Academic Medical Center Leadership Forum
Monday, April 13, 2026
Academic medical centers remain central to the nation’s healthcare landscape — driving breakthrough research, advancing clinical training, and elevating standards of patient care. As hubs of discovery and education, they shape the next generation of clinicians and fuel innovation that reverberates across the entire system. At the same time, these institutions are contending with rising financial pressures, persistent workforce shortages, accelerating technological disruption, and growing demands for equitable, community-centered care.
This leadership forum convenes senior executives from leading academic medical centers nationwide for a focused exchange on the most pressing issues and emerging opportunities ahead. Attendees will hear candid perspectives and forward-looking approaches from peers who are navigating today’s complexity while reimagining how academic medicine can deliver greater impact in the years to come.
Thank you to our sponsor:


FORUM AGENDA
SPEAKERS

Hasan B. Alam
MD
Surgeon-in-Chief, Northwestern Memorial Hospital; Chair, Department of Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University

Kimberly Cantees
MD, MBA
Clinical Director, Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
UPMC Presbyterian Hospital

Robert Corona
DO, MBA
John B. Henry Professor of Pathology, SUNY Upstate Medical University; Chief Executive Officer
SUNY Upstate Medical University Hospital

Warren D'Souza
PhD, MBA
Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer
University of Maryland Medical System

Lisa Fino
Chief Access Officer and Patient Experience Officer, Temple Faculty Physicians
Temple Health

Anna Flattau
MD, MSc, MS
Alumni Professor and Chair, Family and Community Medicine; Enterprise Chief, Primary Care Services
Jefferson Health

Amir Ghaferi
MD, MSc, MBA
President and Chief Executive Officer, Physician Enterprise; Senior Associate Dean, Clinical Affairs
Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin

Krishnaj Gourab
MD
Chief Medical Officer and Vice President, University of Maryland Rehabilitation and Orthopaedic Institute; System Medical Director, Post-Acute Care
University of Maryland Medical System

Vineet Gupta
PhD, FASN
Vice President, Office of Innovation and Commercialization and Chief Executive Officer, Medical Branch Innovations, Inc.
The University of Texas Medical Branch

Franziska Jovin
MD
Chief Experience Officer and Senior Vice President, Patient Access
Cooper University Healthcare

Aroub Khleif
PhD
Senior Director, Innovation and IT Access/Revenue Cycle/Ambulatory Clinical Systems
Houston Methodist

Stuart Levine
MD, FACP
President, MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center;
Senior Vice President, MedStar Health

T.Y. Alvin Liu
MD
Endowed Professor, AI Oversight Team and Inaugural Director, James P. Gills Jr. MD and Heather Gills Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center
Johns Hopkins Medicine

C.J. Marbley
MBA, BSN, RN
Chief Nursing Officer, University Medical Center New Orleans; Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer, New Orleans East Hospital
LCMC Health

David Marcozzi
MD, MHS-CL
Chief Clinical Officer, University of Maryland Medical Center; Associate Dean, Clinical Affairs
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Lance R. McMahon
PhD
Executive Vice President, Research and Innovation
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Deborah Mordecai
DNP, MS, MA, CNM, CENP
Associate Chief Nursing Officer
University of Texas Medical Branch

Rani Morrison Williams
MS, MSW, LCSW, FACHE, CDE
Chief Diversity & Community Health Equity Officer
University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System

Girish N. Nadkarni
MD
Chair, Windreich Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health; Director, Hasso Plattner Insitute for Digital Health; Chief AI Officer
Mount Sinai Health System

Rebecca Napier
MBA, SHRM-SCP
Vice President, Finance and Administration
The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center

Christopher Ruppert
MBA, MS, RN, NEA-BC, NHDP-BC
Vice President, Patient Care SErvices and Chief Nursing Officer
Mercy Hospital, Catholic Health

Jason T. Schaffer
MD, MBI, FACEP
Vice President, Chief Medical Information Officer and Associate Clinical Professor, Emergency Medicine
Indiana University Health

Timothy Seay-Morrison
Senior Vice President, Service Lines and Chief, Ambulatory Care Operations
Stanford Health Care

Paresh C. Shah
MD, FACS
Group Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Weill Cornell Division
NewYork Presbyterian

Neil Weissman
MD
President, MedStar Health Research Institute; Chief Scientific Officer
MedStar Health

Mark Whalen
Executive Vice President and Enterprise Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer
Thomas Jefferson University Health

Michael Wiggins
DBA, FACHE
Assistant Professor, Healthcare Management and Leadership
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center





















