Session Connector (All sessions)
Susan Heichert, MA, BSN
As Session Connector, Susan will weave together session themes and topics by asking pertinent questions, sharing her insights and perspectives, and engaging participants. She is the former Chief Information Officer at Allina Health in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Susan is currently consulting in information technology strategy and leadership as President of the Cedar Isles Organization, LLC. She began her professional career in pediatrics/NICU nursing, practicing in Texas and Minnesota, after earning a BS in Nursing from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. Her MA is from the University of Minnesota. Previous positions included serving as Director of Nursing Informatics, Consulting, and Systems Implementation at a start-up IT company. Susan is currently vice chair of the HIMSS Board of Directors and a fellow HIMSS member. She has been actively involved with the Minnesota Chapter of HIMSS and the national HIMSS organization since the 1990s, serving in various capacities, contributing to numerous committees, and contributing to HIMSS publications. Susan has been recognized as a MN Top 10 CIO of the Year by the Minneapolis Business Journal, as one of the Top 10 Women Powerhouses in Health IT, and as one of the Top Women Dynamos in Health IT by HealthCare IT News, among other awards. She has served as a Community Faculty member for Metropolitan State University (St. Paul, MN), was on the board of Senior Community Services, and volunteers with various community groups.
Participant Bios
Session One
Roberta Antoine Dressen, MBA
Roberta Dressen is a recognized chief executive and public advocate for innovative health care, medical technology, and private equity investment. She has managed a workforce of 3,000 and a $1 billion budget, and has served on senior leadership teams at Boston Scientific, Medtronic, UnitedHealth Group, and Allina Hospitals. She has served on multiple corporate and nonprofit boards and interacted often and strategically with her own board of directors. She brings unique experience in business strategy, growth acceleration, corporate finance, and ESG issues.
Dressen currently serves as president and chief executive of Medical Alley, the Minnesota-based economic development group for the world’s No. 1 health tech cluster. The group’s more than 800 member organizations, based in the U.S. and abroad, include many medical industry leaders, such as the nation’s largest insurer, United Healthcare; the top-rated hospital, Mayo Clinic; and the world’s largest medical device manufacturer, Medtronic. Her partner organizations have turned Minnesota into one of the nation’s top producers of US patents and advanced medical technology. Under Dressen’s leadership, Medical Alley has advanced healthcare reforms, incubated many new health-sector businesses, and provided impartial data and real-world experience to regulators and elected officials. As the voice of the state’s healthcare industry, Dressen and Medical Alley have shaped numerous policies, laws, and regulations.
Active in medical startups and investments, Dressen also works as an operating partner for LFE Capital. This private equity firm provides expansion and buyout capital to high-growth companies with revenues ranging from $2 million to $20 million. LFE Capital has placed top priority on businesses led by women or aimed at women customers.
Dressen has decades of top leadership experience at some of the world’s foremost health companies. At Boston Scientific, she served as managing director of health care solutions and partnerships, providing strategic leadership that drove research, product development, and market placement with a focus on Europe. As vice president at Medtronic, she created, developed, and led a major post-market initiative called PAN, which collects customer information over time to track how medical devices perform. As senior vice president at United HealthGroup, she led strategy, development, market research, and sales for the clinically integrated network division spanning neuroscience, orthopedics, and spine; established and oversaw scientific advisory boards; and maintained relationships with national academies and associations. She also served as Senior Vice President and chief operations officer at Allina/Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minnesota’s second-largest hospital.
Community service and nonprofit work have been central to Dressen’s career. She has served on the board or volunteered for more than two dozen health-centered and local business groups, including leadership roles at the Minnesota Children’s Hospital Association, the M Health Board of Trustees for the University of Minnesota / Fairview Health, the Garden Club of America, and the USA World Expo 2027 campaign.
Vitaly Herasevich, MD, PhD
Doctor Herasevich is a Professor of Anesthesiology and a Professor of Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Division of Critical Care, at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He has worked in medical informatics for more than 25 years with focused expertise in applied clinical informatics in critical care and the science of healthcare delivery. He joined Mayo Clinic in 2006 and serves as co-director of the Mayo Clinic Acute Care Informatics Laboratory. Dr. Herasevich’s work in applied clinical informatics spans advanced clinical data representation and underlying architectures, ambient and AI-enabled real-time alerting and decision-support systems for early detection of critical syndromes, and enterprise-wide surveillance. He has architected data warehouses to support learning health systems, quality improvement, and outcomes research.
With longstanding interests in information security and more recent work in computer vision/multimodal analytics, Dr. Herasevich has coauthored more than 150 scientific publications and the book “Health Information Technology Evaluation Handbook” (now in its second edition). He has an extensive record of mentorship and holds full faculty privileges in clinical research and artificial intelligence at the Mayo Graduate School. He developed informatics curricula for Mayo Medical School, CCaTS, and the Master in Medical AI programs. Dr. Herasevich serves as principal investigator, co-investigator, and informatics leader on past and ongoing federally and industry-funded projects totaling more than $115 million in research support. He is a Fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine (FCCM), a Fellow of HIMSS (FHIMSS), a Fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association (FAMIA), and the current President of the Minnesota HIMSS Chapter. Dr. Herasevich is also part-time CMIO of Ambient Clinical Analytics.
Moira A. McGinley
Moira A. McGinley is Chief Transformation Officer at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, the nation’s leading nonprofit provider of addiction and mental health treatment, recovery, education, and knowledge transfer. As the first person to hold this position in the Foundation’s 77-year history, she leads organizational transformation, strategic execution, and philanthropic growth. Throughout her career, she has helped healthcare organizations turn ambitious visions into measurable outcomes by aligning strategy, people, operations, and funding. Prior to assuming this role, McGinley led the Foundation’s fundraising transformation, driving significant growth in philanthropic revenue while supporting major strategic initiatives across the organization. She has become a trusted partner to CEOs and boards and is recognized for building high-performing teams, leading complex change initiatives, and solving organizational challenges. McGinley is an active industry leader and remains engaged with the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy.
Session Two
Liz Cinqueonce, MBA
Liz Cinqueonce is President and CEO of MN Community Measurement (MNCM), where she leads the organization’s mission to improve healthcare quality, equity, and affordability through trusted data and measurement. Before becoming CEO in 2024, she served as MNCM’s Chief Operating Officer for more than six years.
Liz brings nearly three decades of leadership across Minnesota’s health policy and health IT landscape. At the Minnesota Department of Health and Human Services, she helped implement the state’s e-Health Initiative, HITECH-era programs, and the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. She later led health information exchange and value-based care efforts at Southern Prairie Community Care.
Nationally, Liz co-chairs the Executive Leaders Forum for Civitas Networks for Health and serves on the Executive Leadership Council of the Superior Health Quality Alliance. She holds an MBA from St. Catherine University.
Jennifer P. Lundblad, PhD, MBA
Jennifer P. Lundblad, PhD, MBA, is President and CEO of Stratis Health, an independent nonprofit quality improvement organization based in Bloomington, Minnesota. Over her more than 20-year tenure, Dr. Lundblad has led collaborative efforts to advance better health for all across diverse populations and health care settings.
Dr. Lundblad holds a PhD in Organization Development from the University of Minnesota, an MBA in Public and Nonprofit Management from Boston University, and a BA in Speech Communication and Economics from Macalester College. Her doctoral research on teamwork and safety climates in small rural hospitals has informed her extensive publications in peer-reviewed journals on health quality, organizational change, and health care improvement.
As an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Dr. Lundblad integrates social sciences with evidence-informed, culturally relevant health care practices. Her professional focus centers on improving care and health outcomes for older adults, rural communities, and underrepresented and under-resourced populations. She is recognized as a collaborative leader committed to serving as a responsible steward of public and private funding while advancing accessible health care for all.
A past member of the Minnesota e-Health Advisory Committee, Dr. Lundblad serves on multiple boards and committees, including the Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety and the Stevens Square Foundation, and is a member of the national RUPRI Health Panel. Her extensive nonprofit board experience at local, regional, and national levels reflects her dedication to organizational leadership and community health improvement.
Susan Severson, BAS, CPHIT, CPEHR
Susan Severson, BAS, CPHIT, CPEHR, VP, Business Solutions & Innovation at Stratis Health, has more than 20 years of experience in health care, with expertise in large-scale project management and technical assistance. Sue has senior leadership responsibilities for programs that support technical assistance, implementation, and evaluation in rural health, health information technology, health equity, and practice transformation. She serves as Stratis Health’s senior leader for their portfolio of opioid use disorder projects. Sue served as the program director for the Regional Extension Assistance Center for Health Information Technology (REACH) for Minnesota and North Dakota, assisting 5,200 primary care providers across 662 clinics in implementing electronic health records.
Adam Stone
Adam Stone leads privacy, security, third-party risk, and AI governance efforts as consulting Practice Leader at the advisory services firm Zaviant. Stone has spent well over 25 years in privacy and security leadership roles across healthcare, insurance, finance, HR, and operations. He teaches privacy and security at major universities and contributes to national initiatives. He also serves in civic leadership across multiple levels of government. Stone holds multiple professional certifications, including Fellow in Information Privacy (FIP), CIPP, CIPM, CISSP, CISSP-ISSMP, HCISPP, and CTPRP. Stone earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (BA) from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities and his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of St. Thomas.
Laura Topor
Laura Topor serves as President of Granada Health, Inc., a Minnesota-based consulting firm. She has over 30 years’ experience in pharmacy benefits management, payer and provider operations, health information technology, e-prescribing, regulatory compliance, process improvement, and strategic planning. She has worked with the Minnesota Department of Health, ONC, Johns Hopkins, Medtronic, PharmaSmart, BenMedica, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Allina, and HealthPartners. She is an active member of NCPDP, MPhA, and the Minnesota eHealth Initiative. She is a current member of the Minnesota eHealth Advisory Committee and served as co-chair of the Bridging Information and Care Work Group. At AMCP, she has served on the HIT Advisory Council, the Specialty Pharmacy Advisory Group, and the Digital Therapeutics Advisory Group, and has participated in several Stakeholder Forums. At NCPDP, Laura has served as a member of the Board of Trustees, work group and standardization co-chair, and on numerous committees and task groups. She currently serves as co-chair of NCPDP’s Standards Coordination Work Group, co-lead of several task groups, and a member of several committees.
Session Three
David C. Herman, MD
Dr. David Herman serves as chief executive officer of Essentia Health, leading an organization of 15,000 colleagues united in their mission to make a healthy difference in people’s lives in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. He is committed to upholding the organization’s values of quality, hospitality, respect, joy, justice, stewardship, and teamwork through designing and implementing care models that improve health equity and health outcomes for the patients and communities that Essentia Health is privileged to serve.
Dr. Herman is a native of International Falls, Minn. He received his medical degree from Mayo
Medical School in Rochester, Minn., and completed his ophthalmology residency at Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education. He was a senior staff fellow in ocular immunology and uveitis at the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He received a master’s degree in medical management from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Dr. Herman served on the Mayo Clinic staff from 1988 to 2011, where he was a professor of ophthalmology with more than 90 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Herman was also chair of the Clinical Practice Committee at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, a member of the Rochester Executive Board, a member of the board of directors for Mayo Clinic Health System, and a member of the Mayo Clinic Management Team. Following his time at Mayo, Dr. Herman became CEO of Vidant Health in eastern North Carolina. He joined Essentia Health in January 2015. Dr. Herman also serves on the board of trustees for Ronald McDonald House, Minnesota Hospital Association, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
John Li
John Li, Minnesota Department of Health’s Chief Data & Analytics Officer, leads the department’s enterprise data strategy, analytics innovation, and modernization efforts. He oversees the development of data-driven solutions that improve public health decision-making, advance health equity, and strengthen statewide collaboration. John is an epidemiologist by training, and before joining MDH, he spent 16 years at Optum doing outcomes research and later moving into AI/ML product development.
Eric Maurer, MHA, MHI
Eric Maurer serves as Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer for the Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC), a federally qualified health center in Minneapolis’s Phillips Neighborhood that is transforming care and education to advance health care for all. CUHCC is Minnesota’s first and longest-running community health center, celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2026. Eric holds master’s degrees in Healthcare Administration and Health Informatics from the University of Minnesota.
Victor M. Montori, MD, MSc
Victor M. Montori, MD, is the Robert H. and Susan M. Rewoldt Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic. An endocrinologist, health services researcher, and care activist, Dr. Montori is the author of over 850 peer-reviewed publications. He is a recognized expert in evidence-based medicine, shared decision-making, and minimally disruptive medicine. He works in Rochester, Minnesota, at Mayo Clinic’s KER Unit to advance person-centered care for patients with diabetes and other chronic conditions. As a care activist, he authored the book Why We Revolt and is leading a movement, a Patient Revolution, for Careful and Kind Care for all.
Session Four
Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC
Dr. Austin is an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, Director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Nursing Informatics, and Specialty Coordinator for the DNP Nursing Informatics program. She is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Nursing and the American Medical Informatics Association. Dr. Austin recently completed a Fulbright Specialist appointment in Brazil, where she collaborated with academic and healthcare partners to advance health informatics and international research partnerships.
David Marc, PhD, CHDA
David Marc, PhD, CHDA, is a leading expert and educator in health informatics and information management. He is an associate professor, the department chair, and the graduate program director at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN, where he teaches courses on artificial intelligence, data analytics, healthcare research, and health information systems. He holds a master’s degree in biological sciences and a PhD in health informatics from the University of Minnesota, and he is a certified health data analyst (CHDA). He has held various leadership roles in professional organizations such as AHIMA, HIMSS, and AMIA. Dr. Marc is a prolific writer and speaker with numerous contributions to peer-reviewed journals, books, and magazines. His presentations offer insights into subjects such as the application of artificial intelligence in health care, data-informed decision-making, and trends in the health informatics and information management workforce. His research is primarily centered on two areas: applying machine learning techniques to identify trends in the healthcare workforce and developing innovative indexing methods for publishing and sharing public health care data.
Genevieve B. Melton-Meaux, MD, PhD, FACMI
Genevieve B. Melton-Meaux, MD, PhD, FACMI, is a colorectal surgeon who serves as McKnight Presidential Endowed Professor of Surgery and Core Faculty Member of the Institute of Health Informatics. She is also the Senior Associate Dean for Health Informatics and Data Science in the Medical School, the Deputy Director of the AI Hub, and the Director of the Center for Learning Health System Sciences. Her national leadership includes being a Past President and elected fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI), a Past President of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), and a current Board Member of HL7 International.
Meijia Song, BSN
Meijia Song is a PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. Her research focuses on nursing informatics, artificial intelligence, and women’s health, with an emphasis on menopause. Her work leverages electronic health record data, natural language processing, common data models, and AI/ML methods to improve how health information is captured, integrated, and used. She is particularly interested in addressing gaps in healthcare data and developing AI-ready approaches that support whole-person care and clinical decision-making.
Noah Yee Westfall, MPH
Noah is a current PhD student in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. He grew up in Denver, Colorado, and earned a BA in philosophy from Santa Clara University, with a concentration in the values of science and technology. He received an MPH in health policy from George Washington University in 2022, where he worked on projects related to public health ethics, data privacy, and precision medicine policy. He is passionate about understanding the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies.