Faculty & Staff

Marc is a Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at Yale. He is the Director of Pediatric Simulation at the Yale Center for Medical Simulation and was the founding co-chair of INSPIRE, the world’s largest simulation-based research network. His academic work focuses on the use of innovative techniques and technologies, such as simulation, to measure and improve the quality of pediatric emergency care. His overarching goal is to ensure that all children, no matter where they live, go to school or travel, receive the highest quality emergency medical care. Marc serves in a national role with HRSA/EMSC on the EIIC executive committee and co-leading the EIIC Knowledge Management as well as serving as the education co-lead of the Pediatric Pandemic Network. Prior to these roles he served as the CT EMSC State Partnership Grant Medical Director for seven years and as an investigator on four different EMSC targeted issues grants and the leader on the EIIC Prehospital Emergency Care Collaborative. His projects involve working closely with prehospital and hospital emergency care coordinators leading pediatric efforts in community EDs and community EMS agencies. In addition Marc is actively working on multiple initiatives through other organizations (including SAEM, Pediatric Trauma Societies, American Heart Association, Emergency Nurses Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, NASEMSO). Marc serves as the PI of the ImPACTS study, a national effort to describe, measure and improve the quality of care provided to critically ill and injured pediatric patients in emergency departments using simulation. Marc completed a K30 Masters of Science in Clinical Investigation with a focus in translational medicine at New York University and post-graduate course work on simulation at Harvard’s Center for Medical Simulation. He has substantial leadership experiences in trauma and simulation research as a board member of the International Pediatric Simulation Society, co-chair of the Pediatric Academic Society’s Special Interest Group on Simulation-Based Research and as a leader on the Pediatric Trauma Society’s Guideline Committee. He has served as the principal investigator on multiple funded trauma and simulation research projects to ensure the optimal care for ill and injured children. This includes a grant-funded project using simulation training for disaster preparedness, a regional trauma simulation program, a local office based preparedness program.

Dr. Bonz is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and the Director of Procedural Simulation at YCMS. He graduated from medical school at University of New Mexico and completed his residency training in EM at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He began the procedural training program as its own division within YCMS in 2011. Dr. Bonz has led cadaver-based workshops on emergency procedures and has presented and paneled at the International Meeting of Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH). Dr. Bonz is funded by the Department of Defense as part of a panel of experts investigating live tissue and simulated procedural training in combat medicine and his research interests include technical skill and management decisions in high stress environments. His philosophy is principled on the strong evidence that simulated procedural training increases efficiency, expertise, and decreases error.<_o3a_p>

Dennis L. Shung MD MHS PhD is Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of Digital Health in the Section of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine with a secondary appointment in Biomedical Informatics and Data Science. He is also Director of Applied Artificial Intelligence at the Yale Center for Healthcare Simulation and the Yale Clinical and Translational Research Accelerator. He serves as an Associate Editor for Gastroenterology, a member of the American Gastroenterological Association AI Task Force, founding member of the Artificial Intelligence Institute for Gastroenterology by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and a committee member of American Gastroenterological Association Center for GI Innovation & Technology (CGIT). On a national AI policy level, he serves as a member of the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) Generative AI Testing and Evaluation Working Group. He is a physician data scientist working in the intersection of translational informatics, algorithmic development, and implementation science whose interdisciplinary work has been featured at Digestive Diseases Week, Neural Information Processing Systems, and Computer-Human Interaction Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems with publications in Gastroenterology, Nature, and JAMA Network journals. He is founder and director of the Human+Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (H+AIM) lab at Yale with the vision of enhancing human presence using AI and mission of using large language models to improve trust and promote value in human-AI teams.

Anthony J. Tomassoni, M.D., M.S, FACEP, FACMT practices and teaches Emergency Medicine and Toxicology at Yale University. Dr. Tomassoni received a B.A. degree in Science Education and a M.S. in Human Biochemistry. His interest in medicine and toxicology was born from a foundation of analytical and clinical chemistry. Prior to entering medicine he taught basic sciences and computer applications to gifted students and to educators. He received his MD degree from UMDNJ – New Jersey Medical School and completed a residency in Emergency Medicine and a fellowship in Medical Toxicology at the University of Cincinnati (UC). While at UC he served as an EMS medical director and as a flight physician for 5 years. In his previous position Dr. Tomassoni contributed to the growth and certification of the collaborative Northern New England Poison Center which he served as Medical Director; while at the Maine CDC he was the architect of three Regional Resource Centers for Public Health Emergency Preparedness created to span preparedness gaps between public health, healthcare organizations and other response organizations in Maine.Tony's current research interests focus on medical education particularly with respect to medical simulation, medical toxicology and disaster medicine. The theme that unites most of his work is injury prevention and consequences mitigation through education, planning - and when those fail - medical response. Through the Yale New Haven Health System he serves as Medical Director of the Yale Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP). Tony’s projects with YNH-CEPDR included the drafting of diagnostic and treatment guidelines for chemical and radiological emergencies. He remains passionate about the practice of clinical toxicology and promotes the recognition of the specialty and its practitioners through frequent lectures. In addition to scientific papers and abstracts, his publications include contributions to 3 toxicology texts, 2 international EM texts and 2 electronic references. In addition he was the recipient of the 2008 Faculty Teaching Award in Emergency Medicine and the American College of Emergency Physicians National Teaching Award in 2010. He is an active member of CT DMAT-1 and past Medical Team Manager of US&R MA TF-1, both federal emergency response teams.Tony’s most satisfying accomplishments stem from participating in the growth of individuals and programs. He values teamwork, sharing in collaborative and creative synergism to meet partners’ needs. He continues to sharpen his strategic planning and implementation skills learned in teaching and private enterprise, at the Maine Poison Center, as a member of the Medical Advisory Committee to the Maine Board of Pesticides Control, contributing to strategic planning in the Maine CDC’s Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness where he served as the medical director, the Northern New England Metropolitan Medical Response Systems Steering Committee (and Commander of the Maine Medical Strike Team before coming to Yale), Emergency Medicine at Yale, as Senior Leadership at the Yale New Haven - Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response, and with the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

Samreen Vora, MD, FACEP, MHAM, CHSE, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and Director of Interprofessional Simulation at the Yale Center for Healthcare Simulation. She is the recipient of the Children’s Minnesota Child Advocacy Award (2022), Minnesota Physician Community Caregiver Award (2019) and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare Emerging Leader Award (2019). Dr. Vora’s research interests are focused on simulation in the areas of racism and implicit bias in healthcare, human factors design in healthcare delivery and simulation-based mastery learning. She most recently published “Recommendations and Guidelines For the Use of Simulation to Address Structural Racism and Implicit Bias.”

Ambrose Wong, MD, MSEd, MHS, is a physician-scientist in the Department of Emergency Medicine, with a focus on teamwork, patient safety, behavioral health, and healthcare disparities. He is the Research Director and Simulation Fellowship Director at the Yale Center for Healthcare Simulation. He also has expertise in qualitative and mixed-methods techniques for health services research. Dr. Wong applies healthcare simulation technology to address workplace violence and improve behavioral care in the emergency setting. He has authored over twenty-five peer-reviewed publications on behavioral emergency care and has received funding from multiple federal agencies and foundations including NIH, YCCI, AHRQ, and PCORI.

Lisa Zhang, MD, is an Instructor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and Assistant Director of Education Technology and Innovation and the Assistant Director of Medical Student Simulation at the Yale Center for Healthcare Simulation. Dr. Zhang's research interests are focused on residency and medical student simulation curriculum development and technological innovations in simulation including Artificial Intelligence and Virtual and Augmented Reality.

Chris Banziruk is a Simulation Operations Specialist. He designs and coordinates the implementation of simulation technology to meet education needs throughout the health system. Prior to joining the team, he spent over 6 years working as a Collections Technician II in the Biomedical Division of the American Red Cross where he took on additional roles specializing in team management, project tracking, process implementation and employee safety development. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Western Connecticut State University and his experience brings a blend of clinical proficiency and technical insight to the team.

Luis Cruz is a Senior Simulation Specialist with over a decade of experience in simulation operations. He has participated in workshops at the International Meeting for Simulation in Healthcare and has obtained his Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist certification (CHSOS) from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. Prior to coming to Yale, he spent over 20 years in a business/corporate setting working in IT as a Unix Systems Engineer.

Khari Daniels is a Simulation Specialist with a background in technical support, data center operations, and customer service. With over seven years of experience in customer-facing roles, Khari has developed strong communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. He holds an IT support certification that covers troubleshooting, system administration, and networking fundamentals. In addition to his technical expertise, he also has skills in audio and video setup, ensuring seamless integration of technology in various environments.

Janine Doucette is the Simulation Data Coordinator and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and Healthcare Management. She has 20 years of experience in project coordination, executive support and data analytics within healthcare. Janine joined Yale New Haven Health in 2013 and transferred to the simulation center in 2018. She specializes in collecting and managing data to produce reports that are accurate, meaningful and timely for stakeholders.

Christian Gonzalez is a Simulation Operations Specialist. His educational background in biomedical science was integral for the quality and clinical engineering positions he practiced for four years. He gained experience in medical device testing, product validation, and tissue handling in both settings. With this experience, he provides in-situ simulation support across YNHHS hospitals with the goal of strengthening learner outcomes through behavioral and simulation assessments. When he is not in simulation, he is pursuing a master’s degree in neuroscience and he is a member of the Medical Reserves Corps of Fairfield County.

Joy Grabow is the Simulation Manager, and she has worked in simulation for over ten years, coordinating and supervising the general activities that occur within the center and acting as the liaison between the various departments and the sim center faculty. She has professional experience as an Educational Trainer, Regional Sales Trainer, Office Manager and Program Director. Joy was a professional actress for 25 years and is currently a Theatrical Director/Acting Coach. Joy’s background in theater has prepared her well for the “medical theater” involved in healthcare simulation. Joy studied Theatre Arts at the University of Wisconsin.

Antonietta Hallet is the Simulation Development & Strategy Administrator. She has extensive experience in corporate and regulatory compliance, employee relations, leadership development, strategy, change management, public relations, event management, communications and marketing. She has been employed in both the corporate and the non-profit sectors and, with a diverse background, brings a great deal of innovative experience to the team. Antonietta holds a Master of Communications degree and an HR Management Certificate, both from Fairfield University. She also holds an Executive Healthcare Leadership Certificate from Cornell University and an Executive Transformational Coaching certificate.

Barbara joined Yale University and the Office of Education in 2008. From 2009-15 she managed the Preclinical Clerkship, Clinical Skills and Standardized Patient programs. Since 2016 Barbara has moved to the Teaching & Learning Center and oversees the day-to-day management of the Standardized Patient (SP) Program and coordinates the teaching summary letters for Sr. A&P Faculty appointments.  Prior to coming to Yale, Barbara worked as a Print Production manager at BPA Worldwide in Shelton, CT.Barbara has a BFA degree in graphic design from Paier College of Art.A Pinterest newbie Barbara enjoys following others on Pinterest, cooking, gardening and yoga/Pilates. She lives by the water in Milford and enjoys being outdoors in the warm summer months most of all.

Jeff Hoffman is a Simulation Operations Specialist with eight years of experience. He majored in Digital Media and Television Production at Daytona State college. His experience, working at ESPN for almost seven years, allows him to bring extensive A/V knowledge to the team.

Karen Lombardi is a Simulation Learning Consultant who identifies opportunities for improvement, innovation and development of initiatives for the integration of simulation in clinical education and curriculum. Karen’s experience as one of the co-leaders of the Regional Neonatology Bootcamp at Yale provides her the scope to network with other simulation programs at local, state, regional and national levels to develop and utilize best practices for program development. Her clinical background and simulation experience provide developmental and operational guidance through all stages of program design and implementation. Prior to joining the team, she worked as a respiratory therapist for Yale New Haven Hospital. Karen is currently pursuing her master’s degree.

Cheryl Mayeran is a Senior Simulation Learning Consultant who develops curriculum and designs and implements healthcare simulations. She conducts faculty development courses in basic and advanced debriefing and serves as a preceptor for new simulation faculty. Cheryl has extensive experience in program development, project management, emergency medical services education, emergency management operations and planning, and public health administration. She holds a BS in biology from Fairfield University, and a MS in public health administration from Boston University School of Medicine.

Samantha Paull, MS is the Human Factors Engineer for the Yale Center for Healthcare Simulation, with a focus on improving safety and efficiency. She is a results-driven professional with a diverse background spanning human factors engineering, psychology, and healthcare. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Biology from Eastern Connecticut State University, a Master of Science in Psychology, specializing in Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences from Illinois State University, and a Graduate Certificate in Human Factors Engineering with a concentration in Medical Devices and Systems from Tufts University. She is currently working toward a second Master of Science in Human Factors Engineering at Tufts University.