American Association for Respiratory Care

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Faculty

 

Anne Marie Hummel

Woodbridge, VA

Senior manager and health care expert with 31 years of experience in a variety of Federal Government positions. Twenty years of experience in the Medicare program managing day-to-day regulatory activities, directing the national Medicare coverage process, implementing policies impacting Medicare Part B services and practitioners, and providing outreach and educational materials to over 40 million beneficiaries. Ten years’ of experience as a health care consultant in the private sector specializing in Medicare coverage, coding and reimbursement.

 

Bradley E Chipps MD

Sacramento CA

Dr. Bradley Chipps is the medical director of respiratory therapy and the cystic fibrosis center at Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento. He is also the associate medical director of the Sutter Community Hospitals Sleep Laboratory, which he established in 1984. He is board certified in pediatric pulmonology and allergy and clinical immunology. He is a member of all the major societies associated with respiratory medicine. He has served on the program committee for the American Thoracic Society and the AAAAI. His current research projects are in developing protocols for the assessment and treatment of acute, severe asthma and working on the advisory committee of Genentech's Tenor study. We are investigating the factors associated with continued symptomatology and airflow limitation in severe persistent asthma.

 

Curt Merriman BA RRT CPFT

Burnsville MN

Curt Merriman is an owner and Vice President of Marketing and Sales at C.O.R.E. Respiratory Services. He continues to provide care as a registered respiratory therapist in acute care and diagnostic testing in Pulmonary Diagnostic Labs. Mr. Merriman is serving as the Project Manager for the spirometry portion of an AARC Ascent COPD Study. His 35 year career includes management of respiratory care, sleep labs, cardiology and the HME industry. He has served in many volunteer capacities with the MN Society for Respiratory Care and AARC throughout his career.

 

Dabney M Eidson BS RRT-NPS

Augusta GA

Dabney Eidson is a pediatric respiratory therapist at Children's Hospital of Georgia and is a Pulmonology Division team member at the Medical College of Georgia. Her clinical background includes cystic fibrosis education for both adult and pediatric patients, adult critical care, neonatal/pediatric critical care, and neonatal/pediatric transport. Dabney also has formal respiratory care education experience and has published research with regards to cystic fibrosis.

 

Eileen Collins PhD RN FAACVPR FAAN

Chicago IL

Eileen Collins is a Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing and a Research Career Scientist with the Edward Hines Jr., VA Hospital. She has been conducting pulmonary rehabilitation related research for the past 15 years. She has 66 publications and over $17 million in research grant funding.

 

Karen Gregory DNP RRT AE-C

Edmond OK

Karen Gregory is a pulmonary disease management specialist and Board Certified acute care clinical nurse specialist at the Oklahoma Allergy and Asthma Clinic in Oklahoma City, OK. She is also an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University. An advanced practice nurse, she diagnoses, manages, and treats patients with lung disease. Karen is experienced in intensive care, emergency care, inpatient and outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation, pulmonary disease management, and asthma services.

 

Richard H Casaburi MD MEng PhD

Torrance CA

Richard Casaburi is Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief for Research in the Division of Respiratory Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California. He occupies the Grancell/Burns Chair in the Rehabilitative Sciences at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute. Dr. Casaburi established the Rehabilitation Clinical Trials Center in 1999, a facility dedicated to COPD research. He has completed more than 75 clinical research studies, and has been involved in 3 major NIH multicenter projects. He has published over 260 papers and has presented over 500 invited lectures. Dr. Casaburi serves as president of the Pulmonary Education and Research Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing pulmonary rehabilitation.

 

Sarah L Varekojis PhD RRT

Westerville OH

Dr. Sarah Varekojis is an assistant professor and the director of clinical education in the respiratory therapy program at The Ohio State University. Her primary research interests are related to teaching and learning in respiratory therapy. She has recently conducted and published research related to peer teaching, new employee orientation, service-learning, and preceptor training. She is currently working with several other faculty in the School to collect data related to the development of professional attributes in students, and she plans to continue to pursue research related to inter-rater reliability of preceptor training and peer evaluation.

 

Shawna L Strickland PhD RRT-NPS RRT-ACCS FAARC

Irving TX

Dr. Shawna Strickland is the Associate Education Director-Education at the American Association for Respiratory Care. Prior to joining the AARC, Dr. Strickland spent 12 years as a respiratory care educator in colleges and universities in Illinois and Missouri. Her clinical background includes critical care across the age spectrum and high-risk transport. Dr. Strickland has clinical ethics consultation experience and continues to serve as a Center for Health Ethics Scholar for the University of Missouri School of Medicine.

 

Thomas J Kallstrom MBA RRT FAARC

Irving TX

Thomas J. Kallstrom is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the AARC in Irving, TX. He formerly served as clinical manager at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and as administrative director of Respiratory Care Services at Fairview Hospital in Cleveland, OH. Mr. Kallstrom is a registered respiratory therapist and has served the Association in volunteer capacities for the last 30 years. Most recently, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of the AARC prior to his transition to CEO in 2012. Mr. Kallstrom's clinical areas of interest include pediatric respiratory care and chronic pulmonary disease management, which includes COPD and asthma.

 

Timothy Myers MBA RRT-NPS FAARC

Irving TX

Timothy Myers is the Associate Executive Director-Brands Management at the American Association for Respiratory Care. He is a graduate of Lake Erie College Parker MBA Program and The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Respiratory Care. Previously, Mr. Myers served as AARC President for 2009-2010 and was appointed as a Trustee of the American Respiratory Care Foundation (ARCF) in 2010.

 

Tonya Winders MBA

McLean VA

Tonya Winders is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Allergy & Asthma Network, the leading patient advocacy organization dedicated to ending the needless death and suffering due to asthma, allergies, and related conditions. Tonya has worked closely with the leadership of the ACAAI & AAAAI to address challenges currently facing the integrity of allergy and asthma care throughout the US while spreading awareness and preparedness messages to patients and caregivers.

 

Trina M Limberg BS RRT FAARC MAACVPR

San Diego CA

Trina is the Director for the Preventative Pulmonary and Rehabilitation Department for UC San Diego Health System. As a respiratory therapist, she has been working and practicing in the field of pulmonary rehabilitation for more than 30 years. She has been awarded distinguished service awards and a Master credential from the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and fellowship from the American Association of Respiratory Care. She has served as a committee member and officer to state and national professional organizations for over 25 years. She has contributed to research in pulmonary rehabilitation and provided numerous training sessions for healthcare professionals.