Ralph Alvarado, MD, FACP, joined Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s cabinet in January 2023 as the 15^th Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health. Alvarado has spent nearly a decade in public service, and in 2014, he was the first Hispanic member elected to the Kentucky General Assembly. Dr. Alvarado has been a practicing physician for the past 29 years, working in various clinical settings, as a hospitalist, in primary care, and at skilled nursing facilities. Dr. Alvarado was chief and medical staff president at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lexington, Ky., and was elected to the hospital’s board. Dr. Alvarado earned his Doctorate in Medicine degree from Loma Linda University in California and completed his Internal Medicine and Pediatrics medical residency at the University of Kentucky.

Tobi Adeyeye Amosun, MD, FAAP, is the Deputy Commissioner for Population Health at the Tennessee Department of Health.  She previously served as Assistant Commissioner for the Division of Family Health and Wellness. In her current role, she oversees the offices and divisions of Family Health and Wellness, Health Disparities Elimination, Population Health Assessment, Primary Prevention, Vital Records/Statistics, and the State Chief Medical Examiner.  Prior to her state tenure, she served as medical director for one of the largest pediatric practices in Tennessee. She is interested in advancing data to action, workforce development, and investigating social determinants of health and their impact on the care of priority populations. Amosun graduated with honors from Vanderbilt University, with degrees in Biology and Art History. She completed medical school at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine as a recipient of the Richard King Mellon Foundation award and her pediatrics residency at the Children’s Hospital Pittsburgh. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a board member of numerous professional societies. Dr. Amosun is a recognized speaker and writer whose work has been featured by local, state, and national organizations. 

James Barry, MD, is a dedicated, innovative healthcare leader with over 2 decades of experience grounded in an unwavering commitment to improve patient safety, quality of care, and strategic transformation within the complex healthcare landscape.  He has worked at the University of Colorado Health and Children’s Hospital Colorado since 2000.  He has been the Medical Director of UCH NICU since 2007 and the UCH Newborn System Chair since 2019.  As a neonatal ICU Medical Director, he championed quality improvement and led initiatives that decreased mortality rates by 50% for very low birthweight patients and reduced discharge-related home care failures by 40%.  Dr. Barry designed a Just Culture-based case review process for identification and improvement of over 500 unit and hospital processes, resulting in improved quality of care for patients and their families.  “It’s not just about treating the patients; it’s about systemically enhancing the way care is delivered.” Dr. Barry was instrumental in creating NeoMIND-AI, a team of neonatology and AI experts – who recognize the profound impact of AI in healthcare – to promote innovations in the field.

Kristina Dulaney, RN, MPH, transformative journey through postpartum, led her to redirect her life’s mission and career trajectory. Her unwavering dedication to advocating for perinatal mental health became the cornerstone of her purpose. This pivotal experience ignited her passion to empower and support other expecting and new mothers, driving her to establish Cherished Mom, a non-profit organization committed to promoting awareness, education, and support for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Kristina serves on the National Maternal Mental Health Task Force, receiving the Maternal Mental Health Hero Award from the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, 40 under 40 Tri Cities, as well as an appearance on the Dr. Phil Show. 

Gloria Dudney, RN, BSN, IBCLC, RLC, has been practicing Maternal/Child Nursing for 32 years and has been board-certified as a Registered Lactation Consultant for 20 years.  Her role at ETSU Health includes provision of prenatal and postpartum lactation consults as well as clinical rotations for resident physicians in the OB and Pediatrics departments.  Gloria advocates for risk-appropriate lactation care with a focus on prenatal preparation for the infant feeding journey and speaks nationally on these topics.  

Eva Dye, MSN, DNP, is a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner with over 20 years of NICU experience and currently practices at the Monroe Carell Jr Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.  She received her MSN from the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and her DNP from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2017.  In addition to caring for infants in the NICU, Eva is the Quality Improvement Projects Manager for Vanderbilt’s NICU.  Her research interests include workload of neonatal nurses and providers and mechanical ventilation of infants in the NICU. 

Scott Guthrie, MD, is a professor of pediatrics at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in the Division of Neonatology. He is chair of pediatrics at the Jackson-Madison County General Hospital and primarily works at the Vanderbilt Regional Affiliated NICU located there. Dr. Guthrie recently served as the Infant Medical Director of the Tennessee Initiative for Perinatal Quality Care and is currently overseeing the Tennessee’s Tiniest Babies project. He is a US State Department Fulbright Scholar Specialist and has had the opportunities to teach and work internationally in Azerbaijan, Jordan, Ethiopia, Colombia, Tanzania, and India.  In addition, he is currently an investigator for clinical trials involving minimally invasive ways to deliver surfactant, neonatal ventilation, and probiotics for the prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis.

Jennifer Hamlin, OTR/L, CBS is the Feeding-Lactation Manager at ETSU Pediatrics.  She is an experienced healthcare provider with 20+ years of experience including outpatient pediatric, inpatient pediatric and acute care as an OTR/L.  She is now excited to be blending the therapeutic role of OT practitioner with that of Certified Breastfeeding Specialist to uniquely support the breastfeeding dyad.

 Elizabeth Harvey, PhD, MPH, is the TN Assistant Commissioner of Health and Director of the Division of Family Health and Wellness at the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH). In this position, she leads TDH efforts in maternal and child health, chronic disease prevention, health promotion and supplemental nutrition. TDH’s Family Health and Wellness Division delivers and promotes public health services such as adolescent pregnancy prevention, breastfeeding support, breast and cervical cancer screening, diabetes prevention, early childhood programs, violence and injury prevention, newborn screening, tobacco prevention, and the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program. These programs serve all 95 counties of the state through a network of local and regional health departments. Prior to this role, Dr. Harvey served as a senior field assignee in the Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Harvey received her PhD in Population, Family, and Reproductive Health from Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health and her Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Mary Jo Hedrick, PhD, is a Research Assistant Professor at the ETSU Ballad Health Strong BRAIN Institute. Her work focuses on community-based substance use and adversity research. With a master’s degree in Developmental Psychology and a doctorate in Experimental Psychology, she focuses on how communities and environments influence child development and how early risk, and protective factors predict future substance use. Her publications range from work in cognitive neuroscience to geographic analysis of community resources, encompassing a variety of research methods to tell comprehensive stories. Mary Jo is passionate about equipping communities to become protective factors for children and young people who are at high risk for substance use.

Jay Naliboff, MD, is a retired, Board Certified, OB/Gyn who practiced at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Maine for thirty -five years. He attended college and medical school at the University of California, San Diego and did his Ob/Gyn residency at the Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY. He spent two years in Claremore, Oklahoma in the Indian Health Service and moved to Maine in 1982. Dr. Naliboff has been a member of the Maine Maternal, Fetal, and Infant Mortality Review Panel since 1995 and was co-author of its enabling statute, is currently a consultant with the Perinatal Quality Collaborative for Maine (PQC4ME) and Director of the Universal Postpartum Naloxone Project.

Josef Neu, MD, is a Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology at the University of Florida. He received his Medical Doctorate, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI and his Pediatrics Residency at John Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, Postdoctoral Fellow in Neonatology, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA. Dr. Neu has received during his career several honors and awards. He has chaired National and International Committees. His current research interests include developing an updated taxonomy of intestinal injuries frequently termed necrotizing enterocolitis, precision nutrition using artificial intelligence and multiomics, and is the principal investigator of the Connection Trial, an international prospective randomized trial designed to decrease major morbidities and mortality in preterm infants. He is also the Chairman of the Board of the IPOKRaTES Foundation, involved in global educational activities.

Trisha Short, BSN, RNC-OB, is a Senior Clinical Implementation Specialist of the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs, a research and social impact program focused on transforming childbirth care worldwide so that every person can start or grow their family with dignity. Trisha has been an obstetrical nurse for 18 years, specializing in high-risk obstetrics and quality improvement. She joined the Ariadne team in 2021 after leading the successful implementation of TeamBirth at her hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Trisha currently oversees the management and implementation of the TeamBirth spread occurring nationwide, serving as the primary contact between Ariadne and hundreds of hospitals and partner organizations. She earned her BSN from the University of Oklahoma and is currently pursuing her Masters in Nursing Leadership and Management.” 

Solaire Spellen, MPH, is the Head of Quality Improvement & Systems Change for the Irth App at Narrative Nation, Inc. Solaire leads Irth’s Birth Without Bias partner improvement program, transforming Irth app reviews into data to hold hospitals and providers accountable and improve care experiences.   

Diana S Wolfe, MD, MPH, has a dual academic appointment at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in the Bronx, New York.  She is both Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine and Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology.  She established the MFM Cardiology Joint Program at Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center in 2015 in response to the rising contribution of cardiovascular related morbidity and mortality in pregnancy.  The aim was to establish a multidisciplinary program to optimize the care of high-risk pregnant patients with known or suspected cardiac disease, as there is a real potential for communication gaps when patients are seen separately in contrast with parallel visits by different specialists.  She is the co-editor of the book Cardio Obstetrics.  She is a member of the Quality Improvement Initiative to develop the Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health (AIM) Safety Bundle on Cardiac Conditions in Obstetrical Care (CCOC).  She authored the Change Package for this national Safety Bundle and currently is Co-Chair of ACOG District II Cardiac Bundle Development.  She is a faculty member of the largest group of specialists in the field of Cardio Obstetrics, Cardiac Problems in Pregnancy, an International Organization that now meets annually.  She is the Co-Founder of the Post Graduate Course at the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine Titled Cardio Obstetrics where fellows and faculty share their passion, interests, and challenges in Cardio Obstetrics.

Tiffany H. Taft, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Sacred Soul Wellness LLC and the Count The Kicks Alabama Ambassador.  Dr. Taft supports local families in the River Region and surrounding cities as a Community Doula, as well as a Prison Doula as part of the Alabama Prison Project.  She is also the Alabama Ambassador for Healthy Birth Day, Inc. and Count the Kicks addressing infant mortality and stillbirth prevention. Dr. Taft will be the Tennessee Count The Kicks Ambassador and Consultant with Healthy Birth Day, Inc.

Victor Yung-Tao Wu, MD, MPH, is the Chief Medical Officer for TennCare ensuring quality and effective medical, pharmacy, and dental service delivery to members. He also leads TennCare’s opioid epidemic strategy, social determinants of health, and practice transformation initiatives. Before joining TennCare, Dr. Wu worked at Evolent Health, supporting value-based population healthcare delivery. In 2013, he served as a White House Fellow to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Dr. Wu completed his Internal Medicine Residency at Emory University and practices clinically as a Veteran’s Affairs Health System internist.