American Medical Association CEO and leadership

James L. Madara, MD, serves as the CEO and executive vice president of the American Medical Association, the nation’s largest physician organization. He holds the academic title of adjunct professor of pathology at Northwestern University.

Since taking the reins of the AMA in 2011, Dr. Madara has helped sculpt the organization’s visionary long-term strategic plan. As an extension of this vision, he now also serves as chairman of Health2047 Inc., an independent, design-driven innovation firm based in San Francisco whose mission is to help advance the AMA’s goal of improving the health of the nation.

Prior to arriving at the AMA, Dr. Madara spent the first 22 years of his career at Harvard Medical School, receiving both clinical and research training, serving as a tenured professor and as director of the NIH-sponsored Harvard Digestive Diseases Center. Following 5 years as chair of pathology at Emory, Dr. Madara served as dean of the medical school and CEO of the hospitals at the University of Chicago, bringing together the university’s biomedical research, teaching and clinical activities. While there, he oversaw the renewal of the institution’s biomedical campus and engineered significant new affiliations with community hospitals, teaching hospital systems, community clinics and national research organizations.

Dr. Madara also served as senior advisor with Leavitt Partners, an innovative health care consulting and private-equity firm founded by former Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt.

Having published more than 200 original papers and chapters, Dr. Madara has received both national and international awards, and served as editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Pathology and as president of the American Board of Pathology.

In addition to Modern Healthcare consistently naming him as one of the nation’s 50 most influential physician executives, as well as one of the nation’s 100 most influential people in health care, he is a past recipient of a prestigious MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health. He received the 2011 Davenport Award for lifetime achievement in gastrointestinal disease from the American Physiological Society and the 2011 Mentoring Award for lifetime achievement from the American Gastroenterological Society.

Dr. Madara is an elected member of both the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. He also co-chairs the Value Incentives and Systems Innovation Collaborative of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), and is a member of NAM’s Leadership Consortium for Value & Science-Driven Health Care.

Dr. Madara and his wife Vicki have 2 children, Max and Alexis.

Denise Hagerty is a CFO/Sr VP at American Medical Association.

Kenneth J Sharigian is an Executive Vice President at University of Chicago Medical Center/The, Chief Strategy Officer & Chair of Operating Committee at American Medical Association, and Trustee at University of Chicago Medical Center/The. He has experience at University of Nevada, Reno. Kenneth works or has worked at University of Chicago, Stanford University, and American Medical Association and works or has worked as VP/CFO at Stanford Medical Center. He studied at University of Nevada, Reno until 1972; Stanford University; and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

I’m a transformational leader for the digital age, with the classic profile of a “productive disruptor.”

My approach to digital and business transformation is grounded in a decade of consumer product marketing and advertising, so I never forget that it’s always, always about the customer. Combining this experience with the power of digital platforms, products and marketing, I’ve been able to drive record growth in audience, customers, e-commerce revenue and advertising sales across multiple digital businesses in traditional and start-up environments.

In my current role as Chief Experience Officer at American Medical Association, I lead initiatives that seamlessly integrate product, marketing, commerce, community and service to acquire and retain members and increase the impact of our mission initiatives.

I like working with and being around others who are motivated by growth, embrace change and love learning.

Specialties: Digital experience, digital operations and general management; content and social media marketing, premium content development; e-commerce, digital subscription marketing, digital and consumer marketing strategy and execution, digital content strategy and operations; new product development; consumer positioning and advertising.

Dr Maybank is a highly proficient physician with demonstrated excellence and leadership in public health, health equity, and preventive medicine. Dr. Maybank recently joined the American Medical Association (AMA) in April 2019 as their inaugural Chief Health Equity Officer and Vice President. Prior to this in 2014, Dr. Maybank became an Associate Commissioner, and later a Deputy Commissioner, and launched the Center for the Health Equity. Under her leadership, the Race to Justice Initiative was launched to transform the culture and public health practice of the Health Department and embed health equity in all of the health department’s work. This work has been recognized and adapted by other City agencies and has even captured the attention of the World Health Organization. Neighborhood efforts under her purview strengthened through enhanced coordination in violence prevention, teen pregnancy prevention, birth equity, and faith-based initiatives. Prior to this role, she was an Assistant Commissioner in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Brooklyn District Public Health Office, a place-based approach. Her Bureau created a template for community-driven planning and implementation to improve the built environment by creating safety improvements and bike lanes to encourage active transportation as one example. Through this work, she has served as an honest broker and convener of typically silo-ed, large NYC agencies and local community boards to ensure equitable conversations in planning. Dr. Maybank also successfully launched the Office of Minority Health as its Founding Director in the Suffolk County Department of Health Services in NY from 2006-2009.She has taught medical and public health students on topics related to health inequities, public health leadership and management, physician advocacy, and community organizing in health. In 2012, she co-founded "We Are Doc McStuffins," a movement created by African American female physicians who were inspired by the Disney Junior character Doc McStuffins. In the media and on the lecture circuit, Dr. Maybank is highly sought after. As a highlight, she has appeared or been profiled on Disney Jr.’s highly successful Doc McStuffins Animated Series. She has also advised on film projects: Soul Food Junkies by Byron Hurt and Black Women in Medicine by Crystal Emery. For her accomplishments, she has received numerous awards over the years. Dr. Maybank has served on medical mission trips to Haiti.Follow her on twitter @DrAlethaMaybank

Jon Burkhart is a VP/Chief of Staff at American Medical Association.

Leslie Weber is a CIO at American Medical Association and is based in Chicago, Illinois. She has worked as CIO at Quill, Chief Information Officer at Pampered Chef, and Vice President of IT and CIO at Bass Pro Shops. Leslie attended Boston College and Northeastern University.

Kenneth J Sharigian is an Executive Vice President at University of Chicago Medical Center/The, Chief Strategy Officer & Chair of Operating Committee at American Medical Association, and Trustee at University of Chicago Medical Center/The. He has experience at University of Nevada, Reno. Kenneth works or has worked at University of Chicago, Stanford University, and American Medical Association and works or has worked as VP/CFO at Stanford Medical Center. He studied at University of Nevada, Reno until 1972; Stanford University; and Stanford Graduate School of Business.