Currently, Kara works as an NP in the Wound Healing and Limb Preservation Center at George Washington University Hospital. In 2018, Kara became the Director of inpatient wound care at George Washington University Hospital. She is an assistant research professor of surgery at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at George Washington University. Ms. Couch is the current nurse board member of the Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders and the Secretary of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC). She is an editorial board member of Wound Management and Prevention, Today’s Wound Clinic and WoundSource 2019. In 2017, she was voted onto the Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee of the Amputee Coalition. She became Chair in 2019.

Dr. William H. Tettelbach is a certified wound specialist who is actively board certified in Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine with formal training in Biomedical Informatics. He retains academic appointments at both Duke University School of Medicine and Western University of Health Sciences. In 2010, Dr. Tettelbach joined Intermountain Healthcare with the charge to lead the development of their wound care program. Undertakings included the establishment of a Hyperbaric and Wound Care Service Line, joining the faculty of the Intermountain Medical Center Podiatry Residency Program to teach podiatry residents in Wound Care, Infectious Diseases and Hyperbaric Medicine, as well as the introduction of a Hyperbaric Medicine Fellowship through a collaborative partnership with Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Tettelbach is currently the acting Associate Chief Medical Officer for MiMedx Group, Inc. in Marietta, GA. In addition, Dr. Tettelbach continues to practice Wound Care and Infectious Diseases as Medical Director of Wound Care, Antibiotic Stewardship and Infection Prevention at Promise Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT.

Liz Faust is a Nurse Practitioner in Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Care at the Reading Hospital in West Reading, PA, part of Tower Health System. She graduated from Gwynedd Mercy University with her MSN in Adult Nurse Practitioner in 2009, became a Certified Wound Specialist (CWS) in 2010, and certified in Wound, Ostomy, and Continence (CWOCN) in 2012. She serves as an in-patient wound, ostomy, and continence specialist for a 700+-bed Level I Trauma Center. She focuses on care of the perioperative, post-operative, cardiac and critical care patients, with an interest in nursing and physician education, NPWT, and pressure injury prevention. She has written articles on NPWT. She has lectured nationally in addition to facilitating Bioskills labs across the country. She has two years’ experience in an outpatient wound care center prior to her acute care position.

Frank received his Bachelor degree in Physical Therapy from Florida A&M University in 1991, his Certified Wound Specialist through the American Academy of Wound Management and his Certified Lymphedema Therapist designation from the Academy of Lymphatic Studies. Currently he is the Wound Care Service Line Director for Natchitoches Regional Medical Center overseeing and providing direction for wound care services throughout the continuum of care. Since graduation, Frank's passion has allowed him to lecture at the academic level, nationally, and internationally about wound care & lymphedema.

As a Board Certified Wound Care Nurse Mary works as a Wound Care Specialist and Nurse Educator in a large Primary Care Practice within a suburban/agricultural/rural community. Mary is also responsible for triage and administrative duties. As a third career nurse, Mary brings maturity and life experience to her pursuit of nursing. Her professional experience as a wound care nurse crosses the health care continuum: long term care, home health care and primary care. As a clinical educator for a wound care pharmaceutical company Mary honed her skills as a nurse educator. Her passion for practicing and sharing the science of moist wound healing is evidenced by her commitment to her patients and her active participation in AAWC for nearly 20 years. Mary currently serves as the Member at Large on the AAWC Board of Directors (BOD).

Dr James C McKee, DPM, ABPM, is a surgical podiatrist with MultiCare in Washington State where he works in a hospital based clinic to facilitate limb-salvage in a high-risk population. He is a graduate of the Dr William M Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine. He completed his residency in podiatric medicine and surgery (PMS-36) at Puget Sound VA in Seattle, Washington where he focused primarily on diabetic and limb-salvage medical and surgical treatments. Dr McKee is also the founder of DiabeticSurvivor.com a website for diabetic and high-risk patients focusing on avoiding and preventing pedal amputation.

Valerie Messina, RN, CWCN, is a Wound Care Nurse Consultant for MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center, where she served for 10 years as the Director of the comprehensive wound care program including their 15-bed inpatient wound care unit, the outpatient wound clinic, the Wound Ostomy Continence Nursing consulting service and the hyperbaric medicine department. She has over 40 years of experience in wound care as a clinician, educator, researcher, and administrator. Her experience includes being a team member on a limb salvage program, caring for patients with traumatic, diabetic, necrotizing fasciitis, critical limb ischemia, and other vascular limb wounds. She has consulted and lectured internationally in wound care and hyperbaric medicine and has numerous publications in journals and textbooks. Her BSN is from Purdue University in W. Lafayette, IN and her graduate nursing studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills, CA.

Marta Ostler, PT, CWS, CLT, is a wound care practitioner with over 25 years of experience as a physical therapist. Marta is well-versed in assessing, dressing and treating lower extremity wounds.

Dr. Humphries specializes in open vascular and advanced endovascular treatment for arterial and venous disease. Her primary clinic interest is in thoracic outlet syndrome & treatment of complex peripheral artery disease. She is a leader in health outcomes research and is currently developing a telemedicine program for patients with limb ischemia. Her research is in TOS and has been presented nationally and serves as the foundation of advancing imaging to diagnose TOS. This has provided her the opportunity to speak on a national and international level about the use of advanced endovascular interventions in the treatment of complex aortic pathology including aortic dissection and aneurismal disease.

Dr Najafi is a Professor of Surgery with Baylor College of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Engineering at Rice University. He is a leading expert on digital health, wearable technology and biomechanics, and as the Director of Clinical Research, Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy and Director of the Interdisciplinary Consortium on Advanced Motion Performance, he aims to improve stability, healing and mobility, worldwide, while training the next generation of biomedical and wearables researchers.

Kim is an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner and works at University of Washington Health-Valley Medical Center. She began her career in healthcare in 1999, has been a Registered Nurse since 2003, and an Advanced Practice Nurse since 2010. She has practiced in the Wound, Ostomy, Continence Nursing specialty since 2005. Kim’s role as an Advanced Practice Nurse is focused on direct patient care, nursing quality improvement and implementing research and evidence-based best practices. Kim is a frequent local, regional, and national speaker and presenter at a variety of venues. She lives in the greater Seattle Metro area with her husband Seth and their cats. She enjoys the outdoors, travelling, live music, and cooking.