Professor of Preventive, Family, and Rehabilitative Medicine, and Adjunct Professor of Health Policy Management both at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Dr. Block has been a consultant for the National Palliative Care Research Center since 2005 and he was awarded the first ever American Cancer Society Pathfinder in Palliative Care Award in 2010. 

    Mary C. Gentile, PhD  
    Creator/Director of Giving Voice to Values
    Senior Advisor at Aspen Institute Business & Society Program

Mary is Creator/Director of Giving Voice to Values, a Senior Advisor at Aspen Institute Business & Society Program, and a consultant on management education and leadership development. Among numerous other awards, Gentile was inducted into the Thinkers 50 Hall of Fame in 2021.  Giving Voice to Values, a pioneering business curriculum for values-driven leadership, has been featured in Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, McKinsey Quarterly, etc. and presented and/or piloted in over 1,430 business schools and organizations globally. She was formerly the Richard M. Waitzer Bicentennial Professor of Ethics at University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

      Patrick O’Rourke, JD
      Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer, 
      University of Colorado

Patrick O'Rourke is an Executive Vice Chancellor and the Chief Operating Officer on the Boulder campus.  In this role, he is responsible for the operation of the Strategic Resources and Support team, which provides operational support for the campus in human resources, information technology, enrollment management, budget and finance, communications, compliance and security, institutional equity, government and community relations, and infrastructure and sustainability. Strategic Resources and Support partners with the academic administration and faculty to support the university’s mission of teaching, research, and service. 

    

"This meeting is invaluable.  As health care changes we must address ethical dilemmas.  This is the meeting I attend to reconnect with my north star.”   Fred Southwick, MD – Professor; University of Florida College of Medicine