Kim Allan Williams, MD, FACC is an expert in nuclear cardiology, cardiovascular diseases and computed tomography. He has held leadership positions at major universities and currently serves as chief of cardiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Mary Norine Walsh, MD, FACC directs the heart failure and transplant programs at St. Vincent Heart Center and is a clinical professor at Indiana University School of Medicine. Richard A. Chazal, MD, FACC practices clinical cardiology in Fort Myers, FL and has served in numerous leadership roles for the ACC including governor of the Florida chapter.

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Profiles

2. Kim Allan Williams, MD, FACC
• Williams received his undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago, followed by medical
school at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed his internal
medicine residency at Emory University, and overlapping fellowships in cardiology, clinical
pharmacology, and nuclear medicine at the University of Chicago.
• He is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases, nuclear medicine, nuclear
cardiology and cardiovascular computed tomography. He served as professor of medicine and
radiology and director of nuclear cardiology at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.
He then became the Dorothy Susan Timmis Endowed Professor and chair of the division of
cardiology at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, MI. In 2013, Williams assumed
the position of James B. Herrick Professor and chief of the division of cardiology at Rush University
Medical Center in Chicago, IL.
• Williams has served on numerous committees and boards at the national level, including the
American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC), the American Heart Association, the American
Medical Association (AMA), the Certifying Board of Nuclear Cardiology, the Certifying Board of
Cardiac Computed Tomography, the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography and the
Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC). He served as president of ASNC and as chair of the board
of ABC. He also served on the Cardiovascular Disease Examination Board of the American Board of
Internal Medicine.
• Williams previously served as chair of the ACC’s Cardiac Imaging Committee, the Cardiovascular
Imaging Collaborative, the Coalition of Cardiovascular Organizations and the Cardiac Imaging
Council. He has also been an ACC delegate to the AMA since 2000.

3. Mary Norine Walsh, MD,
FACC
• Walsh earned both her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of
Minnesota. She completed her internship and residency at the University of Texas
Southwestern, and her cardiology fellowship at Washington University School of
Medicine. She served as an assistant professor of medicine in the division of cardiology,
as well as an assistant professor of radiology at the Hospital of the University of
Pennsylvania. Walsh then joined what is now St. Vincent Medical Group in Indianapolis,
IN.
• She is the medical director of the Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Programs
and director of nuclear cardiology at St. Vincent Heart Center, as well as clinical
associate professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. She has been
active in the ACC, both locally and nationally.
• She has served as president of the Indiana Chapter, and has served on and chaired
multiple committees. She is actively involved in clinical research in heart failure, nuclear
cardiology and systems approaches for quality initiatives in the practice setting. She has
been elected by her peers for inclusion in Best Doctors in America annually since 2005.

4. Richard A. Chazal, MD, FACC
• After graduating from the University of Florida and the University of
South Florida Medical School, Chazal returned to Florida after training
in cardiovascular disease at the Krannert Institute of Cardiology at
Indiana University.
• He continues to practice clinical cardiology in Fort Myers, FL. In 2010,
Chazal's single-specialty group joined Lee Memorial Health System,
where he now serves as the medical director of the Heart and
Vascular Institute.
• Within the ACC, Chazal has served in numerous leadership positions,
including committee positions, treasurer and as governor of the
Florida Chapter. He is currently the vice chair of the Strategic Plan
Task Force.

5. Robert A. Shor, MD, FACC
• Bob has been practicing cardiology since 1989 and is currently a partner at Virginia Heart,
which serves much of Northern Virginia. He has a special interest in primary and secondary
prevention, and risk factor modification, in addition to general and invasive cardiology. He
has been involved in multiple quality initiatives, both at the practice, local and state level. In
addition to running an active clinical practice, Shor has participated in multiple clinical trials
and served on multiple hospital committees, as well as the board of his practice, where he
serves as vice president.
• Shor has been actively involved in the Virginia Chapter of the ACC for many years, first as a
councilman, and then for several years as treasurer. He has also been chair of the Virginia
Chapter’s Advocacy Committee, representing the ACC on Capitol Hill and at congressional
events, advancing the concerns of cardiologists.
• Shor has also previously represented the ACC on the National Committee for Quality
Assurance Medical Advisory Board, the Clinical Practice Committee and at the Medical
Society of Virginia (MSV) legislative meetings. He has been involved in several ACC
Committees and task forces, and has served on writing committees. More recently, Shor
has served as the president of the Virginia Chapter of the ACC and on the Board of
Governors for the ACC from 2012 to 2015.

6. William A. Zoghbi, MD, MACC
• William A. Zoghbi is the Elkins Family Distinguished Chair in Cardiac Health at
The Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, Professor of
Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Institute of Academic
Medicine, and Director of the Cardiovascular Imaging Institute at Houston
Methodist.
• Dr. Zoghbi served as president of the ASE in 2008 and President of the
American College of Cardiology in 2012 and remains involved in the College.
He co-chaired the Governance Task Force for the ACC (2014-15).
• Dr. Zoghbi is involved nationally and internationally in cardiovascular health
advocacy and health promotion. He was instrumental in the vision and
implementation of the international mission of the ACC since 2008. He
represented the ACC and the global cardiovascular community at the United
Nations and World Health Organization, advocating for the reduction of
premature mortality from Non-communicable diseases (“25x25” initiative). He
has co-chaired the Global Task Force for Cardiovascular disease for the World
Heart Federation and currently serves as Section Editor for JACC on global
health.

7. James E. Orlikoff
• President of Orlikoff & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in health
care governance and leadership, strategy, quality, patient safety, and
organizational development. He is the National Advisor on Governance and
Leadership to the American Hospital Association and Health Forum, and is the
Senior Consultant to the Center for Healthcare Governance. He was named
one of the 100 most powerful people in healthcare in the inaugural list by
Modern Healthcare magazine.
• Mr. Orlikoff has been involved in leadership, quality, and strategy issues for
over thirty years. He has consulted with hospitals and systems in twelve
countries, and since 1985 has worked with hospital and system governing
boards to strengthen their overall effectiveness and their oversight of strategy
and quality. He has worked extensively on improving the relationships
between boards, medical staffs, and management. He has written fifteen
books and over 100 articles and has served on hospital, college, and civic
boards. He is currently the Vice Chair of the Virginia Mason Health System
Board in Seattle, WA, and is chair of their Governance Committee.
• Mr. Orlikoff received his M.A. in social and organizational psychology from the
University of Chicago, and his B.A. from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA.

8. Shal Jacobovitz
• Shal is the chief executive officer of the American College of Cardiology. In this
role, Jacobovitz leads the organization in its mission to transform cardiovascular
care and improve heart health.
• Prior to joining the ACC, Jacobovitz served as president of Actelion
Pharmaceuticals U.S., a biopharmaceutical company specializing in cardio-
pulmonary therapies, from 2004 to 2013. At Actelion, Jacobovitz developed a
strong patient- and customer-centered corporate strategy.
• Jacobovitz previously held positions at F. Hoffmann La Roche, where he served
as general manager for Central America and the Caribbean, led the
Pharmaceutical, OTC and Diagnostic divisions, and served as the global lifecycle
leader for cardiovascular products in Basel, Switzerland. He also held positions
with Abbott Canada, Nordic Labs and Marion Merrill Dow – now known as Aventis
– in Canada. Jacobovitz earned his bachelor of science degree in biology at
Western University in Canada.

9. Joyce Oliner
• A former employment lawyer, Joyce Oliner now concentrates on providing employment law
and human resources training programs to the senior executives, managers and line
employees of commercial, non-profit and governmental organizations.
• As a partner with the Shaw Pittman law firm (now Pillsbury Winthrop) in the District of
Columbia, Ms. Oliner counseled management on a wide variety of employment matters
and conducted sensitive internal investigations of employee discrimination complaints. In
addition to her counseling practice, Ms. Oliner also successfully represented employers in
litigation before federal and state agencies around the country on a wide range of
employment discrimination issues.
•
Ms. Oliner received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford University, England, her Juris
Doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin, her Master of Laws degree from the
University of Virginia, and her Master of Education degree from the University of Maryland.

10. C. Michael Valentine, MD, FACC
• Valentine is an interventional cardiologist at Centra Health in Lynchburg, VA.
He is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where he was named the
outstanding senior, and the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He
completed his medicine and cardiology training at Emory University in
Atlanta, GA.
• Valentine has served the College in many roles, including ACC Treasurer
and Secretary, as well as chair of the ACC Board of Governors, and governor
of the ACC’s Virginia Chapter. He was co-chair of the ACC Advocacy
Committee and served on the task force to develop the Cardiac Cath Lab
Quality Tool Kit.
• He chaired the ACC Medical Directors Institute, promoting collaboration
between payers and physicians and the concept of appropriate use. He is
co-chair of the College’s annual Cardiovascular Summit and is incoming
ACC Vice President. He is married to Shannon Valentine, a former member
of the Virginia House of Delegates, and has three active college-aged
children.

11. Cathleen Biga, MSN, RN
• Cathie is President and CEO of Cardiovascular Management of Illinois, a cardiology physician
practice management company. She has successfully integrated her physician groups and
continues to manage their integrated practices and partners in the cardiovascular service
line growth and development. She has over 30 years’ experience as a hospital and health
system executive and most recently has spent fifteen years as an industry leader in medical
practice management.
• Cathie has held positions as hospital CEO, VP of patient care services and active in practice
management for the last 15 years. In her current practice she is responsible for strategic
planning, growth and development of the cardiology practices, their operational efficiencies,
and facilitates an integrated financial/quality perspective between practices and the
hospital.
• She has been active nationally, both as a consultant and a lecturer, on physician/hospital
integration, movement from volume to value, physician compensation modeling,
development and formation of CV Service Lines, quality initiatives, development of Clinical
co-management agreements, designing balanced quality score cards, and is active in
advocacy issues. She lectures widely on governance, integration strategies, compensation,
CVSL implementation, and physician value based purchasing, PQRI, eRx, and operational
efficiencies.
• She serves on the advisory board of Medaxiom, is Past-President of CSCA, President of
Cardiology Advocacy Alliance, an active member of numerous ACC committees and
workgroups and is on the Illinois Board of Councilors of ACC. She serves on multiple boards
and remains active in her community.

12. Richard J. Kovacs, MD, FACC
• Richard Kovacs is the Q.E. and Sally Russell Professor of Cardiology
at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and is the Clinical
Director of the Krannert Institute of Cardiology.
• He is a member of the American College of Cardiology Board of
Trustees, and Chairs the Clinical Quality Committee of the ACC. He
served on the joint ACC/AHA Taskforce on Practice Guidelines from
2012-2015.
• His research interests include drug safety and the prevention of
sudden death in athletes. He serves on the National Football League
Cardiovascular Care Committee, and numerous Data Safety
Monitoring Boards for clinical trials of drugs in development.

13. Scott Lilly, MD, FACC
Scott is an interventional cardiologist and assistant professor of clinical medicine
within the Division of Cardiology at the Ohio State Universitiy Wexner Medical
Center. He specialized in coronary and structural heart interventions.
Dr. Lilly earned his medical degree and doctor of philosophy from the University of
Toledo, where he received both a National Research Service Award and the
Graduate Dean’s Award. Dr. Lilly completed his internal medicine and general
cardiology training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. While there,
he received advanced training in coronary and structural heart interventions, and
was awarded the Fellows Distinguished Teaching Award.
Dr. Lilly is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology. His particular
interests include invasive treatments for aortic stenosis, hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy and heart failure. He has numerous peer-reviewed publications on
atherosclerosis and innovative structural heart therapies. He is a frequent
presenter at local and national meetings and holds editorial roles for medical
journals and online healthcare media.

14. Matthew Phillips, MD, FACC
• Phillips has been President of Austin Heart in Austin, Texas since
2004. He is originally from New York City, NY and received his
medical degree at the University of Michigan. He completed his
internship and residency and cardiology fellowship at Wilford Hall
Medical Center at Lackland AFB, TX.
• Dr. Phillips is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Nuclear
Cardiology and in the sub-specialty of Cardiovascular Disease.
• His areas of special interests are in clinical, and nuclear cardiology.

15. Athena Poppas, MD, FACC
• Athena Poppas, MD, director of Cardiovascular Imaging and Vice-Director of the Cardiovascular
Institute, Rhode Island, Miriam, and Newport Hospitals, specializes in echocardiography and in
treating patients with valvular heart disease and heart disease during pregnancy. As a
cardiologist, Dr. Poppas focuses her research on echo, valvular disease and heart disease in
women. She has presented and published internationally on topics such as stress
echocardiography, cardiovascular properties in normal pregnancy and the role of new
technologies in echocardiography, among others.
• Dr. Poppas is an associate professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown
University. She was named a Top Doctor for Women by Rhode Island Monthly magazine and
numerous teaching awards at Brown and Rhode Island Hospital.
• Dr Poppas is the Chair of the ACC Scientific Session ’15-’16, Chair of the ACC Sections Steering
Committee, and Chair of new governance committee. Previously, she served as governor and
chapter president for Rhode Island 2004-2007, chair of the Women in Cardiology Section and
member of the Board of Trustees of the American College of Cardiology 2010-2015.
• Dr. Poppas is a fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography, where she served on
committees, including ethics, nominating and scientific programs. She has also worked with Aha,
ESC among others.She received a bachelor of science from Brown University and a doctor of
medicine from the University of Wisconsin Medical School. Dr. Poppas completed her residencies
in internal medicine at University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and in cardiovascular
medicine at University of Chicago Hospital.

16. George P. Rodgers, MD, FACC
• George is a noted authority and is recognized as one of the nation’s top providers of
cardiovascular care, as well as a premier healthcare resource to the residents of Central Texas.
Originally from Houston, Texas, he has served his community and Central Texas as both a
volunteer and medical professional, and continues to lead the way for cardiovascular
advancement.
• Dr. Rodgers graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University and the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He completed his residency training at the University of
Texas Medical School and Cardiology Fellowship at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Dr. Rodgers is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and the sub-specialty of Cardiovascular
Disease.Starting in private practice as a clinical cardiologist in 1989, Dr. Rodgers has served
as Medical Director of the Heart Hospital of Austin and President of the Austin Heart, PA. In
2005, he became President and Chief Medical Officer of Biophysical Corporation, an Austin-
based company dedicated to advancing clinical knowledge through its research in the field of
biomarkers. In 2009, he went back in to private practice with the Seton Heart Institute.
• Dr. Rodgers has served on numerous local and national committees, including leading the
American College of Cardiology (ACC) as Chair of the Board of Governors, Secretary of the
College, and as a member of the Board of Trustees. He served as President of the Texas
Chapter of ACC. Dr. Rodgers co-founded and continues to volunteer as President of the
Championship Hearts Foundation (CHF), which fights heart disease in Central Texas by
providing youth athletes with screenings at no cost to the public. In 2013, Dr. Rodgers joined
the board of directors of People’s Community Clinic ( serving the uninsured and under insured
population since the 1970’s).

17. Janet F. Wyman DNP, AACC
• Dr. Janet F. Wyman is a Nurse Practitioner Specialist in Detroit,
Michigan, having more than 25 years of diverse experiences as a
Nurse Practitioner.
• She graduated with honors in 1991. Dr. Wyman has served a
variety of roles for the ACC. She was one of the College’s first
CCAs in 2003. She chaired the ACC Cardiovascular Team
Advocacy Working Group and was the Michigan Chapter’s first
CCA Liaison. Ms. Wyman is the Structural Heart Disease Program
Coordinator at Henry Ford Hospital and Medical Center.
• She is currently the Co-Chair of the CVT Section Leadership
Council and serves on the BOG Steering Committee.

18. Jim Vance
• A multi-talented journalist known for incisive reporting and thoughtful commentaries.
Vance grew up in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, a suburb west of Philadelphia. He earned a
Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Cheyney University, a historically black
university in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. Vance taught English for three years in a Philadelphia
junior high before making the leap to television.
• Vance currently anchors the 6 p.m. edition of News4 on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. He
retired from anchoring the 11 p.m. edition of the news in May 2015. He has worked for
WRC-TV since 1969, and in 1972, he became the station's main co-anchor, as one of the
first African Americans to serve in this position at any American television station. Between
1972 and 1976, he worked as co-anchor with Glenn Rinker at WRC-TV-4. Between 1976
and 1980, Vance co-anchored with Sue Simmons, a pairing that resulted in one of the
first, if not the first, African-American co-anchors of a major market newscast. Since 1989,
he has been part of currently the longest-running anchor team in Washington, alongside
co-anchor and health reporter Doreen Gentzler.
• Vance has earned 15 Emmys and has been inducted into the National Association of
Black Journalists Hall of Fame. He has also been named Washingtonian of the Year by
Washingtonian magazine.