Speakers

Educated in England, Oliver came to the US for postdoc, and has held faculty positions most recently at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. His research focused on EGFR signaling and novel platinum compounds in glioblastoma. At MD Anderson he served as Vice President for Global Academic Programs and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and stewarded MD Anderson’s education mission for 1,700 faculty and more than 2,000 fellows and students.

After a stint at the ECHO Institute at the University of New Mexico, he joined the NCI as Director of the Center for Cancer Training in 2020. He now supports approximately 1,000 scholars in the NCI’s intramural research program and oversees over $200M in fellowships, career development awards and training grants that support cancer investigators across the US.

Dr. Duran is the Senior Advisor on Data Science, Analytics and Systems to the Director of the National Institutes of Minority and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health.  She focuses on implicit and explicit biases in data curation, AI designs, algorithm development, and the impacts on communities.   AI and ethics focus her efforts, and she strives to increase underrepresented populations capacity to utilize big data, the cloud and data science resources.

She has developed the ScHARe (Science Collaborative for Health disparities and Artificial intelligence bias Reduction) Research Collaboration Cloud Platform focusing on social science data, including social determinants of health, to better understand health disparities and health inequities.  ScHARe provides confidential and private workspaces to conduct research using the cloud.  The ScHARe data repository offers researchers a platform for social science research and an opportunity to fulfill the mandated data management and sharing policy in a cloud space utilizing common data elements.  In addition, monthly Think-a-Thons enables cloud instructions for novice users and launches collaborative AI research on health disparities, health care and health outcomes.

She also focuses on the inclusion of social determinant of health (SDOH) in all human research to better apply diagnostics, treatments, and interventions to reduce health disparities.  Her countless hours are focused on the standardized measurement and metrics of SDoH.

Prior to this role, she has been the director of science policy, scientific planning and data analytics for over 20 years.  She is an author, ScholarGPS top .05% of health equity scholars, Flywheel Award nominee, and received three HHS Secretarial Awards and numerous NIH awards exemplifying her leadership skills and ability to advance science.  Prior to government, she was a principal investigator, researcher for the National Coalition of Hispanic Health, an advocate for healthy equity, a professor, and a high school teacher.  She is passionate about democratizing data and upskilling women and diverse populations to become leaders of AI, cloud computing and data science.

Rich Evans is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Florida Department of Management Services (DMS). As the CIO, Rich serves as the department's principal IT officer and provides leadership and guidance in critical areas of technology administration for the department, including budgeting, resource development and allocation, policy formation and managing business operations to improve cost effectiveness, service quality, and IT operational effectiveness.  He served as the Deputy CIO of DMS prior to being appointed CIO. Alongside his responsibilities at DMS, Rich serves as an adjunct professor and faculty team lead in the MBA program at Southern New Hampshire University, where he teaches various MBA courses and leads a team of graduate professors.  
 
Rich began his career in 2006 as an OPS employee.  He has since served as an Officer and then Sergeant for the Florida Department of Corrections, assumed the role of Examination and Licensing Supervisor at the Florida Board of Accountancy, served as the policy manager for the Bureau of One-Stop at the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, and served as a technology administrator for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
 
Rich's dedication to community collaboration extends beyond his professional endeavors. He actively seeks out volunteer opportunities and roles to contribute positively to his community. Noteworthy examples include his position as a Code Enforcement board member for the City of Belleview, Florida, and his service as a board member on Rasmussen University's Business Advisory Board. Rich continues to be actively committed to fostering community engagement and facilitating meaningful connections.

Suresh Soundararajan is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for VDH and the Director for the Office of Information Management. As a CIO, Suresh provides Data and IT Strategic Vision, planning and guidance to the agency leadership and ensures the Technology, Data and Security delivers outcomes that support VDH goals. As a Director, Suresh oversees people, processes and technologies within the agency and day-to-day technology, informatics and security operations supporting agency mission.

Suresh has been in this position since Nov 2019 and as Acting CIO between June and November 2019. He has been with VDH for over 15 years and acted in different roles. He has won Agency Star awards in 2010 and 2017 and was recognized as a VDH Public Health Hero in 2011. For 13 prior years, he has consulted for both Government and Private Sector clients. He is described in general as an innovative and inspirational leader maximizing team’s performance through empowering and supporting inventive ideas from conception to implementation, focusing on service delivery using strategic and cost-effective technology and data solutions goals.

Suresh led efforts to implement a variety of innovative and collaborative solutions to address COVID-19 pandemic containment and vaccination efforts and was awarded Govtech’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers for 2022, and his teams won Government Project Experience award for 2022. He was also a recipient of other Governor’s Technology Awards through the years. He is also a frequent speaker and strategic advisor on Public Sector/Government Innovations and on CIO Forums. He has been coaching youth baseball for 15 years.

Patrice Walters is a force for change in federal healthcare. As an Account Director at Google Public Sector, she partners with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to modernize their technology and drive critical public health missions. Her 29 years of experience span government, industry, and the startup world – including roles at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, ServiceNow, and leading federal sales at two innovative startups. This diverse background, which also includes serving as a U.S. Army Reservist, has given her a unique perspective on the complexities of this sector and how to drive impactful digital transformation.

Patrice is deeply committed to public service, a commitment further fueled by her personal experience as a mother of two, including a son with autism. She is a passionate advocate for leveraging AI and cloud computing to advance healthcare for all, particularly in supporting research and improving the lives of those with special needs.

When she's not spearheading digital transformation initiatives, you'll find Patrice enjoying quality time with her family, volunteering in her community, exploring the great outdoors, or perfecting her swing on the golf course.

Jessie Bur is Nextgov/FCW's executive editor. She has been covering technology and government for the past eight years and graduated from James Madison University.

Edward Graham is a technology reporter for Nextgov/FCW, where he reports on national security technologies and policies, the Department of Veterans Affairs and election security issues. He received his master’s degree in Journalism and Public Affairs from American University in 2016.

Chris Teale is the managing editor for Route Fifty, where he covers state and local government technology.