Bio

Michael Walker’s experience spans leadership experience across multiple sectors within the healthcare industry, primarily in a sales and marketing function. He has most recently been involved in a new healthcare product launch for Optum, a multinational health services company. 

Education

Michael earned his bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Idaho and his MBA from the University of Denver.

Bio

Chris Cosgrove is a champion of healthcare change management with 20 years of experience in culture change and support for mental health care and the elderly. She has consulted and guided hundreds of professors in designing eLearning courses with 14 years as a Senior Instructional Designer, and she has taught for 10 years as an adjunct professor in Healthcare Management and Health Informatics. She has a passion and commitment to continued growth and creativity in the world of eLearning.

Education

Chris earned a B.S. in Sociology from the University of Utah, a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Utah, a Certificate in eLearning from the University of Colorado, Denver and a Certificate in Addiction Counseling from the University of Utah.

Bio

Norma Tirado holds a doctorate in healthcare administration and has been a healthcare executive for over 25 years. Over those years she has held positions as Chief Human Resources, Chief Learning Officer, and Chief Information Officer. She has been a culture guru and has developed a model for healthy cultures for organizations. In all her roles, she has managed small, medium, and generous size projects with millions of dollars of impact to improve both the patient and team member experience, including multiple HRIS and EMR implementations, some of which have earned her recognition as an Influential Woman in Healthcare IT, HIMSS Level 7 recognition on Epic EMR implementation as well as a Davies Award. Norma is, above all, an executive coach and developer of talent.

Education

Norma holds a Doctorate of Healthcare Administration from Central Michigan University, an MBA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a B.A. in Foreign Languages & Literature from Marquette University.

Bio

Hannah Dimmick is an applied researcher with experience in a variety of digital health modalities and clinical experience. Currently, she works as the Scientific Editor for the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Division of Reproductive Sciences.

Education

Hannah earned her B.S. and Master of Science in Exercise Science from the University of Kansas, and her Ph.D. in Kinesiology (specialization in Wearable Technology) from the University of Calgary.

Professional Background

Hannah’s research has largely focused on using wearable technology and other remote monitoring techniques to bolster precision medicine approaches and develop more holistic data for improving clinical care.

Motivation for Teaching

Hannah believes that new health technologies have the potential to improve health outcomes and provide better insight into disease progression and quality of life. In her courses, she hopes to instill a deeper understanding of these tools and techniques and how we can use new digital technologies to unlock better patient outcomes.

Bio

Rebecca Fein is a long-time healthcare informatics leader with over 10 years of experience in assisting organizations with their health informatics needs. she has a deep understanding of health informatics practice from the early days to modern data management in a constantly evolving, complicated healthcare data landscape and how these practices fit together to improve outcomes for healthcare.

Education

Rebecca earned her B. in Political Science from Hope College, her Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management from the University of Phoenix, her Master of Science in Applied Health Informatics from Bryan University and her Doctorate of Health Science in Global Health from A.T. Still University.

Professional Background

Rebecca is currently serving as the Senior Medical Policy Research Consultant for Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota via Hollstadt Consulting. Previous to that, she was a Population Health Data Analyst at The North Carolina Health Information Exchange Authority, where she oversaw complicated population health data projects including chronic disease management, maternal health, and controlled substance reporting.

Rebecca built the health informatics program from the ground up at Laboratory Informatics Institute. She is the recipient of the Coronovision Gold Award for 2020 along with her colleague, Dr. Leila Kalanakesh.

Motivation for Teaching

Rebecca believes very strongly in mentoring the next generation of informatics leadership and is very passionate about finding opportunities to lift others up. Her time in informatics has taught her that the better equipped the next generation is to meet the challenges of modern data management, the better and she hopes to play an instrumental role in providing this knowledge.

Helping Students Be Successful

Rebecca teaches her students about health informatics practice with storytelling of real-life examples, and provides hands-on opportunities at every turn. Rebecca believes strongly in a collaborative approach where students are encouraged to come up with solutions to complicated problems. She sees her role as a guide on a student’s journey to knowledge.

Bio

Tania Cerrato is an expert in population health data science, research informatics and data science, boasting over a decade of experience. Her skilled utilization of electronic health records and a variety of public health datasets has significantly improved healthcare delivery and policy development.

Education

Tania holds an M.S. in Health Informatics from the University of Denver, as well as a Medical Degree specializing in Hematology/Oncology from Francisco Marroquín University, Guatemala, and a Doctor of Medicine from the Autonomous National University of Honduras.

Professional Background

Currently, Tania serves as the Research Informatics and Data Science Manager at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Passionate about using data to advance healthcare informatics and research, she focuses on smart planning and robust data analysis to improve healthcare systems’ functionality and outcomes.

Previously, Tania was the Population Health Data Science Manager at Arapahoe County Public Health and served as Medical Director-Informatics at Atshore-VIDSTON. There, she led the development and implementation of machine learning diagnostics for blood diseases, significantly boosting diagnostic rates in underserved areas. She has also been instrumental in data modernization projects in public health. Previously, as a Public Health Informatics Fellow-Health Scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tania led the development of a predictive model for early identification of substance use disorders. Her expertise encompasses comprehensive data analysis, strategic planning and the innovative use of tools like Natural Language Processing for unstructured data analysis.

Motivation for Teaching

Driven by her passion for health informatics and data science, Tania is committed to educating the next generation of professionals in the field. She integrates her extensive professional experience with hands-on learning, focusing on the practical application of theoretical knowledge. As an educator, Tania dedicates herself to student success, offering personalized support and imparting valuable insights from her extensive career in health informatics.

Bio

Dana G. Venenga is a healthcare administrator with over 32 years of experience in the federal and civilian healthcare industry. He has also served as a university adjunct faculty in healthcare administration. He continuously pursues enriching student’s lives in healthcare administration, leadership, and organizational dynamics.

Education

Dana earned an M.S. in Healthcare Administration from Baylor University and a B.S. in Social Sciences from the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Professional Background

As a United States Air Force healthcare administrator, Dana served as a medical center administrator, clinic Chief Operating Officer and clinic administrator. During an assignment as the Chief Headquarters Air Force Surgeon General Financial Account, he led a $280 million headquarters account. He also served as Chief of Resources for a 9 hospital/clinic system with an operating budget of over a 110 million dollars. Dana is a healthcare consultant for the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. 

Dana is the author of Leadership Secrets of a Slug, which is a leadership primer containing time-tested leadership principles taught through the lens of military and faith-based stories and anecdotes. Dana strives to be a servant leader in every situation and has a fervent desire to share the knowledge he has gained over a long-spanning career of the military and healthcare service.

Bio

Breanna Wong is the Principal Manager of Product Strategy for Microsoft’s Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) solutions. She has focused on these AI solutions, which automatically document clinical care, since 2020 and loves sharing insights into the rapidly developing fields of AI and clinical documentation software with students.

Breanna has performed HIPAA, reimbursement, and financial consulting for private practices and ASCs. She also worked for a large healthcare system, with experience running IT project intake, the provider Epic usage coaching program, Epic Community Connect implementations for practices and hospitals, and the affiliate IT program.

Passionate about empowering others, Breanna serves as a course developer and adjunct faculty at the University of Denver and MSU and on the boards of the Colorado Chapter of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), Colorado Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), Denver Medical Study Group (DMSG), Colorado Health Administration Alumni Association, and the Cornell Club of Colorado. She achieved her MBA-Healthcare Administration and M.S. in Finance from the University of Colorado and triple majored at Cornell University.

Bio

Richard Staynings is a globally respected public speaker, author, and thought leader for healthcare cybersecurity. He has spent the past 30 years assisting governments, healthcare providers, payers and life sciences organizations navigate the increasing complex world of cybersecurity and patient safety. He has served on various security boards and healthcare working groups, and as a subject matter expert on government Committees of Inquiry into some of the highest profile healthcare breaches.

Education

Richard attained a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Public Policy from the University of Northumbria in the UK and a Master of Science in Cybersecurity Management and Policy from the University of Maryland in the US. In addition, he has been awarded various post graduate diplomas and certificates in cybersecurity, public administration, and business.

Professional Background

Richard currently serves as Chief Security Strategist for Cylera, a medical device and HIoT security company, and as Chief Security Officer for Cyber Associates, a global cybersecurity strategy leader. A recovering CISO with more than 25 years’ experience in both cybersecurity leadership and healthcare client consulting, Richard has lived in over 30 countries and delivered innovative solutions to organizations in all of them. Some of his more notable successes include work for: Amgen, Childrens’ National, Cisco, Childrens’ Hospital of Philadelphia, CSC (now split between DxC and General Dynamics), Intermountain Healthcare, PeaceHealth, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Intel, Microsoft, and Zurich Financial, among others.

Motivation for Teaching

Richard has a passion for research and for keeping his finger on the pulse of healthcare cybersecurity. He enjoys presenting his findings and thought leadership at conferences all over the world, to industry leaders, and with his students. This ensures that those who take his classes receive a steady stream of relevant, cutting-edge information to supplement their foundational knowledge. Richard is driven by the need to train and prepare the next generation of healthcare leaders and cybersecurity professionals with the requisite skills to be successful as they advance.

Helping Students Be Successful

Richard challenges his students to be their best. His teaching approach is to combine leading practices in cybersecurity with experience and context. He supplements US-centric course materials with a global view and the pragmatic challenges of bringing about change in policy, governance, and private industry. He is readily available via email and virtual office hours to answer questions, provide guidance, and offer insights from the cybersecurity world.

Bio

Rachel Rogers has more than two decades of clinical experience in speech-language pathology, bedside nursing, health informatics, and frontline leadership. Until 2024, she served as the Academic Director for the Healthcare Programs and the Interim Assistant Dean of Curricular Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at DU’s College of Professional Studies. 

As a healthcare leader, Rachel leveraged her diverse clinical background to advance issues of healthcare access and quality for marginalized populations. She is deeply passionate about recognizing healthcare as a fundamental human right. She has focused her efforts on using innovations in health information technology and population health tools to help address persistent, systemic barriers to high-quality healthcare for all.

As an instructor, Rachel champions health justice by shaping the next generation of healthcare leaders. Drawing directly from her dissertation research and academic studies concentrated in principles of inclusive learning, she embraces initiatives to create welcoming, supportive learning environments that foster diverse perspectives and ways of knowing. She firmly believes students are able to learn best when recognized for their identities and intersections thereof. This drives Rachel to continually learn about and implement inclusive pedagogical approaches and invite each individual learner’s background and experience into their education.

Education

Rachel holds an Ed.D. in Higher Education from the University of Denver, an M.S.Sp Masters in Speech-Language Pathology from Emerson College, a BSN from University of Colorado College of Nursing, and an MA in Communication Disorders from the University of Connecticut, Storrs.

Helping Students Be Successful

As an instructor in the healthcare management and health informatics programs, Rachel firmly believes in cultivating inclusive classroom environments where both students and instructors are able to learn from one another through sharing their experiences and perspectives. Rather than embracing the outdated “sage on stage” model where the instructor imparts their knowledge upon passive students, Rachel prefers to be an active guide focused on community-building, student empowerment, and the co-creation of knowledge. She recognizes that graduate students arrive with professional and personal insights that contribute to a vibrant learning community. One of Rachel’s favorite classes to teach is the Capstone Seminar where students put their coursework and independent research skills into action to grapple with a complex healthcare issue.