Guest Speakers and Panelists
U.S. Senator John Boozman
John Boozman is Arkansas’s senior U.S. Senator and the dean of the state’s Congressional delegation. A fifth-generation Arkansan, John was raised in Fort Smith and graduated from Northside High School. He went on to play football for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks while completing his pre-optometry requirements. He graduated from the Southern College of Optometry in 1977 and entered private practice that same year co-founding a family business with his brother that would ultimately become a major provider of eye care to Northwest Arkansas.
John serves on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, commonly referred to as the Helsinki Commission. He serves on the Congressional Study Group on Europe (CSGE), a bipartisan organization dedicated to frank and candid dialogue between American lawmakers and their peers in European capitals and Brussels and has been appointed the Vice Chairman of the Senate Delegation to the British-American Interparliamentary Group during the 116th Congress. In addition, John also serves as one of six Congressional Regents on the Smithsonian Institute’s Board of Regents which governs and administers the organization.
First elected to the Senate in 2010, John was sworn in for a second term on January 3, 2017. Prior to serving in the Senate, he represented the people of the Third District of Arkansas in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Arkansas Senator Missy Irvin
Senator Missy Thomas Irvin is serving her fourth term in the Arkansas Senate representing Senate District 18, which is comprised of Cleburne, Stone, and Searcy counties and portions of Baxter, Faulkner, Fulton, Marion, Van Buren and White counties. During the 92nd General Assembly, she is Chairman of the Senate Public Health, Welfare, and Labor Committee, Public Health – Senate Health Services Committee, and Chairman of Joint Budget Special Language committee and Co-Chairman of ALC-Occupational Licensing Review Subcommittee. She is Vice-Chairman of Joint Budget committee (JBC) and Vice-Chairman of ALC-Claims Review Committee. She holds membership on the following committees: Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC), ALC-PEER, ALC-Review, Senate Insurance and Commerce Committee, ALC-Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace Oversight Subcommitee, ALC- Administrative Rules, Boys State, Joint Performance Review and Senate Efficiency Committee.
Regionally and nationally, Senator Irvin works with legislators from across the nation as a member of the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), and the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC). She is the State Chair for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). She sits on numerous committees with all organizations. She is a founding board member of the Human Rights for Kids Organization.
Senator Irvin was first elected to the Senate in 2010 representing Senate District 10 as the first Republican to hold the seat since Reconstruction in 1874. She was also the first woman and the first resident of Stone County to hold the seat. She was also the youngest woman ever elected to the Arkansas Senate at the age of 39.
Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA
Chancellor, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, serves as chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), leading Arkansas’ only health sciences university with a mission to educate tomorrow’s health care professionals, perform research that translates to new treatments and deliver exceptional patient care at locations across the state.
Patterson, a renowned cardiologist and health care administrator, became chancellor June 1, 2018. He was previously senior vice president and chief operating officer of New York- Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Komansky Children’s Hospital in New York.
Patterson previously held numerous academic and clinical appointments at the University of North Carolina, including as physician-in-chief at the UNC Center for Heart and Vascular Care and executive director of the UNC McAllister Heart Institute.
Over the course of his career, Patterson as principal investigator or co-investigator has received more than $60 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His work has been published in 323 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Vanderbilt University, his medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine and his Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler School of Business.
His residency, including a year as chief resident, was conducted at Emory University Affiliated Hospitals. He was a research fellow at the Cardiovascular Biology Laboratory in the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and a clinical fellow in cardiology at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas, where he joined the institution’s faculty in 1998.
His wife, Kristine Patterson, M.D., is an infectious disease specialist who is an expert in treating menopausal women with HIV. They have three children Celia, Anna and Graham.
Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., FACS
Executive Vice Chancellor, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Dean, College of Medicine
Dr. Chris Westfall was named Dean of the UAMS College of Medicine in September 2018 after serving in many leadership roles during his 21 years on the faculty, including six months as Interim Dean.
His past posts include Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, Director of the Harvey and Bernice Jones Eye Institute and Director of the Surgical Services Service Line. In 2008 he was invested as the inaugural holder of the Pat Walker Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology.
Dr. Westfall received his undergraduate degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and his medical degree at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. He completed a residency in general surgery at Keesler USAF Medical Center, was certified by the American Board of Surgery and awarded fellowship in the American College of Surgeons (FACS).
He went on to complete a residency in ophthalmology at Wilford Hall Air Force Medical Center and a two-year fellowship in ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School. He is certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Westfall served as Department Chair and Ophthalmology Residency Director at Wilford Hall Air Force Medical Center. He retired at the rank of Colonel, as Chief Consultant in Ophthalmology to the U.S. Air Force Surgeon General.
Nelson Peacock
President and CEO, Northwest Arkansas Council
Nelson Peacock is the president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council, a private, nonprofit economic development organization that works to improve quality of life, infrastructure, education and economic opportunity in Northwest Arkansas. Peacock has a bachelor of arts degree and a juris doctorate degree from the University of Arkansas and a master of law degree from the George Washington University School of Law.
Prior to joining the Northwest Arkansas Council, he served as a senior vice president for the University of California Office of the President. Prior to that, Peacock was appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the Office of Legislative Affairs for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In this role, he was responsible for all aspects of the department’s interactions with Congress on issues related to counter-terrorism, immigration, cybersecurity and natural disasters.
Drake Rippelmeyer, M.D.
Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks
Dr. Drake Rippelmeyer is a board-certified staff physician and assistant chief of medicine with the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks and a core faculty member of the UAMS Internal Medicine Residency Program in Northwest Arkansas. He received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1980 and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society.
Before joining the VA, Dr. Rippelmeyer worked at the Whiteriver PHS Indian Hospital in Arizona, where he served both as a primary care provider and as an internal medicine consultant. He was also the director of several clinics there as well as a member of the ethics committee and pharmacy and therapeutics committee.
Len Marquez
Senior Director, Government Relations & Legislative
Advocacy at Association of American Medical Colleges
As senior director of government relations and legislative advocacy at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Len Marquez serves as the primary contact for congressional staff and legislators and is the lead association advocate on such issues as Graduate Medical Education (GME), Medicare payments, and the physician workforce. Prior to joining the AAMC in 2009, Mr. Marquez gained more than 15 years of experience in government relations at the Cleveland Clinic and The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio, and in the office of U.S. Senator Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) in Washington, D.C. Mr. Marquez holds a B.A. in communications from Xavier University and an M.A. in journalism and public affairs from American University. Len resides in Potomac Falls, Virginia with his wife, Jennifer and their three daughters.
Stephanie F. Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D.
Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost
UAMS Chief Strategy Officer
Dr. Stephanie Gardner is the senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost for UAMS. In this role, she serves as chief academic officer for the institution, providing leadership and coordinating resources for the UAMS education mission that includes five colleges and a graduate school, 62 degree and certificate programs, 1,522 faculty members, 2,727 students, 870 resident physicians and five dental residents.
In 2019, UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson asked Dr. Gardner to serve as the institution’s chief strategy officer. In this role, she coordinates strategic planning, which includes leading development of the UAMS Vision 2029 strategic plan.
She’s been at UAMS for 28 years, serving 12 years as dean for the UAMS College of Pharmacy before becoming provost in 2015.
Pearl McElfish , Ph.D., MBA
Vice Chancellor for UAMS Northwest
Dr. Pearl McElfish is the vice chancellor of the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus. Dr. McElfish holds a doctorate of philosophy in public policy from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, a master’s degree in community and economic development from the University of Central Arkansas and a master’s degree in business administration from John Brown University.
Dr. McElfish has authored more than 100 publications and secured more than $60 million in federal research funding.
Susan Barrett
Northwest Arkansas Council
Susan Barrett is a retired healthcare executive and a longtime member of the Northwest Arkansas Council. Over her career in health care, she has served as president, CEO of a number of health systems in the heartland, Kansas and Arkansas. She began her career as a registered medical technologist. She retired from Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas following a leadership period of significant growth and transformational change. She holds a strong belief in the ability of people working together for a common vision and accomplishing great common good. She currently serves as chair of the Northwest Arkansas Council’s Steering Committee for the new Healthcare Division.
LaShannon Spencer
CEO, Community Health Centers of Arkansas
LaShannon Spencer has several years of experience in hospital and health care leadership positions working with clinicians, physicians and hospital staff, as well as community stakeholders as chief strategist with KLS Health Solutions, LLC, a health care consulting firm.
She earned her B.S. in Mass Communications from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, her M.P.A. (Master’s in Public Administration) from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and an M.H.S.A. (Master’s in Health Services Administration) from University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois. She has completed her required doctoral course work from the University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Community Health Sciences in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ms. Spencer’s experience includes hospital operations, public policy, advocacy, patient and physician relations, patient safety and quality measures. She is regarded as a thought leader regarding access to quality health care services for vulnerable populations.
Mikaila Calcagni, M.D.
Dr. Mikaila Calcagni is an internal medicine resident in the Internal Medicine Residency Program on the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus. Dr. Calcagni graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arkansas with a biology degree. She then attended medical school at UAMS and graduated as the top student in clinical skills among 174 in her class. She was also honored for maintaining a 4.0 GPA throughout the four-year term.
Dr. Calcagni is interested in a career in academic medicine and aspires to join the UAMS faculty after graduation, with current interest areas including hematology/oncology, sports medicine and hospitalist medicine. Dr. Calcagni is also a longstanding member of the Washington County Medical Reserve Corps, which provides disaster relief both locally and regionally.