2024 NHMAPNS Fall Conference

Whitcomb is the Founder of The Semicolon Group PLLC, an outpatient mental health therapy practice that works exclusively with suicide and the only practice of its kind in the United States. She has focused her entire clinical training on understanding the intricacies of suicide and working with suicide intensity. The Semicolon Group works with suicide attempt survivors, suicide loss survivors, those who are currently considering suicide, and the loved ones who support them. Whitcomb is a clinical suicidologist, a clinical social worker and social work supervisor, and a doctoral student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is a nationally sought after trainer and clinical consultant for suicide screening, assessment, and intervention. She makes the difficult topic of suicide relatable to people across all walks of life.

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Scharlotte is an experienced healthcare professional with over two decades of experience in nursing, specifically specializing in palliative care and hospice as a Nurse Practitioner for more than a decade. She currently serves as the National Director of Palliative Care for a prominent hospice organization, where she leads strategic initiatives to improve patient care on a national scale. Scharlotte's skillset includes program inception and reconstruction across multiple healthcare environments, demonstrating her ability to achieve successful outcomes and drive positive healthcare reform. Scharlotte played a pivotal role in the development of innovative training programs and transformative projects, such as the widely embraced Sacred Pause practice within a major healthcare system. Her exceptional leadership and clinical proficiency have been instrumental in advancing palliative care services. Dedicated to the advancement of her profession, Scharlotte also holds a position as a clinical assistant professor at Sam Houston State University, School of Nursing. In this role, she imparts her clinical knowledge, with a focus on caring for the older adult population and patients with serious illnesses, to inspire the future generation of healthcare professionals to excel in healthcare. Additionally, having completed the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) fellowship program through the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), Scharlotte is equipped to integrate principles of cultural competence and belonging into her teaching, ensuring that future nurses are prepared to provide equitable care to diverse patient populations.

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Kerri Taylor is the Executive Director of Unbound Houston, the local chapter of Unbound, an international anti-human trafficking organization which focuses on domestic minor sex trafficking with specific emphasis on prevention efforts with at-risk youth. Unbound works to activate the community to fight human trafficking. Their prevention education program Keeping Our Students Safe was awarded a grant by the Office of the Texas Governor’s Child Sex Trafficking Team. In the Bay Area of Houston, they are dedicated to public awareness, demand reduction efforts, professional training, and providing support to survivors. In January of 2020, Unbound Houston opened their advocacy center with 4 CSEY advocates serving minor and youth survivors of sex trafficking. They have added a 5th advocate and also serve adult survivors. In addition to being a member of the Child Sex Trafficking Team’s Advisory Council for Harris County, Kerri serves on the board of the Brazoria County United Front Coalition to Fight Human Trafficking which brings educators, advocates, business people, medical professionals, and law enforcement together to cross-train, coordinate, collaborate and create a continuum of services for survivors of human trafficking in that community. She is also a member of the No Trafficking Zone advisory board for NRG established in 2020, and serves alongside other advocates in Galveston County as a coordinated response to human trafficking is developed through the Galveston County Crisis Response Team (GCCRT). Kerri earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Baylor University where she majored in Education with a specialization in speech pathology and audiology. She subsequently earned her Master’s degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology from the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii. Throughout her career, Kerri specialized in serving the birth to three population, as well as adult rehab patients. She is a retired speech/language pathologist in private practice, where she specialized in adult neurogenic disorders. In 2019 she was named Galveston County’s woman of the year by the Galveston Regional Chamber of Commerce. Texas Nurse Practitioners recognized her as one of the nominees for the 2020 Texas Nurse Practitioner Visionary Award, stating she was a leader and valuable partner to the healthcare system.

Serena Lopez brings a wealth of experience to her role, with a total of 14 years in the nursing field—10 of which she has spent as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) and 4 years as a Registered Nurse (RN). Her diverse expertise spans several specialties, including family medicine, urgent care, reproductive endocrinology, and labor & delivery. Outside of her professional life, Serena is a devoted wife and mother to three energetic children, alongside being a loving pet owner to two dogs and a turtle. In her current position, she serves as a regional leader overseeing 15 Primary Care and Convenient Care outpatient clinics throughout the Houston area. Serena is deeply passionate about delivering high-quality, safe, and holistic healthcare to patients of all ages. She is committed to fostering an environment of excellence by training and supporting healthcare teams, ensuring they showcase the holistic care approach through meticulous documentation and accurate coding practices.

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Spencer Greene, MD, MS, FACEP, FACMT, FAACT, FAAEM is a board-certified medical toxicologist, addiction medicine specialist, and emergency physician who founded Bayou City Medical Toxicology and Emergency Medicine Consultants in 2019 to help physicians and other healthcare professionals provide better care of patients with toxicological emergencies, including envenomations, overdoses, and occupational exposures. Dr. Greene currently serves as the Director of Toxicology and an attending emergency physician at HCA Houston Healthcare-Kingwood. He is a Clinical Professor at the University of Houston College of Medicine. He also has faculty appointments in the University of Texas Cizik School of Nursing and in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. Dr. Greene graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a BA in psychology and biology. He earned an MS in immunology from C.W. Post, Long Island University. He graduated magna cum laude with an MD from Albany Medical College. He completed his emergency medicine residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and his medical toxicology fellowship at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center. Between residency and fellowship, Dr. Greene spent three years on active duty with the U.S. Air Force. While he was assigned to Wright-Patterson AFB he served as an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine Emergency Medicine Residency Program. He also served as the EMS director for WPAFB. After completing his fellowship, Dr. Greene joined the faculty of the University of Arizona Department of Emergency Medicine. He was the Medical Toxicology Fellowship Program Director until 2012, when he moved to Houston. From 2012 – 2019, Dr. Greene was the Director of Medical Toxicology in the Henry J.N. Taub Department of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He previously served as a consulting toxicologist for Texas Children’s Hospital and the Southeast Texas Poison Center. Dr. Greene has directed the Houston Venom Conference since 2013. He also served as the course director for the American College of Medical Toxicology Natural Toxins Academy.

Ofonime Bleess is a Family and Emergency Nurse Practitioner with dual board certifications and a Doctorate in Nursing Practice. Currently, she serves as an Assistant Professor in Texas, where she plays a pivotal role in guiding graduate students as they prepare to transition into clinical practice. Beyond academia, Dr. Bleess remains deeply rooted in the Emergency clinical setting, actively precepting students, mentoring, and teaching cadaver procedural skills with Memorial Hermann Life Flight. Her commitment to bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and clinical practice is embodied in her role as the founder of Medskill Mastery.

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Marc began his healthcare career in 1983 in Ithaca, NY, where he volunteered for Cornell University EMS and the Lansing (NY) Fire Department while attending Cornell University. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Cornell in 1986. In 1989, he graduated with a Master of Science in Biochemistry from Texas A&M University. During his time at Texas A&M, Marc volunteered with the Texas A&M University EMS and completed his paramedic training at Scott & White Hospital in 1990. In July 1990, Marc joined the City of Houston Fire Department as a paramedic and firefighter, eventually retiring in 2011 as a Captain/Paramedic-EMS Supervisor after 21 years of service. In 1998, he graduated with an Associate of Science in Nursing from Regents College (now known as Excelsior College) and is licensed as a Registered Nurse by the Texas Board of Nursing. Marc has worked as a nurse at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and the Methodist Hospital System in the Emergency Department, Neurological ICU, and Medical-Surgical floor settings. Most recently, he served as an on-call overnight RN for a hospice agency during the height of the COVID pandemic. In 2009, Marc graduated from the South Texas College of Law and is licensed by the State Bar of Texas as an attorney. He is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association Health Law Section, the American Association of Nurse Attorneys (where he is the immediate past president), the Woodlands Bar Association, the Montgomery County Bar Association, and the Houston Bar Association, where he previously chaired the Health Law Section. Marc has held numerous leadership roles within the American Bar Association Health Law Section and is currently the Vice Chair of the Litigation and Risk Management Interest Group.