Health Policy Faculty Bios
Dr. Elizabeth P. Clayborne, MD, MA Bioethics, is a faculty member of the University of Maryland Department of Emergency Medicine with an academic focus on ethics, health policy, end-of-life care and innovation and entrepreneurship in medicine. Dr. Clayborne currently serves as a member of the Ethics Committee of the American College of Emergency Physicians and is Chair of the MedChi Committee on Ethics and Judicial Affairs. She is also an active member of the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine, the American Medical Association and the National Medical Association. Dr. Clayborne attended Duke University as an undergraduate where she designed her own major in Medical Ethics and Religion. Prior to medical school she completed a two-year research fellowship at National Institutes of Health in the Social and Behavioral Research Branch of the National Human Genome Research Institute with a research focus on race, ethnicity and genetics. She went to medical school at Case Western Reserve University where she completed a dual MD/MA Bioethics degree. Her residency in Emergency Medicine was at the George Washington University Hospital where she served as Chief Resident in her fourth year.
Advocacy:
MedChi Committee on Ethics and Judicial Affairs, Chair
ACEP Leadership and Advocacy Conference
ACEP Political Action Committee
AMA Political Action Committee
Research:
End of Life Care in the ED
Early Palliative Care Interventions
ED Frequent Flyers
PATEC (Program for Aging, Trauma and Emergency Care)
Education:
Health Policy Elective, Director
Health Policy Fellowship
HP Journal Club
Baltimore Washington Transforming Health Policy Forum
Resident and medical student education through lectures, site visits, speakers and lunches
Dr. Kyle R. Fischer, MD, MPH, is an Adjunct Assistant Professor and Director of the Health Policy and Leadership Fellowship program in the University of Maryland Department of Emergency Medicine. Broadly, his interests focus on novel approaches to emergency department based public health interventions and their intersection with public policy. Dr. Fischer has done extensive work in the field of violence prevention through the National Network of Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs where he serves as the Policy Director and a member of the Steering Committee. Dr. Fischer’s health policy work is grounded in considerable experience in legislative health policy. He has previously held positions in the Wisconsin and Maryland state legislatures as well as the United States House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee- Subcommittee on Health. Additionally, he has remained active as a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He is currently the Maryland ACEP Policy Committee Chair and previously served on the PaACEP Board of Directors and Councilor at ACEP Council. Dr. Fischer obtained both his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Wisconsin. He completed his emergency medicine residency at Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he was also chief resident. He obtained his MPH from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Advocacy:
Policy Director for the National Network of Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs
Maryland Chapter of ACEP Policy Committee Chair
Legislative advocacy and “Hill Days”
Promotion and awareness of social determinants of health
Research:
Impact of health policy on emergency care delivered public health interventions
Violence Prevention
ACA and health reform
Education:
Health Policy Fellowship Director
Health Policy Journal Club
Resident and Medical Student HP engagement and training
Real-world policy experiences through advocacy, non-profit or governmental organizations
Dr. William Fleischman, MD, MHS, is a native of Brooklyn, NY. After completing undergraduate studies at Touro College, he studied medicine at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine, trained in emergency medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and completed a health services research fellowship at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program at Yale School of Medicine. His research examines how industry ties affect clinician behavior.
Advocacy:
ACEP Leadership and Advocacy Conferences
EMRA Health Policy Committee (chair)
Research:
Industry payments to Emergency Physicians
Industry payments and its association with prescribing
Alarms in the ED
Education:
Health policy lectures in residency
Health policy articles in EMRA magazine
Dr. Dan Gingold, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor in the University of Maryland Department of Emergency Medicine with academic and teaching focus on social medicine, mental health, substance abuse, evidence based medicine, and wilderness medicine. He currently is faculty mentor to the Social Medicine Interest Group, preceptor for the Social Emergency Medicine elective, and member of SAEM, AAEM, and ACEP. Dr. Gingold attended the College at the University of Chicago concentrating in physics and economics. He was a immunology research technician prior to attending Emory University for graduate school, receiving an MD in the School of Medicine and MPH in epidemiology in the Rollins School of Public Health. He completed his emergency medicine residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center followed by a year serving as chief resident and academic development fellow in the Department of Emergency Medicine in the University of Maryland School of Medicine. During fellowship year, he completed the ACEP teaching fellowship. The UMEM social medicine curriculum was started as a resident and completed and implemented during his fellowship year.
Advocacy:
Legislative advocacy and “Hill Days”
Research:
Climate change and public health
Emergency Department high utilizers
Gender roles in medical teams
Mentors medical students and residents in scholarly projects
Education:
Integration of social medicine and social determinants of health in resident education
Mental health
Evidence based medicine, resident journal clubs
Resident wellness
Dr. Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, PhD, MPH, FACEP, FAAEM, FACPM, is dedicated to improving access to high quality acute care in the United States and across the globe. He is a Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He is the former director of the Charles McC. Mathias, Jr. National Study Center for Trauma and EMS and is currently the Senior Vice-Chairman of the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Institutional Review Board. Additionally, he is a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians’ National Board of Directors. Dr. Hirshon is a federally funded researcher and teacher who has been the principal investigator/program director on over $8 million in federal research and training grants and contracts and has been co-investigator on numerous other funded projects. As part of his international work through a National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center grant, he and his dedicated teams have trained over 1000 physicians from Egypt and multiple other countries in the Middle East in acute care related topics including the clinical care of trauma patients, disaster preparedness and response, and injury research methods. Dr. Hirshon is Board Certified in both Emergency Medicine and Preventive Medicine and has authored over 100 articles and chapters on various topics related to improving acute care, including the need to place acute care on the global health agenda and articles on improving emergency department operations.
Advocacy:
Chaired the American College of Emergency Physicians Task Force that produced the 2014 Report Card on America’s Emergency Care Environment leading to his testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations during its hearing, “Where Have All the Patients Gone? Examining the Psychiatric Bed Shortage.”
Member, ACEP Board of Directors
Past-President, Maryland ACEP
Prior Governing Councilor of both the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Public Health Association.
Research:
Emergency department operations
Access to acute care, both in the U.S. and globally
Education:
Has developed multiple curricula related acute care and injury research
Mentored multiple students and physicians on policy related research projects and grants
Dr. David Marcozzi, MD, MHS-CL, FACEP, A Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians, Dr. David Marcozzi is an Associate Professor and the Director of Population Health within the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He also serves as a Co-Director of the Program in Health Disparities and Population Health in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, and is the Assistant Chief Medical Officer for Acute Care at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Prior to these roles, Dr. Marcozzi served in the federal government as a senior leader and subject matter expert on health delivery, emergency care, and emergency preparedness.During his federal tenure, Dr. Marcozzi held positions within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the White House. Serving last as the Senior Advisor for Emergency Preparedness and Acute Care within the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Marcozzi was involved with health delivery reform efforts, clinical quality standard and measure development. Prior to his federal positions, Dr. Marcozzi completed a congressional fellowship at the U.S. Senate. Serving on the Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness Subcommittee, he assisted in drafting the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act that became law in 2006.
Advocacy:
ACEP
World Association of Disaster and Emergency Medicine
Special Operations Medical Association
Association of Military Surgeons of the United States
Research:
Healthcare Policy
Healthcare System Operations
Population Health
Disaster Medicine Policy
Education:
Resident and Medical Student clinical education and training
Mentoring medical students, residents and faculty on policy related research projects and grants
Dr. Rachelle B. Pierre-Mathieu, MD, MPP, is the Medical Director at the Maryland Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ) at the Maryland Department of Health and Hygiene and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland Department of Emergency Medicine. As Medical Director at the OHCQ she provides expert consultation to staff on issues regarding health care quality in Maryland’s health care facilities and provides training to staff. Prior to working at the OHCQ, she served as a Physician Program Specialist in the Medicaid Division of Long Term Care and Nursing Services. Prior to joining the University of Maryland, she was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Emergency Medicine of the George Washington University and served as a health policy fellow in a U.S. Congressional office and for the Washington D.C. Board of Medicine. Dr. Pierre-Mathieu received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University, completed an MD degree at Harvard Medical School and completed an Emergency Medicine Residency at the University of Cincinnati. Following her Emergency Medicine residency, she completed a Health Policy Fellowship at George Washington University's Department of Emergency Medicine. She also received a Masters in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government. She works clinically as a physician at Prince George's Hospital Center's Emergency Department.
Advocacy:
Capitol Hill day
Research:
Health care disparities
Healthcare access
Healthcare workforce issues
Education:
Health Policy Journal Club
Health Policy Fellowship
Mentorship/fellowships in public health
Dr. Laura Pimentel, MD, MMM, is Clinical Associate Professor in the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for the University of MD Emergency Medicine Network. Her primary research interests are emergency medicine operations, administration, and health policy. She has served as the Emergency Department Chairman of 2 affiliated emergency departments and one health system. She holds a Masters of Medical Management from Carnegie Mellon University and is a Certified Physician Executive. Dr. Pimentel is the Past President of the MD chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). In 2009, she was named the Emergency Medicine physician of the year by the chapter for her work as the Public Policy committee chair. Dr. Pimentel is a lifelong member of the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE). She received a teaching award by the Department of Emergency Medicine for the design and implementation of a Leadership Curriculum. Dr. Pimentel frequently lectures on professional development and emergency department administration. She is a graduate of Georgetown University School of Medicine and the Madigan Army Medical Center Emergency Medicine Residency. Dr. Pimentel holds a Masters Degree in Medical Management from Carnegie Mellon University and a Certificate from the Johns Hopkins Business of Medicine program.
Advocacy:
Member of ACEP’s Federal Government Affairs Committee
Past president of MD ACEP chapter
Past chair and current member of MD ACEP public policy committee
Research:
EM Clinical Operations
Quality Metrics using Statistical Process Control
Impact of health policy changes on EM practice
Geriatrics and Emergency Medicine
Education:
Served as Med Chi Doctor of the Day during General Assembly session on several occasions
Health Policy Elective
Dr. Stephen Schenkel, MD, MPP, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Humanities from Yale College, an MD from Harvard Medical School, and a Master’s in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Michigan, serving as chief resident during his final year. In 2003 he joined the faculty of Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland with primary clinical duties at Mercy Medical Center. He became chief of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mercy Medical Center in 2007. With the Maryland Patient Safety Center, he chaired a statewide Emergency Medicine Patient Safety Collaborative and served on the Board of Directors. From 2014-15, he was President of the Maryland Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians where he worked to improve access to care, clarify insurance coverage, respond to Maryland’s scourge of opioid overdose, and encourage alternative approaches to medical malpractice. He received the Maryland Emergency Physician of the Year award in 2005. In his clinical role at Mercy Medical Center he instructs residents and medical students at the bedside. He directs two lecture tracks for the University of Maryland Emergency Medicine resident conference series: behavioral health and morbidity and mortality. He is a Research Methodology Editor for Annals of Emergency Medicine and has lectured regionally and internationally on patient safety and Emergency Department administration. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Advocacy:
Patient safety in Emergency Medicine
Reimbursement in Emergency Medicine
Quality metrics in Emergency Medicine
Interaction of policy decisions, Emergency Department response, and patient care
Research:
Intravenous access
Patient safety in Emergency Medicine
Education:
Administrative curricula for residents, fellows, and faculty
Morbidity and Mortality Conference for the University of Maryland Emergency Medicine
Dr. Mercedes Torres, MD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, and has served as the Assistant Director for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mercy Medical Center since 2009. Dr. Torres earned her undergraduate degree in Cultural Anthropology from Princeton University in 1998, completing a thesis on the lack of health care provers in rural America. During the year following graduation, she worked as a researcher in the emergency services and ambulatory care division of a health care think tank in Washington, DC. She received her MD from the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine in 2004. During medical school she was awarded a Doris Duke Clinical Research Scholar Fellowship to complete a year of public health research, working with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health HIV/AIDS research division between her third and fourth year of medical school. In addition, she was active in public health projects in the countries of Trinidad & Tobago and South Africa as a medical student. She returned to the state of Maryland, where she was raised, in 2004 to begin her residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland and has been here ever since. She served as chief resident during her third year of residency and again traveled to South Africa during her third year of residency to work clinically in an underserved emergency department in a township adjacent to Cape Town. In 2007, she accepted a position as full-time faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine subsequent to completion of residency. She has worked clinically at Mercy Medical Center since completion of her residency and accepted the position as Assistant Director at Mercy in April of 2009. Her academic interests include infectious diseases, ED administration and social outreach to underserved communities.
Advocacy:
Primary care accessibility for the underserved populations
Cooperative relationships between the ED and outpatient ambulatory sites
Research:
Education:
Social action and awareness of public health issues/initiatives/resources