Health IT Advisory Board
In order to strengthen the depth of our health-domain and health IT experience providing guidance to our staff and clients, TekSynap has established a formal professional relationship with industry experts from the industry, academia, and the public sector to serve on the TekSynap Health Advisory Board.
The Board is an IT/Healthcare expertise fusion center, helping TekSynap architect solutions to support tomorrow’s Health IT challenges. The Board members bring domain expertise in all relevant CIO-SP3 health related areas, and are expert in health IT security, forensics, clinical trials, electronic health records, IT governance, collaboration and information sharing, quality and process management, applications development, data management, and enterprise workflow. Since the advisory group consists of members with both health-domain expertise and Health IT expertise, they are able to bridge the gap between the two disciplines, bringing an understanding of how to apply IT to address the unique language, culture, and mission requirements of the various health domains.
TekSynap Health IT “Fusion Center”
Members of the Health IT Advisory Board represent a wide range of health IT domain expertise and:
- Serve as Health IT thought leaders in a customer-facing environment
- Interface with NIH Institutes in their language to understand their requirements and drive solutions
- Inform and educate the TekSynap PMO , TekSynap Team Members, and prospective clients on relevant IT health innovations
- Assist in guiding and determining the ongoing evolution of TekSynap’s IT products and services portfolio
- Assist and guide the PMO in market identification and market development activities
- Leverage unique, diverse technological expertise to develop tailored solutions to NIH’s most pressing challenges to support TOR submissions
- Participate in government and industry groups
- Assist NITAAC Industry Advisory Council.
Highlights and a brief bio on each of the TekSynap Health IT Advisory Board members:
Arumani Manisundaram
Arumani Manisundaram has been the Director for the Center for Connected Health and the Chief Technology Architect at Adventist HealthCare, CTO of Population Health at the Mid-Atlantic Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), CTO of Population Health at One Health Quality Alliance, and the program manager for the Center Bio-Medical Informatics Grid (caBIG) / Cancer Grid (caGrid) while at Booz Allen Hamilton. He specializes in Population Health Management, Health Informatics, Interoperability, Personalized Medicine, Translational Research, EHR Deployment, Meaningful Uses of EHR, PHR, Health Information Exchanges, HealthCare Integrations, Analytics, Accountable Care Organization, Clinically Integrated Network and Telemedicine.
Dr. Jonathan Larson
Dr. Larson, Ed.D., M.S., L.C.P.C., C.R.C., B.C.P.C. is The Apelago Group’s Research Director and also maintains a full-time position as an associate professor of psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He has 19 years of experience providing mental health services and teaching therapy skills to practitioners and undergraduate and graduate students. Within his mental health practice, he incorporates neurofeedback, EEG regulation, cognitive therapy, and behavioral methods. He was awarded and currently directs research activities as Co-PI for a transformation grant on Trauma Informed Care for Veterans and Family Members funded by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. He is a Co-PI for the Patient-Centered Research Center project of Peer Navigators for Latinos with mental illness funded by the Agency for Health Research and Quality. Dr. Larson is the PI for Testing the Effectiveness of Neurofield; A Pulsed Electromagnetic Field System for Electroencephalogram Regulation funded by Neurofield, Inc. He was a PI on 4 Rehabilitation Training Grants funded by Rehabilitation Services Administration, Department of Education. Dr. Larson was a Co-PI on Supported Education for Veterans with Mental Illness funded by Veterans Administration. He was a funded co-investigator within the Center on Adherence and Self-Determination funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. He has 52 peer reviewed publications, 1 published book, 6 book chapters, and 17 published training chapters.
Dr. Ellen Hess
Dr. Hess area of concentration is on Genetic regulation of behavior with emphasis on movement disorders; mutant and transgenic mouse models of neurological disease; dopamine dysfunction in dystonia and other movement disorders; cerebellar dysfunction in dystonia; regulation of neurotransmitter release; behavioral pharmacology. Dr. Hess has a B.A. in Psychobiology (Magna cum laude with honors), Wellesley College; Ph.D. in Neuroscience, University of California; and a Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute. Over the years, she has served on over twenty local, academic, and national advisory boards including:
- National Institute of Health, Neurological Sciences 2 study section
- National Institute of Health, Fellowship Review Section (F02B)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), Neurological Sciences and Disorders A (NSD-A) study section
She is also an ad hoc reviewer and contributor to a number of medical journals and research papers including the American Journal of Physiology; Brain Research; Cerebral Cortex; Experimental Neurology; Genes, Brain & Behavior; Genomics; Journal of Neurophysiology; Journal of Neuroscience; Journal of Neuroscience Research; Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics; Journal of Psychiatric Research; Molecular Brain Research; Movement Disorders; Nature Neuroscience; Neurobiology of Disease; Neurology; Neuropharmacology; Neuroscience; Neurotoxicity Research; Pharmacology; Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior; Synapse
Dr. Hyder Jinnah (MD/PhD)
Dr. Hyder Jinnah obtained a joint MD/PhD degree as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California in San Diego in 1993, completed a Neurology Residency at Johns Hopkins University in 1997, joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins for 10 years, and moved to Emory University in 2008. He is currently Professor of Neurology, Pediatrics and Human Genetics. Approximately 20% of his time is devoted to clinical service, with 80% devoted to research. Dr. Hyder’s research focuses on clinical and translational issues in movement disorders and genetics, and he has been continuously funded since 1997. A substantial portion of his work has addressed both the basic and clinical sciences relevant to Lesch-Nyhan disease. He also is PI of consortium of investigators focusing on the dystonias (U54 NS065701/TR001456), part of the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. In both programs his lab has studied the neurobiology of the disorders at the genetic, molecular, cellular, anatomical, physiological and neurobehavioral levels. They have used a combination of cell and animal models, combined with clinical studies. Along the way, they have used or develop many data storage and/or analysis platforms, including the design of multiple clinical databases for research and/or clinical management.
Nick Romanyk
Nick Romanyk is President and CEO of Romanyk Consulting Corp. His deep background in health services and hospital administration includes his tenure with the Sierra Medical Center, Providence Memorial Hospital, and Deloitte & Touche, where he focused on strategic and financial planning and operational improvement through business process reengineering. In 1996, Mr. Romanyk brought his extensive experience in the healthcare sector to the formation of his own company, Romanyk Consulting. Under his leadership, Romanyk Consulting has earned a reputation for quality support to health sector clients such as the VA and Indian Health Service. He has extensive, recent experience performing a fresh look analysis of Veterans health care for the Pacific region for the VA Sierra Pacific Network (VISN 21) and VAPIHCS. He developed a patent-pending Workload Allocation Model (WAM) process used in allocating workload across multiple facilities to improve access to care for our Veterans. Nick holds a Master of Science – Industrial Engineering from The University of Texas at El Paso and a Bachelor of Science – Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.
Laura Bennett
Laura Bennett is a federal health expert with a proven track record that includes contracts with the Defense Health Agency (DHA), FDA, and HRSA. Since 2010, Laura has been an active member of the Maryland Chapter of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society – National Capital Area (HIMSS-NCA) acting in a variety of volunteer functions. Laura currently serves on the Board as the Acting Programs Chair. Previously, Laura served as Health Information Exchange (HIE) Liaison (2014-2015), Co-Chair for the Programs Board (from 2012 to 2014) and has been a Programs Board Member since 2010. Laura has been an active advocate of integrating IT into the healthcare environment including:
- Co-Moderator, Internet of Things, HIMSS NCA, September 2015
- Co-Moderator, Big Data and Advanced Analytics: Opportunities to Improve Population Health Panel, HIMSS NCA, January 15, 2015
- Co-Moderator, Health Insurance Marketplace Panel, HIMSS NCA, March 2014
- Co-Moderator, Mobile Health Panel, HIMSS NCA, January 2011
Ray Vogel
Ray Vogel, M.H.S.A., holds a B.S. degree in Biology from Wheeling Jesuit University and M.S. degree in Health Services Administration from the George Washington University. Currently serving as Director of Healthcare Development with PhaseOne Consulting Group, he supports Federal agency clients through information technology solutions for electronic Government, supporting population health management missions within the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Health and Human Services. With over 25 years senior-level experience in healthcare operations and managed care, including executive-level positions spanning acute care, long-term care, insurance organizations, within Government and private sectors, he offers demonstrated expertise in capital and information technology investments enabling multi-million member population health management capabilities. Across private and Governmental sectors, Mr. Vogel has developed and managed business processes and enterprise information technology for: National provider identification, licensure and certification; electronic data interchange, including eCommerce language and security standards of 5010/D.0; managed Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement negotiations including New Provider Exemption and Atypical Service Exception Medicare cost reports. Within the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mr. Vogel was a reporting Board member of the National Center for Vital Health Statistics, a CMS data reporting and policy body supporting secure use of electronic commerce data for improved population health outcomes across Federal beneficiary populations of Medicare, Medicaid, and Veteran eligibles. As Deputy Director for eBusiness, Mr. Vogel provided secure systems and oversight of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) of over 60M outbound claims per year, under the current 5010/D.0 X-12 standard, complying with HL7 and WEDI conventions.
Greg Sanchez
Greg Sanchez holds B.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Bio-Medical Engineering from the University of Rochester. Currently serving as the Chief Technology Officer for General Dynamics Information Technology’s Health and Civilian Solutions division, he provides leadership and strategic direction for information technology initiatives and researches IT trends. He is expert in such IT services as cloud computing, data management and analytics, security, managed services and contact center. His vast knowledge spans across industries including health care, financial services, energy and the Federal government. He capitalizes on a unique ability to understand trends in technology and implement the best solutions for customers within the healthcare and health IT domain, and is recognized for his specialty in modernizing organizations for maximum effectiveness and defining and building systems to assist organizations in meeting business goals and mission requirements.
Health IT Advisory Board Member Biographical Information
The combination of TekSynap members’ extensive health domain/health IT experience with the depth and breadth of our associated health domain and IT staff resources provides NITAAC with a team having a broad range of capabilities to respond to any health IT challenge. The addition of our Health IT Advisory Board members provides proven expertise from the overall health and health IT fields that reinforces TekSynap’s ability to deliver the right IT solution to meet any agency’s health related mission
