Amanda Billings was named Vice President for Development in November 2014. She leads UT Southwestern Medical Center’s philanthropic strategies, which allow the Medical Center to continue to conduct world-class research, educate tomorrow’s health care leaders, and deliver quality patient care. Previously, Ms. Billings was Interim Vice President for Development and Director of Development Communications at UT Southwestern, where she was highly involved in the Building the Future of Medicine campaign to support the construction of William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.

Before joining UT Southwestern in 2010, Ms. Billings spent 13 years leading communication and marketing efforts for the American Red Cross, both regionally and nationally.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, and has done graduate work in English literature at the University of North Texas.

Holder of the:

• William T. Solomon Professorship in Clinical Quality Improvement at UT Southwestern Medical Center

Will Daniel, M.D., a leader in driving clinical improvement, quality measures, and measureable outcomes, as well as positive transformational changes, was named Vice President and Chief Quality Officer in November 2016.

Most recently, Dr. Daniel was Vice President and Chief Quality Officer for Saint Luke’s Health System in Kansas City, Missouri, a 10-hospital system that has won national recognition for quality.

He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, then earned his M.D. at UT Southwestern Medical School in 1990. After completing his residency at Washington University/Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, he returned to UT Southwestern for a cardiology fellowship. He also completed an advanced cardiovascular interventional fellowship at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute. Dr. Daniel served as a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and as the Medical Director for Quality for the Mid America Heart Institute.

Vice President for Community and Corporate Relations of UT Southwestern Medical Center since 1995, Ruben E. Esquivel, M.B.A., began his career as an assembler with AVO International Inc. While working, he attended college at night to earn a degree in electrical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. His work at AVO culminated in being named President and CEO of the company in 1985 and Vice Chairman in 1994.

Mr. Esquivel has served as Chairman of the Board of Managers of the Dallas County Hospital District (dba Parkland Health & Hospital System) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation. He currently serves on several local boards, including the Dallas Zoological Society, State Fair of Texas, Stemmons Corridor Business Association, and the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas.

Jeremy Falke, M.B.A., a senior human resources executive with more than two decades of expertise in transformational human resources, financial, and business operations for health care companies operating across the U.S., joined UT Southwestern as Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer in August 2022.

Mr. Falke oversees and directs the planning, organization, development, and administration of human resources programs and develops strategic initiatives and short- and long-range planning affecting staff across the institution. He directs all areas related to Human Resources Operations, Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations, Organizational Development and Training, and Payroll.

Before joining UT Southwestern, Mr. Falke was Senior Vice President-Human Resources at Sonida Senior Living, which operates more than 70 senior living facilities in 19 states. Mr. Falke also served as Vice President, Talent, Culture, and Performance Management at Tenet Healthcare Corp. in Dallas, which includes more than 75 acute-care hospitals and 450 outpatient facilities employing more than 125,000 people. He also served as the Senior Director, Strategic Operations, Analytics, and Reporting for Tenet and as the Chief Human Resources Officer for Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, for nearly a decade.

Mr. Falke holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Phoenix in Scottsdale, Ariz., and a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in health care management from the University of Nebraska Omaha.

Juan M. Guerra Jr., M.B.A., joined UT Southwestern Medical Center in February 2016 as Vice President for Facilities Management. He oversees facilities planning, design, construction, repairs, maintenance and operations for the multicampus Medical Center, consisting of 12.7 million square feet. He has more than 30 years of experience in facilities management, both in operations and capital programs.

Prior to joining UT Southwestern, Mr. Guerra served as Associate Vice President for Facilities at Texas State University for seven years and was responsible for a portfolio of 8 million square feet of campus facilities, 250 buildings, and more than $1.3 billion in capital improvements. He spent 20 years in the Civil Engineer Corps and served in the U.S. Navy from 1983 to 2003, overseeing maintenance and operations on military installations. A Registered Professional Engineer in Texas and California, he is a member of numerous state and national professional associations.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Stanford University and two master’s degrees – in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and in business from Webster University.

A nationally respected nursing leader, Susan Hernandez, D.N.P., M.B.A., RN, was named Vice President in September 2024. She joined UT Southwestern in 2014 as the Chief Nursing Officer and has previously served as Associate Vice President. In 2015, she was named Chief Nurse Executive. Dr. Hernandez oversees more than 3,000 nurses and nurse practitioners, who together provide care for 200,000-plus patients each year in two acute care hospitals and affiliated primary and specialty care clinics.

Under her direction, UT Southwestern earned the Magnet® designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) in 2016 and redesignation in 2021. The designation is the nation’s highest form of recognition for nursing excellence and serves as a benchmark for quality of care.

Prior to joining UT Southwestern, Dr. Hernandez spent nearly 20 years in nursing and leadership positions at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, bachelor’s degrees in nursing and education, and an M.B.A. with a focus in health care administration.

Hicham Ibrahim, M.D., M.B.A., was named Vice President and Senior Executive Officer of Ambulatory Services in September 2024, after serving as Associate Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. He also serves as Professor of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He was previously Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs in the Department of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern and Chief of Psychiatry of the Mental Health service at the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Dr. Ibrahim completed his medical education at the American University of Beirut and his residency in psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical Center and UT Southwestern. He also completed a research fellowship in neuroscience at the University of Michigan, two clinical fellowships in addiction and geriatric psychiatry at UT Southwestern, and a Master of Business Administration at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Dr. Ibrahim has been repeatedly selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Doctors in America since 2011. He has won numerous institutional and national teaching awards including the American Psychiatric Association’s Irma Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents and Nancy Roeske Award for Excellence in Teaching Medical Students. He has published peer-reviewed articles in top professional journals such as American Journal of Psychiatry and Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, given invited presentations at national scientific meetings, and served as a reviewer for several professional journals. In 2019, under Dr. Ibrahim’s leadership, the Outpatient Psychiatry Multi-Specialty Program received UT Southwestern’s Program Development Award.

Tony Lakin, a veteran cybersecurity leader, joined UT Southwestern in May 2023 as Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer.

As UT Southwestern’s principal cybersecurity adviser, Mr. Lakin leads and administers an information security program that ensures the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the institution’s critical information systems and assets and minimizes cyber risks and malicious threats.

He has more than 30 years of cybersecurity leadership, strategy, engineering, and regulatory compliance experience. He is a retired U.S. Air Force Cyberwarfare Officer and honorably served 23 years on active duty in multiple roles culminating as the Director of Operations for the Air Force’s premier Cyberwarfare Squadron based at Fort Meade, Md. While at Fort Meade, he directed cyber operations in support of national strategic objectives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Before joining UT Southwestern, Mr. Lakin was the Chief Information Security Officer for the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. He also served in the same role at Children’s Hospital of Orange County in California and at Maricopa Integrated Health System (now Valleywise Health) in Phoenix, Ariz.

Mr. Lakin holds a Master of Science in Information Technology from University of Maryland University College and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Park University in Parkville, Mo. In addition, he holds a number of cybersecurity, health care security, and data privacy certifications.

Angelica Marin Hill became Vice President for Government Affairs and Policy in March 2014. Focusing on analytical approaches to legislative issues and strategic communications, her office is responsible for state and federal appropriations that are crucial to UT Southwestern Medical Center’s advancement as a world-class research institution.

Previously, Ms. Hill was Assistant Vice President for Legislative Budget and Policy at UT Southwestern, where for seven years she was involved in government relations, strategic planning, and legislative analysis. From 2001 to 2004, she served as a senior analyst for the Texas Senate Finance Committee, overseeing appropriations for higher education and health and human services agencies, among others, accounting for more than 70 percent of a $117 billion state budget. She has also worked in private industry, focusing on state and federal policy in health insurance reform.

Ms. Hill has an undergraduate degree in history from Harvard College and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business.

Christopher Madden, M.D., was named Senior Executive Officer in September 2024 after being appointed Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, UT Southwestern Medical Group in July 2019. He is responsible for the Medical Group’s clinical practice and clinical administrative functions at all sites of service, including UT Southwestern Hospitals and Clinics, Parkland Health, Children’s Health, the Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System, and all UTSW clinically affiliated partners.

Dr. Madden guides the overall direction of the Medical Group, including patient care, the development of strategic and marketing priorities, physician contracting, and financial performance. Dr. Madden works with Clinical Department Chairs to ensure that clinical activities at all sites of service are synergistic with UT Southwestern missions and priorities. In addition, Dr. Madden continues to build relationships with our affiliated partner institutions.

He previously served as interim Director of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, as Chief Medical Officer for Parkland Health, and as Associate Vice President for Parkland Affairs.

Dr. Madden completed his residency at Ohio State University and a fellowship in skull base surgery at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, England. He earned his medical degree at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Becky McCulley, RN, M.S.N., became Vice President, Clinical Programming and Facility Development in August 2019. She focuses on the planning and development of all Health System clinical facilities. She also leads clinical programming and workforce development efforts to provide a comprehensive range of clinical services that meet the highest standards of clinically excellent, team-based care and service to patients and their families.

Ms. McCulley previously was Associate Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for UT Southwestern University Hospitals, leading the transition from the now-closed St. Paul University Hospital to William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.

She has held many leadership positions throughout her career at UT Southwestern, including Associate Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Neurosciences and Emergency Services, Associate Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Neurosciences and Surgical Services, and Associate Vice President for Clinical Program Development. She served as Vice President, Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer from 1994 until 2005.

Ms. McCulley earned a bachelor of science in health care administration from East Texas State University in Commerce. She then earned a bachelor of science in nursing and a master’s degree in nursing administration, both from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Mark Meyer was named Vice President in September 2024 after joining UT Southwestern Medical Center as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for University Hospitals in November 2017 and then serving as Health System CFO beginning in December 2020. He served at Grady Health System as Executive Vice President and CFO from 2012 to 2017. Prior to that, he was CFO at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, the flagship of the Texas Health Resources system.

Mr. Meyer has also worked with the Methodist Health System in Dallas, where he served as CFO of Methodist Charlton Medical Center and later as Vice President of Financial Services for Methodist Health System.

A graduate of Oklahoma State University, he has an extensive background in health care and health system finance.

Holder of the:

• Nancy S. and Jeremy L. Halbreich Professorship in Gastroenterology

Mack Mitchell, M.D., a Professor of Internal Medicine, is the UT Southwestern Vice President for Medical Affairs. He is also the Chief Medical Officer for the Southwestern Health Resources Physician Network. Dr. Mitchell’s clinical expertise is in gastroenterology and liver diseases, and his research has been focused on alcoholism.

He earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, and he has been listed repeatedly as one of D Magazine’s Best Doctors in Dallas.

Before coming to UT Southwestern, Dr. Mitchell was the Chief of Gastroenterology and the Medical Director of Ambulatory Services at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center; the Chairman of Internal Medicine at Greater Baltimore Medical Center; and the Chairman of Medicine at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

He is currently President of ABMRF/The Foundation for Alcohol Research, and was recently honored with the Seixas Award for Distinguished Service by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Shawna Nesbitt, M.D., M.S., an accomplished physician, educator, researcher, and leader, became Vice President and UT Southwestern’s inaugural Vice President and Chief Institutional Opportunity Office in October 2022.

Dr. Nesbitt leads initiatives to create innovative opportunities that advance UTSW’s mission across research, clinical education, training activities, and other operations that facilitate excellence.

Since joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 2001, Dr. Nesbitt has held various leadership roles and responsibilities, including serving as a member of the President’s Council on Institutional Opportunity and as Associate Dean of Student Affairs. As Associate Dean, she led UT Southwestern’s Medical School, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and School of Health Professions teams in recruiting and supporting talented students from all backgrounds.

In addition, Dr. Nesbitt has been the Medical Director of the Parkland Hypertension Clinic, has served as a community health equity advocate on a variety of boards and national studies, and frequently speaks on topics of hypertension, cardiovascular health, and health equity. She brings a deep understanding of UT Southwestern and the complexities of a large, growing academic medical center to her role.

She earned her medical degree at Hahnemann University College of Medicine (now Drexel University College of Medicine) in Philadelphia. After an internship and residency in internal medicine at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, she completed fellowship training in hypertension in the Department of Internal Medicine at University of Michigan Medical Center. She also has a Master of Science degree in clinical research design and statistical analysis from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Holder of the:

• Adelyn and Edmund M. Hoffman Distinguished Chair in Medical Science

Eric Peterson, M.D., M.P.H., an internationally acclaimed leader in cardiovascular clinical research, joined UT Southwestern Medical Center in November 2020 as the inaugural Vice Provost and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Research and as Vice President for Health System Research.

Dr. Peterson joined UT Southwestern from Duke University, where he was a distinguished tenured professor in the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine from 2006 through October 2020 and where he served as Executive Director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute. At Duke, Dr. Peterson led numerous multicenter clinical trials, prospective registries, and implementation programs.

He currently serves as Principal Investigator of the Analytic Centers for American College of Cardiology’s National Cardiac Database, the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines Database, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ National Cardiac Surgery Database. He also is Principal Investigator of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Spironolactone Initiation Registry Randomized Interventional Trial (SPIRRIT) in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction and leads several ongoing industry-sponsored clinical trials, registries, and implementation research studies.

With more than 1,400 peer-reviewed publications to date, Dr. Peterson ranks among the top 1 percent of published researchers in clinical medicine and has been named one of the most highly cited researchers in the world by Thomson Reuters.

Dr. Peterson earned his medical degree from University of Pittsburgh and completed his residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He also completed a fellowship in general internal medicine at Harvard University and a fellowship in cardiology at Duke University.

Russell Poole, a veteran technology leader, joined UT Southwestern Medical Center as Chief Information Officer in October 2020. Mr. Poole provides strategic leadership over the University’s information technology and leads the digital transformation that supports the continued growth and success of all of UT Southwestern’s core missions.

Mr. Poole came to UT Southwestern from University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where he led the University’s overarching technology environment since 2013. That included its network, enterprise applications, data centers, web services, academic and learning management systems, classroom and educational support, information security, compliance, and other critical areas across the campus.

In his role as Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Information Technology and CIO at Anschutz Medical Campus, he was responsible for the campus’s academic IT infrastructure and coordination of technology services across five affiliate hospitals, which provide clinical care in Denver and throughout Colorado.

Before working at the University of Colorado, he was Director of the Technology Services Organization and Facilities within the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Mr. Poole holds both a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Florida.

Natalie Ramello joined UT Southwestern as Vice President for Institutional Compliance and Chief Compliance Officer in September 2019.

Ms. Ramello has more than a decade’s worth of experience as a health care attorney, risk manager, and compliance officer. She received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in business from the University of Colorado Boulder; her Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago School of Law with a concentration in health law; and her Master of Social Work and Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Health Law from Loyola Chicago. She is pursuing a Master of Health Administration from Ohio University.

Most recently, Ms. Ramello worked as Chief Compliance and Risk Officer at CommunityCare, a health care services company in Oklahoma. Prior to that, she was Regional Director of Compliance, Privacy, and Risk Management at Providence St. Joseph Health/Covenant Health System in Lubbock. She has worked at several law firms and coordinated clinical research program compliance at Bay Area Medical Center in Marinette, Wis., where she served on the Institutional Review Board (IRB). She also taught Health Law and Ethics as an adjunct faculty member at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Chris Rubio was named Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the Health System in September 2024 and is responsible for overseeing and optimizing the operational performance of the multi-entity clinical enterprise. With a focus on Cancer Services, Radiation Oncology, Neurosciences, Imaging, Clinical Laboratory, and Pharmacy Services, Mr. Rubio drives operational performance to ensure delivery of high-quality patient care across the system. In addition, he currently serves as the Interim Chief Executive Officer of the University Hospital.

Mr. Rubio joined UT Southwestern in 2016 as Associate Vice President of Neurosciences and the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute. Most recently, he was Associate Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the University Hospital, where he was responsible for the operations of an 875-bed facility with oversight of Perioperative, Imaging, Clinical Lab, Pharmacy, Radiation Oncology, and Support Services.

Mr. Rubio has over 20 years of experience in academic medicine within the University of Texas System. A former Army Captain, he served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and Special Operations units.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Holder of the:

• Jonsson-Rogers Chair in Cardiology

John Douglas Rutherford, M.D., serves as Vice President for Clinical Operations at UT Southwestern Medical Center and holds a Chair in Cardiology. He joined the UT Southwestern faculty as Professor of Medicine in 1993 and received the Distinguished Physician Award in recognition of outstanding individual contributions to Parkland Memorial Hospital in 1995 and the Gifted Educator Award from the American College of Cardiology in 2011.

Dr. Rutherford, who earned his medical degree from the University of Otago in his native New Zealand, was the recipient of a traveling research fellowship from the New Zealand National Heart Foundation and was a Research Fellow in Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Rutherford was recruited to the Harvard faculty in 1978 as a cardiologist and later was appointed co-director of the Samuel A. Levine Cardiac Unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Marcia Schneider rejoined UT Southwestern in February 2019 as Vice President, Health System Strategy and Business Development and Chief Strategy Officer.

A veteran health care system executive, Ms. Schneider directs the strategic planning, business development, and health care delivery system transformation for the UT Southwestern Health System.

Previously, she was Assistant Vice President for Health System Planning and Performance at UT Southwestern, supporting the strategic development of the UT Southwestern-Texas Health Resources collaboration and the resulting Southwestern Health Resources network. She also led the planning and programming for UT Southwestern’s William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital, which opened in December 2014.

Most recently, she was Vice President of Administration at Baylor Scott & White Health, leading operational transformation.

Ms. Schneider holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Michael Serber, M.B.A.

Vice President, Finance and Institutional CFO

Michael Serber, M.B.A., has been with UT Southwestern Medical Center since 2003. As Vice President for Finance and Institutional CFO, Mr. Serber is responsible for oversight of all financial activity at UT Southwestern and directs seven financial and operational departments across campus: Accounting and Fiscal Services, Budget and Resource Planning, Supply Chain Management, Sponsored Programs Administration, Auxiliary Enterprises, and Real Estate Services, and Southwestern Heath Resources Finance. Additionally, in 2016, Mr. Serber was named Treasurer for all Southwestern Health Resources legal entities.

Prior to joining UT Southwestern, he was the manager of the Capital Planning Group at American Airlines.

Mr. Serber received his Master of Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in 1999 and a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in New York in 1994.

Erin Sine, J.D.

Vice President and General Counsel

Erin Sine, a collaborative and solutions-oriented leader, became the head of Legal Affairs in September 2021. As Vice President and General Counsel, she oversees a team of experienced attorneys, risk managers, and support staff who help advance UT Southwestern’s work and strategic priorities in compliance with all appropriate laws and regulations. In her roles as Chief Legal Officer, Institutional Ethics Officer, and the designated Public Information Official for the University, Ms. Sine is responsible for providing guidance to executive leaders, faculty, and staff to ensure UT Southwestern Medical Center maintains the highest levels of public trust as a state institution.

Ms. Sine joined the Office of Legal Affairs in 2010 and was the Director/Managing Attorney – General Legal Services since 2015, during which time she gained broad experience in legal and regulatory matters affecting an academic medical center. Before joining UT Southwestern, Ms. Sine was a commercial litigation associate at the law firm of McGuireWoods in Richmond, Virginia.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and English from Clemson University and earned her Juris Doctor from Tulane University School of Law.

Cameron W. Slocum, M.B.A.

Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Academic Affairs and the UT Southwestern Medical Group

As Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Academic Affairs and the UT Southwestern Medical Group, Mr. Slocum focuses on administrative, strategic, and financial functions to support UT Southwestern’s academic missions. His reporting relationships to the leadership of Academic, Health System, and Business Affairs allow him to improve day-to-day operating activities.

He joined UT Southwestern Medical Center in September 2014. Previously, Mr. Slocum held the position of Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the University of Texas Medical Branch Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Professions, and the Graduate School, and also worked as Executive Director of the Faculty Group Practice Plan during his 16-year tenure with UTMB.

He is the author of “UTMB: From Disaster Planning to Long-Term Recovery,” which appeared in the Domestic Preparedness Journal. In 2012, Mr. Slocum was honored by the Houston Business Journal with a “40 under 40” award, which recognizes the top 40 young professionals in the Houston region. He is an active leader in the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Group on Business Affairs and served as National Chair in 2014 and 2015.

Mr. Slocum earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Texas A&M University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston – Clear Lake.

Seth Toomay, M.D.

Vice President and Health System Chief Medical Officer and Professor of Radiology

Seth Toomay, M.D., was named Vice President in September 2024 after serving as Associate Vice President and Health System Chief Medical Officer since August 2019. In his role, Dr. Toomay builds upon the success of UT Southwestern’s physician, nursing, quality, operations, and finance leaders working together to place clinical outcomes and the patient care experience at the center of our work. He ensures that high-quality, multidisciplinary care is consistently and uniformly provided throughout the continuum of care at all patient care locations.

Dr. Toomay previously served as Chief Medical Officer for Ambulatory Care at UT Southwestern.

Dr. Toomay earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Brown University. He then received his medical degree from UT Southwestern, where he remained to complete a residency in radiology and fellowship training in interventional radiology. He has studied various topics in the vascular and interventional radiology field and has published multiple research articles in peer-reviewed publications.