Julie Freshwater received her CIC while working for the West Virginia State Health Department, Division of Infectious Diseases as an epidemiologist and HAI Program Coordinator. Her background includes a Master of Public Health from West Chester University and PhD in Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases from Ohio State University. Before starting her role as Infection Preventionist at Wilson Health she was a contractor for the Ohio Department of Health on the COVID-Net project with the CDC collecting data from hospitalized patients. 

Lisa Magiera, BSN, RN, IPCO is a former Long Term Care Assistant Director of Nursing and Nurse Practice Educator.  Lisa is currently the Employee Health and Infection Control Nurse for a multisite federally qualified heath center in Providence, Rhode Island. 

Katie Cary is the Assistant Vice President of Infection Prevention for the HealthONE/HCA Continental Division in Denver, Colorado and has oversight of infection prevention programs for facilities in the Denver metro area and Wichita, Kansas. A Medical Technologist by background, Katie has also served as a Vice President of Quality at a large acute care facility prior to her current role. Katie has served on the APIC practice Guidance Committee,  is a former APIC Board Member and is a recipient of a 2017 APIC Heroes of Infection Prevention Award for leadership and advocacy in infection prevention

Chaz earned a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Florida and began his career as an Infection Preventionist in 2007. He is currently the Assistant Vice President of Infection Prevention at HCA Healthcare North Florida Division and serves as co-chair of the APIC Academic Pathway Steering Committee. His professional passions include advancing the field of IP through leadership development of IPs and advocating for MPH-ers as equally qualified candidates for IP positions.

Diana Maria Stark, BS, BSN, MS, RN, CIC, is a Colombian-American Infection Preventionist who has been practicing in the field since 2016. She holds degrees from the University of Central Florida College of Nursing and the University of South Florida College of Medicine. Diana's true passion lies in Infection Prevention, a field that combines her love of science, microbiology, education, and clinical care. She became Certified in Infection Control in 2017 and is currently pursuing a Masters in Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality at Johns Hopkins University. Diana continuously aspires to bring positive change in healthcare practices that enhance safety and reliability in healthcare delivery.

For Diana, Infection Prevention is not just a profession; it's a calling to inspire meaningful change at the bedside. She firmly believes that everyone can play a pivotal role in preventing infections and is dedicated to empowering healthcare providers to do just that. Diana believes that this can be accomplished by implementing robust policies and procedures that will serve as a foundation for a culture of safety, where every individual takes ownership of Infection Prevention.


With her infectious enthusiasm and unwavering commitment to patient safety, Diana exemplifies the epitome of an Infection Preventionist, inspiring those around her to join hands in the noble cause of infection prevention. Her motto, "everyone is an Infection Preventionist," serves as a guiding light for individuals to embrace their responsibility in the fight against infections.


Diana currently practices at a 295-bed acute care teaching facility in Orlando, Florida, and enjoys spending quality time with her loving family while exploring all that Central Florida has to offer. 

Ms. Kim Cahill possesses over 37 years of registered nursing experience in various healthcare settings including, acute and long-term care, acute psychiatry, hospice care and community education, intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) medical education and consulting, healthcare quality improvement, and patient safety. She has worked on national healthcare quality improvement initiatives in cooperation with providers across all care settings to achieve goals established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as aligned with the National Healthcare Quality Strategy. She currently serves as the Operations Manager for Infection Prevention and Control and Healthcare Safety Consulting at ECRI. 

Dr. Ericka Kalp has more than 20 years of experience in epidemiology and infection prevention and control across acute care, long-term care, ambulatory care, and specialty clinic segments. She is currently the Director of Infection Prevention and Control and Consulting at ECRI.  Dr. Kalp also serves as an Associate Clinical Professor and is Co-Director of the Dornsife School of Public Health (DSPH) Infection Prevention and Control academic programs. 

Kathryn (Katie) Galvin is currently a Manager of Infection Prevention at Hartford Healthcare.  She is a certified Medical Laboratory Scientist through the American Society for Clinical Pathology and certified in Infection Control through the Certification Board of Infection Control.  Kathryn has a passion for professional development, evidenced by her membership on the APIC Professional development Committee, and likes to bring her laboratory experience and expertise to her work every day as an Infection Preventionist.

Stephanie Parente, MSN, RN, CIC is a System Manager of Epidemiology and Infection Control for Lifespan in Providence, RI. She has been working in Infection Prevention for over 10 years. Most of her Infection Prevention career has been spent at South County Health in Wakefield, RI as the Clinical Leader of Infection Prevention and Employee Health. She received her CIC in June of 2019 and her Master of Science in Nursing in April 2017.

Saba Rezaeian is a certified Infection Preventionist with a background in Clinical Microbiology. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Science in Medical Laboratory Science. Saba’s interests are preventing surgical site infections and device associated infections in oncology patients. 

Mitali Shah is a certified Infection Preventionist with a background in public health epidemiology. She has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sustainability and a Master in Public Health. Mitali works with the pediatric population and is interested in preventing hospital acquired infections in neonates. 

Linda Goss DNP, BS, APRN-ANP, CIC,FAPIC is an Infection Control consultant and a clinical coordinator for QueensHealthcare System in Honolulu HI. Additionally, she is a board-certified adult nurse practitioner with apractice focus in bone and joint infections, latent tuberculosis, employeehealth and refugee health.  Linda hasthirty years of nursing and healthcare experience with twenty-three of thoseyears in infection prevention and control. Linda has been an active APIC memberhaving served on the BOD and numerous other committees. She spent seven yearsas a volunteer for CBIC and was the 2020 President.  Linda resides in Kentucky and is a proudgrandparent to Lake Michael and Olivia Kaye Neumann 

Darlene Hrabowski-Grier is the System Director of Infection Prevention and Control for The Queen's Health System with oversight of strategic planning, management of resources and process improvement priorities related to infection prevention practices.  She is responsible for engaging and working collaboratively with key administrative leaders, patient care service leaders and staff across the organization to develop and implement infection prevention and control services. Darlene previously served as System Infection Prevention and Control Manager at Hawaii Pacific Health. She also worked in infection prevention and control for hospitals in Georgia and with the Georgia Hospital Association. Darlene is the current President of the APIC Hawaii chapter and enjoys mentoring new Infection Preventionist.

Prior to becoming the Hospital Epidemiologist at Tripler Army Medical Center, Mr. Schweikert was the Manager of Infection Prevention & Control at The Queen’s Health System and assisted with redefining and restructuring the program at the Honolulu medical center.  He is also the current President-Elect of the APIC Hawaii Chapter and teaches infection prevention and healthcare epidemiology at University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Jonathan B. Perlin, M.D., Ph.D. became the seventh President and CEO of The Joint Commission on  March 1, 2022. Previously, as President, Clinical Operations and Chief Medical Officer, HCA Healthcare, Perlin led clinicians, data scientists and researchers in developing a learning health system model for improving care at the system’s 189 hospitals and 2,200 other locations. His team’s work achieved national recognition for preventing elective pre-term deliveries, reducing maternal mortality, using AI to improve sepsis survival, and developing public-private-academic partnerships for improving infection prevention and treating COVID. Perlin’s CHARGE consortium partnered HCA, AHRQ and academia created a reusable platform for accelerated research using real-world evidence from the care of over 400,000 COVID inpatients.

Before HCA, Dr. Perlin was Under Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, where he led the Veterans Health Administration to national prominence for clinical performance. He is a Congressional Budget Office Health Advisor, immediate past chair the National Quality Forum and the VA Special Medical Advisory Group, and former MedPAC Commissioner. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, he has co-chaired Academy action collaboratives on 
digital health, combatting opioids and climate change. Board service includes Columbia University’s Health Policy and Management program, Vanderbilt University’s School of Engineering, and Perlin served as a Trustee of Meharry Medical College for 15 years. Perennially recognized as one of the most influential leaders in healthcare, Dr. Perlin maintains faculty appointments at Vanderbilt University as Clinical Professor of Medicine and Health Policy and at Virginia Commonwealth  University as Adjunct Professor of Health Administration. 

Sylvia Garcia-Houchins is a microbiologist and a nurse with over 35 years of experience in infection prevention and control.  For the last 5 years she has been the Director of Infection Prevention and Control for The Joint Commission.

Dr. Tiffany Wiksten has been a nurse for over 20 years and has worked as an infection preventionist for over 10 years. In her current role, she is an Associate Director in the Standards Interpretation Group and Infection Control Subject Matter expert at the Joint Commission. She has led infection prevention and control efforts in a variety of healthcare settings including large academic medical centers, a community medical center with associated long term care facilities as well as various ambulatory healthcare sites. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice in Transformational Leadership from Rush University and her Master of Science in Nursing from Loyola University with a focus on Population based infection control and environmental safety.  

Dr. Sara Reese is the Director of Infection Prevention for the Peaks Region of Intermountain Health. She has over 10 years of experience in infection prevention during which she led the COVID-19 pandemic response for a Level 1 Trauma Center as well as oversaw numerous performance improvement projects that resulted in reduction of healthcare-associated infections. 

Jessica Lowery is the Infection Prevention Manager at Lutheran Medical Center where she oversees a 338-bed acute care facility, which also includes an 84-bed inpatient behavioral health setting. She also oversees the Environment of Care program and is the Safety Officer for the facility. She has been in Infection Prevention since 2014.

Donna Nucci, RN MS CIC is a Registered Nurse and certified Infection Preventionist with over 30 years of experience in healthcare. Donna is currently the Director of Infection Prevention for the 7-hospital system Yale New Haven Health. Donna also provides consultative services for a multitude of healthcare organizations.