Dr. Michael S. Brooks graduated from Loyola University, Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, Illinois and continued on to complete residency in internal medicine with Loyola University Affiliated Hospitals. He then went on to complete a fellowship in rheumatology at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Brooks’s special interests include rheumatoid arhtritis; connective tissue diseases, treatment of osteoporosis and metabolic bone diseases, and clinical trials for rheumatoid arthritis and forms of inflammatory arthritis. Dr. Brooks is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a certified clinical densitometrist.

Kevin Daley is Director of Government Affairs at WJ Weiser & Associates where he tracks and analyzes state and federal legislation and regulation of impact to clients, including CSRO. He began his career in politics and government in 2010 working for the Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate. He spent the next six years working in Illinois legislature and campaigning for the Illinois House Republican Organization. Mr. Daley graduated from Illinois State University with a degree in political science and is currently working towards earning his MPA degree from the University of Illinois.

Michele Guadalupe is Advocacy Alliance Development Director, where she is responsible for developing national and state advocacy partnerships. She has been with the Arthritis Foundation for 13 years, first in a regional capacity in many of the Midwest and Pacific Southwest states, State Director of Advocacy and Access and most recently as Director of State Legislative Affairs. In 2016 and 2017, Guadalupe played a key role in passing step therapy legislation in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri. Michele holds an undergraduate degree in health education from Illinois State University and completed her Masters of Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dr. Bharat Kumar is the Associate Program Director of the Rheumatology Fellowship training program at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He completed medical school at Saba University, followed by internal medicine residency at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY, and most recently finished fellowship at the University of Iowa in both rheumatology and allergy/immunology. He is an active member of the American College of Rheumatology’s Government Affairs Committee and helps to run the “Advocacy 101” Course for Fellows, Residents, and Program Directors. He has a particular interest in medical education, journalism, leadership development, and advocacy.

Dr. Carol A. Langford received her medical degree at the University of California Los Angeles in 1987 and trained in internal medicine at the University of Michigan from 1987 to 1990. She was a fellow in rheumatology at Duke University from 1990 to 1994 where she also received a Master’s degree in health sciences in 1995. From 1994 to 2004, Dr. Langford was a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health where her research focused on vasculitic diseases. In 2004, Dr. Langford joined the Cleveland Clinic to become Director of the Center for Vasculitis Care and Research within the Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and became Vice-Chair of Rheumatology for Research in 2007. In 2011, she was named the Harold C. Schott endowed Chair in Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases.

Douglas Ommen was appointed by Governor Terry Branstad asInsurance Commissioner in January 2017, after serving as Interim Commissioner since December 2016. Mr. Ommen has a strong and varied public service background. His dedication and desire to serve the public began in seeking justice for victims of fraud in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, where as an assistant attorney general and then as chief counsel, he led the fight to protect consumers over the course of three decades. Mr. Ommen served as Deputy Insurance Commissioner at the Iowa Insurance Division from August 2013 to December 2016. He also served in the Missouri Department of Insurance during 2005 – 2008, and as Missouri’s Insurance Director was instrumental for several key regulatory reforms. Mr. Ommen currently serves as the Chair of the NAIC’s Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee. Mr. Ommen obtained his law degree in 1985 from the Saint Louis University School of Law, and is licensed to practice law in both Iowa and Missouri.

Dennis Tibben is the Director of Government Affairs for the Iowa Medical Society. In this role, he coordinates policy development and advocacy efforts before the Iowa General Assembly, and represents IMS before a number of state boards and stakeholder health care organizations. Prior to joining the Iowa Medical Society, Mr. Tibben served as Correspondence and Judicial Appointments Coordinator in the Iowa Governor’s Office, as well as a Legislative Assistant in the Iowa Senate. Dennis received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science, with an emphasis in American Government, from Iowa State University and his Master of Public Administration, with an emphasis in Public Policy, from Drake University.

Disclosures

Relevant to the content of this educational activity, the following individuals have no conflict of interests with commercial interests to disclose.

• Michael S. Brooks, MD, FACP, FACR, Activity Director, Planning Committee Member, and Moderator
• Kevin Daley, Panelist
• Michele Guadalupe, MPH, Panelist
• Lorene Harder, Planning Committee Member
• Bharat Kumar, MD, MME, FACP, RhMSUS, Panelist
• Candace Milbourn, Planning Committee Member
• Doug Ommen, Speaker
• David B. Staub, MD, Planning Committee Member
• Dennis Tibben, Panelist

Relevant to the content of this educational activity, the following individuals a conflict of interest with commercial interests to disclose.

• Carol A. Langford, MD, MHS, FACP, Speaker - Receives grant/research support from Bristol-Myers Squibb, ChemoCentryx, Genentech, and GlaxoSmithKline