Bio

Wendy Charles currently serves as a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Health Informatics and Healthcare Management programs for the University of Denver’s College of Professional Studies. She is a scientist with over 30 years of experience in clinical research operations and compliance, including serving as an Institutional Review Board (IRB) Director for eight years.

Professional Background

Wendy has served for over a dozen years as a leader in industry and hospital setting management, including as Chief Scientific Officer for a software company. She has also published extensively about digital health and currently serves as the Editor in Chief of an academic journal section. As an educator, Wendy has been teaching graduate students for several years. In addition to teaching at DU, she continues to teach the business of digital health at the University of Colorado Denver and research ethics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She also served on several international committees that advise governments and industries about standards and regulatory interpretations.

Education

Wendy earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Science with a specialty in Health Information Technology from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, an M.S. in Psychology from the University of Memphis, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Colorado Boulder. She is certified as an Institutional Review Board Professional (CIP), Clinical Research Professional (CCRP), and Blockchain Professional (CBP).

Helping Students Be Successful

As an instructor in the Healthcare Management, Health Informatics, and Information Technology programs, Wendy prepares student learners to be future leaders in rapidly evolving environments driven by technological progress. She provides skills and tools about emerging technologies and practices that learners can apply to real-world settings.

Bio

Maria Creavin has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare, including clinical experience at top research medical centers, teaching experience in the university classroom, line management experience at managed care organizations, and strategic business development experience in various healthcare sectors.

Education

Maria earned a B.S. in Nutrition and Biology from Simmons University, an M.S. in Health Policy and Management from Harvard University, an MAS in Technology Management from the University of Denver, and is currently completing her DHA in Healthcare Administration from Central Michigan University.

Professional Background

As a healthcare business development and digital health consultant, Maria has provided critical analysis and innovative healthcare strategies to new business segments. She worked with digital health projects seeking to reduce childhood obesity using gaming technologies, and created ongoing business development and modeling for a clinical information company. For a project in Peru, she computerized inventory and financial systems for traditional and alternative medicine clinics and developed medical utilization reports and improved workflows.

For a multi-state poison center she developed an automated drug identification system using IVR (interactive voice response) technology that created efficiencies that have been expanded to other states and revenue sources. For several years, she was the Director of Business Development for a managed care company, implementing a self-insured managed care program with integrated financing and service in regional markets comprising $1 billion in revenues.

Motivation for Teaching

Maria strives to communicate both basic concepts and new ideas in ways that capture students’ attention and provide sound practical learning. She tries to bring concepts to life via case studies, guest speakers, and practical applications.

Helping Students Be Successful

Many graduate students are at a juncture of change in their careers (e.g. expanding on past clinical experience). Maria tries to find the resources to help make students successful. Through group and individual communication and the use of university resources, she aims to provide ample guidance and direction.

Bio

Jasper Evans is a healthcare professional with more than 20 years of experience spanning clinical, leadership, and administrative support roles. He is currently an IT Systems Analyst with large healthcare organization, where he is responsible for application optimizations for Epic electronic health record software. His industry specialties include healthcare cybersecurity, healthcare information system optimizations, communication strategies in digital health, and the delivery of digital and virtual health.

Education

Jasper holds a B.S. in Exercise Physiology and an M.A. in Exercise Science from East Carolina University and an M.S. in Information and Communication Technology from the University of Denver.

Bio

With over four decades of impactful contributions to domestic and global health, Beth Fischer is a seasoned professional whose career spans Asia, Africa, and the USA. Beth’s expertise lies in program design, implementation, research and evaluation. She has provided leadership and management for diverse projects, demonstrating her commitment to government health system strengthening, service delivery innovations, and quality improvement.

Currently, Beth’s consulting practice with Humentum, a membership organization of international development organizations, focuses on providing training workshops to international and local development sector NGOs. Previously, Beth served 15 years as Senior Technical Advisor for IntraHealth International, where she provided strategic guidance to health care systems throughout the US. Notably, she successfully managed the start-up of a $13M USAID Feed the Future Health and Nutrition Activity in Tajikistan. Beth has also been actively involved in teaching graduate-level courses and contributing to curriculum development at University of Denver since 2016.

Education

Beth holds a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Harvard University and a B.A. in American Studies and Economics from Mount Holyoke College.

Teaching Philosophy

Beth is driven by the desire to educate and equip the upcoming cohort of healthcare leaders and researchers with a global perspective on health. She emphasizes the importance of learning from diverse countries and healthcare approaches. Beth adopts an analytical, evidence-based, and interactive teaching style, incorporating practical real-life assignments. In her teaching, she actively encourages students to relate their personal life experiences to course discussions. Beth is committed to debunking myths and misconceptions about countries worldwide, and she shares the latest developments in initiatives aimed at promoting local development and decolonizing global health.

Beyond her professional endeavors, Beth has been a stalwart volunteer, serving in leadership roles for philanthropic organizations, mentoring immigrant women and refugee families. She is readily available via email and virtual office hours to answer questions, provide guidance, and help guide students in their career aspirations.

Bio

David Harlow is the Data Analytics Project Manager at the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) for the Commonwealth of Virginia. He has robust experience in project management, ranging from state-level government to academic health systems roles.

Professional Background

David has worked to implement telemedicine project initiatives and to incorporate sound data practices using health system electronic medical records (EMR). He holds numerous board appointments ranging from local government boards and commissions to healthcare organizational boards. His current efforts focus on incorporating more data-driven practices to build equitable solutions to tackle the complex nature of the healthcare sector today.

Education

David holds a Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in Organizational Leadership and an M.A. in Human Services Counseling from Liberty University, and a B.S. in Health Sciences from James Madison University.

Helping Students be Successful

David’s expertise helps empower students to discover how project management, data analytics, and telemedicine practices can all coordinate to better help patients while also making sure organizations are as efficient and lean as possible with their resources. David focuses on creating an equitable learning environment so that students can obtain the skills needed to have a positive impact on their environment. He can readily be found via email and virtual office hours to answer questions or to simply dive deeper into the subject matter of that given week.

Bio

Bobbie Kite (Ph.D., Public Health, University of Texas at Houston; MHS, Health Sciences in Emergency and Disaster Management, Touro University) is a professor with a focus in the Artificial Intelligence in the Healthcare Management and Health Informatics Programs at the College of Professional Studies, University of Denver. Before working at DU, she was jointly appointed to the Department of Biomedical Informatics and the Ohio State University Health Plan at The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. Bobbie’s research brings knowledge in population health informatics and competency-based education within the field of health data analytics and informatics.

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.

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

Matt has 16 years of healthcare and technology experience working with entities across the healthcare spectrum including providers, payers/PBMs, distributors, medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers and digital health companies.

Education

Matt earned a Master of Healthcare Administration from the Ohio State University.

Professional Background

Matt’s employment and consulting background includes healthcare strategy consulting firm Sg2, electronic health record (EHR) vendor Cerner Corporation, direct primary care provider Proactive MD and enterprise technology services company ConvergeOne where he focused on supporting its healthcare & life sciences practice.

Helping Students Be Successful

Matt’s diverse background enables him to bring practical experience, use cases and real-world examples into the classroom as an extension of the theoretical concepts studied in healthcare leadership, communication, organizational behavior, change management and digital health/telehealth.

Bio

Jessica Wise is a health services researcher and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Texas Medical Center in Houston where she teaches and does research on bioethics, policy and health economics. Her current research focuses on non-medical (social and economic) determinants of health and educational practices.

Education

Jessica holds a B.S. in Human Biology from the University of Texas at Austin, an MPH from the University of Texas School of Public Health-UTHealth Houston, and a Ph.D. in Health Economics from the University of Texas School of Public Health.

Professional Background

Prior to research in academia, Jessica worked in private industry doing environmental compliance and management consulting. As a consultant, she was involved in some exciting projects like the Qualified Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) Tax Credit and Grant that was part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The firm she worked for helped the IRS draft the grant application and then the firm assisted hundreds of biotech companies claim the tax credit and grants. She has also worked with several biomedical device manufacturers as a consultant. Because of her time in the industry and at the school of public health, she is adept at switching back and forth between the four healthcare perspectives: payer, provider, patient and population.

Motivation for Teaching

Both Jessica’s research interests and her personal teaching philosophy reflect the dignity and value that she sees in each lived human experience. The humanistic teaching style is reflected in her tendency to support personal growth and self-direction by curating positive learning experiences. Her learner-centered approach to teaching aligns with her personal philosophy that assumes people are inherently good and have unlimited growth potential. This learner-centered style also emphasizes the students’ personal experiences and enhances the learning process by making it meaningful to the students in their everyday life.

Helping Students Be Successful

Jessica teaches her students about biostatistics and ethics in research with real-life examples and hands-on exercises. She hopes to challenge all her students along their learning journey to develop new habits of thought when it comes to health informatics and research. She is readily available via email and virtual office hours to answer questions, provide guidance and offer insights.