Co-Chairs
Cathy is an Advanced Practice WOC Nurse providing care to patients across the continuum in acute care, long-term care, home health and outpatient settings. Employed by Connecticut Clinical Nursing Associates, she also provides consulting to organizations wishing to improve wound outcomes, conducts clinical research, lectures nationally and internationally, is the Co-Editor of the text Wound, Ostomy, Continence Secrets and the recently published 3rd Edition of the Wound Care Certification Study Guide. She currently serves as an Adjunct Clinical Professor at the Yale School of Nursing. Cathy is on the Executive Education Committee of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care after holding a two term Nurse Board Member position.
Dr. Jayesh B. Shah is the President of South Texas Wound Associates, where he provides clinical wound care services in San Antonio since the past 20 years; President of TIMEO2 Healing Concepts, LLC, which provides consulting and education services in wound care and hyperbaric medicine; Medical Director of Wound Healing Center at Northeast Baptist Hospital and Mission Trail Baptist Wound Healing Center in San Antonio, Texas; Past President of American College of Hyperbaric Medicine; current Board of Trustees Member of Texas Medical Association. He is current Co- Chair of WoundCON and Current Board Member of ISTAP.
He has published “Wound Care Certification Study Guide” in 2011, its second edition in 2016, Its third edition in 2021; Textbook of Chronic Wound Care: An Evidence-Based Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment in 2018, and created “WoundDoctor” Free App, a comprehensive wound care resource tool for physicians, nurses and physical therapists for iPhone, Android and iPad. He has authored over 40 chapters on wound topics in 4 books and 30+ scientific articles in wound care and hyperbaric medicine. He is past Assistant Editor of Journal of ACCWS and present editorial board member of Today's Wound Clinic.
To his credit, Dr. Shah is the recipient of the Gold Award for Wound Hygiene Implementation issued by JWC WUWHS Awards (2022), Lifetime Achievement Award (2020) Diabetes Research Award (2019) Paul James Sheffield Education Award for Lifetime Dedication to Education in the field of Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine (2014); Jefferson C. Davis Memorial Award for Excellence in Clinical Hyperbaric Medicine (2007 and 2011); Carolyn Sue Award (2009); Young Scientist/Medical Doctor Award (2008).
Faculty
Dr. Karen Bauer is a Wound Certified Nurse Practitioner. She graduated with an M.S. from the Ohio State University and a Doctorate of Nursing Practice from The University of Toledo. She has been practicing as a nurse practitioner for 16 years, with 14 of those years being in the field of wound management and 8 in vascular medicine. She currently practices at the University of Toledo Medical Center as well as multiple outreach sites encompassing ambulatory clinics, long-term care, and acute care centers. Karen has developed and oversees a team of advanced practice providers, is the Director of Wound and Vascular Services at UT in the Division of Vascular, Endovascular, and Wound Surgery, and is the Program Director at the Fulton County Wound and Hyperbaric Center.
She is certified as a wound specialist through the American Board of Wound Management and currently serves as a Nurse Board Member for the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care and serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for Vascular Nursing. She is an Editorial Board Member for Wound Management and Prevention, and Advances in Skin and Wound Care. Karen lectures regionally, nationally, and internationally. She is a published researcher. She loves dogs, food, and hanging out with her daughter in her free time.
Dr. Desmond Bell is the Founder and President of “The Save A Leg, Save A Life” Foundation, a multi-disciplinary non-profit organization dedicated to the reduction in lower extremity amputations and improving wound healing outcomes through education, evidence-based methodology and community outreach. He also serves as Chief Medical Officer of Omeza, an evidence based medical technology company and consumer healthcare products company initially focused on healing chronic wounds and preventing their recurrence. In 2020, he joined MD Coaches as an Executive Physician Coach to serve as a peer to peer mentor and hosts the program, "Inside The Doctors Lounge". Dr. Bell was awarded the Frist Humanitarian Award by Specialty Hospital Jacksonville for 2009 and Memorial Hospital Jacksonville in 2018. He is a Board Certified Wound Specialist (CWS) having served on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Wound Management for 6 years and presently serving on the Board of the American Board of Wound Management Foundation.
He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and is a member of the CLI Global Society. Dr. Bell has published numerous articles primarily pertaining to wound management and lower extremity amputation prevention and has served as an Editorial Board Member for the publication “Today’s Wound Clinic” since its inception. He is nationally recognized speaker, with regular faculty roles at AMP, ASCENT and Modern Wound Care Management.
Joyce Black, PhD, RN, FAAN is the Florence Neidfelt Professor of Nursing at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Her research interests are in pressure injury prevention across all settings of care. Dr. Black identified Deep Tissue Pressure Injury as a serious form of pressure injuries and has facilitated the improved understanding and treatment of this condition. She is also an accomplished presenter and has published numerous papers on the prevention and treatment of wounds. Dr Black has served in many roles on the NPIAP, she is currently the President of the Panel.
Donna J. Cartwright is President of Donna J. Cartwright and Associates, LLC. Donna provides consulting in the areas of coding, billing, and chart documentation specializing in wound care matters. She has a Masters in Public Administration( MPA), and is a Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) , Certified Coding Specialist(CCS) , designated Fellow of Health Information Management Association (FAHIMA) and an AHIMA approved ICD-10-CM/PCS trainer. Donna currently is employed as Senior Director of Health Policy and Reimbursement for Integra LifeSciences Corporation where she has worked for 27 years.
Michael Crouch is a Certified Hyperbaric Technologist (CHT), Professional Coder (CPC) and Medical Auditor (CPMA) with more than 30 years’ experience in the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine industry. Mr. Crouch has served as VP of Reimbursement and Corporate Hyperbaric Safety Officer for two national wound management companies providing reimbursement and operational support to more than 200 outpatient wound care departments. Additionally, Mr. Crouch was a Program Director for two Texas wound management programs. He has extensive experience in conducting revenue cycle compliance audits, including training and education for providers and clinical personnel.
He is a former member of the American Association for Wound Care Management (AAWCM) subcommittee and former surveyor for the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) Hyperbaric Facility Accreditation Program. He served as Chair of the UHMS Associates and was a former member of the UHMS Practice Compliance Committee. He has authored several articles and textbook chapters and is the founder of C+ Consulting, LLC, a consulting firm which specializes in providing support for revenue cycle management and regulatory compliance for outpatient wound management programs. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology from the University of Texas and spent 15 years as a Commerical Oilfield Diver in the Gulf of Mexico.
Elizabeth is a Certified Wound Ostomy Continence Nurse at Children’s of Alabama, where she provides wound treatment recommendations and wound management for both inpatients and outpatients with acute and chronic wounds. She provides staff education on skin and wound care, ostomy care, and pressure injury prevention. Elizabeth works diligently with the hospital’s Pressure Injury Prevention Team to track and reduce hospital-acquired pressure injuries. Elizabeth graduated from the School of Nursing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a BSN in 2005. She gained nursing experience in the neurosciences unit (ICU), home hospice care, and the pediatric cardiovascular ICU before becoming a Certified Wound Ostomy Continence (WOC) Nurse in 2014. She attended the WOC Nursing Education Program at Emory University for this specialty. She also earned a certification in foot care and regularly volunteers to provide foot and nail care for Birmingham’s homeless population. She is a member of the Central Alabama WOC Nurses’ Association, the National WOC Nursing Society, the International Society for Pediatric Wound Care, and the Vizient Innovative Technology Contracting Council. Elizabeth has presented on the topics of pressure injury prevention and wound management at numerous pediatric conferences at Children’s of Alabama. She previously earned a BFA in studio art from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and worked as a fine artist for several years before becoming a nurse. She believes that wound care is an art that requires a unique combination of creativity and evidence-based practice.
Coming soon!
Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON-AP, FACCWS is a Certified Nurse Practitioner at Sanford Health in Fargo, ND. She received her BSN from Jamestown College and her MSN from Maryville University. She is certified as an Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner through the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. At Sanford she is the co-director of the limb preservation program and co-chairs the nursing research and evidence based care committee. She has been involved with other wound organizations and currently serves as the President for the North Central Region Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Society. Emily has served as an expert reviewer for the WOCN Society and the Journal for WOCN. She is a blogger for Wound Source. Her main career focus is on the advancement of wound care through evidence-based research.
Dr Farhanul Huda is currently working as Additional Professor in the Department of General Surgery at AIIMS Rishikesh. He also has additional responsibility of Associate Dean Research among many more additional administrative assignments. His areas of interest are Breast surgery, Oncoplastic Breast Surgery, Medical education and Wound healing and tissue repair. He has more than 20 years of teaching and surgical experience. He has been awarded many fellowships including Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons. He has published more than 75 original articles in peer reviewed national and international journals and 9 chapters in books. He is reviewer of several national and international journals like BMJ Open, BMC Surgery, Annals of Medicine and Surgery, to name a few. He is also in the editorial board of
international journals of repute. He has won many awards for presentations in various national and international meetings, notable ones being Best researcher Award, Best Professor of the year and Best Teacher award. Presently, he is involved in more than 10 international research projects and almost 15 national projects. He has supervised thesis dissertation of almost 20
postgraduate/postdoctoral students. Dr Huda has shared his knowledge and experience by delivering more than 45 presentations in various scientific meetings.
Dona Lyndhia is a board-certified Wound Ostomy (CWON) nurse at a Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She has 32 years of oncological experience in an acute-care setting. She works as a unit based WOC nurse on the Colorectal, Hepatobiliary, and Gastric Mixed Tumor service for the past 17 years. The scope of her practice involves patient education, nurse consultant, and she serves as resource for the care of all patients across the continuum of care. Her area of expertise includes the management of complex surgical wounds, enterocutaneous fistulas, & ostomies. Lyndhia is committed to improving patients’ symptoms and functional issues to enhance their quality-of-life issues.
Karen Laforet is a registered nurse with over 40 years of experience working in Canada and Florida. For over 30 years she has been dedicated to the practice of skin health and wound care management. She has practiced in critical care, home care and long-term care, has spent 9 years in industry and is currently a wound consultant in long-term care. She has a Master’s degree in Clinical Science-Wound healing, and is nationally certified in community health nursing and vascular access/infusion therapy. She is on the Wound Care Institute faculty for York University and is the Lead Educator for VHA Healthcare Long-Term-Care IV medication training program.
Dr. Jeanine Maguire is a physical therapist licensed in Pennsylvania and a certified wound specialist with the American Academy of Wound Management. Jeanine received her PhD in Health Education and Promotion from Walden University with a focus on wound management. She has practiced wound management in various settings for almost 3 decades, leading wound management in post-acute care over the last 22 years.
Jeanine is a founding board member and the president of Post-Acute Wound and Skin Integrity Council (PAWSIC). Additional board and education positions include: board member of the Eastern PA Geriatric Society, a committee member for the Coalition of At-Risk Skin, a planning committee member and speaker for the Symposium of Advanced Wound Care, and an ambassador for the American Academy of Wound Care.
Jeanine is the owner of SeekingWhole, LLC, providing wound prevention and management consultation for program development, wound workshops, formulary and guideline development.
Maritza Molina is a driven Registered Dietitian who is determined to prevent, cure, improve nutrition related diseases through evidence-based nutrition practice guidelines. Maritza has years of experience working with an array of populations in different clinical sectors that range from acute care settings, specialty outpatient settings, and community nutrition. She has also developed and directed outpatient programs, and owns her own private practice.
Maritza currently works as a fulltime RD for Keck Medicine of USC Outpatient General Surgery Department. Maritza was granted the opportunity to create for the first time ever an outpatient nutrition program for Keck Medicine of USC Outpatient General Surgery Department, and has successfully built a structural foundation, spearheaded, and directed the program as it continues to grow and evolve. Her nutrition clinic serves the following specialties: General Surgery,Upper GI,Thoracic,The Southwestern Academic Limb Salvage Alliance+Flow and Toe,Colorectal and Plastics.
She provides Advance Nutrition Education for following specialty cases and not limited to: Esophagectomy, Gastrectomy, RYNGB, Fundoplication, Gastroparesis, Colectomy, and other GI related disease, EN and TPN/PPN management, pre-surgery optimization, and post-surgery nutrition management.
Since 2018, Maritza has worked as an Acute and Critical Care Clinical Registered Dietitian for all of Avanti Hospitals in Los Angeles, CA.
In addition, Maritza also has her own outpatient private practice Silver Spoon Elite Nutrition, founded in 2015. Where she specializes in Sports Nutrition, prevent/manage nutrition related diseases, and weight management. Maritza’s past professional experience also includes creating and directing a nutrition program for WMCHC. She created bilingual pediatric nutrition classes, nutrition handouts for patients and families, provided one-on-one medical nutrition therapy for either preventative nutrition, acute or chronic conditions.
Over the last year Maritza has been fortunate to co-author an expert consensus and guidance book “Nutrition Interventions in Adults with Diabetic Foot Ulcers” written alongside her MD colleagues in 2021. She has also been a speaker for the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care for Spring 2021 where she spoke about “Targeted Nutrition Therapy to Support Wound Healing” and for Fall 2021 where she expanded on the importance of nutrition in wound care “Nutrition: Heart of Healthcare and Wound Care.
Dr. Samuel Nwafor MD FACP FAPWCA is the Medical Director of The Wound & Hyperbaric Medicine Center at Mountain Vista Hospital Mesa Arizona. He is also the Medical Director of the Wound program at Tempe St Luke’s Hospital in Tempe, Arizona and the Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Hannah Medical Institute, Phoenix Arizona. He is a certified wound physician who is also dual board certified in Internal Medicine and Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine. He attended the University of Nigeria College of Medicine, Enugu, Nigeria and did his postgraduate residency training at the New York Medical College /Metropolitan Hospital, New York and the State University of New York/St John’s Episcopal Hospital, Farrockaway New York. Dr Nwafor holds a postgraduate Executive leadership & management certificate from the Said Business School, University of Oxford, England.
Alisha Oropallo, MD FACS, FSVS, FABWMS is a Professor of Surgery at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra University/Northwell and the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. She practices as the Director of the Comprehensive Wound Healing Center at Northwell Health and Program Director of the Wound and Burn Fellowship program at Northwell Health. Dr. Oropallo completed her residency in Vascular Surgery at Boston University Medical Center and her General Surgery residency at Maimonides Medical Center, NY. She has been the lead investigator on multiple clinical trials, published papers, and has been invited to present lectures in wound healing globally. She is interested in education, research, and quality measures in tissue regeneration to help improve patient outcomes.
Barbara Pieper, PhD, RN, BC-ACNS, FAAN, WOCNF is a Professor Emerita, Wayne State University, College of Nursing, Detroit, MI. During her employment, she taught undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral courses. She held a joint university-clinical position with the Detroit Medical Center for 27 years. During that time, she primarily provided chronic wound care to persons who injected street drugs. She is widely published and had research funding.
Dianne Rudolph, DNP, APRN, GNP-BC, CWOCN is a nurse practitioner board-certified in Gerontological advanced practice nursing and as a wound, ostomy and continence nurse. She has been a nurse for more than 35 years with experience in trauma care, acute care, home care, hospice, long term care, rehab and wound care. She is very passionate about caring for adults and older adults with complex medical and wound needs. She has been wound care certified for over 26 years. She has been a faculty member for several schools of nursing and is a former assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. She also works as a nurse expert witness for medico legal issues. She has presented multiple lectures and has published articles and book chapters on a variety of topics related to wound, ostomy and geriatric care issues. She currently works for South Texas Wound Associates in San Antonio and is responsible for evaluation and management of clinic patients with complex wound and ostomy issues as well as supervision of patients receiving hyperbaric oxygen treatments.
Rob has been in the field of hyperbaric medicine since 1985. He has been a Certified Hyperbaric Technologist since 1991. He is a frequent lecturer in hyperbaric medicine, hyperbaric safety, care of acrylics, and hyperbaric facility maintenance courses. He has authored several publications, including 3 textbook chapters. He is former Chair of the UHMS Safety Committee and the NFPA Technical Committee on Hyperbaric and Hypobaric Facilities. He is Past President of the UHMS Gulf Coast Chapter.
Dr. Ronald Sherman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery and Surgical Podiatrist for the Diabetic Foot and Wound Care Service at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland since November 2012. He has a faculty appointment in the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy at Johns Hopkins. He is Board Certified with the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery since 1983, a Fellow with the American Foot and Ankle Surgeons and a Wound Care Certified Physician from the Council for Medical Education and Testing for over 10 years. He has always been involved with education having been a Podiatric Residency Director for a decade at University of Maryland and Mercy Medical Center and now serves as the Program Director of the Limb Preservation and Wound Care Fellowship at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Sherman is well published on close to twenty peer- reviewed articles on topics relevant to diabetic foot morbidity and wound care. He lectures monthly on this topic in hopes of providing an understanding of this mutlifactorial disease to prevent the development of diabetic foot ulceration. This is acheived through statisitcally validated review to bring paradigms and abnormal diabetic gait interpertation illustrated through Computerized Assisted Gait Analysis to the community in hopes of reducing the epidemic effects of diabetes.
Dot is a certified Wound and Ostomy Nurse and a Certified Wound Specialist. She is Co-Chair of the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care, on the faculty for the Wound Certification Prep Course, and is the secretary of the International Wound Infection Institute She practices clinically at the Saratoga Hospital Center for Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine, and is a national and international consultant and educator.
Coming soon!
Emily has worked as an RN at IWK Health in Halifax, NS since graduating with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Dalhousie University in 2010. In 2017, she graduated from the ETNEP program and completed her CNA certification. In early 2018 she accepted the position she continues to hold as a NSWOC at IWK Health serving women, children, and their families. This role includes all three subspecialties of wound, ostomy, and continence as well as burn care for both the inpatient and outpatient population, for three Canadian provinces. In December 2022, Emily completed her Certificate in Registered Nurse Prescribing through Dalhousie University as part of a pilot project to better serve the needs of the patient population. As a presenter and strong advocate for the inclusion of pediatrics in local and national education programming, being a part of the NSWOC Pediatric Community of Practice has offered a great source of support, expertise,and collaboration. As the Core Program Lead for this Community of Practice, Emily is pleased to present the first project completed by the group.