People

Jennifer Kaminsky, MD

Rita A. Manfredi, MD

Professor, Clinical Emergency Medicine

George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Rita A. Manfredi, MD, is a Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She started her career as a US Navy Flight Surgeon and completed an Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Massachusetts. She previously completed a fellowship in Health and Spirituality at the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, recently became board-certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine and is interested in integrating Palliative Medicine concepts into the care of patients in the ED. Dr. Manfredi is an active member of the SAEM Wellness Committee and has introduced a Storytelling in EM event at national SAEM conferences for the past 3 years. In 2021, Dr. Manfredi received ACEP’s Lifetime Achievement Award: The Pamela Benson Trailblazer Award for seminal contributions over time to the growth of the College and to the specialty of emergency medicine. Dr. Manfredi’s work in Wellbeing focuses on how the system or organization impacts the wellness of the individual health care provider.

Sheryl Heron, MD, MPH

Emory University School of Medicine

Sheryl L. Heron MD, MPH is a Professor and Vice Chair of Faculty Equity, Engagement, and Empowerment in Emergency Medicine, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, the Associate Dean for Community Engagement, Equity and Inclusion, and Associate Director of Education and Training for the Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory (IPRCE) at Emory University School of Medicine (SOM).

She is an HBCU graduate of Howard University College of Medicine and the Martin Luther King Jr/Drew Residency program in Emergency Medicine. She was recruited as the first fellow at the Emory Center for Injury Control in 1996. She was a Vice Chair for the Georgia Commission on Family Violence, a Board member for the Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence, a member of the Domestic Violence Task Force in Dekalb County, the Public Health Committee, and an inaugural member of the Diversity Inclusion Health Equity section the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).  She has received several awards including the Partnership against Domestic Violence’s HOPE Award, the Woman in Medicine Award from the Council of Concerned Women of the National Medical Association, the  Gender Justice Award from the Commission on Family Violence, and was named a hero of Emergency Medicine by ACEP. In 2012, she was named the inaugural President of the Academy for Diversity & Inclusion in Emergency Medicine (ADIEM) of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. She is an editor of two textbooks in Emergency Medicine on Diversity and Inclusion in Quality Patient Care (2016 &2019).

She was awarded the SOM’s inaugural Excellence in Diversity Award. Dr. Heron has lectured extensively on Wellness and Well-being in medicine and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in healthcare. She served for two years as the American Association of Medical Colleges, Group on Diversity, and Inclusion (AAMC- GDI) Southern Regional Representative and is currently the Chair-elect for AAMC-GDI. She is anchored by her faith, and family, and is proud of her Jamaican heritage.

Neha P. Raukar, MD, MS

Member-at-Large

Mayo Clinic

I obtained my undergraduate degree from Stevens Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in Physiology from NY Medical College, and my medical degree at Howard University. After three years of residency and a fellowship in Sports Medicine at Allegheny General Hospital, I returned to the northeast where I was at Brown University. There I practiced both emergency and sports medicine, taught, and conducted research. After 12 years, I moved to the Mayo Clinic to work in the area of Geriatric Emergency Medicine and Faculty Development. During the pandemic, I completed a certificate program from The University of South Florida in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and am currently working on a certificate on The Business of Healthcare from Wharton.

During the last four years while at the Mayo Clinic, I have continued research, funded mostly by foundation grants, that have modified the way athletes are managed on and off the field. I have continued educating residents, and expanding my teaching repertoire. Unsuccessful in my quest for federal funding, I am encouraged by programs such as those of the SAEM Foundation that support young investigators to become successful, federally funded, researchers.

It is my hope that my educational background, prior board experience, experience in fundraising, decades of participation in various roles within SAEM, and enthusiasm to join and contribute to the SAEM Foundation Board make me an ideal candidate.

Saadia Akhtar, MD

Senior Associate Dean for Trainee Well-Being in Graduate Medical Education

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Saadia Akhtar, MD, is a professor of emergency medicine and medical education and senior associate dean for trainee well-being in graduate medical education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Since 2018, she has served as associate dean for trainee well-being in graduate medical education, overseeing several successful initiatives to enhance the well-being of residents and clinical fellows. These initiatives include establishing a GME well-being survey to assess the needs of residents and fellows, expanding the GME Well-being Champion program, and creating the GME Clinical Work Intensity Matching Grant Program.

In 2024, Dr. Akhtar was promoted to senior associate dean for trainee well-being in GME, continuing to lead efforts to address resident and fellow burnout. She supports collaborative initiatives to create and integrate well-being curricular activities in training programs, raise awareness of existing resources for residents and fellows, and enable GME Well-being Champions to enhance the efficiency and culture of the training environment. She is also a leading faculty member of the Office of Well-Being and Resilience.

Dr. Akhtar previously served as the director of the emergency medicine residency program at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. She is a former president of the Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine (CORD) and an oral board examiner for the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM). She has received numerous awards, including the ACGME Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award for program director excellence and the CORD Michael P. Wainscott Program Director Award. She is the course co-director for the Collaborative for healing and Renewal in Medicine (CHARM) national GME Well-being Leaders Certificate Course. Dr. Akhtar completed a combined residency in emergency medicine and internal medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and served as chief resident in her final year of training.

Guy Carmelli, MD, MSEd

Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine

University of Massachusetts

Guy Carmelli, MD, MSEd, received his medical degree at USC's Keck School of Medicine and completed residency and education fellowship at Kings County/SUNY Downstate. He completed a Master's in Medical Education at UPenn. His interests are in resident/medical student education, curricular design, innovative digital design, and cardiovascular emergencies.

Sarah H. Michael, DO, MS

University of Colorado, Denver

Dr. Michael is a fellowship-trained education scientist with expertise in curriculum development and the novel utilization of technology in medical education. Her research interests include nontechnical skills training and assessments. She directs a fellowship in medical education science at the Univeristy of Colorado.

Thomas Kirsch, MD, MPH

Kabir Yadav, MDCM, MS, MSHS

Vice Chair, Academic Affairs

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Dr. Yadav is the vice chair for academic affairs and an associate professor of emergency medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He completed emergency medicine residency at Kings County Hospital Center/SUNY Downstate Medical Center, followed by a clinical research fellowship at Jacobi Medical Center, with a Masters in Clinical Research Methods. After completing a NIH KL2 Career Development Award and a Masters in Translational Science at George Washington University, he became one of the first board-certified clinical informaticists in the country.

Laura G. Burke, MD

Dowin H. Boatright, MD

Christina L. Shenvi, MD, PhD, MBA, FACEP

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

Dr. Shenvi is an associate professor of Emergency Physician, keynote speaker, and academic leader. She currently directs the 18-month pre-clinical case-based learning medical student curriculum at UNC and as director of the year-long FLAGship faculty development program. She also has served in many roles, including as ACEP/CORD Teaching Fellowship director, residency associate program director, and director of the UNC Office of Academic Excellence. She also teaches and coaches on time management and career success, and writes at timeforyourlife.org.She is a passionate educator and always looking for new ways to make learning and teaching more engaging and effective.

Payal Modi, MD, MSc

Co-Chair-Social EM and Population Health Interest Group

Christine R. Stehman, MD

Director of Wellness Education

University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria

Christine Stehman, MD is a visiting Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at University of Illinois College of Medicine, Peoria where she serves as the Director of Wellness Education and Director of Faculty Development. She arrived in Peoria after following a circuitous route including two stops in Chicago separated by service in the US Navy including two combat deployments with the USMC, and fellowship training in Boston. Within the world of Emergency Medicine, outside of her clinical duties, she serves as a guest mentor for the ALiEM Faculty Incubator, a mentor for the CORD Mini-Fellowship in Wellness Leadership, as a member on a number of CORD and SAEM committees, and as a reviewer for a number of journals. In her non-emergency medicine life, she serves as a role model for what she teaches: taking time to travel, spend time with her friends, family and dogs, working out, and reading.

Maegan Reynolds, MD, LSSBB

The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children's Hospital

Dr. Maegan Reynolds is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics. She completed a Emergency Medicine Residency at Denver Health in Denver, CO and Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital prior to joining the faculty at The Ohio State University in 2016. Dr. Reynolds continues to split her clinical time between OSU and NCH. Dr. Reynolds was the Director for the NCH Emergency Department Resident rotation for several years, prior to transitioning to the Director of Quality Improvement Education for the OSU Emergency Medicine Residency. Dr. Reynolds serves as the OSU Emergency Department Lead for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety and as the Lead for the Oncology Pod. Dr. Reynolds completed her Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Training through The Ohio State University Fisher School of Business and ongoing research interests include QIPS initiatives in the Emergency Department with a current focus on sepsis care, Oncology care pathways, quality improvement graduate medical education, pediatric emergency medicine education, and emergency department management of febrile infants.

Laura Oh, MD

Emory University

Dr. Oh is an Associate Professor at Emory University. Her academic interests include emergency ultrasound education and research, and faculty development. She is the former ACEP Academic Affairs Committee Chair, Course Director of ACEP Virtual Grand Rounds, and Associate Course Director of SAEM/AACEM's eLEAD faculty development program. She is a member of the SAEM Program Committee and SAEM Education Committee, and has been a faculty mentor for the ACEP Teaching Fellowship and SAEM AEUS Grantwriting Program. She is the PI of a DoD funded clinical trial related to contrast enhanced ultrasound in blunt abdominal trauma.

Daniel L. Theodoro, MD

Jason T. Nomura, MD

Bonnie Kaplan, MD

Michael A. Cole, MD