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Meet the 2018 Family Medicine Midwest Plenary Presenters

Friday - Panel Presentation "Advocacy at Every Level"

Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, Madison Alder, District 5, and UW Health Chief Diversity Officer. In her role as the first CDO for UW Health, Shiva provides vision, coordination and strategic leadership for the design and implementation of UW Health’s initiatives on diversity, equity and inclusion. She was elected to the City of Madison Common Council in 2009.

Mallory Davis, MS4 Rush Medical College.  She has been a strong advocate for community health in Pilsen, a predominantly Latino community where she lives in Chicago.  

Kellia (KJ) Hansmann, MD, MPH, is a second-year family medicine resident at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Family Medicine Residency Program who has been involved with advocacy as a medical student and as a resident. She is also considering pursuing an advocacy/policy fellowship after residency. At Northwestern University as a medical student, she served as president and public health/health justice chair of her school's chapter of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) and vice president of FMIG. In these positions she helped to organize advocacy activities including a public health and advocacy orientation for new students and an advocacy in action seminar series.

Elizabeth Menzel, MD, Mosaic Family Health, Medical College of Wisconsin Fox Valley Family Medicine Residency

Kevin Thao, MD Aspirus Wausau Family Medicine


Saturday Featured Plenary Presentation: “Disabusing Disability: Striving for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Medicine

Oluwaferanmi Okanlami MS, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor at University of Michigan School of Medicine
Director -Medical Student Programs: Office for Health Equity and Inclusion

Hear his inspiring story of achieving his dream of being a family physician, even after a devastating accident left him paralyzed.  Read/listen to an NPR story that features him and others who have overcome challenges to pursue medical careers. 

 Dr. Okanlami was born in Nigeria before immigrating to the US at a young age. He ran Track & Field serving as captain his last two seasons and achieving Academic All American recognition at Stanford University.  Oluwaferanmi then earned his M.D from the University of Michigan before matching into Orthopedic Surgery at Yale. At the beginning of his 3rd year he suffered a spinal cord injury, paralyzing him from the chest down. After two surgeries and intense rehabilitation, he was blessed with some return of motor function.  Dr. Okanlami went on to earn a Master’s degree in Engineering, Science, and Technology Entrepreneurship from The University of Notre Dame, and completed his Family Medicine Residency at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana. Now he advocates to ensure that others have the same access and opportunities.