Mi-CHIME Team

Gary L. Freed, M.D., M.P.H.

Director of Mi-CHIME

Gary Freed is the Percy and Mary Murphy professor of Pediatrics in the School of Medicine and professor of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He currently serves as Associate Chair for Government Relations in the Department of Pediatrics and as Director of Research in the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion at the Michigan Medical School. Dr. Freed has more than 30 years of experience in children's health services research. He has been the principal investigator of numerous federal, state and foundation-funded grants, and of the first pediatric health services research fellowship program funded by the National Institutes of Health. 

The current focus of his research is child health equity. In 2023, he launched two new programs for which he serves as director: the Program for Equity in Adolescent and Child Health (PEACH) and the Michigan Child Health Equity Collaborative (MI-CHEC). PEACH and Mi-CHEC are first-of-their kind programs designed to examine and address potential inequities in the care of children and adolescents. In 2024, following the blueprint of Mi-CHEC, Dr. Freed started another quality collaborative, Michigan Community Hospitals Improving Equity for Children (Mi-CHIME), for which he is the director.

Email: gfreed@med.umich.edu

Susan J. Woolford, M.D., M.P.H.

Associate Director of Mi-CHIME

Susan Woolford’s clinical and research interests focus on behavioral interventions in the clinical setting for the treatment of obesity, particularly for severely obese adolescents.  Her research explores the delivery of weight management interventions and outcomes from multidisciplinary obesity care.  In particular, Dr. Woolford’s work focuses on the use of communications technology to enhance patient engagement and adherence to treatment recommendations. In recognition of her innovative work in the area of childhood obesity, Dr. Woolford has received awards from the American Academy of Pediatrics and from the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

The current focus of her research is child health equity. In 2023, she launched two new Programs for which she serves as Associate Director: the Program for Equity in Adolescent and Child Health (PEACH) and the Michigan Child Health Equity Collaborative (MI-CHEC). PEACH and Mi-CHEC are first-of-their kind programs designed to examine and address potential inequities in the care of children and adolescents. In 2024, following the blueprint of Mi-CHEC, Dr. Woolford started another quality collaborative, Michigan Community Hospitals Improving Equity for Children (Mi-CHIME), for which she is the associate director.

Email: swoolfor@med.umich.edu

Melani Piotrowski, M.B.A., B.S.N., R.N.

Director of Pediatric Services and Patient Access

MyMichigan Health

Melani joined MyMichigan Health in 2015 and currently leads pediatric services program development and improvement for the MyMichigan Health system, both inpatient and outpatient, to meet the needs of community members. Prior to this role, she worked as a maternal child health nurse and clinical supervisor, providing a solid clinical background to the needs of families in the community. Melani joined the MHA-Children's Council in 2023 and has worked collaboratively to improve quality and safety for pediatric patients and families.

Email: melani.piotrowski@mymichigan.org

Brighan DeFazio, M.S.N., R.N., C.N.L.

Clinical Outcomes Nurse Specialist

Covenant Children's Hospital

Brighan DeFazio is the clinical outcomes nurse specialist for pediatrics and the pediatric intensive care unit at Covenant Children’s Hospital. She received her Master of Science in nursing at Rush University School of Nursing and is certified as a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL). As a CNL, Brighan focuses on improving pediatric patient care by enhancing care coordination, facilitating outcomes-based quality improvement projects, and incorporating evidence-based practices into the hospital setting. Brighan serves as the chair of the Pediatric Symposium planning committee and is an active member of the Children’s Hospital Association as well as the CNLA Michigan Chapter.

Email: Brighan.defazio@chs-mi.com

Rebecca Schultz, R.N., B.S.N., M.A., J.D.

Director of Women's and Children's Health

Covenant HealthCare

Rebecca Schultz has worn many hats during her time at Covenant HealthCare. Currently, she resides in the role of Director of Women's and Children's Health. Prior to being in this position, Rebecca was the Director of Risk Management, Director of RNICU and Manager of RNICU. Being a registered nurse and an attorney, Rebecca has always had a passion for taking care of others. She strives to continue Covenant's mission of providing extraordinary care for every generation.

Email: rschultz@chs-mi.com

Jacques-Brett Burgess, M.D.

Service Line Medical Director, Pediatrics

Munson Healthcare

A Michigan native and graduate of Michigan State University (MSU) College of Human Medicine, Dr. Jacques Burgess has 24 years of experience as an internist and pediatrician with focused practice in hospital medicine. He joined Munson Healthcare in 2000 and practices with Sound Physicians. Dr. Burgess serves as Munson Healthcare's service line medical director, pediatrics; Munson Medical Center's medical staff president; and chief of pediatrics for Sound Physicians. He is also a clinical professor, medicine and pediatrics, for Michigan State University; and pediatric clerkship director for the MSU College of Human Medicine Traverse City Campus.

Email: jburgess@mhc.net

Toni Leaf-Odette, B.S.N., R.N.C.-N.I.C.

Senior Community Health Coordinator

Munson Healthcare

Executive Director

All Kids Thrive

For 18 years, Toni has dedicated herself to enhancing the quality of life for underserved populations both within and outside her hospital system. After becoming a registered nurse in 2012, she worked in high-acuity psychiatric and neonatal intensive care units in rural Northern Michigan in leadership positions. She implemented the Eat, Sleep, Console protocol for units serving newborns across six hospitals to improve care of infants affected by neonatal abstinence syndrome. Toni has held the role of NICU manager at Munson Healthcare and currently specializes in community and population health strategies, focusing on maternal-infant care and pediatric equity. At MHC, she serves as the project manager for diversity, equity and inclusion. In January 2024, she founded and now directs All Kids Thrive, a nonprofit organization aimed at empowering and optimizing systems for families with children facing chronic health conditions.

Email: tleafodette@mhc.net

Elinor Artsy Navon, M.D.

Senior Research Specialist

Elinor is a senior researcher supporting Mi-CHIME and other child health equity initiatives led by Drs. Freed and Woolford. She has extensive experience in clinical neurology/neuroscience research in both academia and industry, as well as experience in health disparity research (while at the NIH, Harvard/MGH/MIT and abroad). A New Hampshire native, she earned her MD from the Technion Institute of Technology in Israel, worked as a physician in neurology and rehabilitation medicine, and has made her way back to the states to resume her path toward public health. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, making fancy coffee drinks, volunteering for the Epilepsy Foundation, and exploring the best places for nature walks within Michigan.

Email: navon@med.umich.edu

Cori Davis

Quality Improvement Team Leader

Cori Davis is an improvement specialist supporting collaboratives and projects focused on child health equity with Drs Freed and Woolford. Cori has over a decade of experience designing and leading quality improvement efforts to amplify and accelerate social change. Cori believes that improvement science is accessible to all and loves supporting people with diverse skillsets and backgrounds learn about and implement improvement science to make meaningful change. Outside of work, you can find Cori acting as an uber driver and domestic coordinator for her daughter, Peyton. She also enjoys gardening, exploring new restaurants or wineries, listening to podcasts, and traveling to warmer climates. 

Email: ahrecori@umich.edu

Cheyney Dobson, Ph.D.

Program Manager

Cheyney Dobson currently manages equity programs as part of a team led by Drs. Woolford and Freed. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan. She has extensive experience conducting and managing research collaboratively and independently focused on inequality as a qualitative sociologist. She is excited to bring this experience to bear in supporting those working in the realm of pediatric care ask questions about equity, collect data, and generate change where it’s needed. 

Email: dobsonc@umich.edu

William Gillespie

SQL Data Analyst 

William Gillespie is a data architect for equity programs launched by Drs. Freed and Woolford. He assists researchers and clinicians by investigating and retrieving electronic health records (EHR), defining data dictionaries, performing statistical analysis, and creating data visualizations. He enjoys automation of EHR tasks and creating dashboards and visualizations for end users. He holds a Master of Science in computer programming from Eastern Michigana Univisersity. He has previously worked in health technology at U of M, programming in military contracting, and teaching English as a second language.  In his free time, he has interests in photography and foreign languages. 

Email: wegilles@med.umich.edu

Michael J. Happy

Web Project Manager

Michael J. Happy is the website project manager for equity programs launched by Drs. Freed and Woolford. After serving seven years as a U.S. Navy journalist, he received his Bachelor of Arts in social studies from Towson University in Maryland and then started a professional journalism career that took him to CBS Sports, The Detroit News and The New York Times. For 13-plus years before joining PEACH, he worked as the digital content manager for FOX Sports Detroit. When he's not working, Michael loves to spend time with his bride, Shannon, relaxing at their cabin near Alpena. He also enjoys hanging out with his two adult children, Louis and Amanda, and telling stories about his angel, Shaun.

Email: mhappy@umich.edu

Niko Kaciroti, Ph.D.

Faculty Statistical Consultant

Niko Kaciroti is a Research Scientist in the Departments of Pediatrics and Biostatistics. He received his PhD in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan. Since then he has collaborated in multidisciplinary research at the University of Michigan, nationally, and internationally with a focus on the pediatric population.  Dr. Kaciroti serves as the statistical editor for the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and is an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Behavior Nutrition and Physical Activity. He serves in the Board of Directors of the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Foundation. Dr. Kaciroti is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute and the Society for Pediatric Research.   

Email: nicola@umich.edu

Sheng Koivu

Lead Administrative Assistant

Sheng is the lead administrative assistant for the equity programs launched by Drs. Freed and Woolford. She joined the Child Health Evaluation and Research Center in 2016 as an administrative assistant, providing support to the Division of General Pediatrics, and planning continuing medical education activities. Sheng holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Oakland University. In her free time, Sheng enjoys spending time with her family.

Email: shengk@med.umich.edu

Harlan McCaffery, M.S.

Statistician

Harlan McCaffery earned his MS in Biostatistics from Northwestern University in 2018. As a statistician at University of Michigan since 2018, he has worked in the Department of Pediatrics, the Center for Human Growth and Development (CHGD), and the Statistical Analysis of Biomedical and Educational Research Group (SABER), coauthoring dozens of manuscripts on a range of health topics. He is skilled with data manipulation, visualization, and advanced statistical methods including mixed effects modeling, multivariate analysis, and survival data analysis, with a special focus on longitudinal studies. He very much enjoys learning from and supporting health researchers at U of M.

Email: hmccaff@umich.edu

Julie McCormick

Program Manager, Equity Programs

Julie McCormick is the lead project manager for equity programs launched by Drs. Freed and Woolford. She has nearly two decades of clinical and research project management experience, as well having served as a senior research scientist at Pfizer and an IRB coordinator at the Ann Arbor Veterans Administration. Julie brings this considerable experience to the team to help guide Mi-CHIME's development and implementation, as well as advise individual projects as needed. Julie loves traveling with her family and spending time outdoors. Her hobbies include costuming for community theater shows and shark fishing. 

Email: mccormj@umich.edu

Jessamyn Ressler-Maerlender, M.P.H.

Quality Improvement Specialist

Jessamyn Ressler-Maerlender is a continuous improvement specialist at Michigan Medicine Children's and Women's hospitals. Her work focuses on reducing harm from hospital acquired conditions, patient and employee experience, equity issues, and safe transitions of care. Previously, Jessamyn was Director of NICU Innovation at March of Dimes, creating and disseminating best practices in neonatal family centered care. Jessamyn received her Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, lives in Ann Arbor, and is a Michigan State Spartan at heart. 

Email: jessamyr@umich.edu

Jennifer Stout, R.N.

Quality Improvement Specialist

Jennifer is a quality improvement specialist who supports initiatives led by Drs. Woolford and Freed. She was introduced to improvement science through her nursing experience at University of Michigan Health System. Jennifer has worked as an inpatient nurse for over 10 years, most recently on a Medical Intensive/Step Down unit. She has multiple years of experience working with free and charitable clinics and serving as an anti-human trafficking advocate, specifically in the field of education for healthcare providers. Jennifer loves to rollerblade and travel in her free time.

Email: jlstout@umich.edu

Miao Yu, M.S.

Lead Data Analyst

Miao Yu is the lead data analyst for equity programs launched by Drs. Woolford and Freed. She earned a Master of Science in statistics from Florida State University in 2013. With extensive experience in data analysis and management, Miao will serve as a liaison between equity clinical researchers and the data team. Her responsibilities include investigating and retrieving electronic health records (EHR), reviewing data dictionaries, performing statistical analyses, and creating data visualizations and project reports. Miao has vast experience in epidemiology and biostatistics, and has previously worked as a statistical geneticist focused on identifying risk biomarkers for chronic disease prevention and understanding their interactions with social and environmental factors. Additionally, she spent several years as a health data scientist working on mental health improvement initiatives within healthcare systems, aiming to enhance outcomes for patients and their caregivers.

Email: miayu@med.umich.edu