Ivie Esangbedo
Jill Zender
Shanelle Clarke
Ndidi Musa
Jean Connor
Justine Fortkiewicz
Shilpa Govardhan
Lindsey Justice
Mike Fundora
Bruna Cury
Bristra Zheleva
Jason Buckley
Christin Diller
Melina Handley
Dana Mueller
Anna Fisk
Jamie Penk
Melissa B. Jones, MSN, APRN, CPNP-AC is a nurse practitioner and Director of the Neurocardiac Critical Care Program (NCCP) in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. Melissa received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Georgetown University and her Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the current Vice President of the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (PCICS).
As the Director of the NCCP, Melissa leads an integrated, multidisciplinary team focused on eliminating secondary brain injury, optimizing brain development, and promoting healthy family bonding in the CICU. Melissa’s role in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Society has afforded her several leadership opportunities, including serving as the lead editor for the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Handbook, PCICS Nursing Guidelines, and the forthcoming PCICS CICU Nurse Curriculum. Melissa co-chaired PCICS 2017 and 2018 International Meetings.
Dr. Cooper. MD, MPH is the Medical Director of The Heart Institute, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, and Cardiac Anesthesia Recovery Unit at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. He is also a professor of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
He is board-certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Cardiology, and Pediatric Critical Care. For the last 18 years, his career has focused on the care of critically ill neonates, infants, children, and adults with complex congenital heart disease with a particular interest in how care in the intensive care unit can impact morbidity. His research work has focused on anticoagulation, extracorporeal support, acute/chronic kidney injury, teamwork and performance, and patient outcomes. He has over 150 peer-reviewed publications and has authored multiple book chapters.
Darren Klugman, MD is an Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University in the Division of Anesthesia Critical Care Medicine where he is the Director of Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care and Director of Quality & Safety at Blalock-Taussig-Thomas Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Darren was the Director of Quality and Outcomes for Children’s National Heart Institute and was the Medical Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. Dr. Klugman is an international leader in quality and outcomes for pediatric cardiac critical care and serves as the Secretary for the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society. He is also on the Executive Committee of the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium and the chair of the Quality Committee for PC4. Darren’s areas of clinical and research interests relate to patient safety and quality in the care of children with critical heart disease and the impact of team dynamics and culture on patient outcomes.
Lindsey Justice, DNP, APRN, CPNP-AC is a CICU nurse practitioner at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC). She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Kentucky, her Master of Science in Nursing from Rush University, and her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Cincinnati. She pioneered the acute care PNP role in the CICU at CCHMC and is now the CICU and ACCU Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Clinical Manager. She remains active in bedside clinical care, and her academic work centers around the development and sustainability of CICU APP teams, professional growth and clinical advancement for APPs, and improvement of teamwork and communication processes in the CICU. She is on the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society Board of Directors and is currently the PCICS Treasurer. She has co-chaired the development and implementation of a CICU Advanced Practice Provider Curriculum, which includes a published book and multiple in-person curriculum review courses per year.
Dorothy (Dot) M. Beke, MS, RN, CPNP-PC/AC, FAAN is a Nurse Practice Specialist, the Mechanical Circulatory Support Nursing Clinical Resource, and Interdisciplinary Simulation Training Faculty in the CICU; a Nurse Practitioner in Cardiology Preoperative Clinic; and the Bereavement Coordinator for the Heart Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. She has over 30 years of experience in the CICU at Boston Children’s, and her interests include pediatric cardiac critical care nursing, mechanical circulatory support, crisis resource management team training and simulation, end of life care, bereavement, and ethics.
Jenna Heichel is a nurse practitioner in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She is the APP Team Lead as well as the Nursing Education Officer for the Cardiac Center. She is also a board member of PCICS as of 2018 and a member of the Advanced Practice Provider Curriculum faculty, designed to develop a didactic and simulation review course for cardiac APPs. Jenna’s active work involves nursing and APP education, mentorship, and cardiac arrest prevention.
Ashley Moellinger, CPNP-AC is the Lead Nurse Practitioner for Cardiovascular Services at Children’s of Alabama. She has been committed to the care of infants with Congenital Heart Defects for 24 years. Her educational history includes the completion of a master’s degree as a neonatal nurse practitioner. This was followed by a post-master certificate as an acute care pediatric nurse practitioner. She recently completed a post-graduate certificate in Health Safety and Quality Improvement and is currently working to complete her master’s degree in Quality and Safety. She is a member of the Board of Directors for PCICS and has been involved in the development and implementation of the Advanced Practice Provider Curriculum.
Christine is a nurse practitioner in the cardiac intensive care unit at Children’s National Health System in Washington D.C. She entered pediatric critical care in 2005 after earning her Bachelor of Nursing from John Hopkins University as a second degree following her initial bachelor of Science in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Christine joined the Children’s National Division of Cardiac Critical Care in 2008 and transitioned within the team assuming a nurse practitioner position upon graduation from the University of Pennsylvania in 2013. Christine has been leading the advanced practice team in the cardiac intensive care unit since 2019. She is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. Program at George Washington University.
Lillian Su, MD is the Associate Chief and Medical Director of the CVICU and Medical Director of Simulation of Critical Care at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Her academic focus has been on studying teams in simulated crises. She analyzes team behavior with colleagues in Organizational Behavior and Industrial/Organizational Psychology in an effort to improve performance in high risk low frequency events such as a eCPR. She serves on the Board of the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society and is a past Treasurer and Board member of the International Pediatric Simulation Society. She also serves as a member of the American Heart Association Get With the Guidelines Pediatric Research Task Force.
Amy Donnellan, DNP, CPNP-AC is a nurse practitioner in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Dr. Donnellan has worked in pediatric cardiac critical care 15 years as a CICU NP and Clinical Nurse Specialist. She’s currently a member of the Education Committee, Finance Committee, Program Committee, and the Foundation Steering Subcommittee. She has been a PCICS member for over 10 years and has completed substantial work on the PCICS Committee/subcommittee.
Mary MCBride is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics & Medical Education at Northwestern University in Chicago. Clinically, she is a pediatric cardiac intensivist who cares for children of all ages with congenital and acquired heart disease who require critical care. Academically, she focuses on medical education through the teaching and learning of students, trainees, staff, and faculty. Through this work, she uses simulation as my primary medium as well as small and large group didactic sessions in teaching cardiac physiology, resuscitation, communication, teamwork, feedback and coaching.
Laura is a Nurse Practitioner in the CVICU at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. She is also the Heart Center Assistant Manager for Advanced Practice Providers overseeing the CVICU. Laura has worked in the field of Pediatric Cardiology in the CVICU and OR for over 20 years. She helped start the APP Special Interest Group for PCICS to encourage networking and information sharing across the field. Her interests include sedation/delirium management, ECPR and process improvement.
David K. Werho, MD is an associate clinical professor at UC San Diego and a pediatric cardiac intensivist at Rady Children’s Hospital. He is the fellowship program director for pediatric cardiology. Dr. Werho’s research is primarily centered on medical education, CICU outcomes, and the impact of unit characteristics on patient outcomes. He serves as a social media & communications editor, director, or leader for various pediatric cardiology and critical care organizations and journals including AHA Young Hearts, PC4, PCCM, PCICS, APPD, and Cardiology in the Young and is the executive producer of the PCICS Podcast. He is an elected board member of PCICS and PC4.
Jill is a certified acute care pediatric nurse practitioner in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at UT Southwestern/Children’s Health in Dallas, TX. She started as a bedside nurse in the CICU in 2008 and has also spent time as a clinical educator. She has been a member of PCICS since 2014, became a founding member of the Connections Committee in 2015 and is now committee co-chair until December 2022. She is co-lead for the Advanced Practice Provider Special Interest Group and faculty for the Advanced Practice Provider Curriculum Course. She has served on the Board of Directors since 2020.
