Speaker bios

Erin Blakeney, PhD RN 

Erin Blakeney is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Informatics at the University of Washington School of Nursing. Dr. Blakeney’s research focuses on team-based models of care as a way to close the gap between healthcare as it is and health care as it should be. She has nearly 15 years of experience developing, implementing, and testing interprofessional interventions and is increasingly focused on models of care that are both team-based and patient- and family-centered. Her work is motivated by the understanding that how teams work together influences production of new knowledge and translation of research into practice along the entire classroom to bench to bedside spectrum.  

Timothy E. Brown, PhD, MA, BA

Dr. Brown is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioethics and Humanities. He is long-time contributor to the Center for Neurotechnology's (CNT) Neuroethics Thrust—where he supports efforts to teach neuroethics to young investigators, catalyze ethics investigations through interdisciplinary collaborations, and promote the field of neuroethics through public outreach. More generally, Tim's work lies at the intersection of biomedical ethics, philosophy of technology, (black/latinx/queer) feminism, and aesthetics.

Austin DesJardin MSN, RN, CNE 

Austin is currently a PhD student at Saint Louis University where his research focuses on the impact of palliative care education in emergency departments. Following the completion of his BSN at Clemson University, he commissioned into the Army Nurse Corps. He worked at Madigan Army Medical Center for four years, caring for a complex patient population which included those needing palliative care and chemotherapy administration. He attended Duke University for his MSN in Nursing Education while working at Duke University Hospital’s Medical Intensive Care Unit and Duke Regional Hospital’s Emergency Department. Currently, he teaches first semester nursing students at Watts College of Nursing in Durham, NC.   

Taryn Escuriex, MSN, RN, CCRN, SCRN 

Taryn is the Nurse Manager of the Neuroscience ICU at Harborview Medical Center, where she has served since 2009. With over 25 years of experience as a registered nurse and more than 20 years of bedside intensive care experience, she assumed her current leadership role in May 2020. Taryn is passionate about empowering frontline teams, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, and building systems that support both clinical excellence and compassionate care. Her leadership is grounded in a deep commitment to improving patient outcomes, supporting staff well-being, and driving continuous improvement in critical care environments. 

Lindsay Gibbon, MD 

Dr. Gibbon is an internal medicine and palliative care physician who serves as the Associate Medical Director for Palliative Care at Harborview Medical Center. She enjoys teaching serious illness communication skills and directs the University of Washington Internal Medicine Residency's advanced communication skills simulation curriculum. She also teaches regularly with VitalTalk, the UW Palliative Care Training Center, and the UW Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program.  She is grateful for the opportunity to connect with dedicated and inspiring colleagues at this year's CPCCE conference. 

Gemi Jannotta, PhD, ARNP 

Dr. Jannotta is a highly experienced nurse practitioner with over 20 years of dedicated service in the care of neurologically injured patients. She currently works in the Neuro ICU at UW/Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, WA. Known for her compassionate, evidence-based approach, Dr. Jannotta combines clinical expertise with a deep commitment to patient advocacy and multidisciplinary collaboration. She has worked in both pediatric and adult settings, consistently striving to improve outcomes and quality of life for her patients. 

Dan H. Kim, MD, MA 

Dr. Kim is a dual-trained pediatric intensivist and palliative care physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Harborview Medical Center, with additional training and focus in bioethics. He recently completed his fellowships in pediatric critical care and hospice and palliative medicine at University of Washington (UW), while concurrently completing clinical bioethics fellowship at Seattle Children’s and obtaining his MA in bioethics at UW. Dr. Kim is interested in pediatric brain death, ethics, communication practices, and the provision of compassionate, trauma-informed care and support for families in such situations. 

Michael A. Light, LICSW, MPH, APHSW-C 

Michael is the social worker with the Homeless Palliative Care team at Harborview Medical Center and Co-Director of the Palliative Care Training Center at the University of Washington. They research and speak on the intersections of homelessness, serious illness, and psychosocial care. Michael completed an MSW and an MPH in Global Health at UW. They previously worked in emergency medical and psychiatric care and provided training and research support for medical social work and palliative care in Cambodia. Michael is Distinguished Faculty with VitalTalk and is a former New York University Zelda Foster Fellow in Palliative Care. 

Mandy L. March, DO 

Dr. March is a board-certified child neurologist and neurocritical care physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital and is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington. She practices Neurocritical care and Neonatal Neurocritical care with a clinical and research focus in neuropalliative medicine. She completed Neurocritical Care fellowship at Seattle Children’s and pursued advanced training in palliative care through the University of Washington’s Palliative Medicine Graduate Certificate program. A dedicated educator, she serves as Assistant Program Director for the Pediatric Neurocritical Care Fellowship, where she is spearheading the development of a curriculum in neuropalliative care for trainees. 

Luke Mosley, MD, MTS 

Dr. Mosley is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Bioethics and Palliative Care at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is an attending physician for both the Pediatric Palliative Care team and the Bioethics Consultation service at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where he is also Associate Medical Director for Palliative Care. Dr. Mosley completed medical school at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and earned a Master of Theological Studies focused on Philosophy and Ethics at Vanderbilt Divinity School. He completed residency training in pediatrics and a fellowship in pediatric hospice and palliative medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. 

Nina Natarajan, MD 

Dr. Natarajan is an Associate Professor of Child Neurology and Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics, and is board certified in Child Neurology, Pediatrics, and Neonatal Neurocritical Care. She is a graduate of the University of Washington Palliative Care Training Center.  As founder and clinical lead of Neonatal Neurocritical Care at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Dr. Natarajan has built and now co-directs the Seattle Children's NeuroNICU. She also serves as Program Director of the UW Neonatal Neurocritical Care Fellowship. Driven by her clinical work at the bedside, she is leading efforts to build neuropalliative care education for her division to improve the care of critically ill infants and their families. 

Melanie Neff, MSW, LICSW 

Melanie Neff is a licensed clinical social worker who received a master's in social work from the University of Southern California. She is currently part of the Seattle Children’s Palliative Care Team as the outpatient specialist and hospice liaison and is trained as a PedsTalk Educator through VitalTalk. 

Steven Pantilat, MD, FAAHPM, MHM 

Dr. Pantilat is the Kates-Burnard and Hellman Distinguished Professor in Palliative Care and the inaugural Chief of the Division of Palliative Medicine at UCSF. He was named a Visionary and received the Award for Excellence in Education and Training from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Pantilat is an internationally recognized leader in palliative care. He chairs the Advisory Board for the Cambia Health Foundation’s Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program, has published over 160 peer-reviewed papers, and is the author of, “Life After the Diagnosis: Expert Advice on Living Well with Serious Illness for Patients and their Caregivers” published by DaCapo Lifelong Books in 2017. Dr. Pantilat and his team were featured in the Academy Award winning Netflix documentary, End Game. 

Morissa (Mia) Pertik, PA-C 

Mia has been a practicing Physician Assistant for 8+ years in family medicine and clinical virology research. She obtained her master's degree from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in 2016 and prior to this was a member of the United States Peace Corps- serving in Ecuador from 2010-2012. Mia’s background is in working with underserved communities both in Ecuador and Indian Health Services on the Hopi Reservation. Mia is currently enrolled in the UW Graduate Palliative Care Certificate program and is a member of the Board of Directors for End of Life Washington. She is planning to transition her career into palliative care after walking hand in hand with her mother until her beautiful death in September 2024. 

Eileen Ravella, PA-C 

Eileen graduated from the University of Oklahoma physician associate program in 1984 and practiced rural family medicine for 20 years. Resources in rural America are limited.  Eileen followed her patients from diagnosis to end of life and learned discussions surrounding patients' death are difficult and transparency is essential to a patient's understanding of their terminal illness and death. She obtained a master's degree in end-of-life care in 2006 from George Washington University and is the board president with End of Life Washington. I've had the privilege to assist many patients as they choose MAID and consider death with dignity a choice for all terminally ill cognitive patients. The conversation starts with you. The question is always when and how.

Rashmi K. Sharma, MD, MHS

Dr. Sharma is Associate Professor and Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for the Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence at UW Medicine. A board-certified palliative care physician, she leads the ImPaCT (Improving Palliative Care Together) research program, focusing on care for patients with serious illness and their families, particularly those from culturally- and linguistically-diverse populations. Dr. Sharma completed medical training at the University of Washington and fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University. Her nationally recognized work includes being named an AAHPM Hospice and Palliative Medicine Inspirational Leader Under 40 and receiving the Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Early Career Physician Award. She currently leads two large studies to improve palliative care for patients with preferred language other than English and advanced cancer or dementia. 

Becca N. Snyder, MN, APRN, AGPNP-BC, ACHPN 

Becca Snyder is a nurse practitioner with experience in inpatient hospice, home hospice and hospital inpatient palliative care. She is currently a PhD student in palliative care at the University of Maryland, Baltimore where she is researching palliative care program development and rural primary palliative care. She also teaches evidence-based practice for undergraduate nursing students at the Missoula campus of the Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing - Montana State University. 

Jill M. Steiner, MD, MS 

Dr. Steiner is a cardiologist and assistant professor at the University of Washington (UW) specializing in adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) and palliative care research. She completed her cardiology fellowship training, a palliative care research fellowship, and a Master of Science in Epidemiology at UW. Dr. Steiner’s research interest is in palliative care and well-being in ACHD, with NIH funding to study resilience. She also has funding from the UW Population Health Initiative to study regional serious illness care delivery and funding from the Alpha Phi Foundation to study shared decision-making among pregnant patients with ACHD. 

Amy Trowbridge, MD 

Dr. Trowbridge is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington and an attending physician on the Palliative Care Team at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She co-directs the UW Palliative Care Training Center and is Distinguished Faculty with VitalTalk. Dr. Trowbridge earned her MD from Weill Cornell, completed pediatrics residency at UW/Seattle Children’s, and fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her academic interests include improving pediatric palliative care for diverse populations and teaching primary palliative care and communication skills to healthcare professionals at all levels   

Gregg VandeKieft, MD, MA, FAAFP, FAAHPM 

Dr. VandeKieft is an inpatient palliative care physician and clinical ethicist in Olympia, WA. He co-founded the inpatient palliative care services at Providence St. Peter Hospital and Providence Centralia Hospital, as well as an outpatient palliative care clinic in Olympia. He is Medical Director for the Washington Rural Palliative Care Initiative and Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Washington. He received the 2018 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award in the Senior Physician category and the 2017 Stuart J. Farber Award for Excellence in Hospice and Palliative Care from the Washington State Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. 

Lindsay Vendetta, MD 

Dr. Vendetta is a palliative care physician at VA Puget Sound Healthcare System, where she is dedicated to enhancing patient outcomes through a holistic and occasionally humorous approach to end-of-life care. Her professional passions encompass medical education and mentorship, as well as fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. Dr. Vendetta is particularly interested in exploring the complexities of advance care planning from clinical, ethical, and quality and patient safety perspectives. 

Hope Wechkin, MD, FAAHPM, HMDC 

Dr. Wechkin is the medical director of EvergreenHealth Home Health and Hospice Care. A family physician by training, she served on the Palliative Care Consult Service at the University of Washington Medical Center and led EvergreenHealth’s Palliative Medicine program from 2007-2021. Dr. Wechkin served as chair of the first-ever national conference on “planned death” at the University of Washington in 2019. She’s the lead author of the first national clinical guidelines for voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED) and the first paper on Minimal Comfort Feeding, which she’s researching as a Clinical Investigator at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. 

Nathan Yemane, MSW, LICSW

Nathan Yemane grew up locally, attended Green River Community College, and obtained a MSW from U Oklahoma. Since 2010, Nathan has spent the majority of his work in healthcare as a hospice social worker and social work supervisor. He is currently the founder and managing director of YBG Healthcare in Renton, WA. His company has applied to and is awaiting an outcome from the WA DOH Certificate of Need Program to become the first Black-owned hospice in WA. Nathan has been professionally and personally influenced by the writings of Paulo Freire, W.E.B. DuBois, and Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. In his leisure time, he likes to fly his drone, listen to hip-hop, and spends time with his wife and 2 children.