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TIPQC

Operations Staff


Brenda Barker, MEd, MBA

Executive Director

Brenda is the Executive Director of TIPQC and is one of the founding staff members having started in 2008.  She received her Improvement Advisor Certificate in 2010 from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement. Brenda received a Master of Education from the University of North Texas and a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare from Lipscomb University in 2016.  Brenda serves on the Tennessee Center for Patient Safety Advisory Council,  Infant Mortality Strategic Plan Advisory Committee, Maternal Health Task Force, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Task Force (PRAMS), previous Chairman of the Board for ONE Tennessee, and the Executive Committee for the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (NNPQC).

Susan Guttentag, MD

PI & Oversight Chair

Dr.  Susan Guttentag is Director of the Mildred Stahlman Division of Neonatology for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.  Dr. Guttentag is the Principle Investigator on the Tennessee Department of Health grant that supports TIPQC.  In this role, she has oversight of the TIPQC organizational structure and is responsible for communicating the value of TIPQC projects to all stakeholders.

Karen Schetzina, MD, MPH, FAAP

Infant Medical Director

Dr. Schetzina is the Infant Medical Director of TIPQC. She previously served as a state Project Leader for the Breastfeeding Promotion Projects and as a member of the Speakers Bureau for TIPQC.  Dr. Schetzina received her Medical Degree in 1997 from the University of North Carolina. She completed her Pediatric Residency training at Stanford University Medical Center and received her Master’s in Public Health in 2001 from the University of North Carolina. Dr. Schetzina is Professor and Vice Chair of Academic Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics and Director of the Child and Family Health Institute at East Tennessee State University. She is the Medical Director of the Niswonger Children’s Hospital Children’s Resource Center and Pediatric Complex Care Navigation Program. She serves on the STRONG Accountable Care Community (ACC) Leadership Council and as an Advisor for BrightStart Northeast Tennessee. She is the Membership Chair and Breastfeeding Chapter Coordinator for the Tennessee Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Cornelia Graves, MD, FACOG

Maternal Medical Director

Dr. Graves has been with TIPQC since it’s inception.  She has served on the Board, has led the Projects Committee, served as a state project leader & co-leader, and as a mentor to the TIPQC leadership team.  She assumed the role of TIPQC Maternal Medical Director on July 1, 2024.

Dr. Graves is the Medical Director, Tennessee Maternal Fetal Medicine, Director of Perinatal Services, St. Thomas Health, Co-Director of the Comprehensive Perinatal Cardiac Clinic, St. Thomas Health, Professor – University of Tennessee, Clinical Professor – Vanderbilt University, and Adjunct Professor – Meharry Medical College.  She also serves on many state and national boards and is widely published.

Rolanda Lister, MD

Officer for Health Equity

Dr. Rolanda Lister is a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She received her medical doctorate from Meharry Medical College in 2006 and went on to complete a residency at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California in 2010. She completed her fellowship training in Maternal Fetal Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Since her joining Vanderbilt’s  faculty in 2016, Dr. Lister has pioneered a multidisciplinary conference entitled the Maternal Care Conference that focused on the comprehensive and collaborative care for our medically, obstetrically and surgically complicated gravidas.  Additionally, she has organized the acquired Cardiac Clinic that is managed jointly by Cardiology and Maternal Fetal Medicine. This clinic takes a multidisciplinary approach to mothers with acquired heart conditions such as myocardial infarction, valve disease and arrythmias.  Rolanda’s research focuses on maternal diabetes, gene regulation and heart defects and dysfunction. She also is interested in disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality. She is excited to be a TIPQC consultant to promote maternal and child equity for all women throughout the state of Tennessee. Her overall mission is to utilize the window of pregnancy as an opportunity to improve the health of mothers and their children.

Bonnie Miller, RN, MSN

Maternal Quality Improvement Specialist

Bonnie is the TIPQC Maternal QI Specialist, as well as the Professional Development & Clinical Nurse Specialist– Women’s Services, Neonatology & Inpatient Rehab at Regional One Health.  Bonnie has worked at Regional One Health since 2006 in various nursing roles including labor and delivery nurse, perinatal patient safety nurse coordinator and as clinical nurse educator. Bonnie obtained her Master’s degree in nursing from Cumberland University in 2019.

Bonnie has a wealth of experience and multiple honors including the  2014-Tennessee Hospital Association’s Clinical Nurse of Distinction Award; 2014– Memphis Magazines Top Nurse– Nursing 901; 2015 & 2017 Memphis Business Journal’s Healthcare Heroes honoree; 2017– Innovation award for OB F.A.S.T.  

Patti Scott, DNP, APN, NNP-BC, C-NPT

Infant Quality Improvement Specialist

Patti is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and the coordinator of the Advanced Practitioner Group with Pediatrix Medical Group of Tennessee in the Centennial practice. She has worked in the NICU since 1988. Patti is board certified as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and also in Neonatal Transport. Patti serves as a task force member for the National Certification Corporation’s Neonatal Pediatric Transport exam and the Quality and Safety Certification exam that NCC is developing.  She is also part of the National Faculty for S.T.A.B.L.E. Professional interests include neonatal transport, quality improvement, simulation, and nursing education.

Steven Compton, JD

Program Manager

Steven became the Program Manager for TIPQC in 2019.  He has worked in various roles in corporate, legal, nonprofit, and production environments where he managed programs and developed or improved systems and procedures for managing programs, operations, and workflow.  Steven has a BA from Cedarville College (Cedarville, Ohio) and a JD from University of Dayton School of Law (Dayton, Ohio).

Tanika Edwards, BSN, RN

Maternal Data & AIM Project Manager

Tanika earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Lincoln Memorial University in 2012.  She worked in Labor and Delivery before transitioning into a Quality Improvement role at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville as the Data Nurse for Women’s and Children’s, before joining TIPQC. She is excited about helping hospitals across the state improve outcomes.

Alicia Mastronardi, MPH

Data Manager

Alicia Mastronardi came to TIPQC in November 2024 as a data manager. She has a strong passion for improving maternal and child health statewide. After receiving her Master’s of Public Health from the University of Michigan, Alicia worked at the National Institutes of Health and then as an epidemiologist for the Knox County Health Department. Additionally, she has experience as a researcher at University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Inspired by work in her community, her focus has been maternal and child health since 2008. 

Anastacia Volz, BA, MPA

Assistant Director

Anastacia joined the TIPQC team in 2023 as a program manager. She earned her Bachelor of Science from University of Tennessee-Knoxville and her Master of Public Administration from Tennessee State University.  
As the former Executive Director of Project Access Nashville Specialty Care, Anastacia has worked closely with Tennesseans facing a variety of health related challenges. She is passionate about improving health outcomes for all Tennesseans through process improvement, collaboration, and education.