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Keynote Speaker, Reverand Stephen Ko, MD, MPH, M.DIV:

Reverend Dr. Stephen Ko is a pastor, physician, and author. He is passionate about patient care, global health missions, and holistic ministry. In addition to seminary training, Dr. Ko’s healthcare specialties include pediatrics, preventive medicine, and public health. He has worked extensively in Africa and SE Asia on diseases of epidemic potential, helping low- and middle-income countries implement their national public health programs.  Stephen enjoys helping individuals flourish in faith, mentoring healthcare providers, and teaching seminary and graduate students. He is passionate about “Vitality in Faith and Health” and writes at the intersection of faith, medicine, and public health. His recent book, Faith Embodied, helps readers experience God in every aspect of life, from flesh and bone to heart and soul. For content at the intersection of faith and health, follow him @drstephenko.

He received a Master in International Public Health, his medical degree from the Medical College or Georgia and completed his Preventive Medicine Residency at Stonybrook University/Columbia University, followed by a Pediatric Residency at Cornell Medical College/New York Presbyterian Hospital. He then went on to receive a Master of Divinity from the Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.

2025 Community Clinician of the Year:
George M. Abraham, MD, MPH, MACP, FIDSA, FRCP (Lon.)

Dr. George M. Abraham is Chief of Medicine at Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester, Massachusetts, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Adjunct Professor at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS). He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease. He is the Emeritus President of the American College of Physicians (ACP), which is the largest internal medicine specialty organization in the world, having served from 2021-22.  Prior to that, he served as Governor of the Massachusetts Chapter, Chair of the Board of Governors (ACP) and as a member of the Board of Regents (ACP).

Dr. Abraham is Chair-Elect of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), the organization that oversees licensing of over 1.1 million physicians in the US, and the Federation Credentials Verification Service (FCVS).  Prior to that, he was the Chair of the Board of Registration (Licensing) in Medicine, Massachusetts. Dr. Abraham serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and prior to that, has served as the Chair of the Infectious Disease Board of the ABIM.

In other roles in leadership, he has served as a Trustee of the Massachusetts Medical Society (owner of the New England Journal of Medicine), as President of the Worcester District Medical Society, as the Chief Medical Officer of the Central Massachusetts Independent Physician Association and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts. He has received several awards including the AOA Volunteer Faculty Award and the Outstanding Primary Care Educator Award of UMass Medical School; the Leadership Award of the MA chapter of the ACP; and the Phi Lambda Sigma Honorary Membership, MCPHS, Worcester, Massachusetts, Saint Vincent Hospital Physician of the Year 2015, among others.  Most recently, he is the recipient of the John H. Clarke Leadership Award awarded by the Federation of State Medical Boards.

He is an invited speaker both locally, nationally, and internationally, and as President, he has championed the cause of DEI and written extensively about the same.  Consequently, he has been invited to, and has spoken both nationally and internationally on DEI, and continues to do so.  His passions are for inclusivity, and has chosen to focus on the international medical graduate community that forms 25 percent of the US physician workforce and over 30% of the ACP’s membership.

His research interests include hepatitis C and B disease, travel medicine and infection control, as well as medication safety and systems improvement. He has authored over 125 publications, abstracts, and book chapters, and is an invited speaker at national and international meetings.

Dr. Abraham earned his medical degrees from the Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India, completed his residency and chief residency at Saint Vincent Hospital, and received his master’s degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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About the Speakers:

Mary O’Brien, MD: Moderator

Christian Klaucke MD:

“I am an academic emergency medicine physician and assistant professor at UMass Chan Medical School / UMass Memorial Health with research interests in public health screening and linkage-to-care programs as well as the commercialization of medical technologies. I currently sit on the Massachusetts Medical Society’s Committee for Information Technology as well as participate in the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Program (M2D2) centered at UMass-Lowell.”

Patrick Lowe, MD, PhD:

Patrick Lowe is an assistant professor in Emergency Medicine working primarily in the University and Leominster EDs. He’s a UMass Chan MD/PhD graduate from 2020 and just finished his EM residency at MGH/Brigham & Women’s. As a graduate student, he and his future wife bought their first house in Worcester and have since bought another investment property. He has been slowly paying off his student loans and building up retirement savings with an eye to continue buying investment properties in Worcester. He has also served in various volunteer roles within the Worcester District and Massachusetts Medical Societies, from which he has gained both personal and professional ROIs. He is passionate about Worcester and the greater Central Mass area, as well as mentoring students in the classroom/clinic and in their broader community lives.

Ms. Jennifer English:

Jennifer English is the Director of Financial Aid at the UMass Chan Medical School.  As a 25-year veteran of the Financial Aid world she appreciates the variety of backgrounds and experiences that each of our students brings to the Medical School.  She spent her undergraduate years at Mount Holyoke College and at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland studying literature and history but found her passion when she was hired at the Worcester State University Financial Aid Office.  In the intervening years she occupied several positions within the WSU Financial Aid Office, including serving as Interim Director, prior to joining the team at UMass Chan Financial Aid Office in the Fall of 2022.  Jennifer enjoys hiking and reading historical fiction and debating the merits of different budgeting apps.