About ACOEM

Vice President Candidate (2023-2024)

Laura G. Gillis, MD, MPH, FACOEM

I am humbled and honored to come before you as a candidate for ACOEM Vice President. My passion for improving worker health is only rivaled by my belief in this organization, its importance for our specialty, and my desire to give back. For over 20 years, ACOEM has been a resource for me at every stage of my career – a home and a safe place where I could find friends and colleagues always willing to help and share. I have tremendously benefitted from the knowledge, fellowship, and opportunities provided to me through this organization.

My journey has been unique:  From US Naval Flight Surgeon to private practice physician, to US Federal Maritime Surgeon, to Medical Director, and finally Chief Medical Officer of a large Class I railroad. These opportunities have afforded me experience in many aspects of occupational medicine, allowing me to relate first-hand to the challenges faced by many of our members. My ACOEM service over the past 20+ years includes component leadership roles; the ACOEM Board of Directors; Chair/Vice Chair roles on the Council on Membership Engagement, the Transportation Section, and the AOHC Planning Committee; and as a member of the Finance Committee and Bylaws Committee.

My goal is to continue to move ACOEM forward and improve the organization’s relevancy to its members. We need to enhance the momentum created by our past leadership for building the pipeline and spotlighting our importance to both worker health and successful business practices. I will promote more focus on the environmental aspect of occupational medicine as well as our need for continuing high-quality, engaging educational programs. I will strive to nurture ACOEM as a forward-thinking organization that is financially healthy and embodies principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and sustainability.

Let us move forward together. Thank you for your support.
 

Director Candidate (2023-2026)

Faiyaz A. Bhojani, MD, FACP, DrPH, FACOEM, FACPM

I have cherished my time (2019-2022) as your House of Delegates officer, which offered me a unique lens via a seat on the executive and assigned committees to closely observe the inner workings of ACOEM. The leadership and staff responded energetically to the uncertainty and complexity of the pandemic by making dynamic decisions, such as enhanced member communications, virtual conferences, podcasts, a multimillion-dollar grant, and a highly attended AOHC, which increased member engagement. I have learned from ACOEM and my Texas component colleagues and contributed to the policymaking, decisions, and operational discussions during these unprecedented times.  

I am inspired to serve, as I sense an air of positivity and revitalization of ACOEM due to the:

• pandemic highlighting the value of OEM professionals
• future of work and its impact on workers’ health
• focus on the environment including climate

These offer an extraordinary opportunity for ACOEM. I would add a strong voice to the leadership and Board’s growing commitment to enhancing member value proposition, heightened engagement, inclusiveness, transparency, and diversity across the organization.

As a health leader at Shell, I manage a team of 80 and a $20M budget and have adjunct professor appointments at the UT School of Public Health encircling five campuses across Texas, and Baylor College of Medicine. I serve on the Boards of UT Health, BrighterBites, a non-profit, and the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, a NIOSH education and research center.

Through my experiences, I can offer a diversity of thought, experience, and leadership perspectives regarding governance, assurance, systems thinking, and marketing to support ACOEM’s aspirations for growth and diversification.

I am a collaborator, value integrity, advocate accountability, and trust in empowering people for the greater good.
I seek your support and will be honored to represent you on the Board. THANK YOU.
 

Director Candidate (2023-2026)

Melissa A. Broadman, DO, MPH, FACOI, FACOEM, MRO

When I took a “temporary” job at an auto plant, I discovered the best kept secret in medicine‐‐Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The last few years of the COVID pandemic challenged OEM docs to learn and to implement best practices to help patients continue working with the lowest risk to health and safety. While maintaining our stringent education standards, I would like to streamline, simplify, and enhance the ongoing educational opportunities of physicians and OEM professionals of all levels. By developing partnerships and agreements with other professional organizations, ACOEM can increase the number of paths to OEM as well as building bridges with other specialties. ACOEM’s venture into the virtual space is impressive and keeps us relevant. I would like to augment both in‐person and online events that help members to form relationships and networks that improve our ability to serve our patients and continue our development as physicians. ACOEM is a dependable support and tremendous resource that makes us better doctors and happier in our profession. So many occupational medicine physicians have gone out of their way to help me thrive in my career. I would like to return the favor. Serving in the ACOEM Board would be both a privilege and an honor. Thank you for considering my candidacy.

Director Candidate (2023-2026)

Fabrice Czarnecki, MD, MPH, MA, FACOEM

Since joining in 2006, ACOEM has become my medical family. ACOEM members are my best professional resource. While dealing with multiple respiratory illnesses at a worksite, I contacted, through the ACOEM network, a member who is both an OEM physician and an industrial hygienist. That discussion allowed me to convince management to close the worksite in less than 24 hours. More recently, during the pandemic, I needed an expert on respiratory protection to understand the subtleties of the ASTM standard on medical masks and FDA ratings of surgical masks. ACOEM colleagues put me in contact with a member who is dual-trained in occupational medicine and pulmonology. Wouldn’t it be helpful for OEM physicians and practitioners to have access to the same resources?

Many of you know me through my public safety medicine work, with the ACOEM LEO Guidance (soon to be expanded to EMS) and NFPA 1582. Here is a list of my service to ACOEM: Chair of the Public Safety Medicine Section, President of SEACOEM, former Director of the Maryland College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, presenter at every AOHC since 2006, presenter at meetings of 10 ACOEM components, Vice-Chair of the Fellowship Committee and Vice-Chair of the Task Group on Guidance to the Medical Evaluation of Law Enforcement Officers. I am also a member of the Federal and Military OEM Section.

For our College, and our specialty, to thrive, we need to grow, retain current members and attract new members. I propose that we continue to increase the benefits provided by ACOEM to members.  We should enhance support for local component meetings, improve ACOEM's online CME, create resource centers tailored to the needs of our members (modeled after the COVID-19 response), and strengthen ACOEM's financial position. I look forward to being of assistance in ACOEM's growth.
 

Director Candidate (2023-2026)

Rachel Leibu, MD, MS, MBA, FACOEM

I am interested in serving on the ACOEM Board as a Director so that I can continue to make an impact on worker safety and health.  My focus on occupational health and safety started when I was a nurse, an industrial hygienist and an editor for a hospital health and safety newsletter. My journey continued after medical school at Atlantic Health System as a resident, physician, Medical Director and the Morristown Medical Center Occupational Medicine Chair.  I have always been fascinated by infectious disease exposures and other hazards found in the healthcare setting. The unprecedented challenges of the COVID pandemic renewed my dedication to protecting all workers. 

As the immediate past Chair of ACOEM’s Medical Center Occupational Health Section, I had the privilege to work beside my colleagues during the pandemic to improve the worker experience through education and direct patient care.  I want to continue to refine the skills I have acquired during my career both in and out of ACOEM to positively impact worker safety and health. Advocating for a safer and healthier workplace for all the workers will allow them to put their best foot forward.  It would be my honor to serve ACOEM and the workers who give their all every day to ensure that the world is a better place.
 

Director Candidate (2023-2026)

Ismail Nabeel, MD, MPH, MS, FACOEM

I am an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and also serve as Deputy Medical Director of Employee Health, Safety, and Wellness for the Mount Sinai Health System. I have expertise in Internal Medicine, Occupational/Environmental Medicine, and Clinical Informatics, with a focus on bringing cutting-edge innovative perspectives and solutions to enhance the health and wellbeing of at-risk working populations. I am currently serving as the Chair of the ACOEM's Council on Scientific Affairs and responsible for conceiving, developing, and launching the peer reviewed COVID-19 Q&A Forum. COVID-19 covered a wide range of topics ranging from long COVID to return-to-work after the disease. COVID Q&A laid the foundation for the launch of the American College of Environmental Medicine’s official podcast, OccPod, featuring ‘COVID Conversations,’ which has been a leading voice on the COVID-19 vaccine related issue/ opportunities and the practice of occupational medicine. Other OccPod episodes delved into topics ranging from the World Trade Center, Climate Change series, Vaccine series, which is now being supported in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- a true honor and recognition of the service nationally. I have constantly strived to make Occupational and Environmental Medicine mainstream, bringing a clear understanding about the specialty to the masses. I have been recently awarded the ACOEM’s Meritorious Service Award, presented annually to a member who has provided meritorious service to the College. We look towards comprehensive transformation of our specialty while we establish new areas of Occupational and Environmental Medicine related competencies i.e,. Climate Change, COVID-19, informatics etc. If elected as the board member, I plan to pursue projects where we harness the expertise and intellectual maturity of our membership and connect them to the organization which truly represents them. I look forward to serving all members, providing strategic directions to the organization and continuing to enhance the practice of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Young Physician Candidate (2023-2026)

Ada Egbuji, MD, MSPH, FACOEM

My name is Ada Egbuji, and I am a board-certified Occupational Medicine physician, Fellow and active member of ACOEM running for the ACOEM Young Physician position. I am very passionate about occupational medicine and have been very involved in ACOEM leadership roles particularly within the Resident and Recent Graduates Section (RRG), the young physician membership section of ACOEM. I have maintained an active leadership role within RRG since I joined ACOEM most recently finishing out my term as the Chair of the RRG section, a position I was elected to hold for two years.

Over the years, I have held all the leadership positions consecutively within the RRG section (HOD Delegate, AMSA Delegate, Secretary, Treasurer, Chair-Elect and Chair). Each position has brought different responsibilities and allowed me stay connected to our young physician membership, advocate for them, work in collaboration with other sections and committees, teach, and be a mentor as an ACOEM section leader.  This has given me the chance to learn of the interests and concerns of our residents and recent graduates, successfully support and advocate for those interests and more representation within ACOEM, grow in leadership and continue to promote the visibility and value of occupational medicine while increasing our membership.
 
I have been elected the endorsed candidate by the RRG section leadership to run for the ACOEM Young Physician position and represent our young physician membership interests at the board level. I am very focused, passionate, friendly, innovative, open, collaborative and goal driven in all my endeavors. I have a proven track record of advocacy for young physicians and the endorsement of the RRG section leadership. If elected to the position, I will be glad to contribute my time and efforts to continue to represent, support and advocate for young physician member interests within ACOEM.
 

Young Physician Candidate (2023-2026)

Nathan Jones, MD, MPH

I am passionate about strengthening the flow of fresh OEM talent into ACOEM, thus securing the continued vitality of our specialty and organization. I can never sufficiently thank the many mentors who initially drew me into the field and have continued to support me with their time, knowledge, and networks. But if I cannot pay them back, the next best thing might be to “pay it forward” to the rising generation of ACOEM members. I am lucky to have had ample opportunities to do so through a variety of ACOEM projects.
 
For the last 6 years I have served on the Council on Membership, helping to develop and implement outreach initiatives focused on trainees and other early career professionals. In 2020-2021, I led the Student and Resident Working Group of the ACOEM Presidential Task Force on the Future of the OEM Workforce. Additional ACOEM positions I have held include Alternate Delegate to the AMA and member of the Excellence in Corporate Health Achievement Award committee.
 
Finally, I have led and co-led a resurrection of the ACOEM Ambassador Program. ACOEM members drew me into this specialty, and I hope that together we can entice more and more talented individuals to become our future OEM colleagues.
 
If elected as the next Young Physician Board member, specific initiatives I will pursue include: (1) further develop and support the ACOEM Ambassador Program, (2) normalize formal OEM training within both undergraduate and graduate medical eduction, and (3) capitalize upon the current spotlight on workplace health to recruit more talent to our specialty.
 
While I am sure that either of my esteemed fellow candidates would perform admirably as the Young Physician Director, I humbly submit that I bring a unique passion and preparation to this position that will benefit ACOEM and its members.
 

Young Physician Candidate (2023-2026)

Ross Mullinax, MD, MPH

Please allow me to introduce myself as a candidate for Young Physician Director.  I am an active duty Commander in the US Navy and have been a member of ACOEM since 2017.  Since that time, I have served as a section officer and chair (currently the chair for the Residents and Recent Graduates Section), an ACOEM committee member, an ACOEM presidential task force member, and recently as an ACOEM Ambassador.  I have presented for various ACOEM educational activities, including an AOHC concurrent presentation, ACOEM webinar, last year’s Virtual Fall Summit, and earlier this year as a guest on OccPod: The Official ACOEM Podcast.  I have been the lead author on five peer-reviewed published papers since graduating residency in 2019, including in JOEM and Military Medicine. 

Having served on the board of directors at my previous hospital, as the lead for COVID-19 response for US Navy Region Japan throughout the pandemic, and as the senior medical officer for an infantry battalion of over 1,000 Marines, I believe that I have a level of leadership experience that is atypical among most young physicians.  I know what it is like to face tough decisions where you have to go against what is in your personal interest for the greater benefit of the organization as a whole. 

As a member of the board I would be happy to jump into ongoing efforts, but I have particular interest in increasing membership numbers and engagement, improving the marketing of the specialty, and increasing the OEM pipeline.  Strengths I would bring to the table include being very attentive to details, a questioning nature, and an eye for the big-picture and the long-term.    

Please consider me when voting for the Young Physician Director.  It would be my privilege to serve ACOEM in this capacity.  Thank you!