The Grand Rounds session will be one-hour and touch on health equity topics from the speakers listed below. Lunch will be provided.
Joanna Hughes, BSN, MHA Chief Of Staff @ St. Clair Health Joanna Hughes is a dynamic healthcare leader with a proven track record of driving organizational success and improving patient outcomes. Currently serving as Chief of Staff, Joanna excels in aligning strategic goals with operational practices, fostering collaboration, and enhancing patient outcomes and experience.
With a Master of Science in Health Services Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Joanna has applied her expertise to spearhead initiatives aimed at addressing disparities in healthcare access and outcomes. Her work in developing and implementing a Health Equity framework has been instrumental in ensuring that all patients receive equitable access to quality care.
Joanna continues to prioritize health equity in organizational planning and decision-making and her commitment to creating a more equitable healthcare system reflects her values of integrity, compassion, and innovation. Committed to community engagement, she serves as a Board Member of the South Hills Interfaith Movement, leveraging her expertise to address critical healthcare challenges. Through her leadership and advocacy, she continues to make a positive impact on healthcare delivery and patient care, inspiring others to join in the journey towards health equity for all.
Lindsay Meucci, MBA Vice President of Marketing, Communications & Advocacy @ St. Clair Health Lindsay Meucci is a customer centric marketing executive with expert knowledge in using customer data to develop high-performing campaigns. She joined St. Clair in July 2020 and is responsible for marketing, communications, public relations, community outreach, fundraising, and government advocacy.
Prior to joining St. Clair, Lindsay was employed at Giant Eagle where, over her tenure, she served in a series of progressively responsible positions, ultimately including Senior Director of Supermarket Marketing. In that role, she was responsible for the development and implementation of marketing and advertising strategies for all Giant Eagle stores. Prior to her tenure with Giant Eagle, she held a number of positions in marketing and customer relationship management with Dick’s Sporting Goods and GNC.
Lindsay earned a Bachelor’s degree from Allegheny College, where her studies concentrated on communications and economics. She later earned an MBA from the Katz School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2023, Lindsay joined the Board of Directors for Outreach Teen & Family Services, a non-profit, community-based counseling agency located in Mt. Lebanon.
Mallory Ciuksza, MD, FACP Physician @ St. Clair Medical Group Internal Medicine Dr. Mallory Ciuksza matriculated from Westminster College and Drexel University College of Medicine. She returned to Pittsburgh to train at Allegheny Health Network for her residency and subsequent chief year. She joined St. Clair Health in 2016 to practice traditional internal medicine and serve the Pittsburgh community. In 2023, she was seated on the hospital’s graduate medical education committee and helped to build the Internal Medicine Residency program at St. Clair. She was subsequently named Associate Program Director, Resident Clinic Director, Clerkship Director, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at Duquesne College of Osteopathic Medicine.
In March 2020, she co-led the Feeding Neighbors Program, which brought displaced food service workers together with over 250 volunteers to make and deliver meals to food-insecure neighbors at the onset of the pandemic. At the program’s close, they had raised over $100,000 and served over 30,000 meals. Building on this work, Dr. Ciuksza co-founded the Food Assistance Match Inc., which doubles food assistance dollars at farmers markets to improve access to healthy, fresh food to residents who rely on food assistance dollars to feed their families and help direct funding back to farmers and local small businesses. She serves as the chair of FAM and is responsible for fundraising and program expansion.
Dr. Ciuksza is a 2022 40 Under 40 honoree, along with her husband, Albert Ciuksza, honored in 2020. The Ciukszas co-founded FAM and serve actively in the Bellevue Farmers Market. They live in Bellevue with their two rescue dogs.
The Grand Rounds consists of a two-hour session with physician expert speakers. This event is for hospital employees only. Lunch will be served and Continuing Medical Education credits (CMEs) will be available.
Speakers include:
Christina M. Welc, DO, Pittsburgh Infectious Diseases
Dr. Christina Welc is a graduate of Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, Pennsylvania. She completed her Internal Medicine internship as well as her residency at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital prior to completing her Infectious Disease fellowship at the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. She is board-certified in Infectious Diseases. Currently, she is serving as the Medical Director of Antimicrobial Stewardship, Jefferson Hospital, Director of Stewardship
Program, St. Clair Hospital and Chief of Infectious Diseases, St. Clair Hospital.
Leanna Liu, PharmD, BCIDP, BCPS, St. Clair Health
Leanna joined St. Clair in 2022 as an inpatient Infectious Disease Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. She co-leads the St. Clair Antimicrobial Stewardship Program with Dr. Christina Welc.
Leanna received her PharmD from the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy in 2010 and completed the PGY-1 Pharmacotherapy Residency at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. After completing her residency training, Leanna worked as an ID pharmacist and stewardship program lead at various acute care inpatient settings in Texas and upstate New York. She moved to Pittsburgh with her family during the pandemic and received additional training from the Pharmacy Infectious Disease/Antimicrobial Stewardship Fellowship program at UPMC Presbyterian. Leanna is also double board certified in Pharmacotherapy and Infectious Disease.
In support of improving patient care, the University of Pittsburgh is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, University of Pittsburgh is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. University of Pittsburgh maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 2.0 continuing education credits.
Physician (CME)
The University of Pittsburgh designates this live activity for a maximum of 2.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Nursing (CNE)
The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 2.0 contact hours.
Social Work (ASWB)
The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Social Work Education activity is 2.0 contact hours.
Physician Assistant (AAPA)
The University of Pittsburgh has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 2.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.
Other health care professionals will receive a certificate of attendance confirming the number of contact hours commensurate with the extent of participation in this activity.