Speakers

Shari Ling, M.D. is the deputy chief medical officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where she serves the agency and the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality with her clinical focus and scientific interest centered on the care of persons with dementia, multiple chronic conditions, and functional limitations.

In addition to a clinician leadership role across CMS, Dr. Ling has represented CMS on several HHS committees and workgroups, including the National Alzheimer’s Project Act FACA, Healthy People, Behavioral and Mental Health, Healthcare Associated Infections, the National Strategy to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance, and the Scientific Integrity Council. 

Dr. Ling received her medical training at Georgetown University School of Medicine and her clinical training in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at Georgetown University Medical Center. She completed a Geriatric Medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins University and joined the Johns Hopkins University faculty for five years, after which she joined the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health at the National Institute on Aging.

Dr. Ling has authored more than 100 publications in her career and continues to serve as a part-time faculty member in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She also serves as a volunteer faculty for the dementia clinic with the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Baltimore. Prior to her medical training, Dr. Ling earned her master’s degree in Gerontology from the Leonard Davis school of University of Southern California and subsequently served as the co-director of clinical services with the Andrus Older Adult Counseling Center.

As president and CEO, Ghinassi is responsible for the strategic oversight and direction of a statewide system of academic, behavioral health, addiction services, training, and funded research. UBHC, one of the largest providers of behavioral health and addictions healthcare in the country, offers a wide range of clinical and support services across all diagnosis, and across the lifespan.

In his role as senior vice president at RWJBarnabas Health, Ghinassi directs the strategic development and operations of behavioral health and addictions, fostering synergies between Rutgers Health and RWJBarnabas to enhance high-quality, fully integrated and interdisciplinary academic care throughout New Jersey.

He is also a professor at Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, a professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and a core faculty member at Rutgers Global Health Institute.

Ghinassi is NABH’s immediate past board chair and presently chairs the association’s Quality Committee.

Jim Shaheen is the CEO of New Season, a Medication Assisted Treatment company serving more than 32,000 patients in 88 clinics located in 20 different states. Prior to his current role,

Jim founded Shaheen Strategic Investments (SSI) in order to provide a vehicle for the Shaheen family to grow and expand its holdings in a variety of businesses. Prior to SSI, Shaheen founded a national healthcare company called Strategic Behavioral Health, a chain of private psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals across the nation.  Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., the company grew from Denovo to 13 hospitals in 8 states with revenues under $200 million.

With more than 33 years of behavioral health experience, Shaheen has helped a variety of small and large companies grow and expand services in order to meet the demands of behavioral health services in many communities. Shaheen is the Chairman of the UT Health Science Center College of Medicine Board of Visitors.  Shaheen also sits on the Jason Foundation Board of Directors, as well as the JC Runyon Foundation Board. Additionally, Shaheen sits on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare’s Education and Research Foundation. Shaheen holds a master’s degree in organizational communications from Murray State University and an undergraduate degree in Therapeutic Recreation also from Murray State University.

John Pallasch is founder and CEO of One Workforce Solutions. He was previously the Senate-confirmed assistant secretary for employment and training at the U.S. Labor Department.

Assistant Secretary Pallasch’s appointment marked his return to the Department where he previously served as special assistant to the assistant secretary for administration and management and the deputy assistant secretary in the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Prior to his return to DOL, Pallasch served as the executive director of the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Office of Employment and Training where he led initiatives to improve outcomes for workforce education programs, increase accountability and performance of the unemployment insurance program, and consolidate job training and workforce development programs in a single cabinet agency.

An Illinois native, Pallasch earned a Bachelor of Science degree from The Ohio State University and a Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law.

Kristen Nelson Weeden has spent the majority of her career in non-profit leadership, using data to drive program design in an effective and efficient way. Kristen has designed programs for non-profit organizations, Institutions of Higher Education, and local governments.  

Most recently, Weeden has worked with entities across the United States to design pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, and career pathway programs. Prior to this role, Kristen was the Vice President of Business Development for a local non-profit, where she was responsible for partnerships and fundraising.    

Weeden began her career as a Child Protective Case Worker and understands the importance of accessible, high-quality, behavioral healthcare services.

Kristen received her B.S. from Ohio University and her M.S.W. from Case Western Reserve University. Kristen will complete her Ph.D in Human Services in December 2025.  

Scott Migdole is the chief operating officer of Yale Behavioral Health and the Yale Program on Supervision and holds an appointment as assistant clinical professor in the Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry.

At Yale, Migdole leads the Yale Monitoring Team designed to address concerns as defined by regulatory, accrediting, and/or oversight bodies, including quality of care; directs Yale’s juvenile justice mental health services statewide in Connecticut, which includes pre- and post-adjudicated youth in detention centers and residential facilities; directs outpatient mental health and substance use disorder services; manages a comprehensive telephonic/mobile crisis service; and provides clinical consultation to Yale’s private therapeutic junior and senior high school which serves grades 6-12.

Migdole was the lead trainer and organizational consultant in a statewide Supervision Competency Development Initiative that was federally funded through Connecticut’s Mental Health Transformation State Incentive Grant (T-SIG). He has consulted on supervision to numerous Connecticut state agencies including the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Department of Corrections, Department of Children and Families, Connecticut Valley Hospital, as well as the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD), San Francisco Department of Public Health (behavioral health division for children and adults), the Children’s Behavioral Health Knowledge Center and MassHealth, and the District of Columbia’s Department of Mental Health and Canada.

Migdole earned a bachelor of arts degree from Hofstra University, a master’s degree in social work from Simmons College School of Social Work, and was a post-M.S.W. fellow at the Yale School of Medicine’s Yale Psychiatric Institute.

Hemi Tewarson, J.D., M.P.H. is the executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization committed to improving the health and well-being of all people across every state. At NASHP, Tewarson leads an organization that is at the forefront of engaging state leaders and bringing together partners to develop and advance state health policy innovations.

Under her direction, NASHP is leading efforts with states in areas including state COVID-19 recovery, health care costs and value, coverage, child and family health, aging, family caregiving, health care workforce, behavioral health, social determinants of health, health equity, and public health modernization. Previously, Tewarson worked at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy as a senior fellow and served as the director of the Health Division at the National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices. She also served as senior attorney for the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Government Accountability Office addressing Medicaid and related health care topics for members of Congress.

Tewarson earned her B.A. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.P.H. and J.D. degrees from George Washington University.

Kyle Zebley serves as senior vice president of public policy at the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) and executive director of ATA Action, the ATA’s affiliated trade organization established in 2022 to expand the association’s advocacy efforts.

As founding Executive Director of ATA Action, Zebley plays a pivotal role in preserving essential federal telehealth flexibilities in the post-pandemic era and advancing pro-telehealth legislation in nearly every state. His leadership spans a complex regulatory landscape, forging broad bipartisan coalitions across Congress, the White House, state governments, industry, and diverse stakeholders to expand responsible, system-wide access to high-quality virtual care, for every American, in every community.

Zebley’s public service career includes senior roles in both the legislative and executive branches. He served as chief of staff in the Office of Global Affairs at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS), overseeing global health security, multilateral diplomacy, health and trade policy, and U.S. engagement with the G7, G20, WHO, and other international institutions. 

Previously, as legislative director to former Rep. Tom Price, M.D. (R-Ga.), Zebley led healthcare policy development across the U.S. House Budget, Ways and Means, and Education and the Workforce Committees. 

He holds a B.A. in Political Science and History from Duquesne University.