Featured Speakers

Dr. Timothy Ihrig, M.D. practices palliative medicine, caring for the most vulnerable and sickest people, and helps other providers improve the quality and value of the care they provide to this population. His work has shown how patient-centered care improves quality and length of life, and that it has significant economic benefits to patients, healthcare systems and the economy. Ihrig is nationally recognized for his expertise in continuum population health and community-based palliative care. Ihrig is a member of the Advisory Council of the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative, a think-tank for strategies in health care quality, safety and value for the state of Iowa. He also serves as an Iowa Alternate-Delegate to the American Medical Association.

Mary-Frances O’Connor, Ph.D. is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, where she directs the Grief, Loss and Social Stress (GLASS) Lab, investigating the effects of grief on the brain and the body. O’Connor earned a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Arizona in 2004 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in psycho- neuro-immunology. Following a faculty appointment at UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, she returned to the University of Arizona in 2012. Having grown up in Montana, she now lives in sunny Tucson, Arizona.

David Nathanson, M.D. specializes in breast cancer management, inherited susceptibility to breast cancer, management of melanoma and sarcoma, and research in sentinel lymph node biopsy for melanoma and breast cancer. He earned his medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. His post-graduate training was received at the University of Pretoria and the University of the Witwatersrand in Surgery and at the Johannesburg General Hospital. Additional training included: the University of California, Center for Health Sciences, Los Angeles in Immunology; the University of California, Los Angeles in Surgical Oncology; and the University of California, Davis in General Surgery. Dr. Nathanson is board certified by the American Board of Surgery. He is a fellowship-trained surgical oncologist.

Colin Campbell is a writer and director for theater and film. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Seraglio, a short film he wrote and directed with his lovely and talented wife, Gail Lerner. He has taught Theater and/or Filmmaking at Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University, Cal Poly Pomona University, and to incarcerated youth through The Unusual Suspects. His book, Finding the Words: Working Through Profound Loss with Hope and Purpose was published by Penguin Random House in March of 2023. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, and ModernLoss.com. He lives in Los Angeles and sometimes Joshua Tree with his wife Gail and the two teenagers they are in the process of adopting.

Natalie Rosenfield, BSW, director of patient services, joined JHCN in 2012 following an extensive career in a variety of positions in the health care industry including marketing representative, discharge planner, admissions director, and manager of community programs. Natalie served as past president of the West Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce and speakers bureau ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Association and Arthritis Foundation. Natalie received her degree in social work from The University of Cincinnati.

Leslie Katz, LMSW, has spent more than 20 years as a geriatric social worker in both hospital and communal settings. Leslie worked at the Ann Arbor Veterans Hospital as an inpatient social worker and assistant chief of her department. Leslie also served as the director of FRIENDS of Jewish Senior Life. She earned a bachelor’s degree in social relations and a bachelor’s degree in advertising with a specialization in public relations from Michigan State University. She earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan in social work with a minor in management and specialization in aging. Leslie is a Certified Grief Informed Professional (CGIP).