2025 - Speakers and Planning Committee

Neda AbuGharbiyeh, PharmD

Emergency Medicine PGY2 Pharmacy Resident UNC Medical Center

Hannah Allen, PhD

Pediatric Neuropsychologist
UNC School of Medicine

Hannah Allen, PhD, is a pediatric neuropsychologist and licensed psychologist at UNC Chapel Hill. She earned her PhD from the University of Tulsa. Dr. Allen completed internship at Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins Hospital and a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology at Pediatric Neuropsychology Associates in Oklahoma City, Ok. She currently conducts evaluations and consultations at the UNC Neuropsychology Clinic and UNC Children’s Hospital. Dr Allen is also part of the UNC Cerebral Palsy Clinic and the UNC REACH team. She has a particular interest in pediatric brain injury recovery and in facilitating school and community re-entry.

Greta Anton, PharmD, BCPS, BCEMP

Emergency Medicine Pharmacist
UNC Hospital

Greta Anton is an Emergency Medicine Clinical Pharmacist and the EM Pharmacy Residency Coordinator at UNC Medical Center. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of New England, completed a PGY1 pharmacy residency at the UMass Memorial, followed by a PGY2 EM pharmacy residency at the University of New Mexico. Before moving to Chapel Hill, she worked at Boston Medical Center and has since, been with UNC working in the Emergency Department for the past five years.

Deb A. Bhowmick, MD

Duke Department of Neurosurgery

Deb A. Bhowmick, MD, has joined the faculty of Duke Department of Neurosurgery, effective February 1, 2023.Bhowmick, is a neurosurgeon specializing in complex spinal and trauma surgery. He comes to Duke from the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was an associate professor and section chief of Spinal Neurosurgery and medical director of the UNC Spine Center. Bhowmick completed his residency in neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania and a fellowship in spinal surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. His practice is focused on the surgical treatment of cervical spinal deformities, craniocervical junction pathology, and adult manifestations of congenital spinal anomalies. His academic interests include investigating optimal surgical treatment of the elderly with traumatic fractures of the spine as well as the use of novel minimally invasive approaches to cervical and lumbar spinal deformities. He is associate editor of the journal, Operative Neurosurgery and a member of the Coverage Committee and the Spine Political Action Committee of the North American Spine Society

Christopher Biancaniello, BSRT, RRT

Respiratory Therapist

Chris is a Respiratory Therapist who began in EMS. A graduate of Durham Tech associate program and UNC Charlottes Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy. He has since worked in neonatal, pediatric, adult, pulmonary diagnostic, bronchoscopy, and research. (In the capacity of clinician, manager, and director) During which he participated in multiple studies and is published in JAMA of Otolaryngology. He had the honor of serving on the North Carolina Society for Respiratory Care board of directors.

Thane Blinman, MD

Thane Blinman is Professor of Surgery in the UNC Division of Pediatric Surgery, and Executive Vice Chair for Business in the Department of Surgery at UNC. He recently joined UNC from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was Fellowship Program Director, Vice Chair for Education, Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery, founder of the STAT.lab, and Associate Trauma Director.

Evan Bradley, AAS, LP, FP-C

Flight Paramedic
UNC Health

Evan started his career in Emergency Services in 2014, and has managed public safety planning, logistics, data management, and technical services for events with upwards of 60,000 attendees. Evan also co-founded an emergency services company in Texas providing EMS, Fire, Law Enforcement, K9, Vaccination, Laboratory Testing, Biohazard remediation, and Health & Safety Supervision. Evan is currently a rotor-wing Flight Paramedic in the Bell 429/EC135/EC145 platforms with extensive fixed-wing experience treating and transporting critical care patients throughout Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Oklahoma, and ground experience in a suburban/rural 911 EMS agency outside of Austin, Texas.

Brooke Brewer, BSN, RN, MS, CIC

Program Manager
UNC Health

Brooke Brewer is a Program Manager in the Infection Prevention Department at UNC Health, specializing in high-consequence pathogen preparedness and response. She also serves as the Program Manager for UNC Hospitals’ Special Pathogen Response Center (SPARC). With over 17 years of experience as a registered nurse at UNC Health, Brooke brings extensive expertise in infection prevention and emergency preparedness.

Nigel “Biola” Brinson, MD

Resident Physician
University of North Carolina Health

Jared Gallaher, MD, MPH

Assistant Professor of Surgery
UNC Department of Surgery

Jared Gallaher, MD, MPH, FACS is an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of General and Acute Care Surgery at UNC in Chapel Hill, NC. He also has an adjunct appointment in the UNC Gilings School of Global Public Health and co-teaches a course there each spring on cost-effectiveness analysis. Dr. Gallaher graduated from Wake Forest School of Medicine in 2011 and completed his MPH at UNC Gilings School of Global Public Health in 2016. After finishing his General Surgery Residency at UNC in 2018, he completed his Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at Oregon Health Sciences University in 2019 and then returned to UNC to join the faculty in the Department of Surgery. His research focuses on global health in Malawi, especially in the fields of trauma, general surgery, and burn, and he serves as the co-director of the Malawi Surgical Initiative at UNC. He has also published clinical research on trauma and ECMO in the United States.

Whitney J. Ly, PharmD, BCCCP

Surgery Trauma Critical Care Clinical Pharmacy Specialist
UNC Health/Pharmacy Department

Dr. Whitney Ly is a Board-Certified Critical Care Pharmacist originally from Belleville, New Jersey. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Studies, as well as her Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree, from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, PA, in 2020. Following her graduation, Dr. Ly completed a PGY1 Acute Care Pharmacy Residency and a PGY2 Critical Care Pharmacy Residency at the University of North Carolina Medical Center from 2020 to 2022.

Dr. Ly currently practices in the Surgery Trauma Critical Care Unit at UNC Medical Center, where she delivers expert pharmaceutical care in the critical care setting. She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pharmacy and serves as Course Director for the Critical Care Elective at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. In addition, Dr. Ly precepts pharmacy residents and students as part of the UNC pharmacy residency programs and school of pharmacy.

Her professional interests include trauma resuscitation, anticoagulation reversal, emergency medicine, and advanced cardiac life support.

Christine Marcoux, MS, CCLS

Aftercare Coordinator for Bereavement & Sibling Support/Child Life Specialist
UNC Health

Christine is a Certified Child Life Specialist with 20 years of experience supporting children and families to cope through acute and ongoing stressful and traumatic events. Christine currently works as a Psychosocial Coordinator for Bereavement and Sibling Care at UNC Children’s Hospital where she is responsible for supporting families who have experienced and are at high risk for experiencing the loss of a child. Through inpatient and outreach programming, she is able to support siblings as they cope with loss and anticipatory grief, while continuing to build the legacy and connections within their family. She has previously worked in a pediatric hospice program, various pediatric inpatient and outpatient units and clinics, as a home visitor with families at increased risk for trauma, and in academic settings as an adjunct instructor. She has gained extensive training to become skilled at assessing family strengths and needs related to trauma, loss, and grief. In addition to Child Life certification, Christine is an Endorsed Infant & Family Specialist through the Alliance for Infant Mental Health. This unique credential contributes to her depth of knowledge of protective and risk factors that affect social and emotional well-being in infancy, early childhood and across the lifespan. Christine has explored the application of Infant Mental Health competencies and reflective supervision to her practice as a child life specialist to better understand the necessity of connection and relationship to support children, families, and colleagues. She utilizes a child-centered, relationship-focused approach that prioritizes play, connection, and direct communication. As a member of the ACLP Mentorship Committee, Christine utilizes her professional experience to support longevity and continued growth for child life specialists throughout their career trajectories. She has collaboratively worked in the committee to develop educational offerings and to support mentor-mentee partnerships that further the growth of capacity, longevity and leadership opportunities within the field of child life.

Genesis Pierce, MDiv, BCC

Clinical Staff Chaplain of Emergency and Critical Care
Department of Spiritual Care

Genesis Adams Pierce is a dedicated Clinical Staff Chaplain specializing in emergency and trauma care with UNC hospital in Chapel Hill, NC, where she combines her compassion for people and her commitment to healthcare advocacy. As a board-certified chaplain, she brings over a decade of meaningful experience and a background in spiritual care to her role. Graduating from North Carolina A&T State University with a bachelor’s degree in English in 2012, she later joined Teach for America, working to bridge educational gaps. She pursued further studies at Wake Forest University, earning her Master of Divinity degree in 2020, and has since dedicated herself to supporting patients, families, and healthcare staff through her chaplaincy work. As the co-author of Flourish: Growing and Glowing in Co-parenting, she is passionate about fostering understanding in family dynamics. She and her husband, Bryan Pierce Jr., share a blended family and are proud parents to four boys. In addition to her professional endeavors, she remains a strong advocate for co-parenting, family resilience, and trauma-informed spiritual care.

Justin Preddy, MHS, Paramedic

Quality Improvement Coordinator
Franklin County EMS

Justin Preddy, MHS, Paramedic, has had a dream of becoming a paramedic since the ripe age of 7 years old. Achieving that dream at 19, he then had to ask himself how else he can contribute to the EMS profession beyond his initial dreams. Since that time, Justin has earned his MHS degree from Western Carolina University. Having served in various roles such as quality improvement coordinator for Franklin County EMS and current role as emergency services director for Granville Health System. Justin brings the knowledge he has gained in his dream profession to encourage innovation beyond the traditional lens within the EMS workforce. He is a strong advocate for the advancement of the EMS profession and strengthening the values for which made EMS his dream.

Leanne Reeves, RN, MSN, CMTE

Interim Associate Director/ Air Operations Manager
UNC Hospital- Carolina Air Care

Leanne Reaves is the Interim Associate Director of UNC Carolina Air Care, a rotor-wing and ambulance critical care transport team that provides critical patient care and transport across North Carolina. With over 22 years of experience in critical care transport, Leanne has served as a flight nurse at UNC since 2006. In her current role, she manages operations for four rotor-wing critical care bases, two pediatric/neonatal specialty teams, as well as critical care and ALS ground transport and air medical telecommunications for the team. Leanne holds a Master’s degree in Nursing Administration and is a Certified Medical Transport Executive, Certified Emergency Nurse, and Leadership Incident Fortification Training Certified. She has also contributed to the Air Medical Journal, reflecting her expertise in the field of air medical transport and critical care.

James Richmond, RN

Flight RN
UNC Health Care/Carolina Air Care

Lesley Rink, PhD, RN

Coach, Educator
Self Employed

Dr. Lesley Rink helps individuals, healthcare workers, and employees struggling with stress and burnout. She earned her PhD at Duke School of Nursing where she studied burnout and resilience among healthcare workers. She is a wellness consultant who received health coach training at Duke Integrative Medicine. Dr. Rink is a certified mindfulness teacher who is passionate about helping others increase their resilience, lower stress, and realize the joy and relief of living in the present moment.

Andrew M. Schaffrinna, MD

EM Physician
US Army

Ben Smith MD

Medical Director
UNC Hospitals Emergency Management
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC

Dr. Smith is an emergency physician at UNC and the medical director for emergency management at UNC Hospitals as well as the medical advisor for the Mid-Carolina Healthcare Preparedness Coalition. He is board-certified in both Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services. He has been involved in field response to disasters both locally and across the state. He is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina and also serves as the Medical Director for Carolina Air Care and Air Life NC.

Melissa M. Smith, MD

Assistant Professor, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
UNC Department of Pediatrics

Theodore Yip, MD

Assistant Professor/Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation/Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine
UNC School of Medicine/UNC Health

Dr. Theodore Yip is an Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His clinical practice is located at UNC Children’s Hospital and UNC Center for Rehabilitation Care. He is passionate about caring for children with disabilities and partnering with families to help them maximize quality of life and independence. Dr. Yip is a North Carolina native and received his medical degree from the University of North Carolina in 2015. After medical school, he completed his internship in Internal Medicine at Virginia Mason Medical Center in 2016. He then finished his residency training in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School/Kessler Rehabilitation Institute in 2019. Prior to returning to his home state of NC, he completed his fellowship training in Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine at Children’s Hospital Colorado in 2021. Dr. Yip is honored and privileged to serve and care for the children with special needs in the great state of North Carolina.