Executive

Bruce J. Bellande, PhD, FACME, CCMEP

President

Dr. Bellande's more than 25 years in the realm of lifelong learning and professional development provides the foundation for his leadership at CME Enterprise. He leads teams of experts in the development, delivery, and measurement of continuing medical education. He has served on numerous boards and in leadership roles, including Director of Education of the Southern Medical Association, and as Executive Director of the Alliance for CME for more than ten years. He is a board or committee member of numerous organizations, including the National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration, the American Heart Association, and Conjoint Committee on CME.

Dr. Bellande is a Certified CME Professional. He is a site surveyor for ACCME, receiving an award for Meritorious Service for exceeding 50 accreditation surveys. He also is a workshop leader at ACCME's conferences. He is a regular contributor to numerous professional education publications and speaks frequently at industry gatherings. Dr. Bellande earned his PhD in Healthcare Administration from the University of Mississippi. He also completed Harvard University's Management Lifelong Education and Leadership in Continuing Professional Education Institutes.

Educational Opportunities

Dan Sloan

Educational Opportunities Director

Dan's main focus is to introduce CME Enterprise to potential supporters, as well as educational collaborators such as specialty societies and associations. His responsibilities include identifying diversified funding sources, cultivating relationships, and ultimately, seeking out opportunities for educational activities and partnerships.

In addition to seven years of experience in the medical education industry, Dan has an extensive background in sales, sales management, sales training, meeting and event planning, and manufacturing management. Dan recently moderated a panel discussion on Collaboration by Educational Partners in the development of medical education initiatives at the Center for Business Intelligence conference on Continuing Medical Education. He has also completed the 36-hour training course in Project Management Institute principles and is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt. Dan received his Bachelor of Science in Business from Butler University.

Steve Davidson, RPh

Medical Education Specialist

Steve's primary responsibility is to identify, pursue, and develop relationships with supporters and educational collaborators that will lead to opportunities for CME Enterprise to secure grant funding for continuing medical education and continuing professional development activities. He also identifies diverse funding sources, cultivates relationships, and seeks out opportunities for partnerships. Steve's therapeutic focus will be in the areas of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and Infectious Diseases (ID).

Steve has over 20 years of continuing medical education experience. Prior to joining CME Enterprise, he spent 28 years with Eli Lilly and Company. He revitalized the Postgraduate Speaker Lecture Series, which engaged clinician thought leaders. Steve then went on to lead the Office of Lilly CME where he initiated and established the first firewall between Lilly's educational and marketing divisions, thus creating a unique mechanism of governance. He also has a wealth of experience with onsite reaccreditation at the Office of Lilly CME when it was an ACCME-accredited provider. Before working for Lilly, Steve was a practicing registered pharmacist who owned and managed a retail pharmacy.

Steve earned his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Butler University and is a registered pharmacist in California and Indiana. He is also a veteran of the United States Navy.

Educational Development, Design, and Delivery

Sheila Robertson, MPH, CCMEP

Educational Design, Development, and Delivery Director

Sheila is responsible for the management, mentoring, and training of the team of professionals involved in the writing, research, and analytics aspects of proposals and educational intervention content. With over seven years of experience collaborating with renowned medical experts to develop content for continuing medical education activities, her expertise includes ensuring that content is scientifically rigorous, accurate, in compliance, well organized, and tailored to the audience's needs, and that its impact is measured to demonstrate improved clinician competence or performance. In addition, she has completed the 36-hour training course in Project Management Institute principles and is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt.

Prior to joining the company in 2001, Sheila spent five years providing tailored cancer education to patients, the public, and health professionals through the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service. During this time, she also participated in a fellowship at NCI in which she liaised between regional and national offices to negotiate program improvements. Sheila earned her Masters in Public Health and her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, both from the University of Kansas.

Richard Thielen, PhD

Manager of Content and Curriculum

Dr. Thielen researches and develops performance gap analyses and helps ensure that the design and content of all CME activities is learner-centered and appropriate for the particular audience. He also partners with faculty to develop curriculum and assessment components of activities, mentors and guides other team members, and oversees the refinement of internal processes to ensure high efficiency and quality. His clinical areas of expertise include alcoholism and addictions, anxiety disorders, and depression. Dr. Thielen has 21 years of experience in neuroscience research and teaching, has authored 15 peer-reviewed research articles, and has served as a graduate-level course lecturer for over 18 years in 11 different courses.

Prior to joining CME Enterprise, Dr. Thielen was Assistant Research Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Laboratory of Basic and Applied Neurophysiology of Addictions in the Institute of Psychiatric Research at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. His research focused on the neurochemical mechanisms involved in neural adaptation to the presence of ethanol, and he lectured for and facilitated numerous courses for medical and graduate students and mentored numerous undergraduates interested in careers in the health sciences.

Dr. Thielen earned his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Indiana University School of Medicine, and his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Chemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He also completed his postdoctoral fellowship training in Neuropsychopharmacology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Wendy Strother, PhD

Content and Curriculum Specialist

Dr. Strother researches and develops the content for needs assessments and helps ensure that the design of all CME activities is learner-centered and appropriate for the particular audience. She also partners with faculty to develop curriculum and assessment components of activities. Her clinical areas of expertise include circadian neurobiology, alcoholism and addictions, neuroimaging, and neurodevelopment. Dr. Strother has 16 years of experience in neuroscience research and has taught graduate-level courses in biology and clinical medicine for the past 11 years. She has authored nearly 20 peer-reviewed research articles and, over the past five years, has served as a presenter on over 30 occasions for national forums such as the annual meetings of the Society for Neuroscience and the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Prior to joining CME Enterprise, Dr. Strother was a Research Associate in the Department of Psychiatry and also Director of the Neuroimaging Lab, Institute of Psychiatry Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. Her research focused on the neural pathways implicated in ethanol-seeking and abuse in both adult and adolescent populations. She also taught and facilitated courses for medical, graduate and undergraduate students and mentored numerous undergraduates interested in careers in the health sciences.

Dr. Strother earned her PhD in Cell Biology and Neurobiology from the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, and her Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Denison University in Granville, Ohio.

Zev Winicur, PhD

Manager of Assessment Services

Dr. Winicur researches and develops novel educational design modalities, as well as develops performance gap analyses, learning objectives, activity content, and assessments to ensure that all CME activities are based on modern educational design theory. He oversees the development of the evaluation and outcomes process, mentors and guides other team members, and plays a role in faculty communication and support.

Dr. Winicur is experienced in educational design and assessment theory, science and technical communication, academic and corporate training, and market research analysis in the pharmaceutical and biomedical products industries. He has developed and taught courses at the Universities of Minnesota and Colorado, and he is a Past President of the Indiana Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication. Dr. Winicur earned his PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Colorado, and his Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry from Indiana University.

Kathleen Cox, MA

Senior Medical Editor

Kathleen assists the writers in the research and development of educationally valid performance gap analyses, proposals, case studies, and monographs to ensure that they are comprehensive, learner-centered, and appropriate for the particular audience. Kathleen provides developmental editing to ensure that the content is complete, correct, and well organized; copy editing for grammar, punctuation, and appropriate style; and proofreading for accuracy and consistency.

Kathleen has been an editor and communication specialist for more than thirty years, including sixteen years at the former Medical Educational Resources Program of the Indiana University School of Medicine, where she became assistant director of communications for the program with supervisory responsibilities for graphic artists, writers, and instructional developers. She also edited undergraduate curriculum materials, including audiovisual learning materials and computer-assisted instruction. Writing for multiple media, she worked on patient education materials, slide/audio and videoscripts for marketing and student recruitment, and exhibits. She also spent more than ten years with a major publishing company editing books for consumer use that explored a variety of topics, including health care. Kathleen earned her Bachelor and Master of Arts in Journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a member of the American Medical Writers Association, and a former member of the International Association of Business Communicators and Women in Communications. She joined CME Enterprise in 2007.

James Doane, MLS

Research Librarian

James serves the company by providing reference verification, bibliographic research, literature research, and environment scanning. His other responsibilities include materials cataloging and distribution, copyright permissions, collection development, and archiving. James has been with the company since 2003, during which time he has supported the content, medical, and educational opportunities teams. James earned his Bachelor of Arts, with Honors, in Psychology from Lourdes College, and he earned his Masters in Library Science from Indiana University's Library and Information Science Masters Program.

Department of Continuing Professional Development

Donna Sweet

Compliance Manager

Donna is responsible for the co-management of the CME Enterprise Department of Continuing Professional Development. Her role is to assist the Compliance Officer in the oversight of the company's overall CME program and its compliance with ACCME and other regulatory guidelines. She works with our staff, associations, partners, and sponsors in planning activities, preparing grant requests, and coordinating the review and execution of all contracts and agreements. She manages the activity and budget reconciliation process and final archiving, and  has completed the 36-hour training course in Project Management Institute principles.

Donna has been with the company since 2000. In addition to her experience in the medical education industry, Donna has worked as a meeting planner, coordinating numerous conferences, as well as regional and local meetings. She has also worked in the sales office and was executive assistant at the Westin-Sheraton Hotel. She has an extensive background in office management and employee and manager training. Donna attended Eastern Illinois University with a focus on Business Administration.

Heather Flynn

Manager, Technology Integration and Quality Improvement

Heather is responsible for the co-management of the CME Enterprise Department of Continuing Professional Development. Her primary role is to assess and document the data acquisition, storage, and analysis needs for the company and guide the development and enhancement of internal database solutions. She assists in budget and proposal preparation, and prepares and submits grant requests. She promotes ongoing quality improvement and training within the company, including administration of the company's continuing professional development program for staff.

Heather has been with the company since 2001, during which time she has consistently played a leading role in improving the company's processes and technology platforms. Her prior experience includes customer automation and database management. She has completed the 36-hour training course in Project Management Institute principles and is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt. Heather earned her Bachelor of Science, with Distinction, in Business Marketing and International Studies from Indiana University.

Activity Management

Robyn Snyder

Activity Management Director

Robyn is responsible for the management and development of the activity management team, including the mentoring and training of activity managers as they implement high-quality educational activities on time and within budget. With over seven years of experience in managing continuing medical education activities, she brings a wealth of expertise in program planning, communication, and process creation and management.

At CME Enterprise, her responsibilities have included interacting with commercial supporters, associations, partners, and providers on a variety of activity-related issues; developing budgets for proposed projects; and overseeing all aspects of planning for live and enduring activities. She has completed the 36-hour training course in Project Management Institute principles and is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.

Prior to joining the company in 2001, she served as a project manager for Lockheed Martin IMS and Netgov.com; she also spent five years as the Director of Hiring and Training and Alternative Programming for the Marion Superior Court Juvenile Division in Indianapolis, Indiana. Robyn earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from DePauw University and a Certificate in Public Management from Indiana University, Indianapolis.