EDOPC Partners & Staff
Our Funders
The EDOPC staff is grateful for the support from the following organizations, without whom this project would not be possible.
Advocate Health Care, Healthy Steps Program
Advocate Health Care, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, is the largest fully integrated not-for-profit health care delivery system in metropolitan Chicago and is recognized as one of the top 10 systems in the country. Tracing its beginnings back 100 years, Advocate has eight hospitals with 3,500 beds and more than 200 sites of care. More than 24,500 people work at Advocate. With more than 4,600 affiliated physicians Advocate has Chicago’s largest economically aligned physician network. Related to both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ, Advocate’s mission is to serve the health needs of individuals, families and communities through a holistic philosophy rooted in our fundamental understanding of human beings as created in the image of God. To guide its relationships and actions, Advocate embraces the five values of compassion, equality, excellence, partnership and stewardship.
Healthy Steps for Young Children (Healthy Steps) began in 1997 as a national initiative that focuses on the importance of the first three years of life. Healthy Steps emphasizes a close relationship between health care professionals and parents in addressing the physical, emotional, and intellectual growth and development of children from birth to age three. The Healthy Steps approach is being implemented in pediatric and family practices across the country and is meeting an array of community needs while preserving its unique linkage to a team of health care professionals. Advocate Health Care’s Healthy Steps program is recognized as a national leader in the delivery of developmental care to children 0-3, has partnered with diverse health care sites and early childhood programs in the Chicago metropolitan area to implement a model of care that enhances parent/provider interaction and improves patient satisfaction. Through training and technical assistance the program has impacted private physician practices, federally qualified health centers, pediatric and family practice residency programs, day care centers, public health departments, and hospitals.
Advocate Health Care, Healthy Steps Program EDOPC Staff:
Anita Berry, MSN, CNP, APN Director
Debbie Beck, Healthy Steps Coordinator
Ram Chalasani, MBBS, MPH, Healthy Steps Consultant
Patty Mack, RN, LMFT, Healthy Steps Consultant
Sheila Stadler, MS Healthy Steps Coordinator
Illinois Academy of Family Physicians (IAFP)
IAFP is Illinois’ professional medical specialty society dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of family medicine in healthcare and surgery. The organization represents more than 4,400 family physicians, family medicine residents, and medical students across Illinois, and is a constituent chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the largest medical specialty association in the country with nearly 95,000 members.
IAFP’s four major goals are to: educate the people of Illinois that family physicians are the ideal primary care providers and are unique in both the full scope of practice covered by the specialty and in their role as patient advocates; provide education to family physicians to assist them in providing continuous and comprehensive care to individuals and their families during a time of rapid change; involve more members in effectively promoting our mission to the public, employers, government, and other relevant constituencies; and, develop effective, convenient, and fun means of communication for family physicians, residents, and medical students.
To accomplish its goals, IAFP provides members and other audiences with several membership programs and benefits including: practice-based support; public relations; government relations; continuing medical education; resident and student activities; networking opportunities; a speakers bureau; and publications.
IAFP EDOPC Staff:
Vince Keenan, CAE Executive Vice President
Kate Valentine, Education Manager
Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics:
ICAAP is an organization of approximately 2,300 pediatricians in Illinois. The mission of the ICAAP is to promote the right of all children to live happy, safe, and healthy lives, to ensure children receive quality medical care from pediatricians and to assess and serve the needs of its membership. Primary activities include advocacy on behalf of children, families, and health professionals in Illinois; the provision of continuing medical education and other resources for pediatricians, pediatric specialists, and other child health care providers; and collaboration with other state organizations and agencies on programs and projects that improve the health and well-being of children.
ICAAP’s primary activities are educational programs funded by state/city agencies, private foundations, and corporations and targeted to primary care providers. Chapter educational projects address asthma diagnosis and management, tobacco cessation counseling, immunizations, developmental screening, and other topics, and focused on practice-based programming that provides personalized content for pediatricians as well as the other health professionals and support staff in their offices. Advocacy efforts focused on protecting and raising Medicaid reimbursement rates, increasing gun control measures, and improving immunization practices and availability. Finally, ICAAP helps connect pediatricians throughout the state through its quarterly newsletter, web site, and dozens of educational, networking, and social events.
ICAAP EDOPC Staff:
Scott Allen, MS, Executive Director
Juanona Brewster, MDiv, MTS, MJ, Director of Early Childhood Development Projects
Paula Zajac, Project Coordinator
Tari Toppe, Administrative Assistant
Project Evaluation:
Jenifer Cartland, PhD
Jenifer Cartland, PhD, a research assistant professor at the Northwestern University Medical School, is the Director of CHDL and oversees its daily operations. Dr. Cartland is a public policy analyst with fifteen years of experience working on child and adolescent health and welfare issues. Her areas of expertise include health care financing, community-based interventions and child and adolescent injury.
Traci Smith, MPH
Tracie L. Smith, MPH, is an epidemiologist at the Child Health Data Lab at the Children's Memorial Research Center. She has worked at CHDL since September 2006 and has several years experience and training in diabetes research at the University of Chicago. She received her Masters in Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago in Maternal Child Health/Epidemiology.
EDOPC Speaker List
Nadia Abu-Nijmeh, MD
Deborah Albright, MD
Nancy Auer, RN
Anita Berry, MSN, CNP, APN
Dana Brazdziunas, MD
Patti Buck, MD
Robert Campbell, LSW
Ram Chalasani, MBBS, MPH
Mary Joyce Christensen, RN, MSN, CPNP
Leslie Cordes, MD
J. Michael Cupoli, MD
Ann T. Cutler, MD
Richard Czerniejewski, MD
Lori Davie
Belinda Davis, RN, BSN
Larry Desch, MD
Mary Dobbins, MD
Karen Eisenmenger, MD
April Gann, MS
Dana Good, MD
Ruchi Gupta, MD
Laura Hans, MD
Prabhamani Iyer, MD
Molly Johnson, NP
Vida Jordan, RN
Jennifer Kleinfeldt
Karole A. Lakota, MD
Rebecca Lamont, RN
Loretta Lattyak, RN
Patricia Mack, RN, LMFT
Michelle Maloney, PNP
Rabia Manzoor, MD
Doreen Minnice, RN
Daniel Morra, MD
Charles Morton, MD
Kathy Pavkov, RN
Channing Petrak, MD
Kim Pieczynski, PNP
Jennifer Prozument, M.Ed.
Sreemdevi Ramakeirskman, MD
Mark Rosenberg, MD
Deborah Singleton, MD
Peter J. Smith, MD
Tiy Smith, MD
Arlene Sperhac, PhD, RN
Gopal Srinivasan MD
Sheila Stadler, MS
Jeanie Sullivan, MD
Helen Tcheng, MD
Carol Teplic, MD
Karin Vander Ploeg Booth, MD
Dennis Vickers, MD
Lee Washington, MD
Laura Watters
Margaret Wiedmann, MD
Margaret Wilson, MD
