Raj Ratwani, PhD is Vice President of Scientific Affairs at the MedStar Health Research Institute, Director of the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, and a Professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. He is a national leader in patient safety, healthcare technology, and the safe use of artificial intelligence in clinical care. His work focuses on designing systems and digital tools that align with how clinicians and patients actually think and work. Dr. Ratwani’s research has influenced healthcare policy and frontline practice, has been published in leading journals such as JAMA and Health Affairs, and is frequently featured in national media.

Lucy Bocknek is a clinical human factors and systems safety scientist at MedStar Health, specializing in translating human factors engineering into practical tools that improve care delivery and patient safety. She leads human factors initiatives across the MedStar Health system as well as with outside partners. She has overseen over 150 projects supporting efforts to enhance safety, usability, and performance across multiple healthcare departments and service lines. 

Lucy’s work leverages data and user-centered design to drive measurable improvements, drawing on best practices from industries like aviation and manufacturing to inform safer, more intuitive healthcare environments. Her recent projects include heuristic evaluation of new AI software, simulation-based usability testing of medical technology to advise on procurement, and the co-design of more user-friendly visualizations of patient experience data with clinical stakeholders.  

An occupational therapist and certified aging-in-place specialist, Lucy volunteers with Rebuilding Together, recommending modifications to help reduce residents’ fall risk and maintain independence at home. In her free time, she enjoys pottery, knitting, and camping with her husband, son, and daughter. 

Susan Kristiniak is the Chief Nursing Officer for Caregility, a virtual care company with over 19,000 components supporting care internationally. Susan has served as a CNO for the CHS health system and Service Line Director for Penn Medicine. She currently holds an adjunct faculty position at Drexel University’s School of Nursing. She has presented many topics that include virtual nursing, nursing wellness, palliative care, and psychiatric nursing. 

Kristy Fogle, MMS, PA-C, is the Clinical Director of LifeBridge Health’s Center for Virtual Care, where she leads systemwide smart hospital implementation and virtual care strategy across acute and post-acute settings. With a background in acute/emergent care, she oversees the operational implementation of smart hospital use cases, including virtual nursing and virtual monitoring. She focuses on AI-enabled clinical operations that improve patient safety, workforce sustainability, and care delivery. Kristy holds ABAIM Educational Certification through the American Board of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (ABAIM), reflecting her commitment to responsible AI adoption in healthcare. She played a key role in building LifeBridge Health’s first Center for Virtual Care, helping transform COVID-era virtual support into an enterprise-wide smart hospital model.

Jane Krienke is an assistant vice president on the Government Affairs & Policy team at the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA). She has worked at MHA since 2015. Her issue portfolio includes workforce development, workplace violence prevention, sexual assault and human trafficking, pediatric hospital overstays, and the Hospital Bond Program. Jane also supports MHA’s Task Force on Maryland’s Future Health Workforce, a group established in 2022 focused on identifying barriers and opportunities to support Maryland’s health care workforce. Jane works closely with the Maryland health occupations boards including the Board of Nursing and Board of Physicians on a number of physician, nursing and allied health workforce issues.

Kara Harrer, PharmD, currently serves as Associate Vice President for Ancillary Services at CalvertHealth. A pharmacist for more than 30 years, Harrer brings extensive clinical and leadership experience, including 11 years as Director of Pharmacy. She completed her pharmacy practice residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and earned both her Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from Temple University.

Harrer has worked at CalvertHealth for nearly three decades, developing strong relationships across medical, nursing, and allied health staff. In her role, she oversees a wide range of ancillary services with a focus on clinical areas such as cardiopulmonary, pharmacy, radiology, laboratory, rehabilitation, and community wellness. She has been recognized at the state and national level for her contributions to opioid stewardship. Since 2015, her work with CalvertHealth’s Opioid Stewardship Committee has helped reduce opioid addiction and prevent opioid-related deaths in the local community. She continues to serve as executive sponsor of the committee and as a member of the Calvert County Opioid Intervention Team.

Harrer played a pivotal role during the COVID-19 pandemic as coordinator of the treatment team, ensuring the latest treatment options and vaccines were made available to CalvertHealth employees, patients, and the community. She collaborates extensively with community partners, serving as Chair of the Local Behavioral Health Authority (LBHA) Council, Co-Chair of the Community Health Improvement Roundtable for Calvert County, and leading CalvertHealth’s Community Wellness and Mobile Health Unit initiatives.

Additionally, Harrer oversees emergency management and serves as Chair of both the Workplace Violence Committee and the Environment of Care Committee. Throughout her tenure, she has consistently driven initiatives that improve patient care and community health.

Harrer resides in Hughesville, Maryland with her husband and two college-age children.

Cindy Ebelein is a board-certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse with over 14 years of experience in behavioral health nursing.

She has been involved in implementing  workplace violence prevention efforts for the past three years, and has recently taken on the role of Workplace Violence Prevention Program Director at MedStar Health.

Pallavi Arora is the policy analyst for the Government Affairs & Policy team at the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA). Her issue portfolio includes maternal and child health, behavioral health, patient cost exposure, and Medicaid. Pallavi also represents MHA on the Prescription Drug Affordability Stakeholder Council. She has a master's in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and previously practiced as a mental health practitioner.

Kirsten McDonough Edler is a Board-Certified Nurse Practitioner with 39 years of experience ranging from organizational quality leadership to patient care with a focus on preventive wellness. Her role as Director of Accreditation, Regulatory Compliance, Infection Control and Patient Safety Officer includes focusing on workplace violence which supports both patients and staff. 

Laura is a Registered Nurse with 39 years of experience, primarily in Critical Care and Emergency Medicine.  She has over 16 years of leadership experience in various Acute Care and Emergency Medicine roles as well as 4 years in the area of Accreditation and Regulatory Compliance.

Shardel Jackson is a healthcare quality and patient safety leader focused on how systems perform under real-world conditions. A registered nurse with a background in public health, she brings a clinically grounded, population-informed perspective to preventing harm and improving outcomes.

Shardel leads complex quality initiatives across diverse clinical settings, working with frontline teams and senior leaders to translate data, regulatory requirements, and improvement science into reliable practice. Her work emphasizes measurement integrity, process reliability, and sustained improvement through Lean Six Sigma methodologies. Shardel's approach is disciplined and accountability-driven, rooted in continuous improvement and reliability as foundational to supporting clinicians and delivering consistent, high-quality care.

Dr. Rice is a healthcare risk management and patient safety leader with a foundational background in nursing professional development. She brings together clinical insight, systems thinking, and educational expertise to strengthen organizational safety practices and reduce patient harm.

With experience designing and delivering targeted learning programs, Dr. Rice excels at translating complex risk concepts into practical guidance that supports frontline teams. Her work focuses on event analysis, mitigation planning, and cultivating a culture of safety through proactive education and engagement. Driven by a commitment to high‑reliability care, Dr. Rice leverages her dual strengths in nursing education and risk management to empower clinicians, improve systems, and advance safe, effective, and equitable patient care.

Dr. Mabel Ankrah is an accomplished healthcare executive and nursing leader currently serving as Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer. With a distinguished career grounded in clinical excellence, operational leadership, and a deep commitment to advancing patient experience, she is known for driving transformational change across complex health systems.

Throughout her career, Dr Ankrah has led multidisciplinary teams with a focus on quality outcomes, evidence‑based practice, and a culture of compassionate care. She is widely respected for her ability to build strong nursing teams, elevate standards of practice, and redesign clinical workflows to improve safety, efficiency, and patient satisfaction.

As a strategic partner to executive leadership, Dr Ankrah plays a pivotal role in workforce development, nurse retention initiatives, and organizational culture. She is passionate about empowering nurses at every level and fostering a professional environment where caregivers feel valued, supported, and inspired to deliver exceptional care.

 Dr. Ankrah’s leadership is guided by her belief that patient experience begins with caregiver experience. Her current work emphasizes creating high‑reliability systems, advancing equity in care delivery, and ensuring that every patient and family receives dignified, person‑centered care.

She holds advanced nursing, and leadership credentials and continues to serve as a mentor, advocate, and voice for the nursing profession.

Layla Naumann has been working in the field of Regulatory, Quality, and Safety for over 10 years. Layla is currently the Director of Regulatory Affairs at the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Midtown campus. She is responsible for all activities relating to accreditation and standards compliance. Layla has held various leadership positions throughout her 28-year nursing career. Originally from Great Britain, the majority of her nursing career was spent within the Peri-operative department and Nursing Quality Division of Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C. Subsequent to this Layla held leadership positions as Director of Education and Training, Audit and Monitoring for the University of Maryland Medical System’s Corporate Compliance department, and Regulatory affairs at Wellspan York Hospital in Pennsylvania. Layla has a passion for education and has created several published education initiatives focused on regulatory education for healthcare personnel.

Mara Miller is the Medication Safety Coordinator at Kaweah Health in Visalia, California. She graduated with her PharmD from Touro University, California and completed a PGY1 Residency at Kaweah Delta Medical Center. Mara has a diverse clinical background, having practiced as a clinical pharmacist for in areas including internal medicine, neonatal ICU, critical care, emergency medicine, and pharmacy operations before focusing her expertise on medication safety. Mara oversees the medication safety program for Kaweah Health, including the organization’s medication error reduction plan that focuses on improving safety across the entire medication use process. Her current areas of focus includes optimizing the use of high leverage strategies that hardwire the safe use of medication, including dose error reduction software, interoperability as well as EHR functionality . She is a Just Culture champion for her organization and serves on the ASHP Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners Medication Safety Advisory Group.