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Brave Enough CME Conference 2025
Reignite: Light the Fire Within
SPEAKERS, PANELISTS & MENTOR TABLE LEADERS
Meet our BE25 Speakers
Dr. Sasha Shillcutt
Dr. Sasha is a tenured and endowed Professor and the Vice Chair of Strategy in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). She is the CEO and Founder of Brave Enough, a well-published researcher in cardiac anesthesiology and gender equity, an author, and an international speaker.
Ali Brown
Ali is founder + CEO of The Trust — the modern, premier community for 7+8 figure women leaders. She’s also been known as the world's most recognized coach for women entrepreneurs and host of the acclaimed and long-running Glambition® Radio podcast and brand new Reward podcast.
Dr. Allie Min Simpkins
Allie is the Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs at the University of Arizona College of Health Sciences and Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. She is passionate about professional and career development, leadership and executive coaching, and wellbeing.
Dr. Amna Shabbir
Dr. Amna is passionate about empowering high achievers, particularly in medicine, to cultivate sustainable well-being. She is a Master Certified Life Coach and a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach, trained at Duke Integrative Medicine. Clinically, she is a dual board-certified Geriatrician and Internist.
Dr. Dawn Baker
Dr. Dawn is the writer, speaker, and lifestyle design coach behind Practice Balance. She helps physicians and other professionals step off the treadmill of achievement, rediscover their true selves, and cultivate a practice of balance that is right for them. She is the author of the book Lean Out: A Professional Woman’s Guide to Finding Authentic Work-Life Balance and host of the Lean Out Podcast.
Diana McDaniel
Diana is board-certified as a Fellow of the American College of Medical Practice Executives and has a track record as a high achieving healthcare executive and innovative thought leader. As CEO and Principal Consultant of Prosper Med, her consulting services aim to promote innovation and growth strategy in health tech, medical practices, and healthcare systems.
Dr. Jay-Sheree Allen Akambase
Dr. Jay-Sheree is a Preventive Medicine Fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN where her research focuses on occupational mental health. She is also completing an Executive Master’s in Public Health Practice at the University of Minnesota. As President of the AAFP Foundation Board of Trustees, she led the organization’s strategic development process and championed humanitarian programs.
Jessica Abo
Jessica is a dynamic communications strategist and award-winning journalist who transforms how leaders and organizations tell their stories. As the founder and CEO of Jett Productions, and the creator of a six-week bootcamp for healthcare leaders called From the ER to PR, she combines two decades of broadcast journalism expertise with deep business acumen to help today's professionals command attention in an increasingly distracted world.
Dr. Kristi Angevine
Dr. Kristi is a board certified Ob/Gyn master certified coach and Internal Family Systems-informed practitioner. As host of the popular podcast, Habits on Purpose, she is known for taking complex concepts and making them practical for use in every day life. She specializes in helping high achievers change unhelpful habits into intentional ones that give more than they take.
Dr. Lindsay Semler
Dr. Lindsay is the Executive Director of Clinical Ethics and Department of Medicine Faculty at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a Lecturer at Harvard Medical School. She is also the Founder and President of Semler Ethics Consulting, LLC. Her background includes critical care and emergency nursing experience, as well as education, quality improvement, and leadership at UPMC and Penn Medicine.
Dr. Mari Ricker
Mari is a Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Arizona, College of Medicine, Tucson. She is the Director for the Integrative Medicine in Residency Program at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and teaches medical students, residents, and fellows at the College of Medicine. Her academic interests include professional fulfillment, faculty development, medical education, and Culinary Medicine.
Michelle Troseth
Michelle is a nurse, a recognized global thought leader, the past president of the National Academies of Practice, and a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. Michelle has a Master of Science in nursing and studied nurse–physician relationships and nurse satisfaction. She was recognized as a distinguished alumna of Grand Valley State University.
Dr. Tracy Christopherson
Dr. Tracy is a respiratory therapist. She earned a PhD in interprofessional healthcare studies from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. She is the co-founder of MissingLogic® and co-author of “Polarity Intelligence: The Missing Logic in Leadership”. As a leadership coach, Tracy has helped leaders in this post-pandemic era become thriving, resilient, and unstoppable (TRU) leaders leveraging their unique Dynamic Balance Effect® Framework.
Meet our BE25 Panelists and Mentor Table Leaders
Aimee L. Lowe
Aimee is the founder of Lowe Legal Group, PC LLO, a boutique law firm that provides legal services for executives and physicians, businesses, and entrepreneurs. She has worked with businesses, professionals, and physicians for over 17 years as executive advisor, general counsel, defender, litigator, negotiator, and strategist. She has negotiated hundreds of physician contracts and has helped countless open new and side businesses.
Dr. Alexia Gillen
Dr. Alexia is the founder of Mosaic Medicine and RISE Coaching for Women in Medicine, where she integrates her nearly 20 years of experience in clinical practice and leadership roles within family medicine, urgent care and integrative and functional medicine. Having navigated burnout multiple times, Dr. Gillen is passionate about coaching women in medicine through RISE Coaching. She is dedicated to supporting them in living the life they desire while continuing to care for others.
Dr. Andrea Orsey
Dr. Andrea is a board-certified pediatric hematologist/oncologist with a distinguished career dedicated to clinical excellence, educational leadership, and program innovation. She earned her B.S. in Physical Therapy from McGill University and her M.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Following her pediatric residency and fellowship in hematology/oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Orsey returned to Connecticut to join the faculty at the University of Connecticut and the clinical team at Connecticut Children’s.
Barbara Edelheit, MD
Dr. Barbara is an accomplished pediatric rheumatologist, educator, and passionate advocate for gender equity in medicine. She serves as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, where she has made significant contributions to both clinical care and academic leadership. At Connecticut Children’s in Hartford, CT, Dr. Edelheit holds several key leadership roles, including Division Head of Rheumatology, past Board Chair of the Connecticut Children’s Specialty Group, and Vice President of the Medical Staff.
Dr. D’Anna Mullins
Dr. D’Anna is a hematologist/medical oncologist practicing in the Columbus, Ohio area. She obtained her MD and PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Toledo, with a dissertation on lung cancer genetics. She went on to complete an Internal Medicine residency at The Ohio State University Medical Center, followed by a Hematology and Medical Oncology fellowship at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. Upon graduating in 2014, she joined the Hematology and Oncology department of Licking Memorial Health Systems in Newark, Ohio.
Dr. Leigh Johnson
Dr. Leigh grew up in Bristol, VA and then ventured north to New Hampshire, where she graduated from Dartmouth College. She returned to Appalachia for medical school at ETSU’s Quillen College of Medicine, and completed residency at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA. She deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn, and then moved to Fort Campbell, KY to continue to care for our nation’s troops and their families. She completed her Army service in 2013 and worked as faculty in the ETSU Family Medicine Residency for 8 years.
Dr. Lopa Misra
Dr. Lopa received her Osteopathic Medical Degree from Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California. She completed her residency at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, and her fellowship in Acute Pain and Regional Anesthesia at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Jennifer M. Hall, DO
Jennifer is the Owner/CEO of Blooming Wisdom Psychiatry, PLLC in Vermont. She is dual board certified in adult and geriatric psychiatry with more than 15 years of experience helping older adults achieve optimal mental health and wellness through holistic, person-centered care, by focusing on medication optimization, psychotherapy, and lifestyle interventions.
Dr. Joanne Sotelo, MD
Dr. Joanne is a psychiatrist, mindset coach, keynote speaker, and international bestselling author. With a mission to promote mental health awareness and prevention, especially for women in medicine, she helps her clients conquer stress and overwhelm. Dr. Sotelo is the founder of The Harmonized Healer Program, as featured in USA Today. Through this coaching program, she guides women physicians create defined steps towards their dreams, regain harmony, avoid burnout, and live a fulfilling, joyful life.
Dr. Katheryn Hudon
Dr. Katheryn is a board‑certified pediatric hospitalist, recognized with both the Golden Cane Award and the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award for her unwavering commitment to a more compassionate and humane medical system. As Division Chief of Pediatrics at Pacic Northwest University, Dr. Hudon leads by example as a woman in academic medicine, championing curriculum development that integrates clinical excellence with holistic well‑being.
Dr. Paula Holinski
Dr. Paula Holinski is a Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiologist and Cardiac Intensivist at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. In addition to sharing her time between the operating room and the intensive care, she is a physician on the Pediatric Mechanical Circulatory Support Team, has co-authored papers, book chapters, and given presentations at national and international meetings.
Dr. Tiffany Moon
Dr. Tiffany is a board-certified anesthesiologist, entrepreneur, and author of Joy Prescriptions. A proud mother of twins and dynamic television and social media personality, she is known for inspiring women to lead with confidence and purpose. You may recognize her from the Real Housewives of Dallas or seen her on social media, where she has almost 3 million followers.
