SAEM Board of Directors

Wendy C. Coates, MD

President

UCLA Department of Emergency Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Wendy C. Coates, MD is Emeritus Professor of Emergency Medicine at UCLA Department of Emergency Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Senior Faculty/Education Specialist at Harbor-UCLA Department of Emergency Medicine. She served as Dean of the UCLA Acute Care College and Director of Education at Harbor-UCLA where she founded the Fellowship in Medical Education Scholarship in 1999. She enjoys continued active mentorship of her fellowship graduates. Coates graduated with honors from Allegheny College, earned her MD from Case Western Reserve University, and completed the EM residency at Allegheny General/Medical College of PA. 

Dr. Coates’ research focus is medical education with an emphasis on faculty and learner development, mentorship, curricular innovation and evaluation, creativity in medicine, and qualitative methods. She is a founding member of the Editorial Board for AEM Education & Training, member of the AEM Editorial Board, and was an ABEM Item Writer for 9 years. 

Dr. Coates began her service to SAEM as the Resident Representative to the Education Committee which she subsequently chaired for several years. She was the inaugural chair of the Undergraduate Education Committee where she led the creation and implementation of the SAEM Virtual Advisor Program and, most recently, led the initial Fellowship Approval Committee that developed metrics for non-ACGME approved fellowships in EM. She has also served on the Nominating Committee, Research Committee, and was the SAEM representative to the national committee on medical student education reform. She currently serves as a member-at-large on the SAEM Board of Directors. Follow on her Twitter at: @CoatesMedEd

Ali S. Raja, MD, DBA, MPH

President-Elect

Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School

Ali S. Raja, MD, DBA, MPH, FACHE is the Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Raja received his MPH from Harvard, holds MD and MBA degrees from Duke and, after training in emergency medicine at the University of Cincinnati, completed a research fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is board certified in emergency medicine and clinical informatics, and is appointed to both the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Radiology at HMS.

Dr. Raja is an expert on the management of critically ill patients in the emergency department and prehospital arenas. He has served as a critical care air transport team commander for the US Air Force, a civilian flight physician, a tactical physician for a number of local, state, and federal agencies, and a physician with MA-1 DMAT. The author of over 200 publications, his current research focuses on improving the appropriateness of resource utilization and operations within the emergency department. 

In addition to serving on the SAEM Board, Dr. Raja has served on the Board of the SAEM Foundation, as Chair of the Program Committee and Trauma Interest Group, and as a member of several other committees within SAEM. He is also on the Board of the Massachusetts chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives, where he serves as President-Elect, and was previously the Editor-in-Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine’s Journal Watch Emergency Medicine. He can be found on Twitter at @AliRaja_MD.

Michelle D. Lall, MD, MHS

Secretary-Treasurer

Emory University

Dr. Michelle D. Lall, a board-certified emergency medicine physician, is an Associate Professor at Emory University.  She has been faculty at Emory since 2013.  She is also an Associate Residency Director and Medical Education Fellowship Director for Emergency Medicine.  Prior to coming to Emory, Dr. Lall was an Assistant Professor at Wayne State University beginning in 2008.  She was an Assistant Residency Director at the Sinai-Grace/Wayne State University Emergency Medicine Residency Program and the medical student clerkship site director at Sinai-Grace/Wayne State University beginning in 2009.  Dr. Lall is a graduate of Wayne State University School of Medicine.  She completed her residency and chief residency at Emory University. 

Dr. Lall is actively involved in the teaching and supervision of medical students and residents.  Her passion is graduate medical education, education research and scholarship.  Dr. Lall’s primary interests are physician well-being and the negative impact of gender bias on equity and inclusion in medicine.  She is interested in gender differences in burnout among physicians.  She has previously presented didactics on physician well-being and gender bias in medicine at multiple signature regional and national annual meetings of medical educators.  Dr. Lall is part of a national emergency medicine work group focused on exploring and addressing gender and racial bias and disparities in academic emergency medicine.  Additionally, she is the lead author on two scoping reviews of assessment tools available to evaluate physician well-being.

Her professional memberships include: American College of Emergency Physicians – where she is a fellow, Society for Academic Emergency Physicians, Academy for Women in Academic Emergency Medicine - where she is the Immediate Past President, American Association of Women Emergency Physicians, and Georgia College of Emergency Physicians.  She is also a member of the Delta Omega Honor Society.  Dr. Lall is a recipient of the Momentum Award from the Academy for Women in Academic Emergency Medicine (AWAEM), which recognizes extraordinary efforts that further the mission and values of AWAEM.  While at Sinai-Grace/Wayne State University, Dr. Lall was a two time "Faculty Teacher of the Year" award winner.  At Emory, she has been the recipient of the “Faculty Advocate of the Year” award.

Angela M. Mills, MD

Immediate Past President

Columbia University Vagelos

Angela M. Mills, MD is the J. E. Beaumont Professor and Chair of Emergency Medicine Services at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Chief of Emergency Medicine Services at New York-Presbyterian. Dr. Mills graduated Summa Cum Laude from Muhlenberg College and with Alpha Omega Alpha distinction from Temple University Medical School.

Dr. Mills is a graduate and former Chief Resident of the EM residency program at University of Pennsylvania. She became a faculty member immediately thereafter and advanced academically being promoted to Professor of Emergency Medicine in 2017. At Penn, Dr. Mills served in several capacities including Medical Director and as Vice Chair of Clinical Operations. She joined Columbia in January 2018 as inaugural Chair of the newly formed department. 

Dr. Mills has maintained an active research career focusing on emergency diagnostic imaging, clinical operations, and the evaluation of undifferentiated abdominal pain. She has authored over 95 scientific publications and received research funding from both federal agencies and industry. 

Dedicated to combining scholarship with mentoring, Dr. Mills is strongly committed to education and has influenced the careers of numerous junior faculty and trainees. Dr. Mills serves on many national and local committees and is an elected member of the Board of Directors of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM). 

Dr. Mills was recently honored with two prestigious awards: the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award from SAEM and the Mid-Career Award from the Academy for Women in Academic Emergency Medicine.

Pooja Agrawal, MD, MPH

Member-at-Large

Yale School of Medicine

Pooja Agrawal, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor and the Director of Global Health Education in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Yale University. She is a graduate of Cornell University and received her MD from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. She completed her emergency medicine residency at the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency (BWH/MGH), where she served as Chief Resident in her final year. Dr. Agrawal is a graduate of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Global Health and International Emergency Medicine Fellowship and received her MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. She holds faculty appointments in the Yale University School of Medicine and the Yale Center for Asylum Medicine, and is on the Board of Directors of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, a refugee resettlement agency in New Haven, CT.

Dr. Agrawal has established a national reputation in responding to complex humanitarian emergencies with a specific focus on refugee health and gender disparities. As an educator, she lectures extensively on gender disparities in medicine, humanitarian assistance, refugee resettlement, and refugee health. Dr. Agrawal’s research is focused on refugees and other displaced populations, with an emphasis on health disparities and health outcomes directly related to forced migration. She is currently investigating health literacy, healthcare access, long term health outcomes, and the impact of COVID of resettled refugees in the US, as well as the impact of limited English proficiency on the ability to access acute care services.

Dr. Agrawal has been active in SAEM since residency. She is a recent Past President of the Academy for Women in Academic Emergency Medicine (AWAEM), dedicated to enhancing the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in Emergency Medicine. Prior to that she served as Treasurer and Chair of the Global Health Committee within AWAEM. She has been a member of many other Academies, Interest Groups and Committees within SAEM. Dr. Agrawal is a recipient of the Momentum Award  from AWAEM and the Yale Women’s Housestaff Organization Outstanding Mentor Award.

Jeffrey P. Druck, MD

Member-at-Large

University of Utah School of Medicine

Dr. Jeff Druck grew up in Houston but moved to Colorado for residency in Emergency Medicine at Denver Health. As Associate Program Director, he co-founded the Denver Health Diversity Committee, pioneering recruiting efforts of diverse residents which have served as a road map for residencies in all specialties. Currently, he serves at the University of Colorado as Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Co-Director of the Office of Professional Excellence, and current president of the Academy for Diversity and Inclusion for Emergency Medicine; however, his most important role is as a father to four children, where he sometimes does admirably and other times comes in under the bar.

Julianna J. Jung, MD , MEd

Member-at-Large

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Dr. Jung graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1999 and completed EM residency training at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2002. She went on to join the Hopkins faculty, and has served as director of the required Core Clerkship in Emergency Medicine since 2004. Since then, EM has become the highest-rated clerkship at Hopkins according to the AAMC Graduation Questionnaire, earning the top spot for more than ten consecutive years. Dr. Jung leads numerous other School of Medicine courses, and serves as Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Simulation Center. She earned her MEd degree in 2017, and has won numerous teaching awards. She has been on a member of the CDEM Executive Committee since 2014, and currently serves as President.

Nicholas M. Mohr, MD, MS

Member-at-Large

University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine

Nicholas Mohr, MD, MS is a Professor of Emergency Medicine, Anesthesia Critical Care, and Epidemiology at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. He is also the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Emergency Medicine, the Director of the Emergency Medicine-Anesthesia Critical Care Fellowship Program, the Director of the Emergency Medicine Physician Scientist Training Pathway (PSTP) in the Emergency Medicine Residency Program, and the Director of the Rural Telehealth Research Center. Dr. Mohr completed residency in emergency medicine and was a Chief Resident at Indiana University, then he completed fellowship in critical care medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Mohr has been active in SAEM, most recently serving as the Chair of the SAEM Grants Committee (2019-2022), the Chair of the Scientific Subcommittee (Abstracts) of the SAEM Program Committee (2019-2022), and the SAEM Representative to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Physician Scientist Training Pathway Committee (2021-present). He also served as the Chair of the Planning Committee for the SAEM Great Plains Regional Meeting in 2016, the Co-Lead of the Writing Committee for the SAEM Generational Issues in Emergency Medicine Task Force (2009-10), and a member of the SAEM Research Committee. Dr. Mohr’s interest in a position on the Board of Directors stems from his deep appreciation for the role SAEM has played in his own mentorship and personal career development. Dr. Mohr is particularly interested in issues of professional mentorship for junior faculty, and if he were elected to the Board he would focus on strategies to improve research training and sponsorship within the specialty of emergency medicine. Globally, he has focused his effort on training future independent researchers and educators in emergency medicine that will be national leaders within the specialty and beyond. Dr. Mohr feels that the Society is critical to the future of academic emergency medicine education, research, and practice, and he would be honored to serve the Society on the Board of Directors.

Ava E. Pierce, MD

Member-at-Large

UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas

Ava E. Pierce, MD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, the Associate Chair of Diversity and Inclusion for the Department of Emergency Medicine, the Director of the Emergency Medicine Research Associate Program, a Co-Director of the Joint Admission Medical Program (JAMP) at UT Southwestern and works clinically at Parkland Health and Hospital Systems. She obtained her medical degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine at Shreveport and completed an emergency medicine residency at Emory University School of Medicine.

Dr. Pierce completed the Medical Education Research Certificate (MERC) Program and the AAMC Healthcare Executive Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program and is committed to making innovative changes that will enhance diversity and inclusion and improve excellence in health care, thus strengthening a diverse workforce that will provide culturally competent quality medical care to all. She serves as a member UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Medical School Admissions Committee and is a faculty liaison for Housestaff Emerging Academy of Leaders (HEAL), which focuses on professional development and mentoring for residents and fellows from under-represented groups. Her research interests include medical education, diversity and inclusion, and cardiac resuscitation.

Dr. Pierce has built a steadfast academic career with involvement in numerous capacities at SAEM. She has been actively involved in the Academy for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Medicine (ADIEM) since it was founded and has served as ADIEM’s development officer and president. She was awarded ADIEM’s Outstanding Academician Award in recognition of her impact on the academic success of students and residents from underrepresented minority groups. She has also been a member of SAEM’s Membership Committee, SAEM’s Ethics Committee and SAEM’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. She is an elected 2020-2021 member-at Large of the Board of Directors of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM). She is member of the National Medical Association, the AAMC Group on Diversity and Inclusion, and a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Jody A. Vogel, MD, MSc, MSW

Member-at-Large

Stanford University

Jody A. Vogel, MD, MSc, MSW Vice Chair for Academic Affairs Department of Emergency Medicine Stanford University

It is an exciting and transformative time within our specialty with both challenges and opportunities related to our workforce, researcher pipeline, medical education, and practice across acute care medicine. In this era, thoughtful and empathic leadership is necessary. As a long-standing leader in the Society and academic emergency medicine, I have led multiple successful initiatives and would very much like to continue to serve in the role of Member-at-Large, leading efforts to effectively engage and support members while advancing the mission of the Society and our specialty.

I am Vice Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University. I received a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan and began my career as a social worker on the midnight shift in the Emergency Department where my interest in our specialty flourished. I subsequently obtained a Doctor of Medicine from Wayne State University School of Medicine, graduating with distinction in biomedical research. I completed residency training at the Denver Health Medical Center, serving as chief resident during my final year of training. Following residency, I completed a research fellowship and served as academic faculty at the Denver Health Medical Center. I am an active health services researcher with a history of grant support from foundations as well as the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Over the course of my career, I have been an active contributor to the Society beginning during residency and extending throughout my career, including my current service as Member-at-Large on the Board of Directors over the past three years. As a resident, I served as an active member of several committees, the Inaugural Chair of the Resident and Student Advisory Committee (which subsequently became Resident and Medical Students [RAMS]) and as Resident Member of the Board of Directors. As a faculty member, I have had the privilege of serving in many leadership roles in the Society, having led numerous committees and task forces and contributed to multiple annual SAEM strategic planning sessions. Highlights of my contributions to the Society include ten years of dedicated service on the SAEM Program Committee (PC), including two years as SAEM PC Chair, during which I led notable innovations such as: creation of novel program officer events, increased plenary abstracts; creation of the education keynote; expanded pediatric offerings; support for increased lactation areas and onsite childcare; webinars for successful abstract and didactic submissions; enhanced summit, forum, and symposium content; and increased networking events. Because of these successful innovations, during my PC leadership there was a record number of abstract and didactic submissions. More recently, I advocated for and am assisting with an innovative SAEM health professions education program designed to enhance the academic advancement and promotion of education-focused faculty. In addition, I have been an active member of the ACEP-SAEM Federal Research Funding Workgroup, Research Committee, Equity and Inclusion Committee, Wellness Committee, Awards Committee, Graduate Medical Education Committee, AWAEM, and ADIEM. I serve as a presenter and mentor for the Advanced Research Methodology Evaluation and Design (ARMED) Program and SAEM/Emergency Medicine Foundation Grantee Workshop and on the Editorial Board for Academic Emergency Medicine. I was elected to the Nominating Committee 2015–2017 and have been invited to serve on or lead task forces to improve the SAEM Consensus Conference, Academic Emergency Medicine, and SAEM Leadership Forum. Most recently, I helped lead initiatives to increase the number of emergency care investigators on NIH study sections. Through these excellent experiences and multiple leadership roles, I came to understand the essential role of the Society in improving our delivery of care to patients through education, innovation, and research. Moreover, I came to fully appreciate the benefits of the collaborative relationships developed through the Society which foster the exchange of knowledge and ideas that help improve patient care.

My goals for advancing members and the Society are multifaceted. The first goal would be to advocate for increased high-quality education, networking, and faculty development for educators, administrators, and researchers alike to facilitate the leadership skills necessary to advance our specialty. The second goal would be to increase mentorship and collaborative research opportunities for investigators with the intent of increasing competitive, successful applications for federal research grants. As part of this process, I would continue to promote increased participation by emergency care investigators in federal study sections, advocate for expanded research training opportunities (R38, T32, K12), and encourage medical scientist training programs as a venue to help streamline clinical and research training and increase PhD-level emergency care investigators. Third, I would continue to encourage active participation by junior faculty and residents within the Society so they may benefit from the Society’s valuable resources as they become the future leaders in our specialty. Early mentorship through the Society is vital for the development of these future academicians who will carry forth the Society’s mission. Fourth, I would continue to promote inclusiveness in the Society’s endeavors, products, and leaders. The goal will be to engage all academicians in the Society in a meaningful way to encourage the novel innovation and discovery that results from diverse perspectives, thereby strengthening our specialty. Finally, I would work to continue to strengthen our relationships with other emergency medicine organizations as collegiality and collaboration is key to our specialty’s success.

In summary, the Society has played an integral role in my development as an academician, and as Member-at-Large, I would encourage and foster opportunities for this same development for others so they may also benefit from the Society’s rich resources. My overall goal would be to strengthen the role of the Society as an influential leader in providing and advocating for emergency care research, education, and grants. I fully appreciate the many outstanding opportunities afforded by the Society, and it would be an honor to continue to serve you as Member-at-Large.

Michael DeFilippo, DO, MICP

Resident Member

New York-Presbyterian - Columbia & Cornell

Michael DeFilippo, DO, MICP is a PGY-3 resident in emergency medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian - Columbia & Cornell in Manhattan, NY. He obtained his medical degree from Rowan University, where he served as class president and was also on the board for the diversity, equity, and inclusion council.

Prior to residency, he was a paramedic for ten years in New Jersey, wherein he was involved with education and training of paramedics and EMTs. He stays involved with EMS education, serving as medical director for education overseeing continuing education courses and FOAMed material for paramedics, EMTs, and prehospital nurses.

During these last two years, he has had the pleasure of serving as Member-at-Large on the RAMS board, and as the Chair of the RAMS Research Committee wherein he focused his work towards making research mentorship and educational resources accessible for residents and medical students. He hopes to continue to work on objectives within both SAEM and RAMS focused on resident and medical student engagement towards academic EM. He plans to continue work on increasing access to research opportunities, mentorship, and educational series for residents, medical students and junior faculty interested in academic emergency medicine.