The Speakers
Dr. Marc McDowell is an emergency medicine pharmacist and EM PGY2 residency program director at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy, and completed PGY1 residency and PGY2 emergency medicine residency at Advocate Christ Medical Center. His research areas of interest include resuscitation science, anticoagulation reversal, and neurosciences. His recent achievements include ACCP EMED PRN Outstanding New Clinical Practitioner and SCCM EM Section Early Career Award.
Dr. Lorenzo Gitto is a forensic pathologist with board certifications in Legal Medicine (Italy) and Anatomic and Forensic Pathology (United States). He serves as an Assistant Medical Examiner at the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office in Chicago, where he is also the Research Director and International Observership Program Coordinator. Dr. Gitto is a member of the National Association of Medical Examiners and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. His educational activities include numerous publications, research awards, editorial roles in forensic pathology journals, active participation as a speaker and moderator at global conferences, and guest professorships in forensic pathology-focused medical courses.
Chenel Vanden Berk is a Forensic Nursing Specialist for the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN). Chenel has dedicated her career to Forensic Nursing as a Nationally Certified Adult, Adolescent, and Pediatric Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) for over 13 years. As a SANE, she combines her passion for helping survivors with a focus on healthcare, science, and justice. She recently participated in a number of Multi-disciplinary teams, including the Illinois Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team, and co-chairing the Lake County State’s Attorney’s SART team. Her commitment to advocating for healthcare equity and inclusion for survivors led her to serve as a member of Congresswoman Lauren Underwood’s Healthcare Advisory Council for the 117th Congress from 2020-2022. Before nursing, Chenel was an attorney who practiced public interest law in Chicago, focusing on families and domestic violence. She earned her Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University, DC, and her Juris Doctor from Loyola University School of Law, Chicago.
Dr. Habis was recruited out of fellowship in 2006 to help start the Lurie Children’s Pediatric Emergency Department at Central DuPage Hospital. He has served as Medical Director since 2012.
Development of quality within the Pediatric Emergency Department has been a major focus of Dr. Habis’s tenure as Medical Director – culminating in the section completing over 40 impactful QI studies -- including several national presentations and publications. In addition to outreach education, his main non-clinical focus has been development of a simulation program for the Pediatric ED nursing core to assist in staff preparation for high-acuity low-occurrence pediatric events.
Dr. Meta Carroll is an Assistant Clinical Profession in the Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is a member of the medical staff for Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and provides clinical service in the Pediatric Emergency Department at Northwestern Medicine/Central DuPage Hospital. Dr. Carroll serves as an editor for the American Academy of Pediatrics PREP EMed continuing medical education program, and is an educator for medical students, residents, and pediatric emergency medicine fellows. She completed Northwestern’s two-year Bioethics Clinical Scholars Program and continues her educational work in the ethical underpinnings of emergency care delivery. She is grateful for the mentorship she received during fellowship at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children (and continues to receive at Lurie Children’s) and vows to keep “paying it forward” through education of those dedicated to the health of children and families.
Samuel Boyle is the business continuity program manager for Northwestern Medicine, the academic medical center led arm of Northwestern University, a healthcare system comprised of 11 hospital and more than 250 non-hospital points of care throughout Illinois. In this role he has held since 2017, he oversees the development of Northwestern Medicine's enterprise-wide business continuity strategies and the implementation of pragmatic practices in support of the organization's response and recovery objectives. Prior to his arrival at NM, he spent a 15 year career in government work, serving as a counterintelligence officer with the FBI before transferring to FEMA as a management and programs analyst, where he worked on strategic initiatives including improvised nuclear device response, medical countermeasures distribution, and the 2012 NATO/G8 Summits.
Dr. Luchette is a tenured Professor of Surgery at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine and an active member of the Departments of Surgery at LUMC and Hines VA Hospital. He has held Medical Director positions in the Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Burns; Pediatric Trauma Surgery and Pediatric Surgical Critical Care, and Cardiothoracic Critical Care Service at LUMC, and he is currently the Chief of Surgical Services at Hines VA. His list of contributions to the field of surgical critical care and surgery is significant. He has published and lectured extensively on the topic of geriatric trauma and is a nationally recognized expert on geriatric trauma.