Sepsis Alliance Welcomes Impressive Group of Medical Experts and Executive Leaders to Advisory Board

October 30, 2020

Six New Members to Contribute Sepsis-Focused Experience in Business and Healthcare

 

Sepsis Alliance is pleased to announce the expansion of its Advisory Board with the addition of six experts in their respective fields. This robust collection of individuals includes a doctor and associate professor who has spent nearly a decade working to combat maternal sepsis, and the President and CEO of a company that focuses on the rapid detection of sepsis-causing pathogens. The new members will join an existing group of four dozen experts who provide ongoing advice and support to the organization.

“The Sepsis Alliance Advisory Board is an invaluable component of the work that we do to save lives and reduce suffering by improving sepsis awareness and care,” said Thomas Heymann, Sepsis Alliance President and Executive Director. “These six talented individuals are joining an existing team of passionate changemakers and I’m confident that their presence will help Sepsis Alliance continue to drive progress and improve patient outcomes throughout the country.”

Meet the new members of the Sepsis Alliance Advisory Board below:

  • Melissa E. Bauer, DO is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Duke University Medical Center who has conducted and published research in maternal sepsis since 2012. She has dedicated her career to improving care for maternal sepsis patients and serves as an editor for the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative’s Maternal Sepsis Toolkit. Bauer’s work in coordinating maternal sepsis registries at seven academic medical centers fuels her passion for ensuring that a national maternal sepsis registry is created in the future.
  • Selena A. Gilles, DNP, ANP-BC, CNEcl, CCRN is a Clinical Assistant Professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. As a critical care provider, Gilles has firsthand experience caring for sepsis patients on the frontline. She brings previous non-profit experience to her new position on the Sepsis Alliance Advisory Board, with roles as the Programming and Community Service Chair for the Greater NYC Black Nurses Association and the Education Committee Co-Chair for H.E.A.L Haiti. Gilles is also a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine.
  • Samantha J. Gilman, JD, MPH is a lawyer who began her healthcare career as a policy consultant for state Medicaid programs and has continued her consulting work for nearly a decade. The loss of one of her best friends to sepsis in 2017 prompted Gilman to learn more about sepsis and the ways that she could use her experience to contribute to existing awareness efforts. Gilman intends to use her training as an attorney, as well as years of experience working on health policy issues with government, non-profit, and for-profit organizations, to further the mission of Sepsis Alliance.
  • Joel D. Kallich is an Adjunct Professor at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University and Instructor at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine. Kallich hopes to draw upon his experience in academia, government, advocacy, and industry to collaboratively work on building the foundation of a national sepsis registry.
  • Greg Olsen is the acting director of the New York State Office for the Aging where he is responsible for administering federal and state funded programs that assist more that 4.3 million older adults and 4 million informal caregivers across the state. Olsen previously served as the executive director of the New York State Coalition for the Aging, a nonprofit membership organization representing over 200 community-based groups that provide non-medical long-term care to the state’s older adult population.
  • John Sperzel is the President, Chief Executive Officer, and member of the Board of Directors of T2 Biosystems – a Massachusetts-based company that develops innovative diagnostic products to improve patient health. Sperzel’s connection to sepsis is deeply personal, as he acquired a sepsis-causing pathogen (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) while in the hospital following a heart transplant surgery in 2017.

To view all of the members of the current Sepsis Alliance Advisory Board, click here.

About Sepsis Alliance
Sepsis Alliance is the first and leading sepsis organization in the U.S., working to save lives and reduce suffering by improving sepsis awareness and care. In 2011, Sepsis Alliance designated September as Sepsis Awareness Month to bring healthcare professionals and community members together in the fight against sepsis. Sepsis Alliance gives a voice to the millions of people who have been touched by sepsis – to the survivors, and the friends and family members of those who have survived or who have died. Since 2003, sepsis awareness in the U.S. has risen from 19% to 71%. Sepsis Alliance is a GuideStar Gold Rated charity. For more information, please visit www.sepsis.org. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @SepsisAlliance.