Mi-CHEC Team

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

Director of Mi-CHEC

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. 

Email: gfreed@med.umich.edu

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

Associate Director of Mi-CHEC

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. 

Email: swoolfor@med.umich.edu

Brittany Bogan, M.H.S.A., FACHE, CPPS, CPXP

Administrative Director of Safety and Quality

C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital

Brittany Bogan has been the administrative director of Safety and Quality for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital since 2021, with the aim of continuously improving health-care quality and reducing preventable harm. She is also the interim associate chief operating officer at Von Voigtlander, providing leadership for the strategic, financial, quality and operational priorities of the women’s health program. Before joining Mott, she was the senior vice president of Patient Safety and Quality at the Michigan Health & Hospital Association and the executive director of MHA’s Keystone Center. Brittany holds a MHSA from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Science degree from U-M, Ann Arbor. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a certified patient safety professional, and a certified patient experience professional.

Email: blbogan@med.umich.edu

Adam Nicholson, M.D.

Medical Director of Quality, Safety and Experience 

Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital

Adam Nicholson is the medical director of Quality, Safety and Experience, and a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. After completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame, he graduated from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago, Ill., and then completed residency training in pediatrics followed by a pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Nicholson, who joined DeVos in 2014 and has served in his current role since 2018, is passionate about creating a culture of teamwork and psychological safety, and improving health-care experiences and outcomes for pediatric patients and their families.

Email: adam.nicholson@helendevoschildrens.org

Deborah Niedbala, M.S.N., CPPS

Director of Quality and Patient Safety

Children's Hospital of Michigan

A long-time member of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan family, Deborah Niedbala, MSN, has been the director of Quality and Patient Safety for Children’s since 2012. She began her career as a student nurse in the Emergency Department at Children’s in 1983, working bedside; in research, clinical improvement and policy, and as a preceptor and nurse educator over the years. Extensively published, she also has served on multiple Detroit Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Michigan, regional, state and national committees; is certified in emergency nursing, quality and patient safety and is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, Lambda Zeta Tau Chapter. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Mercy College in Detroit in 1985 and her Master of Science in Nursing from Wayne State University in 2004 with a focus on community health nursing.

Email: DNiedbal@dmc.org

Elinor Artsy Navon, M.D.

Senior Research Specialist

Elinor is a senior researcher supporting Mi-CHEC 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, PEACH

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 Mi-CHEC and other 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 programs launched by Drs. Freed and Woolford in 2023. 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 on 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 in 2023 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-CHEC’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