People

University of California, San Francisco

PSU

Kain C. Robbins is the Operations Director for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (MSHMC) of Penn State Health. Kain received his bachelor’s degree in 1994 in Accounting for Penn State University. He has been in the healthcare industry for 19 years starting out as the Accounting Manager for a Health Management Associates hospital in Lancaster, PA. For the 14 years he has been working at the MSHMC with the first 6 years in the role of a Financial Liaison which support the Children’s Hospital and the Departments of Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Neurosurgery, Neurology & PM&R and now the last 8 years with the Department of Emergency Medicine. In his role as Operations Director he not only manages the operations of Emergency Medicine but also directs the organization’s pre-hospital services, Life Lion, which operate air medical, ground critical care and EMS programs. Kain resides in Lancaster, PA and has been married to his wife, Kimberly, for 23 years. They are in the process of raising the next round of Nittany Lions with his daughter, Katelyn, currently a sophomore at University Park. His Son, Kyle, attends State College. In his free time, Kain is a passionate Dallas Cowboys fan. He also enjoys camping, traveling, and is always up for a good meal.

AAAEM Immediate Past President

University of Florida, College of Medicine-Jacksonville, Department of Emergency Medicine

David Christiansen is the Director of Healthcare Administration for the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville.   He has been a member of AAAEM since its inception in 2010.  He serves as a member of the Benchmark Survey Committee and is also the past Chair of the Communications Committee. 

David Christiansen’s healthcare career spans over 25 years and has included responsibilities as Administrator in Psychiatry, Anesthesiology, Radiology, Urgent Care, hospitalist and primary care programs. For the past 19 years, he has focused on academic Emergency Medicine, first in Arizona and continuing now in Florida. David’s combination of experience both within and outside of Emergency Medicine makes him appreciate our specialty and its specific needs. 

AAAEM President

Senior Fellow in Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Global Health

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)

Dr. Vinay Kampalath (moderator) is a senior fellow in PEM and Global Health at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and a research fellow at the Geneva Centre for Humanitarian Studies. He completed a pediatrics residency at CHOP, a medical degree at Brown University, and a diploma in tropical medicine and hygiene from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He has clinically worked with displaced populations in Bangladesh, Greece, and Jordan.

Emergency Medicine Physician

Doctors Without Borders, Amsterdam

Dr. David Beversluis is an emergency medicine physician, public health researcher, and a humanitarian worker. He is a health advisor at MSF in Amsterdam and has worked and lived overseas in a dozen countries over the past 15 years. He was recently faculty at University of Southern California, and is a graduate of the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency. He has a medical and master of public health from Case Western Reserve University.

Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician

New York University

Dr. Mahati Reddy is a pediatric emergency medicine physician, and incoming faculty at New York University. She was a pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) fellow at Emory University and a pediatrics resident at Jacobi Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and completed her medical degree at August University. She recently returned from working as a medical activity manager with MSF in Tonkolili, Sierra Leone.

The Ohio State University

Dr. Luong attended the University of Washington and obtained a degree in medical anthropology and global health. She attended medical school at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, graduating in 2019. She is currenly a PGY-3 resident at Ohio State and next year will be pursuing an ultrasound fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.      

The Ohio State University

Dr. Spadaro attended Carnegie Mellon University and obtained a bachelor’s degree  in biology. He attended medical school at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and took a gap year between MS-3 and M-S4 to obtain a master’s degree  in public health, with a focus on epidemiology and health policy, from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently pursuing a residency in emergency medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and is actively engaged in research in the fields of addiction medicine, medical toxicology, and health policy.

University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Graves  earned her bachelor’s degree  in biochemistry in 2011 and spent two years with Teach for America in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania from which she graduated in 2018. During that time, she completed a year-long research fellowship at the Center for Emergency Care Policy and Research (CECPR) at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focus is substance use disorder, particularly opioid use disorder, and how large data and policy intersect with systems of care for substance use disorder. 

UMass Chan Medical School

"Building on Leadership and Diversity in EM (BOLD-EM): Investigating Program Impact"

Dr. Jennifer Carey is division director for undergraduate medical education and education fellowship director at UMass Chan Medical School. She is involved in developing educational curriculum for students at all levels in medical school and focuses on integrating topics in health equity into her teaching. She has been recognized locally and nationally for her commitment to education.

Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine

Dr. Walker is an assistant professor of emergency medicine and SE MN Hospital practice chair at Mayo Clinical College of Medicine & Science.

Dr. Pepe is a life-long academician and public servant who has pioneered many multi-disciplinary advances in critical care and emergency medicine over the past four decades and who remains a highly-prolific and globally-respected leader in the realms of resuscitation research, EMS, disaster response and event medicine. Currently, Dr. Pepe is the creator, program director and perennial moderator for the world-renowned EMS State of the Science: Gathering of Eagles conferences and, in turn, he serves as the global coordinator for the affiliated metropolitan EMS medical directors alliance.

Dr. Crowe is an expert in using data to power research and quality improvement in EMS. Her career in EMS began as a volunteer EMT and instructor in Mexico City with the Red Cross. During that time, she also worked as a Powertrain Quality Engineer at Ford Motor Company, where she received black belt training in Six Sigma quality improvement methodology. Dr. Crowe currently serves as a research scientist and performance improvement manager with ESO, a large provider of software for EMS agencies, fire departments, and hospitals, based in Austin, Texas. Prior to joining ESO, she worked as an EMS Research Fellow at the National Registry of EMTs where she earned her PhD in Epidemiology from The Ohio State University. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and her research related to burnout was awarded ‘Best Research’ at the International EMS Scientific Symposium.

Thomas Jefferson University

“Characterization of Medical Student Burnout Using Remote Physiologic Monitoring"

John R. Vaile is a medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA. Prior to medical school, he conducted research at the National Institutes of Health (NIAID/Vaccine Research Center) as a part of the Molecular Immunoengineering Unit where he completed experiments for all stages of the vaccine development process. Upon entering medical school, he sought to explore the realm of digital health and, while still maintaining close association with traditional ‘wet lab’ work, began to pursue projects at the interface of remote monitoring and medical trainee wellbeing. 

Currently, he conducts research on remote monitoring of resident and medical student wellbeing as a part of the Digital Health Scholarly Inquiry Track, and completed a Summer fellowship at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he designed a mobile application to supplement resident training in local anesthetic systemic toxicity. He expresses a vested interest in education, as he previously served as a Teaching Assistant in biochemistry, chemistry, and Spanish courses, and actively mentors pre-medical students on an informal basis.

Physician Scientist

Stanford University Department of Emergency Medicine

Christopher Bennett, MD, MSc, MA, is a physician scientist in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University. His research interests include better understanding American's access to both emergency departments and emergency physician care. Dr. Bennett completed residency training at Harvard Medical School's program in Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Bennett holds an undergraduate degree from Winthrop University (BS in Biology), a graduate degree from Duke University (MA in Genetics and Genomics), a medical degree (MD) from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine, and a graduate degree from Stanford University MSc in Epidemiology). In addition to his formal graduate training, Bennett was previously a scientist with the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and a researcher with the Emergency Medicine Network based at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital. Christopher previously served on the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Board of Directors and the SAEM Foundation Board of Trustees.

Massachusetts General Hospital

“Factors Associated with Potentially Unnecessary Pediatric Transfers for Asthma from the Emergency Department"

Stanford Emergency Medicine Residency Program

“ED-Based Prognostication of ARDS Onset and Severity"

Emory University School of Medicine

“Investigation of Support Solutions for Women in Academic Medicine"

Baystate Medical Center

“Patient Monitor Positioning and Provider Recognition of Desaturation Events During Intubation"