Leadership
Steve Sidel, Founder & CEO
Former President, Discovery Education, Deputy General Counsel, Discovery Communications, Managing Director, Antenna Audio, and CEO, Edline. Steve is a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School, and a Certified Peer Support Specialist.
Harry Gill, MD PhD, EVP Systems of Care
Founder & President, AXIS Healthcare Group, Medical Director of Behavioral Health Services, MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, Suburban Hospital, and Holy Cross Germantown Hospital, and Clinical Assistant Professor at George Washington University Department of Psychiatry and St. Elizabeth's Psychiatry Residency Training Program. Former Medical Director, Behavioral Health Services, Providence Hospital in Washington, DC, and Chief Medical Officer with the State of Iowa Department of Human Services Medicaid Agency. In his private practice Dr. Gill provides psychiatric and therapeutic services. In addition to his medical degree, Dr. Gill holds a Double-major Doctorate degree in Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience from Iowa State University.
Greg Couto, SVP, Operations
Co-Founder, AmeriDoc, one of the country’s largest telehealth providers, former EVP Operations, NationsHealth, COO, Together Health and COO, Physician Preferred Pharmacy. Greg is a senior executive accustomed to leading complex, high growth global operations in both public and private companies across the healthcare industry.
Lauren Szewczyk, Vice President, Case Management & Family Services
Nine-year Psychiatric Rehabilitation Counselor at O’Connor Associates, former Vocational and Residential Counselor for individuals with chronic mental illness at Cornerstone Montgomery (formerly St. Luke’s House), former Residential Counselor at an outpatient housing program associated with McLean Hospital and peer support specialist. Lauren holds a Masters Degree in Educational and Developmental Psychology from Boston College and a Certification as a Traumatologist from the International Traumatology Institute at the University of South Florida.
Rob Völkel, SVP, Products & Creative Director
Rob is a product designer and engineer with a passion for bringing innovative design into health care solutions. He previously led the Products team at Left Field Labs, an L.A. based digital agency, which he also co-founded. Before Left Field, Rob also co-founded Tribogenics, a medical technology venture in the field of advanced x-ray applications. He’s also lead product initiatives at several B2B software outfits, including FreeMarkets (now SAP), i2 Technologies (now JDA) and Trilogy Software. Rob graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research.
Mayada Akil, MD, SVP, Medical Affairs
Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Georgetown University Hospital and the director of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Clinic, the Psychopharmacology Clinic and the Medical Director of the Outpatient Program at the Psychiatry Department. Dr. Akil trained as a psychiatrist at the University of Michigan on the research track and was selected Chief Resident. She completed a research fellowship studying primate cortical circuitry under the mentorship of Dr. David Lewis at the University of Pittsburgh, then joined the faculty in the departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. She moved to the Intramural Program at NIMH in 1996 where she conducted research on the pathophysiology of psychotic disorders. In 2003, Dr, Akil joined the office of the NIMH Director as a Senior Advisor and has led since several efforts related to research literacy and neuroscience education of psychiatrists. She coordinated the “NIMH Research Track”, a series of NIMH-sponsored symposia and workshops, at the APA meeting in 2005 and again in 2008. She was part of the NIMH team that worked on the National Psychiatric Training Council in 2006 and for several years organized “Brain Camp”, an annual meeting that brings psychiatrists in training in contact with leading neuroscientists. She has been in the Department of Psychiatry at Georgetown University Hospital since April of 2007. Started July in 2014, she will assume the role of Vice Chair for Education.
Stacey Kaltman, PhD, Research Director
Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University School of Medicine and a licensed clinical psychologist. She is also an Associate Director of the Center of Trauma and the Community. Dr. Kaltman’s research has largely focused on the development and evaluation of mental health services for under-resourced patient populations in primary care settings to address entrenched health care disparities. She currently is providing leadership on studies related to diabetes and depression, implementation of collaborative care strategies and interventions for breast cancer survivors. B.A. University of Pennsylvania, PhD, Catholic University, post-doctoral work, University of Maryland.
Carol Alter, MD, Advisor
Senior Director, Medical Policy and Quality, AstraZeneca, Former Director of Psychosomatic Medicine, Policy and Community Outreach and Associate Professor in the Georgetown University Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Alter has over 25 years experience in diverse settings including clinical practice, research, administration, healthcare delivery and the pharmaceutical industry. Her interests focus on the psychiatric care of patients with medical illness. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts, monographs and book chapters related to psychosomatic medicine and access to psychiatric care. While at Georgetown she lead a team which implemented a Collaborative Care program in the Montgomery Cares safety-net clinics, which has served over 5000 patients. She also authored a report, funded by SAMHSA, which examined the financial issues related to implementation of Collaborative Care for the District of Columbia. Dr. Alter received her medical degree from the George Washington University in 1985 and did her psychiatric training at the Mayo Clinic, Cornell University Medical College and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.