People

Taylor E. Brown, MD

Member-at-Large

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School

"I am a PGY-1 emergency medicine resident Bat eth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. I completed undergrad at Stanford University and medical school at Harvard Medical School (HMS). I have a background in sexual violence advocacy and trauma-informed care. During my time in medical school, I became involved in medical education while continuing my advocacy work. I helped to create the HMS Trauma-Informed Care Curricular Steering Committee and successfully advocated for the integration of trauma-informed care (TIC) into the HMS curriculum.

Emergency Medicine is such an exciting field, but we still have work to do in supporting our residents and medical students through training."

Dhriti Sooryakumar, MD, MPH

The Ohio State University

I am a current MD/MPH candidate at The Ohio State University. I completed my undergraduate degree and Master of Science in Biotechnology and am now working towards my MPH dual degree from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to medical school I served as medical program advisor for an International medical organization in rural Honduras and worked at the National Institutes of Health.

I had the honor to serve as the medical student representative on the RAMS Board last year and am thrilled with the great progress and novel initiatives we created for our medical student and resident members. During my time on the RAMS Board, I helped conceptualize the SAEM RAMS Virtual Residency & Fellowship Fair held in July 2021, created $500 Underrepresented Minority Medical Education Scholarships (which I successfully matched by our National Academies for Board Exam costs and preparatory materials), created the webinar series advising medical students through the first Covid19 residency application season, and created a webinar series highlighting women in academic emergency medicine. I also conceptualized and am currently working with the board on the creation of other novel large-scale national medical education initiatives.

If elected, I would like to continue to develop and expand national medical education and scholarship opportunities for our medical student and resident members. I would also like to see further growth and expansion of national mentorship programs and networking opportunities, especially for women, underrepresented minorities, and students and residents who feel they could benefit from greater mentorship in specific areas/niches of academic emergency medicine. I would like to continue to create novel webinars, educational series, and clinical skills workshops to enhance emergency medicine medical education and ease the residency application process and transition into residency. I would also like to expand emergency medicine niche opportunities (e.g., ultrasound, global health, and social emergency medicine, to name a few) for medical students and residents. I am very open to hearing from our resident and medical student members and would really like to continue working on your behalf to keep growing and making emergency medicine the outstanding specialty that it is. I hope I may have the honor to continue serving you and our fellow resident and medical student peers on our RAMS Board this year.

Rawle Anthony Seupaul, MD

Member-at-Large

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Victoria L. Zhou, MD

Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine

University of Vermont

Victoria Zhou, MD is an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Vermont. She currently serves as Associate Residency Program Director for the University of Vermont Emergency Medicine Residency.

Prasanthi (Prasha) Govindarajan, MD, MAS

Stanford University

 

Angela Lumba-Brown, MD

Stanford University

 

Jeremy Simon, MD, PhD

Columbia University

I am professor of emergency medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. I have an MD and PhD in philosophy from New York University (NYU), where I also did my residency in emergency medicine.

A member of SAEM for 28 years, I have served as a member of the SAEM Ethics Committee for most of that time and was chair of this committee from 2009-2014. A long-term role I have had as a member of this committee is that I have been in charge of soliciting and editing content for the "Ethics in Action" section of the newsletter for the past 10 years.

I am running for the SAEM Bylaws Committee because I would like to contribute to SAEM in a new way, more directly contributing to the operation of the organization. The bylaws committee is tasked with carefully reviewing any proposed changes to SAEM's bylaws. My work in philosophy, including as a reviewer and editor of philosophy journals, has given me the skills necessary to carefully read technical language and understand its implications. I trust that this will allow me to help assure that SAEM's bylaws continue to function as they should and allow us to pursue our mission and goals efficiently.

Addie Burtle, MD

Washington University in St. Louis

I am an emergency medicine resident at Washington University in St. Louis. I was a nontraditional medical student, having discovered my passion for medicine only after beginning a career in documentary filmmaking. It was a desire to share knowledge and be a force for social change that made documentary filmmaking meaningful for me, and it was these same values that ultimately pulled me to emergency medicine. Emergency medicine, now more than ever, serves as a symbol of medicine at its best. A voice for science in a time of pandemic. Embracing the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge. Serving as a force for equity. Caring and advocating for the most vulnerable in our society. As a resident member on the SAEM Board, I would work diligently to support these values and the mission of SAEM.

Martin A. Reznek, MD, MBA

UMass Chan Medical School

I am professor, executive vice chair for clinical operations and education, and director of the Richard V Aghababian Leadership and Administrative Fellowship in the department of emergency medicine at UMass Chan Medical School.

SAEM serves a crucial function in that it is only organization in this country with a primary focus on the advancement of education and research in emergency medicine. The collective power of our talented membership and our shared mission are more critical today than ever, as the strains of modern health care economics threaten the academic mission. SAEM was instrumental in developing my early academic career by serving as a platform for the growth and development of simulation in emergency medicine (EM). Without SAEM, medical simulation would never have advanced as it has. I have been indebted to the organization since I was a resident for supporting simulation in general as well as my personal scholarly and educational activities. It has been an honor to serve continuously in SAEM committee leadership roles for well over a decade, and I would welcome the opportunity to continue to give back to SAEM by serving on the SAEM Board of Directors.

In the current economic and workforce environment of health care, clear demonstration to outside entities of the value of academic pursuits in our specialty is of critical importance, and SAEM must play a central role in this. Beyond my academic work, professional growth in the areas of administration and leadership has been a priority for me throughout my career. Through diverse leadership roles including executive vice chair of clinical operations and education, founding fellowship director, vice president for quality and safety, chief operating officer, SAEM Finance Committee Chair, and SAEM Membership Committee Chair, as well as through my MBA training, I feel that I have an excellent understanding of how to demonstrate the value of EM education and research to our partners in hospital leadership, industry, other specialty organizations, and federal agencies. SAEM further fostering relationships with these partners nationally will be crucial to the advancement of academic EM and the practice of EM in general, as will SAEM further developing tools for our members to better develop these relationships locally.

If entrusted with an SAEM Board position, I would offer wisdom and experience gained from leadership and mentorship roles that have crossed all five aspects of the mission of academic EM: education, research, clinical care, health equity and diversity/inclusion. I have extensive backgrounds in curriculum design and evaluation, quality/operations research, and departmental, hospital, and SAEM programmatic development including health equity and diversity/inclusion programs. Supporting all five components of the academic mission is crucial to ensure that academic EM thrives for the benefit of all our patients, all SAEM members, and our specialty in general.

Daren M. Beam, MD

Indiana University School of Medicine

I am honored to have been nominated for the position of member-at-large on the SAEM Board of Directors. I first dove into emergency medicine in 2004, when I was hired at Carolinas Medical Center (now Atrium Healthcare) as one of three research coordinators. A year and half later I was starting medical school at East Carolina University and knew on day one I wanted to go into emergency medicine. My path in medical school led to an SAEM Medical Student Grant, more SAEM presentations and publications, and landing back at CMC for residency. Residency continued to allow me to grow as a physician and person. Instead of just submitting abstracts, I started my service to SAEM by joining the ethics committee my second year and reviewing abstracts as well. I have reviewed abstracts for our annual meeting every year since. Since joining the faculty at Indiana University in 2012, as their first research fellow, I have built an established relationship with SAEM, being chair of the SAEM Midwest Regional Meeting in 2016, to being the SAEM Program Chair for 2021, and 2022. I want to bring my diverse background in emergency medicine to the SAEM Board. I have participated at every level of SAEM available to me so far, but I want to do more. My vision is to increase our membership by engaging community physicians who still seek out the newest evidence based medicine and bring them into our society. I want to continue to advance emergency medicine research and gain more funding for our members who are actively publishing. I want to help bring the best and brightest medical students into our specialty and encourage more residents to enter academic medicine and clinical teaching.

Andrew D. Kennedy, MBA

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Andrew D. Kennedy came to emergency medicine in late 2015 after many years working in surgery. Thankfully, his chair at the time enthusiastically supported him joining AAAEM. It did not take long for Andrew to realize what a tremendous resource AAAEM was and continues to be for both new and seasoned administrators in this specialty. He has benefited greatly from what AAAEM has to offer and highly values the association he is constantly able to make with colleagues of the highest caliber and character.

Since completing the inaugural Certificate in Academic Emergency Medicine Administration (CAEMA) course in 2018, Andrew has continued to look for ways AAAEM can best serve him as an executive administrator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and how he can be engaged to serve the organization in return. His membership has been rewarded by the insights gained and the connections he has made through the communications and strategic planning committees. As an example of how this organization remains relevant to our lives as administrators and continues to offer opportunities to learn and contribute, Andrew is also very proud to serve on the first iteration of the IDEA committee this year.

Completing a third year as chair of the AAAEM Strategic Planning Committee, Andrew recognizes AAAEM as an invaluable occupational resource, but also as a wonderful professional organization in which to be a member. If you can’t find an answer on how to deal with a specific issue (rare), you can at least find encouragement from caring colleagues. As a member-at-large, he would welcome the opportunity to continue to serve the organization and its members, both new and not so new, by extending the example of past leadership and engaging the active participation of newer members.

Jennifer Patton Muir, EdD, MBA

AAAEM President-Elect

East Carolina University

Jennifer Muir is the administrator for the department of emergency medicine at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management, Master of Business Administration, and a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration.

Dr. Muir has worked in higher education for more than 14 years in various administrative roles, including director of employment in human resources and executive director of business and administrative affairs in the College of Nursing. She has been in her current position in the department of emergency medicine for the past four years. In her administrative roles she has been heavily involved in strategic planning, program development, financial management, human resources management, and policy development.

Jennifer is the co-president of the North Carolina Chapter of the College and University Professional Association of Human Resources where she has served on the board for the past 10 years and is the vice chair of the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) of the Carolinas Regional Advisory Board where she has served for the past year. In addition, she previously served as an at-large-member on the executive committee and has been serving for the past two years on the Benchmarking and Strategic Planning Committees within AAAEM.

Being involved and present in professional organizations which have a significant impact on the field that serve is extremely important. It keeps you engaged, informed, and inspired to contribute and to learn from others in your field. For the past two years, being involved in committees has allowed Dr. Muir to stay engaged and participate in moving the organization forward. Serving as the secretary on the AAAEM Executive Committee will allow her to make a broader impact by contributing to executive committee initiatives and continuing to participate in leadership and strategic initiatives within the academy.

Shannon Kay Hughen-Giger, MHA

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Shannon has been an SAEM/AAAEM member for three years and in emergency medicine for more than three years. She has a Master of Health Administration and is currently working on achieving the AAAEM Certificate in Academic Emergency Medicine Administration (CAEMA).  She has been in health care for more than 15 years. She hopes to serve the committee and its membership toward the goals set by the executive committee and strategic planning committee, enhancing listserv usage and engaging members in inventive new ways.

Joseph Adrian Tyndall, MD, MPH

President

Morehouse School of Medicine

 

Laura Wooster, MPH

American College of Emergency Physicians

Laura Wooster serves as ACEP’s Senior Vice President of Advocacy & Practice Affairs, overseeing the College’s federal and state legislative, regulatory, and practice advocacy. Prior to joining ACEP, Laura served as Senior Vice President, Public Policy, for the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). She also spent five years at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, first developing policy on delivery system reform and health IT, and then as a Congressional and Administration lobbyist. Laura holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Michigan, and a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Illinois School of Public Health.

Brent R. King, MD

Professor

University of Maryland School of Medicine

Dr. Brent King is currently a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine where he also serves as the Vice-Chair for Safety, Quality, and Innovation. From 2013 until 2016 he served as the Chief Medical Officer of the Nemours Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware and also served on as a Vice-President of Nemours Children’s Health System. From 1999 to 2013 he served as the Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, now known as McGovern Medical School.

In addition to his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Dr. King also holds a Master of Medical Management (MMM) degree from Carnegie Mellon University. He has board certifications in Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics, and Pediatric Emergency Medicine.

Dr. King is married to Rosemary A. Kozar MD, PhD, a professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Director of Translational Research at the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. They have two adult children.

Lauren Cameron-Comasco, MD

Lauren Cameron-Comasco, MD, FACEP, is Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. She is the Director of Geriatric Emergency Medicine and the Geriatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Director at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI. Dr. Cameron-Comasco received her medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine and completed her residency at Henry Ford Hospital, where she served as Chief Resident. After residency, she joined the Department of Emergency Medicine at Beaumont Royal Oak, where she completed her fellowship in Geriatric Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Cameron-Comasco’s interests lie in geriatric emergency medicine education and the enhancement of older adult care in the Emergency Department. Beaumont’s Emergency Department, one of the top 20 busiest emergency departments by volume in the country, achieved Level 2 Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation from the American College of Emergency Physicians under her leadership. She has studied the operational effects of implementing a Geriatric Emergency Department and her work has been presented nationally. She is the current President-elect of the Academy of Geriatric Emergency Medicine and has served on the Executive Committee since 2018.

Anita Rohra, MD

Dr. Anita Rohra is the Director of Simulation and Assistant Program Director in charge of education for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). She obtained her medical degree from State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate in 2010 and completed her emergency medicine residency at New York Presbyterian Queens in 2013. She completed an Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship at BCM in 2014 and began her career as emergency ultrasound faculty, focusing on emergency ultrasound simulation. Dr. Rohra was lead faculty for diversity in her department from 2016 to 2019 and established a group promoting women in leadership within the department.  Her success in these roles led to promotion to her current position as the Director of Simulation for the Department of Emergency Medicine. Her interests include simulation debriefing, resuscitation communication, diversity in emergency medicine, and bias in clinical decision-making.

James W. Hoekstra, MD

President

High Point Medical Center

 Dr. James Hoekstra is the President of High Point Medical Center, a 350-bed hospital system that joined Wake Forest Baptist Health September 1, 2018. His role reports to the CEO and Dean of Wake Forest Baptist Health and to the President of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

Dr. Hoekstra serves on Wake Forest Baptist’s strategy leadership team and is a key physician leader in the health system. Helping drive growth of clinical programs and service lines including acquisition and integration of network health systems, physician practices and network clinical programs, he is also responsible for growing academic relationships for Wake Forest School of Medicine, including the expansion of teaching sites for MD and Physician Assistant students, especially at the VA Medical Centers and  High Point Medical Center.
Dr. Hoekstra graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1984 and completed his Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Cincinnati. Following fourteen years on faculty of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, he was recruited in 2003 to Wake Forest School of Medicine. As Professor and Chair of Wake’s Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Hoekstra built a network of more than a dozen Wake Forest Baptist-managed emergency departments across North Carolina. Instrumental in the integration of Cornerstone Healthcare with Wake Forest Baptist Health, he was named Vice President for Business Development in 2015 and Senior Vice President and Associate Dean, Clinical and Academic Network Development in 2017. His work reflects a deep commitment to creating strong community, academic and provider relationships that advance Wake Forest Baptist’s mission to improve health.