Meet the Speakers

Chief Executive Officer, Global Partnership for Telehealth, Inc.

GPT is a nonprofit organization committed to advancing healthcare improvements through the establishment and ongoing support of telehealth programs nationwide. With over two decades of experience in telemedicine program development, healthcare policy, state and local government affairs, and public relations, Suleima has spearheaded transformative health initiatives across diverse sectors. In addition to her role at GPT, she serves as the Principal Investigator for the Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center (SETRC), where she serves as the liaison to the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

In this capacity, Suleima collaborates with a range of stakeholders, including state and federal agencies, healthcare systems, public health organizations, educational institutions, and technology companies, to design and implement telemedicine solutions that enhance access to care. She also provides technical support and strategic guidance to organizations seeking to expand telehealth services in underserved communities.

Program Director at the Northwest Telehealth Resource Center

Nicki Perisho, BSN, RN is the Program Director at the Northwest Telehealth Resource Center (NRTRC), supporting telehealth expansion across a seven-state region, AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY & UT. A recognized expert and national speaker, she highlights telehealth’s role in reducing costs, improving quality, enhancing patient experience, and supporting healthcare staff.

Previously, she led a rural hospital’s telehealth program, overseeing delivery, expansion, and innovation. With a background in critical care, she intuitively supports best practices in telehealth. She has testified before Congress and is pursuing a Master of Public Health as a health policy fellow at UC Berkeley.

Program Director, Great Plains Telehealth Resource and Assistance Center (gpTRAC)

She received her BA from Cornell, MA from Montclair State and PhD from Temple, all in Experimental Psychology. Her interests are in medical image perception, observer performance, decision making, human factors, and the interface between humans and computers and how that impacts clinical decision-making efficacy and efficiency.

She is Past President of the American Telemedicine Association, Past Chair of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine, Past Chair of the SPIE Medical Imaging Symposium, President of the Society for Education and the Advancement of Connected Health, and President of the Medical Image Perception Society. She is Editor of Telemedicine Reports and the Journal of Imaging Informatics in Medicine.

Program Director, Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center (UMTRC)

Luke Wortley joined IRHA in 2016 after several years as both a full and part-time high school teacher in Indianapolis. He has a B.A. in Spanish from Wright State University and has been speaking Spanish since he was a junior in High School.

At IRHA, Luke is the Program Director of the Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center (UMTRC), concentrating on connecting the states of IL, IN, MI, and OH with telehealth resources, engaging in technical assistance for healthcare providers, and serving as a connection point for industry professionals who are interested in learning about access to care, health equity, and digital literacy.

Program Director of the Great Plains Telehealth Resource and Assistance Center

Jonathan Neufeld, PhD, is Program Director of the Great Plains Telehealth Resource and Assistance Center (gpTRAC), a federally funded technical assistance program housed at the University of Minnesota Institute for Health Informatics. The Center provides telehealth training and consultation to healthcare providers and programs interested in implementing, evaluating, and enhancing all types of telehealth services in the Great Plains region.

Dr. Neufeld has consulted on a wide range of projects related to rural health and telehealth over the past 15 years. He has presented at regional and national conferences and published peer-reviewed articles in the fields of telemedicine, clinical decision support tools, mental health services evaluation, and clinical outcomes.

Chief Telehealth Officer, University of Mississippi Medical Center

After completing medical school in India, Dr. Chandra earned a PhD in Life Sciences from Indiana State University that was followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Center. This was followed by clinical training in Internal Medicine with specialization in Critical Care from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. While working as a Tele critical care physician, he developed a passion for Telehealth as a transformative modality for delivering cost effective health care. Prior to his current role, Dr. Chandra was the enterprise wide Medical Director of Telehealth at Northwell Health which is the largest health system in the state of New York. During the COVID pandemic he led the Tele critical care response at Northwell Health and demonstrated that out of state providers can effectively contribute to patient care via Telehealth.

In his current role, Dr. Chandra provides strategic direction to the Center for Telehealth and the Center for Excellence and ensures alignment with all three mission areas of UMMC. 

As a lifelong learner, Dr. Chandra recently finished his MBA from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. In his free time Dr Chandra enjoys integrating into the culture of Mississippi and embracing its unique blend of Southern hospitality and traditions.

Program Manager, Northeast Telehealth Resource Center

Reid Plimpton joined our NETRC team in 2019, after having previously worked within MCD Global Health as the Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey Project Coordinator for the past 4 years. Reid is originally from New Hampshire, and has lived in Maine since completing his Community Health Sciences B.S. degree at the University of Maine at Farmington in 2014. Mr. Plimpton completed his Master of Public Health with honors from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in June of 2019. He is passionate about the telehealth field and its capacity to improve access to healthcare and quality of care for rural and underserved areas, along with policy research and development.

Reid loves to learn about and work with the NETRC’s regional partners and stakeholders, and to dive into assisting both existing and new telehealth programs across the Northeast and beyond. Reid’s hobbies include: spending time with his family, friends, and his dog Abby; along with golfing, reading, coaching & other community volunteer work, and being outdoors.

Executive Director, California Telehealth Resource Center (CTRC)

Sylvia J. Trujillo is the Executive Director of the California Telehealth Resource Center (CTRC) where she has a leadership role in driving equitable access to quality health care leveraging digital innovation. Sylvia is a national expert on federal and California policies related to virtual care, health IT, and new health care payment and delivery models.

Under her leadership, CTRC has expanded community-based and national partnerships with a focus on equity and sustainability.  During her tenure at the AMA, Sylvia’s portfolio included innovative topics in medicine such as virtual services (e.g., telehealth, remote monitoring, e-consults), genomics, and artificial intelligence/augmented intelligence.

She was the staff architect of the AMA’s Digital Medicine Payment Advisory Group; advised the AMA’s CPT Editorial Panel on regulatory and federal health program implications of digital medicine coding and valuation; and was the lead staff member supporting physician leadership in the preparation of the AMA House of Delegates adopted seminal reports and policies on artificial intelligence (referred to as augmented intelligence).