SAEM Board of Directors

Angela M. Mills, MD

SAEM President / SAEMF Member-at-Large

Columbia University Vagelos

Angela M. Mills, MD is the J. E. Beaumont Professor and Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons and Chief of Emergency Services for New York-Presbyterian | Columbia. 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.

Wendy C. Coates, MD

SAEM President-Elect / SAEMF Member-at-Large

Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Wendy C. Coates, MD is Professor of Emergency Medicine at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine 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, MBA, MPH

SAEM Secretary-Treasurer / SAEMF Member-at-Large

Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School

Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, 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.

Amy H. Kaji, MD, PhD

SAEM Immediate Past President / SAEMF Member-at-Large

Los Angeles County-Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Amy H. Kaji, MD PhD is vice-chair of academic affairs in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. After graduating from Harvard University, Dr. Kaji attended Thomas Jefferson Medical School. Prior to "seeing the light," Dr. Kaji performed two years of a categorical general surgery residency at the University of Chicago. She then performed her emergency medicine internship, residency, and research/disaster medicine fellowship at Harbor-UCLA. Under the mentorship of Dr. Roger Lewis, Dr. Kaji completed a doctorate in epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health during her fellowship.

Since her fellowship, Dr. Kaji has been active in SAEM. She has previously served as Membership Committee chair, a Research sub-committee chair, as well as on the Nominating committee, and the steering committee of the Science of Surge and Simulation consensus conferences, prior to joining the SAEM Board of Directors. Dr. Kaji enjoys combining her interest in statistical methodology, emergency medicine, and writing through editorial activities – she is a methodological/statistical editor for Annals of Emergency Medicine and JAMA Surgery, as well as an editor for the 9th edition of the Rosen's Emergency Medicine textbook.

Pooja Agrawal, MD, MPH

SAEM 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 Colorado 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

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.

Michelle D. Lall, MD, MHS

Member-at-Large

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.

Ava Pierce, MD

SAEM 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, is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University. Dr. Vogel received a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Wayne State University School of Medicine. She completed emergency medicine residency training at Denver Health Medical Center, serving as chief resident from 2010-2011. Following residency, Dr. Vogel completed a clinical research fellowship at the Denver Health Medical Center and obtained a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the Colorado School of Public Health.

Dr. Vogel has been a very active member of SAEM, with ten years of dedicated service on the SAEM Program Committee including serving as Program Committee Chair for the 2019 and 2020 Annual Meetings. She has also served as a member of the Graduate Medical Education Committee, Nominating Committee, Research Committee, inaugural chair of the Resident and Student Advisory Committee, and resident member of the SAEM Board of Directors. She has served on task forces to improve the consensus conference, Academic Emergency Medicine, and the Leadership Forum and has been a regular participant in the Annual SAEM Strategic Planning Sessions.

Dr. Vogel has devoted herself to research to improve emergency care and has a dedicated interest in underserved, at-risk populations. She is an active health services researcher with numerous publications and grant support from the National Institutes of Health and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Dr. Vogel has received many academic awards for her leadership and contributions to emergency care research.

Wendy W. Sun, MD

SAEM Board Resident Member / RAMS Board Immediate Past President

Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven Health

Dr. Wendy Sun is a PGY-3 at Yale - New Haven Health. Wendy is passionate about increasing diversity within Emergency Medicine, Patient Safety, and Health Innovation. She grew up in Toronto, received her BS in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University and MD from Virginia Commonwealth University. In her spare time, she enjoys paddle boarding.