2026 Agenda

Cynthia J. Trickett, PA-C, MPAS, is a Physician Assistant with North
Dallas Dermatology Associates and an adjunct faculty member for the
Physician Assistant Departments of both the University of Texas
Southwestern and the University of North Texas. After 33 years of
service, she retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel with the
United States Air Force where she has served in both the Air Force
Reserves and the Texas Air National Guard in the Biomedical Science
Corps. Cynthia completed her master’s degree in Physician Assistant
studies with a concentration in Dermatology at The University of
Nebraska. She is considered an expert in her field and treats most
general dermatology concerns, but she has a passion for psoriasis,
atopic dermatitis, Hidradentitis Suppurativa, and other chronic
inflammatory diseases. She has guest lectured for the National
Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) and lectures to Dermatology practitioners
nationally on psoriatic disease. In 2018, she was presented with the
America’s Top PA award by her peers, and she received the Service
Award from the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants (SDPA) in
2023. In 2025, she was nominated for PA of the year by the American
Academy of PAs. In 2025 she was awarded the Texas Veteran Commendation Recognition.

She is a member of the American Academy of PAs, the Texas Academy of PAs, and the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants.

Annie Truss is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS). She received her medical degree from Rutgers RWJMS, where she also completed her residency in Family Medicine and served as chief resident. As a general practitioner, Dr. Truss provides continuity of care for children and adults. Her clinical interest includes dermatology in primary care and improving patient access for the diagnosis and treatment of common skin conditions such as acne, skin cancer screening, dermatitis and skin infections amongst other diseases. In addition to patient care and outreach, Dr. Truss is very involved in the education of both residents and medical students, serving as core faculty for their residency program.

Dr. Brandt is a professor and Parke-Davis Chair in Geriatric Pharmacotherapy in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research (P-SHOR) and executive director of the Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. Dr. Brandt has expanded available geriatric training opportunities, including the geriatrics/palliative care pathway, ASHP-accredited geriatrics residency, and two-year post-PharmD fellowship. She was named the 2019 recipient of the American Geriatrics Society’s (AGS) Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Award for her leadership in geriatrics education. She has worked on various interdisciplinary teams across numerous practice settings and is currently leading initiatives to integrate sustainable pharmacist-directed services to help older adults with multiple co-morbidities at the MedStar Center for Successful Aging. Dr. Brandt has been active in promoting optimal care for older adults and has affected this through her educational, clinical, as well as healthcare policy work. She co-led an initiative that led to the University of Maryland, Baltimore and University of Maryland, Baltimore County to become the first universities in the state of Maryland to receive Age-Friendly University distinction. She was a Fulbright Program Specialist from 2023 – 2024 with the University of Helsinki to work on Age-Friendly Care initiatives.  

W. Clay Jackson, MD, DipTh, is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis, Tennessee, where he maintains a private practice in family medicine, and directs the palliative medicine program at the West Cancer Center. Dr. Jackson also serves as a faculty in the Division of Palliative Medicine at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. From this professional platform, he leads multiple teams of dedicated clinicians who have helped to transform the experience of seriously ill patients in the Mid-South. Dr. Jackson earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, and his Diploma in Theology at Oxford University in England. He has served as the President of the Academy of Integrative Pain Management, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, holds a Certificate of Added Qualification in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Dr. Jackson has been the recipient of numerous clinical and teaching awards, and is widely published. A frequently invited speaker at national and international professional meetings, he has also been featured in several multimedia projects concerning the treatment of affective disorders and chronic pain. Outside medicine, his interests include an active outdoor lifestyle, literature, and theology. His most fulfilling role, without a doubt, is being a dad and a husband. Dr. Jackson believes in Memphis as a place where grit meets grace.

Dr. Heidelbaugh is a Clinical Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Urology at the University of Michigan Medical School. He is a family physician with over 25 years of academic teaching experience whose clinical practice includes both inpatient and outpatient medicine. His specialty areas of clinical practice and research include gastrointestinal disorders, men's health, primary care urology, and medical education. Dr. Heidelbaugh is a member of the American Gastroenterological Association guideline panels for irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and Lynch syndrome. He is the co-editor and co-author of the textbook ROME IV: Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders for Primary Care and Non-GI Clinicians published through the Rome Foundation and is the primary care lead for the ROME V Committee. He is the Consulting Editor of Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice and an Associate Editor of Conn’s Current Therapy. Dr. Heidelbaugh is the past-president of the American Society for Men's Health and a member of the American Urological Association guideline panel for male sexual dysfunction. He has authored over 80 peer reviewed manuscripts and a dozen textbooks, and has conducted many educational webinars through Medscape and media affiliates.

Dr. Maia Kayal is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and The Susan and Leonard Feinstein IBD Center. She graduated from New York University School of Medicine Alpha Omega Alpha. She then completed her internal medicine residency at Columbia University Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital and fellowship training in gastroenterology at the Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Kayal's research in inflammatory conditions of the ileal pouch is funded by the NIH, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and Rainin Foundation. She is a former ACG Young Physicians Leadership Scholar and AGA Future Leader.

Dr. Brett Snodgrass has been a registered nurse for 28 years and a Family Nurse Practitioner for 18 years, practicing in multiple settings, including family practice, urgent care, emergency departments, administration, chronic pain and palliative medicine. She is currently the Operations Director for Palliative Medicine at Baptist Health Systems in Memphis, TN. She is board certified with the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She is also a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and an Advanced Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse. She completed a Doctorate of Nursing Practice at the University of Alabama – Huntsville. She is a nationally recognized nurse practitioner speaker and teacher. Brett Is a chronic pain expert, working for more than 20 years with chronic pain and palliative patients in a variety of settings. She is also honored to be the HPNA 2025 podcast host. She is married with 2 daughter, 2 son in laws and 1 grandson and now an empty nest cat. She and her family are actively involved in their church and she is an avid reader.

Steven P. Stanos, DO currently serves as Medical Director of Swedish Health System Pain Medicine and Services in Seattle, Washington and leads Swedish's comprehensive pain center, Swedish Pain Services. The center provides interventional pain management, medical management, addiction treatment, and comprehensive interdisciplinary pain services. Prior to joining Swedish, he served as medical director of the Center for Pain Management at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) from 2002-2014. At RIC he was an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University Medical School Feinberg School of Medicine and co-chair of the multidisciplinary pain fellowship.
He is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain medicine by the American Board of Pain Medicine and by the American Board of Anesthesia.
Dr. Stanos is the Immediate Past President of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. Dr Stanos served as a panel member on the Service Delivery and Reimbursement work group for the National Pain Strategy and as invited consultant for the CDC Opioid Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain. He currently serves on the American Medical Association (AMA) Opioid Task Force.
Dr. Stanos’ work includes ongoing educational initiatives for primary care, pain medicine, and physical medicine specialists around the United States and abroad. Dr. Stanos has published numerous scientific articles and book chapters related to pain management. Steven has been involved in the development and publication of treatment guidelines related to rehabilitation approaches for chronic pain and low back pain conditions and serves on the editorial board for the journal Pain Medicine.
A Mayday Foundation Advocacy fellow in 2013, his advocacy continues to focus on increasing awareness and access for interdisciplinary biopsychosocially-based pain care for patients suffering with chronic pain. He has appeared on CNN, National Public Radio, Fox News, regional print and television news on topics related to pain medicine and rehabilitation.

Rakesh Jain, MD, MPH, attended medical school at the University of Calcutta in India. He then attended graduate school at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, where he was awarded a “National Institute/Center for Disease Control Competitive Traineeship”. His research thesis focused on impact of substance abuse. He graduated from the School of Public Health in 1987 with a Masters of Public Health (MPH) degree.

Dr. Jain served a three-year residency in Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He followed that by obtaining further specialty training, by undergoing a two-year fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In addition, Dr. Jain completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Research Psychiatry at the University of Texas Mental Sciences Institute, in Houston. He was awarded the “National Research Service Award” for the support of this postdoctoral fellowship.

Wendy received her Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2019 from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. She is a 1992 graduate of the Adult Primary Care Nurse Practitioner program at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts and completed a family nurse practitioner post-master’s program in 1995. She is the owner of a nurse practitioner owned and operated clinic within New Hampshire. In addition, she is the Owner of Partners in Healthcare Education, a medical education company. Wendy is the Chief Clinical Officer of Duet Technologies, a start-up company designed to assist NP owned clinics in the United States.

In 2005, she was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners; in October 2014, a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, and in March 2017, a Fellow into the National Academies of Practice. She has won numerous awards including one of the Top 10 NPs in America in 2018, 2023, and 2024 for her family practice and educational presentations.

Wendy presents nationally to different audiences and has been a speaker at over 1000 conferences in 48 states. She has been a medical media spokesperson for numerous companies and has appeared on radio, television, and in print magazines. Wendy is frequently consulted by malpractice attorneys around the area of clinical practice and has worked on more than 125 malpractice cases involving nurses and nurse practitioners.

Wendy received her Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2019 from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. She is a 1992 graduate of the Adult Primary Care Nurse Practitioner program at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts and completed a family nurse practitioner post-master’s program in 1995. She is the owner of a nurse practitioner owned and operated clinic within New Hampshire. In addition, she is the Owner of Partners in Healthcare Education, a medical education company. Wendy is the Chief Clinical Officer of Duet Technologies, a start-up company designed to assist NP owned clinics in the United States.

In 2005, she was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners; in October 2014, a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, and in March 2017, a Fellow into the National Academies of Practice. She has won numerous awards including one of the Top 10 NPs in America in 2018, 2023, and 2024 for her family practice and educational presentations.

Wendy presents nationally to different audiences and has been a speaker at over 1000 conferences in 48 states. She has been a medical media spokesperson for numerous companies and has appeared on radio, television, and in print magazines. Wendy is frequently consulted by malpractice attorneys around the area of clinical practice and has worked on more than 125 malpractice cases involving nurses and nurse practitioners.

Dr. William Schaffner is Professor of Preventive Medicine in the Department of Health Policy and Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

After graduating from Yale in 1957, Schaffner attended the University of Freiburg, Germany as a Fulbright Scholar. He graduated from Cornell University Medical College and completed residency training and a Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt. He served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for two years. He is a staunch advocate of collaboration between academic medical centers and public health institutions.

Dr. Schaffner’s focus has been the prevention of infectious diseases with a special interest in the implementation and evaluation of vaccines. He often is invited to comment in the media on communicable disease issues and regards this as a teaching opportunity.

Marwan N. Sabbagh, MD, is a behavioral neurologist and the Moreno Family Chair for Alzheimer’s Research in the Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders Program at Barrow Neurological Institute. He is also a professor and the Vice Chair of Research in the Institute’s Department of Neurology. He is board certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Dr. Sabbagh’s expertise includes the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other memory disorders. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology.

Dr. Sabbagh earned his medical degree from the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson and his undergraduate degree from the University of California—Berkeley. He completed his neurology residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and a geriatric neurology and dementia fellowship at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

Dr. Sabbagh is a leading investigator of many prominent national Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment clinical trials. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions. He is the editor-in-chief of Neurology and Therapy. Dr. Sabbagh is a prolific author who has written and edited books on Alzheimer’s disease and has contributed to hundreds of medical and scientific articles.

Brittany Albright MD, MPH is a Harvard-trained, triple board-certified psychiatrist with clinical expertise in interventional psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, and obesity medicine. She completed her adult psychiatry residency at the nation’s top ranked program, Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital and a fellowship in addiction psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina, where she serves as an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Albright is the Founder and CEO of Sweetgrass Psychiatry, South Carolina’s largest physician-owned psychiatry practice with three locations.

Her research and academic work include numerous abstracts presented at national meetings and peer-reviewed manuscripts focused on innovative treatments and psychiatric education. A national speaker and consultant, she serves as President Elect of the South Carolina Psychiatric Association and holds multiple leadership roles with Psych Congress, including co-chair of Psych Congress Elevate and originator of the Private Practice Summit.

She firmly believes in collaborative, comprehensive treatment and the restoration of wellness in her patients and practices psychotherapy with expertise in mentalization based therapy and psychodynamic therapy. She also holds certifications in psychedelic assisted psychotherapy and transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Dr Laura K. Melaro is the Director of Integrated Behavioral Health, and a dual certified Family and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at Hardeman County Community Health Centers in West Tennessee. She is also an Adjoint Volunteer Faculty for Vanderbilt School of Nursing and guest lecturer for other Schools of Nursing. Dr Melaro received her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, Tennessee. She is a member/past member of several prominent societies, including the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, and the American Nurses Association and has been a consultant for multiple HRSA funded grants. Her focus of practice is value-based, integrated behavioral and telehealth care delivery.

Boarded in Psychiatry, Addiction Medicine, Forensic Psychiatry and Holistic & Integrative Medicine, Arwen Podesta MD works in Louisiana, with an office in New Orleans. She authored a book on addiction, HOOKED (available on Amazon, see her website, www.podestawellness.com). She was recently awarded the honor of distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatry Association as well as the American Society of Addiction Medicine and is the immediate past President of the Louisiana Psychiatric Medical Association. She consults to the Louisiana governor’s HOPE committee and is a member of the Attorney General’s Opioid Abatement Taskforce. She is a national speaker, she teaches, consults and is an advocate for integrative best practices for those with addiction and psychiatric needs.

Rakesh Jain, MD, MPH, attended medical school at the University of Calcutta in India. He then attended graduate school at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, where he was awarded a “National Institute/Center for Disease Control Competitive Traineeship”. His research thesis focused on impact of substance abuse. He graduated from the School of Public Health in 1987 with a Masters of Public Health (MPH) degree.

Dr. Jain served a three-year residency in Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He followed that by obtaining further specialty training, by undergoing a two-year fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In addition, Dr. Jain completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Research Psychiatry at the University of Texas Mental Sciences Institute, in Houston. He was awarded the “National Research Service Award” for the support of this postdoctoral fellowship.

Dr Laura K. Melaro is the Director of Integrated Behavioral Health, and a dual certified Family and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at Hardeman County Community Health Centers in West Tennessee. She is also an Adjoint Volunteer Faculty for Vanderbilt School of Nursing and guest lecturer for other Schools of Nursing. Dr Melaro received her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, Tennessee. She is a member/past member of several prominent societies, including the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, and the American Nurses Association and has been a consultant for multiple HRSA funded grants. Her focus of practice is value-based, integrated behavioral and telehealth care delivery.