Dr. Katie Huggett is the Robert Larner Professor in Medical Education, Director of the Teaching Academy, and Assistant Dean at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. As Director of the Teaching Academy, Dr. Huggett leads and develops faculty development programs to support inclusive teaching, assessment, curricular design, mentoring, and educational leadership. She leads medical education research activities and works with faculty to foster educational scholarship. Her research and publications address academic program quality, curricular innovation, interprofessional education, and mentoring. She is co-editor of the book, An Introduction to Medical Teaching: The Foundations of Curriculum Design, Delivery, and Assessment, now in its third edition.

Dr. Cayla R. Teal is the Associate Dean for Assessment and Evaluation and an Education Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health at the University of Kansas School of Medicine (KUSOM).  Dr. Teal received her B.A. degree in Chemistry from William Jewell College and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Community/Clinical Psychology from Wichita State University, with emphases in applied research methods and psychometrics. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Health Services Research at the Center of Innovation in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety at the Michael E. DeBakey Houston VA Medical Center.  She served as the Director of Educational Evaluation and Research at Baylor College of Medicine and an Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Dean for Evaluation and Assessment at Texas A&M College of Medicine prior to coming to KUSOM.  Dr. Teal is responsible for the assessment of student performance in and program evaluation of the KUSOM’s curriculum and a member of its continuous quality improvement team.  She is a mixed-methods medical education researcher, an Associate Editor for Medical Education Online, a Deputy Editor for Teaching and Learning in Medicine, teaching faculty for AAMC Medical Education Research Certificate (MERC) program, and a 2022 AMA Scholar in Health Systems Science.  Dr. Teal recently completed her two-year term as the national chair for the Medical Education Scholarship, Research and Evaluation (MESRE) section at the AAMC’s Group on Educational Affairs (GEA) and serves as the Treasurer for the Society of Directors of Research in Medical Education (SDRME). 

Dr. Beth Bierer is professor of medicine and director of assessment and evaluation at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (CCLCM) of Case Western Reserve University. In this role, she oversees CCLCM’s portfolio-based assessment system and program evaluation activities. She also teaches graduate-level courses in research methods and facilitates professional development seminars and workshops. Dr. Bierer served as national and regional chair of the AAMC’s Medical Education Scholarship, Research, and Evaluation (MESRE) section and received the medical education Laureaute Award from the AAMC’s Central Group on Educational Affairs. Her research interests focus on competency-based education, programmatic assessment, outcomes evaluation, and educator development.  

Karen Richardson-Nassif, PhD, Professor Emeritus, was the Associate Dean for Faculty and Staff Development and Diversity in the Office of the Dean, College of Medicine.  She was previously the Predoctoral Director and Director of Research in the Department of Family Medicine and Director of Assessment in the Office of Medical Education at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.  She has served on numerous committees on curriculum change, program evaluation, and leadership. She was an advisor for the LEAD AAMC program and Advisor to the Women’s Mentoring Program and the New Hampshire/Vermont Schweitzer Fellowship Program.  She is also a reviewer for several journals.  She attended the Harvard Macy Physician Educators Scholars Program in 1999 and the Evaluator’s Institute in 2000 and 2001.  In 2005, she received the Vermont Women in Higher Education Jackie M. Gribbons Leadership Award.  She received the Research in Medical Education Best Paper Award, AAMC, in 2008 and Outstanding Service Award from the Northeast Group on Educational Affairs in 2010.

Jorie Colbert-Getz, PhD, MS, is Associate Professor in Internal Medicine and the Assistant Dean of Education Quality Improvement for the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She is also an adjunct faculty member for Johns Hopkins Masters of Education in the Health Professions. At the national level, Dr. Colbert-Getz serves on the Research in Medical Education (RIME) program planning committee. She has also served on the executive committee for the Society of Directors of Research in Medical Education, was the Medical Education Scholarship, Research, and Evaluation chair for the Western Region Group on Education Affairs and was the founding director of the Learning Community Institute Research Network. She has over 50 publications in medical education, mostly focused on assessment.  Her overarching mission is to ensure assessments measure developmentally appropriate learning objectives / milestones. To that end, her research focuses on validity frameworks and other elements of assessment utility, survey design, and program evaluation. Dr. Colbert-Getz received her MS degree in Psychology from Illinois State University and her PhD degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Utah.

Dr. Janet P. Hafler is Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning and a Professor of Pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine. As an institutional priority to support the YSM mission, the Center for Medical Education (the Center) was created under the leadership of Dr. Hafler. In this role, Dr. Hafler oversees two important entities, Continuing Medical Education (CME) and the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC). Both entities are organized under the Center to meet the increasing needs of medical educators in Undergraduate, Graduate Medical Education and Continuing Medical Education.

Dr. Hafler received her master's degree in education specializing in maternal and child health from Columbia University and her doctorate in Education from Harvard University. She focuses on assisting faculty, students, and residents to explore innovative ways to effectively promote learning in both the classroom and the clinical settings. Promoting, influencing and nurturing a climate in which physicians, residents and students can teach — and learn — has been foremost among her career objectives.

Through the TLC, Dr. Hafler continues to direct the Medical Education Fellowship for faculty educators as well as the Master of Health Science-Medical Education Pathway Degree. She also collaborates with Yale New Haven Hospital Graduate Medical Education overseeing Resident-as-Teacher programs for all Yale residents. Dr. John Encandela leads the TLC as its Executive Director overseeing student, faculty and program assessment and additional programs offered to YSM educators and departments.

Dr. Hafler leads the CME office, which is under Allison Rentfro, PhD as its Executive Director. Together they will expand the focus of the CME office to include continuing professional development (CPD), with a broader focus on professional development while continuing to provide courses on clinical medical education. YSM CME is positioned to broaden their scope to include a greater national presence and a new global outreach.

Dr. Hafler runs an active research program applying qualitative research methods in medical education. She collaborates with and mentors faculty on the elements of qualitative research in the field of medical education and medical care. In turn, mentored faculty members have learned to develop and demonstrate the tools necessary to effectively teach and lead others. Dr. Hafler is very widely published with book chapters, curriculum materials and original articles in medical education and clinical journals. She frequently serves as visiting professor internationally and has been invited to present regularly at regional and national professional meetings.

As part of the Research and Education Department at the Virginia Commonwealth University Health Sciences Library, John works with physicians, students, and residents in the VCU School of Medicine and at VCU Health to support research, learning, and patient care. John also served as Interim Co-Head of the Research and Education Department for 2020-2021. His scholarly interests include uncertainty in evidence-based practice and decision-making, evidence synthesis methods, and assessment of consultative library services. Before joining the faculty at VCU Libraries in 2012, he was a health sciences librarian at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, Louisiana. John earned his MLIS from Louisiana State University in 2009.

Dr. Britta M. Thompson earned her B.S. from Kansas State University, her M.S. from the University of Missouri at Columbia, and her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. After receiving her Ph.D., she joined the faculty at Baylor College of Medicine in 2004 where she served as the Director of Evaluation and Assessment and the Director of the Simulation Program. In 2009, she became the Assistant Dean for Medical Education and Director of the Office of Medical Education at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. 

In March of 2015, she joined the faculty at Penn State Hershey College of Medicine as the Associate Dean for Evaluation and Assessment. She also serves as Core Faculty with the Woodward Center for Excellence in Health Sciences Education and Directs the Clinician Educator Pathway. In 2018, she created and initiated the Clinician Educator Pathway, in which medical students can earn a joint degree culminating in not only MD degree, but also a master’s degree in Education.

  Her research interests include: Team-functioning and team-performance in medical education; Faculty and Resident Teaching, Evaluation, and Assessment Skills; Medical Student Reflection and Self-Assessment; Health systems sciences education; the Clinical Learning Environment; and facilitators, barriers, and outcomes of educational innovations. Through her work, she has been awarded several teaching and educational research awards. Her research has resulted in over 70 peer-reviewed articles in some of the most prestigious medical education journals. She has won multiple awards for her research articles, including the Silver Quill Award for the most downloaded as well as the best research article in the journal, Medical Education. She has presented over 250 peer-reviewed and invited oral and poster presentations at regional, national, and international meetings.