'Stepping Stones' series highlights leadership journeys

Thursday, Aug. 27

Leslie Hulvershorn, MD, is a child-and-adolescent and addiction psychiatrist; chair of the Department of Psychiatry at IU School of Medicine; professor of psychiatry; IU Health Professor II; and adjunct professor for the Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology. She is an active researcher and clinician and has authored numerous publications on various topics in child psychiatry. 

Hulvershorn's research projects focus on child and adolescent mental health and addition. She has received multiple grants to study the neurobiological basis of emotional regulation, addiction risk and risky decision-making in youth. She is currently examining the brain bases of the transition from the absence of drug use in childhood to the onset of problematic drug use and risky sexual behaviors in adolescence. 

Clinically, Hulvershorn is primarily interested in the treatment of pediatric mood and substance use disorder.

In addition to her roles at IU School of Medicine, she serves as the consulting medical director for Indiana's Division of Mental Health and Addiction.

Tuesday, Nov. 12

Mara E. Nitu, MD, DC, MBA, is vice president and chief medical officer at Riley Children's Health, where she oversees clinical operations and ensures exceptional patient outcomes.

Since joining Riley Children's Health in 2001, Nitu has held several key leadership positions, including division chief of Pediatric Care, vice-chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Pediatrics and associate chief medical officer.

Nitu enhances statewide clinical operations for pediatrics and promotes professional development for physicians and advanced practice providers. She also holds a faculty appointment as professor of clinical pediatrics at IU School of Medicine.

Known for her dedication to clinical effectiveness, Nitu has developed innovative models for healthcare delivery and optimized resource utilization, aligning clinical and business goals. She has been pivotal in transitioning the organization toward a culture of high reliability and safety. Her contributions have been recognized with the Rich Schreiner Mentoring Award and the Alpha Omega Alpha honor.

Thursday, Feb. 11

Andreia Alexander, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor of emergency medicine, director of the Health Impact and Advocacy Pathway at IU School of Medicine and the medical director of the Health Impact and Advocacy Pathway for the IU Health Indy Metro Region. 

Alexander has been a faculty member in Emergency Medicine at IU School of Medicine since 2018. Before her current role, she served as the assistant and then associate program director for the Emergency Medicine Residency.

She also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Indiana State Medical Association, where she advocates for health policy that will decrease health inequities, particularly addressing sexual and reproductive health issues. She has served on the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Committee on Reproductive Health Equity and Society; is currently on the board of directors for Physicians for Reproductive Health; and is an implementation leader for the Access Bridge Reproductive Health Fellowship.

Alexander was named to the Emergency Medicine Residents Association's (EMRA's) "Top 25 Under 45 Influencers in Emergency Medicine" in 2021 and has earned several awards celebrating her advocacy and research.

Her clinical and research interests include improving health equity and Emergency Department care for sexual and reproductive health. 

Thursday, April 29

Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH, has been president and CEO of the Regenstrief Institute and IU School of Medicine Leonard Betley Professor of Surgery since 2023. At Regenstrief, she oversees 160 research staff and 75 research faculty across the Regenstrief Center for Health Services Research, Center for Biomedical Informatics, Center for Aging Research, a health data standards office, and Regenstrief Data Services, which maintains exclusive access to research data for Indiana's Health Information Exchange data.

Patzer also oversees the Regenstrief Office of Strategic Innovation, which focuses on AI validation, safety, clinical adoption and real-world evidence-generation. 

Previously, as founding director of the Emory Health Services Research Center at Emory University, she led numerous large federal and non-federal awards, ranging in topics from kidney disease to clinical informatics to long COVID.

She has more than 250 research publications and has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2012.

Patzer is a board member of the Indiana Health Information Exchange, lifetime director of the Southeastern Kidney Transplant Coalition, co-founder of the Early Steps to Transplant Access Registry and past chair of the federal United Network for Organ Sharing Data Advisory Committee. She has won numerous awards for her work.