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Erin Carlton, MD, MSc, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Pediatric Critical Care at the University of Michigan and a health services researcher at the Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Center. Dr. Carlton received her MD from the University of Toledo and trained in pediatrics at the University of Colorado. She completed her pediatric critical care medicine fellowship at University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Dr. Carlton received further research training in the Health and Healthcare Research program at the Institute for Health Policy and Innovation at University of Michigan. Dr. Carlton’s research focuses on improving long-term outcomes after pediatric critical illness, specifically severe sepsis. She strives to understand the factors influencing pediatric severe sepsis survivorship, with a long-term goal of developing and testing clinical interventions to mitigate post-sepsis morbidity.

Session Title: Transitions of Care for Pediatric Sepsis Survivors: From Hospital to Home

Session Day/Time: Wednesday, September 27, 2023, 2:25 - 2:55 PM EST

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Carol Ann Gelderman, MS, BSN, RN, NE-BC, CPHQ, PMP, currently serves as the Nurse Manager for the Sepsis and Diabetes programs at Northeast Georgia Health System, a 4-campus not-for-profit community hospital system. She attended the State University College at Plattsburgh where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts and then attended the University of Georgia where she obtained her Master of Science degree. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Brenau University. She currently holds a Project Management certification, Nurse Executive certification, and certification in Healthcare Quality along with holding a Green Belt in Six Sigma.

Carol Ann began her career at Northeast Georgia Health Systems as an Oncology Research Nurse participating in Phase II and III clinical trials. She expanded her experience by transitioning to a Quality Safety Coordinator role for the system where she spearheaded the opening of a new hospital campus in April 2015 with concentration in quality, safety, and goal deployment. After the loss of her 20-year-old daughter to sepsis, she transitioned to the system’s Sepsis Coordinator where she led the development of the system’s sepsis initiatives across the pre-hospital, acute care, and post-acute care settings. In 2020, she proposed and obtained funding for a sepsis navigation program to provide 24-hour, 7-day a week concurrent cross-check of emergency department and hospitalized patients in their system identified as high-risk of developing sepsis. The navigation program serves as a support of the primary care teams concurrently and provides feedback on opportunities for best practice care of the patients. The Sepsis Navigation program expanded in 2021 to include an outpatient component to support sepsis patients after discharge with extensive education, follow-up calls, and coordination of services with the next level of care. She will lead the expansion of the navigation program to include support of patients in the pre-hospital setting beginning first with EMS. In 2022, Carol Ann’s role expanded to include program development for the system’s inpatient and outpatient diabetes programs.

Session Title: Sepsis Navigation: Extending Care Beyond Acute Care, a Case Study

Session Day/Time: Wednesday, September 27, 2023, 3:55 - 4:25 PM EST

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Jeff Salvon-Harman, MD, CPE, CPPS, is a Certified Physician Executive, Certified Professional in patient safety, and Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Fellow who is resolute about creating safety and belonging for patients and the healthcare workforce. He provides strategic leadership in safety with deep operational expertise implementing change initiatives and applying quality improvement methods. He is a recognized subject matter expert in high reliability, patient and workforce safety, Human Factors application to Root Cause Analysis, and system level management of quality and safety.

Previously, Dr. Salvon-Harman was the Chief Patient Safety Officer/VP for the Quality Institute and the Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control for Presbyterian Healthcare Services in New Mexico. He is retired from the U.S. Public Health Service where he dedicated 20 years to the Indian Health Service and the U.S. Coast Guard in roles ranging from clinical service delivery to management and leadership. Dr. Salvon-Harman completed his residency in Family Medicine at Carilion Health System in Roanoke, VA after graduating from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, MA.

Session Title: Keynote: Building a Culture of Safety Around Sepsis Care 

Session Day/Time: Thursday, September 28, 2023, 10:45 AM - 11:15 AM EST

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Brittany McGraw, LISW, CCTP, ACSW, is a psychotherapist and Director of Clinical Therapy within the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Iowa Health Care (UIHC).  Brittany obtained her bachelor’s degree in social work from Loras College in Dubuque, IA, and her master’s degree in clinical social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Prior to working at UIHC, Brittany worked as a therapist at Riverview Center, a non-profit working with middle and high school students who had experienced sexual assault. Since coming to UIHC, Brittany has held a variety of positions, including working as a social worker in the Emergency Department, the Crisis Stabilization Unit, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Behavioral Oncology program, and Outpatient Psychiatry. Through her work, Brittany has led initiatives at UIHC to develop and/or update policies and provide training on domestic violence, human trafficking, trauma-informed care, and vicarious trauma.  Brittany also heads the UIHC domestic violence and human trafficking sub-working groups and is a member of the Protection of Persons Working Group and Trauma-Informed Care Initiative. Brittany is also a Co-Coordinator of the Johnson County Human Trafficking Coalition, an interdisciplinary coalition made up of various community members who may interact with human trafficking victims/survivors that works together to increase awareness of the issue of human trafficking and enhance access to resources.   

Session Title: Using a Trauma-Informed Care Approach for Sepsis Survivors

Session Day/Time: Thursday, September 28, 2023, 11:15 AM - 11:45 AM EST

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Debra M. Foster, BSc, spent 11 years as an RN in the adult critical care area. Thereafter, Debra joined the critical care clinical research team at Toronto General Hospital. She was project lead for a multi-national, multi-center clinical trial - the MEDIC study. The data was used for a successful 510(k) de novo submission to the FDA for the Endotoxin Activity Assay (EAA). It was the first IVD for sepsis. Debra went on to follow the device to its commercial partner, Spectral Medical, Inc. She became VP of Clinical Development in 2011.  Debra led many clinical research projects, including the MEDIC, EUPHRATES, and TIGRIS clinical trials, aimed at endotoxin in critical illness. Currently, Debra is a clinical consultant for Spectral Medical. She has lectured to medical professionals on the topics of sepsis, endotoxin, and clinical trials for sepsis and has been a co-author of more than 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals.  

Since 2014, Ramzy Rimawi, MD, has been an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, and Critical Care Medicine. At Emory University Hospital Midtown, he is an intensivist in both the medical and surgical intensive care units, as well as the director of the hospital’s resuscitation committee and sepsis committee. His clinical interests are sepsis, antibiotic stewardship, infection control, COVID-19, and resuscitation.

Session Title: Immunexpress Sponsored Session: Is Your Bundle Surviving Sepsis? 

Session Day/Time: Wednesday, September 27, 2023, 12:10 PM - 12:25 PM EST

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