Arti Barnes, MD, MPH
Medical Director, IDPH

Dr. Barnes joined as the Medical Director of IDPH in 2021.  Previously, she was the Medical Director for the Departments of Infectious Diseases and Specialties at the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center in New Haven. She has an M.P.H. with a focus in International Health and Humanitarian Aid from the Harvard School of Public Health. 

Dr. Barnes extensive background in academia includes the Yale School of Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She served as the Clinical Director for the South Central AIDS Education and Training Centers (HRSA Region 6). She has expertise and experience in Infection Prevention, HIV, transgender care, sexually transmitted infections, and HPV.  She organized the COVID-19 clinical response in her former role and has delivered care for inpatients and outpatients with COVID-19, during the entire pandemic.

Kara Driscoll, MD
Owner/Psychiatrist, The Allegro Center LLC
Health Services Clinician, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Dr. Driscoll is a psychiatrist and runs The Allegro Center LLC, a private practice focused on the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders in women during times of hormonal change, such as pregnancy, postpartum, the menstrual cycle, and perimenopause.  She is also a Health Services Clinician at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine where she serves as a clinical supervisor for the Perinatal and Women’s Mental Health Fellowship at The Asher Center.

Dr. Driscoll is a graduate of St. Louis University School of Medicine and completed her psychiatry residency at McGaw/Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, where she served as chief resident.  Prior to opening her practice, Dr. Driscoll was an Assistant Professor at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center followed by a faculty position at Northwestern as Associate Training Director of the psychiatry residency program.

She is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association as well as a member of the Illinois Psychiatric Society, Marce Society of North America, and the North American Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynecology.  She has been a member of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee on Violent Deaths, a subcommittee of the Perinatal Advisory Committee of IDPH, since its inception in 2015.  Additionally, she is a member of Postpartum Support International faculty and volunteers for their Psychiatric Consultation Line. 

Dr. Driscoll has been an invited speaker at local and national conferences on the topic of women’s mental health.  She is passionate about the health of mothers and families.  Dr. Driscoll enjoys spending time with her husband and 3-year-old daughter in the kitchen cooking, traveling near and far, and singing. Originally from the St. Louis area, she has called Chicago home since 2007.

Ruchi M. Fitzgerald, MD, FAAFP
Family Physician, Addiction Medicine Physician, and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Psychiatry/Behavioral Sciences, Rush University

Dr. Fitzgerald is a family physician and a fellowship trained addiction medicine physician. She is an assistant professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Psychiatry/Behavioral Sciences at Rush University, as well as the Associate Program Director of the Rush Addiction Medicine Fellowship. Dr. Fitzgerald was recently awarded the National Academy of Medicine/James C. Puffer American Board of Family Medicine Fellowship. She is the Service Chief of Inpatient Addiction Medicine at PCC Community Wellness Center, a federally qualified health center system that has been nationally recognized for its perinatal substance use disorder treatment program. 

Dr. Fitzgerald’s work has focused on promoting cross-sector collaboration to improve care for persons affected by substance use disorders, with an emphasis in the perinatal/child health arena. Her scholarly work has focused on addressing stigma, building capacity in primary care for treating opioid use disorder in special populations, and implementing evidence-based substance use disorder curricula in the next generation of clinicians.

Nicole Gastala, MD
Medical Director, Substance Use Prevention and Recovery Division of IDHS

Dr. Gastala is board certified in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine. She graduated from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine and completed her Family Medicine residency at the University of Iowa. In her clinical role, she has developed and expanded MAR by mentoring new prescribers, precepting residents, and training clinicians within the Chicago and Illinois communities.  She has also focused on the development of a walk-in integrated behavioral health, addiction, and primary care program within her FQHC system at UI Health Mile Square Health Center. In January 2021, Dr Gastala joined the team at the Substance Use Prevention and Recovery Division of IDHS as the Medical Director. 

Dr. Seema Ahsan Khan
Professor of Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University

Dr. Seema Ahsan Khan is Professor of Surgery at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and is trained in Surgical Oncology. Her clinical practice at the Lynn Sage Comprehensive Breast Center includes the surgical therapy of women with breast cancer, and the evaluation and management of women at high risk for breast cancer. She also has an active research program in breast cancer risk assessment and prevention, and is PI of the Northwestern Cancer Prevention Consortium. This is funded by the Division of Cancer Prevention of the NCI, and conducts early-phase trials in cancer prevention at all organ sites.

Dr. Khan’s current research is focused on the development of novel agents for breast cancer prevention, and on transdermal drug delivery to the breast through the breast skin so as to avoid or reduce the systemic effects associated with oral drug administration. She has also conducted studies on breast cancer risk biomarkers in breast tissue, and on minimally invasive techniques of obtaining breast samples for biomarker research.   

Stewart Massad, MD
Professor, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine
Gynecologist, Women’s Clinic, U.S. Veterans Administration St. Louis Health Care System

Dr. Leslie Stewart Massad is a professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. He is a participating member of the Washington University NRG group since 2007, accruing patients to NRG and other studies. His research interests lie in cervical cancer prevention and the interaction between HIV-related immunosuppression and development of lower genital tract cancers. He was clinical lead in the mid-2000s for the NCI-ASCCP Colposcopy research group and was a member of the NCI-ASCCP Colposcopy review group that developed U.S. colposcopy standards. Dr. Massad has been Gynecology Working Group Chair and is the sole gynecologic oncologist for the Women’s Interagency HIV Study. He is also one of the developers of the ASCCP Guidelines for Management of Cervical Cancer Precursors and CIN/AIS, the current U.S. standard for managing women with abnormal results in cervical cancer prevention.  He is currently director of the colposcopy clinic at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO.

Madeline Perry, MD
Resident, Northwestern McGaw Medical Center and John H Stroger Hospital of Cook County Health in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Madeline Perry is a third year resident at Northwestern McGaw Medical Center and John H Stroger Hospital of Cook County Health in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is dedicated to health equity and implementing systems level and structural changes to improve health outcomes for low-income and marginalized populations. She engages in research, health policy and advocacy. She is honored to be collaborating with AllianceChicago and EverThrive Illinois. 

Laura Phelan, MPA
Policy Director, Director’s Office of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS)

Laura Phelan serves as the Policy Director within the Director’s Office of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS). In this role she works on various Administration priorities, including maternal health and affordable health coverage access. She previously worked for the HFS Bureau of Managed Care, served as the Policy Director for Get Covered Illinois, and worked for the U.S. Department of Healthcare and Family Services. She has a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Business Administration from Illinois Wesleyan University. 

Kyran Quinlan MD, MPH
Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of General Pediatrics, Rush University Medical Center

Kyran Quinlan MD, MPH is an academic general pediatrician, injury researcher and child safety advocate.  He served as Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Injury Violence and Poison Prevention.  Dr. Quinlan received his Masters in Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago and completed the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service training in child injury epidemiology and prevention at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.  He is a Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of General Pediatrics at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

His research and advocacy have focused on the epidemiology and prevention of death and severe injury of children with particular focus on low resource settings.  As a Physician Advocacy Fellow of the Center on Medicine as a Profession at Columbia University, he worked to protect child pedestrians in low-income areas on the south side of Chicago.  In the last decade, Dr. Quinlan has focused his work primarily on disparities and risk perception in Sudden Unexpected Infant Death.  He serves on the Child Death Review for Cook County, and he is the Principal Investigator for the CDC-funded Sudden Unexpected Infant Death-Case Registry for Cook County, Illinois.

Kirbi Range, MS
Associate Director of Birth Equity, EverThrive Illinois

Kirbi Rangeis a skilled mission driven leader that is passionate about health equity and centering the voices of Black and Brown people. Kirbi has over 10 years of experience in supporting children, families, pregnant people, and communities.  Currently, Kirbi is the Associate Director of Birth Equity at EverThrive Illinois where she leads capacity building activities aimed at ensuring that Black and Brown pregnant and postpartum people receive equitable and high-quality services and supports to have a safe and healthy birth. 

Prior to joining the EverThrive Illinois team, Kirbi served as the Program Manager for Project Hope at Marillac St. Vincent Family Services where she overseed a home visiting and doula supportive services program for pregnant and parenting teens and young adults. Kirbi is a firm believer that to make meaningful change in the health outcomes of people, we must collaboratively address the barriers in our systems and uplift the voices and needs of people and the communities they reside in.

Kirbi earned her master’s degree in Child Development from Erikson Institute and her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Illinois State University.  She is also and Executive Committee member for AAP- Family Partnerships Network and an Executive Advisor for Promise Project Advisory Board through Northwestern University.

Viminda Shafer
Fundraising and Community Relations Coordinator, The Project of Quad Cities

Viminda Shafer has been connected to the field of education for nearly 20 years. She spent the bulk of that time working with middle and high school students experiencing emotional and behavioral disorders as well as those with specific learning disabilities. In her current role as The Project of the Quad Cities fundraising and community relations coordinator,  Viminda’s passion for education and social justice work comes together and allows for her to meet with folks and share the important work TPQC is doing in the Quad Cities while pushing for equality and providing the community access to resources. Viminda is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community and resides in Matherville, IL with her wife, Meghan, and their daughter, Zoey. 

Lita I. Simanis, MSW, LCSW, PMH-C
Coordinator, Pregnancy & Postpartum Mood & Anxiety Disorder Program, Ascension Illinois

Lita has been the Coordinator of the Pregnancy and Postpartum Mood and Anxiety Disorder Program since 2014. She collaborated with Ascension Illinois/Alexian Brothers staff and other stakeholders to develop the first perinatal intensive outpatient program in the state of Illinois that opened its doors in August of 2015.

She is also a Perinatal Crisis Counselor for the Illinois Mom’s Line, and on the Board of Directors for Postpartum Support International. She is the co-coordinator of the Postpartum Depression Illinois Alliance.

Lita has lectured on perinatal mood disorders in local, state, national and international settings. She has been involved advocacy, providing expert testimony in support of Illinois House Bill 1764 that allows for perinatal mood disorders to be considered as mitigating factors for sentencing in crimes. Lita is a member of the Illinois Department of Public Health Maternal Mortality Review Committee on Violent Deaths. She was part of the team of subject matter experts that developed the Perinatal Mental Health Certification exam.

Audrey Stillerman, MD
Medical Director for UIC Office of Community Engagement’s School Health Centers
Clinical Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine

Integrative Family Physician Audrey Stillerman MD is Medical Director for UIC Office of Community Engagement’s School Health Centers and Clinical Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine. Since 1991, Dr Stillerman has provided comprehensive care for families in community health centers and other public settings while advocating for equity. Dr Stillerman received additional training in Family Therapy, Mind/Body Medicine and meditation practices. She is Phase 2 Certified in the Child Trauma Academy’s Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics. A co-founder of the Center for the Collaborative Study of Trauma, Health Equity, and Neurobiology, Dr Stillerman is also an Advisory Council member of the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative and the proud mother of two beloved daughters.

Dr. Sharon Stoolman
Associate Professor of General Pediatrics, University of Nebraska

Dr. Stoolman began her career with University of Nebraska in 2003. She was appointed Associate Professor of General Pediatrics, University of Nebraska in 2012.  She has been a Pediatric Hospital Medicine Physician with Children’s Hospital & Medical Center since 2009 where she has been on multiple committees dedicated to improving the care of pediatric patients. 

Dr. Stoolman has had a distinguished career dedicated to improving pediatric health care in the community.  During her career she has given multiple presentations, published manuscripts, abstracts and posters on education in pediatrics.  In 2007 Dr. Stoolman was awarded the Hobart E Wiltse, MD, PhD Excellence in Pediatric Education. Recently she was instrumental in setting up clinics to make COVID-19 vaccine available to underserved areas in North Omaha.

Debra Stulberg, MD, MAPP
Professor and Chair of Family Medicine, University of Chicago

Debra Stulberg, MD, MAPP, is Professor and Chair of Family Medicine at the University of Chicago. She joined the University of Chicago faculty in 2007, with a primary appointment in Family Medicine and secondary appointments in Obstetrics & Gynecology Section of Family Planning & Contraceptive Research, and the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. Dr. Stulberg graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed her Family Medicine residency at West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, Illinois. She received a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, where she also completed fellowship training in Primary Care Research and Clinical Medical Ethics. 

Her research focuses on reproductive health service delivery in the United States. This includes studies on incorporating reproductive health in primary care, addressing racial and socioeconomic disparities in pregnancy outcomes, and understanding how religious healthcare institutions affect care delivery. She directs the Reproductive Health Outcomes and Disparities (RHOADs) Research Group and co-directs the Research Consortium on Religious Healthcare Institutions.  Dr. Stulberg provides patient care at a federally qualified health center on Chicago’s south side.

Heather Turgeon, MFT and Julie Wright, MFT
Psychotherapists, Sleep Specialists, and Authors

Heather Turgeon, MFT and Julie Wright, MFT are psychotherapists, sleep specialists, and authors of the popular parenting books, The Happy Sleeper and Now Say This. Their new book is called, Generation Sleepless: Why tweens and teens aren’t sleeping enough, and how we can help them. Through their online sleep classes and consultations as founders of The Happy Sleeper, they help families with babies, kids, and teens sleep well. Heather and Julie’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The Washington Post and on several NPR shows.

Heather lives in Los Angeles and has a (well-rested) tween and teen. Julie is the creator of one of LA’s best known parenting programs, The Wright Mommy and Me. She lives in New York City and has a young adult son.

Sameer Vohra, MD, JD, MA
Director, Illinois Department of Public Health

Sameer Vohra, MD, JD, MA, was appointed as the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, effective August 1, 2022, by Governor JB Pritzker.

Dr. Vohra is a general pediatrician who holds degrees in law and public policy. He is a cross-disciplinary leader in state and national health policy formulation, and his recent focus has been on improving health outcomes in Central and Southern Illinois. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Vohra was the Founding Chair of the Department of Population Science and Policy, a practicing primary care pediatrician, and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Public Health, Medical Humanities, and Law at the Southern Illinois University – School of Medicine (SIU-SOM) in Springfield, Illinois, where he also served the State of Illinois as the Interim Chair of the Children’s Mental Health Partnership.

A graduate of the University of Chicago, where he earned a Master of Arts in public policy, Dr. Vohra completed his medical residency in pediatrics at the University of Chicago. He holds a medical doctorate from SIU-SOM; a juris doctorate from SIU School of Law graduating first in his class; and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and science in human culture with honors from Northwestern University.
Dr. Vohra previously served on the Illinois State Board of Health, the Illinois Medicaid Advisory Committee, the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council, the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund Steering Committee as well as national committees for the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Medical Association, and on the Board of Trustees for the Illinois State Medical Society and Chicago Medical Society.

He has received numerous honors including a United States Fulbright Scholarship in 2009, an American Medical Association Foundation’s Excellence in Medicine Leadership Award in 2014 and was named an Edgar Fellow in 2016 as one of 40 emerging political and policy leaders in Illinois. In 2020, he was named a Presidential Leadership Scholar, chosen by the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the Clinton Presidential Center, the George and Barbara Bush Foundation, and the LBJ Foundation.

Dr. Vohra resides in Springfield with his wife, Tasnim, and two children.

Jena Wallander Gemkow, MPH, BSN, RN
Clinical Research Manager, AllianceChicago

Sameer Vohra, MD, JD, MA, was appointed as the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, effective August 1, 2022, by Governor JB Pritzker.

Jena Wallander Gemkow joined AllianceChicago in 2019 and serves as a Clinical Research Manager for research within community health centers (CHCs). In her role, she manages health research projects geared toward improving healthcare at CHCs. Prior to joining AllianceChicago, Jena worked as the Communications and Evaluation Coordinator at the Illinois Hunger Coalition, a statewide anti-hunger advocacy organization, and as a Pediatric Medical/Surgical Nurse at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

She is a graduate of the Marquette University College of Nursing and received her Master of Public Health Degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dawn Wells
Chief of the Bureau of Quality Management and Maternal/Child Health, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services

Dawn R Wells is Chief of the Bureau of Quality Management and Maternal/Child Health at the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. Dawn started in HFS as Health Facility Surveillance Nurse in BLTC and became the Area Manager over the nurses and the rate reimbursement process. She has been the Bureau Chief for 3 years and has been with HFS for 23 years. Prior to working with HFS she was an Emergency Room Nurse for 10 years.