Jon Linkous is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), the largest membership-based organization in the world focusing exclusively on providing health and medical care through telecommunications technology. ATA's annual meeting and trade show are among the fastest growing in the country. The Association advocates for changes in public laws that promote the deployment of telemedicine throughout the world. As the chief staff executive of ATA, Mr. Linkous has spoken and written extensively in the U.S. and in other countries on policy issues, emerging applications and market trends affecting telemedicine. Mr. Linkous has over 20 years experience in the nation's capital working in corporate and public sectors. He served as a senior consultant with Issue Dynamics Inc. (IDI), a Washington DC consulting firm specializing in telecommunications and technology policy. While at IDI, Mr. Linkous assisted in the early formation of ATA. For five years he was a leader in the aging services community as the Executive Director of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging. His principle interest in this position was in using telecommunications and adaptive technology to assist older Americans and their caregivers. Mr. Linkous was also involved for many years in regional planning and economic development, serving as the Deputy Executive Director of the National Association of Regional Councils and at the Appalachian Regional Commission as Director of District Programs. In his early career, he was also active in broadcast and cable television in Ohio. Mr. Linkous holds a Masters of Public Administration from the School of Government and Public Affairs at the American University in Washington, D.C. and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio with additional postgraduate work at the LBJ School of Public Affairs in Austin, Texas.

Alice Watland serves as the Chief Operating Officer for the American Telemedicine Association, and has overseen the growth of the ATA membership, Annual Meeting and Exhibition since 1998. Watland has over 20 years of experience in association management, economic development and analysis, metropolitan regional planning, survey research and federal lobbying and liaison work. Before joining ATA, Watland was a Senior Program Officer at the National Academy of Science for the Transportation Research Board where she was in charge of transportation data policy issues. Prior to her work with the Academy, Watland was an independent consultant in the areas of strategic marketing and business and economic development. Her clients included government, associations and the private sector. Watland directed marketing for the Urban & Regional Information Systems Association, developed and managed the Greater Washington Economic and Demographic Survey for the Greater Washington Research Center, and served as a consultant on US - Russian trade opportunities for CSX and Global Development Services, Inc. She was also the first Director of Corporate Relations for the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (NAAAA), and Manager of the National Data Network at the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC). Prior to coming to Washington, Watland was Director of the Regional Economic Information Center for the Kansas City metropolitan area, and an Economic and Business Analyst at Midwest Research Institute where she conducted the economic impact study for major league baseball in Denver, and the World's Fair Application Analysis for the Kansas City 1997 World's Fair Committee. Watland holds a Master of Arts degree in Sociology, Research Methods and Statistics (Summa cum laude) from the University of Missouri and a B.S. degree in Sociology from North Dakota State University.

Senior Program Director
 202-223-3333    jbernard@americantelemed.org

Jordana Bernard is the Senior Director of Program Services for the American Telemedicine Association (ATA). Ms. Bernard is responsible for overseeing ATA's Special Interest Groups and Chapters, developing program content for scientific and technical educational meetings and the Telemedicine and e-Health Journal, promoting research and developing appropriate clinical, technical, and industry guidelines and standards. Ms. Bernard has over 24 years of experience in biomedical engineering and healthcare technology program development, implementation and management.Before joining ATA, Ms. Bernard was an independent consultant in the areas of biomedical engineering and healthcare technology program management. During this time Ms. Bernard became actively involved in telemedicine and developed and implemented the first telemedicine network to deliver comprehensive clinical care within the Federal prison system. She also provided technical consulting services for several telemedicine projects for remote healthcare in jails. Ms. Bernard also served as an advisor to the National Institutes of Justice on multiple tele-forensics projects to demonstrate the application of telemedicine technology for remote crime scene investigation and forensic analysis. Prior to this time, Ms. Bernard served as biomedical engineer and management team member of an INOVA Health Systems, mid-sized biomedical equipment services firm with over 100 clients in the Mid-Atlantic region. In this capacity she managed professional biomedical engineering services to client healthcare organizations in equipment planning, assessment and procurement, control and maintenance management, patient safety, quality assurance and risk management, and licensure and accreditation. Ms. Bernard has also served as the coordinator of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program's Prostate Cancer Research Program and as Support Services Director at the American Red Cross' Jerome H. Holland Laboratory for the Biomedical Sciences. Ms. Bernard holds a Masters in Business Administration from Marymount University, Arlington, Virginia and a B.S. degree in biomedical engineering from Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.

Gary Capistrant's expertise in health policy is based on over 30 years experience with Medicare Parts A, B, C and D, Medicaid, and national health reforms. Mr. Capistrant's knowledge of health policy has lead him become a trusted advisor to associations, innovative health providers and Wall Street investment analysts. Mr. Capistrant's client experience includes: Caremark Rx, HealthSouth, Manor Care, Integrated Health Services, Charter Medical, Magellan, IVAX, Vivra, Curaflex, American Day Treatment Centers, Deus Technologies, Team Health, Caretenders, USA Managed Care Organization, Rx Strategies, and Home Access Health. He worked for the Acute Long Term Hospital Association, National Association for Community Health Centers, and National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction. He advised health investment analysts for J.P. Morgan, Smith Barney Citicorp, UBS Warburg and other money managers. He is also the former Director of Congressional Relations for the American Health Care Association, Staff Director of the State Medicaid Directors Association and Health Legislative Assistant for former Rep. Jim Corman. He is a proud recipient of the National Association for Senior Living Industries' Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Capistrant earned a M.A. degree in Public Affairs from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota and he also earned a B.A from the University.
 

Del Tillman is the Director Corporate Relations for the American Telemedicine Association (ATA). Del is responsible for coordinating ATA meeting logistics and exhibit sales, sponsorships, and advertising sales. Del’s BS degree in mathematics from Georgia State University landed him work as a technical writer for a small engineering firm in Atlanta, Georgia. Affording him the opportunity to learn and train with world-renowned spectroscopists and engineers, this position led Del to working with more marketing projects as well as inside sales as a natural growth path. Over the next 12 years, Del grew into the position of Sales and Marketing Director for a test, control, measurement, and calibration instrumentation, distribution company as well as the Marketing Manager for an international instrumentation manufacturer of Fourier Transform Infrared Remote Sensor (FTIR) and Ion Mobility Spectrometer (IMS) equipment. Del joined the American Telemedicine Association after working five years as the Events Administrator of a large legal association. During this time, Del administered over 300 events a year, working with a membership of over 88,000 attorneys.

Ben Forstag is responsible for managing internal and external communications for the American Telemedicine Association. His duties also include maintenance of the ATA website and expansion of the association's social media presence. Prior to joining ATA, Ben worked as an International Program Coordinator for the YMCA of Spain and the YMCA of Youngstown, Ohio. Ben has a BA in Political Science and a MA in Comparative Politics, both from American University in Washington DC. He is an avid--albeit beleaguered--fan of the Cleveland Indians.

Mario is the Manager of Finance and Administration. Mario has over 15 years of experience as a Financial Accountant in the publishing, legal, non-profit and financial services industries. Mario has worked for companies including Dun & Bradstreet, Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), Hogan & Hartson and the American Red Cross. He has a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Accounting and International Business from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University. Prior to joining ATA, Mario worked as a recruiter specializing in the Finance and Accounting industries.

Courtney Mesmer is the Meetings Manager for the American Telemedicine Association. She is primarily responsible for all of the coordination related to meeting logistics for ATA. Courtney's background is in Meetings & Trade Show planning; previous to joining American Telemedicine Association, she was a Meeting Planner for Smithbucklin Corporation. There she was responsible for coordinating and managing all aspects of the annual conferences and seminars for 5 non-profit associations. Courtney holds a Bachelor of Art in Business and Japanese from Gettysburg College. Courtney recently obtained her designation as a Certified Meeting Planner (CMP). In addition, Courtney is a member of the Association Meeting Professional and is involved in several civic organizations including Junior League of Washington and the Arlington County Community.

Jennie Shaw is the Program Services Coordinator at the American Telemedicine Association. As the Program Services Coordinator, Jennie is responsible for assisting in the development and implementation of educational initiatives and supporting ATA’s Special Interest Groups and Chapters. Prior to joining ATA, Jennie held several positions at Envision EMI, a company that manages leadership conferences for high-achieving students of all ages. Jennie holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Carmen Park is the Membership Manager for the American Telemedicine Association (ATA). She is the first point of contact for membership related issues and services over the phone, online and in person. She also assists in membership registration at conferences and events. In addition, she is responsible in updating and maintaining the membership database; processing new members and renewals; and invoicing. Prior to joining ATA, she held various positions at Prospect Mortgage, FDAnews, Douglas C. Lane & Associates, and Moneyline Telerate. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Food and Nutrition from the City University of New York, Brooklyn College.