Meet the Leaders that Push Us Forward
Our leadership team comprises top healthcare and data science minds. They combine their expertise to leverage advanced data science and social determinants of health to better support underserved vulnerable and populations across our communities.
Steve Miff, PhD
President and CEO
Aida Somun, PMP, MBA
Chief Operations Officer
Steven Roth, JD, MPH
Chief Legal Counsel
Albert Karam
Vice President, Data Strategy Analytics
Timothy Prendergast, CPA
Vice President of Finance
Leslie Wainwright, PhD
Chief Funding and Innovation Officer
Capria S. Dees, RN, MN, PHR
Vice President, Talent Management & Chief Diversity Officer
CONTACT AND COLLABORATE WITH STEVE
To connect with Steve Miff to collaborate, please email him at: pcci.ceo@pccinnovation.org
Steve Miff, PhD
President and CEO of PCCI
Steve earned his PhD and MS degrees in biomedical engineering and a BA in economics from Northwestern University. He has been an adjunct professor of biomedical engineering for more than five years and has authored more than 100 thought leadership, white papers, and peer-reviewed publications.
Steve’s Leadership
To review how Steve’s leadership took PCCI to new heights in a challenging 2020, click HERE to review PCCI’s 2020 Annual Impact Report. This report summarizes PCCI’s programs and impact they have had on our community.
STEVE IN THE MEDIA
Dallas Morning News Op/Ed: PCCI CEO – Dallas Needs You In Race against COVID-19
In the News: Dallas Innovates – Steve Miff an “Innovator and Disruptor” You Need to Know in 2021
In the news: Big Unlock Podcast talks with Steve Miff on the new book, “Building Connected Communities of Care”
CONTACT AND COLLABORATE WITH AIDA
To connect with Aida to collaborate, please go to: pccinnovation.org/contact
Aida Somun, PMP, MBA
Chief Operating Officer
Aida Somun, MBA, PMP is the Chief Operating Officer with 15+ years of experience driving profitable growth, cost savings and delivery. Aida ensures operational excellence through consistent contributions to bottom line efficiency, performance and process improvements. She is most passionate about leading and influencing strategic decision making for operationalizing the right innovative programs focused on improving individual’s health, both physical as well as socio-economic.
Prior to joining PCCI, Aida served as a General Manager of Personal Inc., successfully launching a data encryption platform, later successfully acquired by top 10 lead innovation companies in the personal data control space. Aida led a core team of 40 software developers, quality assurance and ops engineers.
Aida holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering, minoring in Mathematics from Texas A&M University, and an MBA from University of Sarajevo, School of Economics.
Aida received the Dallas Business Journal‘s 13th annual Women in Business Award, and she was a recipient of Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2019 and 2020. The Baldrige Award is the nation’s highest honor for organizational innovation and performance excellence.
AIDA’S LEADERSHIP
Aida leads PCCI’s Safety-Net Providers team. The Safety-Net Provider team enables care-delivery teams to intervene earlier, respond differently or prioritize engagement strategies. While impactful in all care delivery settings, our tools are specifically tailored to safety-net providers as they disproportionally offer services to underserved populations. To learn more about her team’s programs and accomplishments go HERE.
Aida’s leadership at PCCI’s Safety Net Providers team can also be found in PCCI’s Annual Impact Report. Click HERE to review PCCI’s 2020 Annual Impact Report. This report summarizes PCCI’s programs and impact they have had on our community.
AIDA IN THE MEDIA
PCCI’s COO, Aida Somun, earns accolades from Dallas Business Journal
Steven Roth, JD, MPH
Chief Legal Counsel
Mr. Roth directs the legal strategy of PCCI. He has twenty years of experience in health law. Mr. Roth brings to PCCI specific expertise in advising hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, managed care entities, and other healthcare providers on a variety of matters, including business and technology transactions, HIPAA, electronic medical records, managed care, day-to-day operations, and regulatory and compliance matters. Mr. Roth received his JD at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and his MPH at Harvard University School of Public Health.
Timothy Prendergast, CPA
Vice President of Finance
Tim Prendergast, CPA, is the Vice President of Finance at PCCI with 30+ years of financial leadership experience. Tim has led PCCI’s financial strategy in conjunction with the company’s business plan since 2017. He directs the activities associated with accounting, budgeting and finance and ensures timely and accurate financial data for decision making is available.
Tim got his start in public accounting as a Staff Auditor with Deloitte. He then moved into corporate accounting with Nursefinders, a medical staffing provider and The Image Bank, a stock photo and film distributor. He served as Controller for OpTel Telecom, Bright House Networks’ Central Florida Division and CBS Radio’s Dallas Market. Tim also served as a consultant with Tatum LLC. While at Tatum, Tim gapped several different roles at Fossil Group, a global fashion distributor, served as a project manager for a software implementation at Galderma Laboratories, and implemented several business processes at Healthmarkets, a group health insurance provider.
Tim has a BBA in Accounting from the University of Texas at Arlington and is a certified public accountant, licensed by the State of Texas
CONTACT AND COLLABORATE WITH LESLIE
To connect with Leslie to collaborate, please go to: pccinnovation.org/contact
Leslie Wainwright, PhD
Chief Funding and Innovation Officer
Dr. Leslie Wainwright joined the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation [PCCI], as their Chief Funding and Innovation Officer in March 2019. Prior to this role, she oversaw RTI International’s Innovation Advisors health practice where she worked with health systems and technology developers to guide the development and adoption of impactful healthcare innovations. She has also served in executive roles at Sg2, AVIA and Business Models Inc., a Dutch-based innovation consultancy.
Leslie received her PhD in microbiology at Northwestern University, completed postdoctoral research training at the University of Maryland’s Center for Vaccine Development and received a B.A. in Biology from DePauw University. She serves as a clinical advisor on the Board of Start-up tech companies and has served as faculty teaching strategy and innovation at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Additionally, Leslie is passionate about STEM education and is in the Women’s Board of the Field Museum in Chicago, working with the museum to expand opportunities for girls in science.
LESLIE’S LEADERSHIP
LESLIE IN THE MEDIA
HIMSS Webcast I: Connected Communities of Care During Times of Crisis
In the news: Texas Hospitals Magazine talks with Leslie Wainwright about SDOH
Capria S. Dees, RN, MN, PHR
Vice President, Talent Management & Chief Diversity Officer
Capria’s major work force is Human Resources. She is the HR strategist for PCCI. Capria keeps our most vital resources (our people) engaged, healthy and compliant with all personnel requirements. Additionally, she provides insight and best practices for Interviewing, hiring and retention of qualified team members in order to advance PCCI’s mission and initiatives. Other major contributions include assessing personnel needs, recruiting personnel (using the latest HR technology), coordinating the interview and selection process for the hiring leaders. On-boarding and off-boarding personnel, leading the compensation and market analysis for each role within the company.
She was best known for her work with recruiting new graduate RNs, implementing a new applicant tracking system, decreasing Parkland’s contract nurse labor use from 40% -10% over a 15-month period, decreasing the RN turnover rate from 17.7% to 14.8% and decreasing the vacancy rate from 10.9% to 5.8% from October 2015- September 2016. She is also known for leading and coordinating annual National Nurses Week Activities for over 2800 nurses during her tenure at Parkland.
Capria is also a Registered Nurse. She has been licensed as a RN for 31 years. She has held leadership roles in HR for the last 20 years. She began her recruiting career with Parkland in December 1999 as a nurse recruiter. During her tenure in Parkland’s Office of Talent Management she has served two years as a nurse recruiter, three years as an executive recruiter and twelve years as the nurse recruitment manager. She began her career with PCCI in February 2017 as the HR manager. She held this role until her promotion to HR Director in July 2018. Capria is a HR department of one and serves as the HR Business Partner, Employee Relations Coordinator, Recruiter, Strategic Business Partner, Engagement Committee leader and employee immigration liaison.
Capria earned a BSN from Dillard University in New Orleans and a master’s degree in Nursing from LSU Medical Center (New Orleans). She has 6 credit hours towards her Doctorate degree. She was honored as one of DFW’s Great 100 Nurses in 2017. She holds certification in Human Resources. Capria has earned the PCCI Raising the Bar Award in 2018 and the PCCI- Values Award in 2019. She is an active member of the Society for Human Resources Management, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and Texas PTA.
Capria’s passion for helping others is evident in her work as a HR professional. She understands the importance of hiring and retaining the right personnel to advance the work of PCCI both in hospitals and the community. She is an avid Dallas Cowboys fan and she loves crafting. She enjoys working the homeless population in Dallas as a part of her husband’s ministry.
Albert Karam
Vice President, Data Strategy Analytics
Albert Karam, PCCI’s Vice President, Data Strategy Analytics, focuses on data science platforms, infrastructure and innovative patient care solutions. He is responsible for creating predictive algorithms and real-time decision support to Parkland and other institutions across the Dallas/Fort Worth Area. Karam has been with PCCI since 2016 and has researched, identified, managed, modeled and deployed several predictive models for Parkland and PCHP. He has also managed elements of PCCI’s data analytics teams that supported the Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Karam’s extensive experience offers a diverse understanding of modeling workflows and implementation of real-time models. Albert obtained an MS in Mathematics from The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) in 2015, and in 2020, he earned a dual degree MBA and MS in Data Analytics from UTD with a focus in Healthcare Administration.
CONTACT AND COLLABORATE WITH STEVE
To connect with Steve Miff to collaborate, please email him at: pcci.ceo@pccinnovation.org
Steve Miff, PhD
President and CEO of PCCI
Steve earned his PhD and MS degrees in biomedical engineering and a BA in economics from Northwestern University. He has been an adjunct professor of biomedical engineering for more than five years and has authored more than 100 thought leadership, white papers, and peer-reviewed publications.
Steve’s Leadership
To review how Steve’s leadership took PCCI to new heights in a challenging 2020, click HERE to review PCCI’s 2020 Annual Impact Report. This report summarizes PCCI’s programs and impact they have had on our community.
STEVE IN THE MEDIA
Dallas Morning News Op/Ed: PCCI CEO – Dallas Needs You In Race against COVID-19
In the News: Dallas Innovates – Steve Miff an “Innovator and Disruptor” You Need to Know in 2021
In the news: Big Unlock Podcast talks with Steve Miff on the new book, “Building Connected Communities of Care”
CONTACT AND COLLABORATE WITH AIDA
To connect with Aida to collaborate, please go to: pccinnovation.org/contact
Aida Somun, PMP, MBA
Chief Operating Officer
Aida Somun, MBA, PMP is the Chief Operating Officer with 15+ years of experience driving profitable growth, cost savings and delivery. Aida ensures operational excellence through consistent contributions to bottom line efficiency, performance and process improvements. She is most passionate about leading and influencing strategic decision making for operationalizing the right innovative programs focused on improving individual’s health, both physical as well as socio-economic.
Prior to joining PCCI, Aida served as a General Manager of Personal Inc., successfully launching a data encryption platform, later successfully acquired by top 10 lead innovation companies in the personal data control space. Aida led a core team of 40 software developers, quality assurance and ops engineers.
Aida holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering, minoring in Mathematics from Texas A&M University, and an MBA from University of Sarajevo, School of Economics.
Aida received the Dallas Business Journal‘s 13th annual Women in Business Award, and she was a recipient of Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2019 and 2020. The Baldrige Award is the nation’s highest honor for organizational innovation and performance excellence.
AIDA’S LEADERSHIP
Aida leads PCCI’s Safety-Net Providers team. The Safety-Net Provider team enables care-delivery teams to intervene earlier, respond differently or prioritize engagement strategies. While impactful in all care delivery settings, our tools are specifically tailored to safety-net providers as they disproportionally offer services to underserved populations. To learn more about her team’s programs and accomplishments go HERE.
Aida’s leadership at PCCI’s Safety Net Providers team can also be found in PCCI’s Annual Impact Report. Click HERE to review PCCI’s 2020 Annual Impact Report. This report summarizes PCCI’s programs and impact they have had on our community.
AIDA IN THE MEDIA
PCCI’s COO, Aida Somun, earns accolades from Dallas Business Journal
Steven Roth, JD, MPH
Chief Legal Counsel
Mr. Roth directs the legal strategy of PCCI. He has twenty years of experience in health law. Mr. Roth brings to PCCI specific expertise in advising hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, managed care entities, and other healthcare providers on a variety of matters, including business and technology transactions, HIPAA, electronic medical records, managed care, day-to-day operations, and regulatory and compliance matters. Mr. Roth received his JD at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and his MPH at Harvard University School of Public Health.
Timothy Prendergast, CPA
Vice President of Finance
Tim Prendergast, CPA, is the Vice President of Finance at PCCI with 30+ years of financial leadership experience. Tim has led PCCI’s financial strategy in conjunction with the company’s business plan since 2017. He directs the activities associated with accounting, budgeting and finance and ensures timely and accurate financial data for decision making is available.
Tim got his start in public accounting as a Staff Auditor with Deloitte. He then moved into corporate accounting with Nursefinders, a medical staffing provider and The Image Bank, a stock photo and film distributor. He served as Controller for OpTel Telecom, Bright House Networks’ Central Florida Division and CBS Radio’s Dallas Market. Tim also served as a consultant with Tatum LLC. While at Tatum, Tim gapped several different roles at Fossil Group, a global fashion distributor, served as a project manager for a software implementation at Galderma Laboratories, and implemented several business processes at Healthmarkets, a group health insurance provider.
Tim has a BBA in Accounting from the University of Texas at Arlington and is a certified public accountant, licensed by the State of Texas
CONTACT AND COLLABORATE WITH LESLIE
To connect with Leslie to collaborate, please go to: pccinnovation.org/contact
Leslie Wainwright, PhD
Chief Funding and Innovation Officer
Dr. Leslie Wainwright joined the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation [PCCI], as their Chief Funding and Innovation Officer in March 2019. Prior to this role, she oversaw RTI International’s Innovation Advisors health practice where she worked with health systems and technology developers to guide the development and adoption of impactful healthcare innovations. She has also served in executive roles at Sg2, AVIA and Business Models Inc., a Dutch-based innovation consultancy.
Leslie received her PhD in microbiology at Northwestern University, completed postdoctoral research training at the University of Maryland’s Center for Vaccine Development and received a B.A. in Biology from DePauw University. She serves as a clinical advisor on the Board of Start-up tech companies and has served as faculty teaching strategy and innovation at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Additionally, Leslie is passionate about STEM education and is in the Women’s Board of the Field Museum in Chicago, working with the museum to expand opportunities for girls in science.
LESLIE’S LEADERSHIP
LESLIE IN THE MEDIA
HIMSS Webcast I: Connected Communities of Care During Times of Crisis
In the news: Texas Hospitals Magazine talks with Leslie Wainwright about SDOH
Capria S. Dees, RN, MN, PHR
Vice President, Talent Management & Chief Diversity Officer
Capria’s major work force is Human Resources. She is the HR strategist for PCCI. Capria keeps our most vital resources (our people) engaged, healthy and compliant with all personnel requirements. Additionally, she provides insight and best practices for Interviewing, hiring and retention of qualified team members in order to advance PCCI’s mission and initiatives. Other major contributions include assessing personnel needs, recruiting personnel (using the latest HR technology), coordinating the interview and selection process for the hiring leaders. On-boarding and off-boarding personnel, leading the compensation and market analysis for each role within the company.
She was best known for her work with recruiting new graduate RNs, implementing a new applicant tracking system, decreasing Parkland’s contract nurse labor use from 40% -10% over a 15-month period, decreasing the RN turnover rate from 17.7% to 14.8% and decreasing the vacancy rate from 10.9% to 5.8% from October 2015- September 2016. She is also known for leading and coordinating annual National Nurses Week Activities for over 2800 nurses during her tenure at Parkland.
Capria is also a Registered Nurse. She has been licensed as a RN for 31 years. She has held leadership roles in HR for the last 20 years. She began her recruiting career with Parkland in December 1999 as a nurse recruiter. During her tenure in Parkland’s Office of Talent Management she has served two years as a nurse recruiter, three years as an executive recruiter and twelve years as the nurse recruitment manager. She began her career with PCCI in February 2017 as the HR manager. She held this role until her promotion to HR Director in July 2018. Capria is a HR department of one and serves as the HR Business Partner, Employee Relations Coordinator, Recruiter, Strategic Business Partner, Engagement Committee leader and employee immigration liaison.
Capria earned a BSN from Dillard University in New Orleans and a master’s degree in Nursing from LSU Medical Center (New Orleans). She has 6 credit hours towards her Doctorate degree. She was honored as one of DFW’s Great 100 Nurses in 2017. She holds certification in Human Resources. Capria has earned the PCCI Raising the Bar Award in 2018 and the PCCI- Values Award in 2019. She is an active member of the Society for Human Resources Management, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and Texas PTA.
Capria’s passion for helping others is evident in her work as a HR professional. She understands the importance of hiring and retaining the right personnel to advance the work of PCCI both in hospitals and the community. She is an avid Dallas Cowboys fan and she loves crafting. She enjoys working the homeless population in Dallas as a part of her husband’s ministry.
