Keynote Speaker: Derrick Rumenapp 

Parent, Advocate, Sr. IT Director and self-proclaimed Resilience “Champion”

Derrick has a passion for people and has seen firsthand the amazing impact the practices of coaching, mindfulness and intentionally building resilience into our lives can have especially during “life’s storms”. In fact, Derrick has created a simple framework he calls “The Resilience Habit” that he shares to help others build resilience into their own personal and professional lives.Derrick has a personal tie to epilepsy which began when his son was diagnosed in 2009 with myoclonic astatic epilepsy, also referred to as Doose Syndrome.  Derrick has been married 26 years and has 2 amazing children. He loves cooking, writing, running, photography, storytelling and the outdoors. He is engaged in his church and community, as well as a strong supporter of the Epilepsy Foundation of Northeastern New York.

Derrick is a Senior IT Director at GE with over 20 years of experience leading Enterprise Architecture, IT Portfolio Management, Security, and Global IT Operations Teams.  He has led the planning, implementation and ongoing operations of many large strategic initiatives at GE including Single Sign On, Identity Management and most recently Enterprise Portfolio Management. Derrick holds a B.S. in Finance from Siena College, certifications in TOGAF and ITIL; and is a Certified Master Black Belt in Six Sigma.

Visit https://derrickrumenapp.com/ for more information.

 

Jacqueline French, MD

Dr. Jacqueline French is a professor of Neurology in the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Founder/Director of the Epilepsy Study Consortium, an academic group that has performed a number of early phase clinical trials in epilepsy, and has developed new methodologies for epilepsy trials. Dr. French trained in Neurology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and did her fellowship training in EEG and epilepsy at Mount Sinai hospital and Yale University.

Dr. French has focused her research efforts on development of new therapeutics for epilepsy, and new methodologies for clinical trials. Over the past 20 years she has served as the Principal investigator on a number of trials for new epilepsy drugs. She is responsible for creation of a number of new trial designs that have been accepted by regulatory authorities for  new drug approval.  Dr. French has been active in creating guidelines for the American Academy of Neurology and the International League Against Epilepsy. She has served as chair of the International League Against Epilepsy North American Regional Commission, and Commission on Therapeutic strategies. Dr. French serves as the Chief Medical/Innovation Officer of the Epilepsy Foundation. She is the past president of the American Epilepsy Society. She is the past Secretary of the American Society of Experimental Neurotherapeutics. She andand is the recipient of the American Epilepsy Society Lennox Award (2017) and Service Award (2005), the  Epilepsy Foundation Hero award (2013), and is an ILAE Ambassador for Epilepsy. She has authored over 300 articles and chapters, is the editor of  three books, and lectures internationally on clinical trials and use of antiepileptic drugs.

Patricia McGoldrick, NP, MPA, MSN

Patty Engel McGoldrick NP grew up in Orange County, NY and lives in Westchester. She received her undergraduate degree in nursing from the College of Mt. St. Vincent, a Master’s in Public Administration from NYU and Master’s (Nurse Practitioner) in Nursing from Columbia University.   She worked for many years for the Visiting Nurse Service of NY and has been a Nurse Practitioner in Neurology since 2001 in partnership with Dr. Steven Wolf. She is married and has 2 sons and a daughter. She enjoys skiing, reading and traveling.

She has received the Epilepsy Hero Award from the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater New York and the Nurse Practitioner Excellence Award from the national Association of Child Neurology Nurses. She has co-authored many posters and articles and lectures extensively on epilepsy. She is committed to expanding access to care.

Kelly Nye, PhD

Kelly Nye, PhD is a licensed psychologist in the state of New York with a passion for integrative care and improving the mental wellbeing of individuals diagnosed with neurological conditions. She currently holds the position of Senior Instructor within the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). Within her role at URMC, she serves as the clinic director of a behavioral health clinic integrated into the Department of Neurology where she provides assessment and psychotherapy for individuals and families. She also provides inpatient consultation at URMC’s comprehensive long-term video EEG monitoring unit, engages physicians in communication coaching, actively contributes to research, and enjoys educating the next generation of physicians and mental health professionals.

With a strong commitment to life-long learning, she achieved a Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling Psychology at West Virginia University (WVU) where she focused her training on pain management and neuropsychology. Furthermore, Dr. Nye completed a prestigious psychology postdoctoral fellowship concentrating on the assessment and treatment of individuals with functional neurological disorders.

Beyond clinical practice, Dr. Nye is dedicated to serving her community and contributing to the well-being of others. She serves as a volunteer for the non-profit organization Empowering Peoples Independence and is an Adjunct Professor at WVU teaching a capstone course where up to 80 undergraduate students per year volunteer for organizations dedicated to improving the lives of underserved populations. 

Steven Wolf, MD

Dr. Wolf is the Director of Pediatric Epilepsy at Boston Children's Health and an expert in epilepsy surgery and the care of children with intractable epilepsy. He started the epilepsy surgery program at Continuum Health Partners and sees patients from a wide geographic area, within a large referral network. He focuses on improving outcomes for patients with epilepsy by providing a thoughtful approach to their medical treatment through paying attention to both the management of their seizures and their quality of life, and by addressing the needs of their families. This includes addressing behavioral and school issues. Dr. Wolf also work to ensure that hospital stays are carefully planned with medications weaned before admission, and that patients are seen early in the morning so that admissions and discharges can be accomplished in a timely fashion.

Dr. Wolf has partnered with Patty McGoldrick, NP MSN MPA for 20 years to do all this amazing work.