The MedConference 2016

Lodovico Balducci, M.D.

Lodovico Balducci is Professor of Oncologic Sciences, University of South Florida College of Medicine, and Program Leader of the Senior Adult Oncology Program, at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Balducci received his medical degree from Catholic University, Rome, Italy, and his residency training and fellowship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi.

Dr. Balducci has edited five textbooks on geriatric oncology and two books on geriatric hematology. Dr. Balducci has published over 250 articles in various medical journals on the subject of geriatric oncology, and five monographs on geriatric oncology. Dr. Balducci’s clinical research activities include cancer and aging, management of the frail elderly, assessment of quality of life in the older cancer patient, prognostic assessment of the older cancer patient, and interactions of comorbidity and function in the older cancer patient. Dr. Balducci was a member of ASCO’s Grant Selection Committee, and ASCO’s Cancer & Aging Task Force and Oncology Workforce Task Force. He is a member of ASCO Cancer Foundation’s TACF-ASP 2009 Young Investigators Award in Geriatric Oncology Committee. Dr Balducci is a member of the Membership Committee and on the Board of Directors with the Florida Society of Clinical Oncology.

In 2003, Dr. Balducci was selected to present the first Paul Calabresi Memorial Lecture by the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) in Rome, Italy. In 2003, he also received the ACCC award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Research, and was the 2003 Physician of the Year at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. In 2007, he received the Medi Tavossoli Lecture Award for Innovative Research in Hematology in the Elderly and the ASCO’s B.J. Kennedy Award and Lecture for Scientific Excellence. In 2009, he received the 17th Claude Jacquillat Award in Paris, the recipient of the 2009 Nimmo Visiting Professorship in Adelaide, Australia and the HMDP Visiting Expert in Singapore.

Dr. Balducci is board certified in Medical Oncology/Hematology. He is a member of the American Geriatrics Society, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association for Cancer Research, American Society of Hematology, American Society of Breast Disease, and a fellow of the American College of Physicians. Dr. Balducci has lectured throughout the USA, Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.

Stephanie Ball, R.N.

Stephanie Ball is currently working as the Clinical Nurse Specialist in the surgical ICU at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Her career experience has been in critical care and trauma in both the civilian and military settings. She lives in Tewksbury, MA with her three children.

Lorenzo Berra, M.D.

He spent 4 years at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health under the mentorship of Dr. Theodore Kolobow (2000-2004). He worked on developing medical devices and methods to avoid aspiration, pneumonia and respiratory failure in critically ill patients. Subsequently, he completed his residency in Anesthesia and fellowship in Critical Care, both at MGH (2005-2010). Fascinated by Dr. Zapol’s research and mentorship, Dr. Berra joined the Anesthesia Center for Critical Care Research Laboratory, and decided to divide his time between patient care, education of medical students and residents, and clinical research. Presently, he is involved in international multicenter clinical trials focusing on (I) preventing hospital-acquired pneumonia, and (II) preventing renal failure due to alteration of bioavailability of Nitric Oxide in the presence of circulation plasma cell-free hemoglobin.

Alpha Cattaneo, M.D.

Dr. Alpha Cattaneo is a psychiatrist by profession who considers herself foremost a mother.

She and her husband Maurizio Cattaneo,a biomedical engineer, have 3 children – David, Francoise and Christian. She was born to a lawyer who defended victims of human rights abuse and a public health doctor who spent her career treating tuberculosis in the Philippines and in Nigeria.

She obtained most of her formal education from the Philippines where she majored in Medical Technology in college then went on to be a doctor and specialize in Social and Community Psychiatry. Her career as a psychiatrist focused on disaster mental health, armed conflict, mental health across different cultures and building mental health services in communities where none exist.

She is currently director of a non-profit called the Casa Monte Cassino. Dr. Cattaneo, together with her family hosts children who come to Boston for the treatment of cancer, blindness, burns and various other illnesses from all over the world.

Francoise Cattaneo

Francoise Cattaneo is a second-year high school student at Newton Country Day School. Along with her mother, Alpha Cattaneo, and the rest of her family, Francoise resides in and maintains the Casa Monte Cassino. She and her brothers, David, and Christian, enjoy spending time with the youths who stay at the Casa. They take the guests on tours of Boston and share their culture while also learning about the stories of their guests. Francoise’s work with the Casa and relationship with its residents underline the significance of each individual’s responsibility in the care of others.

Thierry Daboval, M.D., FRCPC, FAAP, MSc(c)

Thierry Daboval is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Ottawa and practices at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Canada. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Sherbrooke, and completed his paediatric residency and post-doctoral fellowship in Neonatology at Saint Justine's Hospital (University of Montreal, Canada). He is currently the medical Director of the Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic's multidisciplinary Program at CHEO and is very involved with the Canadian Neonatal Follow-Up Network (CNFUN). He is finishing his Masters in Health Science focusing on how to help parents participate in shared decision-making when there is a risk that their child might be born at the limit of viability. His main clinical and ethic research interests are the fostering of more emphatic communication in parent-physician relationship, especially in the settings of challenging ethical decision-making, and transmitting those skills to trainees. In this perspective, in collaboration with colleagues, he initiated the Neonatal Ethics Teaching Program (NETP) project looking at improving teaching in ethics, professionalism and communication skills in challenging clinical situations in Neonatal Perinatal Medicine (NPM) at University of Ottawa.

Emanuela Ferretti, M.D.

Dr. Emanuela Ferretti obtained her medical degree in pediatrics and neonatology from the University of Milan.

Her postgraduate medical training included a two year clinical and research Fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto (1989-1991) where she primarily studied intestinal embryology. She then extended her research training for another four years, this time focusing on human kidney development (1991-1995) followed by a neonatology clinical fellowship (1995-1999), both at the Montreal Children’s Hospital (Mc Gill University).

She spent the next eight years (1999-2007) working as an Assistant Professor of pediatrics in the department of neonatology at Sherbrooke University where she continued to focus her research efforts on neonatal gut development and neonatal pain. She also directed the Neonatal Resuscitation Program. In 2007, she was awarded her FRCPC certification in pediatrics (neonatology).

She is Associate Professor in the department of pediatrics at the Children ‘s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and is affiliated with the University of Ottawa. In collaboration with two colleagues, she recently implemented an innovative teaching program in neonatal ethics (Neonatal Ethics Teaching Program) and parent-physician communication skills for NICU fellows.

Dr. Ferretti is a member of the CHEO Research Institute. Her research focus has, over the recent years, pertained to international clinical trials in the sphere of perinatal care and long-term outcome of prematurity (MACS and MACS5 studies). Between 2007 and 2012, Dr. Ferretti served as a Co-Principal Investigator for a multicentre NIH funded, study on the development of the human intestine with a specific interest in the genetics underlying necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) as well as the impact of different molecules and drugs on the premature gut.

In 2013 Dr. Ferretti was awarded with the “Teaching Skills Award with Distinction” at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ottawa.

She lives in Ottawa with her husband Whitney, her two fantastic children, Francesca and Lucas and two small gerbils.

Angela D. Flippin-Trainer, M.D.

Dr. Flippin-Trainer received her medical degree from the University of Louisville, is a board certified OB/GYN Diplomate, and certified by the American Academy of FertilityCare™ Professionals. She is a member of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a board member of the Southwest Florida Guild of the Catholic Medical Association. Dr. Flippin-Trainer is an authentically prolife OB/GYN in private practice at CARITAS Obstetrics and Gynecology of Naples and Medical Director of the FertilityCare™ Center of South Florida.

She completed her Creighton Model Medical Consultant and Practitioner training through the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction.

Danielle Flynn

Danielle Flynn is a Nurse Coordinator at the Diagnostic and Complex Care Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She works with medically complex children, their families and the physician team to coordinate the medical care needed by the patient. She provides a link of continuity for patients by serving as a liaison between inpatient and outpatient care providers, specialists and home care agencies. Danielle works to optimize communication among care providers and works directly with families to address issues that arise after hospital discharge.

Danielle received her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Villanova University in 1994. She received a Master of Science in Organizational and Strategic Leadership from Neumann University in 2011. Danielle is a Certified Pediatric Nurse and her career experience includes 14 years of nursing at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia working with surgical and trauma patients. In addition, Danielle has experience as a Nurse Manager in a pediatric ambulatory care center. Danielle lives in New Jersey with her husband and three daughters.

Annique K. Hogan, M.D.

Annique Hogan is a board certified general pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA. She received her MD degree at Medical College of Ohio in Toledo and completed her residency in Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Her clinical interests are in improving the care of medically complex patients and improving transitions of care between the inpatient and the outpatient setting for these patients. She is the Medical Director of the Integrated Care Service, an inpatient general pediatrics team dedicated to the care of medically complex patients. This team provides an inpatient medical home for patients with complex needs who are followed by multiple subspecialty services. She is also the Medical Director of Complex Care in the Diagnostic and Complex Care Center, an outpatient program designed to provide comprehensive care coordination for medically complex patients. Through this work, she is able to help patients and families create comprehensive care plans and facilitate communication among providers and families to improve the quality of patient care. She sees patients in the Neonatal Follow up Program as well as the Care Network, CHOP Campus for primary care. She lives in Philadelphia, PA with her husband and two children.

Anne Nolte, M.D.

Dr. Nolte is a board-certified family physician with an area of concentration in women’s health. She is a Certified FertilityCare™ Medical Consultant and FertilityCare™ Instructor.

She is the founder and medical director of the National Gianna Center for Women’s Health and Fertility, the first pro-life, Catholic women’s medical center in New York City. She is also the co-founder of the John Paul II Center for Women, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the women, couples and teenagers about the Catholic Church’s teachings on the dignity of women, the meaning of human sexuality and the benefits of natural family planning.

She is a graduate of Jefferson Medical College in Philadephia, PA, and completed her undergraduate studies at Villanova University.

She currently lives with her husband, Joe, in New York City.

David Paradela

David Paradela is a second-year journalism student at Boston University. His mother, Alpha Cattaneo, is the manager of the Casa Monte Cassino, a home for international patients in Boston, Massachusetts. He has been living with his family in the Casa Monte Cassino for three years and has formed many strong relationships with the Casa’s guests. He enjoys living in the Casa and having the opportunity to meet families and individuals from all over the world. David’s relationship and work with the Casa demonstrate how effective medical care is not simply based on professionalism but also a personal relationship.

Pierluigi Strippoli, M.D., Ph.D.

Pierluigi Strippoli is Associate Professor of Applied Biology at the University of Bologna, Italy and has been teaching Genetics, Genetic Technologies, Genomics, Scientific Method in several academic courses. He leads the Laboratory of Genomics at the Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine of the same University.

He has been using molecular genetics and genomics technologies to study blood diseases, colorectal cancer and trisomy 21. His research group has identified one of the human chromosome 21 genes and he has conceived and developed several original computational biology tools for the analysis of the human genome.

Recently, Dr. Strippoli has focused on starting a systematic study of Down Syndrome by integrating clinical, biochemical, genetic and bioinformatic data in order to identify novel therapeutic targets for this form of trisomy.