Elizabeth Harry, MD

Chief Well-Being Officer

Clinical Associate Professor 

eharry@med.umich.edu

Dr. Elizabeth Harry leads the Office of Well-Being at Michigan Medicine which engages with leaders, key partners, and communities across Michigan Medicine and the University to elevate the well-being of individuals and groups across the Medical School and the Michigan Medicine. As a leader at Michigan Medicine, Dr. Harry works to strengthen, enrich, and implement a vision for the future of wellness and well-being through system-level policy change. She utilizes a data-informed and relationship-driven approach to enhance well-being in both academia and clinical care.

Dr. Harry brings over a decade of experience in medicine, healthcare and wellbeing and is a nationally recognized expert on cognitive load, burnout, and well-being. She joined the Michigan Medicine Wellness Office after serving as Senior Medical Director of Well-being at UCHealth and Assistant Dean of Faculty Well-being at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.  In addition to the University of Colorado, Dr. Harry practiced at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she was assistant medical director and director of faculty development and well-being for the Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization, as well as faculty liaison for graduate medical education well-being at Partners Healthcare. She has practiced internal medicine in both the inpatient and outpatient settings throughout her career.

She is on the board of the Collaborative for Healing and Renewal in Medicine (CHARM) under AAIM and teaches at the Stanford Chief Wellness Officer course.  Dr. Harry has partnered with leading institutions across the country to advance research and share successful strategies in this domain. She continues to study and publish about the impact of systemic and cultural aspects of health care systems on individual well-being.

Dr. Harry earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology and biology from Santa Clara University and her medical degree and completed residency training in internal medicine at the University of Colorado. She has been a Macy Scholar for the Harvard Macey Institute, and she also completed the Brigham Leadership Program at Harvard.

Her husband also works at Michigan Medicine as a clinical pathologist, and together they have three children ages 6, 9, and 11. 

Why does Dr. Harry feel passionate about well-being? I am deeply committed to the well-being of all individuals involved in healthcare, from patients to learners, researchers, and front-line clinicians and staff. I believe that the pursuit of health goes beyond just treating patients; it encompasses the holistic well-being of everyone involved in delivering healthcare. I am humbled by the opportunity to contribute to the well-being and professional fulfillment of healthcare providers, as I understand that effective care for others begins with mastering our own well-being. It is my utmost privilege to support and empower individuals in their journey towards optimal health and fulfillment. 

Jeffrey Patterson

Senior Director of Well-Being Operations and Strategy
pattersj@med.umich.edu

Jeffrey Patterson joined the Office of Well-being at Michigan Medicine in November 2024 as the Senior Director of Well-being Operations and Strategy. In this role, he fosters a culture of well-being across Michigan Medicine, spearheading operational optimization and strategic growth of well-being initiatives.

Jeff has twelve years of experience leading operations in various healthcare settings.  After receiving his Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA) and Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Jeff completed an administrative fellowship at Trinity Health Livonia Hospital. He has since built a career marked by various leadership positions in healthcare management. His experience includes directing significant operational functions, strategic planning, and program management, particularly in the areas of behavioral health and primary care operations, and with specific emphasis on caring for the most vulnerable patient populations within the communities he served.

In his free time, Jeff enjoys playing golf, exercising, and enjoying quality time with his family.

Why does Jeff feel passionate about well-being?  I recognize that the well-being of the healthcare workforce is fundamental to achieving the highest standards in patient, provider and staff experience, patient safety and overall health outcomes. Our ability to drive proactive, system-level interventions can drive well-being improvements and better equip our healthcare professionals to deliver exceptional care. When we’re at our collective best, we lay the groundwork to produce our collective best.

Carolyn Winslow, PhD

Well-Being Research and Analytics Lead
cwins@med.umich.edu

Carolyn Winslow, PhD, is an industrial-organizational psychologist specializing in employee well-being, with over a decade of experience consulting and conducting applied research in organizations. Passionate about improving workers' lives, Carolyn has a special interest in the well-being of healthcare professionals. Throughout her career, she has advised and collaborated with senior leaders across major healthcare, higher education, corporate, and government organizations to enhance employee experiences and organizational culture. These organizations include the University of California, Berkeley, Meta, Inc., Ford Motor Company, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Her technical expertise includes employee survey design and analysis, employee program and policy evaluation, and applied organizational research methods. Further, as an organizational psychologist, she has a deep working knowledge of evidence-based policies, practices, and programs for improving culture and employee well-being to help guide and shape research, data analysis, and recommendations.

She has led several significant employee well-being projects, including an initiative to revitalize Ford Motor Company's strategy for assessing manufacturing plant culture in North America and a project to identify drivers of surgical faculty burnout at the University of California, San Francisco. Carolyn also designed and evaluated an employee well-being program for the Virginia Department of Social Services and led the evaluation of a pilot leadership development coaching program for the ADVANCE Program at the University of Michigan. She also serves as an invited member of the NIOSH Healthy Work Design and Well-being Council, advocating for policies supporting American workers, particularly in healthcare.

Carolyn holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from George Mason University, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. She has published and presented extensively on employee engagement, stress, burnout, and leadership practices.

Dena Fernandez, PhD, RN, MSN, ANP-BC, NEA-BC

Senior Nurse Advisor
dfernand@med.umich.edu 

Dena Fernandez joined the Office of Well-Being at Michigan Medicine in 2025 as a Senior Nurse Advisor. In this role, she serves as a nurse expert and resource, working collaboratively across our clinical, research, and education domains to advance the mission and work of the Office of Well-Being.

Dena has extensive experience in nursing, advanced practice, and nursing leadership.  Her career started as a nurse at the Meijer Heart Center at Corewell. She then obtained her nurse practitioner certification and worked in a myriad of inpatient and outpatient medicine and cardiology roles. She practiced for several years at Trinity Health Ann Arbor in a hospitalist provider capacity, followed by several years at Michigan Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine as a provider and an advanced practice provider manager. Just prior to joining the Michigan Medicine Office of Well-Being, she served as the Director of Nursing Practice and Education and Director of the Birthing Center at Trinity Health Livonia. In each role, she promoted exemplary professional practice in nursing, a positive practice environment, and nurse & provider belonging and well-being. She also has experience working on hospital throughput, productivity, length of stay, virtual nursing, and more, where RN and APP roles and models of care were optimized, and technology was leveraged to improve access, professional fulfillment, and well-being.

Dena holds the following degrees from the University of Michigan School of Nursing: a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master’s in Community Health Nursing, and a PhD.  She maintains board certification as an Adult Nurse Practitioner and as a Nurse Executive, Advanced, from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). 

Why does Dena feel passionate about well-being? We can deliver the best care to our patients when we have a sense of well-being as individuals and as a system.  With the focus that the Office of Well-Being places on streamlining operations, fostering a culture of well-being, and using data to inform our work in this area, there is so much potential to enhance nurse well-being at Michigan Medicine and to have a national influence in the field of well-being in health care.

Shelagh Saénz, LPC, NCC 

Senior Project Manager
saenzs@med.umich.edu

Shelagh joined the Office of Well-Being at Michigan Medicine in 2021 as Project Senior Manager. In this role, she implements strategic and operational goals, stewards key initiatives, and advances the work necessary to achieve the office’s missions and goals. 

After receiving her Bachelor of Arts (English) from Albion College, she went on to obtain her Master’s degree in college counseling from Eastern Michigan University.   She maintains the certifications of Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and National Certified Counselor (NCC). She also is a certified facilitator in human-centered design thinking.

Previously, Shelagh worked at the University of Michigan School of Public Health where she served as director of career development for nearly two decades.  In that role, she excelled at coaching learners, managing programs, and leading operational and strategic functions of her office.  Throughout her tenure at the School of Public Health, she advocated for workplace well-being.  Shelagh was recognized through several nominations and awards for her dedication to well-being and inclusion efforts such as starting a school-wide staff wellness committee, organizing staff programs on health topics, and creating inclusive workplaces.

Shelagh recognizes the importance of being heard, understood, and valued.  Her professional interests include positive culture change and human-centered design thinking.  In her free time, Shelagh’s interests include genealogy research, scrapbooking, exercising, and cooking.

Why does Shelagh feel passionate about well-being? I believe that small, persistent, and positive actions have a transformative power to impact our workplaces in beneficial ways. I am passionate about promoting culture change at an institutional level focused on employees' well-being. My goal is that people feel valued and empowered enough to prioritize their well-being so that we experience the best of them rather than what is left of them. 

Philip S. Amara, MPH, MSc

Research Area Specialist Intermediate
amaphili@med.umich.edu

Philip is a public health specialist and statistician with over two decades of experience leading research, survey design, and program evaluation across academic, governmental, and international development settings. His work focuses on applying data-driven insights to strengthen health systems, improve population health, and inform evidence-based policy and program implementation.

At the University of Michigan, Philip has served as a Research Area Specialist in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, where he led university-wide climate survey analyses, authored key evaluation reports, and supported the development of DEI metrics across academic units. At Michigan Medicine, he contributed to research on health data governance, public trust, and ethical frameworks for data sharing within the Department of Learning Health Sciences.

Internationally, Philip has held senior positions with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) in Ghana, where he managed a portfolio of randomized controlled trials with a combined value of several million dollars and led the design and implementation of national monitoring and evaluation systems, including those developed for Sierra Leone’s post-Ebola recovery strategy.

His technical expertise includes the analysis of complex survey data, application of qualitative and quantitative methods, use of statistical software such as SPSS and SAS, and development of evaluation frameworks for health and development programs. He has published in several key public health domains, including health data ethics and policy, public health surveillance, maternal and newborn health, health systems strengthening, and global health and development.

Philip holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, a Master of Science in Survey Methodology from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Science in Statistics from Njala University. His career reflects a deep commitment to using rigorous research to drive social impact and improve public health outcomes.

Kiana Daniels

Project Intermediate Manager

kida@med.umich.edu

Kiana joined the Office of Well-Being at Michigan Medicine in 2024. Kiana brings a wealth of experience in project management and well-being. With a bachelor's degree in English and History and a master's degree in Higher Education Student Affairs, Kiana has worked at higher education institutions and non-profit organizations by creating projects and initiatives promoting a sense of belonging and well-being amongst learners.

Kiana previously worked at the National Kidney Foundation, where she led the Project ECHO program, which significantly impacted kidney health professionals’ ability to meet targeted goals for Home Dialysis and Kidney Transplant Centers. She also produced a worldwide podcast, the Kidney Commute, an interdisciplinary podcast for Kidney Health Professionals where she created a kidney health continuing education option through podcast form and set new standards for podcast production.

Kiana believes in the transformative power of wellness as a catalyst for positive change. She is committed to creating environments where individuals feel empowered to take control of their health and well-being.

Outside of work, Kiana is passionate about wellness, regularly teaching Zumba Fitness to help individuals cultivate a healthy, balanced, and stress-free lifestyle. Kiana also enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with loved ones.

Julie Evans

Project Manager Intermediate

danae@med.umich.edu

Julie joined the Office of Well-Being at Michigan Medicine in 2024 as Project Intermediate Manager. In this role, she cultivates partnerships across Michigan Medicine to develop and disseminate evidence-based practices to advance workplace well-being and to achieve the office’s missions and goals.

After receiving her Bachelor of Arts (Art History) from the University of Michigan, she went on to obtain her Master of Science degree in Health Psychology from the University of Michigan - Dearborn. Her academic research focused on surgeon emotion and emotional labor in clinical practice. Her work has been presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Surgical Education and the Moses Gunn Research Conference.

Julie began her research career in the van Anders Social Neuroendocrinology Lab at the University of Michigan where she researched the social modulation and the social phenomenology of testosterone, as well as intimacies like nurturance and partnering/pair bonding.

Julie worked for 7-years as a social science researcher and program manager in the Department of Surgery at Michigan Medicine. As a founding member of the Education Research Sciences Collaborative, she collaborated with faculty and trainees on studies focused on intraoperative entrustment, faculty and resident burnout, emotional exhaustion, psychological safety, resiliency in medicine, and physician well-being. She also led surgery cultural and well-being programs.

Julie is a dedicated member of Michigan Medicine’s Research Climate Council and is a research mentor for the Doctors of Tomorrow pathway program. In her personal life, she enjoys kitsch culture, live music, and adventuring with her partner and their three children.

Why does Julie feel passionate about well-being? Due to the nature of their profession, healthcare workers’ professional lives are intimately connected to their personal lives. It is essential for workplaces to honor the steadfast dedication of their employees by ensuring the workplace environment is a positive one where people can thrive. I am genuinely committed to reducing burnout and facilitating joy in academic medicine. I am thrilled to contribute to efforts that enhance the everyday well-being of faculty, staff, and learners at Michigan Medicine.

Debbra brings to the table a wealth of experience from her prior role with Michigan Medicine Finance, adeptly supporting Associate Chief Finance Officers and the Finance Controller. Prior to that, her expertise was put to good use at the University of Michigan Depression Center, where she supported the founding director Dr. John Greden.  In that role, Debbra served as project coordinator for the Center’s Workplace Mental Health program piloting a project with Ford Motor Company. 

Throughout her expansive career, Debbra has amassed more than 15 years of experience providing director-level and executive support. Her background includes project management, specifically rolling out hospital-wide safety programs and event planning for high-profile academic events like research symposiums and grand rounds. Debbra is recognized for excellent interpersonal and communication skills, which complement her project planning experience and expertise in managing multiple, concurrent projects.

Debbra holds a Bachelor's in Healthcare Administration and an Associate's in Healthcare Administration, both from the University of Phoenix, on top of her qualifications from the Certified Medical Assistant Program at Ross Medical Education Center. Bringing enthusiasm, strong team-building capabilities, and a detail-oriented approach to her work, Debbra is a dependable team member whose organizational skills ensure seamless operation in fast-paced environments.