Meet the Taskforce
Leadership Team
Malathi Balasundaram, MD
Founder & Executive Director
Clinical Professor, Stanford School of Medicine
Neonatal Intensivist & FCC Committee Chair,
El Camino Health NICU
Morgan Kowalski
Director of Operations
Family Liaison, American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Hospital Care
NICU Parent
Keira Sorrells
Director of Impact and Strategy
Founder & Executive Director,
NICU Parent Network
NICU Parent
Board of Directors
Robert Cicco, MD
Mitchell Goldstein, MD
Ashley Howell, MBA
Jadene Wong, MD
Committee Chairs
Kerri Machut, MD
Advocacy Committee Co-Chair
Attending Neonatologist,
Lurie Children’s Hospital
Associate Professor,
Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University
Nicole Nyberg, MSN, APRN, NNP-BC
Advocacy Committee Co-Chair
Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Cone Health
Founder, Empowering NICU Parents & The Empowering
NICU Parents Podcast
Jessi Barnes, MSN, RN, RNC-NIC, NPD-BC, C-ELBW
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging, & jUSTICE Committee Co-Chair
Neonatal Outreach Coordinator,
Atlanta Perinatal Region
NICU Clinical Nurse Educator, Grady Memorial Hospital
Mia Malcolm, BS, CDFT
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging, & jUSTICE Committee Co-Chair
Community Outreach & Programs Care Manager, Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation
Senior Research Coordinator, Washington University School of Medicine
Clinical Research Coordinator, Stanford University School of Medicine
Colby Day, MD
Quality Improvement Committee Co-chair
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of Florida Jacksonville
Fellow Liaison, Vermont Oxford Network
Lelis Bauzá Vernon, S.Q.I.L.
Quality Improvement Committee
Florida PQC
Editorial Board,
AAP Publications
Clinical Advisor, AAP, SoNPM
Faculty Family, Vermont Oxford Network
Daphna Barbeau, MD
Marketing & Communications Committee Co-Chair
Attending Neonatologist,
Director of Neurodevelopment & Palliative Care, HCA University Hospital
Director, High Risk Infant Follow Up Clinic
Co-Founder, The Incubator
Alex Zavala
Marketing & Communications Committee Co-Chair
Founder, The NICU Dad & The NICU Dad Podcast
PFAC Chair, Dell Ascencion NICU Network
Family Leader, Vermont Oxford Network
Robert Cicco, MD
Newsletter Committee Co-Chair
Retired Neonatologist
Former Associate Director, West Penn Hospital NICU
Morgan Kowalski
Newsletter Committee Co-Chair
Director of Operations, Family-Centered Care Taskforce
Family Liaison, American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Hospital Care
Executive Council of Family Partners
Fabiana Bacchini
Lelis Bauzá Vernon, S.Q.I.L.
Latoya Blueford
Sahra Cahoon
Jennifer Canvasser, MSW
Tracy Pella, MA, EdS, LMHP
Marybeth Fry, M.Ed.
Yamile Jackson, PhD, PE, PMP
Erika Goyer
Mia Malcolm, BS, CDFT
Erika Mendence
Lenette Serlo
Misti Staley
Katrina Moline
Kimberly Novod, MPH
Betsy Pilon
Alex Zavala
Executive Council of Healthcare Partners
Jessi Barnes, MSN, RN, RNC-NIC, NPD-BC, C-ELBW
Anisha Bhatia Attawala, MD, FAAP
Cameron N. Boyd, MD
Marsha Campbell-Yeo, RN, BN, NNP-BC, PhD, FAAN
Mary Coughlin, MS, NNP, NCC-E
Jessica Daigle, MD
Colby Day, MD
Christy Gliniak, PhD, OTR/L, CNT, CPXP, NTMTC
Henry Lee, MD
Ramya Kumar MS, CCC-SLP, BCSS, CNT, IBCLC, NTMTC, SBCS
Lily Lou, MD, FAAP
Angelica Moreyra, PsyD
Andrea C. Morris, DNP, RNC-NIC, CCRN-K, CNS
Nicole Nyberg, MSN, APRN, NNP-BC
Amanda Yeaton-Massey, MFM
Advisory Council of Family Partners
Nishan Degnarain, MPA
Amy Finn
Molly Fraust-Wylie
Elizabeth Simonton, JD
Advisory Council of Healthcare Partners
Jessica Fry, MD
Luann Jones, DNP, APRN, NNP-BC, NE-BC
Kerri Machut, MD
Dharshi Sivakumar, MD
Vincent Smith, MD, MPH
Robert White, MD
Organizational Partners
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