OUR PEOPLE

Alfred F. Tallia is Chair of the NBME Board of Directors. Previously, he was treasurer and an at-large member of the board. Dr. Tallia is professor and chair, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and a Fellow in the Rutgers Center for Organizational Leadership.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Fordham University in New York and his medical degree from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He completed his residency and fellowship in family medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He also earned his master’s degree in public health in health care organization and administration at Rutgers.

Dr. Tallia has been associated with NBME since 1996 and has served in a number of roles. He chaired the USMLE Step 3 Community-based Care Committee, the Post Licensure Assessment System Governing Committee, and the Committee to Evaluate the USMLE Program, and served on the USMLE Budget Committee.

Latha Chandran is the Vice Chair of the NBME Board of Directors, after previously serving as treasurer and as an at-large member. She is currently the Executive Dean and the Founding Chair of the Department of Medical Education at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Nationally, she currently serves as the President of the Academic Pediatric Association.

Dr. Chandran received her medical degree from Trivandrum Medical College in India and her MPH from Johns Hopkins University. She has been serving in various capacities at Renaissance School of Medicine for the past 30 years including chief residency, Division Chief, Interim Department Chair and various roles in the Office of the Dean, most recently as the Vice Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs and the Miriam and David Donoho Distinguished Teaching Professor.

Dr. Chandran was instrumental in major institutional changes at Stony Brook including two successful LCME site visits, establishment of an educational CQI process, initiating a whole new curriculum as well as enhancing scholarship and tenure opportunities for educators. She served as the Founding Director of the Donoho Academy of Clinical and Educational Scholars at Stony Brook.

A tenured educator scholar who has received numerous teaching awards at Stony Brook, she has served as the founding co-director of a highly successful three-year national faculty development program focused on Educational Scholarship called the Educational Scholars Program for junior pediatric educators. She is happily married to an engineer/businessman and has two grown sons in NY.

Reena Karani is treasurer of the NBME Board of Directors, previously serving as an at-large member. Dr. Karani is Director of the Institute for Medical Education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and a Professor of Medical Education, Medicine and Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine.

Dr. Karani was the recipient of the National Award for Scholarship in Medical Education from the Society for General Internal Medicine and the Distinguished Educator Award from the Northeast Group on Educational Affairs of the Association of American Medical Colleges, in addition to numerous other honors. She is also the recipient of several awards for teaching, mentorship and educational leadership. Her research interests focus on learner assessment methodologies, workplace-based learning and equity focused teaching and learning methods.

She has served as a volunteer with the NBME since 2011, as a member and chair of several test material development committees for the USMLE, as well as internal review, finance and audit, medical school advisory and management committees.

Suzanne T. Anderson serves the NBME Board of Directors as immediate past chair. She previously served as treasurer on the board and as an at-large member.

Ms. Anderson is the Regional President at SSM Health Wisconsin, which includes St. Mary’s Hospital and St. Mary’s Care Center in Madison, Madison-based Dean Medical Group, St. Mary’s Hospital in Janesville, St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo and other facilities in the state.

She graduated from the University of Notre Dame and received her MBA from Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University. She has occupied volunteer positions with other national organizations in a number of different roles, including chair of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates and public director, American Board of Ophthalmology.

Her many roles in serving the NBME include chair of the Public Stakeholders Committee and chair of the governing committee (Composite Committee) of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE).

Peter J. Katsufrakis is president and CEO of NBME. Dr. Katsufrakis previously served as senior vice president of Assessment Programs at the NBME and is recognized nationally in the medical education and assessment community, both for his work at the NBME and in past roles advancing professionalism, HIV education, clinical training, and medical education administration.

Prior to joining the NBME, Dr. Katsufrakis’s positions included associate dean for student affairs and associate professor of clinical family medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, where he received several teaching and outstanding service awards for his work. He has also served as a clinical associate professor of family and community medicine, at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University.

Dr. Katsufrakis is licensed to practice medicine in Pennsylvania and is a diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and has served many organizations as a member, including the International AIDS Society, the American Academy of HIV Medicine, and the Association of American Medical Colleges Group on Student Affairs in many roles on committees and task forces.

Marie Foley is a member at-large of the NBME Board of Directors. She is a Professor and the Dean of the College of Nursing at Seton Hall University and an Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University. Dr. Foley received her BSN from Fairleigh Dickinson University, her MA in Nursing Education and her PhD in Theory Development and Research in Nursing from New York University.

Dr. Foley has been engaged in nursing practice and education for over 35 years. She is a pediatric nurse and has taught students at all levels of their education including, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students. She is a member of the National Association of School Nurses and serves on the research and awards committee and the New Jersey School Nurses Association where she is a member of the research committee. She is a member of various nursing organizations including Sigma Theta Tau International, Eastern Nursing Research Society, the American Association of Nurses, American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the National League of Nursing, and the Organization of Nurse Leaders.

Dr. Foley currently serves on NBME’s Finance and Audit Committees.

Maya Hammoud is an at-larger member of the NBME Board of Directors. She is the J. Robert Willson Research Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Professor of Learning Health Sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School. She is the Chief of Women’s Health Division, and Associate Chair for Education. Dr. Hammoud holds many leadership roles nationally. She is senior advisor for Medical Education Innovations at the American Medical Association (AMA) with a focus on health systems science and coaching. She is the immediate past President for the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) and a member of the National Board of Medical Examiners and chairs their International Foundations of Medicine (IFOM) committee. Dr. Hammoud is the current Principal Investigator on a $1.75 millions Reimagining Residency Grant from the AMA on transforming the UME to GME transition.

Dr. Hammoud completed her MD and MBA degrees and residency training at the University of Michigan. She has had many leadership roles in the past including Assistant and Associate Deans at Michigan and at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Her research is in medical education with a special focus on the use of technology in education and the role of academic coaching in learner’s development.

David Milling is an at-large member of the NBME Board of Directors. Dr. Milling is Senior Associate Dean for Student and Academic Affairs at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo and an Associate Professor in Medicine. He is responsible for medical admissions, multicultural affairs, student services, registrar services, student disciplinary matters and the school’s clinical competency center and simulation centers.

As program director for the Jacobs School’s Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) and director of the Associated Medical Schools of New York’s Post-Baccalaureate Program, Dr. Milling is involved in improving the workforce numbers and the pipeline to medicine for underrepresented students in New York State. He also serves on the New York State Council on Graduate Medical Education. Prior to medicine, Dr. Milling trained as a pharmacist.

Karen M. Sanders is an at-large member of the NBME Board of Directors. Dr. Sanders has been the Deputy Chief (Chief Operating Officer) for the Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA) in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) since 2006. She has also been heavily involved in implementing the GME portion of the Veterans Access Choice and Accountability Act (2014), and the Medical Scholarship portion of the MISSION Act (2018).

Dr. Sanders received her B.S. in Biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and her M.D. from New York Medical College. After Internal Medicine residency training at Brown University (Providence, RI), she completed a Rheumatology Fellowship at the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University.

Dr. Sanders has been a clinically active physician in the VA system since 1977 while progressing through a variety of administrative roles at multiple levels in the VA system. She is a tenured Professor of Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine (Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology) at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, an ELAM (Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine) fellow, and has a Certificate in Public Leadership from Brookings Institution.

Danny M. Takanishi, Jr., MD, is an at-large member of the NBME Board of Directors. He is a tenured Professor of Surgery and Associate Chair for Academic Affairs at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology and his Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Hawai’i. He completed his General Surgery Residency and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship in Hawai’i, maintaining American Board of Surgery-certification in both specialties.

He then completed a National Institutes of Health-sponsored, Surgical Oncology Fellowship at The University of Chicago and remained on its faculty for a number of years, serving as an Associate Program Director for the Surgical Residency Program and the Director of the Comprehensive Breast Center, prior to returning to Hawaii.  He has since served in a number of roles at JABSOM, which include General Surgery Residency Program Director for 13-years, Chair of the Department of Surgery for 11-years, Faculty Senate President, and Faculty Accreditation Lead for the medical school’s LCME site visit in 2017. 

Dr. Takanishi has also been active nationally in medical education endeavors for many years, serving as a past-Chair of the USMLE Step II Surgery and the Anatomy and Embryology Test Material Development Committees, Step II Interdisciplinary Review Committees, member of the SPEX Oversight Committee, the USMLE Management Committee, and the USMLE Composite Committee. He has also served in a number of roles with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, such as past-Chair of the Transitional Year Review Committee, past-Vice-Chair of the Surgery Review Committee, past-Chair of the Common Program Requirements Subcommittee of the Council of Review Committees, past-Co-Chair of the Transitional Year Residency Milestones Development Workgroup, past-Chair of the Complex General Surgical Oncology Milestones Development Workgroup, and prior member of the Professionalism 2.0 Harmonized Milestones, Complex General Surgical Oncology 2.0 Milestones, and the General Surgery 2.0 Milestones revision Workgroups. 

He is an appointed associate oral examiner for the Certifying Examination of the American Board of Surgery and was recently elected to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

Zach Weismann is an at-large member of the NBME Board of Directors. He is the CEO and founder of MAG Impact Collective, founded in 2018. MAG brings together experts in areas of branding, strategy, and design to serve clients in a more effective and efficient way in their pursuit of greater positive social impact. To date, the Collective has worked with clients around the world and has 30 members across the country.

Zach’s dedication to areas of social impact stem from his background working with NGOS, Fortune 500 companies, healthcare organizations, and start-ups on key issues such as conservation, sustainability, capacity building, and innovation. He has had the pleasure to work with organizations such as the NBA, Google, IKEA, MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT Southwestern, and Virgin Unite on awareness campaigns, change management projects, and social initiatives around the world.

Zach has worked alongside numerous leaders in the healthcare space to advocate on behalf of patients, caregivers, and families across the country. He worked with UT Southwestern and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to launch the first ever pancreatic cancer multidisciplinary clinic. He has served on the National Board of Medical Examiners and the Public Stakeholders committee for the past 4 years.

In 2014, Zach unfortunately lost his mom, of whom he was extremely close with, to pancreatic cancer. It was this experience that has led him to devote time, energy, and his experience to the healthcare space. Through this work, he hopes that no family has to go through what his family did, and continuing to help bridge the gap between sustainability, health, and social impact.

Zach received his Bachelor’s in Economics from Claremont McKenna College, and his Master’s in Accounting & Finance from the University of Texas (Austin).

He currently resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife and 2-year-old son, Howie.

Kamili Wilson is a member of the NBME Board of Directors. She has 20 years of demonstrated experience devising and implementing highly effective brand awareness and social marketing campaigns for Fortune 50 companies and leading non-profit organizations.

Currently, she serves as the Senior Vice President, New Affiliate Integration Services (Interim), and supports the integration, advancement, growth, and sustainability of AARP’s newly affiliated entities. Ms. Wilson leads a unit which serves as the primary liaison between newly affiliated entities and the AARP enterprise, and is responsible for ensuring the successful transition and integration of new affiliates in order to optimize mission and business alignment and drive sustained superior performance.

Previously, as Vice President, Enterprise Initiatives, Ms. Wilson served as AARP’s strategic lead for ‘Disrupt Aging’ – the CEO’s initiative designed to fight ageism and change the cultural paradigm on aging in America. To that end, she led a team which devised the initiative’s enterprise-wide strategy and provided day-to-day organizational leadership to ensure strategic and operational alignment across AARP's internal departments (including its 53 state offices) and subsidiaries, including AARP Services Inc. and the AARP Foundation. In 2017, under the direction of the CEO, Ms. Wilson also established and assumed strategic oversight for the AARP Innovators Council (AIC), an external group of thought-leaders, influencers and entrepreneurs who are tasked to help “future-proof” AARP as it addresses major demographic shifts. Reporting into the Chief of Staff, she served as a senior advisor on sensitive issues related to various enterprise priorities, including CEO positioning.

Ms. Wilson is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where she earned a B.A. in English Literature. She is a former executive board member for the Arlington Retirement Housing Corporation (ARHC) and a former member of DoSomething.org’s Corporate Advisory Board.