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 Operating Officer

Steven Roth, JD, MPH

Chief Legal Counsel

Albert Karam

Vice President, Data Strategy Analytics

Timothy Prendergast, CPA

Vice President of Finance

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

Dr. Steve Miff is the President and CEO of Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI), a leading, non-profit, data science, artificial intelligence and innovation organization affiliated with Parkland Health, one of the country’s largest and most progressive safety-net hospitals. Spurred by his passion to use next-generation analytics and technology to help serve the most vulnerable and under served residents, Steve and his team focus on leveraging technology, data science, and clinical expertise to obtain unique social-determinants-of-health data and incorporate those holistic, personal insights into point-of-care interventions. Steve has served on the Senior Board of Examiners for the Baldrige National Quality Program and on the Executive Quest for Quality Prize Board Committee for the American Hospital Association. He currently serves on multiple other boards, including DFWHCF, NurseGrid and the SMU Big Data Advisory Board. Steve was the recipient of The Community Council of Dallas’ 2017 Social Innovator of the Year award and a finalist for the 2019 Dallas Business Journal most-admired healthcare CEO. Under his leadership, PCCI was named one of the 2019 Dallas Best Tech Startups by the Tech Tribune. DCEO Magazine Named Steve Miff in its Dallas500 list of top business leaders and the Dallas Business Journal named Steve a “Most Inspiring Leader” for 2020 and PCCI received the “Most Innovative Healthcare Award” from D Magazine and Dallas Innovates.

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 Saturday, May 8 edition of the Dallas Morning News, PCCI’s CEO Steve Miff’s Op/Ed piece was

In the News: Dallas Innovates – Steve Miff an “Innovator and Disruptor” You Need to Know in 2021

A leading technology media outlet, Dallas Innovates, has included Steve Miff in its news story, “Meet the Future

In the news: Big Unlock Podcast talks with Steve Miff on the new book, “Building Connected Communities of Care”

In this episode of the podcast, the Big Unloc, Dr. Steve Miff, President and CEO of Parkland Center

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

Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation’s (PCCI) Chief Operating Officer, Aida Somun, MBA, PMP, has been named as a

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 leads the Connected Community of Care (CCC) team at PCCI. PCCI’s CCC team address critical gaps between clinical care and community services in the current healthcare system. CCC includes technology, community alliances, and governance for data sharing, care coordination, and community alignment. We believe that CCC are the way to make SDOH actionable to ultimately achieve whole-person health. To learn more about her team’s programs and accomplishments go HERE. Leslie’s leadership at PCCI’s Connected Communities 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.

LESLIE IN THE MEDIA

HIMSS Webcast I: Connected Communities of Care During Times of Crisis

https://www.himsslearn.org/connected-communities-care-during-times-crisis In the first of three webcasts, we see that as the pandemic continues to unfold, it is

In the news: Texas Hospitals Magazine talks with Leslie Wainwright about SDOH

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) is a big topic and Texas Hospitals Magazine included Leslie Wainwright, PCCI’s the

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.

Russell “Rusty” Lewis

Chief Information & Digital Officer

Rusty, PCCI’s Chief Digital Officer, is an innovative technology executive with extensive health informatics, artificial intelligence, analytics, and business experience spanning early stage to Fortune 100 companies. He served as EVP and CTO of McKesson Corporation, President of the Technology & Automation of AmerisourceBergen, CIO & CTO of VHA, and Group Vice President of Data, Analytics, and Product Delivery for Vizient Inc. Mr. Lewis has successfully lead teams ranging in size from 10 to 2000, authored and edited multiple HIMSS books on the impact of technology on patient care and holds over 25 US and International patents. In addition, Rusty has held leadership positions in several successful VC and private equity backed healthcare technology companies.