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Commission Members

Commission Members

Per Section 2503 of Public Act 137-2006, the HIT Commission will include thirteen (13) members, with representation including:

(a) The director of the department (the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS]) or his or her designee	Ninah Sasy, MDHHS Executive Director Term expires August 3, 2027	MDHHS Executive Director for Policy, Planning, & Operational Support Ninah Sasy currently serves as the Policy and Planning Director with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Within this role, she is responsible for leading the development and implementation of Michigan’s statewide Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) Strategy. She is also responsible for directing program areas including the Office of Nursing Programs, the Strategic Alignment and Engagement Section and the Workforce Access and Grants Section. Throughout her career, she has managed several statewide public health, environmental health, and emergency response initiatives. Most recently she served as the inaugural Chief of the Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate. Throughout her nearly 20-year career, she has gained experience in continuous quality improvement, project management and strategic planning. Her diverse career working for several State agencies has equipped her with the background knowledge to understand the importance of bridging our regulatory, policy and funding efforts to support health communities.
(b) The director of the department of information technology (the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget [DTMB]) or his or her designee	Rex Menold, DTMB Chief Technology Officer Term expires August 3, 2027	DTMB Chief Technology Officer Rex Menold is an innovative and client-focused IT professional serving as the State of Michigan Chief Technology Officer. In this role, Rex leads a team of approximately 600 IT staff who strategize, develop, and deliver technology supporting 19 State of Michigan agencies; 47,000 State of Michigan employees; and digital services serving 10 million Michigan residents. During his 25 years at the State of Michigan, Rex has led a variety of high-impact IT initiatives and has held a range of IT-focused roles, including oversight of cybersecurity, enterprise services, and application support. His leadership ensures the state’s technology is delivered with attention to security, privacy, and the business needs of all state agencies. Rex holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Management Information Systems and Management from Northwood University, and he is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Michigan.
(c) One individual representing a nonprofit health care corporation operating pursuant to the nonprofit health care corporation reform act, 1980 PA 350, MCL 550.1101 to 550.1703	Janée Tyus Term expires August 3, 2026	Senior Program Director, Greater Flint Health Coalition, Mid-Michigan Community Health Access Program (CHAP) Janée A. Tyus holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and a Master of Public Health from Drexel University’s School of Public Health. Janée also serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Michigan-Flint. She recently served as the Co-Chair of the MDHHS CIE Taskforce from 2022-2023. Janée was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and currently resides in Oakland County, Michigan with her two Shorkie puppies.
(d) One individual representing hospitals	Jeffrey Chin Term expires August 03, 2025	Director of Data Collaboratives and Governance at Michigan Medicine Jeffrey B. Chin has over a decade of experience in the Health Informatics discipline specializing in the study and implementation of healthcare information technology products. In his role at Michigan Medicine, he helps to coordinate the strategic implementation of Health Information Exchange (HIE) activities, facilitates the implementation and operation of the health system’s first enterprise-wide data governance program, and supports statewide data collaborations aimed at improving the healthcare of Michiganders with specific diseases or conditions through the Michigan Data Collaborative. In conjunction with his role at Michigan Medicine, he is a third-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Learning Health Sciences in the University of Michigan Medical School.
(e) One individual representing Doctor of Medicine	Michael Zaroukian, M.D., Ph.D., M.A.C.P., F.H.I.M.S.S. *Co-Chair*** Term expires August 3, 2027	Retired Dr. Michael Zaroukian, MD, PhD, MACP, FHIMSS is a board-certified general internist and clinical informaticist, as well as Professor Emeritus of Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University. He has over 20 years of experience as a Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO), and led his health system’s achievement of enterprise HIMSS EMRAM and OEMRAM Stage 7 and HIMSS Nicolas E. Davies Award recognitions. Dr. Zaroukian co-chairs the governor-appointed Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Health IT Commission. Dr. Zaroukian is also past chair of the HIMSS Board of Directors. He currently serves on the HIMSS Analytics North America Advisory Panel and has served on informatics-related National Academy of Medicine committees, ONC Health IT Policy and Standards Committee workgroups and taskforces, the AMA Health IT Advisory Group, and the American College of Physicians (ACP) Medical Informatics Committee. During his career, Dr. Zaroukian has received the HIMSS Physician IT Leadership Award, the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Leadership Award, the Sparrow Health System Physician of the Year award, Modern Healthcare’s "Top 25 Clinical Informaticists" award, and other academic and industry awards.
(f) One individual representing Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and surgery	Walker Foland Term expires August 3, 2027	Emergency Department Physician, Covenant HealthCare Dr. Foland attended Michigan State University where he graduated Summa Cum Laude from Lyman Briggs College. Dr. Foland became board certified through the American Board of Emergency Medicine and pursued additional training in Tactical Medicine through the Department of Homeland Security’s Counter Narcotics and Terrorism Operational Medical Support. He also completed Special Deputy Training through the Saginaw County Sheriff’s Department and then joined the Saginaw County Emergency Services Team (SWAT). Dr. Foland is a Medical Operator on the Saginaw SWAT team, an attending Physician, and ER administrator at Covenant Emergency Department. In 2018, Dr. Foland was named Emergency Medicine Physician of the year by the Michigan College of Emergency Physicians. He served a 4-year term on the Michigan Board of Osteopathic Physicians from 2018 to 2022. Dr. Foland is a contributing author to multiple textbooks in Tactical and Emergency Medicine and is a nationally recognized podcaster on ER CAST and Emergency Medicine Reviews and Perspectives.
(g) One individual representing purchasers or employers	Jessica Robinson, MA, PMP Term expires August 3, 2025	Digital Inclusion Manager Jessica L. Robinson currently serves as the Digital Inclusion Manager for the Michigan High-speed Internet office, within the State of Michigan’s Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. With over ten years of experience in community engagement, grants management, health education, and project management, she previously held roles at the Crim Foundation, Central Michigan University, and the University of Michigan-Flint. Jessica earned her graduate and undergraduate degrees in health science from Central Michigan University.
(h) One individual representing the pharmaceutical industry	Allison Brenner, PharmD Term expires August 3, 2024	Senior Director, Clinical Informatics Medical Outcomes Specialist at Pfizer Allison Brenner is a student in the HILS online MS program. She completed her undergraduate work and her PharmD at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2005. She completed a residency at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center and spent the next 12 years in ambulatory care clinical practice within the Department of Veterans Affairs. For six of those years, she held a joint position in clinical informatics within the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center. She now works for Pfizer within their clinical informatics group. In this role, she supports quality improvement and population health initiatives by partnering with large health systems across the United States.
(i) One individual representing schools of medicine in Michigan	Alison Arnold, Ed.D. Term expires August 3, 2025	Executive Director Alison Arnold serves as Executive Director for the Rural Health Equity Institute at Central Michigan University. The Institute allies closely with communities and pursues opportunities that improve access to services, expand telehealth capacity, advance data solutions and tools and deliver education and training that respond to local needs. The Institute facilitates a portfolio of collaborative initiatives within the College of Medicine and across Central Michigan University; applying a rural lens to understand and measure rural population health disparities and the positive health impacts of programs, community solutions, and prevention activities. Current projects include a Telehealth Suicide Prevention Toolkit as part of an MDHHS CDC-funded initiatives for Prevention of Suicide in Michigan Men; and several Telehealth initiatives funded through HRSA which are focused on expanding broadband capacity and equipping rural providers to support Telemental health. Prior to this role, Dr. Arnold directed the Interdisciplinary Center for Community Health & Wellness at Central Michigan University. Dr. Arnold’s experience cuts across education, business, and philanthropy. With over 20 years in education administration, she has led community engagement initiatives, grants, and partnerships to support learning for P-12 and higher education institutions.
(j) One individual representing the health information technology field	Lee Marana Term expires August 3, 2026	HIT Professional Lee Marana (MBA, Michigan Technological University) is a health IT professional with over 15 years of experience in health information management, interoperability, cybersecurity, telehealth, and remote patient monitoring. He sits on the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Global Interoperability & Cybersecurity Committees, multiple university health informatics advisory and cybersecurity boards, adjunct professor in Health Informatics at the University of Denver and is the HIMSS Michigan Chapter Immediate Past-President. Marana is passionate about healthcare IT, including the security and interoperability of data to improve healthcare outcomes, costs, care coordination, accuracy, and efficiency.
(k) One individual representing pharmacists	Hana Alawy Term expires August 3, 2026	Clinical Pharmacist at Ascension St John Hospital As a practicing clinician, Commissioner Hana Alawy works as a clinical pharmacist in the inpatient setting. She is a resident of Southeast Michigan and attended Wayne State University for her undergraduate degree. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy from Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and completed a PGY1 pharmacotherapy residency at Ascension St John Hospital in Detroit. She aims to use her practical knowledge of healthcare systems to help bridge the technological gaps that hinder safe and effective patient care.
(l) One individual representing health plans or other third party payers	Dr. Marissa Ebersole-Wood, Ph.D. *Co-Chair* Term expires August 3, 2026	Vice President of Regulatory Implementation and Data Governance at BCBSM Marissa Ebersole-Wood is responsible for directing efforts to address new regulatory requirements, supporting strategic assessments of overall regulatory change, and leading the Data Governance function. After working at McKinsey & Company, she has been with BCBSM in various roles since 2010. Marissa holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Operations and Engineering from the University of Michigan and is currently chair of the Board for the Greening of Detroit.
(m) One individual representing consumers	Vacant Term expires August 3, 2027