S-Z

Jori Bogetz, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine
Director of Research, Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics and Palliative Care
Attending Physician in Pediatric Palliative Care, Seattle Children's Hospital

Jori F. Bogetz, MD, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, the Director of Research at the Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics and Palliative Care, and an attending physician in pediatric palliative care at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Dr. Bogetz completed her pediatric residency and an Academic General Pediatrics Fellowship at Stanford University and a Pediatric Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at Harvard/Boston Children’s Hospital. Her research focuses on improving care for children with severe neurological impairment and their families through interventions that support high quality communication and family-centered care. Dr. Bogetz has received funding for her research from the National Institutes of Health Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Cambia Health Foundation, the National Palliative Care Research Center, the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. Dr. Bogetz has published >50 papers in peer reviewed journals and contributed to 4 foundational textbooks in her field. She serves as a member-at-large on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Roundtable on Quality Care for Patients with Serious Illness. 

Amber Comer, PhD, JD
Associate Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine
Director, Hall Center for Law and Health, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

Dr. Amber Comer is an Associate Professor in the Indiana University School of Health & Human Sciences and the Indiana University School of Medicine. She also serves as Director of the Hall Center for Law and Health at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and is affiliated with the Center for Bioethics, the RESPECT Center, and the Regenstrief Institute.

A nationally recognized palliative care researcher, bioethicist, and attorney, Dr. Comer is an expert in medical decision-making for critically ill patients, with a focus on neuropalliative care. Her research has informed clinical practice guidelines and contributed to changes in Indiana's Health Care Consent Law.

Dr. Comer teaches courses in medical ethics, health law, and palliative care and has received numerous honors for her scholarship and teaching, including the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award. She holds a PhD in Public Health, a JD with a concentration in Health Law, and completed a Medical Ethics Fellowship at Indiana University. She is also a member of the Indiana State Bar.

Farrah Daly, MD, MBA
Owner/Founder
EvenBeam Neuropalliative Care, LLC

Farrah N. Daly, MD, MBA, is a neurologist with subspecialty training in palliative medicine and a strategic leader in neuropalliative care. She is the owner and founder of EvenBeam Neuropalliative Care, LLC, a first-of-its-kind physician practice that provides specialist neuropalliative consultations through medical house calls. Her clinical work focuses on improving quality of life for patients and families navigating progressive or advanced neurological illnesses, including dementia, ALS, and movement disorders. Her approach is informed by extensive hospice experience, including 12 years of service as a hospice medical director. In addition to her private practice, Dr. Daly serves as the President of the International Neuropalliative Care Society (INPCS), a global multidisciplinary organization dedicated to integrating palliative principles into neurological care. She has published and contributed to peer-reviewed work on neuropalliative care and serious-illness communication. She is committed to advancing education in person-centered care for neurologic illness and to empowering people living with serious illness.

Linda Golding, MA, BCC
Chaplain
The Reservoir

Linda S. Golding is a Board Certified Chaplain (APC) with a Masters Degree in Jewish Studies and Certificate in Pastoral Care and Counseling from the Jewish Theological Seminary.  Her training as a Spiritual Director is through the Institute of Jewish Spirituality and the Mercy Center Burlingame (CA), and recently completed training in Psychosomatic Multi-Disciplinary Care through Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Golding served as a Coordinator of Spiritual Care (2010-2025) at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/CUIMC, where she was also the chaplain member of the hospital's Ethics Committee and its Organ Donor Council.  She holds adjunct faculty positions in the Bioethics Masters program at Columbia University, Union Theological Seminar, Jewish Theological Seminary, and the Columbia School of Nursing, and leads bereavement and support groups addressing a broad range of emotional and spiritual needs.

Tarini Goyal, MD
Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology
NYU Langone Health

Tarini Goyal is a neurohospitalist and clinical associate professor of neurology at NYU Langone Health. Her interests in neuropalliative care include resident education and the integration of neuropalliative care in inpatient practice. Her work in neuropalliative care curriculum development and trainee experience has been published in journals including Neurology and the Journal of Palliative Medicine.

Melissa Ko, MD, MBA
Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology
Indiana University School of Medicine

Dr. Melissa W. Ko, MD, MBA, CPE joined Indiana University School of Medicine in 2019 and is a tenured Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology. For over a decade prior, she served on faculty at SUNY Upstate in Syracuse, NY. Dr. Ko received her undergraduate degree in biology at Yale, medical school degree at the University of Rochester, and her residency and fellowship training at the University of Pennsylvania/Scheie Eye Institute/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is a Certified Physician Executive via the American Association of Physician Leadership and received her MBA from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Dr. Ko is an adult and pediatric neuro-ophthalmologist based at the IU Neuroscience Center. She has received recognition for her patient-focused care and was awarded by the SUNY Medical School Graduating Class of 2015 the Leonard Tow Humanism Award in medicine and inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. New York State Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter named Dr. Ko the Exceptional Woman in Medicine in 2017. She is a graduate of the AAN Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum (PALF) to advocate for patients. On behalf of the AAN and neurological patients, Dr. Ko has met with Congressional leaders in Washington, DC nearly annually since 2010 to increase neurological education and research, to expand telehealth access for neurological patients, and to reduce medical costs for patients. She is the founder of Indiana Blind Tennis, an adaptive tennis program for youth and adults living with visual impairment and blindness. In addition to caring for patients, Dr. Ko is involved in neurology and neuro-ophthalmology leadership at the national and international level. She is an executive board member and elected the current President Elect of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS). She is Editor-in-Chief of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) news and an editorial board member for Brain & Life magazine.

Monica Lemmon, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population Health Sciences
Duke University

Dr. Monica Lemmon is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population Health Sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine, where she serves as the Associate Dean for Scientific Integrity.  Her clinical practice is in fetal and neonatal neurology, and she serves as the Chief of Pediatric Neurology and Developmental Medicine. Dr. Lemmon's NIH-funded research program centers on parent-clinician communication, shared decision making, and the parent experience of child illness.

Gabriela Meade, PhD, CCC-SLP
Associate Consultant in Speech Pathology
Mayo Clinic

Gabriela Meade, PhD, CCC-SLP is an Associate Consultant in the Division of Speech Pathology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She is also an Assistant Professor of Speech Pathology in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. Dr. Meade's clinical care is focused on facilitating effective and efficient communication for individuals living with ALS. Her research interests include improving prognostication and maintenance of functional communication for individuals with speech- and language-led forms of frontotemporal dementia, including addressing how changes to communication contribute to social isolation and psychosocial distress. A proud Vermonter at heart, Dr. Meade received her BA in Cognitive Science from Dartmouth College before pursuing a MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience at Radboud University in the Netherlands. She earned her doctoral degree through the Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders at San Diego State University and University of California San Diego.

Bobby Mukkamala, MD
Immediate Past President
American Medical Association

A board-certified otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon, Dr. Mukkamala returned to his hometown of Flint, Michigan, after residency to build a private practice with his wife Nita, an OBGYN, that is dedicated to serving the community that raised him. Throughout his career, he has combined compassionate patient care with a deep commitment to public health and physician advocacy.

Dr. Mukkamala has been active in organized medicine since residency, serving in leadership roles at the state and national levels, including on the AMA Board of Trustees and as president of the nation's largest physician organization. In Flint, his leadership has extended beyond medicine, helping address the long-term effects of the water crisis and advancing efforts to improve the health and well-being of local families.

Known for his warmth, optimism, and unwavering belief in the power of physicians to make a difference, Dr. Mukkamala reminds us that some of the most important work we do begins in our own communities.

David Oliver, PhD, FRCP, FEAN
Honorary Professor
University of Kent (UK)

David Oliver was Consultant Physician in Palliative Medicine and Medical Director at the Wisdom Hospice from 1984 to 2016. He is an Honorary Professor at the Tizard Centre at the University of Kent, at Canterbury. He has lectured and published widely on neurological palliative care. He was the Chair for the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Guidelines on MND.  He was first author of the EAN paper "A consensus review on the development of palliative care for patients with chronic and progressive neurological disease". He has been involved in many projects across Europe is Past-Chair of the EAPC Reference Group on Neurology and Palliative Care, a member of the Management Group of the Palliative Care Specialty Group of the European Academy of Neurology and has been a Board member of the International Neuro-Palliative Care Society. He is a Fellow of the European Academy of Neurology.

Stephen Post, PhD
Professor & Founding Director
Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics
Stony Brook University

An opinion leader and public speaker, Stephen G. Post, Ph.D. (University of Chicago, 1983) has served on the Board of the John Templeton Foundation (2008-2014), which focuses on virtue, spirituality and public life, and is a lifelong Member. Post is a leader in research on the benefits of compassionate care in relation to improved patient outcomes and caregiver well-being. At the University of Chicago, Post was a preceptor in both the Pritzker School of Medicine and in the University Core Humanities Program, while also serving as an Elected Fellow in the Nuveen Institute for Advanced Study. He went on to serve as professor of neurology and ethics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (1988-2008), where he founded and directed the nation's first Master's Program in Bioethics, of which there are now more than 80. 

After 20 years at Case he was invited to become Director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care & Bioethics in the Renaissance School of Medicine of Stony Brook University (2008-present). Post was co-recipient (2012) with Edmund D. Pellegrino MD of the Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Leadership in HealthCare from the National HealthCare Chaplaincy Network, and he received the Kama Book Award in Medical Humanities from World Literacy Canada (2008). Post addressed the U.S. Congress on volunteerism and health, receiving the Congressional Certificate of Special Recognition for Outstanding Achievement. Post has devoted most of his research and scholarship over four decades to caregiving for individuals with various forms of dementia. His 1995 book The Moral Challenge of Alzheimer Disease (John Hopkins) was designated a medical classic of the 20th century by the British Medical Association. His most recent book, also with Johns Hopkins, is Dignity for Deeply Forgetful People:  How Caregivers Can Meet the Challenges of Alzheimer Disease (2022).

Kellen Quigg, MD, MS
Instructor of Neurology
Sean M. Healy & AMG Center for ALS
Massachusetts General Brigham and Harvard Medical School

Dr. Quigg completed medical school at Virginia Commonwealth University and her neurology residency and neuromuscular fellowship at the University of Michigan in 2025. As a research fellow in the National Clinicians Scholars Program at the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor VA, Dr. Quigg studied access to palliative care for Veterans living with ALS and explored how general healthcare access prior to the diagnosis of ALS influences relationships with providers in the ALS multidisciplinary clinic. Dr. Quigg moved to the Healey Center for ALS in September 2026.

Greg Sachs, MD
Professor of Medicine (retired/emeritus)
Indiana University School of Medicine

Dr. Greg Sachs is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the Yale University School of Medicine. He completed his medicine residency and fellowship in geriatrics and clinical medical ethics also at the University of Chicago (U of C). He joined the U of C faculty in 1990 and went on to help launch its Section of Geriatrics (as founding chief), palliative care program, and dementia care center. Dr.  Sachs moved to Indiana University (IU) in 2007 as Professor of Medicine and Neurology and Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at Indiana University (IU) and Research Scientist in the IU Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute. He retired from IU in July 2026 having held an endowed chair in health services research and recipient of the IU School of Medicine's Excellence in Faculty Mentoring Award. 

Dr. Sachs's research and writing focus on ethical issues in dementia care, including palliative care for people with dementia.  Dr. Sachs has been the recipient of grants from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the leading foundations funding research in geriatrics, ethics, or palliative care.  He has published over 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals, with two of his most notable papers being "Dying from Dementia", which appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine and the results of the IN-PEACE study published in JAMA.  Dr. Sachs has received the Outstanding Scientific Achievement for Clinical Investigation Award from the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and was a Medical Honoree of the national Alzheimer's Association. He has taken on leadership roles in several organizations, including serving on the National Board of Directors of AGS, the editorial board of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and chairing both the Academic Task Force and Leadership and Workforce Strategic Coordinating Committee for the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Shelley Varner-Perez, MDiv, MPH, BCC
Chaplain-Researcher
Indiana University - Indianapolis

Shelley E. Varner-Perez, MPH, MDiv, BCC, CPH, is the Research Director of the Daniel F. Evans Center for Spiritual and Religious Values in Healthcare; the Senior Program Manager for Spiritual Care Research in the Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy Department at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; and an Affiliated Research Scientist with the Center for Aging Research at the Regenstrief Institute, also located in Indianapolis. Additionally, Shelley is a PhD Candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Indiana University-Indianapolis with her dissertation topic focusing on "Communicating about Spirituality in Healthcare." Prior to joining IU Health, Shelley served as a clinical staff chaplain in adult critical care at Portland Veteran Affairs Health Care System and completed the Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellow program funded in part by the John Templeton Foundation. She currently serves as site PI for an NIH-funded R56 multicenter pilot trial of chaplain-delivered spiritual care for ICU family surrogate decision makers. In her leadership roles, Shelley collaborates with interprofessional researchers at the intersection of health, spirituality, religion, and existential concerns.