OUR 2023 PLENARY SPEAKERS

 

Joy Riley, MD, MA, D. 

Joy is the Executive Director of The Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture in Brentwood, Tennessee.   She is board certified in internal medicine and is a member of the CMDA Ethics Committee.  Dr. Riley earned her B.A. Degree from the University of Louisville, her M.D. from the University of Kentucky, and her M.A. in Bioethics from Trinity International University.  She has co-authored Outside the Womb:  Moral Guidance for Assisted Reproduction (Moody, 2011), and Christian Bioethics (B & H Publishers, 2014).  Dr. Riley contributed a chapter on autonomy to Choose Life: Answering Key Claims of Abortion Defenders with Compassion (Moody, 2022).  She has authored many articles for her organization’s website since 2005 and has contributed invited essays to other bioethics blogs.  In addition to guest lectures in the U.S. and abroad, she teaches bioethics courses at Trinity International University, Deerfield, Illinois, where she has been Adjunct Faculty since 2012.

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Debra Schwinn, MD

Debra is President & Professor of Health Sciences at Palm Beach Atlantic University, a Christian university in West Palm Beach, Florida.  She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (20 years) and member of CMDA (42 years).  Dr. Schwinn received her B.A. degree in chemistry from The College of Wooster (Ohio), M.D. degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine, completed her internship in internal medicine and anesthesiology residency at the University of Pennsylvania and fellowships in clinical cardiac anesthesiology and basic science research (molecular pharmacology) at Duke University Medical Center.  She has published >200 research manuscripts on biochemistry/molecular pharmacology of alpha-1 adrenergic receptors and medical education, was a tenured faculty member (and James B. Duke Professor of Anesthesiology) at Duke University Medical Center >20 years, Chair of Anesthesiology at the University of Washington (Seattle), and Dean of the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa prior to her current position as President of Palm Beach Atlantic University.

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Jeannette South-Paul, MD

Dr. Jeannette E. South-Paul joined Meharry Medical College as the Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer in December 2021. Prior to this appointment, she was the Andrew W. Mathieson UPMC Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine from 2001 – 2020 retiring from Pitt in 2020. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC, she served as a Medical Corps officer in the U.S. Army, retiring in 2001 while serving as Chair of Family Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and previously as Vice President for Minority Affairs at the same institution.

Dr. South-Paul has served in leadership positions in the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and the Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM) to include serving as President of the Uniformed Services Academy of Family Physicians (USAFP) and the STFM.

After more than 10 years of service as a member of the Meharry Medical College Board of Trustees, Dr. South-Paul stepped off the Board to begin a new role as Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer for Meharry assuming this position in December of 2021. She is excited to collaborate with the academic leaders of the four schools (medicine, Dentistry, Graduate Studies, and Applied Computational Sciences) of this historic institution as she continues to serve in academe.

Dr. South-Paul is a sought-after speaker by academic, clinical and community organizations as well as health industry groups who are seeking perspectives on health disparities, workforce diversity, leadership and racial and social justice.

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Dana Whitmer, MD, FAAP, DTMH

Dana is a clinical teacher of pediatrics and tropical medicine at the medical school of University Shalom of Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo in Central Africa.  She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Society of Tropical Medicine and an ambassador of CrossWorld mission organization.  Dr. Witmer received her MDCM degree, internal medicine internship and pediatric residency from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec Canada and Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK.

Dr. Witmer has been a medical missionary since 1987 in the Democratic Republic of Congo until present, and had 9 of those years at AIC Kijabe Hospital as head of pediatrics and Rift Valley School doctor in Kenya during the Congo civil war years.  She has lived and worked in locations of intense moral injury due to the violence and civil disorder in northeast DRC and started to compile resources on moral injury as a new medical diagnostic category since 2018 focusing primarily on God’s principles in the Bible for treatment and scientific articles for diagnostic tools.

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WORSHIP MUSIC

Stephanie Seefeldt

Stephanie was born and raised in Wisconsin. After earning her music degree from the University of Wisconsin in Stevens Point she pursued God’s call on her life: to serve as a ’throne room usher’ for the worshiping church, and to declare the glory of God in venues as varied as the downtown cathedral and the local piano bar. With a passion for ancient hymnody, Watts, Wesley, and 80’s music, her musical styles are diverse with a focus on Christ-exalting texts.  Most importantly, she is wife to the Reverend Scott, Rector of Zion Episcopal Church in suburban Milwaukee, and mom to four emerging (and emerged!) young adults, ranging in age from 13-22. She has spent almost 30 years leading worship around the world with many notable teachers, but her passion continues to be the glory of God on full display in the local church.