A. Sarah Cohen, MS
Assistant Project Manager
Sarah is an Assistant Project Manager at CBEAR. She supports the research team, the Heroes Program, and general operations. Sarah has an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering and a Master’s in biomedical informatics. She has over 7 years of experience in clinical research and has a strong interest in mental health and substance use.
Jennifer Hernandez-Meier, PhD, MSW
Assistant Professor
Jennifer Hernandez-Meier, PhD, MSW, is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. From 6/2013 to 12/2018, she served as a research scientist at the Comprehensive Injury Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Hernandez-Meier received her Doctorate and Master of Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Certificate (minor) in Criminal Justice from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her dissertation work examined the epidemiology and prevention of polysubstance use among college students. She currently serves as President of the Midwest Injury Prevention Alliance. Dr. Hernandez-Meier’s research interests include violence and injury prevention, firearm acquisition and possession policies, the epidemiology of alcohol and drug use, and innovative policies and interventions to address substance misuse, including prescription drug monitoring programs, medical systems-based initiatives, and medication-assisted treatment.
Julie Owen, MD, MBA, FAPA
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine
Dr. Julie Owen completed medical school and residency training in General Adult Psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin, as well as fellowship training in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. She earned her MBA from Marquette University in 2020. She is an Assistant Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, holding joint academic appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry and Emergency Medicine. Dr. Owen is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General Adult Psychiatry and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. Dr. Owen is the medical director for the Emergency Psychiatry Service at Froedtert Hospital and the Chief Medical Officer/Site Administrator for the Mental Health Emergency Center in Milwaukee. She is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. She also serves as the Co-Chair for the Academy of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry’s Emergency Psychiatry Special Interest Group, one of the largest professional groups dedicated to treating psychiatric emergencies.
Amy Zosel MD, MSCS
Amy Zosel, MD, MSCS, is a native of Wisconsin. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology and Spanish Language and Literature at Marquette University. After completing her MD at MCW, she completed an Emergency Medicine residency at Northwestern University/McGaw Medical Center in Chicago. Her Medical Toxicology Fellowship was at the Rocky Mountain Poison Center, and she concurrently completed a Master of Clinical Science at the University of Colorado in Denver.
Amy joined the MCW faculty in 2010 and completed the Clinical Scholars program in her first two years on the faculty. She is currently a Full Professor of Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology. She serves on the education core faculty at the Comprehensive Injury Center and co-directs the Injury Prevention Control Summer Program and Elective and the Global Health in Belize elective for fourth-year medical students. Dr. Zosel has recently become an Emergency Department Mentoring Champion and serves on the Faculty Development Committee. Her research interests include toxicology epidemiology, the abuse, misuse, and diversion of prescription medications, as well as physician use and the impact of state-wide prescription drug monitoring programs.
Dr. Zosel has received numerous teaching awards, including the MCW Outstanding Medical Student Teacher, the MCW Department of Emergency Medicine Medical Student Teaching Award, the MCW Department of Emergency Medicine Resident Research Advisor Award, and the prestigious Edward J. Lennon Endowed Clinical Teaching Award. She was recognized as a 2017 Inspiring Physician Honoree by the Women Physicians Section of the American Medical Association. Amy traditionally hosts the residents for Holiday Dinner and Journal Club each year as well as EM Residency Advocacy Group gatherings.
Maria Silveira, MD, MA, MPH
Maria Silveira, MD, MA, MPH is a federally-funded researcher and ethicist who was among the first palliative care clinicians to practice at the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor Veteran Affairs Medical Center (VAMC). She grew up in New York City, completed her undergraduate studies at Harvard University, and obtained her medical degree from SUNY Stony Brook. After residency training at Oregon Health and Sciences University in Internal Medicine, she served as a Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Clinical Scholar at the University of Washington where she earned her MPH. She has been at the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor VAMC since 2001. She is a member of the Rogel Cancer Center, where she serves as the Director for the Symptoms Management Clinic.
Her research aims to improve the management of symptoms related to cancer. She is the recipient of funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Veterans Administration.
Her research has been published in JAGS, JAMA, and NEJM. She has held several editorial positions, including Associate Editor for the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management and UpToDate. In 2014, she was awarded fellow status by the AAHPM and was promoted to Associate Professor at the University of Michigan. She currently serves as the Director for Research for the UM’s Palliative Care Program. She teaches ethics, communication, and symptom management to students and trainees at the UM and VA, and mentors fellows, junior faculty, and doctoral candidates in research.
Victoria Powell, MD, FACP
Dr. Powell is a board-certified physician specializing in Internal Medicine and Hospice & Palliative Medicine. She serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan, where she is also a member of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.
Dr. Powell earned her MD from Virginia Commonwealth University and her BA from the University of Virginia. She completed her Internal Medicine internship and residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed by a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at the NIH Clinical Center.
Clinically, Dr. Powell practices both inpatient and outpatient palliative medicine at the LTC Charles Kettles VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, MI. Her clinical interests include inpatient palliative care consults, inpatient hospice and end-of-life care, and outpatient palliative care clinics.
Courtney Flynn, MPH
Ms. Courtney Flynn is a global medical scientist, health economics, and outcomes researcher (HEOR) at Indivior. Before joining Indivior, she spent six years as a data scientist in HEOR at Medtronic. Before that, she obtained her MPH in biostatistics from Boston University and a BA in economics from New York University.
Amanda Zimmerman, PA-C
Amanda Zimmerman is a Physician Assistant with 23 years of pain management experience, having opened West Forsyth Pain Management in 2011. As the Vice President of the Pain Medicine Academy of Advanced Practice Practitioners, Amanda is a recognized leader amongst her peers. She is on the board of directors of the Pain Society of the Carolinas and has been active in the society since it was founded 14 years ago. Ms. Zimmerman is a co-chair on the Advanced Practice Provider committee at the American Academy of Pain Medicine. Amanda is actively involved in research. She attended SUNY New Paltz, earning a bachelor of arts in biology, and attended Hahnemann University for her physician assistant training.
Eric Prommer, MD, FAAHP, HMDC
Veterans Integrated Palliative Care, UCLA
School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California
Mayuko Sakae, MD, is a world-class palliative care and pain management physician with global experience dating back more than two decades. She has tended to the sick at the Mother Teresa’s Home for the Dying in Calcutta, India, cared for leprosy and malaria patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, handled culturally sensitive cases for Israel’s Jewish and Arab patients, and alleviated pain for adults and children in renowned facilities across the U.S.
At City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, she holds multiple key positions: Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Supportive Care Medicine, Chair of the Pediatric and Adolescent & Young Adult Pain and Supportive Care Committee in the Pediatric Department, and Site Director for the Pediatric Palliative Medicine of Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine Fellowship.
Dr. Sakae, a Johns Hopkins University graduate, earned her medical degree at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel, in collaboration with Columbia University Medical Center. After completing a pediatrics internship and residency at University of Florida College of Medicine — Jacksonville, Dr. Sakae turned to palliative care, earning a dual-board fellowship in both pain medicine and palliative medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Additionally, she studied Leprosy Management and Rehabilitation Training at the All Africa Leprosy, Tuberculosis and Rehabilitation Training Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Dr. Sakae is very passionate about integrative medicine by combining the conventional western medicine with eastern medicine and psycho-spiritual treatments such as Acupuncture, hypnotherapy, meditation and herbal medicine as well as mechanical balance restoration and energy treatments: chiropractic’s, ortho-bionomy, kinesiology.