Our Team

Richard (Rick) Gilfillan, MD, MBA, (he/him) is the Board Chair of IEC. For more than 30 years, Rick has developed and worked with teams in for-profit and not-for-profit sectors to build successful and high-quality care delivery systems.  

Rick was the founding director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) within the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where he worked quickly with payers and providers to develop innovative models for improving patient care and reducing costs. Prior to his appointment at CMMI, Rick was president and CEO of Geisinger Health Plan and executive vice president of Insurance Operations for Geisinger Health System. He also founded the Health Care Transformation Task Force. In June 2019, he stepped down as president and CEO of Trinity Health, a $19 billion Catholic integrated health system that serves communities in 22 states. The system includes 93 hospitals, 7,500 employed clinicians, hundreds of outpatient care sites, 120 continuing care locations and provides more than 2.5 million home health and hospice visits annually. 

Rick began his career as a board-certified family medicine physician. He earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Georgetown University and holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Robert S. Galvin, MD, (he/him) is the Chief Executive Officer of Equity Healthcare (EH), a healthcare management company serving firms owned by private equity. He is a nationally recognized leader in the areas of employer-sponsored insurance, quality measurement and payment reform. He was one of the founders of the value-based purchasing movement and has started three non-profits in this space, the Leapfrog Group, Bridges to Excellence, and CPR.

Robert began his career as a general internist in the Boston area. He was also a senior executive and chief medical officer at GE, where he was responsible for health costs, policy, and global medical issues. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and professor adjunct of Medicine and Health Policy at Yale. He is chairman of the Board of CPR and is also on the boards of the Special Olympics of Connecticut and the New York-based United Hospital Fund, which focuses on the needs of underserved New Yorkers. 

Robert was a recipient of the John D. Thompson Award from the Yale School of Public Health and has received recognition for his work from the National Business Group on Health, Healthcare Financial Management Association, and National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.

Staci Alexander (she/her) is the vice president of AARP’s Thought Leadership division, where she leads a dynamic team of issue experts in working across sectors to cultivate and elevate new ideas, solutions, and relationships, with the goal of making health longevity accessible to all.

Staci has a rich history of cultivating partnerships and alliances in support of mission-driven goals across the fields of policy development, philanthropy and communication. Prior to joining AARP, she worked in public media as an assistant director with MacNeil/Lehrer Productions and senior associate of the Community Strategies Group for the Aspen Institute. Staci also has worked as a staffer in the United States Senate, a lobbyist for urban and rural affordable housing development, and as a grantmaker. She serves as a volunteer commissioner for the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Staci has an MPA from City University of New York, Baruch School of Public Affairs, and a BA in political science from Vassar College. Staci is also a graduate of the Leadership Fairfax (Virginia) Class of 2020.

Julia Bascom (she/her) is the former executive director at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, where she was a leading voice on disability rights. 

Previously, Julia did state-level work in her home state of New Hampshire, where she served on the Developmental Disability Council and co-led an inter-agency team to revitalize self-advocacy within the state. Julia edited Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking, an anthology of writings by autistic people, and currently serves on the advisory board of Felicity House, the board of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, and the board of Allies For Independence. 

Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, FRCP, KBE, (he/him) is president emeritus and a senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), an organization he co-founded and led as president and CEO for 18 years. Donald is an internationally recognized thought leader in health policy and is one of the nation’s leading authorities on healthcare quality and improvement. In 2010, President Obama appointed Donald as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). 

A pediatrician by background, Donald has served as clinical professor of pediatrics and healthcare policy at the Harvard Medical School, professor of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health, and as a member of the staff of Boston’s Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine. Donald also served on President Clinton’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry. 

Donald is a recipient of numerous awards, and author or co-author of over 160 scientific articles, six books, and numerous commentaries. He now serves as lecturer in the department of healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School.

Rima Cohen (she/her) is the founder and principal of Rima Cohen Strategies LLC, where she helps a wide range of organizations—from venture capital firms to the federal government and international nonprofit organizations—address complex healthcare problems. Rima is currently a special advisor to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where she supports CMS leaders in developing and advancing the administration’s Medicare priorities in areas such as health equity and value-based care. 

Rima was previously the founding executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Health Innovators Fellowship, and she also served in the Obama Administration as counselor for health policy to the HHS Secretary. Prior to that, Rima was the director of health for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, where she oversaw the city’s healthcare programs and agencies, including Medicaid, the City’s public hospital and healthcare system, and the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. Rima also spent a decade as former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle’s senior health policy advisor, and she founded and directed Insurance Options for the Uninsured (IOU), a Greater New York Hospital Foundation initiative that developed and implemented strategies for expanding health insurance coverage in New York. 

Rima has an MA in public affairs, with a concentration in economics, from Princeton University and a BA in economics from the University of Michigan, where she was a student in the honors college. After graduate school, Rima was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study program evaluation methods employed by US NGOs operating in Indonesia.

Cuong Do (he/him) is president & CEO of BioVie, where he leads the integration of the recently acquired neurology assets and the newly combined portfolio.

Previously, Cuong was president of the Samsung Global Strategy Group, where he helped set the strategic direction of Samsung Group’s diverse business portfolio. He was also a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, where he spent 17 years and helped build the healthcare, high-tech, and corporate finance practices. Cuong is an active entrepreneur and has founded several healthcare companies, including CareVisor, Callidus Biopharma, Lysodel Therapeutics, and M6P Therapeutics. He also founded Identifor, Inc. and Identifor Foundation to help autistic teenagers identify abilities and strengths to make the transition to adulthood, and Profectum Foundation to help train clinicians and parents on how to work with autistic children. He helped build Celebrate the Children, a school for children with special needs in New Jersey. 

Cuong holds a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Cathy Schwallie Farmer (she/her) is the co-founder of the Autism Angels Group, an investment group focusing on neurodiverse solutions and founders. She has been an angel investor for over 12 years, focusing on systems that will help people and the environment.

Cathy has worked in healthcare and science technology for over 30 years. She is an active venture advisor at University of California, Berkeley: SkyDeck, and is an ongoing mentor at the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps. She is an advisory board member of several organizations, including the Autism Center of Northern California. Cathy also serves as a judge for the UCSF Digital Health Awards, Cal’s BIG IDEAS, SkyDeck’s Bio-Selection Committee, and the HIMSS Northern California Innovation Awards.

Chester Finn (he/him) is an individual and family advocate at the New York State Office for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, where he has advocated for people with developmental disabilities for more than 20 years. Chester also serves on numerous state and national boards, advising on disability policy.

Chester is the co-founder of the Community Empowerment Programs Inc., which provides community service and educational programming for people with disabilities. He served three terms as president of the National Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) and is former president and current advisor to the Self Advocacy Association of New York State (SANYS). He was appointed by President Obama to serve on the board of the National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency that advises the president, Congress, and other federal agencies regarding disability policy. 

Chester was recently named to the Commission on Quality and Leadership (CQL) Board of Directors, a national leader in working with human service organizations and systems to continuously define, measure, and improve quality of life and services for persons with IDD and psychiatric disorders. 

Dena Gassner, MSW, (she/her) is a Ph.D. candidate in Social Work at Adelphi and is in her 6th year as an adjunct at Towson University in Health Sciences. She is an appointed member of the Review Board for the Autism Intervention Research Network in Physical Health (AIR-P) and is a member of the AIR-P Gender, Sexuality, and Healthcare Node with UCLA. Her GS&H team is presenting at the May INSAR international conference in Stockholm, addressing maternity and autism. She is completing her second year as an appointed member of the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) advising the White House on autism funding priorities for research. With AASET, she has published three PCORI publications. She will return to this work with UNC as the study staff training coordinator and as the implementation outcome assessor examining cognitive behavioral therapy versus mindfulness to address autistic suicide.

Dena has published multiple book chapters and journal articles, and her presentations include NYU London, The United Nations (Geneva and US), Cambridge, University of Birmingham, Russia, Fonden Samrådet-Denmark, and Scotland, among other places. In 1999, she was awarded the Cathy Pratt Professional of the Year Award from the Autism Society of America.

Matthew Holder, MD, MBA, (he/him) is recognized as an international leader in the emerging field of developmental medicine and advocates on behalf of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities for better-quality health services.  

Matthew serves as the global medical advisor and chair of the Medical Advisory Committee for Special Olympics International and has created multi-disciplinary health programs serving over five million athletes with IDD worldwide. He is also CEO of Chyron, LLC and Advantage Medical Corp., where he co-designed and now operates Kentucky’s first and largest interdisciplinary clinic focused exclusively on the care of adults with IDD.  Matthew was also co-founder, executive director, and later, president emeritus of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry.

As a physician, educator, and healthcare advocate, Matthew has worked to impact the state of healthcare policy, research, and medical education around the world. 

Margaret A. Nygren, EdD, FAAIDD, (she/her) has been the executive director & CEO of AAIDD since 2010. Margaret also serves on a number of federal and national advisory and scientific committees that address research, policies, and supports concerning people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Prior to her work at AAIDD, Margaret worked at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) as the associate executive director for program development. She also held a fellowship in the Disabled and Elderly Health Programs group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in Baltimore and was the director of the Center on Aging and Disabilities at the Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy Institute in Washington, DC. Margaret has led nine international delegations to facilitate information exchange among researchers, clinicians, providers, and policymakers in the field.

Margaret holds an EdD from Nova Southeastern University, an MA in clinical psychology from West Virginia University, and a BA in Psychology from Beloit College. In 2021, she completed a certificate program in diversity and inclusion at Cornell University.

Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, PhD (she/they) is an educator, writer, public speaker, parent, and global disability justice advocate.

Morénike is involved in various social justice activism endeavors and is a contributing author and editor of several publications, abstracts, and books focusing on participatory research, meaningful community involvement, intersectionality, and accessibility. She serves as founder and principal operator of Advocacy Without Borders, a nonprofit initiative offering lectures, advocacy, and research, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion training. Morénike is also a Research Fellow within the Life Course Outcomes division at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute, the first public health-focused autism research center in the United States, at Drexel University.

Morénike maintains membership within several global and national executive boards and is a consultant, keynote lecturer, and public speaker who has presented at the White House, the United Nations, and numerous peer-reviewed international conferences. Morénike also serves as a Public Member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, the Federal advisory committee that advises the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services on issues related to autism and coordinates all federal autism efforts in the US. Notable
publications include over a dozen monograph chapter contributions, digital scholarship, peer-reviewed articles and editorial work. Morénike draws from personal background as a person of color in a neurodiverse and serodifferent family and an adult on the autism spectrum as well as extensive educational and professional experience.

Bernard M. Rosof, MD MACP, (he/him) is professor of medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine at  Hofstra/Northwell and has been at the forefront of national initiatives in the areas of quality and performance improvement for decades.  

Bernard completed a gastroenterology fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine, and he practiced internal medicine and gastroenterology in Huntington, New York, for 29 years. He has served as chairman of medicine at Huntington Hospital, is past chair of the Board of Directors of Huntington Hospital (Northwell Health), and is a current member of the Board of Overseers of the Northwell Health System. Bernard was a co-founder of the Faye J. Lindner Center for Autism and Related Developmental Disorders and remains on the Board of several philanthropic organizations, including Project Sunshine and Partners Health Plan, the only health plan in New York solely focused on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Bernard currently serves as CEO of Quality in Healthcare Advisory Group. He is a master of the American College of Physicians and chair emeritus of the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians. He received the 2011 Founders Award presented by the American College of Medical Quality in recognition of his long-standing national leadership and exceptional ability to foster and support healthcare quality improvement.  Bernard is also the recipient of the 2012 Stengel Award from the ACP for outstanding service and for his influence in maintaining and advancing the best standards of medical education, medical practice, and clinical research.