Moderator: Cindy Hou DO, MA, MBA, FACOI, FACP, FIDSA 

Infection Control Officer, Jefferson Health, New Jersey

Cindy Hou, DO, MA, MBA, CIC, CPHQ, FACOI, FACP, FIDSA, is the Infection Control Officer and Medical Director of Research for Jefferson Health - New Jersey (JNJ) and an infectious diseases specialist. She is dually board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases. Dr. Hou has expertise in sepsis, antibiotic stewardship, and infection control. Dr. Hou is the Chief Medical Officer of  Sepsis Alliance and a member of its board of directors; she is also a medical advisor for the Sepsis Innovation Collaborative. Dr. Hou earned an M.B.A. and M.A. from Boston University, a D.O. from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, and a BS from Yale University. She has a certification in Infection Prevention and Control (CIC), is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), and a Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS). Dr. Hou is a fellow for the American College of Osteopathic Internists (ACOI), American College of Physicians (ACP) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). 

Vincent B. Young, MD, PhD

William Henry Fitzbutler Collegiate Professor, Internal Medicine/Division of Infectious Diseases Professor, Microbiology & Immunology, University of Michigan

Vincent B. Young, MD, PhD, was born in Buffalo, New York and graduated from Williamsville East High School. He received his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985 and received his MD and his PhD in microbiology and immunology from Stanford University in 1992. Dr. Young completed his clinical training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He was previously on the faculty at Michigan State University prior to joining the University of Michigan in 2007. 
Outside of the lab, Vince enjoys hiking and cycling, having completed his first DALMAC ride in 2021. He is also an amateur musician, playing keyboards in local band Naked Ace and also dabbling in jazz with other local musicians. 

Leslie P. Wong MD, MBA, FACP, FASN

Senior Medical Director of Kidney Services and Nephrology; Chief Kidney Health Officer, Intermountain Healthcare

Leslie Wong, MD, MBA, FACP, FASN, is Intermountain Healthcare's Senior Medical Director of Kidney Services and Nephrology and Chief Kidney Health Officer. In this capacity, Dr. Wong leads Intermountain’s efforts to deliver nationally-recognized, valued-based care, with an emphasis on reducing the incidence of kidney failure and improving the kidney health of communities across the Mountain west region of the United States. Dr. Wong comes to Intermountain from dual roles as Chief Medical Officer of Nephrology Care Alliance, a division of DaVita Inc., and Associate Medical Director of Cleveland Clinic's Medicare Accountable Care Organization. He is a seasoned nephrologist who has served as Cleveland Clinic's Vice-Chairman of Nephrology and Hypertension with an emphasis on clinical transformation, as the Director of the Center for Dialysis, and as an associate professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Wong is a graduate of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He completed his residency and fellowship training at the University of North Carolina, where he was Chief Resident. He started his career in Seattle, where he was Medical Director of Peritoneal Dialysis at Northwest Kidney Centers,. Following this work, he became Satellite Healthcare's Vice President of Clinical Affairs, leading quality and medical director education at that institution, and he served on the faculty at Stanford University. Professionally, he is a nationally recognized nephrology educator and speaker. He is a past member of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Dialysis Advisory Group and Chair of Quality, Assessment, Improvement, and Education for Nephrologists Transforming Dialysis Safety (NTDS). Dr. Wong currently participates in the ASN Diabetic Kidney Collaborative and serves on the Excellence in Patient Care (EPC) Committee, helping to guide ASN’s clinical initiatives.

Jennifer A Meddings, MD MsC, FACP, FAAP

Associate Professor, Internal Medicine; Associate Professor, Pediatrics & Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan

Jennifer Meddings, MD, MsC, FACP, FAAP, cares for adults and children in her primary care practice at the East Ann Arbor Internal Medicine and Pediatrics clinic. Her clinical focus is the improvement of care for patients with chronic illness such as diabetes mellitus, heart failure, and compromised immune systems related to transplant medications. She has also published widely and lectured nationally on  the prevention of complications related to hospital stays and chronic illness, including urinary catheter-related complications and skin issues related to immobility.  

Dr. Meddings’s research interests include implementation of interventions to prevent complications acquired in the acute-care hospital and long-term care settings, and evaluation of the impact of quality improvement programs such as pay-for-performance, value-based purchasing, and public-reporting initiatives for patients with complex chronic illness. 

Randy Loftus, MD

Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Iowa 

Randy Loftus, MD, is an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine. Dr. Loftus has received national and international recognition for his expertise regarding the epidemiology of intraoperative bacterial transmission. In the last 10 years he has made great contributions to science as is reflected in a solid body of published evidence. 

Jonathan E. Charnin, MD

Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic

Jonathan E. Charnin, MD, is an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He is an anesthesiologist and intensivist who maintains a professional interest in patient care optimization. He has always believed that understanding the details of patient care is an important step in making the right decisions for each patient. He maintains a strong interest in teaching, as education is a cornerstone of patient care optimization. Dr. Charnin has presented both nationally and internationally and has published many peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed articles, while also contributing to a number of book chapters focused on anesthesiology and critical care throughout his career. 

Richard Hurtig, PhD, FASHA

Professor Emeritus in the Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Iowa

Richard Hurtig, Ph.D., FASHA, is a professor emeritus in the department of Communication Sciences & Disorders at The University of Iowa, where he led an interdisciplinary team in the development of assistive technologies to facilitate patient-provider communication for use with adult and pediatric patients. That research led to the development of the patented noddle® smart switch that enables patients who may only be able to produce a small intentional gesture to summon their caregiver and to also control the noddle-chat communication tool to support patient-provider communication. He expanded noddle-chat to allow patients to participate in medical decision making and to also support the needs of patients with limited English proficiency. He served on the Patient-Provider Communication Network task force that developed and disseminated communication tools for use in COVID-19 ICUs. He has presented at conferences and has published a textbook, several chapters, and numerous papers on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in acute care.