PRESENTED BY HUSCH BLACKWELL
A DIFFERENT KIND OF LAW FIRM. ONE WHERE TRAILBLAZING LEADERSHIP AND INVENTIVE APPROACHES DELIVER UNMATCHED PERSONAL SERVICE AND EXPERT GUIDANCE, HELPING YOU PURSUE YOUR MOST AMBITIOUS GOALS.
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HEALTH CARE FIGHT CLUB WAS A FAST-PACED SERIES OF DEBATES FEATURING THOUGHT LEADERS GOING HEAD TO HEAD ON HOT-BUTTON ISSUES IN HEALTH CARE.
IT WAS A FUN, FESTIVE, EDUCATIONAL, ENLIGHTENING, NETWORKING-FILLED EVENT.
Jason Scharf
The Champion
Health Care Fight Club
Serena Bumpus
The People's Choice
Health Care Fight Club
The Honorable Donna Howard
Texas House District 48
The Judges
Harold Strong
Dr. Jacob Childers
Rebekkah Schear
Lamarque Polvado
End of Life Care vs. Medical Aid in Dying
Value-based Care vs. High-Quality Care
More Physicians vs.
More Nurse Practioners & Physician Assistants
AI innovation vs AI Regulation
The Referees
Jason Scharf has spent nearly two decades catalyzing innovation in the Bio and Health space, taking on key leadership roles in strategy and market intelligence at industry pillars Illumina, BD, and Amgen.
His teams transformed complex data into actionable insights and plans, significantly shaping the strategic direction of these companies. As an Angel Investor and Advisor, Jason has a keen focus on nurturing the growth of the bio innovation tech stack and digital health startups.
Hosting the Austin Next Podcast, Jason explores the evolution of Austin into a superstar hub plus the dynamics and nature of innovation. Jason’s quest to answer “What’s Next?' extends to his writings, where he explores similar themes across technology, business, and life sciences.
Serena Bumpus, DNP, RN, NEA-BC is the CEO of the Texas Nurses Association. Bumpus is a long-time member of TNA and has held several volunteer roles as well as serving as the Director of Nursing Practice & Professional Development from 2020-2021.
Her career spans more than 20 years, with the last 12 in nursing leadership positions. Most recently she served as Senior Regional Director of Clinical Surveillance for Ascension Health. She holds an associate degree in nursing from Austin Community College and bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in nursing from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
She holds advanced certification as a nurse executive from the American Nurses Association (ANA). As CEO, Bumpus leads the strategic direction of TNA and its Foundation as well as represents the state at the national level with ANA.
Dr. David Zuniga is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Austin, Texas, and specializes in serving hospice and palliative care patients, their families, and medical caregivers. Previously, he was a faculty member in the Integrative Medicine Department at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
In addition to his PhD in clinical psychology, he earned an M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School in comparative religion, is a Zen Buddhist Priest and Vice-Bishop in one of the oldest lineages of Korean Zen, and worked as a hospice/hospital chaplain for over a decade.
He also holds an MA in English literature, is a former newspaper columnist, and has a fellowship with Fielding Graduate University to write a book on the intersections of Zen, mindfulness, and psychology related to trauma, wellness, and end-of-life care.
Dr. Zuniga has been interviewed and profiled by numerous media outlets such as Public Radio International, NPR, PBS, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, and the Clear Channel Radio Network, and he has published widely and spoken internationally at leading academic conferences on Zen, mindfulness, psychology, and healthcare-related concerns: www.drdavidzuniga.com.
Cesar Lopez is the Texas Hospital Association’s VP, Legal Affairs, manages all aspects of THA’s internal and external legal matters, and assists with state and federal advocacy efforts before the Texas Legislature and regulatory agencies.
Before joining THA, Cesar was a part of the legal team at Group Health Cooperative (now Kaiser Permanente of Washington), in Seattle, WA, and worked with the Washington State Hospital Association, MultiCare Health System, and The Polyclinic (a large physician-owned practice).
A Rio Grande Valley native, Cesar earned a BA from Trinity University, a JD from Albany Law School, and an LLM in health law from the University of Washington School of Law.
Janis Powers has 20 years of experience in healthcare as a strategy consultant (Deloitte, Avanza Healthcare Strategies), thought leader (author of the bestseller Health Care: Meet the American Dream) and entrepreneur (founder of the digital health platform KnowThyself).
Janis advocates for improving the quality of the American healthcare system by reducing bureaucracy, customizing patient care, empowering patient choice, standardizing pricing and decentralizing the payment system. She has a B.A. from Yale and an M.B.A. and M.Arch. from the University of Michigan.
Steven Cutbirth leads all marketing and communications efforts for Scene Health, a medication engagement company using meaningful person-to-person connections via async video to solve one of the most serious problems in healthcare: medication nonadherence.
Prior to his role at Scene, Steven was head of marketing at Point Health (Formerly The Karis Group), a digital health company making healthcare easy to find, easy to understand, and easier to afford. Steven also served as Director, Digital Analytics and Engagement at Real Chemistry (formerly W2O Group), directly partnering with clients to identify actionable insights from complex data sets and create insights-based marketing & communications strategies. Client work included Aetna, CVS Health, Bayer, Houston Methodist Hospital, Baylor Scott & White, Optum Health, & Merck.
Steven holds a BBA in Marketing & Management from Baylor University, an MBA in Economic Development from Eastern University, and an MS in Healthcare Transformation from the Value Institute for Health and Care at The University of Texas at Austin, a joint venture between Dell Medical School and the McCombs School of Business.
Dr. Cliff Porter is the managing partner and founder of Texas Direct Medical Care. He is board certified in Family Medicine with the experience to provide highest level of personal medical care for our guests.
Prior to opening Texas Direct Medical Care, Dr. Porter was medical director for several urgent care clinics in Travis County. Before settling permanently in Austin, Dr. Porter was an Army physician stationed at Ft. Hood, practicing full-service family medicine, taking care of all ages of active duty soldiers and their families, including retirees in primary care, hospital admissions, emergency medicine, intensive care, as well as obstetrics, delivering babies in the middle of the night.
Dr. Porter served with 1st Armored Division, deployed to Iraq in 2011, and served part-time in the Texas Army National Guard as the senior flight physician for aviation (36th Combat Aviation Brigade).
Dr. Porter has joined the growing physicians adopting the Direct Primary Care model, revolutionizing primary care. Our model allows us to provide the best personal care for all of our guests.
John Moore is a seasoned healthcare IT analyst and the Managing Partner of the boutique analyst firm, Chilmark Research. Beginning his career as a genetics researcher at world-renowned labs in Massachusetts, John found his way to healthcare IT when he decided to pursue his first startup in the behavioral health space, RxApps, which was accepted into both the Rock Health and Startup Health accelerators before eventually folding.
Seeing the vast potential for new information technologies to drastically improve the science of medicine and process of care delivery, John joined Chilmark Research full-time after RxApps to help guide the industry in effective development and implementation of these solutions to realize their full transformative potential.
At Chilmark, John develops the company's research agenda with input from other analysts and clients on which topics are most in need of timely information about the market trends and drivers impacting solution adoption and buying behavior. Current research focuses on the emerging solutions that address different use cases for real-world data and evidence, responsible development of AI, omnichannel approaches to both care delivery and patient engagement, and solutions enabling the ongoing transition to value-based care. In addition to developing the company's research, John also produces the Chilcast podcast and brought together the collaborative Health Impact Project in 2023.