The Tale of Three Researchers

Authors
  • 2025 Gita Pensa

    Gita Pensa, MD

    Adjunct Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine

    Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University

    Gita Pensa, MD, is an emergency physician, educator, and nationally recognized advocate for physician well-being in the aftermath of litigation and adverse events. Drawing from her personal experience as a physician defendant in a high-profile, multi-year malpractice case, Dr. Pensa has become a leading voice in helping clinicians navigate the emotional, cognitive, and professional impact of litigation. She serves as Adjunct Associate Professor of emergency medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and is known for her work as host and editor of AEM Early Access and as a contributor to Emergency Medicine Reviews and Perspectives (EM:RAP). Through coaching, education, and her groundbreaking podcast "Doctors and Litigation: The L Word," Dr. Pensa empowers physicians to recover, build resilience, and reclaim fulfillment after one of the most isolating experiences in medicine.
  • Michael Gottlieb, MD

    Michael Gottlieb, MD

    Rush University Medical Center

    Michael Gottlieb, MD is the Vice Chair of Research and Director of the Emergency Ultrasound Division at Rush University Medical Center. He is Past-Chair of the ACEP Ultrasound Section and Past-Chair of the AAEM Ultrasound Section. He has authored over 500 peer-reviewed publications and is an Editor for Academic Medicine, The Annals of Emergency Medicine, The Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, and Academic Emergency Medicine Education and Training, as well as the Social Media Editor for Academic Emergency Medicine. He is Past-Chair of the CORD Academy for Scholarship, Past-Chair of the SAEM Education Summit, Past-Chair of the CORD Education Committee, Past-Chair of the CORD Best Practices Subcommittee, and a nationally-recognized speaker and educator. His academic interests include medical education, ultrasound, infectious diseases, heart failure, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

  • Lynn P. Roppolo, MD

    John Peter Smith Hospital; Adjunct Professor University of North Texas and Texas Christian University

    Dr. Roppolo is a retired Professor of Emergency Medicine from the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) and is currently core faculty and the Assistant Ultrasound Director at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth Texas. She is an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Texas and Texas Christian University. She is a Senior Editor for the Journal of Emergency Medicine and has published numerous peer reviewed papers as first or senior author. She has assisted with coordinating the Research Learning Series for the last two years. Her scholarly and research interests involve anything related to ultrasound and managing acutely agitated patients to reduce physical assaults on ED staff. She is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, did her emergency medicine residency at the George Washington University and an emergency ultrasound fellowship at UTSW after being part of the residency leadership for 15 years. 

  • Frances Russell, MD

    Indiana University

    Frances Russell, MD is a tenured associate professor of emergency medicine and the ultrasound research director in the division of ultrasound at the Indiana University School of Medicine. She earned her Doctor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. She completed her residency training at the University of Connecticut and completed an ultrasound fellowship at Rush Medical Center and Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Russell’s research interests include point of care ultrasound for acute heart failure and undifferentiated shortness of breath. She has over 50 peer-reviewed publications, has received external grant funding from the NIH NHLBI and American Heart Association, in 2021 received the SAEM Academy of Ultrasound Academic Excellence Award and in 2023 received the SAEM Academy of Ultrasound Most Prolific Researcher Award.
    Dr. Russell currently serves as the Research Officer for the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine Academy of Emergency Ultrasound and ACEP Ultrasound Research Subcommittee co-leader. She has been a speaker at the ACEP Ultrasound Management Course, Rocky Mountain Winter Conference, and The Heart Course.

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