People

Christopher McStay, MD, MBA, FACEP

Columbia University

Dr. McStay's current role is as an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Vice Chair for Clinical Operations at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. His previous experience includes serving as Vice President of Clinical Affairs and Assistant Medical Director at Medcor, Inc., and at the University of Colorado School of Medicine as Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Chief of Clinical Operations. Earlier in his career, Dr. McStay worked at New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center, where he also served as Chief of Emergency Services.  

Dr. McStay's acquired an Executive MBA in Health Administration from the University of Colorado Denver Business School and an MD from Weill Cornell Medical College. His commitment to advancing his expertise is further demonstrated by his fellowship in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine and his participation in the Clinical Quality Fellowship Program at the Greater New York Hospital Association and United Hospital Fund.

Charlotte W. Croteau, MD

Massachusetts General Hospital

Dr. Croteau is a second year fellow in Emergency Department Administration at Mass General Hospital, an attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine, and the Associate Director of the Emergency Department Observation Unit. She has particular interest in ED operations, multidisciplinary team management, ED staff experience, and observation medicine.

Joseph Ciano, DO, MPH, MS

University of Pennsylvania

Joey Ciano, DO, MPH, MS is an Emergency Medicine (EM) Physician and Clinical Assistant Professor of EM at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He completed EM Residency at New York Presbyterian- Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, NY and Global EM Fellowship at Northwell-LIJ Medical Center in Queens, New York. He works as a visiting faculty member and Associate Course Director of the Masters in EM (MEM) Certification Program in Duragpur, India, a 3-year EM physician training program. He is a content contributor and author for the International Emergency Medicine Education Project, an IFEM-endorsed initiative that provides free educational content for medical students and junior EM trainees. He is the Assistant Gray Literature Editor for the Global EM Literature Review, a group that reviews and disseminates high-quality research in Global EM.

J. Austin Lee, MD, MPH

Indiana University

J. Austin Lee, MD MPH DTMH, is a practicing emergency medicine doctor, and currently works with Indiana University Health. Dr. Lee obtained an MPH at the George Washington University before going to medical school at Indiana University. He completed his emergency medicine residency at the University of Virginia, and then worked at Brown University where he was a part of the Global Emergency Medicine fellowship. Austin has worked on a number of international emergency medicine projects, and is actively engaged in supporting the development of emergency medicine in Kenya. He serves a number of roles on different committees working to improve global health, including with SAEM GEMA, the ACEP International Section, and the International Federation for Emergency Medicine.

Sandy L. Werner, MD, FAEMUS

MetroHealth Medical Center

Current positions/appointments
Vice Chair and Ultrasound Fellowship Director, Department of Emergency Medicine, MetroHealth Medical Center
Professor of Emergency Medicine, Case Western Reserve University

Background Information
I graduated from the Medical College of Virginia in 2000 and completed my emergency medicine residency and ultrasound fellowship at MetroHealth Medical Center/CCF/CWRU in 2004. My academic interests are ultrasound, resident education, and faculty development/leadership .I am currently on the Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship Accreditation Council. I have published EM ultrasound manuscripts in the major EM journals, spoken at regional and national conferences on topics related to ultrasound, education, faculty development and leadership skills. I recently completed coaching certificate training and have extensive experience in administrative leadership positions, including Medical Staff President and Chair of the Medical Executive Committee.

I previously served as the editor for Tintinalli’s AccessEM To the Point: Clinical Reviews, and as a peer reviewer for Annals of Emergency Medicine and Pediatric EM Reports. I was recently appointed as a member of the Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship Accreditation Counsil, and am currently on the SAEM Faculty Development Committee and a member of AWAEM's Administrative Leadership Group

Shannon W. Stephens, EMTP, CCEMTP

University of Alabama at Birmingham

I am a paramedic and researcher, specializing in the design and execution of clinical trials in emergency care. With over 25 years of experience, I have established myself as a content expert in bioethics and the regulatory pathways of “Exception From Informed Consent” studies. I have developed a novel and innovative way of conducting “community consultation and public disclosure”, one of the key regulatory steps mandated by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration. This new method leverages the power of social media and other interactive media platforms and can be executed centrally, thus limiting the work of the local investigators. This approach has gained widespread acceptance by Institutional Review Boards, Ethics Committees, and participating clinical sites and is the model used for over 170 enrollment sites, from 6 different multicenter clinical trial networks in the United States.

Manish I. Shah, MD, MS

Stanford University

Manish I. Shah, MD, MS is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Shah is an EMS researcher, advocate, and educator and served on the National Emergency Medical Services Advisory Committee (NEMSAC) and was a past chair of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) subcommittee for the American Academy of Pediatrics Section of Emergency Medicine. His research has focused on developing, implementing, and studying outcomes related to evidence-based protocols for various clinical conditions, including seizures and airway management. Dr. Shah is currently the Principal Investigator for the Pediatric Dose Optimization for Seizures in Emergency Medical Services (PediDOSE) study and Co-Investigator for the Pediatric Prehospital Airway Resuscitation Trial (Pedi-PART), which are both Exception from Informed Consent (EFIC) studies funded by the National Institutes of Health and are being conducted in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN). Dr. Shah also serves on the Executive Committee of PECARN as the Nodal Principal Investigator for the Charlotte, Houston, and Milwaukee Prehospital (CHaMP) research node.

Ynhi Thomas, MD, MPH, MSC

Baylor College of Medicine

Dr. Ynhi Thomas, M.D., M.P.H., M.Sc., is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and serves as the Assistant Medical Director of Operations Research at the Ben Taub Hospital Emergency Center. She also holds the role of Investigator in the Behavioral Health Program at the Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety (IQuESt). Drawing on her expertise in public health, mental health, and leadership in quality improvement, Dr. Thomas develops innovative interventions to enhance emergency care for patients experiencing mental health crises.

Her contributions include the development of the Behavioral Health Sorting Tool, establishment of a multidisciplinary Crisis Intervention Team, and the formulation of data-driven guidelines for the use of physical restraints. Dr. Thomas's research, funded by federal and private entities, focuses on substance use disorders, suicide prevention, and the development of clinical decision support tools. She has served as principal or co-investigator on various projects, including an FDA-funded U01 study on kratom's human abuse potential and National Institutes of Health-funded initiatives on diagnostic accuracy.

Dr. Thomas has received several accolades, including the 2025 American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology New Investigator Award, the 2024 Chao Physician-Scientist Award, and the 2023 Academy for Women in Academic Emergency Medicine President's Momentum Award. An inductee of Alpha Omega Alpha and The XXXI Honor Society, she completed her medical degree at the University of Alabama School of Medicine, her M.P.H. at the University of Alabama School of Public Health, her M.Sc. in Medical Anthropology at Oxford University, and her Emergency Medicine residency and fellowship training in Leadership, Quality, and Administration at BCM. Dr. Thomas enjoys hiking, traveling, and spending time with her husband and two school-aged sons.

Kinjal Nanavati Sethuraman, MD, MPH

University of Maryland

Dr. Sethuraman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland and serves as the medical director of Hyperbaric and Dive Medicine at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. After completing her residency at Boston Medical Center and her fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, she has accumulated 24 years of experience in emergency medicine, spanning both academic and community settings. She currently leads one of the busiest 24/7 emergency-capable hyperbaric chambers in the United States.

Dr. Sethuraman has been deeply involved with the Academy for Women in Academic Emergency Medicine (AWAEM), serving on its board for ten years and as a past president. She continues to actively contribute to both AWAEM and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) by serving on multiple committees and mentoring medical students, residents, and junior faculty.

Her research focuses on gender equity within emergency medicine, particularly related to workforce dynamics, compensation disparities, and recognition gaps. Additionally, Dr. Sethuraman is the site Principal Investigator for the Hyperbaric Oxygen Brain Injury Trial (HOBIT) and leads one of the highest enrolling sites for the study. She is also a clinical collaborator for studies investigating the role of oxygen in microparticle expression.

Dr. Sethuraman remains committed to advancing emergency and hyperbaric medicine while supporting the growth and success of the next generation of emergency physicians.

Dong-han Yao, MD

Stanford Health Care-Sponsored Stanford University

Dong-han Yao, M.D., is an emergency medicine physician at Stanford Medicine and fellow in the Stanford Clinical Informatics Program. Dr. Yao holds a B.A. in Molecular & Cell Biology and Immunology from University of California, Berkeley, an M.D. from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and completed his Emergency Medicine residency at UCLA. Dr. Yao's research and operational work include expanding patient access to acute care via virtual care, responsible integration of AI into medical education and the clinical continuum, and leveraging technology to streamline workflow and improve patient outcomes in the emergency room.

Tatenda Mupepi, MPA

Saint James School of Medicine

Tatenda Mupepi is a devoted medical student at Saint James School of Medicine with a strong commitment to pursuing a career in Emergency Medicine. Born in Harare, Zimbabwe, she completed her Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences and a Master's degree in Public Administration, with a focus on Health Administration, at Grand Valley State University in Allendale and Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Tatenda has worked with Michigan’s Department of Mental Health, Grand Valley State University’s Family Health Center, and multiple nonprofit health organizations in West Michigan, where she has advocated for quality healthcare and provided vital services to her community. She also successfully founded a healthcare organization that offers home health services, employment staffing, and recruitment, as well as healthcare training and certification programs.

Her unwavering dedication to community advocacy, global health, leadership, mentorship, and the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion in medicine is profoundly influenced by her multicultural background and personal experiences. This deep commitment fuels her ongoing efforts to address healthcare disparities and advance equitable access to care.

Colleen E. Laurence, MD, MPH

Boston Medical Center

Colleen Laurence, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and an Attending Physician at Boston Medical Center. Her research and educational work focuses on accessibility and delivery of comprehensive, trauma-informed emergency care for immigrant populations and realization of language justice in emergency care in the United States.

Dr. Laurence completed a Local Health Equity Fellowship at Boston Medical Center and her emergency medicine residency training at the University of Cincinnati where she also served as Chief Resident. She earned her MD from Wake Forest University and her MPH from Emory University. Before attending medical school, she served with the US Peace Corps for two years in Mauritania and Rwanda and helped to develop a mobile app to support people living with HIV/AIDS, now recognized by the CDC as a best practice.

Laura Janneck, MD, MPH

University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine

Laura Janneck is an Assistant Professor and Associate Program Director at the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine, where her work focuses on social medicine and education.

She received her undergraduate degree from Brown University, her doctorate in medicine from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and a master’s in public health from the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Janneck completed residency in emergency medicine in at the Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospitals.

After residency, she served as Country Director for sidHARTe in Rwanda where, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, she helped to guide the development emergency medical systems across the country. She worked as a community emergency physician at the Cambridge Health Alliance where her focus pivoted toward immigrant health and social medicine with a strong emphasis on education. She developed an open-access curriculum on immigrant health, and through the Center for Health Equity Education and Advocacy she helped to create an interprofessional course called the Health Equity Scholars.

While caring for patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she transitioned to the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine to more actively pursue academic interests. There, she has created a section on Social Emergency Medicine and served in national roles in Social EM through ACEP and SAEM. She was appointed to be an Associate Program Director of the OU Tulsa EM Residency Program, and a Course Director for a pre-clinical medical student course focusing on the biopsychosocial approach to medicine. Outside of her work, she enjoys traveling, singing in a choir, and spending time with her family.

Cassandra Bradby, MD

East Carolina University

Dr. Cassandra Bradby is an EM physician and Assistant Professor at Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. As a graduate of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN, she has dedicated her career to improving diversity and inclusion in medicine through mentoring and education. After residency at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, NY, Dr. Bradby headed back south to Greenville, NC where she now serves as the Residency Program Director for the Department of Emergency Medicine at ECU Health Medical Center. In addition to her work in North Carolina, Dr. Bradby serves as the current Immediate Past President of the Academy for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Medicine for SAEM.

P. Logan Weygandt, MD, MPH, FACEP

Johns Hopkins University

P. Logan Weygandt, MD MPH is an instructor and associate program director in the Department of Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Weygandt completed his Masters in Public Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health before graduating from medical school at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his residency training at Northwestern University Emergency Medicine, where he served as chief resident.

Dr. Weygandt's interests include medical education, resident wellness, and healthcare disparities. He practices clinically in the Emergency Departments of Bayview Medical Center and the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

John Purakal, MD, MS

Duke University School of Medicine

John David Purakal, MD, MS, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine. He holds appointments with the Duke-Margolis Center on Health Policy and Samuel Dubois Cook Center for Social Equity. Dr. Purakal's educational roles include serving as the Emergency Medicine Clerkship Director for the Duke University School of Medicine Outpatient Integrated Longitudinal Experience (PIONEER), and Core Faculty within the Department of Emergency Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Purakal has been an invited speaker locally, nationally, and internationally on topics related to health equity, racial disparities in care, and cardiovascular disease. His medical career started as a student at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, where he created a public health education initiative to provide multidisciplinary health education to at-risk populations around the city of Detroit. This work led to his receipt of the Arthur Johnson Leadership Award, Ralph Wadley, MD Scholarship, and the Crain's Detroit Business "Twenty in their 20's" Award. Dr. Purakal completed his emergency medicine residency at The University of Illinois - Chicago, and served as chief resident in his final year. He then started his academic career at The University of Chicago as an Assistant Professor in the Section of Emergency Medicine.

Since joining Duke University School of Medicine, Dr. Purakal has worked to address unmet social needs in the emergency department patient population through development of a social needs screening program utilizing student volunteers and cross-sectoral collaborations with platforms such as NCCare360. He created the Health Equity Curriculum for the Emergency Medicine Residency Program, and serves multiple teaching roles within the School of Medicine, including emergency medicine clerkship director for the novel PIONEER curriculum. Additionally, he advises multiple Duke University student organizations that address health inequities in the Durham community. He has been awarded multiple departmental awards for this teaching and leadership, and was the recipient of the 2022 American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) National Junior Faculty Teaching Award, the 2023 Duke University Presidential Award, the 2023 Triangle Business Journal "40 in their 40's" Leadership Award, and has been invited to the White House multiple times as a recognized health equity leader.

Kendrick Kennedy, MD

Duke University

Dr. Kennedy’s professional interests include advocacy, education, and service for marginalized populations. This includes working with community leaders to address social determinants of health and the emergency physicians' role in this process. Dr. Kennedy’s work within the community of Durham has given him an appreciation of strong community connections and the importance of understanding the resources that are available for the patients he serves. With that knowledge Dr. Kennedy strives to combine clinical knowledge, a great work ethic and a highly professional attitude to provide excellent patient care.

Matthew T. Ball, MD

Henry Ford Health System

Matthew Ball, MD, FAEMS graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 2016 and completed Emergency Medicine Residency at Henry Ford Hospital in 2019 and fellowship in Emergency Medical Services at The Ohio State University in 2020. Since then, he has served as faculty at Henry Ford Hospital's Emergency Medicine Residency program with an appointment as Clinical Assistant Professor at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, and as fellowship director for the very recently ACGME approved Emergency Medical Services Fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital. Outside of the hospital environment, he serves as a medical officer on the MI-1/MN-1 DMAT, a member of the Detroit East Medical Control Authority (DEMCA) board after completing a 2 year term as deputy medical director at the end of 2023, and as Lead ED Physician Consultant for the Henry Ford Health Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) program. Research interests include care of time sensitive disease processes in the out of hospital environment, EMS ultrasound, EMS workforce issues, and medical education. 

Kyle A. Hultz, PharmD

Memorial Hospital West

I am a residency trained emergency medicine clinical pharmacy specialist currently practicing as a clinical coordinator at Memorial Hospital West with experience working in both large and small health systems in Florida, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania.

I am passionate about bedside patient care, customer satisfaction, multi-disciplinary continuing education, process improvement, and enhancing healthcare outcomes by optimizing clinical practice and the use of electronic medical records.

My areas of clinical interest include resuscitation, anticoagulation and management of antithrombotic associated bleeding, neurologic emergencies, and cardiovascular disease. 

My goal is to provide a pharmacist's perspective on the management of acute events and how patients experience the continuum of care from the Emergency Department to hospital discharge with the ultimate goal of returning to a high quality of life.

Joshua N. Goldstein, MD

Harvard Medical School

Dr. Goldstein is an emergency physician with expertise in neurologic emergencies. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut in 2000, and completed his residency at the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency in 2005. He then completed a research fellowship in Vascular and Critical Care Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. He is currently the Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital; and a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
He is a Fellow of the Neurocritical Care Society, the American Heart Association, the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Goldstein manages a clinical research program integrating neurology, hematology, neurocritical care, and emergency medicine. His team is funded by NIH, foundations and industry. He has served as an invited speaker at many national and international forums, coauthored the AHA Guidelines on Intracerebral Hemorrhage, and has published over 300 research articles, reviews, and book chapters. Finally, he co-directs a CME course on Neurologic Emergencies (the largest of its kind) that draws over 180 participants from across the world annually.