Ron Poropatich is Implementing Revolutionary Change in Patient Safety

A retired U.S. Army colonel, director of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Military Medical Research, and Professor of Medicine in Pitt's Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Ron Poropatich has play...
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Michael Becich and the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Spearhead the Expanded Use of Data Sharing and Artificial Intelligence to Improve Patient Care

As a child, Mike Becich had an inquisitive mind and a passion for electron microscopes. That passion led him to become a first-generation college student and a renowned pathologist. "When I arrived (at Northwestern University), the fir...
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Rich Lunak Seeds Ideas, Putting Pittsburgh Center Stage as an Innovation Powerhouse

A native Pittsburgher, Rich Lunak remembers the economic low plaguing Pittsburgh as he was graduating from high school. This has always served as a personal motivator to keep Pittsburgh growing and making its mark as a competitor and l...
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Lindsey Ronnenberg Advances Growth and Efficiency in the Healthcare Innovation Space

Lindsey Ronnenberg is the senior director of global quality products and services at Omnicell, a company providing innovative pharmacy and medication management solutions for healthcare professionals and health systems. Since 1992, Omn...
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Dan Swayze Pioneers Community Paramedicine Innovation and Healthcare Workforce Development

Dan Swayze, DrPH, MBA, MEMS, has been involved in emergency medical services for more than 30 years and is one of the earliest pioneers of community paramedicine. "I started as a wannabe medical student and quickly realized that I wasn...
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Daniel Wolfson Leads Transformational Efforts for Improved Healthcare Delivery

"I grew up in the 60s and went to college in the early 70s. So from the very beginning, I wanted to change society," Daniel Wolfson said of his decades long career. A sociology and psychology major at Boston University, Wolfson was inv...
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Serial entrepreneur Bryan Kaplan Reflects on the Challenges and Promise of Growing the Technology Sector in Pittsburgh

Bryan Kaplan is a technology executive, serial entrepreneur, and angel investor with more than 27 years of experience in driving business strategy, leading cross-functional teams, and facilitating enterprise change management across th...
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Chris Hart Advances Safety for All

Chris Hart's multi-faceted career reflects a common thread. That thread is safety and the aspiration to make the world a better place. "My mother told me the first thing she ever saw me draw was an airplane. I became big on safety deca...
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Dr. Jackie Dunbar-Jacob Reflects on Career of Impact, Path Forward for Nursing

Jackie Dunbar-Jacob, PhD, RN, FAAN always wanted to be a nurse. The idea came at such a young age, her sister has said she can't remember Dr. Dunbar-Jacob having a list of potential occupations, as children often do. Dr. Dunbar-Jacob t...
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Dr. Vineet Arora Equips a Safer, Better Health System for All

If you ask Vineet Arora, MD, MAPP, why she is steadfastly committed to improving patient safety, she'll say she was put on the path early in life. A medical error made during her mother's pregnancy resulted in her brother being born wi...
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Dr. Joanne Conroy Builds Resilient Health Systems Through Innovation and Compassion

Early in Dr. Joanne Conroy's tenure as a healthcare leader, a three-year-old girl was brought to the pediatric emergency room suffering from an asthma attack. While receiving nebulizer treatments, the end of the device became detached ...
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Stuart Fisk Embodies Health Activism

Everyone deserves access to compassionate health care, and few know this as well as Stuart Fisk, CRNP. His life's work has been dedicated to HIV activism, research, prevention, and care for persons living with HIV disease. Fisk's work ...
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Dr. Hardeep Singh Earns Prestigious John M. Eisenberg Award for Lifetime Work Improving Patient Safety

Hardeep Singh, MD, MPH, an informatics leader, patient safety advocate and innovator, and friend of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF), has been awarded the Individual Achievement Award in the 20th John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety ...
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Sally Zubairu-Cofield: Reinvigorating & Reimagining the Pennsylvania WIC Program

Sally Zubairu-Cofield was 19, pregnant and scared when she walked into a WIC Program office in southern Prince George's County, Maryland. Confronted with poor customer service and the stigma of teen pregnancy, she left that day embarra...
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AJ Harper Propels Action and Collaboration to Improve Quality of Care

AJ Harper, MBA, a longtime friend of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) and the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI), has built a career rooted in the belief that a focus on patient safety, reducing clinical variation, and ...
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Dr. Judy Black Champions End-of-Life Care for All

From her humble beginnings in rural Punxsutawney, education was always a priority for Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) Medical Advisor Judy Black, MD, MHA. Her passion for learning and for sharing her knowledge has led Dr. Black on a...
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Dr. Maliha Zahid Reaches New Heights of Innovative Research, Medical Practice… and Classical Dance

Physician scientist Maliha Zahid, MD, PhD, FACC, joined the JHF board in 2021 and has brought her multifaceted perspective and energy to her role. Dr. Zahid is a practicing cardiologist at ExcelaHealth Physician Practices and assistant...
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Jason Kunzman Serves Pittsburgh and Jewish Community with Commitment to Innovation and Excellence

The Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) has called Kunzman a friend since 2003, long before he assumed his current position as chief program officer at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh (JCC). At JHF, Kunzman served as t...
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World Traveler Dr. Lisa Simpson Drives Health Policy Innovation

Lisa Simpson, MB, BCH, MPH, FAAP is a true citizen of the world. As president and CEO of AcademyHealth, she has boosted critical conversations within health policy and health services research in Washington, D.C. and across the United ...
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Leah Binder Champions Patient Safety on the National Stage

Patient safety expert Leah Binder, MA, MGA, is president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, an employer-driven national nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. With Binder at the helm, the award-winning organization collects data from hospital...
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